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Jimmy holds back the tears threatening to fall from his eyes.
He pushes open the bathroom door, walking in, grateful that no one else is in there.
As a song starts to play in the school gym.
One of his favorite songs.
The teen starts to cry harder.
“So you're on the prowl wondering whether she left already or not?”
It’s his senior prom and he has nobody to dance with.
The reflection of himself becomes blurry as more tears fall from his eyes.
He’s been hopelessly crushing on his best friend for a few years now.
The blond had come to the prom with his best friends, Grian and Joel.
The three of them showed up in sunglasses, leather jackets, and black dresspants, ‘The Bad Boys’ as Joel calls them.
It only makes the song playing in the gym hurt more.
It’s one of Jimmy’s favorite songs, mainly because of how much it makes him think of Joel…
“Leather jacket, collar popped like Cantona, never knowing when to stop.”
Jimmy looks down at his leather jacket, remembering every time he’s worn it, remembering the day Joel came running up to him and Grian, a wide grin on his face, holding up three pairs of sunglasses and leather jackets.
“Sunglasses indoor, is par for the course. Lights on the floors and sweat on the walls. Cages and poles.”
Jimmy takes the sunglasses off his face, wiping at the tears falling down his face.
It’s so stupid, why is he crying, he’s a Bad Boy, Bad Boy’s don’t cry.
He bites his lip as it starts to tremble.
He really, really, really wants to dance with Joel.
Jimmy would kill to have Joel with him right now, but him and Grian are out in the school gym, having fun, enjoying themselves like they deserve to, all the while, Jimmy’s fucking crying in the school gym bathroom during senior prom.
“Call off the search for your soul, or put it on hold again-”
“Jimmy?”
Jimmy turns to the door, right as it’s closing, someone else having opened it and walked in on him crying in front of the mirror.
“Joel?” Jimmy says, hating the way his voice sounds broken from his crying.
“What’s wrong mate?” Joel asks, walking up to his friend.
Jimmy’s heart aches for the shorter teen.
“It’s stupid, but I-I-” He takes a deep breath, tears still falling, “-I really wanted to dance with sombody…” He wipes at his face again, he needs to stop crying.
“Do you want a hug?”
Jimmy nods and Joel pulls him into a hug.
Joel rubs circles into his back, swaying a little, trying to sooth Jimmy’s woes.
“-As all the signals are sent, her eyes invite you to approach, and it seems as though those lumps in your throat that you just swallowed have got you going…”
“Jimmy, do you want to go dance with me?”
Jimmy feels his face warm.
Of course he does-
“Can I?”
“Of course Jim.”
Joel lets go of him, taking his hand, leading him to the dance floor.
“Number one party anthem…
“She's a certified mind blower. Knowing full, well, that I don't.”
They stop and Joel takes the sunglasses out of Jimmy’s hand, opening them up and placing them on top of Jimmy’s head, resting them in his fluffy blond hair, “There, now I can see you eyes.” he says, smiling softly up at the taller teen.
“May suggest there's somewhere from which I might know her, just to get the ball to roll.
“Drunken monologues,-” Joel guides Jimmy’s hands his his hips, “-confused because-" Joel then reaches his hands up, wrapping his arms around Jimmy’s neck, “-it’s not like I’m falling in love,-” Joel looks up at him, his own sunglasses having been folded up, hanging off the collar of his leather jacket, his warm chocolate brown eyes looking up at Jimmy, full of something Jimmy can’t place, a warm glint in them, “-I just want ya to do me no good. And you look like you could…”
They start to slow dance to the music and Jimmy’s tears start to slow, not quite as bad as before, but a few still slip past.
“Come on, come on, come on…Come on, come on, come on…Number one party anthem…Come on, come on, come on…Before the moment's gone…Number one party anthem, yeah, yeah-”
“This is one of your favorite songs, right?” Joel asks him and Jimmy nods, because yes it is.
Softly along with the song, Joel sings, “The look of love, the rush of blood, the "She's with me" is the Gallic shrug, the shutterbugs, the Camera Plus, the black and white and the color dodge, the good time girls, the cubicles, the house of fun, the number one party anthem...”
“Oh…”
Jimmy’s cheeks warms a little more as Joel looks up at him lovingly (or he wishes it was).
Joel’s right hand moves from being behind his neck, cupping his cheek, and right as the short instrumental is ending, right as the next lyrics come out of the speaker, Joel’s lips are on his.
“Come on, come on, come on…Come on, come on, come on…-”
Jimmy closes his eyes, the words of the song, filling his ears, but everything in his brains is screaming, “Joel. Joel. Joel.”
He opens his eyes, right as the song tapers off and he locks eyes with Joel’s.
Both their faces are a bright pink as they stare at each other, lips having parted, mere centimeters away, slow breath puffing against each other's mouths.
The realization of what just happened comes over Jimmy, and he wants to cry again, but this time with joy as he grabs both Joel’s cheeks, pulling him back in for another kiss.