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Jake will admit, he's never seen the point in school dances.
At least not for his own enjoyment.
Wearing fancy clothes, eating fancy food, doing fancy footwork, listening to fancy music... That all has the word fancy in it much too many times for Jake's liking.
But when Hailey asks Jake to go to a dance with him because, and he quotes: "Now that Zander and Luke are together I can't force one of them to go with me," He accepts based on the fact that it's Hailey, and Jake likes Hailey.
So now he's at a dance with Hailey. Dancing with Hailey. And it's fun, because he's trying to lead, but all he's really doing is stepping on her feet a bunch.
They both laugh, and Jake is glad he has a friend like her.
And Jake glances behind his date, just for a moment, and Drew's standing against a wall on the far side of the room, his face buried in his phone.
And Jake doesn't really like dances, but he finds this behavior absolutely inexcusable, so he does what any considerate best friend would do, squeezing Hailey's shoulder and gesturing with his chin. "Hey, is it okay if I ditch you for a bit? I gotta go force Drew to enjoy himself."
And he's a bit surprised when the teal-haired girl just smiles at him with complete understanding, because he knows his two best friends aren't very fond of each other. "Sure. I'm gonna go find Zander?"
"Yeah, we'll meet up later!" They share a quick hug and go their seperate ways, and if Jake's steps toward Drew are quicker than they usually are, the blond doesn't allow himself to dwell on it.
So Jake tiptoes his way over to the side of the room, and Drew's fancy clothes somehow manage to look really casual in a really charming way, and it's normal for Jake to be thinking about that, so he pays it no mind and- "BOO!"
Drew moves his eyes up slowly to meet his friend's gaze. Or, not really, because Jake doesn't like eye contact, and Drew usually takes to looking somewhere else too so Jake doesn't feel tempted. It's a little thing the shorter has always done and it fills Jake with a warm, cloudy feeling in his chest.
But Jake snaps out of that line of thought quick. "How's life?" He asks casually, leaning against the wall beside his friend.
"Boring." The states matter-of-factly, with a small smirk pulling at his lips that catches Jake's eyes, just for a second.
Then he remembers how to speak, and he moves from the wall to a position somewhat in front of the other, his head tossed back with an inviting smile on his face. "Wanna go outside?"
A moment of hesitance, and then Drew shrugs. "Yeah, okay."
And Jake grins just a little too large.
...
Jake doesn't quite know what the two boys' conversation is about.
The topics switch so rapidly that he can't pinpoint a single one.
It's like that with Drew. And Jake's perfectly fine with it.
Their suits are wrinkled, muddy from sitting on the cold grass of the outside world. Drew's hair is messed up from Jake playing with it, his tactile side wanting attention. Pulling at the grass didn't work.
His lungs squeeze at the inside of his chest when he realizes that Drew's not gonna push him away.
And he needs to say something, right now, because his face feels extremely warm all of a sudden, and he doesn't want the silence to linger long enough for him to start questioning it.
He's always worked so hard at stopping himself from questioning it.
So he blurts out the first thing that comes to mind. "Hey, do you wanna dance?"
And he swears his friend's eyes go wide, but they're back to normal before he can process it. "Um... We can't hear the music from out here."
Jake scoffs, getting up and holding out his hand. "So?"
"So, how are we supposed to dance without music?" Drew asks with a tilt of his head.
But Jake just shrugs. "We have the wind."
And a conveniently timed breeze goes by, and Drew rolls his eyes. But then he sighs, taking hold of the blond's hand and hoisting himself up.
"Fine." He says, with a rare, mischievous smile on his face. "But I'm leading."
"But I'm taller."
"And the biggest klutz I've ever met." Drew reasons.
And the blond can't really argue with that statement, so he gives up with an exaggerated groan, putting one hand on his best friend's shoulder. And the movement seems weirdly deliberate, especially when Drew gets into position with his arm around the other's back.
With their hands interlocked, Drew takes the first step, and Jake's a bit surprised at how easy it is to follow along.
But there's still the matter of his heartbeat. Which is so fast at the moment Jake is convinced he might actually be having a stroke.
He danced with Hailey an hour ago. She didn't give him a stroke.
Although, right now, in a moment where no amount of emotional repression can stop Jake from questioning it, he remembers certain things in a different light.
Like back in freshman year, when Drew defended him from that boy he knew in middle school, and Jake's heart fluttered helplessly in his chest.
Like how all those times they sat in Drew's room, sharing a beanbag while they played video games, and it made Jake giddy in a way he could never explain.
Like how special he'll never admit he feels when Drew smiles at him.
Like when they made up after their big fight, and Jake's relief was beyond even his understanding, and they hugged, and Jake felt right again.
...
Jake meets Drew's eyes just long enough to finally start questioning it. Because there's always been something about those eyes. Chocolate brown, dark, but with an almost golden sheen.
He always thought they fit Drew perfectly.
But thoughts leave his head when Drew looks back at him with a raised brow, and Jake has to look away.
And the moment seems to slow, as do their movements, until their hands drop back by their sides. And Jake wants so badly to touch him again, because now his hands feels limp and useless, and he balls them into fists to try and calm himself down before the familiar itch reaches his brain and he has a full-blown freakout.
But Drew's still just standing there, and as the taller's eyes flit across his face, he notices that the distance between them hasn't stopped his heart from pounding.
But seriously, he was just doing all this stuff with Hailey! He's about as close to her as he is to Drew at this point.
...
Are they closer than they were before? Like, physically?
Jake loses his train of thought. It's left the station, and Drew's face is right there, and Jake looks down at his mouth. Which is absolutely not weird, because Jake looks at people's mouths all the time, because eye contact is a bitch, and Jake really wants to kiss Drew right now.
...
Oh.
And every question that Jake's ever stopped himself from asking floods through his head, because Jake wants to kiss Drew.
Which is very inconvenient, because Drew is as straight as a ruler, or an uncooked piece of spaghetti, or the constellation Hunter, or something else extremely straight that Jake can't think of.
And also, this means that Jake himself isn't straight. Meaning now he has to deal with that.
And also, their faces are really close together right now, and the impulsive side of Jake wants to just let it happen, especially with how Drew's looking at him with soft eyes and red cheeks, which makes the taller question his previous ruler/pasta/hunter theory.
But Jake's anxiety and inner gay panic kicks in, and he fumbles to take a step back before whatever is going on can continue going on, and when he scrambles for an excuse, all his blank-ass brain can think of is, "I- I should probably go find Hailey."
He jabs his thumb behind him, and when Drew's shoulders drop, the other's stomach follows suite.
"...Okay."
"Okay..." Jake says, because it's all he can think of to say, and before he can take it all back and jump right into his best friend's arms, he turns on his heel and walks back inside.
...
He doesn't find Hailey again that night.