Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Saint Cassian’s chamber choir, may I have your attention, please ?!” Ocean cheered happily from her spot at the front of the choir room. 

Choir was supposed to end soon, and usually, the last few minutes were reserved or cleaning up, packing your bag, and talking. Today, Ocean was using it for something she deemed much more exciting.

Everyone was happy to turn to her, seeing as she was in a good mood and all. Except Mischa of course. The only good thing he ever had to say about choir was the fact his involvement in it would be done when they graduated soon. 

Ocean, Constance, Noel, and Ricky had all been friends since kindergarten, all growing up in their dead-end little town. They were all fairly close, especially when you considered the other populous the school had to offer. When Penny showed up she fit in super well, especially since she became Ricky’s girlfriend halfway through their senior year. But despite Mischa being there almost almost two years now, he had not warmed up to anyone, nor was he trying to. 

He still seemed miserable and aloof to them. The first half-year or so when he first joined the choir he was loudly complaining, being rude, and spending most of his time on his phone. But for some reason when suddenly he showed up one day with no desire to touch his phone, his demeanor changed too. For months he seemed just defeated being there, choosing to ignore everyone. And now he just seemed to be exhausted and willing to do any minimal thing he could do to graduate and get out of here. 

The choir wanted him to be a part of their little chosen family. How sad was it when you had a tight-knit family making up your choir but then there was one person who wasn’t? Mischa seemed to show no desire to join in on their pre-show rituals or after-school hang outs, but they still felt bad. Because if he wasn’t doing that with them, and he certainly wasn’t doing it with the much harsher rest of their school, who was he spending time with? 

He hadn’t been outright rude since junior year, and most of them just worried about him. They’d sometimes still try and include him, but it’d be met with huffs or groans and disinterest. So it had mostly stopped. They weren’t scared of him, just put off by it all. said his attitude was just 'too cool for everything'. the others who he was forced to be around more, the choir, had a suspicion after a few too many sad looks, he was just lonely and frustrated. Still, they could only do so much. If he didn't want to be their friend, they couldn't force him. They'd be out of school soon anyway. Besides, maybe even without friends, he had some really great parents, right? 

“Mischa,” Ocean sighed, not wanting to pull her ‘choir captain’ card but needing him to listen. “That includes you, whether you joined deliberately or not, you are a member of this choir!” 

Mischa made a big dramatic show of turning to face her, groaning as he leaned over in his chair, giving her a ‘happy now?’ look. She was. Because nothing was crushing her spirit, not today, not with the big announcement!

“As you know I am not only your choir captain, nor am I only this class's upcoming valedictorian, nor am I-”

“Point please, Ocean?” Constance spoke up, noticing the girl going into one of her rambles about herself. 

Ocean gave a guilty little look, rocking on her mary-janes for a moment, and continuing. “Anyways, I’m also class president! And if you haven’t been checking your calendars, you might not realize it’s May ! You know what that means, right?!”

“It means we almost get to leave this dumpster school?” Mischa asked her, even when Ocean was certainly not looking for him to answer or be so negative. 

She was going to scold him, but then noticed Noel let out a snicker and chose to go after him instead. Yelling at Noel was easier since she was a friend, and he knew to not take it seriously. Mischa could and has in the past taken very poorly to her criticism, so it was best to avoid it. Especially when she hasn’t even said her announcement yet!

“Noel!” Ocean gave him a look.

“Me?” Noel scrunched his face. “Oh, whatever, you know he’s right.”

“I happen to love our school!” Ocean said in it’s defense, even though she knew Noel had good reasons to hate it and always had. “So no, he’s not right, he just so happens to share an opinion with you!”

Noel rolled his eyes and waited for her to get to her point. Something she was always terrible with. She called him a drama queen, but whenever there was any sort of news, big or small, no one out-drama’d Ocean O’Connoll Rosenburg.

“The thing that’s coming up is the prom!” She said loudly like it was obvious. 

She paused for a reaction. Constance gave a round of applause which she accepted with a flashy smile. Penny and Ricky shared a smile, already knowing the best part would be getting to go together . Noel gave a shrug. Mischa said….something in Ukrainian she didn’t understand. He was definitely the least enthusiastic. 

She didn’t think it’d leave him jumping for joy, but this was prom. Senior prom! How could anyone hate that?! 

“I know, pretty exciting,” She nodded, ignoring the neutral and negative looks from the boys. “But it gets better!” 

“How does it get better than our prom?!” Constance said dreamily, already picturing it as the best night of her high school career. 

“Well, since nobody ever signs up for prom committee, this year the school said I could pick any team I wanted!” Ocean smiled. “Of course, I still have some help from the rest of student council, but the three other members aren’t enough, and I thought who better to help than my choir?!” 

“Wait, are you saying you want us to help you set up the whole damn prom?” Noel asked, brows raised. 

“No, what I want is you to stop cursing!” She chastised. “What you’ll be doing whether you like it or not, is helping with the prom.”

“Whoa, what does ginger mean by that?” The declaration caught Mischa’s attention. 

“I have a name!” Ocean reminded him. “And what I mean is, I already submitted my desired committee to the principal and he said if you don’t get a say.”

“Why the hell would you do that?!”

“що за біса?!”

“Yay!” 

The two boys turned to look at Constance, too happy, not reading much of the room at all. She shrugged and mouthed a ‘sorry’ to Noel, ignoring Mischa.

“I thought we’d all enjoy this, and not have a problem with it! I thought my friends would enjoy doing a fun thing with me!” Ocean said.

“Wait, friends?” Mischa felt a spark of hope. “So not me then?”

“Uh, listen…..” Ocean sighed. “I know you’re not really our friend, but, you are a part of the choir and…..okay, I’ll just admit it, I needed someone strong to help with the heavier stuff, okay?”

“So I am being punished for being stronger than limp noodles that go to this school?” Mischa scoffed, a bit outraged. “Penny is strong! I’ve seen her wheel Ricky up big hill once! And everyone says Noel is weak but-”

“Okay if your best argument is Penny and Noel you must understand why I need you, you don’t have to like it, but you do have to accept it,” Ocean told him. 

“Or what?” Mischa challenged her.

“Or every time you skip out on time you’re supposed to be helping without an approved absence you get a detention, and based on your record? You can kiss graduating and getting out of this ‘dumpster school’ goodbye!” Ocean smirked. It was a bit mean, but so was he sometimes, and she loved to get her way.

Mischa shut up at that, having no argument left. He’d just punch or kick something later.

“Anyways, I don’t have the schedule and the lists all drawn up yet, but I’ll have them in time for choir practice on Monday!” She shared, happy with the idea of making lists and schedules over the weekend. She could even break out her colorful gel pens! “But, I do have something I can give you guys!”

She handed out a few strips of paper to them. They all came from the same page she printed from their ancient printer in the library, and she’d cut them to save paper and the planet. Some habits of her parents just stuck, and something as simple as that just seemed responsible regardless. 

“What is this?” Noel said after reading the paper. 

It said: SCSeniorProm.com

“It’s the URL for the prom website!” Ocean said happily. 

“Prom website?” Noel questioned still. “For a graduating class as small as ours?”

“Quantity should never affect quality!” Ocean said, a little bit of a lesson in there she was sure. “Besides, Ricky helped set it up and they said they were happy to do it!”

Ricky nodded to show they actually were happy to do so. Ricky loved coding and all, so getting a real job to do it? Even if unpaid and for a client as anal as Ocean, he was happy to do it. 

“You didn’t tell me you did that!” Penny smiled, proud of her partner, even if she hadn’t seen the site yet. She knew he’d go above and beyond what they needed, even if the website would only be used for about a month by people they mostly didn’t like. “That’s so cool!”

Ricky began to sign, ‘I can’t wait to show it to you, Pen, you coming over after practice?’

Penny nodded excitedly, no place else she’d rather be right now. And before anything else could be said, the clock struck four-thirty. They always knew when it did because Mischa had an obnoxiously loud alarm set to go off on his phone when it did, so he never accidentally stayed longer than he had to. 

It made everyone stand up to leave, except Ricky who was now almost exclusively using their wheelchair. Ocean was already standing, of course, a bit frustrated that she was losing everyone and lacked the power to keep them longer. 

“Don’t forget to check out the website when you get home!” She called out before adding a “Mandatory!” for Mischa and maybe even Noel’s sake. 

Noel rolled his eyes one last time as he walked out of the choir room and down the fakely lit hallways of their school, wincing as the one tile light on the ceiling flickered and made his head hurt. 

He got out into the parking lot and began his walk home, now more than ever that it was getting hot outside wishing he had a car. He used his mom when he had shifts at the mall but she needed it during school hours. The sun was shining brightly and his uniform was not made for walking a mile in the heat. 

When he eventually got home and annoyingly threw his messenger bag on the floor by the door he decided he should start his Friday off with a shower to get the sweat off of him. Ocean’s stupid little website could wait for that long. 

After the shower, he realized he had about an hour before he had to leave for his shift that night. He sighed as he realized he’d have to spend some of his limited time going on the website, but he knew Ocean well enough to know she wasn’t kidding. If he didn’t log on and give her some sort of proof she’d blow up his phone all weekend long and then yell at him on Monday. It wasn’t worth that. Besides, he knew Ricky was great at coding and was a bit curious about what he’d do with the site. It was actually more like seeing what Ocean let him get away with doing. 

He typed the website into the search bar, a fairly simple URL to remember, no need to walk all the way back downstairs to grab the paper. She could have also just texted them, but it was Ocean. 

The website popped up and he was a bit confused to notice a login screen. Perhaps it was a website for the people who were planning it only? And Ocean wanted to limit who could access or change things. He didn’t know nor care. He was still going to have to sign up. 

Noel reluctantly signed up and was shocked to see the website was set up really well. It almost felt like some social media page. To be fair though, Facebook started exclusively for Harvard students. Saint Cassian’s was no Harvard, and he was sure Ricky used a base code, but it was still impressive. 

He quickly noticed it was not just a small group of people who were here already. All those ‘popular’ kids and even others had managed to get here before him. Sure he had to stay after school for choir, but how did they even know about the website? He quickly seemed to gather it was linked up on the schools' website today. And he was sure if he ever checked the school website and saw them post about something he cared about he’d be early to it too. 

Prom just felt so superficial and cliche. Cheesy almost. Sure he might have some guilty pleasures in life, and sure some movies featuring proms or even a few little ideas of his own were included. But never in Uranium. If he was going to ever enjoy a prom it’d be far from here, with some hot European on his arm, and maybe even in a dress. That seemed impossible here for so many reasons, but mostly the lack of guys Noel would date even if they liked boys. 

Noel noticed a pin post, from Ocean whose username was just Ocean O’Connel Rosenberg. Real Creative . He at least had some fun with his. He chose Monqiue, after the character he’d come up with. Monique would not care much for any prom but her name could still protect him from being targeted the same way any user named Noel would be. There was only one Noel at their school and he was universally known and hated by most of them. 

Ocean O’Connell Rosenberg: Prom Planning has just begun and we want YOU guys to be able to have a say on some things! So first poll? PROM THEME! Feel free to also suggest things not included on the poll in the comments! If it gets enough likes we’ll add it to the poll and shortlist!

Noel looked down at the list and thought they all sounded pretty lame or boring. If he had to help plan this, if he would probably be forced to attend all dateless and uninterested, he felt he should at least try to get a theme he liked. And once he thought about doing that the option was clear.

Monique: Paris, duh!

The duh was mostly put in there for Ocean’s sake. Because how dare she not even make that a theme! It wasn’t so outlandish she couldn’t include it, he’d heard of proms and dances with the theme. He knew she knew he’d like it, but no we have to suggest themes like ‘Under The Sea’ and ‘Winter Wonderland’. Canada had far too much winter for him to ever want to turn summer into that and what the fuck did ‘Under The Sea’ have to do with anything?! This was prom, not a Little Mermaid sing-along. He could smell the plastic fish decorations already and he hated it. 

He noticed he already had some notifications from the time he took to zone out in his negative thoughts. He clicked on the little bell and it took him down to his comment. He was shocked to see he had ttwo replies already. People really cared about this dumb little prom, huh?

Caitxoxo: Um, how about not?!

Soccerstar98: more like EW, duh!

He frowned. Even as Monique people were finding a way to be horrible. Noel quickly wondered if there would be any form of moderating on the website. He knew the school wouldn’t want this being some ‘anything goes’ website, but did any of the old people who ran their school know the internet well enough to know what moderating even was? He trusted Ricky would have at least considered it though and was happy to find a report button. It wasn’t quite enough to report over, but he was glad he had the option with such nasty comments after only a few minutes on the site. A site he was being mandated to check on. 

Then he saw another notification. Oh great, another one.  

He still clicked it, ever the masochist for social pain, especially with such little easy access. Social media was too easy to get sucked into, and he knew he couldn’t be on the site the next month and let all the notifications pile up. He needed to know now, even if it was bad. 

Surprisingly the response wasn’t to his comment, but to the two replies to his comment. From a totally new person. 

Badegg: Stuck-up bitches aren’t qualified to give their thoughts on the theme idea

That also wasn’t what Noel was expecting. But it was the best surprise. He laughed, out loud , and stared in awe at the screen. Did this person, this Badegg , really just say that? It’d probably get reported, but not before he saw it, and possibly before they did too. That was the best feeling. 

Another notification popped up. He clicked it, already too eager to see one of these people reacting to that major diss, but wasn’t met with any responses. It was a request to add him. Add him? Ricky went above and beyond for sure. He noticed that adding really only did two things though, allowed you to private chat with them and also see any threads they started. He was suddenly too curious to not add him or her back. He also realized maybe he could try out the private chat feature with them before sending some complaints to Ocean with it. 

Noel clicked on the option to open the chat and started typing.

Monique: Thanks for the backup, nobody EVER wants to defend me. It was really nice of you :)

He didn’t know if he’d ever hear back, but as he closed his laptop and got ready to eat something before leaving for his evening shift, he secretly hoped he did, with a ridiculous smile on his face to match that of Badegg ’s, who Noel couldn’t see, but was happy to see his request was accepted and a new message was waiting for him in his inbox. From Monique . Who despite not recognizing the name of anyone at their school matching that, didn’t seem too terrible at all.

Chapter Text

Noel had been so tired after his closing shift, that after the nearly thirty-minute drive back home he all but collapsed on his bed. The only thing he had the energy to do was take off his god-awful uniform. Waking up in that would be worse than any nightmare his brain could concoct in his sleep. A reminder of everything he hated. 

Because he had no Saturday shift. And he planned to spend the entire day forgetting that Taco Bell even existed. 

Noel sat up in his bed, grabbing his phone off his nightstand where it was charging, and checked the time. Nine thirty in the morning. He was satisfied he slept in that much, it wasn’t a ton, but it was better than if he had school. 

He saw he had some texts, and after seeing Ocean was involved in whatever the thread was, ignored them. She was probably just talking to them about prom, which he didn’t have any desire to do. Especially when he’d just woken up. 

But he did have something on his mind he could sorta connect to the prom. That guy, who he assumed was a guy at least, something egg? It seemed like a faint and blurry memory, but not the basis of it. That some guy stepped in and defended him, for no reason, other than to just be nice. People didn’t do that for him. Ever. It was new, and nice, and made his chest flutter a bit. 

Why? That was his main question. It seemed so random. He was just some random person on the school’s prom website! They didn’t even know who he was, not that that would make a more compelling reason to help. But then it hit him that, they weren’t helping him, or even a random stranger, they were helping Monqiue. Which was a girl's name. 

Maybe this guy was assuming he could like, get himself a girlfriend, if he was all gentlemanly. Sure there was no Monique in school, but there was arguably also only one guy who would pick a girls name. And they probably doubted Noel would be anywhere near this sight. They didn’t know he was forced to. And it’s not like everyone went by their name, for all this guy knew, Monqiue was some character on the latest CW show. 

Fuck. Now he was terrified this was all just some sleazy act to get into some girl's pants and not actually be a good person. He was so stupid. Why’d he add the guy? Why’d he message him?! Oh god. He messaged him! He doesn’t even remember what he said, but now all he could think of was checking what it was and figuring out a way to unsend it. Or delete his account and start over with a different username. 

He logged into the website on his phone and then subsequently into his account. The mobile version seemed to work just fine. His entire face flushed with anxiety when he saw a notification, terrified of what he’d find. Either more horrible people, or a message back from this guy. He just really hoped he could get out of this easily.

When he clicked the notification it showed it was in fact a message back from Badegg . He opened the chat to see his own message and also the new one from this mystery user. 

Monique: Thanks for the backup, nobody EVER wants to defend me. It was really nice of you :)

Badegg: Is no problem and is not nice either. They were being bitches and I handed it back to them like they deserve. Let me know if it happens again, all you did was say an idea. Not cool.

Noel was expecting something flirty, or maybe even obnoxious. But this seemed to be what he expected the first time around. Just blind kindness. At least to him and not the other brats who’d attacked his perfectly good idea. 

Noel was still a bit curious, and when he saw a green circle next to his name, he questioned if Ricky had also added online statuses. Either way, he was going to message back. He was too curious now. He wanted it to be that this guy was nice, but his school was a sea of piranhas. He had to assume there was a catch. And that humanity would disappoint him like always. 

Monique: Hey

He figured it’d be a good opener. And if he was online, he’d know soon enough. 

Badegg: Hey it is Monique

Monique: oh…..my name isn’t actually Monique

Badegg: Figured since there is no girl around school with name Monique

Badegg: What would you rather I call you?

Noel thought about it, and even though he was definitely going to let this guy know he was a guy, he didn’t wanna say he was Noel Gruber. He figured they’d leave no matter what, so why add on a bunch of rumors about Noel’s username being some girl’s name? 

Monique: Still Monique, but the reason you don’t know any girls around school with that name is because i’m NOT a girl

Badegg: There is no boy around school named Monique either??

Noel was surprised. Not only was that the stupidest most innocently cute question he ever saw, but it wasn’t a message to tell him to fuck off. 

Monique: I’m not actually named Monique, it’s just my username. Just like you’re probably not named Badegg

Badegg: No. But is cool name, right?!

Noel couldn’t help but laugh a bit, sitting up more, and typing again. 

Monique: Right

Monique: Well thanks again for the help, sorry for bothering you

Noel was satisfied that at minimum, whether his intent was to be some fuckboy or not, this Badegg guy was not a douchebag. Nor a homophobe it seemed. That was a win for humanity, right? And himself. He went to close out of it when he say another bubble pop up and surprise him. 

Badegg: Was not a problem, I told you so before, did message not send?

Monique: No it sent. Did MINE not send?? I told you I’m a guy. 

Badegg: Okay? I am guy too. So what?

Monique: You don’t care?

Badegg: No?? I’m confused

Someone who went to their school, seemingly okay talking to some guy online with no ulterior motives, even when the guy s clearly not some uber masculine guy. Noel was sure he was now even more confused. 

Monqiue: Who is this?

Badegg: Secret. Who are you?

Monique: That’s a secret too. 

Badegg: Fair. But forreals, do not mind if you are guy. Why would that matter?

Noel didn’t want to explain it and scare this guy off, but he felt like he had to. Because otherwise he’d be talking to him for nothing. Just to be pulled away.

Monique: Well if you couldn’t tell from the name, I’m not exactly a straight guy. 

Badegg: I wasn’t flirting with you?? At least not yet.

Badegg: Why should that matter? 

Monqiue: You want to waste your time chatting with some gay kid on here when you could find someone else to flirt with? I sorta ruined that part of the plan. 

Badegg: Was not plan to flirt, but was not opposed to it.

Badegg: But I don’t have to flirt with you if you don’t want

Noel almost fell out of his bed. This guy was either ridiculously stupid, or he was insinuating he was okay flirting with him, after it was made clear he was a guy. 

Monique: No!

Monique: I mean yes?

Monique: I mean 

Monique: I’m confused

Noel cursed at how flustered this guy had mnaaged to make him after only a little bit of talking. He’d be more worried it was some homophobic set up but how would they have even known to find him. Besides, he didn’t admit he was Noel still. Maybe one of the kids Noel expected were in the closet came out behind the screen. 

Badegg: You are funny, no need to be confused

Badegg: I am guy, you are guy, we are both guys. And it changes nothing. You are not straight, and I am less than straight also. We can just chat and have fun. No need to worry or stress. 

It was weird since it was in some very informal text talk, but it helped calm Noel’s nerves a lot.  

Monique: Okay, we can just talk then, no big deal

Monique: If you’d like that I mean…

Even when less anxious, he was always going to be a bit awkward like this. He was talking to a “less than straight” guy who apperently went to their school! In thier graduating class! And he somehow seemed to think talking to Noel- or Monique- was worth his time? He had to check, maybe he was still dreaming. 

Badegg: Would love that :)

He pinched himself to check if he really was awake. And it hurt when his skin was squeezed, so he was. Holy shit. That was just an answer, that was flirting. Right?! 

He tried to calculate a worthy response. He didn’t know if he liked him yet, because he didn’t even know who it was, but it was a living breathing boy in their town who liked not only boys, but him it seemed. At least enough to have some flirty fun with. He’d never had that, and the fact he could now made him excited. He felt like someone more tha what the town always made him seem now, and he instantly connected that elated feeling to this guy. Maybe it was all adrenaline and surprise, but even after a few words, he liked this guy. Even with a stupid username, he seemed sweet. 

He’d never flirted before, in texts or in real life. It suddenly felt like the hardest thing to do. Like he knew nothing about it. And he was sure this guy was starting to worry about why he wasn’t responding. He needed to think fast. But then he heard a knock on his door.

“Who the fuck….?” Noel said, pulling his comforter off of himself and walking over to the window. He couldn’t see the door from there but he could see the driveway. He noticed Penny’s car immediately. “Jesus…”

Noel heard more knocking, this time a bit more aggressive. He looked from his phone to the door to his room, knowing he had to choose between them. When he hesitated a bit too long and the knocking was joined by Ocean’s shrieking for him to open up, he had to choose the door. 

He ran down his set of cricket stairs, hand still tight around his phone, and flung the door open. Standing there was Penny, Constance and Ocean, all seemingly relieved he opened the door. 

“Finally!” Ocean huffed. “What took you so long?”

“How about, why are you at my house?!” Noel shot back, still thinking it was too early for her attitude. 

“Didn’t you get our texts?” Ocean scoffed, walking past him into the home, the other girls following. 

“No, I tend to ignore any text from you,” Noel admitted, only half joking. 

“Well, we’re here now, get dressed!” Penny instructed. 

“Why? Where are we going?” Noel asked, noticing how excited they all seemed to be about whatever this was. 

“Dress shopping!” Constance cheered happily. “You know…for prom!” 

“Why do I have to go?” Noel asked them. 

“Don’t you wanna get something to wear for prom?” Penny asked him, equally excited at the prospect of a new dress. 

“I’m not going to prom, but if I was, I’d wear a suit.” 

Constance frowned. “That sounds boring.”

“It is, but it’s also the best way to avoid getting beat up.” Noel gave a sadistic smile, all too used to joking about these awful things. “Doesn’t matter though, I’m not going.”

“You have to!” Ocean told him. 

“You can force me to be on your committee but you can’t force me to go!” Noel made clear. 

“I’m not forcing you as class president, I‘m forcing you as your friend.” She said sincerely, her annoyed tone getting lost quickly. “You get one prom, and you should enjoy it.”

“Besides, how are we going to enjoy prom if we know you’re home alone?” Constance asked, earning an eager nod from Penny. 

“If i agree to go shopping with you guys, can we talk about this later?” Noel sighed, not looking to disappoint them with his fairly firm answer. 

They nodded, agreeing, just happy they were getting him to come along. Even if he refused to look at dresses, they knew Noel would be brutally honest about their own choices. He’d make a great fashion critic for their upcoming dress montage for sure if nothing else. 

Penny offered to make Noel some coffee while he changed to save time. The closest dress shop was at the mall, which was thirty minutes away, plenty of time for Noel to drown himself in caffeine. And hopefully, change his mind. Because they all knew Noel Gruber had always wanted to wear a dress, and what better excuse than to wear some beautiful extravagant prom dress?!

When Noel got up to his room to change, however, instead of changing right away he turned his attention back to his phone, not even fighting the giddy smile when he saw a new message had appeared. The boy was certainly not talking to him for pity, and that was a lot to process in the best way. 

Badegg: Sorry, still confused on answer about flirting….was too much?

Monique: Sorry I had to do something, and I have to go now but, when I’m on later, maybe you could try it out some more and I can figure out the answer myself :)

That would do, right? That was sorta flirting? Right? God he wished he knew what to do. Even when he wrote about Monique there was no flirting, there was foreplay. And she certainly never used social media! 

Badegg: Sounds like a challenge ;) see you then

Noel sighed contently after he read the message and shut his phone for the moment. He knew he could get way too caught up in it all, and he needed to not. He needed to get dressed before they started calling for him and asking about why he was being so slow. 

He got changed into something quickly and was headed out the door with the girls and his piping hot coffee a few minutes later. He called shotgun with Penny as the driver, the safest option to separate Ocean and Noel from being in the back together. Ocean was happy to sit in the back and show Constance some photos she saved on her Pinterest as inspiration while they drove though, so there was no fight. 

They got to their stupid ass Mall, Noel cringing as he walked past the Taco Bell , smelling the gross smell he swore he came home smelling like all the time and speeding up his walk. They eventually made it to the store, and while they were here early enough in the season that it wasn’t packed, there were other people there. 

“You sure you don’t want to look around for yourself?” Penny asked with a sly smile, hoping he’d just give into the side of himself he always felt he couldn’t show. 

“Yeah, I’ll just go sit over by the couch and criticize the dresses in the catalogs.” Noel said, a bit melancholy. 

It was clear to everyone, of course , that Noel would rather look at dresses. But he noticed one of the girls here from their school who definitely would say something. And he also knew he couldn’t buy any, nor try them on. He wasn’t going to prom, it seemed too self-indulgent to risk either ridicule or heartache over. 

“If you change your mind…..”

“I know where to find you; by the lace.” Noel finished for her, like she knew he could. 

She smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder to say her silent sorry as she left him to go find just that. She had her heart set on a white or off white colored 90s style lace dress. Might be a long shot, but she was going to try! 

Noel went to walk over to the couch, positioned perfectly in front of the dressing rooms so people could wait fro friends or dates to come out. Noel went to sit down when a dress on a mannequin caught his eye. 

The dress was a prom dress of course; it’s what they specialized in, but it wasn’t the kind of prom dress that made Noel cringe. Its fabric was long and patterned with deep red roses against its black background. It’s top was straight across but the actual bottom was circular, long enough to hit the floor but not drag too much. There were two perpendicular straps to hold it up, and while they looked removable, Noel couldn’t imagine why you’d take them off. Then to add to it all, a black floral lace overlay adorned it all, making it look so much more romantic. Small in detail, but made a difference. It was amazing. It looked like it could even be his. If he was getting a dress that is. 

He pushed the thought away quickly. He couldn’t have it, he just couldn’t . Which was fine. Where would he wear it to anyways if not prom? No, it might be perfect, but it would just have to be perfect for someone else. If if that someone else would never think to pair it with match lace gloves and-

“Noel?” 

Ocean’s voice called him out of his thoughts. She and the others were standing there, curious why he hadn’t sat down yet, a few different dresses each to try on. 

“Sorry….” Noel said, pulling his eyes away from the dress and sitting so his back was mostly to it. “Try not to bore me with your choice Oce, we should be able to tell you apart from the chaperoning nuns.”

Ocean stuck her tongue out, but with her hands full and a mostly great mood she had no other response. Noel hardly had the time to pick up a catalogue before Constance was the first to step out. The dress she had was nice but…..a little too much, even for her. Neon pink as Noel said, was a nobody kind of color. At least at prom. 

Then Ocean came out as Constance went back in, not wanting to show the other girls, not happy with it herself. Ocean’s dress was…nice. For Ocean. It was seafoam green and strapless, a heartneckline and a few layers of frills down the straight edged skirt. 

Ocean atleast liked it enough to view it in the mirrors they had outside the dressing room. She was smiling, but it seemed forced. 

“Ocean, you don’t have to like it,” Noel reminded her, amused by the typical Ocean behavior.

She turned to face him, looking worried. “I know but, I only found two dresses I lked, and what if I don’t like the next one?” 

“Then we keep looking?” Noel told her, giving her a small encouraging smile, sending her back into the dressing room. 

Penny timed out as the next person, and Noel was shocked to see her in something not lace. Don’t get him wrong, the dress was very Penny, but she’d mentioned lace. Not beading. 

“What do you think?” Penny asked. 

She was clearly considering it, her hair was pulled out of it’s braids and in some wild curls on her shoulder. She stood confidently, displaying the dress to Noel. While it wasn’t lace, it was still 90’s. The bead work wasn’t all over it, but where it was it was done in beautiful patterns of symplitic floral. The beads and the trim were black which popped off the muted mid-toned blue. It had paneling details and looked to be some sort of satiny fabric. 

“I love it,” Noel told her honestly. And he did. For her atleast. The blue wasn’t his style, but he couldn’t deny it looked good on her, and she seemed happy. It was a good choice. 

Penny pushed her hair behind her shoulders, revealing some skinny straps and went to the mirror. In that same moment Constance stepped back out. She seemed nervous, but Noel couldn’t help but smile at the most Constance dress he had ever seen on her. 

It had a corset top, full of sequins and sparkles and rhinestones, all in a rainbow style of clear that bounced off the lights as she shifted. The skirt was thick layers of tulle, all in a pop of purple, reminiscent of her hair, if only a bit lighter. She looked like some sort of cotton candy princess, which was exactly what everyone expected her to gravitate to. 

Before Noel could say anything Penny noticed her in the mirror. She turned and walked over a few more steps. “Oh wow! You look like you popped out of a game of Candy Land!”

Constance looked more worried as she looked at Noel. 

Noel let out a small laugh. “She means it in a good way.”

“Of course I do!” Penny beamed. “How else would someone take that?” 

“Isn’t it maybe…..too revealing?” Constance asked, playing with the skirt nervously. 

“Constance, you look exactly how I expected you to look, what are you going to wear? Some robe?” Noel asked her, trying to make her feel confident or at least, not care. 

Homophobes were keeping him from wearing a dress in general, the last thing he was going to let happen was let Constance’s fear of the fatphobes at their school commenting on it ruin her prom. Constance was the nicest and was so excited for prom. She deserved whatever dress her heart desired. And while Noel wouldn’t lie and say he thought it was nice, it was nice for her . And that’s all he wanted for her. 

Constance’s stance seemed to relax a bit, but she walked over to the mirror before saying anything else. Right as Ocean stepped out of the stall, this time, wearing a regular green dress and a real smile.

The dress was plain green all around, not details to it outside of the small double layered mermaid flare at the bottom. The top had straps and a straight across neckline. It was simple, mature, and classic. Exactly what he figured would suit someone as serious as Ocean best, even if it was prom. 

“Thoughts?” She looked at Noel and Penny, not sure if Constance was still changing. 

“Chic!” Penny smiled before going up to Ocean and grabbing her red hair, pulling it up a bit. “Even better in an updo.”

Noel nodded to agree, because she was a redhead afterall, and the dress was green. Best to separate the two. But he knew Ocean loved green, and the dress actually did suit her. 

She awkwardly turned a bit, Penny still holding her hair, so she could face Noel straight on. She wouldn’t admit she cared so much about his opinion, but she did. She felt if she could get Noel to like her dress, it’d be the equivalent of one of her teachers giving her an ‘A plus’ on a project. 

“I love it,” Noel said, meaning every word. He loved the dress, in a general sense, not just for her. But also for her, because she looked so happy, yet mature, and dare he say pretty? It was a big step up from viewing her as the same girl who wore pigtails until fifth grade. 

Before Ocean could even beam at the acceptance Constance had rejoined them and caught Ocean’s attention. 

“I still don’t know guys…” She mumbled, looking down. 

“Constance are you kidding me?!” Ocean said, now shaking out her hair, back on her shoulder. “That dress is a showstopper!”

“Really?” 

“Yes!” Ocean said. “How are we going to go to prom and have you not steal the show?! Any other dress you try on now will just be lackluster!” 

“It’s not too revealing?” Constance scrunched her nose. 

“Well, usually II would make a comment about slutty attire and-”

“Ocean!” Costance called her back, giving her a face to show she wasn’t talking about the dress being revealing, she was talking about revealing herself .

“Oh, Constance,” Ocea grabbed her hands and looked at her. “I’m going to say this once, and once only, and I’m not happy about it, but I see no other way to get this through to you; fuck everyone else.”

“Did Ocean just curse?!” Noel did a double take. 

Penny nodded as she tried to contain her laughter. 

“Well if Ocean’s going to curse about it, I have to get it,” Constance giggled, feeling Ocean squeeze her hands in support. 

“Only if you like it,” Ocean reminded her. “But I think you do.”

Constance sighed and exhaled loudly, finally admitting to it. “I do!” 

“And I like this dress!” Ocean smiled back, refusing to let go of the hands she held, feeling the waves of support and love they had for eachother rolling off them. 

“I love my dress!” Penny added on. 

“So then we’re done here?”

Everyone nodded, ready to go change and then head to the register and pay, before one last thing had to be said. 

“Unless you changed your mind?” Ocean was the one to try and get to his true desire this time. 

“Thanks but, no thanks,” Noel told them, an awkward smile as he shooed them back to get changed. 

Noel plopped down on the couch again, the corner of his eyes falling on the dress he’d seen before, making his chest pang a bit. There would be a day he could buy a dress. Sure it wouldn’t be anytime soon, not while he’s stuck in Uranium, and it wouldn’t be that dress, which he already managed to get attached to against his will, but he would have his day. Until then, this was about his best friends, who he could still honestly say he was happy for, and looked amazing.

Chapter Text

Noel stirred as he felt the natural light of the morning hit his face through the slats of the blinds. He could hear birds chirping, which they did every day, but he was still extremely confused. Because he didn’t ever remember falling asleep. 

He groaned, turning to put his face back in his pillow, when he feels a weight on his chest shift and fall down next to him on the comforter. He opened his eyes to see it was his phone. He always charged his phone before bed, but it was here in his bed and almost dead. 

He also noticed the time was a little bit earlier than he usually got up for school, but not enough to try and get any more sleep. It was Monday and he knew that meant no matter how tired he was, Ocean would be wide awake and peppy. For both choir practice and prom preparations. 

He felt more tired than usual and quickly recalled the night before, where he had stayed up until he passed out from exhaustion just messaging with ‘Badegg’. If you had told Noel he’d be wasting his precious sleep over anyone from their school, let alone some guy who thought ‘Badegg’ was a cool username, he wouldn’t have believed you. But even when he was fighting the yawns and the PM turned to AM, it was all with a ridiculous smile on his face. Because he was kinda perfect.

He knows it sounds crazy. How could the first guy who shows him attention always be perfect? Was it just because he was getting attention? But no. He really was. He always knew what to say to make Noel blush, whether he was trying to or not. He was funny, he seemed fairly smart, and he also hated their school with a passion. Not to mention he was a great listener. 

And from what he could tell and the amount of time this guy seemed to spend on him he liked him back too. Probably not as much, because god, Noel Gruber could never keep his cool with things like this. He romanticized every word. But even if it was enough to send some flirty texts and waste his time on him? That was all he needed to fall even deeper even faster. It would be sad if he wasn’t so Goddamn happy it made the old him sick.

He couldn’t help but want to go back and look at their messages with the extra few minutes he had. Relive whatever they last said before Noel’s eyes gave out and his mind dozed off. He could hardly remember himself once it had gotten closer to three am than two am. 

But then he saw an unread message, one he hadn’t seen yet. Why that made the butterflies fill up so easily he had no clue. He hadn’t even read it yet. It could be something rude….but yet, he knew it wouldn’t be. This ‘Badegg’ guy was the nicest and also clearly a romantic at heart. Everything he wanted, randomly fell into his DMs on Ocean’s stupid prom website. If only he was European and not some dumb Canadian.

Badegg: It’s been a while since you replied so I’m assuming you fell asleep. I miss talking to you already, but will wait for morning to bring you back to me. Sweet Dreams <3

Noel literally wanted to throw up, because how could he say that so casually?! He was dying . He’d spent so much of the weekend talking to him and yet every little comment made him wanna explode in a fiery blast of emotions. The good kind for once. He knew they’d mentioned flirting the very first time they talked, but god, he was so paranoid he wasn’t sure it truly was that. But this?! He couldn’t deny it was, in some form, flirting. And definitely gay.

What do you say to something like that?! In person he’d probably just sigh in some lovesick way. Like some Rapunzel in her tower, longing and loving over this man. But he needed an actual response. One someone who’s not some idiot could give. 

He thought for a moment, and despite it being very clear that flirting was welcome, he kept it safe. 

Monique: I did fall asleep, which is probably good since it’s Monday and we have school today. Thanks for the wishes but I don’t remember a single dream :( 

Noel figured it was good enough and got out of his bed to start the day. More awake, more alive, more everything good now that he’d read such a message from this guy he no doubt had a crush on.

He made his way to the bathroom and did his normal routine. Hair, teeth, a little bit of makeup; the works. By the time he was grabbing his phone to leave the bathroom and go change into his uniform, he saw an alert. He was awake!! … and he should not reasonably be this excited about that. But oh well, he was. If he couldn’t stop it, the least he could do is embrace it and hope for the best. Besides, he wasn’t expecting it to go anywhere beyond the screen, and the screen felt safe enough for him. 

Badegg: Good morning, Monique. Sorry to hear about your lack of dreams but I had many and they were just as lovely as you.

Noel doubted anything lovely could be compared to him. But maybe through a screen that wasn’t obvious? Maybe this was his chance to be appreciated in such a dead end town. He usually considered the majority of Uranium City residents to lack culture, but if he could call him lovely after talking to him about his French films and his dreams of escaping he was not one to be grouped in with them. Not that he didn’t already know that from their first few messages. 

This guy was charismatic, to say the least and smooth to say the most. He might not have had a single dream, might have even had a nightmare, but he wove the narrative around. He took what Noel said and made it about his appreciation for him. His face flushed as red as the vest he was pulling from his cramped closet.

Monique: That’s sweet. You’re always so sweet. I have no idea how you do it at six in the morning though, especially with how late we stayed up talking.

Badegg: Do not regret talking with you, do not regret sleep. Nothing energy drink can’t fix. You drink Monster?

Noel scrunched his nose, at the drink, but never the boy. 

Monique: We’ve talked for a long time over the weekend, do I seem like the type for that?

Badegg: No, but you are always surprising me. 

Monique: In a good way?

Badegg: Best way :) 

Noel wanted to be more bold, he had tried it a little bit a few times, and nothing had happened. But this was scary. Today was Monday, and while he wouldn’t know who it was, he’d probably see him in the sea of people today at school. It made him feel a bit shy, even with the lack of evidence to lead to him beyond being a gay kid at their school. Seeing as this guy wasn’t straight -Bisexual he had found out- and nobody at school knew though, he knew being closeted was a very real possibility for people. And it could lead to a mystery person beyond him too. 

Monique: I like coffee, that surprising? 

Badegg: No, but maybe is less surprining because I know you better now?

Monique: There is still a lot to learn about me, you still don’t even know who I am

Badegg: knowing who you are is not in a name or a face, it’s in a person’s truest thoughts. I know yours, they’re beautiful, and I know you as well. Equally as beautiful.

Who the fuck was this guy?! Forget him existing in their school, how did he exist on the planet Earth?! The only flaw was his annoying text shortcuts. Most text shortcuts were shortening a word, but this guy just skipped certain words all together. The sentiment was there though, so who cared how it was written. He was calling him beautiful no matter how you put it. 

Monique: You really do leave me speechless sometimes you know…

Badegg: In bad way?? 

Monique: No. Good way. Surprising way perhaps. 

Badegg: Then we both surprise eachother :)

Monique: Yeah, I think I like that :)

Badegg: I have to get ready for school. If i’m late there is this one girl who will annoy me to death. But I will see you there, somewhere, even if I don’t know it, and I will smile, for first time in that garbage school, for you ;) 

Noel wanted to respond, but again; what do you say to that?! God, even the people he wrote for Monqiue to swoon over and then hate herself for falling for weren’t like this. And he wrote them to be impossible not to fall for. This person was beyond that, and they were real. Monique wouldn’t be able to resist him, no, and maybe it’d be the one true time Monique lets herself accept love. Return it. At least before Noel’s pen can touch the paper and destory it all in some sadistic act of poetry. 

Noel finished getting ready. He got his stupid uniform on, finding an odd amusement at the fact this ‘Badegg’ guy would be wearing the same thing. That he had been for a while. That he’d probably even seen him wearing it, even if it was a red little blip in their hallway. Never attached to a name or a face, but just a memory even his brain would deem unimportant a mere few minutes later. 

He grabbed his coffee, in his travel cup to tote with him to school, and began the walk. He should have gotten some breakfast, but he’d been terrible at multitasking while messaging with ‘Badegg’ so he needed to save time somewhere . He’d consider a stop at the cafeteria if he had time, or possibly seeing what Constance had to spare. She always brought the best things from the bakery and even a day old they were better than anything Noel had at home to eat. 

When he got to school he stopped at his locker and while he couldn’t find Constance, found Penny. A great second choice for a helpful friend. 

However, getting to Penny was taking forever, even though she was just across the hall. And so had getting to his locker. And so had getting inside. Because every single guy he saw he had to stop and question; is that him?! 

There were people he obviously knew it wasn’t. Like girls. He could cancel every girl out. Not only did he say he was a guy but the idea of Noel falling for a girl, even on accident, felt all too impossible. 

Then he could cancel out Ricky, who had told him his username. It was WarriorCatsFan11. It was a bit outdated, apparently, it was his email when he was young and now he just used it for everything. He admitted he should probably update it now he was almost eighteen, but he had no ideas for anything better, so he left it. It was still a bit cringey, but oh well. The people who liked Ricky wouldn’t judge him and those who did dislike them would judge them for other things. 

He thought that was probably it, but then he saw Mischa Bachinski walk past him and knew he could add him. There was no way the scary and rude boy who refused to participate in our choir was ‘Badegg’. For starters he was the straightest looking guy ever . Then there was how nice and romantic this guy was. The opposite of the Ukranian. He could give him the credit that they both hated Uranium, but didn’t almost everyone besides a few oddities?! Definitely not Mischa. Not that he’d want it to be. 

Sure the guy was hot, and he’d definitely answer his dreams of a European lover, but he was a lot of other things too. The scowl he wore was almost worse than his awful backward cap. His attitude was so negative that while Noel understood negatives could never understand his extent. They would invite him to do things, fun things to make the most of choir, and he’d roll his eyes and leave. Even Noel wouldn’t do that. 

Besides what would Mischa be doing flirting on their school prom website?! Sure he gave off the vibes of someone who might want to flirt around- with a girl- even online. But he seemed like more of the obnoxious flirter. Not the kind who wove simple words into poetry and then deemed them fit to go next to some lame-ass emoticon. Endearing, cute, unique, but not the story of the angriest boy in town. Sure he had to log on, Ocean’s orders, but logging on was a lot different than what they did. Not they- Badegg and Monique. Very different and a whole lot better than any conversation he could attempt to carry out with Mischa. 

Not that he wouldn’t like to try and talk to him. Again he was hot no matter what else was wrong with him. And he felt bad for him. Even if he wasn’t amazing deep inside, he deserved to have someone in this school. Even as an acquaintance of sorts. He could be that if he’d only accept it.

He eventually got over to Penny, with only a few minutes left before they’d both need to head off to their respective classes. She was stuffing some things into her backpack, which was adorned with so many keychains and patches it would never be mistaken for anyone else's bag ever . Some of the things on it were creepy, some cute, some were somehow both. All very penny, especially the doll head keychain, without its body. 

“Penny, do you have anything I could steal off of you, you know, food-wise?” Noel asked her with a smile. 

She hummed in question before moving some books around in her lock to happily reveal a packet of fruit leather. That would work. Noel took it from her with a thankful smile. He wasn’t sure what flavor it was, or if it’d go well with coffee, but he wasn’t going to be picky. He realized he couldn’t open it with a full hand and asked Penny for permission to set his coffee down in her locker for a moment. She nodded and he did so, opening up the deep colored leather. 

Noel took a bite and made a bit of a face; Grape, the only flavor they made in fruit leather he didn’t like. Penny noticed the face, and went to apologize for not remembering, but he just smiled and continued to eat it casually despite it all. 

“Noel?” Penny asked suspiciously. 

“Yeah, Pen?” he said still chewing a bite a little bit, covering his mouth- and ridiculous smile- with his hand. 

“What’s with the Cheshire cat look?” She continued.

She wasn’t sure she’d be told the truth, but she wasn’t sure she cared. Seeing Noel happy? In school? That was rare. And she loved that for him. Besides, he had a great smile, he should show it more often. 

“I don’t know what you mean,” Noel said back. 

Penny would have accused him of playing coy, but he did genuinely seem confused. 

“The smile!” She screamed back happily. “You are like, glowing!” 

“Do I need an excuse to be happy?” Noel asked a bit shy and a bit playful, never dropping the smile through the accusations, just changing its undertone a bit through the motions. 

“Yes!” Penny said back before gasping in a horrible realization of what it could be. “Oh my god! Ocean didn’t get like, hit by a bus or something, right?!” 

Noel scoffed, somehow still keeping a fragment of his smile. “I wouldn’t smile over that! At least until I knew she was okay….”

“You two are so weird, especially you, because you won’t even tell me why you’re smiling, why you kept stopping and staring on your way over here, or why you’re eating a grape flavored anything!” She said, needing to know as the designated best friend. 

“Okay fine, but if i tell you you can’t just tell anyone and everyone!” Noel told her, ironically taking another bite of the gross leather. 

“Promise! Now spill!” Penny was practically bouncing with eagerness for this supposed new secret. 

“I met someone online and….I don’t know, it’s nice having another friend, okay?!” He said, blushing a bit against his best attempts. 

“Oh my god, Noel!” She sequeled. “I’m so excited for you! That’s so gay!”

Noel’s jaw dropped. “Penny!” 

“What? Too loud?” She looked around to see who was lurking around her end of the hallway. 

“No! Too presumptuous more like! I said friend!” He told her.

“Well your face says lover .” She said, trailing off with a bit of a happy laughter. 

“I didn’t even say it was a guy!” Noel blushed even more under her giggling. 

Penny tilted her head at him. “But it is, right?” 

Before Noel could confirm or deny, the bell rang out, saving him. 

His smile returned, even happier with the save than getting to tell someone about this incredible guy. Because Penny made things so extra and he wasn’t sure he was ready for that. Yet. 

“Sorry, Penny, can’t be late for class!” He chimed in before he turned to go. 

“Fine, if you won’t tell me, I’ll just do this!” She said waiting for him to turn around and watch as she brought his coffee up close to her stuck-out tongue. 

Noel rolled his eyes at the threat, taking the steps back towards her and his precious coffee. When he went to grab it, she quickly licked the rim of it, earning herself another eye roll from the boy. 

“Your spit doesn’t scare me,” He told her, taking a sip of it, unbothered. “At least not as much as going a day without coffee does.”

“Oh whatever, I’ll get it out of you eventually, Noel!” Penny said, closing her locker in defeat, a small pout gracing her lips.

Noel just shook his head at her. He loved her, he did. But she was a lot sometimes, in some of the weirdest ways imaginable. Licking his coffee cup? A bit gross, sure, but he’d live. He’d give her creativity points though, because if he was someone else it might have been a worthy threat. 

He’d tell her, not only was he not cruel but he needed to talk to someone about it all. But not now. And she could wait, hopefully. Or else he’d have to keep an extra careful eye on his coffee tomorrow. In case she upped the ante. 

The day went by. The unsatisfying fruit leather was eventually replaced with an unsatisfying lunch. The coffee ran out far too quickly. The classes ran on far too slowly. A typical Monday. And yet the silver lining in the form of his new ‘friend’ in his back pocket allowed a smile to stay on his face through it all. 

Monday meant choir too of course, and while he was not looking forward to it, he still went. Ocean wasn’t going to bitch at him and ruin this day, not even a chance. She’d still be annoying, but not as much as if he just skipped. Skipped and messaged ‘Badegg’, like he’d much rather do. He was probably free on Mondays after school, and Noel hated that he was missing time he could have with him. Even just an hour. It was what left him falling asleep messaging him and what would probably make it happen again very soon. 

Choir practice went as normal. Ocean was annoying but in the endearing Ocean sort of way. Constance got to work on her solo, and she did amazing. Ricky managed to help Father Marcus fix one of the old music players he had, so it wouldn’t skip when they needed to practice with music instead of the actual piano. Penny found another fruit leather, cherry this time- Noel’s favorite- and tried to bribe him with it. He still got to pocket it, but kept his lips sealed on ‘Badegg’, a sweet little victory for himself. And Mischa, well….he showed up? So it was a good day for their little ensemble act after all! 

After practice, despite the alarm to signal their ‘mandatory freedom’ as Mischa called it, they had to stay back. Because Ocean was in charge of the prom committee and she was choosing then to discuss some things with them. 

“Alright everybody, listen up!” She smiled just as happy as she had been friday, giving them all a bit of deja vu. “This is a meeting for planning the planning of the prom!” 

“That’s so stupid….” Noel said quietly to himself, so she couldn’t hear, picking at his nails a bit, more out of boredom than anxiousness. 

He heard something from the chair next to him and saw that Mischa had managed a quiet laugh at that. It made him feel proud. Mischa didn’t find much amusing. He turned his attention back to Ocean a lot less annoyed than he was a moment ago when he made the sly comment. 

“First off, we were able to get the result of the prom theme back, and drum roll please…..” 

Ocean waited for someone to give her something. Ricky shrugged and picked up some pencils laying on his music stand and gave them a good rattling on the metal, much to Ocean’s delight. It was a good makeshift drumroll, beyond deserving for the topic. Ricky was doing a lot that went above and beyond for this, even if he liked websites and the pencil drumsticks were still a bit minimum. 

“Starry Night!” Ocean threw her hands out happily. 

“That’s not a theme, that’s like, an atmosphere,” Noel told her, wondering how on Earth that was better than Paris. They could have stars in Paris. This was just going to be stars. In Uranium. No doubt in their crummy gym. 

“It sounds nice!” Constance said, seemingly on board. 

“Romantic too maybe?” Penny asked rhetorically, biting her lip a bit and looking to her partner. 

“Some people can appreciate a nice theme,” Ocean said happy with the majority of the reactions. “Besides, it got the most votes so, sorry Gruber, we’re doing it.”

“Whatever, at least it’s not that stupid Under the Sea one,” He said, leaning back a bit. 

Ocean frowned. She came up with that one! “Anyway, I figured it’d be best to split roles up into pairs! That way nobody is alone!” 

A round of quiet agreements rung out over top of Mischa’s ‘whatever’. He wasn’t keen on doing this, and while he didn’t want to be with anyone else, if it meant less work? He could just put up with them. Unless they were Ocean, which he doubted she’d do to herself let alone to him. 

“All the complicated bits like the finances and the bookings and all are going to my student council team! So we get to focus on the fun stuff! Constance, how would you like-”

Noel started to zone out at this point. He wasn’t stuck with Ocean. That was a win. He really didn’t hate her at all, it was all just a bit they did. But she was a perfectionist with a temper and he didn’t need to deal with that. She’d get mad at him for not caring enough and he couldn’t force himself to care. 

“Noel!” Ocean called him out of his own mind, which had started to wonder about what ‘Badegg’ was doing and if he could ever possibly maybe….be missing him? 

“What?” He asked her.

“You’re tall and while you’re not the strongest, Mischa made a good point, you’re not noodle arms anymore either so!” She said, pausing for a moment. “I thought you and him could handle decorations!” 

“What?!” Noel cried out. “I’m not-”

“Say what you want, Penny might be stronger than you by a bit, but she’s not tall enough, I need both! It’s you and Mischa!” She gave a ‘sorry’ shrug, not actually too sorry. 

“So everyone else gets to work with a friend and I get him?!” Noel said, so caught up in it all that he couldn’t even stop himself from sounding rude. When he did notice, he turned to him, a bit horrified. “I’m sorry, that came out wrong I-”

“Noel,” Ocean asked him to come over before turning to them all again. “That’s it for right now, but check the website for some details and schedules!”

Noel walked over to her, waiting for her to speak. 

“Look, it’s an uneven number and someone needs to be with him, to keep him in line more than anything,” Ocean explained. “Yeah you’re tall and that’ll help but, I think you might be the easiest for Mischa to maybe…take to?”

“What does that mean?” Noel asked her. 

“It means, maybe instead of freaking out, try and be his friend!” Ocean said, looking as Mischa packed up his stuff with a scowl on his face. “I still stand by the fact that boy would be a whole lot better off if he had one.”

Noel sighed, watching him as well, feeling bad again. For him and what he said. “You’re right.”

“Good, because you guys also have the hardest job, budgets the worst , so you’ll be making a lot of the decorations, even the big stuff.” 

“Ocean-!”

“See you guys online!” Ocean said, ignoring Noel’s protest as she spoke to the room, smirking at Noel. Their bit never died, and the smirk on her face said it all. Haha .

Noel went back over to Mischa, hoping to stop him before he left. Mischa’s bag was already on his back and he knew that he hated staying here beyond normal and he’d already had to for that fifteen minute prom meeting. 

“Mischa, i’m so sorry about what I said it wasn’t about you it was about…” Noel struggled for the words.

“Was about you, and you being stuck with me.” Mischa finished for him. 

Noel’s eyes widened, horrified he’d fucked it up and would be stuck with a Mischa that hated him more than his normal hatred for everyone. “No! I-”

“Was joke,” Mischa said. “Relax, you freak out too much.”

“Sorry.”

“You do that too much too, three times in last few minutes,” Mischa said, dissatisfied with it. “World will not end if someone doesn’t like you, trust me, I’m still here.”

Noel just thought that was sad . “Does that mean you don’t like me? Because it’ll be a lot easier if we can work together you know….as friends?”

“Friends?” He raised an amused brow. “Now you have jokes, Noel Gruber.”

“Why’s that a joke?” Noel asked, getting a bit more serious, still so confused and yet intrigued by this boy. “Don’t you want friends?” 

“Not at this school, everyone- no- most everyone is not dope at all,” He explained. 

“Well, you could give me a chance?” Noel said, trying to do his best to leave with some spark of hope for this. “Uranium sucks, I know, I’ve been here a lot longer than you, but I’m not my town and I’m not asking for the world.”

“What are you asking for then?” He asked, somehow miraculously still talking to him instead of just walking out. 

“Friendship?” 

“No.”

“Aquanitences?”

“Nope.”

“What about a good rapport?” 

“A what?!” Mischa had no idea what that word was.

Noel sighed, already frustrated to his core with him. “Nevermind, you know just like, some conversations, maybe a laugh or too?” 

“Sounds like too much.” 

“Well, what’s not too much?!” Noel felt like he was going to give up. “How about a smile? Could you manage one of those?” 

“One?” Mischa asked, using his words against him. 

Noel would start with any crumb he could get so he rolled his eyes and nodded. Ready for whatever poor display of a smile he’d get. 

Mischa changed his stance to stand a bit more upright, even with his overstuffed bag pulling on his back. He cleared his throat and looked right at Noel to dramatically and almost sarcastically smile. But the smile? Was surprisingly not what Noel expected. 

It was a soft smile, one that made him want to trace his lips along it’s fragile lines. And it exposed his teeth, which were white and had the most endearing gap in the center he’d never noticed before. He could almost get lost in it.

“Was that enough?” Mischa stopped his smile. 

“For now.” Noel smiled himself, happy to see even a small step get accomplished. “But i’m gonna get you to do it again, and maybe even laugh.”

“Yeah right” He scoffed, already walking towards the door, horrified they were the last ones there. He liked being the first one out .

“I heard you laugh today, Bachinski!” Noel teasingly yelled after him. 

Mischa stopped at the door and looked back at Noel, who had never been this bold or persistent with him. And he actually gave a small, real smile, even if you could have blinked and missed it. Noel saw it, and after the door closed, let his own smile grow even wider. 

He made Mischa smile, and he’d also made ‘Badegg’ smile that day just from existing. Making Mischa smile was more exciting since he had never seen him smile, let alone two, let alone one real one. And the other one was just exciting because it was because of him. 

He couldn’t even help himself from adding a bit of a pep to his step as he made his way out of the choir room that day. Today, even with a lack of sleep, had felt like a dream. One of those sweet dreams he’d been told to have. Only better, since it was all real, and all he’d ever asked for from his dull life.

Chapter Text

A few days later and Ocean had everything ready for them to start working on the decorations for the prom. And she wasn’t kidding when she said it was a lot of work. She’d gotten permission for the pair to use the school’s basement, which mostly was storage, for the set up. 

Noel was half expecting when he showed up for Mischa to have bailed, but then he remembered the threat of not graduating and realized Mischa wasn’t going to miss a single time. At least without a valid excuse, which he had zero of. At least not today.

It was afterschool that Thursday and after the rest of the weke being spent either being at school, work, or glued to his phone, he wasn’t interested in setting up prom stuff. Especially from scratch. With Mischa, who had looked to be in a mood that day. No doubt because he was dragged here by Ocean. 

“So over there is the stuff for the hundreds of dangling star lanterns you gotta fold and add the lights to, over there is some of the more misecllanious stuff, towards the back is the stuff that needs sorted and checked on but will only need to be put up, like the curtains for the dramatic entrances, and this…” Ocean patted a heavy duty plastic tote. “Has a bunch of those glow in the dark sticky stars i need you to basically add to everything , and-”

Noel was going to lose his mind. She just kept adding stuff they had to do. And not only did the list continue to grow but the sheer amount of effort each thing wss going to take? This felt impossible and so not worth it for one single night of mediocrity. Because how would Saint Cassian do anything but the most blegh thing you could ever think of? At all times. He didn’t even wanna go to this thing! They’d be lucky to finish this by the time they graduated college, not highschool! And especially not by prom! 

“Lastly….” Ocean walked over to the middle of the room where a large drop-cloth laid over some obscure shape. “This is super exciting so…drumroll please!” 

“No.” Mischa immediately denies her, crossed arms and stern voice to match it. 

Noel rolled his eyes. “Ocean, we’re not fucking doing that.”

“....Ricky would have….” Ocean mumbled sadly as she reached for the bucnhed up bottom of the stained fabric.

Ocean turned to face them, bringing her smile back, and then pulled the cloth away. Behind her revealed a large decrepit fountain. It was heavy looking and either lived down here for years or had to be brought down by multiple people and possibly a dolly. It had chipped paint and a layer of dust. The inside was gross from the last time its basins held water, and the wiring on the motor for it looked broken.

“What’s that?” Noel said, horrified of her incoming answer. 

“The fountain you two are going to fix up!” Ocean beamed. “She’s beat up, but she’s gonna look amazing once she’s all shiny and new.”

“Ocean, if you think I know how to fix a fountain-”

“No, obviously not,” She made a face, which he’d have been offended by if it wasn’t so true and it waasn’t the exact point he was making. “But Mischa seems like he could figure it out!” 

“Do not figure shit ,” Mischa told her, pissed as well. “I do not fix fountains, and I do not care to learn.”

“Well, you’ll have Noel to help! He probably can’t do much for it, but he’s good at reading instructions!” 

“I read instructions in Ukranian.” Mischa deadpanned. 

“Okay….” Ocean tried to hold her happy demeanor as much as she could before looking to Noel and whispering a very desperate “Help me out!”

“Ocean this sounds horrible,” Noel sighed, not giving her much hope. “But, we’ll work on it, we really have no choice so…”

“That’s the spirit!” Ocean said, getting more than she thought. “You two will make a total dream team, I just know it, and you’ll make our prom amazing!”

“Anything else?” Noel asked, ready for her to leave and take the pep with her. Mischa was not responding well to it, and he didn’’t need him being in a worse mood the longer it rolled on. 

“No, i’ll probably stop by on Thursdays to check on progress but, I won’t be here everyday, I trust you to give me updates on the website!” 

“Um, excuse me? Every day?” Noel stopped her from going over towards the stairs. 

“Yeah, were you guys not listening? You have a ton of work to do!” Ocean explained. “You guys will be here everyday that we don’t have choir practice, and the entire weeked the week before prom, but it’s okay, because I know once you two walk into prom and see the impact you had? You’ll be so proud!” 

“Ocean!” Noel called after her, horrified. 

She hadn’t told him that! And it certainly didn’t seem fair! He never signed up to help, she was making him! And he didn’t do anything bad for this to be a punishment. Clearly though, it was going to become one. Everyday after school with Mischa? If not here one on one in choir where he had even more reasons (Ocean) to be annoyed? No no no!!! He wasn’t even confident he’d get him to be happy when he thought it’d be once a week! How was he going to get along with him every day?! 

Sure, again, he was cute. Noel wasn’t blind or stupid. But was he cute enough to deal with he if chose to make this miserable for him? What if he refused to do any work? What if he was rude to him? What if he like…blasted awful rap music?? 

Plus everyday meant everyday he’d have less time to talk to ‘Badegg’, who he really enjoyed talking to. He swore he felt like some teenage girl in a romcom when he got a message from him. He’d know they were coming, cause they’d be talking already for hours, but he’d still blush and giggle like some Molly Ringwold wanna be. 

He had a routine of sorts the past few days with it. He’d message him when he got home. He’d plop his backpack down on his bed and sit on it. He used to do homework at his desk but now, it was on the bed. He’d sit there and allow himself to kick or punch the bed to get out excitement. A few times a night he’d find himself falling back into his pillow rereading some message he was sent for the millionth time. And then he’d eventually fall asleep on the same pillow, clutching the phone.

He’d also eat dinner and shower and do chores and stuff, but he rushed through those things more than ever before. His mom even noticed and asked but he lied about it. Prom planning and finals were a great excuse to use and shut her up each time. He also had work to worry about but luckily things were going well enough for them that he mostly only worked weekends. His only free day now that Ocean had a say, and it’d be spent at Taco Bell…. great .

Still though, if he had to be here, he wasn’t going to just join Mischa. He was going to take one of Ocean’s cringy life lesson quotes straight from one of the posters in her room and embrace the ‘if you can’t beat them join them’ mindset. On Mischa’s behalf. Hoping he’d at minimum give in if Noel brought enough reasoning for it. 

Ocean was gone now, leaving the pair in the dimly lit, gross, damp and cold basement. He noticed Mischa pull his small hooded jacket around his body a bit tighter, a face of discomfort as he surveyed the basement. 

“я ненавиджу підвали,” Mischa grumbled in an annoyed tone.

Noel didn’t need to know what he said to know the boy was beyond not happy. He was starting at the bottom it seemed like, and he had to build the boy up. Would he ever get a happy-go-lucky Mischa? Even outside of prom decor? No, he didn’t think so. But one of those pretty smiles couldn’t hurt. 

“Mischa?” Noel asked, getting the brown hair boy to turn to him.

The boy hummed in discontentment but was at least acknowledging him. He was facing him, his stance similar to the stance he held that Ocean always said wasn’t proper enough for competitions. Head slightly back and tilted. Face unamused. Arms together and placed in front of him. Very Mischa and very uninvited. Coincidence? Probably not.

But Noel was determined and was also having an amazing week thanks to one special online guy, so it didn’t phase him……too much. 

“Is there something you want to start with?” Noel considered giving him the choice could help. “Or something you think would be best or easiest to start with?” 

“Yeah, a nap,” Mischa scoffed, walking over to the one metal folding chair. 

Noel looked at him as he sat in it. Even though he was wearing full-length pants from his uniform the metal was cold enough to make him shiver. “That looks cold and uncomfortable, how are you going to sleep on it?” 

“I have slept in much wor-” Mischa stopped himself, sighing and just pulling out his phone. “Will just text then.” 

“Mischa, no! You cannot leave me to do all of this by myself! In fact, I think it’d be impossible if it was just me.”

“Do not care if it gets done or not, thought you did not either.” Mischa shot back.

“We’re still responsible for this, whether we like it or not,” Noel tried to reason. “And Ocean’s my friend-”

Mischa let out a kurt laugh. “Sorry….just do not understand why .”

“I don’t know, because she is? And she’s not perfect but she cares about me?” Noel answered. “She cares about everyone else too, even in her own way, and making sure they have a good prom is part of that.”

“Good for ginger, I could not care less.” Mischa told him, unwavering with the ‘Ocean’ appeal. Noel should have figured.

“Pride in a job well done?” Noel said, cursing at how much he sounded like Ocean, pulling a face before Mischa could. If he was ever going to get to Mischa, he couldn’t sound like her! He was convinced Mischa hated her!

“What about this; if you don’t help Ocean will probably tell the principal and this won’t count and you’ll get detention and never graduate,” Noel told him point blank. 

“Ocean won’t find out, she isn’t here, she’ll never know,” Mischa said simply, throwing out the concern. 

“Oh really?” Noel challenged, arms crossed. “What if I tell her you aren’t?” 

Mischa sat up more in his chair and eyed the dark-haired boy. “You wouldn’t.” 

“Just try me, Bachinski,” Noel smirked back, happy with his latest tactic. 

Mischa stood up, keeping eye contact, trying his best to read him. Noel didn’t waver, even if it really was all a bluff. Nobody, not even Mischa, deserved an extra year in this school. But he didn’t have to know that. 

Mischa seemed to buy it, especially after a glare from him didn’t make him back down. He gave a slight nod. “Respect that. You take no shit Noel Gruber.”

He was surprised by that. He wasn’t threatening him back. He didn’t call his bluff. He just looked at him with a small smirk on his face. Impressed almost. Noel’s confidence skyrocketed at that. Sure he was faking it all, but this was something he’d never seen Mischa give anyone. 

Then Mischa’s fist was in front of him. Nobody had ever offered Noel a fist bump. He just didn’t give off fistbump vibes…..for obvious reasons. It was okay though, he could do it. He brought his own fist up and bumped his back. His knuckles were hard and the skin was dry, what his would no doubt be like after all this work. 

“So work, then?” Noel spoke up. “Still wanna pick what we do first?” 

“Don’t care enough to,” Mischa said, blankly. “You decide.”

“What to pick, they all sound so amazing,” Noel said sarcastically, looking at the options,  listening to the surprisingly but welcome sound of Mischa’s light laugh. 

He turned to him with a smile again. “Mischa? You know if you don’t stop with the smirks and the laughs and the fist bumps i’m going to start to think I won.”

“Won what?” 

“Remember when I said we should be friends?” Noel watched him nod in question. “That!” 

“That doesn’t make us friends.” Mischa played it off. 

“Then what would you call this?” Noel smiled, knowing it was teasing, but unable to resist.

“Making best of shitty situation,” Mischa said. “You are not bad for Canadian, but you are not friend.” 

“Yet,” Noel added, watching Mischa approach the table with some of the miscellaneous things to sort. “Not yet.”

“Good luck with that.” He scoffed, turning to look at the boy. 

“Lady luck’s been good to me lately, so, count on it.” Noel said with a striking smile, watching Mischa turn his back to him. Hopefully to cover his smile. 

He liked making Mischa smile, it felt like he was doing something impossible. And while he loved the way they looked, he’d take them, even hidden in secret. He planned to get many more anyway, he could miss a few for the sake of it all.

Noel couldn’t tell if the rest of the day Mischa was just conveniently facing away from him for a majority of it, or if he was hiding more of those precious smiles. Because Noel continued to try and make them happen. Comments about Ocean and what she was making them do he could relate to, insults towards the prom decorations and prom itself, ragging on their school, little things in between. 

He made a note to himself that whatever they worked on the next time they were here he’d make it impossible to turn away from him. Little smirks, lips bitten to hide a laugh, all of that, was what he wanted to see. Because it felt like steps to being something more than strangers and a more enjoyable forced prom-planning experience. 

When he left that day and began his walk back home, he thought about what he could try next. And then halfway home he thought about what he could try next with ‘Badegg’ for completely different reasons. He wonder if he smiled and snickered at any of his messages. The idea of that left even more of a bubble in his stomach than with Mischa. He really wanted both of them to like him, just in different ways. Smiles and laughs just happened to work for both. 

He got home, stopped by the door to throw his backpack down and wasted no time pulling up his phone. He had a message from ‘Badegg’ only five minuets ago. 

Badegg: Was stuck doing something lame, would much rather have talked to you <3

Noel rested up against the front door, knowing his was home alone until closer to seven that night. He sighed contently, especially for the heart. It was just a three and an angled quotation, but it’s what it meant that brought his knees to jelly. He clutched his phone and then allowed himself to reply.

Monique: It’s okay, I was busy too.

Badegg: Too busy for me?

Monqiue: Never ;) 

Bold, but if his luck was still staying strong, it’d pay off. Besides, ‘Badegg’ said way bolder things, so it’d be silly to not go well. 

Badegg: Good. Would not know what to do without you anymore. 

Monique: Really?

Badegg: Completely. Would be lost without your poetic words and beautiful spirit.

Monique: Poetic? I have always considered writing poetry……

Badegg: Well then you must. Just don’t let that be why you become too busy for me.

Monique: I said never, didn’t I? Talking to you makes me feel special…idk…

It was honest, but he couldn’t help but attached othethings to it incase he needed to backtrack. An escape route of sorts, like he always tried to give himself.

Badegg: You ARE special poet <3 I only tell the truth

Noel’s head fell back against the door a bit. It hurt a little, but he didn’t notice. He was practically swooning. A nickname? Another heart? Saying he’s special? He almost could believe he was when someone like ‘Badegg’ said it to him. 

Noel let himself smile widely and slid down the door til he hit the floor. He bit his lip to stop the near-painful smile and read the message again. He didn’t deserve this, but he was going to take as much of it as he could. Because for some reason the universe, and this mystery man, deemed him worthy of it for the time being. 

He felt like his luck had to run out sometime, but it wasn’t. And he had the whole night left to talk to him, eve with all the wasted time. And while he obviously like ‘Badegg’ more than Mischa Bachinski, seeing someone as miserable as Mischa seem to possibly laugh and smile? That wasn’t a waste. It made his heart swell. 

Miscxha deserved someone to make him feel nice. Noel knew what being miserable was all too well, even if never to the lonely and angry extent Msicha did. Why not give back to him? If ‘Badegg’ could gift him with happiness, why not pass it along and give some joy to Mischa? Then everyone could be happy. 

Mischa couldn’t possibly be as happy as he was, but he’d take whatever he could get. And there was still plenty of time. For Mischa to admit they had become friends and for Noel to become even happier. It felt all too impossible with how happy he was now, but with the way every message seemed to outdo the last? It felt impossibly inevitable instead.

Chapter Text

It was the next week and slowly but surely, even with some hesitance Mischa was starting to become Noel’s friend. He couldn’t help it, or even seem to stop it. Noel was persistent and had this extra bit of something to him that called for a smile in his presence. Sometimes Noel would call him out on it, and he’d shut it all down, but on the inside he was still smiling. For the sweetest boy in the choir. 

Every day they had to be down here Noel seemed to want to make the best of it. Which was weird. Whenever he saw Noel in choir or in the two classes they shared, he seemed to be a total negative. But lately, he seemed to be on top of the world. Even when doing work for Ocean in a crummy basement. If he didn’t know better, if Noel didn’t make too many jokes about hating the prom, he’d think the prom was the reason for his shift in demeanor. 

Noel could tell me was making progress, chipping away at him, day by day. He’d make those stupid jokes, sometimes very true, sometimes being pushed a bit further to get a reaction from the Ukrainian. He’d try other things too. Like trying to talk about his interests. He got sorta close the one day, he’d brought up some youtuber and Mischa mentioned having a youtube channel. But he wouldn’t tell him what it was or even the handle. A total deadend. 

Today he had a different idea. Music. Everyone liked music. They were literally in a choir . Sure, Mischa had no say and it was def not the kind of music he’d like, but even Noel questioned some of the song choices Father Marcus and Ocean made. He had no idea what music Mischa would lke, but he doubted it’d be something he had on his phone. Internet didn’t work in the basement though and he knew one thing. Good or bad song; some songs just had a beat you couldn’t deny was good or cheery. Something to smile over. God, he loved making him smile; keeping track in his mind like some game for only him to know about.

He listened to a lot of different things, most of it not like that. But there was one song, off one very important and life-changing album, that fit the vibe. And if Mischa couldn’t cheer up from Primadonna? Then he didn’t deserve to cheer up at all. Even if that was the whole goal. 

So, after surveying Mischa was definitely frowning from where he was standing, in front of the table opening up a can of paint they needed, he searched for the song on his phone. And once he found it, he hit play, and made sure it was hearable. 

He didn’t acknowledge it at first, he couldn’t let Mischa know he was scheming. But he was. Definitely was. He just placed it down beside the old paint brushes Noel was trying to clean off. A tap of the foot, a little hum, a faint small smile as he worked. It was enough to make Mischa look over at him to wonder what he was doing. 

“What is that?” He asked Noel, still able to be heard over the volume of music playing.

“ That , is legend, icon, and queen Marina and the Diamonds.” Noel corrected, glad to have the attention, even if negative. He could change that, he always seemed to, even when Mischa swore he couldn’t.

Mischa scoffed under his breath. “Stupid band name….”

Noel scoffed even louder . “It’s not even a band it’s-you know what? I don’t care what you think.”

“You don’t?” Mischa raised a brow, well aware, even with Noel’s best intentions to be sly, Noel did care if he was being pessimistic.

“No, I don’t, I’m going to enjoy it anyways,” Noel said. 

“Really?” Mischa asked. 

Noel hummed in light agreement, making a show of being even happier now, all to the tune of the song. 

“Sounds like reverse proctology to me.”

Noel wanted to stick to the plan but that stopped him in his tracks and any movements. “Mischa, no! You mean psychology! Proctology is like….butt stuff.”

“Oh…like the gay-”

“No!” Noel quickly and horrifyingly shut that conversation up. Mischa was straight! And maybe even homophobic! “Ugh, and now I missed my place in the song!”

“О, Боже, what shame that would be.” Mischa rang out sarcastically, listening as the track stopped and restarted. 

“Do you just hate fun?” Noel asked, turning it up for a bigger emphasis. “Not everything has to be miserable!” 

“Dancing in basement to song would be good example of soemthng that is …” 

Noel scoffed agan, throwing hs head back a bit, but not giving up. He either didn’t like it (can’t relate) or he was being too stubborn again. All Noel knew was Marina could fix anything! He spent enough depressed late nights crying along to Teen Idle to deny that. 

He wasn’t even really dancing, but if Mischa was going to annoy him, he could try. At least, try for who he was. Which meant trying to get hm in swaying his head a bit. 

“Come on! I saw your head swinging!” Noel tried to goad him on some more. A reaction, any reaction, a kingdom for Mischa’s reaction (and eventual smile).

“Was not!” Mischa said, not being able to hide his slight smile, because he knew Noel was making it all up and it was amusing at the very least. 

Noel smiled even wider, almost jumping with excitement. “But you smiled though!”

Mischa really wanted to be able to deny it without the smile still plastered on hs face but he couldn’t, so instead he said, “Shut up!”

“No way!” Noel exclaimed happily, closing the gap between them and trying to grab his arm away from the table. “Dance with me!”

“I don’t dance,” Mischa told him, letting him tug as many times as he wanted, not budging. 

“You say you won't do a lot of things though, don’t you Bachinski?” Noel gave one last big tug, not getting him away from the table the way he wanted to but turned to face him at the very least. 

Mischa was upset he’d gotten him to turn but he couldn’t help but let his guard down a bit at the nickname he kept using. Just his last name, but he was saying it so frequently, and always in the most innocently devious way. 

Mischa took his arm back and watched as Noel pouted a bit. He knew the face was pleading to give him something . He needed them to keep doing work and- wait a minute. He might hate dancing, and pop songs, and showing any remote form of joy around others. But didn’t he hate working on prom more? Why not take the few seconds it took to give him his crumbs, get out of work a little longer, and make him smile for once. 

With a roll of the eyes, definitely not for maintaining his front than actual annoyance, he reched out to grab Noel’s hand. He saw the boy freeze in question, but t was quickly answered when Mischa guided his hand up and around to spin the boy. By the time the spin was over Noel’s face grew into the very smile he liked to elicit from the other boy. 

“See, you do dance,” Noel said lightly. 

He’d never had a boy grab his hand. Even in the platonic fun way Mischa did. People around this school were always scared he’d fall in love with them or they’d ‘catch the gay’ depending on their age. All ridiculous. Like he could ever love someone from ther school….with the exception of whoever ‘Badegg’ was. He might not be in love yet , but the emphasis on yet said it all. 

“That’s all you will ever get, all anyone will ever get, okay?” Mischa told him, beginning to turn back around to face the table. 

“Okay, but like, you’ll dance at prom right?” Noel poked for the answer. 

“No,” Mischa scrunched his face. “Am not even going.”

“You can’t not go!” Noel cried, before realizing he was sounding a lot like the rest of the choir whenever he told her he wasn’t going. Which he still planned on not doing…he’s mostly sure at least. 

“Don’t you have a date you wanna take?” Noel asked, knowing that a lot of the girls in their school were so suppressed a guy with a bad attitude and a tall stature was more than enough for them. Even if it’s just to piss of their dad or whatever other twisted things they wanted. 

“No,” Mischa deadpanned. 

“You don’t like anybody ?” Noel had always assumed he’d be a bit of a player. 

Mischa shook his head. “I didn’t say that, i said I didn’t want to take them to prom,”

“Oh.” Noel said, thinking for a second. “Would that not be a good excuse to ask them out? Before we graduate and move on?” 

“I-” Mischa stopped himself, because while he’d love to say no, he literally met the guy he had a crush on on the damn prom website. 

“Tell you what,” Noel told him, shutting the music off, making it more serious. “You ask them to go to prom with you, and I will ask the person I lke to go to prom with me .”

Mischa’s face twisted, but Noel could tell he was considering it. For him, or whatever girl he liked, he didn’t know. But it didn’t matter. Besides, in hindsight, they are doing a lot of work. Shouldn’t they at least see how it turns out? And if he didn’t make this bet would he ever push himself to ask ‘Badegg’ out? Or would they graduate before he ever even knew who the kindest most amazng man he’d ever met beyond a screen?

“Fne,” Mischa finally spoke. 

Noel couldn’t help the little “Yes!” that escaped his lips. Was he excited for Mischa or himself? Probably both, especially if it meant more smiles. He really did start to think of Mischa as a friend of sorts and he wanted him to be happy. Possibly as happy as he was. Because as scary as it sounded to ask someone out, he knew ‘Badegg’ well enough by now to know, even if he wasn’t comfortable being in person in time for prom, he’d never make him feel stupid. He’d smother him in assurance and sweetness. 

“I didn't even know you liked anyone, Noel.” Mischa shared, sounding a bit indifferent. 

“Uh, yeah,” Noel said a bit shyly, not wanting to admit it was an online thing. “That so hard to believe?”

“No,” Mischa shrugged. “But you never told me.”

“I only tell that stuff to my friends.” He gave a smile and pointed look. 

His luck. His never ending luck. Let it shine through once more for him, get Mischa to say exactly what he was clearly fishing for. And maybe it was the luck, or Mischa was having a good day, or whatever, but he bit hs lip and with a sound of reluctance answered him with, “We can be friends….I guess.” Exactly what Noel was looking for, worded exactly as he expected from Mischa. Nothing personal when met with hesitation, only flattery for getting it at all.

“Well then I'm glad we’re both planning to go to prom now, because I’d only really want to go if I was getting to be there with my friends.” He smiled to the curly haired boy. 

Another, now-less-than-illusive smile popped up, still making Noel as giddy to see it as the first. He was just constantly winning. He had his new friend Mischa, and if he got over himself and worked up the nerve to ask ‘Badegg’ to prom, he’d also have a new boyfriend. Or a boy who is a friend. Or maybe, just maybe, if Noel wasn’t imagining the affection he was receiving, boyfriend would be the word to use, at least after a night together at prom.

Chapter Text

It was now Friday night of the same week Noel had promised Mischa he’d ask the guy he liked to prom. That day he had school, then choir practice, then a shift at the mall. But it was ten o'clock now and he was home with nothing to do but stare at his computer. 

They talked a lot on the phone for convenience of portability, but Noel was almost shaking with his nerves and needed to be sat at his desk, upright, and able to take as many deep breaths as he needed. He knew ‘Badegg’ would be online, waiting for him. Not only did he never go to bed early, but he knew Noel had a busy day and told him some cheesy line about waiting up for him. He should probably reread it, gain the courage he was lacking, remind him that of course he’ll say yes.

He opened the old piece of junk and watched as it loaded up, allowing him to put his password in and get access to the internet. His browser had the address saved and he clicked it eagerly. He opened up their messages to see when they last talked, in between his shift and choir practice. They only had a little time but time with ‘Badegg’ was worth its weight in gold to Noel. 

Badegg: Will be counting down the minutes, poet ;) 

Noel felt like he was on air as he reread Mischa’s response to him having to leave for work. If he even meant it to any degree than he was aware Noel was going to message him soon. The little green circle telling him he was online was a promising start to that being true. 

He wasn’t sure what to open with, so many options, and the nerves running through him like the blood in his veins. Head to toe. He wanted to replace it with the feelings ge got from ‘Badegg’ who he realized he should really find a nickname for. Because being called poet was adorable and while he was usually creative he was drawing a blank here. 

Monique: I’m back :)

Badegg: Ahh, a smile, good shift at work then?

Noel couldn’t help but scoff at the idea, even with the smile on his face. 

Monique: God, no.

Badegg: I am sorry, poet, but I too was left in misery without you here….

Monique: You’re such a sap! And the nickname? Stfu, it’s adorable and you’re making me look bad!

Badegg: You can give me nickname if you want to, anything you want.

Noel was very tempted to suggest the nickname ‘ my date to prom’ as some uber cool, smooth wauy of asking him. But he wasn’t any of those adjectives. He wasn’t him. No matter what he’d always claimed to be if given the chance.

Monique: You’re far too sweet, but the idea of giving you some candy coated nickname is too cheesy. Let me think about it….

Badegg: Okay :) 

Badegg: Have you seen the updates to the prom-dress board?

Monique: No?!

Noel has to instantly move from the chat to navigating the pages, looking for the page people posted their dresses on. It was supposed to be so nobody wore the same dress, but Noel had taken to roasting them with ‘Badegg’ whenever there were new atrocities to view.

“Oh, god, ” Noel gasped when the page loaded with two new dresses on display. They were…..awful. 

He reopened the chat in a smaller view so he could see them both and saw he had a reply. 

Badegg: First one looks like big pumpkin

Nobody could see him but Noel’s inner fashion-critic couldn’t help but nod. The pounds of bright orange tulle on the dress was awful, and the classmate Noel hated who was wearing it, had an orange spray tan to match. How tacky and ugly. 

Monique: It’s literally a crime against fashion!

Monique: and my eyes!

Badegg: If this was Rupaul’s Drag Race she would sashay away so fast, is mad ugly

Hearing someone say ‘sashay away’ and ‘mad ugly’ in the same sentence was new. But it was so him and so unique. He still couldn’t figure out who this boy was, but if he could get to it tonight, he might have a date set up to find out!

He scrolled the get a better look at the second dress and it was somehow possibly worse? It was yellow with green color-clocked paneling on the sides and vertical strips of ruffling. 

Monique: The other one might even be worse 

Badegg: You mean corn girl?

Noel found it both true and amusing. Or maybe he was head over heels in his feelings and bias. Maybe he’d agree with anything he wanted to say. He didn’t trust himself enough to deny it fully, but another look at the dress, a scrunched nose, and another laugh at the insult let him know ‘Badegg’ nailed it. He could be both right and agreeable though.

Monique: lol, yeah her

Monique: I SWEAR I could outdress them all if I could wear a dress to prom :(

Badegg: Why can’t you?

Monique: This is going to be really awkward if you forgot considering how much you’ve been flirting with me but, i’m a guy, remember?

Badegg: I know you are guy, poet. But if dress is pretty on some hanger, it shouldn’t change based on who wears it, no?

Noel knew he must have some idea of how feminine he was, that’s why he felt okay bringing up the idea of wearing a dress now. But to know he now knew to what extent it went and he didn’t mind or care? It only made his heart swell more. He didn’t know how someone like this would have existed so long without him knowing, but he wished he could go back in time and spend every school year knowing this wonderful human being.

Monique: I don’t think most people in our school would agree with you, but thanks

Badegg: Who cares about them? Have you SEEN the dresses they picked? Not dope. If you have pretty dress, you should wear pretty dress

Monique: I don’t really have a dress now but…….

Talking about a dress, a prom dress, wearing that dress to prom. It was the perfect opener right? To slide into the question? 

Monique: I kind of have a question I’ve been wanting to ask you, if that’s okay?

God he made things so awkward. He took a smooth moment and made it awkward. Of course. But he didn’t stress too much, because this guy proved he never cared if Noel did that. 

Badegg: Sounds perfect considering I have question for you too

Monique: What’s yours? 

Badegg: I asked you first 

Monique: Oh god, you’re a CHILD 

Badegg: :)

Badegg: So, question then?

Noel couldn’t help but shake his head at him, how was the this fucking adorable? From behind a screen?! 

Monique: We could as it at the same time???

Badegg: Okay

Badegg: 1

Monique: 2 

Badegg: 3

Noel took a heavy breath and typed out his question. 

Badegg: Prom??

Monique: Do you wanna go to prom together?

Noel was relieved and overjoyed it was the same question. Not because he didn’t feel comfortable with being asked questions when he’d never once come close to judging him, but it meant he already knew the answer. Sure he phrased it like he expected he would, but it was the same meaning. And it meant, now that they both asked, they were going! He couldn’t help but beam, even allowing himself to spin around in his chair to get some of his excitement out, vibrantly, in a way he would make fun of others for doing. It was just what love did to a person.

Badegg: I would love to take you to prom, prom may not be coolest thing to me, but to be with you? Couldn’t possibly say no. 

Monique: We hadn’t even talked much about prom before this, certainly nothing positive, I was a little worried you would say no.

Badegg: Would go to far worse places than prom for you, to see you, and your beauty <3 

Monique: You don’t know who I am, you don’t know what I look like, and yet I swear you say nicer things to me than if I was going with someone I DID know. 

Monique: it’s cute, but i’m getting a little sick of blushing like an idiot

Monique: I’m not used to the attention…..

Badegg: I do not understand why, you are perfect

Monique: There’s that again, I already agreed to go with you, you can stop flattering me now

Badegg: Was not, was just being honest. You are exquisite and not reminding you is CRIME

Monique: You’re WAY too romantic, and if it wasn’t so endearing I'd be pretty sick of it. 

Badegg: You make it easy <33

Monique: oh GOD, you’re really proving my point here, loverboy

Badegg: Loverboy??

Monique: You said I could give you a nickname, I picked loverboy to remind you that you’re crazy  :)

Badegg: Crazy for you ;)

Badegg: Okay… you may have point, because I did not even think before sending that

Noel was biting his lip to hold back his extreme smile. He was feeling the adoration and it seemed to be effortless. It made him so happy, on top of the fact he’d said yes. His lip was hurting before he realized, there was no crime against smiling. He was alone, nobody could see him. If they could though? They surely wouldn’t recognize him. Noel Gruber never smiled like this .

Monique: What do we do about that though, not knowing who we are? Should we just tell eachother now?

Badegg: No, add to the mystery, to the romance…..unless this is supposed to be platonic thing

Monique: Would I let you flirt with me until 3 in the morning just to ask you to go as a FRIEND? If that’s not a hint, the nickname should be, loverboy 

Badegg: Good, so it’s date date

Monique: Yeah, but what did you mean before?

Badegg: Would it not be more fun to find out at prom??

Badegg: Unless that idea scares you 

No. The idea of ‘Badegg’ in any capacity wasn’t scary. It was comfort on a platter. It was feeling special in a town that made him feel like his life would mean nothing. He didn’t need to know anything more. He felt safe, he felt appreciated, he felt adored. This ‘Badegg’ guy could be the ugliest person on the outside and he’d still be over the moon, because inside? Nobody he’d ever met seemed to be prettier. 

Monique: Not scared, as long as you’re sure

Badegg: Am sure :)

Monique: Okay! Then it’s a date! You and me, at prom, meeting for the first time…or not, if i know who you are

Badegg: Are school’s small enough, i’m sure we do, the real question is if we’ve ever actually talked

Monique: I don’t know, but I don’t care. I’m just really happy right now, I wasn’t even sure I was going to go, but now? I can’t wait to!

Badegg: And now you can post first nice dress on the dress forum!

Monique: You really think I should wear a dress?

Badegg: Do you want to?

Noel didn’t have to think long, the hesitation waqs about admitting it. But again, he trusted him.

Monique: Yeah

Badegg: Then I would be heartbroken to see you in anything less. If you are scared, I promise I will protect you from anyone bad. You said you couldn’t wait for prom now, make it even better, don’t let me take you there, let me take you there in a dress

Well, if he was doing all of this? Going to prom with an online friend. A ‘stranger’. Another guy, in front of a bunch of homophobes? Then why lean into it completely and get the damn dress he wanted. Everyone else wanted him to have it, the only person stopping him was himself. And he was sick of making life miserable when life was clearly trying to make things better for him. Let life happen, and let the haters be damned. 

Monique: Okay, I'll wear a dress. For YOU loverboy ;)

Badegg: Should be for YOU, but must admit I am excited to see you in it. 

Badegg: Excited to just see you, in any way, beyond the screen. So I can bask in all your glory, and appreciate you fully.

And Noel couldn’t argue with that. He was so close, yet so far away. But soon, even if not soon enough, he’d have him. The real, full, ‘Badegg’. With a real name, and a face, and arms he could fall into while dancing. If he could do that, reach out and touch him? Maybe then he could fully believe he wasn’t dreaming. But if he was? Let him never wake up. At least not until after he has the night of his dreams at their prom with his dream-date.

Chapter Text

Some more time went by and Noel was flying high. He’d been getting closer to Mischa as a friend and closer to ‘Badegg’ as more. Mischa fully admitted they were friends and now stopped hiding or pretending to not hate being around him. And now that they were going to prom together he and ‘Badegg’ could stop dancing around their mutual flirting and be more openly into each other. Both felt really nice to have. But today? Today Noel was pissed off.

Mischa noticied it almost as soon as he clambered down the steps of the school’s basement to see a sour-faced Noel at the bottom, already bitter in every movement he did. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Mischa rushed over to him, stopping him from throwing another thing down in a huff and possibly breaking it. Which would be more work for them, or even worse, a lecture from Ocean on being more careful. “What’s going on?”

Mischa’s face looked at his, looking for a sign of what it was, but he got nothing. His hands were still holding his wrists, stopping him from throwing the very fragile centerpiece vase he was holding onto the rough top of their worktable. 

“It’s fucking Oak Grove!” Noel exclaimed with a sigh. 

“Oak Grove?” Mischa repeated, not expecting that. 

Noel nodded, to confirm it, and Mischa was even more confused now. He knew what Oak Grove was. You couldn’t go to Saint Cassian’s and not hear it mentioned. It was the rival school from the next town over, who seemed to be better at everything compared to them. A lot of students could get bitter about it, especially when sports and academic competitions took place against them, but he never saw Noel so much as mentioned them before. Let alone act so pissed off. 

“What about Oak Grove?” Mischa asked him.

“They stole our prom theme!” Noel exclaimed, getting out of Mischa’s hold and walking around to the back of the table. 

Msicha watched him do so, and also watched him slam the vase down, which surprisingly didn’t break. Noel had taken to doing a lot of the easier things like the lanterns and the floral centerpieces and such while Mischa tried to figure out the fountain. He knew he was the only hope for that, Noel was lost just looking at it, let alone figuring it all out. 

He couldn’t help but laugh a bit as he saw Noel pick up a piece of navy blue ribbon and tie it around the vase’s neck. It was such a domestic and gentle thing to do, done with the sass only Noel could possess.

“Who cares?” Mischa furrowed his brows, smile kept on his face as he watched the boy.

“I do!” Noel said. “The only thing worse than going to our prom, is going to it and knowing it’s just a shittier version of theirs !”

“So you buy into the rivalry?” Mischa wasn’t sure it sounded much liek Noel and crossed his arms as he waited for a reply. 

“All I know is I'm working my ass off on this prom,” Noel explained. “And I don’t think it sounds fun to do that for a school I hate as much as Saint Ass-ians, while the far superior school probably pays professionals to pull this shit off. I know it’ll be on social media and I know people are going to then rag on our prom. Which, yeah I know I said was going to be shitty but, I'm the one working on it! So, I’m allowed!”

Mischa frowned a bit, this actually did seem to bother Noel, and he could sort of understand. Saint Cassian’s was always the worst. They never won at choir competitions, and they weren’t even that bad since the addition of Penny allowed them four voices (Mischa still refused to sing). It just seemed like the school was as shitty as their town in everyway, even when it didn’t need to be. And Noel was clearly tired of that now that his blood sweat and tears were going into a prom he only recently started to care about so much. 

Mischa watched him work in the same bitter mood, but he didn’t know what to say. Noel was right, they were always outdoing them. And he was also sure Noel wasn’t mistaken about them doing so. It was a known rivalry between them, and they went out of their way to do things like this on purpose. 

He went over to the fountain to try and make some progress on it, and started to rack his brain for something to do or say to fix it. Because for the first time since it started, Noel wasn’t trying to make it a fun time. To make him smile. To do things like friends would. It was overtaken by it all, and after seeing the boy so happy for a strip of time, he couldn’t help but never want to see him upset again. 

The whole time they were meant to be there passed and Mischa had wasted it. He still hadn’t figured out the damn fountain, which now was becoming a personal vendetta he would fix, and he hadn’t fix Noel either. He watched him sling his bag onto his shoulder and off a half-assed wave and goodbye as he made it up the stairs, leaving Mischa alone there. 

He hated that he wasted that time with Noel, and he hated that the boy was leaving with a frown. Noel never let him leave with a frown, even when he was making it hard on him. So he was determined to figure out something . Even if it took all of Friday night and the weekend to do so.

Noel eventually got home, so sick of how hot their school uniform was in the summer still. Did they even consider not everyone had a car? Of course not, because why would they care. Add to the misery. And to make it even worse? When he logged onto the website for the first time in weeks since they began talking ‘Badegg’ wasn’t online! Why? He had no idea, but it was the only hope he had of being cheered up.

He slammed his laptop and just hoped if he checked again after getting changed out of his uniform he would be. But with his anxiety? He was questioning if he’d be on at all that night, or the next day, the whole weekend, ever again. What if he ghosted him, played him, and dumped him to the side? It’d only make prom as sucky as Oak Grove was trying to make it. 

Noel got changed and checked. Still nothing, and he couldn’t help the pang in his chest. He knew it shouldn’t upset him. He isn’t entitled to access to him, and it’s only been ten minutes, but he was always there. Was he starting to think of him as less special now? Was that why? He frowned at that thought, and moved to the kitchen to try and find a drink.

He grabbed himself some water, the cheapest and most abundant option in their home, and headed back upstairs. He checked again. Nothing. It was his fault, obviously , he’d done something wrong. 

He sulked as he stared at the screen, willing it to change, and questioned if he should have really grown so dependent on someone online. The only reason he let himself become that way was the fact they were also someone at his school, but if he didn’t have a name or face? Might as well be in Timbuktu. He felt stupid, and lonely, and yes, he missed him after only thirty minutes of waiting for him. 

He head rested on his desk, laptop pushed back a bit, and he let himself deliver a sigh straight out of some Shakespearean tragedy. But then he heard something. Light, pitter pattering, against his window. Now he was imagining he was in some Shakespearean romance, rocks against his window, as if that was realistic. 

But then, the sounds kept coming, and he had to at least check what it was. Because it was almost certainly real now. And he had no clue what it was.

He pulled up his blinds and pulled up his window, he stuck his head out and he probably shouldn’t have, because one little rock managed to hit him on the chin. He winced, not really too painful, but definitely startling. 

“o дерьмо́!” He heard someone yell out from below as he reached to grab at his chn. No blood, he was okay.

He was definitely not prepared for the sight below however, to the point where he nearly feel out of the damn window and actually got hurt.

“Mischa?!” Noel called out, steadying himself on the pane of the window. 

Mischa’s guilty looking smile hit him like waves, the boy rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry!”

“What are you doing here?!” and why aren’t you using a doorbell like a normal person?!

“Are you okay?” Mischa just asked, dodging the question. 

Noel rolled his eyes, “I'm fine.”

“Great!” He exclaimed, “Then come down, we’re going!”

“Going where?” 

“We’re just going!” He said happily, motioning with his head to the car he just now saw was parked in the driveway- Mischa’s beat up old car. 

Before Noel could ask any more questions that would no doubt be ignored, Mischa had bolted back over from below the window of his room to the car and into the front seat waiting for him. Noel couldn’t help but not only thinking ‘ what the fuck is going on?’ but ‘Where are we going?’. 

He thought about not going, but god, Mischa looked pretty excited. And it was all on his own! He certainly hadn’t caused it with his foul mood that day. And dare he say the boy wanted to share his spirit wth him to lift him up. It made him feel special in the way he was missing from ‘Badegg’s’ attention, and his heart swelled a bit. 

He was called out of his thoughts by a honking of a horn. He was insanely glad his mother wasn’t home to explain that to her. He pulled his head back into his room and knew he was going. No matter where. He trusted Mischa. 

Noel grabbed a jacket off the back of his closet door, his phone, and pulled some shoes back onto his sock-clothed feet. He raced down the steps quickly, reaching the front door and grabbing hs keys off the nearby hook. He walked out and relocked it, deciding he’d just text his mom from the car to explain why he wasn’t home. He walked out the path to the driveway, watching as Mischa locked eyes wth him and playfully honked the horn again, making hm jump a bit. 

“Jesus Christ!” Noel exclaimed, not mad, but amused and a bit startled by it as he climbed into the passenger seat. 

There was a hint of nearly laughing in his tone that instantly made Mischa light up as well, having had wanted to return the favor for a while. But now? He had a plan to even one up anything Noel did. It wasn’t words, or jokes, or even silly dancing. It was a whole adventure he couldn’t wait to take him on.

Misicha wordlessly backed up out of the driveway, after checking it was clear and Noel had fastened his seatbelt. And then, they were off. To somewhere Noel still had no clue about.

Noel thought about asking, but the stupid smile on Mischa’s face told him he was loving that he was going to be surprised by it too much to ever have it not be a surprise. He trusted him, but he was a little worried when Mischa got them onto the highway and they started to leave their town. 

“Mischa….” Noel said, watching as the little sign indicating their town moved out of the sightline he had from his passenger seat. 

“We’re not going that far, won’t be that long, do not worry,” Mischa assured him, sensing his questions and still skirting around the actual answer of what the destination was. “Will be worth it, я обіцяю.”

He looked down at his phone, checked the website, and saw he was still not online. It was still a bit sad, but he wouldn’t be able to talk right now anyway with Mischa to his right.

After a little while longer, Mischa turned off into their neighboring town. And then, before Noel could give it much thought, he saw it. The large sign for Oak Grove Highschool. He’d nearly forgotten all about them and their stupid prom, but his eyes went wide as Mischa turned into their parking lot. 

“W-What are we doing here?” Noel said frozen and confused.

“You are worried about their prom, so, since their prom is this weekend, figured we could check it out, make sure ours is better…..” Mischa explained with a shrug, pulling his car around to the4 back exit. 

It was such a sweet and caring thought, all based around a few comments and frowns by Noel, but Noel was also very aware it was crazy. 

“Msicha!” Noel said, eyes instantly flying around for any sign of someone to come and catch them. “We can’t just break into their school to look at how they set up for prom!”

“Why not?” Mischa asked, pulling into the back spot closest to the doors he had looked into specifically using to enter, and putting his vehicle in park. 

“We could go to jail!” Noel pointed out obviously, not sure how a boy who got in trouble all the time could have that slip his mind. It should be like muscle memory for him! And maybe he didn’t care, but Noel did!

“Ohhh,” Mischa said, suddenly connecting it. And Noel relaxed again in his seat, sure he would understand just how bad this could go and drive them both home. But he didn’t. Instead he undid his seat belt and took the keys out of the ignition. “That is why we can’t get caught, not why we cannot break in.”

“But-”

Mischa was getting out of the driver’s seat and leaving Noel behind with his fumbled objections. He was so casual about it, yet Noel’s eyes were like saucers and he couldn’t stop looking around for any sign of adding a misdemeanor to his permanent record before he could even graduate.

Noel got out of the car with the intent to get Mischa back into it. But as he got out, did another look around, and walked over to him he saw him kneeling by the large metal doors. He was holding something, and Noel nearly fainted when he saw it was a lock-picking tool. If they got caught they were fucked, and they hadn’t even done anything yet! At least Noel hadn’t. 

“Can we drop this, please?” Noel asked, bending down slightly as he watched Mischa work.

“Noel, you were worried, this could help!” 

“Or it could get us thrown in jail!” Noel repeated his worst outcome.

Mischa paused what he was doing to look up at Noel, the sun shining behind him, a slight look of panic present on his features. “Why are you obsessed with jail?”

“Why are you so obsessed with getting us sent there?!”

“Haven't gone yet….”

“So not the point!” Noel exclaimed, knowing it was pure semantics the incident with his cousin was kept hushed by both his adoptive parents and the church for the sake of reputation. “I mean what if because it’s school based they involve the school? And we don’t get to graduate? Or get expelled?! Or-”

“Noel,” Mischa breathed out, standing up and grabbing the boy by the wrists to make him look at him. He was nearly all panicked out, so he easily froze and melted a bit under the kind eyes of the other boy. “We don’t need to go inside….”

Noel breathed out. “Thank you.”

“But…” Mischa reached one had back over to the door and flipped the now unlocked lock so that the one side of the door would begin to open out towards them. “It’d be a shame to leave it like this after I finally got it open….”

Mischa was smirking. Because could Noel really resist the open door? It was already unlocked, so tempting, you could almost even see inside….but yet he at least had deniability from out here. But he knew he could never make Mischa take the blame all by himself, even if he did nothing but protest it. And it was a bit tempting. 

After another look around and a look at Mischa's stupidly adorable smile, clad with his tooth gap and shiny hazel eyes, Noel found himself cursing. Because he was going to go inside, it was inevitable now, and if they didn’t have the threat of getting caught? He would have already been in there. 

“Jesus-fuck, I can’t believe i’m doing this,” Noel said, and Mischa knew what it meant enough to smile even wider. 

Despite his anxieties he was actually excited to live a little, he felt like he never got to experience anything. So, he’d trust that Mischa wouldn’t let them get caught, and he’d go do what he couldn’t argue would help with his piss-poor attitude towards their own prom. 

Mischa’s head looked into the very dark gym. He’d not only looked up where this school was, but details on their prom. When he learned it was tomorrow? And that it was being held in their gym? He wasted no time finding maps of the school and the best possible way to do this for Noel. Was it a bit extreme? Sure. But it was also pretty dope too.

Once he saw no sign of anyone in the gym he opened the door a bit wider so Noel could go inside first and he could follow behind him. He also grabbed his phone and pulled out the flashlight feature on it so he could see for a lightswitch once inside. Because once he closed the door on the bright summer day, it’d be pitch black.

The door closed with a click and the room turned all black more than a mere second before the light on Misicha’s phone made things a bit less scary. He turned back towards the door and looked along the wall beside it, happy to find a switch there. He took the few steps over to it and flipped them to the on position, a moment’s delay before the big overhead lights came on from the high ceiling of the gym. 

“Whoa…” Noel breathed out looking around, but before Mischa could worry this would make things worse, Noel almost smiled. “This isn’t…..Mischa, I think ours is going to look so much nicer? Right?”

“I-I uh, don’t know-” Mischa stumbled. He’d never really seen many prom setups, and wasn’t spending much time imagining what the work he did would become when placed perfectly around their gym. 

He wasn’t expecting this. They always outdid them, but maybe the lack of time to both steal their theme and do it two weeks ahead got to them. Maybe they weren’t creative enough for an idea they were only doing out of spite. It didn’t matter. Noel was happy. He was originally planning to just come up with a way to make their own prom feel better for Noel’s sake, even if it was only one or two elements, or evened the field. But this was way better. Noel was smiling . 

“Look at this!” Noel said, walking over to the one table. “It’s so boring!”

Mischa had personally admired the craft Noel had put into the aspects of the centerpieces, and of course he’d seen Noel compare them to the tablecloths, and even been asked opinions on the little starry confetti for them. And yeah, Noel was right, these were boring .

“And these?” Noel pointed up above at the hanging stars with a scoff. “Not only are there like twenty tops for this huge gym, but they're just metallic cheap plastic! Ours have lights in them!”

Mischa enjoyed watching Noel look around and continue to talk about things. He let him, just giving a nod every so often so he knew he was listening. He followed him around the gym as they explored and only watched him become more and more enthusiastic as their numbers stacked. 

When Noel got to the back of the gym, which had some sort of stage platform there, no doubt for the prom. It was a little taller than he’d like, but he put some effort into it and dug his elbows in, shimmying up onto it to perch on its edge. Mischa followed suit, but did a far for chaotic leap from a sped up run onto it. Noel just laughed. It worked so, who could complain?

“The only thing they have we don’t is air that doesn’t reek of sweaty socks,” Noel said, as he looked out on their gym, Mischa’s knee pressed into his. “But maybe we can still fix that?”

“We can try if you want,” Mischa agreed for him and him alone right now. Yeah he was excited to see ‘Monique’ but he could care less about how or even where let alone the smell he had been accustomed to since he started there. 

“I think ours is gonna look way better though, especially if you can get the fountain working…”

Mischa just casually hummed, but he absolutely added must getting that fixed to the list in his head. Noel was the only person who ever looked at him and all his flaws and still wanted to be his friend. To push back against his walls and break them down when it might have been easier not to. He was thankful for that, so it felt like the least a good friend could do.

“Are you happy again, Noel?” Mischa turned and asked him, really hoping he was. 

Noel smiled. “Who says i ever stopped?”

“You were sad all day, was not nice,” Mischa explained. 

“I was annoyed, had a bad day, sure,” Noel waved it off. “But i’ve been happy for a few weeks now, and honestly? It’d probably taking the whole world collapsing to make it stop.”

“Am glad,” Mischa told him, knocking his knee playfully into Noel’s. 

Noel laughed a little, “Jerk.” he swung his knee back n retaliation, playfully. 

Then it started, the back and forth knees, to the light forms of kicking, to the gentle shoves at eachother. One well aimed shove to Mischa’s chest almost knocked him back, so he grabbed Noel’s hands in their place, trapping him again, but this time for a totally different reason. The little bits of laughter and scoffs and noises of feigned offense stopped as he did this, making the raven-haired boy shift forward a little bit. 

They were so close. They were holding hands. They were alone. And while they’d never felt a pull like the one they were poorly trying to resist ever before, it was there now. Undeniably there. What was happening? It was so fast, but so slow. There was no stopping it. Their lips were literally about to touch, their eyes had closed, their hold had relaxed effortlessly. 

And then, because saying something is unstoppable is a curse, the author of course, had to stop it.

The sound of something heavy being moved and a booming “Hello?!” rang out and made them pull away in an instant. They couldn’t even think about what they almost did. Because the sound was fast approaching down the hallway outside of the gym, and they needed to get out of there. Now. 

Mischa, always the more reckless one, simply jumped off of the stage. But Noel? He didn’t work like that. And they had no real time to waste. Mischa reached up to grab him by the waist and help him drop down, half catching him through the motion. Then he rushed to grab his hand, noticing the boy not taking the instinct to run over his instinct to freeze. He pulled him over towards the door to the back of the gym, where they came through, and he was really glad for the fact they had an escape route. Because he could handle it, but Noel clearly didn’t have the experience or mental capacity to at the moment.

Pulling Noel along with him was easy, the boy seemed to pick up on the fact they were choosing the flight option here, and moved quickly with him. They got to the door, just as they heard the other door open, and Mischa quickly flicked the light with his free hand, not risking dropping Noel’s hand and possibly leaving him behind or losing him in the pitch-black surroundings.

He flicked it in pretty perfect timing, the door opening and the hallway the security guard came from showing his silhouette from the light. His flashlight flickered on just as Mischa shoved them both back out into the parking lot and slammed the door, leaning against it and dropping the boys hand. 

“Oh my god!” Noel breathed. 

Mischa felt guilty. “Noel, i’m so sor-”

“That was so….what’s that word you always use?” Noel asked.

If it wasn’t for the smile forming, he’d be sure he was asking him to fill the blank with one of the ukrainian curse words he used whenever Ocean spoke. But he thought he had a good idea now, it was different. 

“Dope? Madwickedawesome?” 

Noel nodded, amused by the boy’s essence as always. “Yeah, those, I mean, what a rush!”

The pair fell into laughter, the adrenaline still coursing through them and nearly distracting them completely. Because they weren’t in the clear quite yet.

“Not to cut you off, but we need to go like…now!” Mischa said, faintly hearing the security guard’s calls from beyond the door, certain he’d check the back door next.

“Shit!” Noel said, suddenly remembering, and this time being the one to grab Mischa’s hand and pull him off the door. The car wasn’t that far, but it felt right to stick together until they couldn’t reasonably do so. 

The pair couldn’t help but still fall into giggles and smiles as they made their getaway. The chances of this guy catching them even at this point was slim. Remembering the plate would be the only option, and even then, could he get a good enough look? Besides, senior prank season coincided with prom. If there was no real damage, he’d probably let them go. 

They dropped hands and made their way to the side of the car they each needed. Noel’s side was tucked up against a curb and he had to balance on it. It was hard to do when so filled with joy and energy, but he managed to do so mostly, only falling over when he was next to his door, falling onto it and then throwing it open and climbing inside. 

“Drive!” Noel said in his fit of giggles, watching as Mischa fumbled with the keys in a hurry. 

Then they were off, and while it might not have been necessary, the boy sped away over the speed limit. To add to the crazy adventure he’d found to enjoy a whole lot more than he imagined. Because it worked wonders. 

When the laughter died down and they were once again back on the highway (at a normal speed), they were able to take a moment to breathe. Adn think. And while it didn’t hit Noel right away, it hit Mischa. 

He felt so conflicted. Because it didn’t feel wrong. Yet, ‘Monique’ was still a thing. The more he silently thought about it, allowing Noel to check his phone or whatever else he was doing, the more he panicked. But then he realized, it was in the moment, he was right there, and ‘Monique’ was so much more. A true deep bond somehow formed over IM.

He liked ‘Monique’. He liked Noel too but….not to that extent. He knew that. He needed to make it clear to himself. Clear to Noel too. But how? Or when? He didn’t want to screw up their friendship over this. But he absoltuleuy couldn’t screw up ‘Monique’ either, who certainly wouldn’t love to hear he even came this close to kissing someone else. No matter what the circumstance or how amazing that boy seemed to be. Platonically, of course. 

He awkwardly sat on the thought, trying to figure out what to do best. It took him a while to come up with this plan, and so another could take a while too. And planning as well. When they hit traffic he knew he had the time to sit and think, since neither of them wanted to talk. Could it be because of that? His throat wss dry and he kept imagining every look Noel gave him was one of judgement for what had happened, despite him not even knowing who started it. 

After what felt like a while of sitting there, he realized that any friend as good as Noel would just want honesty. Besides, he asked his crush to prom! He hadn’t asked him! So he probably wss just caught up in the Starry Night (even if subpar) as well.

“Noel…..we should forget about almost kissing, you know?” Misicha grabbed the wheel to suppress his nerves. “I have someone I like and he is too special to ruin for some heat of the moment thing, even if it’s with you, someone who has been great friend to me.. my poet is just too important to-”

Mischa knew he was rambling, but he didn’t cut himself off due to good judgment. He cut himself off because he heard the light sound of snoring he hadn’t heard before. He turned to find Noel leaned against the window, asleep from the wait of the traffic and lack of sleep he got each night from pushing his exhaustion limits to talk with ‘Badegg’. 

He crashed after the high and Mischa could only let out a soft exhale in amusement. Mischa, who was fully stopped in the traffic at this point, grabbed his phone and put it to sleep before keeping it secure in the cup holder for him. Then he just watched him for a moment. 

He was going to instead bank on the boy just forgetting about the almost-kiss. After all it was just a drop in the ocean of chaos they’d created that evening. He knew he personally wouldn’t foget it, it was far too incredible of a moment they shared. But the moment he emphasized was the break-in, not almost kissing. 

A kiss from ‘Moniique’ could be on the horizon, and he wanted that far more than what they almost shared. No matter how cute he looked asleep in his car.

“солодких снів, Ноель Грубер,” He sighed out heavily, leaning back, happy to wait in the traffic a bit longer if it meant he could feel the sense of calm again. A sense of security. They were fine. He was fine. Noel was fine. 

‘Monique’ was probably fine too, even if he had to neglect him a bit for the sake of being a good friend. Hopefully he’d admire that. Maybe he was on now? He pulled out his phone and hoped to god he was. He missed him, and all he could seem to think about now was kissing him at their far superior Starry Night prom.

Chapter Text

It was now only about a  week before their prom and Noel had been so busy with things his head was spinning. Every waking moment of his life was being taken up and used. If he wasn’t at school he was at choir practice. If he wasn’t at choir practice he was doing prom-preparations in the school’s basement with Mischa. If he wasn’t doing that he was taking a shift at Taco Bell to help keep things afloat. 

And in the far too little time he had to not do those things nor take care of himself, eat, study for finals, do homework, and even do chores around the house? All that time went to ‘Badegg’. Even time he didn’t have went to him, still staying up far too late to talk with him. Pushing it further and further each time, fucking up his sleep scheudle, and pushing four in the morning on days where he had to get up a little after six. At least he liked coffee, because it was his new best friend now.

Soon he’d have more time. He just had to graduate and he could, at least for a little while, breathe . 

Surprisingly that Saturday morning Noel found himself without plans. He had a shift, but that wasn’t until later. The morning and even afternoon were all his to spend. And while he should reasonably use it to catch up on sleep, he craved something else. Someone else. 

He opened up his phone as he sat, cradling his mug of coffee, in the small kitchen of his home. He was on, which only made his lazily morning smile look like one out of a movie. He took a needed sip of the drink and then typed out a message. 

Monique: Bonjour, Mon Cher

He wasn’t seeing things, the girl circle was still there. He was online. But yet, the response wasn’t coming. He wanted to panic, but right before he could, he got the response to finally come through. 

Badegg: Good morning to you too, poet.

Monique: I thought you might have been ignoring me there for a moment

Noel cringed a bit after he sent it, wondering if it was a bit too clingy. Before he could try to backtrack another message came through to ease his anxieties. 

Badegg: Did not mean to worry you. Needed to translate what you said.

Monique: You live in Canada? You don’t know basic French?

Noel sent it as mostly a joke, thinking it was ironic, maybe even funny. But then the reply delayed once again, and he realized he fucked up big time. Yeah almost everyone at Saint Cassian’s had not only been in Canada but in Uranium City their whole life, but why should that matter? He’d been learning math since kindergarten and that never made it any easier. Why is he making someone who makes him feel amazing probably feel like an idiot?! 

He’s the idiot here. He is so the idiot here. And he was never going to forgive himself if he fucked this up for himself.

Monique: I am SO sorry, that was so rude

Monique: I didn’t mean it like that, I swear 

Noel swore he was going to start crying by the time he finally saw a new bubble pop up.

Badegg: It’s okay

Monique: No it’s not

Noel knew the fact he even hesitated to find an original answer was proof he felt bad about himself. Maybe embarrassed. Possibly inadequate. Any adjective would do if it was from Ocean’s usual roulette of words she spewed at the people she looked down on at their school. And this beautiful boy deserved none of those ugly descriptives swirling around his brain. 

The boy was too nice to admit it and made Noel feel bad. Even if it meant he continued to feel bad. And Noel hated that. He’d do the same, but for anxiety reasons. This was simply because this person was the nicest person on the planet. In any language.

Monique: I never want to make you feel bad

Monique: You’re amazing and i’m just SO bad at this still

Badegg: At what?

Monique: Being good enough?

Monique: If you wanna cancel going to prom or meeting or anything I get it

Monique: But I am REALLY sorry

Noel didn’t even notice how tightly he was gripping his phone. The coffee he once needed like oxygen was nothing compared to his racing heart. All his focus was on the glowing rectangle in his hands, and instead of caffeine, all he needed was a second chance.

Badegg: No need for sorries

Badegg: Was never mad

Monique: You’re sure?

Once again, how was this boy real? And hiding amongst the people of their school no less.

Yet he still asked if he was sure, with a heavy swallow of his spit. Why was he trying to talk the boy out of being kind to him? Was it self-sabotage? Was he getting second thoughts? Jitters? Probably. But he was almost going to graduate without ever even being kissed . He had to put his foot down and let himself live a real life. Not stopping it before it can begin. 

The taste of living he got from gong with Mischa to Oak Grove was proof of something he’d gone his whole life without and knew he couldn’t never taste again. And the almost kiss, while very conflicting, also let him know getting that kiss was the next thing off his list. From ‘Badegg’ of course though, not Mischa. His friend. His very straight friend who admitted to liking someone else. 

Badegg: Of course I am

Badegg: Do not doubt my admiration for you. You are lovely. 

Monique: And you are unreal

Monique: But in the most impossiibly good way ever

Badegg: :)

Monique: So then i’ll still see you in exactly one week from now at prom?

Badegg: Wouldn’t miss seeing you or your dress for the world <3

“Oh my fucking god!” Noel stood up, pure panic coursing in his veins. 

He couldn’t even swoon over the message he no doubt wanted to swoon over. He was prone to a lot of that lately, but the only thing he could feel now was his palms sweating and his breathing pick up. 

He was so distracted and so busy and so stupid . How had he forgotten about his dress?! The dress?! 

He quickly opened up his group chat for the choir and sent an ‘SOS’ text out to them. He grabbed his coffee mug and downed the rest of the liquid heat in one go, slamming the old mug back down on the table with a thud. Then he ran to the stairs before realizing he not only left his phone which was now being blown up with worried texts from his friends, but had left ‘Badegg’ on read!

He went back to it and quickly texted a message saying he would explain in a second before pulling the website back up and breathing out a fatigued breath as he typed to the boy. 

Monique: Sorry, something came up, but i'll be back on later 

Badegg: Everything okay?? 

Monique: It will be 

Badegg: See you then, poet <3

Monique: Yes you will loverboy ;) 

His breathing was still a bit worked up, but it managed to pass through a bit of a smile. Step one of his frantic plan was done. ‘Badegg’ was not left on read. 

Then for the other messages, which he chose to ignore, were still pinging in the groupchat. He trampled on the old carpet lining the stairs as he ascended them and dialed Penny, the girl picking up as he got to the top step. 

“Penny!” He frantically called out, not even letting her even speak before he did. “I need you! Ezra didn’t borrow your car today, right?” 

“No, it’s in the driveway, why?” Penny asked him. “And what’s with the SOS? Are you okay?!”

“I will be after you, my perfectly amazing best friend, get in her car and pick up Ocean and Constance for an emergency outing.” Noel explained, balancing his phone on his shoulder as he looked through his closet for something decent yet easy to change in and out of. 

“No Ricky?” He could practically hear the girl frown. 

“I love Ricky but no, don’t bother them,” Noel explained, pulling a hanger out of his closet, one of the few shirts without buttons or heavy knitting he owned hanging off of it. “This is a fashion emergency.”

Penny knew most gay men would be streotyped to have a fashion emergency all the time, but for Noel Gruber this was a big deal. He cared about fashion, sure, but he was so confident in his style. He never needed help. This had to be something big .

“On it,” Penny explained. “Be at your house at fifteen.”

“Don’t even bother coming to the door, I’ll be waiting,” Noel explained. “We’re going to the mall.”

Penny agreed and hung up the call, probably already on her way out to the car and calling the other girls to get them in on the plan. 

Noel got changed and did his hair up. He knew he didn’t need makeup, but if he wanted to truly envision the dress the way he had in his head since first laying eyes on it? Then he needed to at least have a bit of mascara and eyeliner. The lipstick could wait, because it was still the mall, and homophobes ran free there. Without a principal to dish out any meager punishment to them.

Then he knew the other thing he had to do. He hated doing it, but it was just a little. 

He had to take some money out of his France fund. 

It’d be okay. He was sure of that. It wasn’t all of it, and he could make more. Besides, the France fund was about more than just France. It was about escaping to live the life you want. Right now the life he wants is wearing the dress he fell in love with at the prom when he first met ‘Badegg’. If the fund could talk, it would approve of his choice. At least that's how he settled the conflicting emotions he held as he opened the jar and took out a few hundred dollars to shove into his pants pocket. 

It wasn’t enough time to message ‘Badegg’ again, even if flirting with him would help alleviate a lot of his anxiety, some of which he caused. And while the group chat had messages he hadn’t read, he knew Penny was handling them. Even Ricky would get a call about not worrying. 

But after he cleared those messages, he noticed he still had one new notification. 

Mischa: Are you okay?

That felt odd. Could Mischa sense he was having a bit of a crisis or was it some sort of lucky guess?

Noel: I’m fine, why?

He lied. He didn’t like doing it, but f all went well, he would be. And he was sure Mischa had no desire to hear about some dress. Even if it was practically made for him.

Mischa: You texted SOS to chor chat, I looked it up, means you need help??

Noel breathed out, amused by the boy’s adorable care. He googled it for him? They really were friends. And not jst friends who worked together or did chori and school. The type of friend he was sure he’d have even after graduating.

But how did he see that message?

He reopened the group chat and realized in his haste he messaged the wrong choir groupchat. There were two. One for the choir friendgroup, the one Mishca did everything to avoid being considered a part of, and didn’t include him. And then the one that was used for updates and schedules, which did have him. The one where he sent the dire plea for help. 

Noel: Wrong chat, sorry

Mischa: But you are okay? You are sure you don’t need help?

Noel: You’re sweet to offer but, no, I’m okay, I promise

Mischa: Okay

Noel breathed out once again, and then realized he had gotten so cxuaght up in texting the boy he wasn’t even watching out his window for the girls to pull up. When he stood on the tips of his toes to peer ouut the window at the top of his front door, he saw them pull in and quickly placed his feet back down on the ground so they could carry him out the door to Penny’s car. 

He ran around the car to the find the front seat was the one that was open, once again the others doing the logical thing and keeping Ocean and Noel separate. With their respective best friends. 

“Sorry!” Noel criied, buckling his seatbelt up. 

“Um, you better be!” Ocean called from the seat behind him. “I was doing something important!”

“Oh please,” Noel rolled his eyes as they began to back out of the driveway. “You’re just bitter they wouldn’t let you start setting up for prom this weekend like you wanted, that was your only plans for this weekend, you were probably just knitting like an old spinstress.” 

Ocean scoffed, and used her already leaned over stance to flick Noel in the head. 

“Ow!”

“First of all, I crotchet, not knit, there’s a difference!” Ocean spoke. “And second of all, I have every right to be upset! Gym is mostly outside in June and our prom is a huge deal! Now because it might rain on Thursday, we can’t set it up until Friday ?!”

“Yea, but Oce,” Constance tapped her shoulder, making the girl lean back in her seat again and look at the purple haired girl. “You got us out of class on Friday for it!”

“It’s not enough to make up for it,” Ocean huffed, arms crossed against her seatbelted chest. “Besides, finals are coming up, missing class isn’t a good thing.”

“Speak for yourself,” Noel told her. 

“Whatever,” She was used to Noel’s antics. “Now do you want to tell us why we are headed to the mall at the last minute?”

“Well, seeing as all you’ll bitch about is prom is it really that hard to figure out?” 

Ocean resisted the urge to argue back. He could never just answer her normally, could he? 

“So we’re finding you a suit?” Penny asked. 

“No,” Noel explained. “A dress, and i’ve already found it, I just need to make it mine.”

“I thought you were against wearing a dress?” Constance asked him, excited about the idea of going back to look at pretty dresses, but curious about the change of heart he had. 

“I was also against going to prom but things change,” He shrugged. “C’est la vie!”

“Yeah, why did you change your mind so suddenly?” Ocean spoke, not buying the randomness in his change of heart. 

“People can’t change their minds?” He expressed with a half-hearted scoff. 

“People can, Noel Gruber? Not so much,” Penny knew him as well as the others. “Now just tell us, we’re your best friends, we won’t judge you!”

“Even Ocean?”

“Yes!” Ocean was a bit offended she was singled out, but she knew why. 

“I sorta have…..a date?”

“A date?!” Penny exclaimed, looking at the boy who was now a blushing wreck as he heard her and the other two from the back give gasps. 

“Yes, Penny and- Penny, the road!” Noel exclaimed, watching her luckily whip her head back to the forward facing position and slam on the brakes in time to avoid the back bumper of a pickup truck. 

Everyone jerked a bit from it, and the silence fell over them. 

“....sorry.” Penny cringed at her own actions. 

“New rule,” Noel made clear as the girl started to drive again, a bit more cautiously now that they were approaching the highway. “No asking me about this until Penny is not in a position to kill us!”

Everyone agreed, even Penny, who didn’t trust herself to not be even worse once she got some details. Noel might still be refusing to tell her much about this online friend, but this was real life! And she’d see him at prom, so, to her it was a lot more realistic to get the gossip. Besides, she was sure Constance and Ocean could help her wear the boy down. 

When thye got to the mall, Noel expanded the rule until after they got to the dress shop. Which mean t walking through the mall with Penny begging him to elaborate. On something .

But Noel only had one thought, and when he say the dress through the window, still on display, he stood frozen in his tracks.

“Go in!” Ocean exclaimed rudely, having almost bumped into him, but he was a bit dazed on top of all the voices telling him not to back out fighting with those telling him he should do just that. 

He didn’t even answer her, and so they knew he was out of it. Penny waved a hand infront of his face, which he flicked away, but then continued to stare. 

“Is that the dress?” Constance asked, looking at it. “It’s really pretty!”

Noel smiled. She probably wasn’t picking up on the true extent of his anxiety, but she was managing to help. 

“...yeah, it is.” He breathed out, finally deciding to bite the bullet and go inside.

He walked over to it. He saw the dress even closer up now, and nothing about that made him regret his decision to come back for it. Just as he remembered, maybe better. He reached out to feel the fabric, the lace overlay’s texture on the pad of his thumb as he rubbed it tickled a bit. He didn’t wanna drop his hold on it, or his gaze, not until he knew it was his. Or at least his to go try on. 

“It’s so you!” Penny spoke up. 

“I hate to admit it but, once again, Noel has good taste.”

Noel actually did take his eyes off the dress for that compliment. 

“Ocean,” He acknowledged her, flattered and feeling more love from her now than he had since she’d become a prom dictator. “That’s so nice of you.”

“Something about this dress store makes her really nice!” Constance smiled, remembering when Ocea convinced her to get her dress and how much that meant to her. 

Ocean waved it off. “Are you going to try it on?”

Noel nodded. “Definitely.” 

The girls all offered to ask one of the salesgirls to get it off instead of having Noel ask, for safety reasons. But no, if he was going to try it on, they’d know eventually. They could stare, they could gossip, he didn’t care. Nothing was getting between him and the dress.

Once he had it he went over to the dressing rooms and found a vacant one. They were in a dress shop, so they weren’t gendered, and he didn’t have to deal with that . He simply walked in and closed the blue curtain behind him. The girls were there too, on the couch, waiting to see him and all discussing this new mystery date. 

Noel slipped it on and discovered the dress was even more perfect. Because it had a corset laced back to it, fitting its aesthetic to the tee. It sadly meant, he could not do it up himself, but he wasn’t alone. He peaked out, not wanting to reveal things before he had to and locked eyes with Constance. 

“Connie? Help lace me up?” Noel asked her nicely. 

She stood up and walked over, without answering, her answer clear as she stepped inside the small box. 

“Wow!” Her eyes opened wider as she saw the dress now on Noel instead of a mannequin. He made it look even better. “You look incredible.”

Noel couldn’t help but gush a bit, hoping she meant it with everything in him. He bit his lip and held the fabric of the skirt a bit as he too lookd down on it. The room didn’t have a mirror, but iit felt right to look down and be covered in such lovely expenses of fabrics. 

“Thanks,” Noel said, a bit insecure still, not used to being in a dress let alone being complimented for it. 

He turned around in the space so Constance had access to the shiny red ribbons that would create a pattern up the pale skin of his back until he was secured into the dress. He’d had to undo it all to get it on, so it didn’t happen quickly, but Constance was good at doing it. Something about bread braiding? Either way, when it was done, it was done well and she did nothing but smile at him as he turned back around to face her, now feeling complete. 

Constance motioned for him to be the one to exit first, clearly the person everyone was waiting on seeing. He nodded, building up his courage for a moment, and then stepped out from behind the curtain. 

The girls had been talking, but when they heard the swoosh of the curtain ring being glided across, looked up to find the tenor standing there. 

“Noel! It’s…” The inflection of what Ocean said made it clear it was a good thing, simply too shocked to find the right words beyond that.

“It’s incroyable!” Penny finished for her, sure Noel would find the complement being given in french to speak to hist heart even more. “Très belle!”

Noel’s awkward hands at his sides, stiff and concerned, moved up to his face to hide his smile at the reaction. Constance wasn’t alone in this, and unless they were incredible liars, they meant it too. Penny could pull that off, but Ocean was too honest to try and Constance still struggled with things like that. 

“Tu penses vraiment cela,” He still had to make sure, even though he knew it in his heart of hearts they meant it.

“Oui!” Penny smiled, standing up to get an even better look at the dress. 

“I didn’t know it had a slit!” Ocean exclaimed, from when she stayed sitting. 

Noel moved his head down a bit and moved his leg to either confirm or deny it. And it was true. The dress was made well, so it didn’t lack in fabric, and the slit was invisible to the eye on the mannequin between how full the skirt was and how dark the fabric was as well. He saw hs leg start to peak out, and while some people might be worried about manly or even hair legs shining through a dress like this, he wasn’t. Because he wasn’t trying to be a girl. He was a guy in a dress, and if you couldn’t handle his legs, how were you going to handle the rest of him?

“Guy’s Noel still hasn’t even seen himself in the mirror!” Constance spoke up, making Noel audibly gasp at the realization. 

He hiked up the skirt and walked over to the mirrors. Constance and Penny followed right behind and even Ocean got up off the couch for this part. 

Noel let the skirt hit the floor, the girls gathered behind him, waiting for the moment to come. And when he looked? It really was a moment. 

He’d never felt more beautiful. Not just the dress but himself. He smiled tearily, the emotions already hitting him. He turned his body back and forth a bit, swaying, and letting the skirt move a bit with him to see how it flowed. Then he took his hands and drug them down the front, feeling the material again, this time against his own body. He let out a bit of a sob, because it felt like a moment he waited a lifetime for. That he could have gone his actual whole life without if he allowed fear and hate to win. But he didn’t, and nobody else in the store was even batting an eye. His reward from the universe he was sure, because it felt a bit unheard of. 

“Oh, Noel…” Constance herself was getting a bit emotional, walking over to hug him from the side. 

Penny couldn’t resist joining that as her own eyes misted a bit. He looked beautiful, but they all knew it went beyond that. He grabbed him from the other side, nestling into his side as she snuck her arm around him, looking into the mirror to see they all stll were. 

And then, because she was not a Spielverderber in this universe, Ocean reluctantly joined in too. She had no side to grab, so she simply hugged him from the back, her arms not only wrapping around him, but the other two girls. All that was missing was Ricky, and then it’d be their family. 

“I love you guys,” Noel breathed out, even if he was less than keen on being in the center of such an overwhelming hug. 

The girls all said it back before stepping away again, watching Noel’s face light up as he watched one of those tears manifest into a black line down his face. It really was the most perfect day. He glamourized this kind of thing and yet it never happened naturally. But then he remembered the dress, and no matter how dark it was, he wasn’t staining it. 

He motioned for Constance’s purse, and she knew what he meant. One of the tissues she always carried, carrying even more around allergy season. She got it quickly and handed it to him, watching as he precisely swiped it away. Then he smiled again, bright as can be. 

He just wanted to wear it a bit longer, stare at himself in the mirror too. Perhaps milk a few more compliments? He didn’t care if it seemed silly. The others took stuff like this for granted, and he wasn’t going to. 

“Can we hear about the date who’s totally going to faint when they see you in this dress?!” Penny asked, having waited long enough. 

“Oh god,” Noel had almost forgotten, laughing at the idea. He was in too good of a mood to deny her though. “Sure, what do you wanna know?”

“Everything!” She announced, flopping back down on the couch alongside Ocean who chose to politely sit on the cushion instead. “Like, what’s his name?”

Noel reached down to his fingernails and began picking them. “....I don’t know.”

“What?” Ocean spoke this time. 

“I don’t know his name, okay?” Noel sighed out, sure he’d get judged. “I don’t know what he looks like either.”

“I don’t get it….” Constance spoke up for the bunch. 

“We met online-”

“He’s a predator?!” 

Noel scoffed. “Ocean, calm down, we met online on the prom website, okay? He goes tro our school.”

“There’s another gay guy at our school?” Consatnce wracked her brain for who t could be. “And it's not Ricky.”

“Uh, I'm dating Ricky!” Penny reminded. 

“Yeah, I love Ricky, but that’d be gross,” Noel made a face at the idea of being with his close friend and best friend's partner. “Besides, I don’t think he’s out, I mean we’d know who by now if so. I don’t blame him for not being in our school…”

“But he’ll be out when he goes to prom with you, right?” Ocean didn’t get it. 

“Yeah, but by then we only have a few more weeks of school,” Noel shrugged, a small smile falling back on his face at the thought. “Said, I'm worth it.”

“That’s adorable!” Constance gushed. 

“Well, what do you know about him?” Penny asked, not judgmental like Ocean would have, but with genuine interest. 

“He’s the nicest and most romantic person ever, I swear to god, it’s like he’s straight out of some romance novel my mom reads,” Noel started to gush. “And he hates our town just as much as me, hates our school too. He won’t go into too much detail, which is fine, but sounds like he hasn’t had the best life, and I can relate to that. There’s othe things too.”

“Like what?” Penny was leaning over in her seat with anticipation, and while her face didn’t show it, even Ocean was dying to hear more. 

“Well he likes music like me, but not anything I’d ever listen to,” He said, finding it to be less judgmental and more endearing. “He’s a lot more masculine than me, but I like that, and he knows I'm more feminine and likes that too.”

Ocean's protective side took over. “Does he know about the dress?”

Noel nodded. “Not the details, but he convinced me to wear one, so, he knows enough.”

“He sounds perfect!” Constance sounded like she was almost just as happy as Noel, and for her friend? She was. He deserved nice things. 

“He is, mostly….”

“What’s that mean?” Ocean’s face scrunched. 

“Oh nothing major,” Noel waved her off. “He’s perfect in everyway that matters, he just uses this awful text talk pattern that sounds like broken English. As a writer it’s a little annoying sometimes, but i’m assuming once we talk in person i’ll forget all about it.”

“Broken English? Hates our town?” Ocean let out a small ‘ha’. “You sure you didn’t pick up Mischa?”

Noel didn’t find it funny. It brought back the memory of them almost kissing, or his conflicting emotions about his friend, and of course how impossible that all was. 

“Ocean, Mischa’s straight!” He said, annoyed. “Besides, he has a date to prom….i’m pretty sure.” 

He wanted to be confident, and he trusted that Mischa wouldn’t go back on the bet. But what if this girl said no to him? He couldn’t understand why anyone who knew the real him would give him a rejection, but perhaps that was the issue. That most people didn’t know the real Mischa.

Penny’s eyes widened. “Mischa’s going to prom?”

“We made a deal, I'd ask the guy I like to go, if he asked the girl he liked.” Noel said simply. 

“So you two are really friends?” Ocean seemed skeptical. 

Noel rolled his eyes, and played a bit more with the skirt, seeing how it would look as he moved different ways. He wondered how it’d look if they danced. How it’d move if he turned around in it, and made the skirt spin in the most satisfying way so effortlessly. How it’d look the moment ‘BadEgg’ laid eyes on him. He hoped amazing but he’d settle for anything more than fine. 

“Is that a no?” 

He was called out of his imagination by Ocean’s annoying voice. 

“ Yes ! We’re friends, who cares?!” Noel didn’t see why it mastered or why he had to get out of his daydream for her nosey questions. 

“So then you wouldn’t actually mind if it was Mischa?” Ocean gave a smirk, and surprisingly Penny and constance giggled alongside her, Penny even elbowing her to show she did good by making suchh a comment. 

“ Friend!” Noel repeated. 

“That’s not a denial,” Penny spoke. 

Noel turned around to give her a glare. 

“What?” She signed her innocence. “Would it be that bad, we all know you think he’s cute.”

“ We all?!” Noel’s mouth hung open. “I told you that once ! In confidence!” 

“Oops…” Penny grumbled. “But come on, it’s obvious, so just say it, you wouldn’t mind a little Ukrainian loving on prom night.”

“Okay i don’t know what possessed you to phrase it like that but-” He couldn’t help but pause when he could hear Constance fail to hold back more giggling. “It’s not him, so it doesn’t matter if I would or wouldn’t.”

“But you would.” Penny challenged, looking at him right in the eyes, confidence not wavering. 

“Yeah, sure,” Noel admitted, with a bit of a blush as he heard them cheer at the new admittance from the boy. “But again, it’s not him, and i’m okay with that. Mischa might be cute, but i’ve never even seen what ‘Badegg’ looks like, and i'm practically in love, for all the important reasons.”

“I’m sorry, bad egg?” Ocean spoke, knowing she heard correctly when Noel’s face turned a bit bothered, and began to laugh. 

“Shut up!” Noel said. “I’m getting changed, Connie, come help me!” 

He turned to make sure she was coming, and with a strained thin white line on his lips and a paned look on her face he knew she wasn’t not laughing at him, just resisting it for the time. 

“Oh all of you are just so-!” Noel didn’t bother to finish as he walked back over to the small stall, dress’s slight train following behind him as well as Constance who allowed herself to giggle a bit after being caught. 

And yeah, he was a bit annoyed. Yeah they were laughing at it all. But it was a stupid name. It just so happened to be that the boy behind it was the exact opposite. And his friends really did love and support him when it mattered. So he let himself let out a small laugh he’d admit he did to no one. Because it was a great day, with a new dress, some old friends, and hopefully a bright future ahead.

Chapter Text

“Mischa?” Noel called a bit nervously as he walked down into the basement of the school with an empty cardboard box. 

He didn’t know if Mischa would be there already, there was simply no way to know from the top of the stairs. He always parked his car at the back and he’d not even gotten so much as a text from him. Neither had Ocean, who wouldn’t stop freaking out about it to Noel all morning. She needed someone tall and strong on her very limited committee of prom helpers. 

He heard no response so he figured it was safe. 

Safe was a bit of a weird word to use on a friend but he was worried about being alone with him for the first time since they almost kissed. Prom was tomorrow and he couldn’t talk or think about that. All week they had been able to avoid it and it wasn’t even awkward, but they’d be alone for a portion of the day and he worried about what that would mean. 

When he reached the bottom of the stairs and went to turn, he ran into someone and screeched. The box in his hands flew and he was able to see it was just Mischa. He was about to be mad he hadn’t answered him, but Mischa was looking at him a bit startled himself and pulling some headphones out of his ears. He could hear the rap blasting out of them as they dangled there and realized it wasn’t on purpose. 

“Mischa,” Noel sighed out in a bit of delayed relief, hand to his beating heart. “You scared me.”

“I am sorry, Noel Gruber.” He said kindly, reaching out to hold his shoulder and steady him a bit more. “Are you okay?”

Noel nodded, the touch sending the alarms off in his mind for a moment and telling him not to speak. But when Mischa delivered a warm smile and let go, he realized he was the only one making this a thing. And if he let himself let it go, he could also let himself enjoy his time with Mischa. As a friend, obviously.  

“I’m fine,” Noel smiled genuinely, allowing himself to relax. 

“Good.”

“Anyways,” Noel walked around to get closer to the boy. “Ocean said we’re the ones in charge of hauling all the basement stuff up, and get this, she gives me a box . As if that’s more helpful then getting other people to help. Do you know how many trips we have to make by ourselves?!”

“The lantern-y things yo did will take ten trips alone,” Mischa scoffs at the idea. “But think of it this way; the more time spent delivering things, the less time up in the gym with Ocean.”

Noel groaned, switching into a laugh. “You know she stole the gym teacher’s megaphone? Just went into his office and took it.”

Misha gasped in a way that kept the playful nature of their conversation. “Ginger girl committed crime? What would precious Saint Cassian say?”

“Saint Cassian?” Noel laughs. “I suppose this is his school….”

“Too bad is so shitty.” Mischa said with a smirk, knowing Noel would agree with the sentiment.

Noel smiled at that, but instead of connecting the hatred for the town to Mischa the way Mischa had Noel, Noel thought of ‘Badegg’. Prom was tomorrow after all. And his stomach was flipping like it had t’s very own olympic sized trampoline inside of it for all his nerves to play on. 

He just had to keep busy, and let the flutters fade to the background until they switch from flipping nerves to butterflies when he first locks eyes with his date and possible future boyfriend? He didn’t wanna get ahead of himself but everything was happening so fast, was t wrong to hope it could happen so beautifully too?

“Hey Mischa?” Noel asked after a short pause. 

“Yeah?” Mischa didn’t look at him, instead as he looked around for something he must have misplaced.

Noel swallowed a bit, nervous the conversation could dampen the mood if the answer wasn’t good. But he had been thinking about his prom date, and he couldn’t help but remember he’d never even asked Mischa about his own. Did she say yes? We’re they maybe a thing now? He just wanted things to work out for both of them. 

“Did you ever end up asking the person you liked to prom?” Noel finished the question. 

Mischa did look at him for a moment. “I said I would, no? Am man of my word, Noel Gruber.”

“I didn’t mean it like that!” Noel rushed to make clear. “We just never talked about it!”

“I did,” Mischa simply said. “Did you?”

Noel hesitated, unsure why he didn’t elaborate, and then worried. “I did…and it went well. We’re going to prom together but- Mischa did she not say yes?”

Mischa furrowed his brow a bit at the pronoun ‘she’ but then reminded himself fairly quickly that while he wasn’t not out, he also wasn’t out . He chose to ignore it though and move to the thing that mattered much more to Noel; the answer. 

He walked back over to the table Noel was at and cleared his throat a bit. “Said yes,” Mischa smiled lightly before looking down and remembering the sweet exchange he had with ‘Monique’ before school. “Am very lucky man.”

“That’s awesome!” Noel breathed out, ignoring the feeling he got when he imagined seeing the two together at prom, sure it couldn't be jealousy when he already had the best date of all. “I’m happy for you!”

And he was. At the end of the day he wanted Mischa happy after seeing him be so miserable so long. And if this grl did it for him? Then all he could hope was that she knew she was the lucky one. 

“Noel?” Mischa snapped him out of his imaginary-scenario instantly.

The one where he yells at one of the girl’s he’d hated since pre-k for taking the Ukrainian for granted when he would be so lucky as to have him. Wait no, he meant anyone would. Because he liked ‘Badegg’ and he could not like two people when it was all coming together with the only one between the two of them who even dated guys. 

“I filled box for you.”

“Oh…. okay,” Noel said, grabbing the box off the table, a bit heavier now but still doable. Mischa hadn’t filled it too full, and the main base of the star shaped lanterns he spent hours folding was the durable paper outside, very lightweight amongst the few fairy lights of similar lightness. 

He went to head for the stairs, but noticed he was alone as his loafer touched down on the unfinished pine of the first step. He turned around to see Msicha hadn’t even taken an extra step this way. 

“Aren’t you gonna help me?” Noel says incredulously. 

“Uh,” Mischa looks conflicted, not about helping, but about what excuse to use. “You can do it right?” 

Noel’s eyes go wide and he’s instantly mad. What the hell?! He might have expected this from Mischa on their first day doing prom work, but now?! Forget mad, he’s livid .

“Are you serious?” Noel wanted him to say no, but he knew he was.

“I just-” 

Noel didn’t let him finish, leaving in a huff up the stars. He let his feet stomp a bit heaver with each step, knowing the boy would hear it and feel the contempt. He wanted him to. So he could feel guilty for making Noel do what already would have been a ton of work worse . The first period bell had rung only ten minutes ago and he was sure he’d only finish a few minutes before lunch. 

They had a lot of stuff, the gym was on the other side of school, and things that were breakable or didn’t fit in the box made even more trips necessary. 

Noel hoped each time he came down there Mischa would see the look on his face or the sweat on his brow and realize friends don’t make friends do ths stuff. He didn't care how annoying Ocean could be, he was supposed to help!

And he was also supposed to be in a good mood! He had the dream date! He’d even smiled and said he was lucky! He also seemed to have an ipod full of rap music to listen to. Sure Noel might have preferred talking to the boy as they did their work, but he’d rather him be zoning out to Eminem then not be there to help at all.

Noel flopped the box back down on the table after what felt like forever, and blew a stray hair out of his eyes. He’d spent so long on it that morning as always and it was ruined from all he’d been doing. 

Mischa weirdly looked happy when he came back down, sitting on the stupid fountain. It was technically gorgeous, they’d managed to clean it up and make it’s beauty shine through. But it was all looks because it didn’t work. 

Noel rolled his eyes as Mischa smiled at him. Did he think after all that he was in the mood to smile back? Nope. The eye roll was frst, then the scoff, then him turning away from him to grab the last thing he had before Ocean ‘let’ him have lunch as she had told him. The last thing was just a poster board for the front of the school, decorated beautifully to announce the evening. It didn’t weigh a lot, and after all the work he put into it he preferred to keep it safe. But Mischa should be at minimum offering to take it and apologizng to him for not offering a million pieces ago. Not smiling.

“Noel.”

Noel ignored him. 

“Noel.”

“Noellll,” Mischa said, and Noel could hear his leg bouncing in excitement as he continued to ignore. 

“Noel!” His voice raised. “Noel Gruber! Noe-”

“Jesus Christ!” Noel turned around and slammed his hands on the table between them. “Take a hint Mischa!”

“What do you mean?” He asked, his happiness being scared away by the boy finally snapping at him. 

“I’m ignoring you!” Noel said back obviously.

“Why would you do that?” He frowned. 

“Because I'm mad at you maybe?!” Noel was going to go insane with this conversation. 

“Wh-what?” Mischa said. “We are friends I thought now…”

“I thought so too, before you had me make a million trips to the gym from here by myself!” Noel fumed. He was gonna be rude and play dumb about it? Not on Noel’s watch. “And why? So you could lounge around the basement?” 

“No!” Mischa exclaimed. “Я ненавиджу підвали, ніколи б не був тут за власним бажанням!”

“What?” Noel obviously spoke zero Ukrainian. 

Mischa sighed, not wanting to repeat the sentiment. “Was doing something important.”

“More important than helping me?”

“Was for you!” he cried back out, hoping he could understand and stop being mad. 

“Mischa, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“Come here!” Mischa reached across the stable to grab his wrist and guided him around, even as he acted annoyed to let him do so. 

He brough him right infront of the fountain he had just been sitting atop and gave him a look that said to wait. Noel sighed and crossed his arms, figuring he could leave shortly after if he didn’t produce something .

He watched Mischa pick up the small remote box that was attached to the fountain's motor and flick one of the switches with a smile. At first nothing happened, but then, the water on the top level startled to bubble. Within a few seconds of that there was a cascade of water flowing from one basin to the next. 

Noel looked at Mischa with a smile forming he couldn’t resist. Mischa had his own proud smile to share with him. 

“You fixed it?!” Noel asked, not sure if he believed what he was seeing at the moment. 

Mischa nodded, his smile on full display, unique to him in the most endearing way. Especially considering such a smile was rare for too long, and considered an accomplishment to receive for even longer. Now Mischa gifted them freely, at least to Noel, and that thought alone could elicit a smile to rival his own. 

“H-how?!” Noel’s hands were on his face as he was still processing everything.

“Figured out problem the other day, but was not sure if solution would work,” Mischa explained. “Did not want your hopes up, so everytime you left I worked on it, and when I heard you coming would act like I wasn’t.”

“I-I-”

“Am sorry for making you do boxes, would you have rathered me not do this? It’s just, I had no other time to and prom is tomo-”

Noel was hugging him in an instant, happy to have the fountain. Mischa clearly put a lot of work into it, and it paid off. He would have let him had he just explained, but just lke fixing the fountain, Mischa was doing what he thought was best for Noel. Oh he was so wrong to be mad, he should have known that wasn’t like Mischa. That Mischa being sweet and selfless was the town’s best kept secret, or maybe Mischa’s.

“Thank you,” He spoke, ruffled into him. “You didn’t have to, but you did it still.”

He heard Msicha make a sound of amusement, clearly happy to have Noel not be angry any longer, bringing his arms up around him.“For you.”

“For me…” Noel whispered the words, trying to process them. 

When was the last time someone did something for him ? The only othe times he could think of belonged to the hazel eyed boy as well. His heart filled to the brim and he hugged him even tighter. 

He let go though, before he could make it awkward. The almost-kiss wasn’t making things awkward anymore, and he didn’t want anything taking its place. 

“So,” Noel spoke. “Anything else we have to do?”

“Have to take water out of it and separate the levels so we can bring up to the gym,” Mischa shrugged. “Should not be too hard.”

The water looked beautiful, and he suddenly realized he didn’t even remember Msicha filling it to test. He supposed he should have noticed, but he had so much on his bran hiis mind had convinced him it’d always been that way. It was crystal clear and tinted blue, he couldn’t help reaching his hand out to the touch the stream, giggling a bit as the water hit his hand and rolled off every corner of it. 

“It’s sorta cold,” He observed.

“We’re stll in gross basement,” Mischa explained. “Besides, is not for touching.”

“Oh…” Noel smirked micheavously. “So I'm not supposed to do this !”

Noel’s still hand flicked out towards the boy, making some of the water splatter onto the front of his chest, droplets staining the red of his vest as he tried to step back and dodge it. 

Mischa let out a little scoff, planning something behind his smirk. “You do not want to start battle you cannot win.”

Noel met hs fiery eyes, sensing the challenge. He had luck on his side still, afterall thethe fountain working was practically a miracle. And he’d won every challenge Mischa’d given him until now. He wasn’t stopping now. He was on a roll. 

“Bring it on, Bachinski.” Those were fighting words for sure.

Before Mischa could even react Noel reached up into the basin to cup his hand around the water and fling even more of the stuff towards Mischa. 

That started the war.

Water was flying everywhere, and both boys were getting wet now. They were limited with where they could hide while still being in reach of the water source, so they had to keep moving. At one point Mischa’s damp hair was being shook out like a dog all over Noel, who squealed in amused horror. It might be war, but with harmless water as the ammunition, it was a fun one. 

Noel spotted a bucket, one they’d used to do some of the work cleaning the fountains tiles and grabbed it. He didn’t fill it all the way, but he collected a fair amount from the bottom bowl and very quickly took himself and the bucket as close to Mischa as he could, pouring it over his head.

And he swore it’d be the act that got him the win. The little white flag waving and declaring Noel unbeatable against the older boy, but Mischa’s eyes didn’t hold defeat. They held determination….for revenge. 

“You think is funny?” He said, feeling the water soak into his white shirt and vest as it had quickly followed gravity’s rules to slide down his body.

Noel did, but he wasn’t admitting that with the way the boy was slowly walking towards him. Every step he took Noel took another cautious one back, scared of what he’d do. He knew he was safe of course, but oh dear god, please spare his hair. 

Mischa then lunged for Noel, grabbing his waist and making the boy scream again, even louder this time. They had no clue how soundproof the basement was, but hoped a lot, or else they were sure to get written up for both the volume and once discovered, the water fight. 

“Mischa what are you gonna-woah!” Noel exclaimed as he felt the boy swiftly change his hold to be that of fully holding him in his arms, bridal style, in the air. 

Noel was only confused for a moment, until he saw the wicked eyes go from him to the fountain. “Mischa! Don’t! ”

“Don’t what?” Mischa feigned his confusion. “Do this?”

He let go of Noel for a moment, pretending to drop him into the fountan before securing his hold once more. Noel screamed again, this time his arms finding Mischa’s neck and holding on for dear life. He had as much of a grip as he could and hoped at the very least if he was going for a swim, so was Mischa. 

“You surrender?” Mischa asked him. 

Noel ddin’t wanna do that, and his hesitation to was what had Mischa leaning even lower towards the fountain wth Noel and once again pretending to drop him. 

“No!” Noel exclaimed, turning his face into Mischa’s shoulder as if not seeing the water would make it’s threat disappear. 

“No you will not surrender?” Msicha tisked in disapproval. “I guess you leave me no choice bu-”

“No!” Noel cried again. “I’ll surrender! I’ll surrender!”

“Okay, then say Mischa Bachinski is better than Noel Gruber.” He demanded casually. 

“What?” Noel asked, finding it childish, ridiculous, and only a little cute. “I’m not saying that!”

“I can still drop you…”

“No!” Noel protested again. “But-But I said I surrendered!”

“Is simply not good enough,” Mischa smiled, before going to drop him again, of course only pretending. 

He wasn’t cruel, he wouldn’t get the boy soaked like that, no matter what. But Noel didn't know for sure, so it kept it fun. 

The little dropping feeling in Noel’s stomach everytime he did it kept eliciting the same scream. Similar to the feeling he got every time they went to the fall fair and rode the cyclone. It was something your body couldn’t even deny was scary, even if you were smiling the whole time. 

Noel shrieked and started pleading ‘please please please’ over and over again as Mischa stopped pretending to drop him and started to slowly lower him towards it. 

“Mischa!”

But the loud exclamation wasn’t from Noel, and it made his and Noel’s eyes both focus towards the bottom of the steps. Standing there was Ocean, looking just as mad as they both imagined any of the staff to have had been they discovered them instead of the girl. 

“Put Noel down!” Ocean exclaimed. 

Mischa didn’t disobey, and gently placed him beside him again. 

“What's wrong with you?! Don’t you eve-”

“Ocean, he wasn’t being mean!” Noel defended him before Ocean got as mean as he knew she could. “We were having fun, and besides, I was the one who started it!”

Ocean looked between them and decided she believed it but still wasn’t satisfied. “Well I'm ending it.”

Ocean walked over to the abandoned poster board she had been waiting for far too long and walked back to the bottom of the stairs, turning to face them. 

“Take lunch, like you were supposed to already be doing, and then come up to the gym to help with some of the draping.” She told them, trying to keep her cool with such a stressful day being exacerbated by such annoying boys. 

“Shouldn’t we bring the fountain up after lunch first?” Noel asked, smiling. 

“What?” Ocean asked before looking at the fountan. “Oh my god! I don’t know how I didn’t notice you managed to fix it! Nice work Mischa!”

Noel made a face. “How do you know I didn’t fix it?”

Ocean let out a small laugh, bordering on an insulting snort. “ Please , I’m trying to make a prom happen, I don’t have time for jokes.”

Ocean just continued making her way up the stairs and left the boys to do whatever they wanted with their lunch. Eat, don’t eat, play in the fountain more. Whatever. As long as they were in the gym in a half-hour, she’d let it go. 

Noel wasn’t letting the comment go though as he let his jaw drop. “Ca you believe her?”

“Yes,” Mischa said, the wrong person to ask about the level of audacity Ocean had in her. “But I do not believe you . You could not have fixed.”

Noel’s mouth managed to drop even lower as he watched Misicha snicker. Mischa noticed as he grabbed a towel to help dry his hair with. He was scrubbing at his hair more than most people would to help make it go faster when he noticed the look on the boy’s face. Cute. 

“Noel, even I almost did not fix it,” Mischa shared. “Be realistic.”

“Fine,” Noel sighed wth only a slight annoyance. They were right, but he didn’t have to make it so obvious and agree with them. “So lunch?”

“Together?” Mischa asked, usually having to spend lunch in his car for a lack of people to sit with. 

Noel usually sat wth the choir, but this was no ordinary lunch, and he if he got to pick? Of course with Mischa. Who else?

“Yeah,” Noel smiled before reverting to his innate urge to be anxious. “Unless you don’t wanna-”

Mischa was standing in front of him at this point, throwing his towel onto the floors and smiling at him. “Would love.”

“Okay,” Noel felt relieved and allowed himself to smile again. Boy had he been doing a lot of smiling recently. It sometimes even hurt his cheeks but, it was worth it. 

“So lunch,” Mischa gestured to the stairs so they could go get their food from the cafetera to bring anywhere they saw fit, having been excused from normal schedule for the day. “For lunch date.”

Date. Noel’s heart skipped a beat from what he knew had to be nerves. It was a saying, a phrase even. But once again, he’d never had anyone, let alone a boy, ever use the word date with him. 

Except for one boy, online, who in the moment reminded him a lot of Mischa. Not just by how he acted but how he made Noel feel. He could have chosen to be worried, but he had a date  to enjoy with Mischa. And then a date to enjoy with ‘Badegg’ in just a little over twenty four hours.

Chapter Text

After lunch was over the boys walked into the gym to see a small gaggle of people all running around the gym like crazy. Somehow Ocean appeared right in front of them instantly though, expecting them no doubt. She had a smile on her face, the creepy one she’d give you before telling you about something she knew you’d hate. They braced themselves simulationously to hear what she’d have them do the rest of the day.

“Hey boys, just who I was looking for! If you’re gonna be late, please let me know first….or just don’t be late,” She kept her smile, even with annoyance in her eyes. 

“We are one minute late?” Mischa spoke, not believing the ginger girl could be like this, despite all of his proof she was.

“Nobody else was?” Ocean scoffed, shaking her head a bit at how ridiculous that sounded and continued. “Anyways, I need you guys to hang……these.”

She patted a large number of fabric laid out on the table by the gym doors. They looked over to see the large navy tapestries, speckles with golden stars, which Noel had had to lug upstairs earlier. The pile of them made it look like there was a hundred, and while there wasn’t that many, there were still a lot.

“Hang them where?” Noel asked. 

“Around! Can’t boys figure out anything ?!” Ocean huffed, looking down at her clipboard to see her list and feeling overwhelmed. “I’d much rather let a girl do it, but we need height and at least one of you is Noel. ”

“Hey!” Noel scoffed in offense. 

“I don’t mean you’re a girl! I mean you have taste!” Ocean rolled her eyes. “Take the compliment!”

“Oh yeah, thank you soooooo much Ocean,” Noel sarcastically spoke, seeing Mischa’s own annoyed face from the corner of his eyes, in his usual stance and waiting for Ocean to leave them alone. 

Ocean gave an even peppier smile, picked her bullhorn back up and pressed the trigger of it to speak into. “You’re welcome.”

It was obnoxious, but so was she. Even if she wasn’t actually that bad on a fundamental level. Noel winced at how loud it was and how wide her sarcastic smile was before she skipped away to go yell at someone else….he assumed. 

He turned to Mischa and then back at the pile of curtains. “Where do you think we can hang these she won’t yell at us for?”

Mischa scoffed. “If you do not know, I don’t know what about me makes you think I will.”

Noel looked at him, his untucked uniform, his lack of tie, his backwards cap he insisted he could wear “legally” if not in class, and his sneakers; both untied. Mischa had a point, but Noel also knew he wasn’t stupid . He could help a little, even if he just gave a vague opinion. 

“Do you think over by the doors would work for some of them? Since they’ll be propped open it could be like a way to frame it or even let them hang down and make for dramatic entrances?” Noel asked, getting more excited about that idea as he spoke. 

“Whatever you want Noel,” Mischa told him, hand reaching out to feel the material of the curtains lazily. 

“Okay, go grab the ladder!” oel motioned over to the ladder by the wall and picked up a tapestry to bring over to the door. 

The weight of the blanket velvet was heavy and Noel admired the sparkle in the gold details. Different speckled star shapes scattered throughout it and bounced off the navy just like the night sky. It was nice, subtle, and way better than he expected to be picked out. He shuddered thinking about what he’d be hanging right now if they’d picked Under the Sea , probably some glorified shower curtains. Ew .

Mischa brought the ladder over, a bored look on his face. This wasn’t fun, no, but at least Ocean wasn’t there. He thought back on the first times he tried to make him smile and figured it couldn’t hurt to do it again and liven things up a bit. 

“Thank you so much for the ladder,” Noel dramatized jokingly. “I don’t know what i’d do without a strong Ukrainian man to help me.”

Mischa’s brows went taunt. “What?”

Noel rolled his eyes, “You’re no fun.”

“I-thank you?” Mischa was confused and even blushed a bit, not sure if that was supposed to be flirting.

“Mischa! It was just a joke!” Noel shoved the fabric into his arms. “You’re supposed to smile!”

“Why do you always want me to smile?” Mischa asked him. “Messes with my reputation, especially up in the gym where other people are.”

Noel narrowed his eyes, almost ready to judge him. “You still care about that stupid reputation, even when school is over in like two weeks?”

Mischa sighed. He didn’t, he knew that. That’s why he was willing to go to prom with ‘Monique’. He’d argue going to prom with some guy - who wasn’t just some guy - in a dress was a lot worse than smiling for a few seconds. The fact he was even thinking of him now made him smile lightly on his own without even realizing. Noel did though. 

“And now you’re smiling?!” Noel threw his hands up, letting him laugh at how ridiculous it all was. “I don’t get you sometimes.”

“Well I don’t get you Canadian’s most of the time either.”

“So, why’d you smile that time? Cause I had the guts to stand up to you nobody else seems to have?” Noel asked, knowing Mischa had always at least respected that side of him. 

“No,” Mischa said, watching Noel begin to climb the ladder. “Thinking about someone-something.”

He corrected himself quickly, but not quick enough.

“Someone?” Noel’s eyebrow raised even as he climbed the ladder. “Also, hold the ladder, this thing is shaky as fuck.”

“дешева драбина, типова школа,” Mischa criticized the metal ladder as he gripped it tightly to keep Noel stable. 

Noel continued climbing higher, all the way to the second highest step, once he knew Mischa was holding it. He trusted Mischa wouldn’t get distracted or not care enough to want to keep him safe. So he’d hold the ladder no matter what. Meaning he could continue to push about what he said. 

Someone . The date he figured. But he was still so curious who it was. He knew he’d know tomorrow, but it wasn’t soon enough. This person was making Mischa smile! Without any coercion! In public too! That was a big deal!

Noel balanced himself and reached to take the curtain from where it draped Mischa’s over Mischa’s arm. He silently thought for a bit on how to best approach it, but then just went for it. 

“So, who is she?” Noel asked as casually as he could muster.

“What?”

“The person you’re thinking about, and smiling over like an idiot.” Noel lightly laughed as he held the curtain up to see how it would look. 

“I wasn’t smiling…..not like an idiot at least.” Mischa grumbled. 

“Whatever! Just tell me who she is!” Noel argued. 

“No!”

“Why not?!” Noel asked, a bit frustrated. He just wanted to be a friend! Be happy for his friend too! No matter who it actually was and how much he despised them. 

Mischa didn’t want to admit it was partially because even he didn’t know. At least a name Noel would recognized. He knew them for what mattered, and he stood by the fact he wanted them to be his date. But Noel might not get it. 

“‘Cause I say so, now hang table cloth and come back down,” He complained. 

Noel knew he was only asking him to hang the ‘table cloth’ so he could let go of the ladder and walk away from the conversation if it wasn’t dropped naturally. But nope, he wasn’t giving in.

“I’m not coming off this thing until you at least tell me what she’s like!” Noel declared, completely dropping the fabric to the floor in protest. 

Mischa wasn’t expecting that, and his mouth fell open a bit, but he recovered more confident than ever. “Fine will make you come down.”

“How?” Noel scoffed a bit too victoriously, a bit too soon. 

Mischa answered by moving his grip on the ladder to not drop it, but shake it. The already rickety ladder shook easily, even with Noel’s weight on it. Mischa smirked as he watched Noel try to hold on to the top as he folded over a bit from the shaking. 

“Mischa!” Noel exclaimed. “Stop!”

“No.” He kept it up, sure Noel’s brain was rocking back and forth now too, and was very annoying. Annoying enough to climb down. 

“I’m gonna fall off, dickwad!”

Mischa shrugged, knowing he wouldn’t let him get hurt. “Climb down then!”

“Tell me who she is then!” Noel held on tighter, hopeful he’d stop if he showed he wasn’t going to back down automatically.

“Who even said it’s a she?!” Mischa was growing a bit impatient, letting that slip out of his mouth. 

Noel’s mouth fell open, shocked to hear that, and stupidly let go of the ladder. Mischa, who hadn’t even realized what he said, continued to shake the ladder and Noel’s balance was tipped quickly. Before he could re-grab a hold of the metal rungs he was falling over and closing his eyes to just hope for minimasl injuries. 

Mischa did see that however, and quickly let go of the ladder to hold Noel instead, catching him on his way down, only about a foot inbetween the top and where Mischa held him against his chest, bridal style again, lucky to get him in anyway with how quick it all was. 

Noel’s breath was taken away as he felt himself not hit the floor, but instead two arms gripping both behind his back and under his knees. He opened his eyes and was met with Mischa, who looked a bit worried. 

“Sorry,” He explained. “Didn’t think you’d let go.”

“I-”

Noel was so confused and overwhelmed. Was he saying his date was a guy? Or at least not a girl? The only nonbinary person in school was Ricky, who was already with Penny and obviously not the person. And the only guy who liked guys….at least openly….was…..

“I just get tired of people assuming I'm straight,” Mischa explained. “I’m bisexual, and while I know most people in the town would be mean, you wouldn’t, so figured I could finally push back on all that! іноді мене злить, навіть якщо люди цього не мають на увазі.”

Mischa was bisexual?! He wasn’t expecting that! But atleast it took away the anxiety attack he was about to have over the possibility of Miischa being ‘Badegg’. He was just tired of people assuming he was dating a girl. He could get that, people sometimes asked him when he was going to get a girlfriend. But he figured those were just more passive aggressive than a misconception. 

Of course, he’s not ‘Badegg’. And the date is still probably a girl, because again, it’s Saint Cassian’s! He shouldn’t have been so silly. Like Mischa would like him anyway….or be so romantic. 

He was a great friend, but ‘Badegg’ was more. Beyond a friend. He would call him a poet, but ‘Badegg’ (ironically the least romantic or poetic name he’d ever heard) would say the most beautiful sentiments and thoughts he’d ever heard. For him too. He was melted into a full puddle by the time they’d say goodbye for things like school and work, and he’d fall asleep dreaming of him wth the app still open. 

Mischa wasn’t ‘Badegg’, he just made an assumption quickly. A dumb one. Yeah, he’d be happy to have Mischa be more, but he was also happy with ‘Badegg’. He wasn’t upset or disappointed, just a bit conflicted with the feeling in hs gut he got when he thought he was. The one of panic….and then elation at how kismet it all was. How it nipped the ‘do I like Msicha’ questions in the bud.

“Oh,” Noel breathed out, breath still taken away from everything. “Sorry, I didn’t know…”

“Is okay, Noel,” Mischa gives a small smile. “All that matters is you would never judge, like I would never judge you.”

“Right,” Noel said, noticing how his arms had instinctually wrapped around his neck again. He was suddenly met wth deja vu as he took in the scene. “We have to stop ending up like this.”

“Eh, you are not that heavy,” Mischa joked, swinging him a bit. 

Noel laughed a little. “Not the point, people are gonna think we’re being gay and be mean to us.”

Mischa frowned and remembered they were no longer in the basement. Why can’t be platonically gay with his best friend!? What was wrong with people?! Was that not normal?! He mentally scoffed, bunch of insecure haters.

He didn’t want Noel dealing with that, even if he was sure he could make them shut up with a fist down their throat. So he set him down gently, watching as he fixed his scrunched up vest. 

“Anyways….back to working?” Noel asked with a nervous smile. 

Mischa hated working, but agreed with a nod, holding onto the ladder again as he waited for him to pick the fabric again and climb it. He wouldn’t shake it again, but if he did somehow fall regardless, he was glad to know he was there to catch the boy. Because he was important, and worth protecting at all costs. 

The rest of the day was long and boring, but the boys got their share of the work done together. Ocean approved of what they did and only minimally bothered them. It meant the real company they had was eachother. 

Noel smiled on the way home thinking about a lot of stuff. The day was a good day. The fountain worked and had looked surprisingly good in the gym. The gym itself looked nice the way they did it, but he was still excited to see everything turned on and the lights low, and the music and all the works to tie it together. 

He thought about Mischa too….and ‘Badegg’. He awkwardly found it hard to think of one and not the other, at least when not actively talking to one. He was just really excited for tomorrow and everything and everyone that came with it. Which he hadn’t expected at all when this was first announced. 

He opened the tab on his phone as he flopped down on the couch. He usually went to his room but today was a lot of physical work and he just needed to rest a bit. He smiled when he saw a message waiting for him. 

Badegg: Poet, when are you going to add your dress to the dress board? Is almost prom!

Monique: I don’t need to put it on there, everyone else has, and i don’t need the opinions 

Badegg: Not even mine :( am so excited to so it

Monique: And you will! At prom!! :)

Badegg: The forum is full of ugly dresses, i know yours will be beautiful as you <3

Monqiue: You know, I could be hideous, and so could my dress

Badegg: First of all you are GORGEOUS. I don’t need to see you to know it, or feel it pouring from your soul my love

Badegg: Second of all, you could not have ugly dress is it’s on YOU <3

Badegg: Third of all, compared to ugly dresses on this site?? You could never be as bad as THOSE. Unless you wear trash bag.

Monique: That was the plan :(

Badegg: Eh, you’d still be cute in it ;)

Monique: Oh shut up! I like my dress though, and I hope you do too

Badegg: i’m sure I wll

Badegg: Can I know color?

Monique: Why?? 

Badegg: Well….you told me how much you love roses, but if dress will not match then I don’t want you to have ugly corsage

Noel audibly ‘awed’ over this boy and his romantic antics which never failed to make him feel more special than anyone else. 

Monique: You got me a corsage??

Badegg: Was that bad…..

Monique: No it is the sweetest thing ever, YOU’RE the sweetest thing ever, I fucking love you

Fuck. Fuck. Fuckty fuck FUCK!!!!!!

He didn’t mean it. Or maybe he did. But he definitely didn’t mean to say it!! And now he’s fucked up everything! Forget not having a boyfriend, forget not having a prom date, he was going to lose him even as a friend for sure! He’s gonna get ghosted and stood up! And he wouldn’t even blame him! He sounds crazy! 

He knows it’s wrong to feel it, and maybe it’s puppy love, maybe it’s teenage hormones, maybe it’s cause he’s so starved. But it didn’t make it unreal to him when he connected the feeling of love to the boy behind the screen. And if it's also just real and deep and meaningful? Or could lead to being the deep and meaningful love ‘Badegg’ made seem like a dream? He was okay accepting it. 

But ‘Badegg’ certainly wouldn’t accept it let alone feel the same. And over TEXT?! Jesus christ! He hated himself right now. He’d already told his friend he had a date and now he’d have to explain that to them and then people would find out somehow and the last weeks in school would be HELL and-

He noticed while he was busy panicking a message had been sent. So he wasn’t being ghosted, but he was sure it was bad. A pit opened up in his stomach as he went to scan the screen for any sign of needing to go sob on his bed until work. 

Badegg: I love you 2 poet

Noel gasped, but not the bad kind. He felt like sobbing, but the good knd. The kind he could do right here on the couch as his heart soared and he typed back, praying he wasn’t being mistaken. 

Sure the number two wasn’t how he imagined this moment, nor did he imagine it behind a screen. But he was too relieved and happy to care. They could try again sometime, like maybe at prom, where he wouldn’t be without  a date now. In fact, he had the best date, a date he could now say he loved .

Monique: I’m really glad we met 

Badegg: Haven’t MET yet technically but, we will soon

Badegg: I cannot wait until my eyes lay upon your beauty, my rose <3 

Noel felt one of the tears he swore he was being dramatic for having fall as he laughed with pure joy.

Monique: I fell lke i’ve been waiting forever but, one more day will be worth meeting you, loverboy ;) 

Badegg: <33

Noel wiped the stupid tear before it could fall into his mouth, wide with a smile, as he reread the messages. He’d have to go to work soon, but when he came back they’d talk. And tomorrow they’d talk more. And then finally they’d meet at prom that very evening. 

It felt like a long time, and he was sure his anxiety would bubble to the point of pure torture until then. But again, it’d be worth it. Worth all of it, even the wait which was all their choice. Because he hadn’t just been waiting a few weeks since he asked him, he’d been waiting his whole life to meet someone as unbelievably amazing as him. 

Chapter Text

It was finally here. The day of their prom. And a day that Noel was sure he could have spent at home sulking, reminded of how much he hates his life and his town and his school, was now giving him butterflies in the best, most exhilarating way he’d ever experienced. 

He had only been able to message a goodmorning to ‘Badegg’ so far that day, because he was so busy, but it had been returned with the same sentiments of true wishes for a good morning, an excitement to see the other that very day, and a newly acknowledged mutual love.

He had a bit of time now though he realized as he sat on the floor in Constance’s room. They were spending the day getting ready together, and like usual, despite not being a girl, Noel was invited for girl-only time. Because it was less about being a girl and more about doing the things they deemed girly. 

His fingernails were mostly dry, but he was waiting on his toes to dry. He normally didn’t do those, but the girls were, and he figured he’d indulge in the full experience. He wiggled them and thought they looked nice coated in black. His nails always had them, so they were nothing new. In fact he was so used to painting them, especially with how often he chipped at them, he knew he would be able to message ‘Badegg’ while they were still tacky. 

He pulled out his phone and leaned back a bit more on the pillow he was using against the base of her bed for comfort. 

Monique: I have a few minutes if you’re online :) 

He could see the little green circle, so he knew he was, but he was never going to be presumptuous. 

Badegg: For you? Always. <3 

Noel sighed a bit as he only settled into the comfort of both the room and the safe space he had with his prom date. He was content, he was relaxed, he was…..still somehow happy. Even more so than ever before. 

He knew with his anxiety he could worry about this, but he didn’t let it become more than some nerves. Because while everything and anything could go bad, he built a bond with ‘Badegg’ that elicited trust. And he never showed any sign of being anything but just as amazing in real life as he was behind the phone. 

Still, his anxiety left questions. One’s he knew the answer to deep down, but could be so much better with some assurance. 

Monique: What if we meet, and it goes bad?

Badegg: How would it ever go bad?

Monique: What if you think i’m ugly 

Badegg: I highly doubt that, I already know you will be most beautiful person there

Monique: I’m serious, you don’t KNOW that 

Badegg: Fine, in some crazy universe you are not THE most gorgeous person I’ve ever laid eyes on, which is highly unlikely, I will still love you and your ugly face <3 

Noel couldn’t help but laugh. How did he always know just what he needed to hear? He wasn’t sure he believed they existed, and he certainly didn’t want to jinx the best thing he’d ever gotten in his life, but dare he say it’s because he was his soulmate ?

Monique: You promise me? 

Badegg: Yes of course my love, I promise that and so much more 

Badegg: Do you doubt me?

Noel didn’t hesitate wth his answer. 

Monique: Never. 

Monique: I’ve just never done this before 

Badegg: I don’t think most people have, and I certainly have not, so we will just do it together

Monique: Yeah, together…..that’s less scary 

Monique: I don’t know how much longer i’ll be able to message you, and I know I can message you later but…..how are we doing this, like?? Where are we meeting AT prom?

Badegg: Already thought it through, meet me in school basement at 7

Noel couldn’t help but sit up a bit at the shock and confusion of that. The school basement? The same one he’d spent so long working in with Mischa for this very prom? It was a huge coincidence, and considering he’d never even been down there before Ocean forced them to be, it made him feel a bit weird. Like he was cheating on Mischa….which he knew was ridiculous. 

Monique: The basement??

Badegg: Are you afraid of basements? I’m sorry, I never asked….

Monique: No it’s not that! I just….why there? 

Badegg: Prom is busy and full of annoying people, but there we can be alone. I want the first time I see your face, hear you laugh, and hold your hand to be somewhere it’s just us and we can focus on that 

All of what Noel was feeling and knew was stupd melted away. From the anxiety he was having about meeting him and it going wrong, to his thoughts of Mischa. The reason made sense, and it was beautiful. A gift he would have never thought of. But of course, ‘Badegg’ did. Because he was the most indelible person on Earth , somehow staying as a hidden treasure in their shitty town all this time. 

Monique: I don’t deserve you, I know I don’t. But since I have you, I just want to say thank you.

Badegg: For what?

Monique: I don’t know? Caring about me? Loving me? 

Badegg: You make it so easy 

Monique: Well I've never found anyone who makes it look as easy as you do, or who does so so deeply.  You clearly hold a lot of passion, but you also hold a lot of selfless kindness. It’s beautiful. You always say I'm beautiful, but YOU are the beautiful one.

Badegg: I just want you to know how special you are 

Monique: I don’t know if I'll ever ‘know’ that, but when I talk with you? I feel like I am. And that’s enough, BEYOND enough. It’s everything.

Badegg: You’re everything, at least to me. 

Monique: I didn’t mean to tell you when I did yesterday, but I know why I did, you’re impossible not to love 

Monique: No matter what happens, I love the you I got to know, and i’ll always be thankful for it

Badegg: I love you too <3 

Badegg: Now stop thinking everything will go bad and go back to working on not being as hideous as you imagine :) 

Noel couldn’t help but laugh out loud, having been so emotional during the previous messages he was spending so much effort not simply crying with love and emotion, he was caught off guard and unable to stop his laugh. 

He could see all the girls look at him, and he knew he’d have to address them, but not before messaging ‘Badegg’ one last time before their next words would be exchanged face to face. 

Monique: I’ll see you tonight, lover boy ;) 

Badegg: Until we meet my divine poet <3 

Noel knew his smile was huge, his eyes were glassy, and his laugh had been one of the most natural forms of joy he’d expressed around his friends in a long time. But he shut his phone off with a breath to calm himself- currently hitting him that ‘Badegg’ would never just be ‘Badegg’ again now that he did so- and faced his friends.

“What?” He said, knowing exactly what they were meaning with their looks. 

“You’re gone for this Lil Egg guy,” Ocean scoffed, making Noel question if she was bitter, jealous, judging or just joking. The smile made him hope it was the ladder. 

“It’s Bad egg,” Her rolled his eyes, ‘Lil Egg’ sounded like a child! He was a man and a maturely romantic one at that. 

“It’s a Bad username,” Ocean mocked back from her chair at Constance’s desk where she was still failing to perfect her own french tipped nails. 

“I don’t think it matters what his name is, it only matters what he’s like,” Penny said from her spot on Constance's bed, hugging a pillow and looking down at some magazines for some possible makeup inspiration. 

Constance flopped down next to her with a huge grin. “And that he makes you smile, Noel.” 

Noel turned around and gave her a huge smile, reaching up to take her hand and give her a thankful grin in return. He then looked back down at his phone, knowing he didn’t need it now, but already missing the boy. He should charge it though, and he knew that, so he got up to do so. 

“Connie, can I borrow your charger?” He said, already ready to plug it in and waiting for permission. She nodded and he plugged the lighting cable into the phone, hearing it make the noise and setting it down. 

“Thanks, my charger is on the fritz or i’d of brought it….” Noel sighs, flooking down at his feet and hoping he hadn’t managed to mess them up. They were good still! More of that luck he found himself getting, hopefully sticking around for the meetup and prom and beyond! 

“You broke your charger?” Ocean asked, putting the white polish brush back into the bottle. “You’ve probably been overusing your phone talking to this guy.”

“Please, my phone charger is just cheap…..my wrists however?” He said moving them around a bit to try and work the pain out of them. “Nobody ever said excessive typing wasn’t dangerous, but no pain no gain right?”

The girls laughed at how ridiculously in love he was with this guy. It was mostly cute, but it was also very new for Noel. He romanticized a lot, and had little crushes (mostly on movie stars from the 50s), but never like this. It suited him. 

“You love him, don’t you?” Ocean turned again to ask, but this time he didn’t wonder what connotations it held. It was full of hope and love and curiosity. 

Noel looked down a bit embarrassed to admit it, but nodded anyway. Because it was true. No matter how crazy it seemed to him or others. 

“Well then,” Ocean stood up, officially abandoning her nail idea, settling to redo them with a different color instead. “We’ll just have to make sure you look amazing and knock his socks off.”

“Knock his socks off?” Noel parroted with a laugh. 

“Shut up! I’m trying to be a good friend here!” Ocean smacked his arm a bit, joining the laughter. 

“You are Ocean,” Noel spoke seriously. “You’re a lot to deal with sometimes, but you’re a good friend…..really.”

Ocean smiled, having struggled with her faults and flaws for so long, wondering if she’d ever be a good person. She knew for a long time she wasn’t, even when she had her moments of good. And maybe being a good friend and a good person were different, but it was a step. And she was thankful for it. 

She leaned over and hugged the boy who was more like a brother than friend anyway, whispering a “Thank you.” as she held onto him. 

“Awww, group hug!” Constance called out. 

Noel couldn’t turn but he could hear them both hop off the bed and his eyes went wide. He was not a fan of being the middle of some squishy group hug, not again!

“Oh come on, do we have to?” He groaned, feeling arms going around him again. 

“Yes, we do.” Constance said, squeezing them in a hug and even moving them a bit in it, making Noel groan more and the other girls laugh and join in. 

“Are we done yet? And if not can we please be done?” He asked them impatient. 

“Oh you love us!” Penny spoke. 

“No I don’t.”

“You love Badegg though,” Constance said between her giggles. 

“Oh shut up!” Noel said, beginning to lose his annoyance and laugh. There were way worse things to be annoyed by than a loving freindgroup. 

“You shut up, Gruber!” Ocean said, the first one to pull away from the hug and give him a serious look. “We’ve only got three more hours to get ready, and you’re the only one who can do a good winged liner so!”

“My wrists tho….” Noel pouted, feeling the others let go. “That’s so much flicking.”

“Ugh, your new boyfriend ruins everything!” Ocean playfully complained, flopping back down in her chair and shaking a new bottle of polish; a nude shade. “I don’t care if your wrists are broken, we all need to look good and it’s gonna take some work! Especially you!”

Noel’s face twisted in confused amusement as he questioned if that was an insult or not. But it didn’t matter. She called him his new boyfriend…..and it sounded so sweet to his ears. Like honey; like the boy was literally made of honey and ready to rot his teeth. 

Between that, the wrists, and the heels he knew were not broken in enough to last him until the early morning, he knew his sentiment would have to be his motivator. No pain, no gain. 

And he had so much to gain if he could just do this right. Do something in his sad excuse of a life right, and never call another day by ‘Badegg’s’ side sad again. 

The three hours flew, between makeup, hair, and clothes. The girls had never had a prom before, but other dances left them knowing the gist of what to do. Noel had never even been interested or brave enough to go to other dances, let alone all dolled up, so it was new to him. He actually was able to help a lot, and his opinion was constantly being asked which made him feel good. 

The girls all looked very similar to how they usually did, with a few exceptions. Constance had her hair down, Penny’s twin braids became one beautiful intricate braid down the back that Constance helped her perfect, and Ocean had chosen an updo like everyone had suggested. There was various jewelry on the girls as well as the different shoes they wore, but even Ocean pulled out heels for the occasion- short or not. 

Noel did the makeup he liked to do when he was home alone, only this time with the intention of being out in public. It was scary, but familiar, and exhilarating. He felt it was time, and figured he’d be safe between his friends, the chaperones, and his date if he could avoid confrontation before they met. Dark red lips, deep black mascara and liner, and additionally colored complexion like blushes, highlights, and bronzer to cut how harshly pale he still was in June. He also had some eyeshadow, but it was a lot more subtle to the rest. Because while not very harsh, he knew the blush would be on top of his own blushing eventually, and look like a lot. 

The dress was the same, and still perfect. He added some other touches though as well. He had some lace gloves to add to it that went to his elbows, hoping to help feminize the look. He was still a man, and he was happy as one, but he figured maybe it could help with comments if he made it harder for them to point out his features. Besides, they looked pretty and reminded him of some of his old films. 

He also added heels. He owned them already, and they worked well since black worked with everything. He could walk in them well, despite their height, but that didn’t mean he walked in the often. Like the makeup, they were a strictly in-the-house indulgence, so they weren’t very worn in. He could picture the blisters, but he could always take them off if he needed to. He also had a black choker. Just more lace, but the scalloped cuts into it and the dispersed black rhinestones made it more interesting. 

He looked amazing to himself, like a dream. And his friends all hyped him up. But he knew others could and would disagree. He just had to hope ‘Badegg’ wouldn’t. If he really seemed okay with him being in a dress though? For a guy in a dress he knew he looked good, and anyone who could appreciate that, could hopefully appreciate him too. He felt appreciated already, so he had to just trust it’d be a good outcome. He was committed, so whatever happened happened anyway. 

They got to the prom and aside from some stares, people were being fairly well bahved around Noel. Whether they didn’t want to ruin their own prom, were in a good mood with how nice the gym looked despite being their school, were waiting until he was alone, or were too distracted he was happy about it. 

They drove over with Ricky since Penny was driving and they were obviously her date. Ricky looked great in his suit and everything seemed almost perfect leading up to seven o’ clock. Almost .

“Where's Mischa?” Noel asked the group. 

“I don’t know….” Penny said as she looked around curiously, not spotting him either. 

‘Did you text him at all today?’ Ricky asked, reminding Noel nobody else there would have any idea if they couldn’t see him. He was Mischa’s friend, not them, and it fell on him. 

Noel grabbed his phone, happy it was resting on almost one hundred percent, and sent out a text to him. 

Noel: Mischa, are you okay? Where are you?

A few minutes passed and he wasn’t getting a response. He wasn’t a huge double texted, but he was making an exception. 

Noel: Your date didn’t ditch you right? You’re here, right? 

Noel was starting to worry, phone clutched in his hand and the clock counting down the closer and closer it got to seven. His stomach was being wrung and twisted with every second and the worries about wherever Mischa was were not helping him. 

He almost fell over in relief when he heard a notification. 

Mischa: Will be there, WITH my date soon. Just need to do something important first :)

Mischa: Also how dare you insinuate anyone would ditch THE Mischa Bachinski, I got madwicked game, yo 

Noel allowed himself to laugh at the boy’s antics. He was okay. And while he would love to see him before, possibly get some motivation or encouragement from him, he was happy to just know he was okay. Besides, his date was just as important to him as Noel’s was. He’d see him later, and they’d both have their dates, and they could enjoy both them and eachother as friends. 

In fact, it could help bridge the confusion of feelings he always felt. To see ‘Badegg’ and Mischa together? He’d certainly know Mischa’s just a good friend as he hung on the arm of his real love. His anxiety was just messing things up, and once it was gone, so would any conflict for himself. Because he couldn’t have both, and he wasn’t even going to want both soon. 

His hands were beginning to shake and his stomach’s knot turn to feeling sick as he watched the clock tick down more and more. When the alarm he had set on his phone to leave the gym sounded he almost jumped out of his heels with terror. He brought his hand up to his chest, and did his best to keep breathing as he shut the alarm off. 

“Hey,” Penny said, noticing and walking right in front of him. “You’re going to be okay, in fact, you’ll be better than okay, you’ll be with him . And that’s what you want most right?”

Noel’s mouth felt dry and tasted like the vomit he was worried he’d produce soon, so he just nodded, eyes still wider than a doe’s. 

“Oh Noel,” Penny noticed, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You got this. This is a good thing, so take some breaths and remember this isn't some scary stranger, it’s the guy you fell in love with!”

Noel took her advice and took a deep breath, closing his eyes, and hoping it did something . He didn’t wanna show up a shaky sick mess. He wanted to show up and somehow manage to be everything ‘Badegg’ could ever want and deserve. Even if he was only Noel Gruber. 

“Thanks, Pen,” He said, looking back down at the time and feeling a small jolt of anxiety at the realisation he had to go now . Or never have the chance of happiness he was so close to, and regret it for the rest of his life. 

“Of course,” She smiled. “We’ll all be here if you need us, or if you feel like introducing us to him.”

Noel moved his hand off his chest and reached for hers to squeeze it, a silent sign of appreciation that she sent back with her own loving squeeze. She looked at him once more and mouthed ‘You got this’ before watching him give a final nod and turn towards the large doors of their gym, leading into the hallways. 

He knew how to get to the basement after so long, so it was just a matter of getting his legs to take him there. He was checking his phone a ton, and despite how slow it went up until then, these last five minutes were flying by. 

He got to the door finally, about a minute to spare, and held onto the knob of the door that lead to the small set of stairs. It was partially keeping him upright as he gripped it tightly. 

Breathe Noel, Breathe. Let yourself have something nice. Stop letting anxiety control you the way it has for years. It’s just him. It’s just the boy you love. The boy who says he loves you just as much. You’re okay. You deserve nice things, so stop sitting around, and go get them for yourself!

It was a quick pep talk, because the last minute was finally ticking over and it was officially seven o’ clock. It didn’t allow him enough time to overthink it, or deny it, or get scared. He just allowed himself to listen to what he said, and twisted the knob of the door. 

It was now or never and in a life full of nevers that were threatening to be nevers forever , he was taking his now and he wasn’t looking back as he descended the steps to what could be a pivotal moment in the life of Noel Gruber, and the pivotal and unalterable death of Monique and Badegg.

Chapter Text

Noel felt his heel clack onto the first step, careful to watch his head with the added height, and just prayed he didn’t fall down them. His skirt was lifted as best as he could while still holding some of the railing. He couldn’t stop his feet or he just might never make it to the bottom, and with the adrenaline in his system he couldn’t stop them even if he wanted to. 

He kept making his way down the steps, very aware that the lights were off, but yet there was light somehow? He then noticed before he could see much else the ceiling was coated in some of the very lights he had worked on for prom; leftover and unused until now.

His mouth fell open lightly, confused yet wonderstruck by the atmosphere, until his eyes refocused ahead of him on the last final step. To be even more confused and more struck…..by what he didn’t know, but his mouth fell open even more because of it. 

Standing there, in the mix of shadows and soft lights, was Mischa.  

As for Mischa, standing there was his only option. He was so in awe, but in a much less confused way. Of course, it was Noel. Uranium city couldnt have two people as amazing as Noel, he wasn’t even sure the whole universe could. 

At first all he could hear was the clacking of heels, making his heart speed up. Then he could see the skirt of the dress. It was beautiful, much better than the dresses on the dress board they joked about. And it was so ‘Monique’ that he was instantly smiling at the materialization of him in a dress, materialization of him in front of him, slowly ascending and making his heart soar with each bit of him he could newly see as the steps between them lessened. 

Then he saw the hands on the skirt, on the railing too. It was covered in a black lace glove but he could still make out the black polish. It reminded him of Noel. But then a few seconds later…..it was Noel. And he took his breath away. 

Noel didn’t know what to do…..Mischa was going to ruin his first meeting with ‘Badegg’! He’d think he had someone else, or that he liked Mischa- which wasn’t wrong - and he’d have neither of them! 

Mischa clearly wasn’t expecting anyone down here from the look on his face. He looked like he had no words, no brain functionality, no air in his lungs. He wasn’t even sure the boys legs would work based on the look on his face, but he needed him to use them and get out of there!

“Mischa?!” Noel asked, face concerned, remembering it was already seven o’ clock and they’d have so little time to fix this. “What are you doing here?! You need to go! I’m meeting my date here!” 

Mischa’s look faded into confusion. Noel wasn’t dumb, but he was acting a bit dumb here. The new feelings he could connect to a face- connect to Noel- left him smiling at how cute it was. 

“This isn’t funny!” Noel said, clearly worried. 

“Noel,” Mischa spoke gently, seeing his anxiety going through the roof. “Think about what you just said….”

“Wh-” Noel was about to protest more, when he got it. He finally got it. It all clicked, instantly, and he audibly gasped and turned his eyes away from the sweet boy in front of him. 

Oh life was cruel alright. The luck had run out, the wishing well had dried up and it hurt him so bad he wasn’t sure he was thankful for the time they had at all. Not when life was making it embarrass him infront of Mischa, make their friendship awkward after everything they made it through, and left him heartbroken and downright stupid for not seeing and stopping this earlier. 

‘Badegg’ might have loved ‘Monique’, but he’d come to terms with the fact Mischa would never love Noel weeks ago. So this was all pointless. He was going to tell him he’s sorry, that if he’d of known he’d have never done any of this. That he’s so sorry but he doesn’t and can’t love Noel. That they can stay friends, awkwardly smiling and leaving him as he cries over it all. Agreeing, of course , he wouldn’t have fallen in love if he knew it was Mischa…when in reality it only would have made him fall faster. 

All the words have the caveat of being someone other than the friend he’d literally ignored almost kissing, he was sure he was just waiting to drop the news. And Noel- who felt like crying already - didn’t want to hear it. He wanted to salvage some of his dignity and bolt. 

He swallowed heavily, a look on his face of actual terror he hadn’t given Mischa in months. “ You’re Badegg.”

Mischa ran a hand through his gorgeous hair and let out a small laugh. “And you’re Monique…..Of course you are….ніхто не світить так, як ти.”

Mischa couldn’t stop looking at Noel. He was always beautiful, but seeing him like this? And with the knowledge he was also holding all the same memories from their conversations, so many beautiful wishes and words exchanged he’d never heard from Noel? He couldn’t stop staring at him in awe, unable to verbalize the beautiful words he was always so eager to shower  him with. 

“I’m sorry…..” Noel’s voice trailed off, hanging onto the raw emotion of pure agony and humiliation he was feeling. 

“What?” Mischa wasn’t sure why he would be sorry for anything, this was good news, and even if they hadn’t already had feelings? He loved whoever it was behind the screen, no questions. Unless Noel was saying he didn’t feel the same way about that. “Noel-”

“I’ve ruined you’re prom, and i’ve wasted so much of your time…..Please believe I had no idea it was you, trust me, I’d of saved us all the trouble, I know you could never like me like that let alone love me…..God, I feel so stupid….”

“ Noel .” Mischa tried to stop his ramblings, understanding now why he was acting this way and wanting to shut it all down immediately.

 “I’ll go, and if it’s too awkward for you we don’t have to stay friends……I don’t blame you for being disappointed it’s me-”

“Disappointed?” Mischa couldn’t even understand where he got that from the look on his face, but it was Noel. He was already oblivious, and after all of this? He was downright dumb for the name of love. Anxiety wasn’t helping though, he knew that, and just wanted to assure him. 

Noel couldn’t hear him over his own self-preserving rambles and beet-red and burning face. “Please don’t tell anyone about this, I already deal with enough….I know you’re a good person, it’s why I managed to fall in love with you and all but just- I shouldn’t have said that either….I’m not helping here….” Noel’s tears started to form as his voice watered down in a sadness that went straight to Mischa’s heart. “....I’ll go.”

“ Noel!” He said, a whole lot firmer to raise above the power of his anxiety. 

Too bad for anxiety, pure and good love would always hold more power. And so would the grip on Noel’s wrist he took to stop him from getting even an inch closer to the steps that would only mean to separate them again. He didn’t want that, didn’t want anything Noel said, and he wasn’t going to let him go on believing it for another moment.

Noel, who had already turned away, turned back. A frown on his face and tears in his eyes, pleading with Mischa to let him go before he crumpled to the floor and died there. But Mischa’s own eyes were so soft, so gentle, so beautiful, that he didn’t even fight him. It was no use. He loved those eyes whether they loved him back or not, and he’d do what they asked of him, even if it was to stay here and listen to words that would break open his heart and leave it bleeding for days. 

No matter how gently Mischa planned to let him down, Noel knew there was no ‘gently’ here. He was falling to the ground at a million miles an hour, and without Mischa to catch him again, he was going to hit it. Hard .

He swallowed again, bracing him self for it. But Mischa’s soft eyes dropped from his own and looked down at where they were connected. Now he knew he had Noel here, he allowed himself to slide his grip down into his own soft gloved hand. Holding it, like he’d dreamed of. 

Noel was so wrong. This wasn’t a disappointment. It was a dream come true, and it was even better than he imagined it’d of been. He was with his love, his poet, його любов. The fact it was Noel was a shock of course, but a blessing as well. It only made the love pouring from his soul settle into its new home easier, already familiar and comfortable. 

He couldn’t help but smile at the sight, even just at the moment. It was all real and it’d never have to be less again as long as he could help Noel with his silly thoughts. If he was lucky he could chase away those silly self-doubting thoughts forever. But he’d settle for doing it in this moment to start with. 

“Noel, why must you talk like that about yourself?” His words held heartbreak. 

“Cause it’s true.” Noel stood stiffly, not sure why Mischa was holding his hand. It felt like an insult if it was about to be paired with a rejection. 

“No.” Mischa shook his head, lifting the gloved hand up to his mouth and placing a kiss on it. “You need to be kinder to yourself, as kind as you are beautiful, and stop assuming even the person who loves you most couldn’t love you, my rose.”

Noel’s breath caught. My rose. He’d called him that a few times and - obviously- nobody else ever had. It was blurring the lines between them so much, it was making his heart pound, and it was making his knees buckle a bit too. 

The kiss on the hand, the words, all of it. It was so ‘Badegg’. And while he knew ‘Badegg’ was Mischa now, he had instantly assumed they couldn’t be the same person for him. Yet they were, and it was both overwhelming and surreal. Mischa was ‘Badegg’, and it appeared he was everything ‘Badegg’ promised to be too. Loving him and bound to him.

“I-” Noel’s tears were turning to be ones of relief. 

He was so lucky. He didn’t think he deserved ‘Badegg’, but he’d at least had him. When he thought of being with Mischa- which no longer brough guilt but laughter- he assumed he’d never deserve or have him. He was so pretty, so misunderstood, so selfless. It was surprising in it’s essence, but not in what it was. Mischa was all the good qualities ‘Badegg’ was, only free to express them in even more beautiful ways. 

“Noel, this doesn’t change anything….if anything it’s better,” He gave him a sincere smile. “I fell in love with my best friend.”

“Are you sure, though?” Noel had to ask. 

“Of what? That I love you?” Mischa asked. “I told you I did, did I not?”

“You loved Monique….are you sure you’re okay loving Noel too?” He held his breath and hoped. 

Mischa took his other hand in his so he was holding both of them, looking at him and not understanding his hesitations. “Who made you hate yourself this much?”

Noel shrugged. “The world?” 

“Screw the world, you know how I feel about it, and this town…” Mischa contained his growing anger at life. “But never once did I feel that way for Monique or Noel.”

“But we were just friends….”

“Who almost kissed that one time,” He raised a brow to remind him of it. 

“That’s not- well, okay yeah…but we didn’t actually kiss or act on it,” Noel reminded him back. 

“Because we already had eachother in other way, not because we did not feel something…right?” Mischa asked him, hoping this wasn’t an elaborate way to reject him instead. “I’ve been struggling with feelings for you, not because I am unable to give them to you, but because I was giving them to another….who turned out to be you anyway.”

“Yeah….I felt the same but-” 

“But nothing, my poet,” Mischa smiled wildly at getting to use the name allowed. “Badegg and Monique loved eachother, and maybe, even before now, Mischa and Noel did a little bit too. So don’t fight it.”

Noel looked at him again, and in place of all his anxiety he just felt comfort. He couldn’t even stop himself from pulling out of his hand-hold and hugging onto him like he’d never seen the boy before. In a way, he hadn’t, but in another way, he was someone he knew well enough to know this would not only work out, but be the best thing possible for him. 

Oh lady luck, you had him going for a moment, thinking he’d be left with nothing and then thrusting the whole world and everything he ever desired into his arms. Where he was holding him and doing his best to not start crying again at how perfect it all was, when perfect felt like a truly foreign word before now. 

Holding each other felt so good, so right. It felt like home and yet it felt like fireworks. It was every emotion that was good, even the ones without names or that they’d never experienced. It was every little joy that flashed before your eyes before death. It was what being thankful was made for. It was why they held on so tightly; because letting go would only feel less than this. And they now had the choice to never feel less than this again. 

They knew they did have to let go, but not before it was time, and took their time. Yeah, there was a whole prom above them, but that meant nothing. This meant everything.

Noel’s arms slung over his neck and Mischa’s were around his tightly tied in waist. He knew Noel was emotional from how scared he had just been, so he figured rubbing some circles into his back could help soothe any of the residual feelings of gloom and replace them with warmth. 

For a moment, Mischa thought noel was sobbing into his ear, but it was laughter. Pure and beautiful laughter, decorated in tears, and filling him with the urge to laugh back in an equal amount of delight. 

The scary part was over, and now it was just them. Two people in love, who trusted and knew each other well. What was scary about that? Absolutely nothing.

Mischa was just so happy to have him in his arms, no matter how or in what way. He was scared moments ago Noel would run up the stairs and never turn back. He swayed him lightly, speaking gently into his ear. “бути далеко від тебе, хоча ти був так близько? така жорстока доля виправляється лише тим, як чудово ти почуваєшся в моїх обіймах і як гарно виглядаєш у цьому світлі, кохана.”

Noel doesn’t understand him, but another aspect clicks in his mind as he pulls his head out of the crook of his neck. “You’re Ukrainian! Of course your texts looked like they weren’t proper grammar!”

“Are you calling me stupid?” He asked as a joke, not actually offended. 

“No! I’m stupid for not realizing it!” Noel made it clear that his epiphany had little to actually do with Mischa and more of his own brain failing him at every turn along the way. “mon dieu!”

Mischa had his own connection click in his mind like a puzzle piece. “The french! I know it is canada, but what other boy in a dress speaks it so fluently?” 

“Maybe we’re both dumb?” Noel shrugged, his hands around him lax and comfortable. 

“Dumb and in love.”

Noel’s heart pittered. “You really stand by that? You love me?” 

“How would a poet like you say it….uh, ‘let me count the ways’,” Mischa smiled, hoping to do his poet a bit of justice. 

“Shakespere? Well then, I give you back: That which we call a rose, by any other word would smell as sweet.” He smirked, hoping he caught on to what he meant. 

“Are you implying ‘Badegg’ was that bad of a screen name? Must I remind you it is also my rap name?” He feigned offense. He was too happy to be offended, especially over that. 

“I’m saying whether it’s a good or bad name, whether you’re him or Mischa, you are just the same, and just as loved by me still.” Noel smiled even wider, getting to say he loves him. 

“I love you too,” Mischa sighed sweetly, taking his beauty in once more. “я вас так кохаю…..may I kiss you?”

“ Yes ,” Noel breathed out, afraid he’d never ask. “Please don’t make me wait a moment longer.”

The pair met in the middle, lip upon lip, diving into the waters of expressed love beautifully and without hesitation. It was an overdo kiss, one they both could melt into. The world could stop and leave them like this forever, they wouldn’t care or notice, just continue to melt into each other until they were one being of pure unabashed love. 

It eventually got hard to breath in each other's oceans, and while it’d be easy to submit and drown in them, going to the light was not an option. Nor when the other person and everything they offered if they stayed with them forever would illuminate the dark world so much better and make things even brighter. 

Instead of overdosing they chose to separate and breathe in the damp basement air again, not letting go of eachother, not nearly ready to. 

It was so love filled and passionate, but not in an overtly sexual way. It was just the kiss that best held the level of love they had for each other; infinite. Already somehow, whether it made sense or not. 

“I’ve never kissed a guy before,” Noel breathed out, choosing to rest on his forehead while he steadied his breathing before. 

“Me either,” Mischa offered, knowing it was still a bigger deal to Noel who had also never kissed anyone. “Never kissed someone so beautiful.”

Noel blushed, and wondered if the emotions he held were making him appear prettier to Mischa than before, or if he always thought of him as a beauty. He found the ladder exhilarating, but the idea that he could be hideous and be seen as beautiful from love and love alone? That was a testament on its own that brought butterflies to his corset-caged stomach. 

“You’re literally gorgeous Misch…..” Noel told him honestly, looking down at his attire again. “Never saw you all dressed up.”

“Never had reason to, just like you never felt safe to wear dress, things change but  change like this is good, promise,” Mischa said, lifting away from their connected foreheads to place a quick kiss onto the surface of it to apologize for walking away; but he had a reason Noel would see in a moment. 

He quickly walked over and picked up a small box, holding the corsage Noel was promised. Red rose, just like he was often associated with. 

“You did not tell me it would be so perfect with your dress,” Mischa spoke, looking back down at the dress, and more importantly how he looked in the dress. “Is perfect.”

“You’re perfect,” Noel spoke, taking the box from him and opening it up. 

He never had one before, especially since the kind he got was to go on your wrist and not ruin his dress. He took it out and placed the box back down before looking at Mischa once more and noticing how he stared at him. 

“What?” he laughed, a bit nervous and a bit amused. 

“You just look so beautiful…..” Mischa shook his head, unable to explain it any other way. “Waiting so long to see you in it is a crime, but you never getting to wear one at all until now….that is truly зло.”

“You realy think I look pretty in it?” He couldn’t help but use his free hand to swing at the skirt, which brought him a lot of joy. 

“Not only do you look gorgeous , my dear poet, you look happy ,” He spoke. “Your smile, your laugh, your happiest tears…..only make you more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.”

Noel was sure he was going to start crying his ‘happiest tears’ again if this boy didn’t stop being so romantic and poetic. How was he the poet again? Handling it over the phone was one thing, he coild giggle and kick his feet and be the only one to judge himself, but now he had to conceal it to not look like a lovesick idiot. 

He figured a joke could help cover up his bursting smile and darkend uncontrollable blushing. “Whatever you say, loverboy.”

Mischa laughed in recognition of the name, stepping forward to help fasten the corsage around his wrist. “See? Cute. Always cute.”

“How am I ever going to get used to this?” Noel bit his lip to suppress an even bigger smile. 

“Dating angriest boy in town?” Mischa asked.

Noel hated to hear him say that about himself. “ No , being loved better than I’ve ever been, by the most amazing boy in town. You know I haven’t seen you as less than that in so long….please believe me.”

Mischa looked at his sincere eyes and nodded. “I do.”

“Good,” Noel let himself smile openly now, proud of himself. “Now what did you say about dating me Bachinski? A little presumptuous, no?”

Noel was juts being a tease as he let his newly corsaged hand press against the lapel on Mischa’s suit jacket. The boy was only in a black suit and white button up, not any of the crazy tuxedos others had or even a tie. But Noel liked it best. Not only did it suit the boy who never wore a tie once in spite of their uniform requiring it, but it felt a bit more hot the way he allowed a few of the top buttons to be undone. 

“Was that not implied this was first date of many to come?” Mischa joked back. 

“Maybe not….maybe you should ask again.” he offered a flirty little wink that could have knocked the other boy over with how adorable he could manage to be when he opened up and didn't fear being himself.

“ Noel ,” He emphasized the name he knew now belonged to his love. “Would you do me the honor of allowing me to be your boyfriend?” 

“See I can’t even tell if you’re hamming it up for the joke or if you’re that impossibly sweet,” Noel said with a playful scoff. “But yes, of course i’ll be your boyfriend.”

Noel leaned back in, bracing against his hold on his chest to steal another kiss. A lot simpler but perfect to seal the deal with. 

“Is my new boyfriend going to take me to our senior prom now?” He asked sweetly, eyes full of the adventure that awaited them in the future, big and small, in their shitty town or beyond, together. 

“You would not be satisfied staying down here with me instead?” Mischa half-joked. “You need big fancy prom?”

“No,” Noel spoke, so far from any of the anxiety he had before. “ You are all I need.” 

Mischa’s smile kept it’s form at such beautiful words. He shared the sentiment, but instead of speaking took Noel’s hand from his chest and used it to guide them up to prom. Just because he didn’t need prom didn’t mean they couldn’t enjoy it. They worked hard on it, together , and he was sure a romantic like Noel had visions beyond the basement of what ths night could hold, whether he was okay abandoning those dreams or not. 

He still had those dreams, and was happy to be guided up the stairs to their prom he’d slowly come around to. From hating it to acting like one of the girls he used to make fun of, but oh well. Dreams didn’t need to be apologized for. And now he also had new dreams, ones he could chase under the starry night they’d created for themselves and everyone else around them. And under the real stars of the darkest skies, wherever they ended up after this, together and most importantly in love with the other far beyond sending heart emoji’s, now manifested in a million whispered ‘i love you’s’ to come.

Chapter Text

“Where the hell is Noel? It’s been a while,” Penny asked as she checked her phone, hardly able to enjoy prom when she had no idea if her best friend was okay.

Ricky wheeled closer to her to take her hand and offer her some calmness. She smiled at him sadly, still worried. Prom wouldn’t be fun without Noel….maybe she should go find him.

Before she could tell the whole group, gathered by the refreshments, that she was going to try and at least make sure he wasn’t somewhere sobbing, she spotted something across the gym that made her smile instantly.

“You guys!” She said, higher pitched than her heart had managed to soar with how happy she was.

“What?” Ocean said between a sip of her punch, happy it hadn’t been spiked. At least, yet.

“Look!” She motioned over to Noel and his not so secret date.

“Oh my god!” Constance gasped, happily of course.

“I knew it!” Ocean cried out loudly, loving to be right. “I was mostly joking but I'm taking it!”

They watched the pair, hands held and smiling as they made their way into the starrily lit gym they’d only just yesterday spent half a day in together.

“They look so happy!” Constance was practically bouncing in her sparkly stilettos.

Ricky rolled up his tuxedo’s sleeve to better sign again. ‘Mischa’s gay?’

Penny shrugged and took a sip of her own drink again, allowing the fruity taste to dance on her taste buds as she watched Noel pull Mischa over to dance themselves.

“Does it matter?” Penny sighed happily. “He at least likes Noel….maybe even loves him.”

Ricky nodded. ‘That’s love, i’d know’ he signed before taking her free hand once again. He hated that he always had to stop to talk, but he also knew the pair needed very little words to express their love.

“Are they really not even going to come over here?!” Ocean scoffed, offended. “I think that’s common courtesy!”

Constance endearingly rolled her eyes before putting an arm around Ocean. “You just wanna say you were right.”

“Well yeah! But…. we’re Noel’s friends and I figured he’d want us to meet the infamous man he loves so much…..does he think we’d not be happy that it’s mischa or?”

“No,” Constance watched the two, seemingly so perfect for eachother it was silly nobody noticed it back when they first met. “He’s just enjoying time with him….he’ll come to us when he’s ready, let him have it.”

“Fine,” Ocean sighed, placing her drink down. “But if he’s okay, i’m not wasting more time, come dance with me Connie.”

Constance matched her smile and took her hand, getting pulled out to the dance floor, taking careful steps in their heels.

“You think they’re next?” Penny asked Ricky, moving to sit in his lap the way he always let her; easier to hold that way.

‘If Mischa and Noel can fall in love, anything is possible,’ He signed with a quiet little laugh, told by the flutter of his chest.

Penny nodded, falling back against his chest a bit, the couple both watching Noel and Mischa still, happy for them in a way they weren’t sure would have reached the same level of fated satisfaction if it wasn’t Mischa who turned out to be the mystery man.

“Whatever happens, all I know is, we’re all happy like this so, if this is as happy as we get?” She looked into Ricky’s eyes. “Then we’re a pretty damn lucky choir.”

They nodded back to her and leaned in for a kiss, pulling away in perfect timing to watch the two new lover lock their lips agan, freely in front of everyone. Not a care in the world for what the rest of the school thought anymore if it meant sharing love with the other in such a beautiful way.

And it was beautiful, beautiful as the night was, all the way into the early morning. A perfect prom, filled with love- both new and old- that felt as bright and hopeful as the stars hanging above them.