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Fezco immediately regretted coming to this party.
Ever since he beat Nate’s ass on New Years, Fezco decided it was probably best to stay away from high school parties for a while. And while these parties led to a big chunk of his income, they were never his favorite. Often the loud music constant movement made his head hurt, which is why Fez usually found a quiet corner for himself at these things. Tonight was no different as he plopped himself down on a green couch and lit up a joint.
Everything was going as it usually did until he saw her come in. Lexi Howard walked into the kitchen, wearing a green dress. She was giggling, her cheeks were flushed pink, and she wore her signature red lipstick. Fez’s heart quickened at the sight of her. They had talked on the phone earlier, and she had told him he was going to hang out with some friends from her play, but he didn’t realize that they would be at this party.
Fez instantly became glad that he decided to come. He took a deep breath before lifting himself off of the couch, preparing himself to approach her. His movements halted when he saw a mousy looking boy handing Lexi a shot. Fez recognized him as Kat’s ex-boyfriend, Ethan. Fez never had a problem with Ethan, in fact Fez though the seemed like a nice guy, but in this moment, he hated the guy. They clinked their shot glasses together before throwing the drinks back. Lexi’s face scrunched at the burn of alcohol, which Fez thought was adorable, in the way that only Lexi was.
Fez felt his heart sink when Ethan moved in closer to Lexi to whisper something in her ear. Lexi giggled at the boy and said “Don’t worry, my mom is going to love you!”
Fez was confused at Lexi and Ethan’s display. Fez talked to Lexi every day and she had never said anything about seeing someone. It’s not like Fez asked her if she was seeing someone, but, he figured it would have come up at some point. Fez knew that he shouldn’t be jealous. He had never told Lexi how he felt and he had never asked her. He had thought that they shared a moment a few days prior, when he held her hand while watching Stand by Me, but maybe he should have been more clear about how he felt. He felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.
“Why are you staring at Lexi and Ethan like that?” Rue interrupted his thoughts. His friend’s eyes were bright red and she had her arm around her girlfriend, Jules.
“I’m not,” Fez tried to keep his tone casual, but he was pretty sure that it came off as short. He took another drag of his joint to try and calm himself down.
“Dude I just saw you. You looked like you were about to explode,” Rue persisted.
“No, I didn’t. I couldn’t care less what they’re doing,” Fez snapped.
“Okay Jesus bro,” Rue said raising a hand in surrender. “I just was curious because I couldn’t imagine anyone being mad at Lexi or Ethan. They are like two of the sweetest people on the planet.”
“Yeah they seem…” Fez felt agony bubbling in his chest. “…compatible. How long have they been together?” Fez tried to hide his interest in the subject and Jules gave him a sympathetic look.
Rue gave him a inquisitive look. “I’m not sure actually. They’ve been spending a lot of time together because of her play. I knew she was talking to someone, I just didn't realize that it was Ethan. But I mean, it makes sense right? They have so much in common.”
Fez grunted affirmatively, afraid that saying anything else might give him away. “But you know,” Jules spoke up. “Just because people have a lot in common, doesn't mean that they would make a great couple. They could totally not work out.” Fez turned his gaze away from the kitchen to meet Jules’ knowing look.
Rue’s brows furrowed in confusion for moment. “Huh?”
“Nothing babe. Let’s dance,” Jules dragged Rue to the dance floor, leaving Fez to stew in his emotions by himself. He noticed Lexi whispering into Ethan’s ear before walking out of the kitchen. Ethan stayed there, continuing to sip on whatever was in his red solo cup.
Fez didn’t know what compelled him to go to the kitchen, but he walked over, trying to hide the disappointment in his face. He landed next to Ethan and Fez grabbed a cup and some vodka and started pouring.
“Hey, you’re Fezco, right?” The mousy boy inquired. Fez gave him a small nod. “I’m Ethan.”
“You used to date Kat right?”
“Oh… yeah. God, sometimes I forget I even dated her,” Ethan nervously laughed. “I’m so much happier with my new girl. She is… incredible.”
While Fez felt pained at the thought of Lexi being with someone else, he couldn't be mad at Ethan. The guy seemed nice and Fez couldn't fault him for having goo taste. And at least he noticed how incredible Lexi was. Fez lifted his cup to Ethan’s. “Well cheers to that. You and Lexi seem to be a good fit.”
Ethan face scrunched up. “Oh, I’m not dating Lexi,”
Fez felt like a giant weight got lifted off his shoulders. "You're not? You two seemed pretty cozy earlier.”
“Oh no, my girlfriend’s name is Bobbi. Lexi’s just my friend. I’m in her play. Funny story, I'm actually playing a character based on her mom,” Ethan let out a small chuckle. “Besides I’m pretty sure Lexi’s already got a guy…”
“She does?” Fez tried not to sound too panicked, but he felt all of the pain rushing back towards the surface.
“Yeah she is always texting this guy and giggling at her phone. She was telling me about how she watches 'Little House on the Prairie’ with him and how he’s a huge reason why she’s putting on her play. Poor girl is down bad.” Fez stood there dumbstruck by Ethan's words. “I just hope the guy appreciates her.”
Fez nodded. “I’m sure he does,” Fez felt embarrassed that he was worried about Lexi and Ethan and a little flattered that she was talking about him to her friends. It was all so overwhelming and he needed to cool off. He headed towards the bathroom and just as he reached the door, Lexi was opening it and walking out.
Her eyes lit up and Fez was sure his looked the same. “Fezco! Hey!” She squealed. “This is a surprise. I didn't know you were here.”
“I hope it’s a good surprise,” Fez said as he grabbed her hand with his, feeling a little more confident after his talk with Ethan. “You look beautiful Lex.”
Lexi’s cheeks turned slightly pink, like they did whenever he complimented her or grabbed her hand. “Definitely a good surprise. And thanks."
“You havin’ fun Lex?”
“Yeah!” She let out a little giggle with her words. “Even better now that you are here.”
Fez couldn't contain the blush that crept up his cheeks. “You makin’ me blush shawty,”
Lexi gave Fez's hands a squeeze and inched closer to him. “Well, you always make me blush so it’s only fair.”
“You just gotta get better at takin’ compliments Lex. I never said nothin’ that wasn't true about you.”
Lexi gave him a sincere look and Fez noticed her chest rise and fall before she mumbled, “Neither have I.”
A moment of silence fell over them as they looked into each other's eyes. After what felt like a couple minutes, Fez spoke. “Where are your theater friends?”
“Oh they are here somewhere,” Lexi offered offhandedly.
Fez cleared his throat.“Well, I’ll let you get back to them,”
Lexi removed her hand from Fez’s and took a step back, disappointment flooded her face. “Oh right. I’ll leave you alone. I’m sure you have like… important business to take care of or something. I’ll get out of…”
“That ain’t it Lex,” Fez interrupted. He grabbed both of her hands this time and looked her in the eyes. “I just don’t want to interrupt your time with yo friends. Trust me, I would never turn down hanging with you.”
Lexi’s face grew even redder than before. “You’re just saying that,”
“Why would I fucking lie Lex? You are probably my favorite person. Like for real girl,”
Lexi beamed back at him, and if she weren’t a little inebriated, Fez would have kissed her right then and there. “Well, the feeling is mutual. And you are not interrupting my time with my friends. Ethan and Bobbi just got together,”
“You don't say,” Fez smirked, remembering his conversation with Ethan.
“Yeah, they seem so happy too. They are so sweet. They kept making sure that they both spent time with me separately all night to make sure I knew our friendships wouldn't change. But I was going to leave soon anyways to give them some alone time”
“That’s cool of them. We should hang with them some time,” Fez suggested, rubbing his thumb over Lexi’s hand.
“Fez, that is really sweet of you, but you probably don’t want to hang out with a bunch of theater kids,”
“Why wouldn’t I? You're a theater kid and I like hanging with you,”
“Well thats different because I’m your…” Lexi started but stopped herself. She looked unsure of herself.
“Because you're my girl?” Lexi blushed once again but nodded. He took their joined hands and kissed the back of her hand. “Lex, if you like them, I’m sure I will too.”
Lexi released his hands and wrapped her arms around his torso. Fez stilled for a moment before wrapping his arms around her shoulders. “You’re too sweet to me,” She mumbled against his chest.
“Nah baby, you the sweet one,” He whispered before pressing a kiss to her hair. “You said you were thinking of leaving. You wanna ride home?”
Lexi leaned away slightly to look Fez in the face. “Are you sure? I don't want to get in the way of your night,”
“You could never,” Fez brushed a piece of hair behind her ear and Lexi couldn’t fight her smile.
“Well, then that would be great. I’m gonna say goodbye to Ethan and Bobbi and let them know that I have a ride home,” Fez nodded at her. “Meet you outside?”
“Sure baby,”
“Okay…"Lex paused for a moment before going on her tiptoes and pressing a kiss to Fez’s cheek. Before Fez could respond, Lexi turned and walked out of the hallway.
Fez stood there dumbly for a moment, raising his hand to touch the spot where she kissed him. He felt like the luckiest guy alive to be leaving the party with Lexi Howard and to get to call her his girl.
Fezco sure was glad he came to this party.