Aha I am pathetic. Two DarrenxSteve's in one night. Well, it's obvious this is now one of my new favorite couples!

Idea actually came in the form of a GerardxFrank, but seeing as I kinda have a crush on Gerard, it would have been too awkward writing about Frank and Gee kissing...so I did DarrenxSteve. Lesigh.

Anyway...yes! Rated "T" because there is sort of sexual innuendo at one point, and, well, because it's pretty much majorly slashy.

Have fun reading, folks.

Don't own Darren Shan or Steven Leonard. HUZZAH.

I held her hand tightly and smiled a weird, lopsided smile, my blood coursing through my veins unusually quickly. My face felt hot and flushed; she was hot. I still was in shock and awe that she had actually agreed to go out with me to the school dance. The most popular girl in all of my grade, maybe even my entire school (an accomplishment, seeing as I'm was new to the middle school)!

My mom, who was driving, looked in the rear view mirror and had to cover her mouth to conceal her squeals. I rolled my eyes, my cheeks flushing, and watched in awe-stricken silence as she flipped her blond hair from her shoulder to her back. "Uh, thank you for, like, driving us, Mrs. Shan," she said. She snapped her gum.

I didn't care about her grammar, or her disgusting gum chewing habit; she was hot, and she was my date to the first school dance I ever went to!

"You're welcome, Katie," my mom said in a high voice. I rolled my eyes, my cheeks probably looking as if they were apples by now. Katie looked at me, flashed me a grin that made me melt, and went back to rooting through her purse.

We finally arrived at school. I jumped out of the car, checking to make sure my khakis were clean and my tie in check. Katie hopped out too, making sure her skirt wasn't riding up. Mom looked like she was about to have a seizure from being so excited. "Have fun, Darren," she whispered as I walked past her open window. I lazily held up my hand and gave her the peace sign, told her Katie's parents would be the ones picking her up, and latched my arm around Katie's waist.

Some of the less popular guys looked green with envy. Katie's friends smirked as we walked by, but Katie merely grinned and waved. They smiled at her and continued to gossip. I rolled my eyes, wondering why girls could be so vicious.

As we entered the main lobby of the school, I saw Steve, leaning against one of the walls. His jeans were hugging his waist kindly, also hugging the shapes of his legs nicely too. He was never one for baggy pants. His blue button-down shirt was half tucked in, half hanging out, his tie hanging limply from his neck. Light hair purposely ruffled, eyes bright with the prospect of giving the teachers grief.

"Hey," I greeted, holding my fist out for him to punch it. He sneered at me, lips pulling up slightly, and punched my hand back. Katie didn't seem to mind as I stopped to chat with Steve briefly; at least, she didn't complain.

Steve straightened up slightly and gave a nod of recognition to Katie. She waved, that sweet, beautiful smile popping up on her face. Steve turned his attention back to me and gave me a once over. "Suave," he complimented. I laughed.

I was sort of glad that at that moment, I had had long hair; hair that covered my ears. My ears were hot and, I was sure, burning cherry-red. Standing next to Katie made me uncomfortable in front of Steve. Not because Steve obviously didn't have a date; but because of the weird thoughts I had been having recently about Steve. I mean, I guess it was somewhat normal for a teenage boy to be confused about his sexuality (it had to be, right?), but the thoughts I had been having were just…weird. And of course, the dreams that would never lie, were just bizarre to the max.

Coughing, I lowered my gaze and looked fixedly at the wall. Yeah, sure, I thought Katie was hot, but there was something about Steve that just made me…I don't know, lose my breath. Katie got me excited and all, making my blood race and it was sure as hell fun to watch the boys in my class' faces turn green with jealousy, but, Steve…I don't know. He just held something over her, something I wasn't sure about.

Raising a hand, I lightly smacked my forehead. Steve raised an eyebrow at me, but I shook my head. Why the hell was I comparing Katie to Steve? Katie was a girl; as a guy, I was supposed to like Katie, the girl, not Steve, the guy.

Katie tugged lightly on my arm, not a moment too soon. "Erm, Darren? Could we, like, go inside, please?"

Fighting hard to hide my relief, I nodded. "Yeah. Sure." Turning to Steve, I gave him a look that probably confused the hell out of him, and said, "See you inside?"

"Yeah. See ya."

Once inside, we handed our principal our ticket. He smiled sweetly at us, reminded us that they would not tolerate kissing, and let us in.

The gymnasium was amazing; I gasped as I walked in. Katie snapped her gum. The walls were wallpapered with a soft blue color, the balloons the same color, fake snow littering the ground. A big disco ball was perched up on the ceiling, causing the walls to look as if snow were falling down them as well. And—there was snow falling? I looked up and saw that there was a machine that slowly let out the powder come down at a leisurely pace.

I was awestricken. "Wow," I breathed. Katie rolled her eyes at me and gestured to the dance floor, where a few couples were dancing. It was a slow song, so, naturally, no one was exactly grinding against each other quite yet.

"Dance?" she asked, snapping her gum in my face. I nodded, wondering what Alan and Tommy would say when I told them I danced with Katie Prinicpato, and lead her to the dance floor by the hand as if we were in an old fashioned movie.

I myself was not that great of a dancer, but Katie, well, she was a pro. She guided me across the dance floor gracefully, as if she were born and raised on it. I smiled at her and she smiled back sweetly. As I looked over her shoulder, the star of the football team—some annoying thirteen year old—glared at the two of us and muttered something to one of his cronies.

But, I ignored them. I was never one who listened to the gossip and rumor mills, and, in any case, why should I let them ruin my night?

After the slow song finished, a rather fast one came on. Katie switched gears really quickly, already letting loose and grinding against me. I'd never had anyone grind with me; it was a weird sensation, feeling her, well, ass against my groin. I almost wanted to pull away from it but decided that she would probably be seriously offended if I did. So I let her grind against me, grind away, shimmying up and down and rear ending me to the point where I almost had to stagger backwards to keep myself upright.

I looked over my shoulder to see Steve sitting on one of the chairs, looking at me with an intense stare. I was kinda upset; I had promised him when we started middle school that the two of us would always hang out during the school dances, whether or not we had a date. God, I felt so bad, breaking the promise. I felt my lip twitch up slightly as I turned my attention back to Katie, who, since the song was now extremely fast paced, was dancing very loosely.

Feeling like an idiot, I stood next to her. I was never a dancer, and this was just making me feel majorly sore. I had come to the dance to finally be the top of the rumor mill, even though I never really paid attention to it, not to dance like a fool.

Sort of sighing, I swung my hips slightly and bumped my side into hers. She snickered, grabbing my face and gently stroking my cheek.

It was kind of funny, really; I had dreamed of her doing that to me for, well, how long? Up until the dreams of Steve started. And now that she had finally done it, it just felt…wrong. It felt like someone else's hands should have been doing it, not her smooth, gentle, flawless hands.

"Come on," she said, her lips pulling into a cocky smile as she placed her hands on my shoulders. "Dance! Let loose."

I grinned sheepishly at her. "Not much of a dancer," I mumbled, looking at the floor. She put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes, grabbing my hands and forcing my body to sway back and forth. She spun me around (wasn't it supposed to be me spinning her around?) and I saw Steve sauntering to the dance floor.

That made me feel better; at least he was going to not be bored silly.

Katie, however, was not pleased that I still wasn't ready to dance. "Aw, come on, you're hurting my feelings," she teased me. I laughed nervously, her hands returning to my shoulders. "I think I need to loosen you up."

"How'er'you gonna do that?" I asked her. I didn't like where this was going.

"Well, like this," she said coyly, and with a simple movement, she gripped my shoulders tighter and placed her lips on mine.

I froze. No. This wasn't right. I didn't want Katie to kiss me. Yeah, sure, she was hotter than hell, but I didn't want her to kiss me. I tried to shove her away, but her grip was strong on my shoulders.

Then I felt her tongue snake into my mouth. I opened my eyes wider, starting to flail against her, disgusted with the feel of her slimy, wet tongue pressing against my own tongue. This was filthy! Finally, I ripped her hands off my shoulders and recoiled back, taking my sleeve and wiping my mouth dry. Ugh, the taste! It was wretched! I was nearly vomiting.

The whole dance floor was quiet. I knew, with certainty, that the jock I had seen before was behind me. I gulped, afraid to find out if my certainty was the truth or was just being overly paranoid.

I was right, however; he was standing behind me, eyes flashing, face livid. "Were you kissing my girl?" he asked in a harsh whisper.

I looked from Katie to him. "What?" I asked, true confusion in my voice. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Steve stomp out of the gymnasium. I groaned, wanting more than anything to just sink into the concrete and rubber floor.

He shook his head in anger. "I asked if you were kissing my girl!" His voice reverberated around the room; the only noise was the music, the DJ oblivious to the drama that was up on the dance floor.

"She…kissed me," I said weakly. "I would never…kiss her…"

His lip pulled back into a wolf like grimace. "So now you're saying my girl's not worthy of being kissed!?" he snarled.

I backpedaled. "No! No!" I yelped, holding up my hands in defense. "I wouldn't say something like that."

"You just did," he growled. "You said you'd never kiss her!"

I looked over at Katie, who was smirking smugly. She had planned this. Now I knew why those girls were laughing earlier; they weren't laughing at Katie for agreeing to go out with me…they were laughing at me because of the nasty trick Katie was going to play on me. I felt sick. "I didn't mean it like that," I sighed.

He glowered. "You don't even know what a high class girl you accidentally snagged, do you?" he asked in a mocking tone, pulling Katie closer. She snuggled against him, and I seriously felt sick. This was happening to me, not in private, but in front of the entire school. My grade, and every other grade in the school were watching me.

Suddenly, Ms. Muller, one of my favorite teachers, came running up. "Darren Shan! Jeremy White! I expected better from you two. No fighting!" And then she rounded on me, face alight with fury. "I really expected better from you, Darren. Kissing young Katie, even though it was against the rules…I am sorry, but I'm going to have to give all three of you detention, and Darren, you'll have to have a few Saturday sessions with me."

I stared at her, disbelieving. "I get detention!?" I asked in an incredulous voice. "But I didn't do anything!" I cried out. I caught her eye and looked at her intently. "Katie kissed me, I tried to stop her but she wouldn't—"

Ms. Muller snapped at me. "That will be enough of this scapegoating or you will be suspended, Mr. Shan!"

I bit back my remark; she never called anyone by their last name unless she was seriously angry.

"Now, I want all three of you to split up for the rest of the night. Enjoy the dance; just stay away from each other! On Monday we'll discuss your punishments further." And with that, she turned around, glared at the watchers, and made a movement with her hands that clearly stated that they should get on with their lives. "Scat! The shows over!"

Everyone dispersed. I walked off the dance floor slowly, watching as Jeremy and Katie snuggled, still disbelieving that she had used me that way. Of course, I should have known; Jeremy and Katie…the couple did sound familiar. Hadn't they had a huge fight? I think that's what happened…and Katie…used me to get him back…

Walking out of the gymnasium and into the lobby, I headed out the front doors, frustrated beyond relief. And then I remembered.

Steve.

He had stormed out of the gymnasium when Katie had kissed me. I winced. "Steve…," I whispered under my breath, before looking around the school grounds. Technically, we weren't supposed to be out here, but whoever was making sure we weren't out here was obviously busy doing something else. I had a feeling Steve was out here, too…

Sure enough, I found him pretty easily. He was sitting on the curb, hands crossed, legs folded up to his chest. I sat down next to him. He didn't register me. "Steve," I said. He still didn't register me.

I put an arm around his shoulders. Suddenly a response—he got up, knocking my hand away, and turned to face me. His eyes were dancing with fiery rage. "Don't pretend you care," he spat out, voice venomous. "I know you don't."

My eyebrows knitted together. "What makes you think I don't care?" I asked, looking up at him with wide and confused eyes. Of course I cared; he was my best friend…

Standing up, he spun around so his back was facing the school's building. I turned so I could face him straight on. "I care; you're my best friend, Steve." And I wish we were more. I shook my head slightly, clearing the thought from my mind. Now was not the best time to get sentimental on good ole Steve Leonard.

He shook his head at me, disgusted. "I saw you kissing her," he sneered. "You don't give two shits about me! You were so obviously enjoying that damn kiss, and of course the tongue action."

My face twisted in confusion. "Steve—I was trying to break away from her. That was the most foul thing I've ever had done to me in my entire life." I shuddered; just thinking about it was nauseating.

His face became impassive, before a smile appeared on it, tentative, at the very least. "Even more disgusting than the time Alan farted in your face?"

I laughed; I couldn't help it. I took a step closer without thinking about it, and he took a step backwards. He was laughing weakly now, and I was laughing too. "I remember that," I said. "God, that was gross. But, no, Katie kissing me was one thousand times worse."

"Seriously?"

I nodded. He seemed happier after that; although I couldn't imagine why knowing I disliked a kiss would make him happy.

Turning my posture in such a way that I now looked and felt serious, I stared at him earnestly. "Steve, I do care about you." I took another step closer; this time, Steve didn't move back. "Can ya always remember that?"

He shrugged, grinning at me. "I dunno," he said wistfully. "Sorta dense, ya know?"

I snorted with laughter and tried to ignore my slamming heart beat. Stop it, I chided myself. Even if I did gather the guts to kiss him (and I wasn't even sure if that's what I wanted!), I still had to take the thought into consideration that he would most likely shove me away and hate me for the rest of his life.

My eyes traveled unknowingly to his lips. I licked my own, a sudden rush of desire filling my body like hot, molten lead. Oh, God…the dreams I had had of Steve…! I fought against a shudder at the memory, but this time the shudder was in pleasure. How I wished…!

Steve was staring at my eyes; but I was too busy staring at his lips, thinking wistfully of what it would feel like to put my own against his, work them against his. They looked so soft…so calm, so gentle, just like Steve was when he wasn't angry…they looked so damned inviting.

Then, without meaning to, I leaned forward and did it; I pressed my lips against his. He was stiff for all of two seconds before, surprisingly…returning the kiss. He moaned into my mouth, his hands snaking out around my waist as I slammed his back into the wall of the school building. My fingers laced through his hair, dancing delicately as they ran through his graceful and oh-so-soft hair. My knees felt weak; this was the kiss from heaven, no doubt. This was everything Katie's kiss couldn't be, everything I had dreamed a kiss should be, and a hell of a lot more.

Without meaning to, I began to grind my hips against his; groin against groin. He gasped into my mouth, forcing my lips open and snaking his tongue into mine, exploring, tasting. I pushed his head against the wall with the force of my own head, shoving my tongue into his mouth. Our tongues touched and fireworks exploded in my mind, a detonation of taste, of happiness, of, well, love.

I felt myself lose control; and, by the feel of the hard budge against my own, he had lost control too. I pulled away for breath, and Steve took the opportunity to gain dominance; he lowered his lips to my neck and gently kissed my neck. I gasped, feeling my pants become even tighter even though I hadn't thought it possible. He lowered the collar of my shirt so it would be well hidden and gently nibbled my shoulder; I moaned darkly and pulled his head up to steal more kisses. I bit his lip, forcing his mouth open and explored the terrain again, moaning again, unable to control the feelings that were exploding inside of me.

He let me kiss him, groping, one of my hands flying angrily down to his crotch. I couldn't help myself; I shoved my hand down his pants. He pulled away, snickered, and kissed me passionately before taking my hand away and rolling his eyes. "Not yet," he laughed. I felt my face heat up with embarrassment, but he didn't seem to mind. "I mean, not here," he corrected, which made me laugh.

I stepped away from him and wrapped an arm around his waist. "Think I care about you now?" I asked him as I landed a kiss on his cheek. He nodded, wrapping his own arm around my waist. I took a free hand and looked down my shirt; I had a major hickey, but didn't really care.

We walked into the school with our hands around each others waists. People snickered, but we really didn't care. We sat in the corner for the rest of the dance, holding hands and laughing, talking like we always did. But, of course, the difference was that we were actually holding hands, and the memory of those wonderful ten minutes before was heavy on both of our minds.

The dance ended a little too quickly for my taste. Steve's mom came to pick him up; he rolled his eyes at me and smiled, a smile that made my heart inflate. "Later," he mouthed, and I nodded weakly, already anticipating the next time I could feel Steve's sweet kisses once again.

My mom came to pick me up; she looked startled that I wasn't waiting with Katie. I crawled into the front seat, buckling myself up and grinning from ear to ear.

My mom squealed. "Did you guys…dance?" she asked, avoiding what she really wanted to ask. I nodded; Katie and I had danced, yes.

"Did you guys…kiss?" she asked in a tone that told me she was going to break out in a squealing fit at any moment.

"Yeah," I said. She squealed and clapped her hands, rambling about how she was so happy her baby had finally gotten a girlfriend, how he had finally had his first kiss. I smiled to myself, thinking about Steve, and thinking about how my real first kiss had went.