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Hermie had about a thousand questions, but had decided that it wasn't the time to ask them. Normal had been on the verge of tears since that weird vision of his dad and uncle (and Link showing him up in a million different ways hadn't helped), Link had thrown up his goddamn soul in the mascot costume now, Scary looked more frustrated than Hermie had ever seen, and Taylor was seemingly okay, but they were all covered in pus and blood. The driver had been less than excited about that when the kids got in, but Taylor simply swiped a card and punched in a number that made the man shut up fast. It was a little too silent for the method actor to feel comfortable, but he sure as hell wasn't going to be the first to talk after that.
"Who am I dropping off first?" the driver asked awkwardly as the teens stared at either shoes or hands or phones.
"Hermie," Taylor said plainly. "The, ah, the kid that showed up in a tux and is now wearing a"-- a chuckle escaped the anime fan--"a different tux."
"I, uh," Hermie said apprehensively. "I was actually wondering, Normal, if I could spend the night? You've had a... an evening and I imagine I wouldn't want to spend the rest of it alone after that."
"You don't have to, Hermie," the mascot said quietly, pulling at the hem of his tux jacket
"I know," the actor said gently. "I just don't think my mother and father would be too thrilled about me coming home covered in zit juice, though. I feel it would be a challenge to explain, and since... you guys have... whatever's going on with you guys, it, ah, it might be easier to explain to yours."
"Yeah, no, that's fine," Normal said quietly. "My mom actually works till close on weekends, so she won't be home for a couple hours. My sister might grill us, but she probably won't give a shit."
"Okay, so Normal and Hermie are gonna be dropped off first, then," Taylor said awkwardly, staring a little too intensely at his phone.
The ride to Normal's house was eerily quiet, and goodbyes were short and curt. The shorter of the two unlocked the door and they were immediately greeted by a girl with sandy blonde hair and teasing excitement that was quickly replaced by concern. She looked a lot like her brother. "What the hell happened, kid?"
"There was a small fire, and the sprinklers went off," Normal said, which wasn't an entire lie, but his tone was a telltale sign that it wasn't the whole truth.
"Oh yeah," she said with an eye roll. "Just normal dance stuff."
"Hero, this is my friend Hermie. He's gonna spend the night," Normal said shortly, shutting his sister down. "Hermie, this is my sister."
"Nice to meet you," Hermie said awkwardly, scratching his neck. He was ordinarily never shy, but walking into her house covered in pus made him feel a little nervous.
"Yea, nice to meet you, Hermie," Hero said, clearly confused, but not pressing for answers which the boys clearly didn't want to give.
"C'mon, Hermie," Normal said weakly and heading toward a hallway. "You can get a shower in my bathroom and borrow some of my clothes." He led Hermie into a decent sized bedroom will a full sized bed and various school memorobelia and a few video game and movie posters all over the gray walls. "I know I... haven't really expressed it, but I'm, ah... I'm glad you're spending the night, man." He reached into an already open drawer and grabbed two pairs of athletic shorts before opening another drawer and grabbing two t shirts, handing one of the sets of clothes to his taller friend.
"I... I imagine with what your dad said, and, uh, and all the shit that Link did, you might enjoy some company," Hermie said gently, taking the clothes, which would probably be a little big on him.
"Thanks, man," the sandy blonde said with a small, sad smile. "Bathroom is through that door. Grab a towel off the shelf. Just shove your tux in the basket. I'll make sure to get it washed and get it to you soon." He pointed at a plain white door that had ticket stubs and posters from school events pinned to it. "Sorry about the mess."
"Worry not. It can't be half as bad as our school's locker rooms," Hermie chuckled lightly as he entered the bathroom and shut the door. The counter was a bit cluttered, and there was a pile of laundry right beside a half full laundry basket, but other than that, it was cleaner than Hermie had genuinely expected. Now, there was only a bottle of head and shoulders in the shower, but he honestly wasn't expecting much else. He turned on the shower and pulled off wet clothes that stuck to his skin in the most unpleasant way before dropping the wet, gross clothes in the basket. He hadn't been planning to wash his hair tonight, but it didn't exactly feel right to leave pus and blood in his black jaw length hair. He stepped into the stream of water, which immediately started washing the gunk away from his face and hair. The pus hadn't made direct contact with his skin, but oh boy did that pus soak through his tux. He scrubbed at his skin and hair until he was sure there was no more caked up zit juice in his hair or on his pale skin, and then he scrubbed for a minute longer. He hadn't let himself be truly grossed out until he was in private. No reason to stress Normal out any more than he already was. He turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. He reached for a towel off of the shelf that hung beside the shower and dried himself off, rubbing furiously at his hair. He grabbed Normal's brush and ran it through his hair before pulling his hair into a bun. He pulled on Normal's clothes, the San Dimas High shirt a little big, and the waistband of the athletic shorts was about two sizes too big. He tightened the drawstring as much as he could before shoving his phone into his pocket and stepping out of the bathroom.
Normal was just sitting on his bed with his back against the wall, staring intensely at his phone, with red eyes and wet hair. He barely looked up as Hermie stepped out of the bathroom and walked over to sit beside him. After a moment of deafening silence, Hermie spoke. "Do... you want to talk about it?"
"About what?" Normal chuckled weakly, dropping his phone on the dark blue covers and pulling his knees up to his chin.
"Maybe... Maybe about your dad?" the actor suggested, turning his body towards his date's slightly. "I didn't catch all of what he... what he said, but what I heard sounded pretty shitty."
"No, he..." Normal started, immediately stopping and letting out a short, biting laugh. "He was right! I'm a fucking freak, and he has no reason to be proud of me. I can't make friends for shit, my entire fucking personality is a goddamn costume that I'm apparently the worst at wearing, and I smell like shit!" He turned his head away slightly. "I... I'm just in the way. I'm just a freak that's in the fucking way."
"Your social game isn't as bad as you think, my friend," Hermie chuckled sadly, placing a hand on Normal's arm. "I mean you have at least four friends at this point, and you got a pretty hot date to the dance." He laughed lightly, and even the boy on the verge of tears beside his couldn't contain a small snort. "And you don't smell like shit at the moment. You smell fine now that you've showered, but... I imagine it's hard to make yourself shower when you're in the headspace I imagine you've been in, which is understandable. And, by the way, Teenie the Teen isn't supposed to be a cool role. He's a fucking dweebus who encompasses the high school experience. The real Teenie doesn't know how to do a popular dance, or be a hero. He's just a freaky little teen."
Normal huffed out a small laugh and a shrug. He turned back to Hermie, tears having spilled over his pimple scarred cheeks. "Maybe... But that shit doesn't make my dad any more proud of me. He's fucking ashamed of me, man. The man had the fucking audacity to name me Normal after his wife carried me for nine goddamn months, and I can't even live up to my fucking name. It'd be better for everyone if I wasn't even fucking here."
"You know," Hermie chuckled with a small arrogance, "I don't exactly live up to my name either." This pulled another small laugh from Normal. "I'd say I'm pretty fuckin' worthy, but, man, your dad... He probably still cares about you. He's got a really fucked up perception of what you need to be happy, and he's got a really fucked up idea of what he should be proud of in a kid. I know I was kinda an asshole when we decided to go to the dance together, but that... that was a character. I was playing a character. You play a role you understand, and I admire that. I strive to be that. I had fun at the dance, even though it was wild as shit and I don't even understand what happened. I had a nice time with you, Normal. I'm proud of you. You play your role great, and I'd say that you did good in the role of just a 'normal' teenager, too, but you don't have to be normal. Not for your dad's sake. I'll be honest, I think he's a piece of shit."
"Hermie," the blonde said quietly, leaning on the taller boy a little, making him unconsciously wrap his arm around his shoulders. "I... You're not playing a character right now are you?"
Hermie wracked he brain for a moment. Not the Joker, not JD from Heathers, not the gritty reboot Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast. "No, I don't think so." He smirked and squeezed Normal's shoulder. "This is all naturale, baby."
Normal let out a small laugh. "Good." There was a minute of comfortable silence that was cut only by sniffles before he spoke again. "Hermie... I can't say I had a nice time tonight, but I... I enjoyed going to the dance with you." He was quiet for a moment longer, thinking. "By the way... you look nice in a tux, but I like you in our school colors."
That made the boy's heart skip a beat. He didn't know what the fuck he was feeling in that moment, but he knew he hadn't felt it before. It was like something was broken in his chest, making his breath catch in his throat. His mouth became dry as he looked down at the boy that was now curled slightly into him. His heart rate picked up in a way that he was sure could only be adrenaline. Was he in danger? Did something trigger a response to danger? He didn't feel like he was in danger. Yet he felt like his skin was burning where he was now hyper aware that Normal was touching. Along his side and arm and shoulder felt hot. It wasn't that he agreed with Normal. He thought it was important to look your best at all times, and a t shirt didn't accomplish that, so why did his heart swell with pride when Normal said that he liked him in their school colors? He could only like it to what was described in books when someone was with someone they loved romantically. Hermie had never had time for true romance, not with plays and getting ready for roles, but he knew what it was like to act in love.
"I..." Words caught in his throat as Normal seemingly burned his skin. He wasn't entirely sure that after the night he had had that he wouldn't look down and see actual flames. "Thanks. You, ah... You looked really good in a tux. It was... It's been nice to see your face for longer than a couple minutes at a time." He ran a hand up and down Normal's shoulder.
"Hermie," Normal said after a few quiet seconds. "I... Did I embarrass you at all tonight?"
Hermie audibly snorted. "Baby, I'm a theatre kid," he said smoothly. He squeezed the shorter boy's shoulder tight and leaned his head against Normal's. "It takes a whole lot more than that to embarrass me. I don't really know what happened tonight, but I'll be honest, it was fun for me, other than the fact that you were miserable. You don't have to explain now, but at some point, I wanna know what the hell happened. Right now, though, you've had a rough night. I wanna be here for you."
"I appreciate that," the blonde whispered, almost to himself. He then turned faster than Hermie could even register and wrapped his arms around the actor, burying his face in his shoulder. It took Hermie a minute to realize he was being hugged, but when he did, he held onto Normal tight.
"I've got you, Normal," he said gently. "I know your dad wants you to be normal, but I think it's more fun to be a freak. Especially when all of your friends are, too. I'm sorry if you have to pretend to be just a normal teenager for your dad, but..." He paused, pulling away from the hug slightly and pressing his forehead against Normal's, whose now dry eyes stared thoughtfully into his own. "I think I like you better as a freak. We can be freaks together." He smiled softly.
"I'd like that," Normal muttered, again, almost to himself. The two sat like that for a minute, just staring into each other's eyes. "You wanna watch Joker and explain all of the ways it revolutionized cinema and all of the commentary on society?"
"Normal," Hermie chuckled, tilting his head up and planting a kiss on Normal's forehead. "It would make me the happiest man in the world."