Tonight was the night.

Felix looked at his watch, nervous as the minute hand marched on to the hour. Everything was set up: the game system was hooked up and had Zombie Mayhem in the slot, 'snackage', as Ron would call it, was set out on the side tables for their enjoyment, and his mom knew not to come down.

She knew how hard it was going to be for him, and though she encouraged him to follow his heart, she also knew that this was something that she couldn't help with. How could she? She couldn't sit Felix's best friend down for a talk and try to explain her son's feelings for him.

How Felix wanted, so very badly, for Ron to stick around and talk more than they usually did, laughing in that goofball way he did while they discussed what they liked and wanted in their lives.

How he wanted Ron to touch him more than the usual too-hearty pat on the back that he tended to give, with hugs with substance and the feel of skin on skin.

And how he wanted… Other things from Ron, more personal things…

Felix shook himself from his thoughts, again looking over everything like a bride frantically trying to make sure that everything on her wedding day would be perfect.

If only.

They had originally planned this out for prom night, the two guy friends chilling while other people spent the night doing a variety of things that they would later regret. For some reason, though, Ron had changed his mind a week or so beforehand and decided to go to prom after all. Felix, not feeling up to putting on the facade of a teenage boy looking for a one-night romance, opted to simply stay home.

He'd thought that everything had been set up just right. And then it was pulled apart by an uncontrollable variable, Ron changing his mind. That led to him accidentally spilling the beans to his mom. Felix was crushed, and he couldn't completely hide it from her when she got home.

To his surprise, she was actually supportive of how he felt, his orientation. Heck, even the sudden intrusion of the Diablos didn't stop her supportive speech. They just took shelter in the basement and kept talking.

She was honest. Said that she didn't think Ron liked guys. But she did let him know that she would be behind him, no matter what happened.

That bolstered him enough to take his wishy-washy intent to confess to Ron and solidify it into a real decision to tell the blond boy how he felt.

A couple of minutes after seven, the doorbell rang.

Felix answered the door, palms sweaty and hyperventilating slightly. His stomach was lurching a little as the door opened and admitted Felix's friend.

Even with as nervous as he was, Felix's breath was still taken away by the bright face of Ronald Stoppable. The freckles on the blond's face gave him a boyish appearance and the glint of humor in his eyes helped to put the wheelchair-bound boy at ease.

Though most would probably describe this teen with the freckled face and too-large ears as awkward, the only word that came to Felix's mind was beautiful. Ron was more than his appearance, and who he was appealed to Felix more than any skimpily-clad woman or muscular man ever could.

"Heya Ron! Ready for some mayhem?" Felix said, initiating their usual back-and-forth on their gaming nights.

"Heck yeah!" The blond's smile looked so big it hurt. "The Ronman is ready for some epic levels of gaming." He walked in, and Felix suddenly noticed that Ron was trying - and failing - to hide a large box behind his back.

"Uh, Ron?"

"Yeah Felix?" Ron was taking off his shoes, and Felix forced himself to keep his eyes off of Ron's appealing bottom.

"Did you want me to get that?" Felix summoned one of his robotic arms and had it hold open its claw for whatever Ron was hiding.

"Oh! Uh, yeah. Guess what it is?"

"A promise ring?" Felix asked, half joking.

"A what ring?" Ron shook his head. "Whatever that is, I can already tell you I got something better!" He pulled the large box from behind him and proclaimed, "I've brought JP Bearymore pizza with extra cheese!"

"Mmm, cheese!" Rufus chorused, licking his mouth in anticipation.

Felix looked at his friends' expectant faces and sighed. If it was something amazing enough to have Ron splurge on pizza like that, it was probably something that would overtake Felix's confession. Resolving to wait until Ron told him whatever the secret was and the blond's overwhelming enthusiasm ebbed, he swallowed what little courage he had summoned to begin his confession and weakly said, "Yeah, sure, let's have some pizza and snacks before we get to zombie smashing…"

"Booyah!"

FRFRFRFRFR

It was an hour later when Felix finally began to gather his courage again. Ron hadn't spilled whatever secret he was hiding, yet had still calmed down enough to not have the frantic joy that had been possessing him when he'd first arrived. They'd gotten into their usual groove, with Ron having thought that he secretly input the cheat codes when Felix wasn't looking and still getting stomped by Felix's superior gaming.

The pizza was long gone, having vanished mostly into Rufus' bottomless gut. They'd already downed three energy drinks each and made most of the junk food stash that had been lovingly set up by Felix disappear. Things had been going so normal that Felix was now thinking that the pizza was more of an apology for backing out on prom night than for celebration.

The words were starting to make their way to his mouth. He was working on how to phrase things for the most part. How do you tell your best friend that you think that you love him?

Heya Ron, I want your body!

Ron, you are dy-no-mite!

You are a great guy.

You make me happy.

I love you so, so much.

Would you be willing to…?

Cutting out the first two phrases, the rest of the thoughts he had actually sounded pretty solid. The emphasis on love might squick Ron out, better just change that to like. Otherwise it sounded really good.

Felix cleared his throat, catching Ron's attention. "Ron, there's something that I want to tell you…"

Ron's eyes were focused solely on him, the serious tone catching the blond's usually short attention. The words hitched in Felix's throat a bit, but he pushed on.

"Ron, you're a great guy. You-"

A sudden loud beeping from Ron's pocket interrupted his confession. Felix sighed mentally as he waited for Ron to finish answering the text. He was surprised when Ron suddenly jumped up from the couch.

"Sorry Felix, but I gotta get going."

That took the normally unflappable teen by surprise. "You're going? Already? We've barely even gotten to the catacombs, and you know I can't get through it on my own!"

Ron cringed a little and said, "Yeah, I know, but KP wants to go shopping tomorrow. Needs the Ronman to act as a packmule, and y'know I need plenty of sleep to power through it."

"Since when do you go shopping with Kim? Isn't that something she does with Monique?" Felix asked, a little exasperated at the interruption right when he was in the middle of his confession.

"Since she went from my BF to my BFGF."

Felix took a moment to process the acronym. The next moment his stomach hit the floor. His veins flushed cold as a lump jumped to his throat. Hoping that he'd misheard, that he didn't actually know what it meant, he commented, "Nice joke, Ron. You and Kim? Going on date-dates?"

He began to chuckle half-heartedly. The look on Ron's face, however, told him that that was exactly what he shouldn't be doing.

"You are joking, right Ron?" Felix practically demanded, fear gripping at his innards as he tried to suppress the desire to fly up to his room and lock himself in.

"Is it really that hard to believe?" Ron said in a rather accusatory tone, frowning at Felix. "I mean, yeah, she's a cheerleader and everything, but she's my best friend."

"But… How?" Felix's mind began shutting down as the implications of everything began to worm their way into his head.

"Oh wait, that's right! You didn't go to prom!" The blond looked a little chagrined, then announced, "In that case, I'm glad you asked!" Ron suddenly flopped back down on the floor, sitting crossed-legged and facing Felix. "I'm sure KP'll be okay with me being a little late tomorrow from sleepiness if she knows it's because I was telling you about our awesome relationship upgrade!"

And so Ron told him. Told him about how Eric was a fake. How they ended up trapped, Kim despairing over her inability to find a good guy. How Ron made the picture perfect delivery of 'out there, in here'. How… How everyone cheered for them when they showed up at prom...

Ron, clearly still on cloud nine from reminiscing about prom night, got up and left once he was done without so much as a look back at his friend and barely a "See you later!". Rufus looked back at him from Ron's pocket, confusion clear on his face as he apparently noticed Felix's mood, before the door shut and left Felix alone with the remains of what was supposed to be their gaming night.

For several minutes Felix just sat in his chair, gawking into nothing. He had lost Ron. His best friend, Ron. The boy that had captured his heart. To Kim Possible. There was no way, no competing against…

"Felix?" A voice, his mother's voice, echoed down the stairs as she came down. "I thought I heard the front door. Did everything…?" Her voice trailed off as she caught the look on his face.

"Mom… I…" The lump in his throat hurt, and his chest shuddered as he tried to take a breath through it. His vision blurred as his composure finally snapped, tears falling down his face as he finally faced what had happened. He managed to splutter, "Ron and Kim…" before he fully broke down. He sat there, blubbering for a few seconds before his mother came over and gave him a tight hug. His face found its way to her shirt and buried itself in the familiar fabric.

"Shhh. It's okay honey." She stroked his head and occasionally patted him on the back. If she was discomfited by the tears and snot wetting her nightshirt she didn't show it. "Everything will be just fine."

Felix wasn't sure if she was right or not. It certainly didn't feel like everything was going to be fine. His brain ached in waves as he shuddered from his ragged breathing. His sobbing was loud and obnoxious, but for those few minutes, he didn't care.

He'd lost someone precious, someone he wanted to experience life with, to a girl that Felix could never beat. She was perfect, she could do anything, and Ron was so obviously smitten with her that it hurt to even think about.

Maybe later, in a few days, weeks, or even years, he would feel like everything was fine.

But not now.

Author's Notes

somecallmemichelle was chatting with me about the woeful lack of guy/guy fics in the fandom. I was challenged to add to the collection with a rarely touched, if ever, ship. I thought about it and randomly realized that Felix was never at prom. This fic formed around that idea.

Hope you all enjoyed it! I don't tend to go for the sad romance stuff, and as you all probably know I'm really bad at writing extreme emotions. This is a little foray into something a tad different to see if I could actually pull it off.