All The Small Things

by PrincessTadashi

When one of his best friend Honey Lemon's favorite J-Pop artists, Tadashi Hamada, publicly comes out of the closet, Fred unintentionally finds himself becoming infatuated with the singer. And when he has the opportunity to go to one of Tadashi's shows, a chance meeting might bring him closer to the pop star than he'd ever dreamed. (Fred/Tadashi, Fredashi)

All the small things. True care truth brings. I'll take one lift. Your ride best trip. Always I know you'll be at my show. Watching, waiting, commiserating. Say it ain't so, I will not go. Turn the lights off, carry me home. -"All the Small Things" by blink-182

((Author's note: QUILTBAG is the extended version of LGBT))

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Fred's peaceful enjoyment of Megazod: Defender of Justice Issue #139, was suddenly disturbed by the very loud shrieking of his best friend, Honey Lemon. He looks up from where he was lounging on her furry hot pink bean bag chair to try to gauge if it was a matter that demanded his immediate attention or if he could got back to his world of kaijus and superheroes. It was hard to tell with Honey Lemon-she was very easily excitable, and while Fred was too they didn't always see eye to eye on what things were worth getting excited over.

"I knew it! I knew it!" Honey Lemon cries, gleefully spinning around in her computer chair, her yellow platform sandaled feet bicycling in the air.

"Knew what?" Fred asks curiously, for the moment laying his comic aside.

"You'll never guess who just came out of the closet!" Honey Lemon answers eagerly.

"Someone that we know?" Fred asks hopefully. As president of their high school's (admittedly rather small) GSA, Honey Lemon was always scouting for new members. And while Fred didn't usually mind that only he, Honey Lemon, and Honey's girlfriend, Gogo, were the only regulars at the meetings, senior prom was coming up and frankly he was a bit desperate to find a date-any date-at this point.

"Sorry, Freddy, no," Honey answers with a small wince. "I was actually talking about a celebrity..."

"Oh, okay, cool," Fred answers breezily, trying to keep from letting on his disappointment-the last thing he needed right now was another one of her pitying looks. He had enough self pity, he didn't want to drag anyone else into the disaster that was his romance life (or lack thereof.)

"So, who was it?" Fred prompts when Honey Lemon fails to elaborate.

"Oh, right!" Honey Lemon shakes herself. "It was Tadashi Hamada! Can you believe it? I mean, all he's been dropping hints for forever but it wasn't until now that he actually made a public statement-!"

"Wait, Tadashi who?" Fred asks.

"Tadashi Hamada! You know, the J-pop star who made it really big after he opened for Fall Out Boy?" Honey Lemon prompts.

"I don't think I've heard of him." Fred shrugs, feeling his interest quickly dwindling. He wasn't all that into music to begin with, and J-pop had never really struck his interest.

"Oh, c'mon, you've got to have heard of him!" Honey Lemon protests. "I mean, sure he wasn't that well known until a couple years ago, but the internet's been going crazy over him since he made it big! Haven't you seen him on tumblr?"

"Honey, I love you, but you and I both know we follow very different blogs," Fred answers with a wry smile.

"Well you still have to admit this is cool even if you don't know him!" Honey Lemon cries, seeming to realize that she was losing his interest and quickly changing to a difference tactic.

"I guess so," Fred agrees with a small shrug. "I mean, I do have to respect any famous person who's brave enough to publicly come out…"

"See?" Honey Lemon pounces on the small renewed flame of interest. "I think you'd really like his music if you gave him a try!"

"I dunno..." Fred wasn't quite ready to jump on board with this yet. He loved being in a fandom as much as the next nerd, but he had seen how creepy things could get in fandoms for real life people. Fictional characters were one thing, but he didn't like the way that people fetishized celebrities (especially musicians) and put them on pedestals and treated them like they weren't even human. Did he have a few celebrities that he would love to meet? Sure! But he wasn't about to write creepy fanfics about them.

"Oh, c'mon!" Honey Lemon eagerly turns back to her computer and starts rapidly typing something into the search bar, pulling up the results in google images. "At least take a look at him!"

"...Oh." Fred, in spite of himself and feeling very much like a hypocrite, finds his heart rate speeding up and his cheeks flushing as he gets his first good look at the artist. He could definitely understand what the fuss was about if the guy's music was as amazing as he looked. Tadashi was quite easily the most gorgeous guy he'd ever seen-dark brown eyes, raven hair, and a smile that could have lit up all of San Fransokyo during a blackout. And the fact that he was actually apparently gay? Oh yeah, Fred was definitely screwed.

"Right?" Honey Lemon beams triumphantly back at him. "And he's not just an amazing singer! He does a lot of charity work with underprivileged kids, especially ones who kicked out by their parents for being on the QUILTBAG spectrum. It was actually at an event for a charity that he supports that he officially came out-how awesome is that?"

"Pretty awesome," Fred breathes. Shoot, he was even more screwed-the guy didn't just have a pretty face, he also worked with charities, something that was very near to Fred's heart? Why was the universe (or, more accurately, Honey Lemon) torturing him like this?

"It's a shame that he's about to stop singing professionally," Honey Lemon sighs.

"Wait, he's what?" Fred cries, completely caught off guard.

"Yeah, he's on his farewell tour," Honey Lemon answers. "He's our age, and now that he's about to turn eighteen he announced that he's going to stop singing so he can go to college. That's the reason why he started singing in the first place. His parents died when he was really young and he and is little brother were taken in by their aunt, but they didn't have a lot of money so when Tadashi was discovered and given the opportunity to make money singing he agreed to do it so he could help support his family and save up enough money to go to school. He signed a contract to keep performing until he was eighteen but now that the contract is coming to an end he's dropping out of the music industry to follow his dream of going to school to study robotics. Isn't that awesome?"

"Very awesome," Freed agrees, getting caught up in spite of himself. So Tadashi was gorgeous, selfless, and incredibly grounded? Why the frick was Honey Lemon telling him all of this when the chances of him ever getting together with this guy, let alone even meeting him, were completely nill?

"So you're probably wondering why I'm telling you all of this…" Honey Lemon says, a slightly mischievous look in her eyes.

"An explanation would be nice, yes," Fred answers, wondering for probably the thousandth time since meeting her if Honey Lemon was a mind reader.

"Well… Tadashi's last show is right here in his hometown, San Fransokyo," Honey Lemon answers. "It's kinda a private show and it's almost impossible to get tickets…"

"So you were wondering if maybe my dad could use his connections to get you tickets?" Fred asks, understanding finally dawning on him. He didn't mind Honey asking him for favors. He was always happy to help out a friend-if he was in a position to help someone, he didn't see why he should be stingy and hold that help back. He just wished that she'd be a bit more help direct about it.

"No, actually," Honey Lemon answers, shaking her head. "The truth is… I actually have two tickets that I won in a radio contest! But Gogo isn't interested and I don't want to go alone so I was thinking maybe my other best friend would be willing to go with me?"

"So basically you were trying to get me to swoon over a guy so I'd agree to go to his concert with you?"

"Pretty much, yeah!"

"...I'd say that is incredibly devious of you, but fuck, it worked, I am so there," Fred laughs.

"Really?" Honey Lemon beams at him.

"Really," Fred reassures her.

"Yay!" Honey Lemon beams and throws her arms around him. "We're going to have such a great time, Freddy!"

"I hope so," Fred laughs, hugging her back.

"Come on!" Honey Lemon pulls away from him and eagerly pulls up the music library on her computer. "If you're going to the concert, you've got to know his music!"

"Okay, okay," Fred laughs, realizing that he probably wouldn't be getting back to his comic anytime soon but oddly enough feeling completely okay with that.

The day of the concert, Fred was waiting in his room until it was time to have Heathcliff (his family's butler) drive him and Honey Lemon to the concert downtown. He had his headphones in and his foot absently taps in time to one of Tadashi's songs as he once again second guesses the outfit that he'd chosen for that evening. He knew that it was ridiculous-even though there was going to be an autograph session out in the lobby after the show, the chances that Tadashi would actually notice him out of the hundred or so other fans that would be at the show were next to none. Still, some small, optimistic part of him couldn't help but hope that maybe, somehow, Tadashi might notice him, and he wanted to look his best.

Before he could yet again change his t-shirt, he hears his phone ringing and, upon seeing Honey Lemon on the caller ID, he quickly answers it.

"Hey, HL! What's up?" he asks. "Are you as pumped as I am for this concert?"

Honey Lemon had spent the last week drilling into him everything from Tadashi's songs to the most inane of fan trivia, and he knew that he'd do her proud tonight.

"Frebby, I'b so sorry," Honey Lemon answers, and immediately Fred knew that something was wrong-her voice sounded like someone had stuffed her nose full of cotton balls. "I woke ub wid a feber and I cad't go to the concert… I thought I'd feel bedder by dow but I'm to sick to go…"

"Oh my gosh, Honey, that's horrible!" Fred cries, his heart sinking. "What can I do to help? Do you want me to come over? I'll skip the concert and we can stay in and do a Harry Potter marathon!"

"No!" Honey Lemon's voice was emphatic. "I dod't want you getting sick, and you hab to go!"

"Are you sure?" As much as Fred wanted to see Tadashi, he would never abandon a friend in their time of need.

"I'b sure," Honey Lemon answers firmly. "Go! You cab tell me how the show wab."

"All right," Fred reluctantly agrees. "Only if you're positive…"

"I ab," Honey Lemon reassures him. "You can ged his autograph for me!"

"All right," Fred finally acquiesces. "I'll go, and I'll tell you all about it when I get back."

"Good!" Honey Lemon sounded satisfied. "Hab a good time, Freddy!"

"I will. And you rest up so you feel better soon, okay?"

"I probise I will."

"Okay. Talk to you tonight!"

Fred hangs up, his heart seeming to be pounding in his chest at the realization that he was going to be doing this all on his own. Hopefully he wouldn't royally screw this up, but without Honey Lemon there to help keep his social awkwardness in check chances were he was going to make a fool of himself tonight. It was almost enough to make him want to back out, but he'd made a promise to Honey Lemon and so he was going to have to go and hope for the best. Taking a deep breath for courage, he opens his door and goes to tell Heathcliff that it was just going to be a ride for one tonight.

In spite of Fred's fears, the concert itself went off without a hitch. Honey Lemon's tickets were for seats near the back of the small concert hall that the show was being hosted in, so he knew he couldn't embarrass himself too much and he allowed himself to get swept up in the fun of the concert. Even from a distance Tadashi was just as gorgeous as he was in pictures, and his voice was as angelic in person as in the recordings that Fred has heard of him. Fred could tell that he wasn't the only one in the concert hall swooning a bit (or a lot), but he was too engrossed in watching Tadashi to really care.

It wasn't until Tadashi thanked everyone for coming to his final show and supporting the local homeless shelter for QUILTBAG youth that the proceeds of the show were going to that Fred realized with a tiny spike of panic that he was about to be faced with the autograph session and actually meeting Tadashi face to face. As ushers start directing the audience members out into the lobby to line up to meet Tadashi, Fred was once again tempted by the idea of ducking out and avoiding potentially embarrassing himself in front of the cutest guy he'd ever seen.

But no. His loyalty to his sick friend was too strong and so, in spite of his nerves, Fred gets in line, tightly clutching a copy of the CD that Honey Lemon had wanted to get autographed. The line to meet Tadashi inches forward with agonizing slowness, and Fred was quite glad that he'd actually chosen to wear antiperspirant because he was sweating like crazy from the nerves.

After what felt like both an eternity and also no time at all, Fred found himself at the front of the line and being ushered forward. He could barely hear anything over the sound of his own heart pounding in his ears, and, as he reaches the table, his mouth was so dry that he felt his tongue sticking to the roof of it. Tadashi was momentarily occupied with something going on behind the table where he was greeting the concert goers, and by the time that he turns back around Fred was completely choking-he wasn't sure he could even speak, and worse, he could feel the impatient stares of a whole lobby full of fans on him.

"C-Could you please sign this to Honey Lemon?" he finally manages to get out.

"Of course!" Tadashi's voice was friendly but professionally vague as he takes the CD that Fred was holding out to him with shaking hands. His eyes never really lift from the table, and he quickly signs the CD with a silver sharpie before handing it back to Fred. Fred was about to leave, kicking himself for not saying anything more memorable but too nervous to try to push things any further, when suddenly he sees Tadashi's eyes, which had only briefly scanned his face when handing back the CD do a double take and-was he imagining it, or was Tadashi actually checking him out? No, that was impossible, he was totally imagining it… Right?

Still, Tadashi's tone was entirely different as he asks Fred, "Is that your name? Honey Lemon?"

"What?" Fred blinks in surprise, and then quickly manages to stumble out, "O-Oh, n-no! That's actually my best friend's name! She's a huge fan of yours, and she really wanted to be here tonight but she got sick at the last moment and couldn't come so I told her that I'd come and get your autograph for her! N-Not that I'm not a fan too! I mean, I only just discovered your music thanks to her but I still really think your songs are really good! And I think that all the charity work that you do with at-risk kids in the QUILTBAG community is freaking amazing, like we really need more people like you looking out for the people in the community who aren't lucky enough to have accepting families..."

Fred's panicked rambling is cut mercifully short by a soft but thankfully not derogatory laugh from Tadashi, who, by some miracle, didn't look either offended or weirded out by everything that he'd just said.

"Thank you, I appreciate that." Tadashi smiles up at him, this smile looking completely genuine. "That means a lot to me. I was fortunate that my aunt was extremely accepting of me being gay, but I know that not everyone has that support and I wanted to do everything that I could to help out other people in need."

"That is exactly what makes you so incredible!" Fred beams back at him.

Fred sees Tadashi briefly glance behind him at the long line of fans still waiting, and he quickly interprets his meaning-it was time to get moving. Although he was disappointed that their time was up, Fred understood that the pop star still had a lot of people to meet, and if nothing else he was glad that their conversation had ended on a positive note.

He was about to walk away when suddenly Tadashi reaches out with on hand, calling, "W-Wait!"

"Huh?" Fred turns back around curiously. What was going on?

Tadashi, to Fred's great surprise, actually looked like he was blushing as he motions him closer, as if wanting to speak with him privately. Fred accordingly leans forward, and Tadashi asks, in a unexpectedly nervous but hushed tone, "W-Would you wait for me?"

"W-Wait for you?" Fred repeats, not fully comprehending what Tadashi was saying.

"Would you wait for me until after I've finished here?" Tadashi asks, his cheeks reddening even further. "I-I'd like to get to talk to you more, if you wouldn't mind…"

"...Are you asking me out on a date?" Fred's words come out bluntly before he even has a chance to even think them over. He instantly regrets them, realizing how ridiculous it was to think that someone like Tadashi would ever actually ask him out.

But then Tadashi smiles and answers, "Yes, I am, if that's all right with you."

"I… Uh… S-Sure! I mean, hell yes!" Fred feels a million butterflies stirring up in his stomach. No way. No freaking way this was happening! And yet Tadashi was still smiling as he quietly asks one of the ushers to take Fred back to his dressing room to wait for him there, and as Fred allows himself to be lead awa,y he decides that if he had hit his head and was dreaming all of this he didn't ever want to wake up.

Honey. I'm sitting in Tadashi's dressing room.

...You're what?!

I'M SITTING IN TADASHI FREAKING HAMADA'S DRESSING ROOM! HE JUST ASKED ME OUT ON A DATE!

OH MY GOSH. FREDDY THAT IS AMAZING! But HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!

I DON'T KNOW! I WAS JUST TALKING TO HIM IN LINE ABOUT HIS CHARITY WORK WHILE HE WAS AUTOGRAPHING THE CD FOR YOU AND HE ASKED ME IF I WOULD STAY AROUND UNTIL AFTER HE'D FINISHED AND I ASKED IF IT WAS A DATE AND HE SAID YES!

OH MY GOSH! THIS IS SO AWESOME!

I KNOW!

Where is he taking you?! I bet it's somewhere super romantic!

I don't know! I didn't really get to talk to him about that but I guess I'll find out whenever he's done!

Keep me updated, okay?

I will! Wish me luck!

Good luck! 3

Fred was just putting his phone back into his pocket when the door to the dressing room swings open and Tadashi steps inside.

"H-Hey!" Fred quickly springs up from the chair in front of the mirrored vanity table that he'd been sitting in-he wasn't sure if he was supposed to be sitting in it, but there weren't really any other places to sit.

"Hey yourself," Tadashi answers with a shy smile, rubbing the back of his neck and looking endearingly nervous, something which somehow put Fred at ease-at least he wasn't the only one who felt awkward about all of this, which was hopefully a good sign.

"I-I'm really sorry if I put you on the spot out there," Tadashi continues before Fred has a chance to say anything. "I absolutely didn't mean to if I did! I promise I don't usually ask people out in front of a whole lobby of people like that!"

"No, no, it's fine, I totally don't mind!" Fred reassures him. "I was incredibly flattered, actually!"

"I'm glad to hear that," Tadashi softly chuckles, his whole frame seeming to relax.

"Still… Can I ask why you asked me of all people out?" Fred asks, voicing the question (and somewhat fear) that had been nagging at him since their brief conversation in the lobby.

"You mean other than the fact that you're incredibly handsome and that you're apparently as passionate about the same causes as I am?" Tadashi returns with a wry smile.

"Y-Yeah, aside from that?" Fred answers, feeling that those were two incredibly good reasons but sensing that Tadashi had something more to say.

"I guess that, before the show tonight, I had a moment when I realized that, finally, I'm done with being a public figure, " Tadashi says after taking a moment to think his words over. "Before now I didn't feel like it was right to date anyone since any relationship I'd be in would be under the eye of the paparazzi and entertainment news and a million other sources. I'm not delusional, I know that the media will still be after me for a while. But after tonight, without me performing anymore, I know they're going to start losing interest, which means hopefully I can start trying to live a semi-normal life again. And a semi-normal life for me means maybe finally getting to try having a boyfriend. So when I saw you tonight, I guess that maybe I jumped the gun a little bit? But I also would have been kicking myself if I hadn't tried, and now I'm really glad that I did."

"I'm glad that you did too!" Fred grins at him. He still couldn't believe that Tadashi frigging Hamada had asked him out, but the explanation he'd been given did make some sort of sense so he wasn't about to argue.

"So, are you ready to go?" Tadashi gestures to the door.

"Go? Go where?" Fred asks, momentarily confused.

"On our date," Tadashi answers with a smile.

"Oh! Yes! Yes, absolutely!" Fred agrees enthusiastically. "Only-is it okay for me to ask where exactly you're taking me? I know surprises are romantic and all, but we did kind of just meet…"

"No, I completely understand, that makes total sense!" Tadashi reassures him. "It's a little cafe not too far from here-it's called the Lucky Cat Cafe, if you'd like to look it up online to verify that it's a real place and not something that I'm making up."

"No, I trust you." And Fred did, and not just because he wanted to. He appreciated that Tadashi was being very up front and open with him about things, and that sort of honesty was what was making him feel that, wherever they went tonight, he would be safe with him.

"Okay then." Tadashi smiles and offers Fred his hand. "Come on. I've got an Uber waiting outside for us if you're ready to go."

"I am," Fred agrees, taking the offered hand and beaming as he follows Tadashi out into the hallway.

Downtown San Fransokyo was gorgeous at night, all lit up like a Christmas tree, but Fred barely noticed the city passing by as he and Tadashi talk softly in the back of the car that was driving them to the cafe. Somehow, as crazy as it sounded, there were no awkward pauses in their conversation as they discussed anything and everything that came to mind, one subject bleeding into another with no discernable pauses. Fred discovered that Tadashi had the cutest laugh in the whole world, and he was incredibly proud of how many times he made him laugh on the drive over. It felt like no time at all had passed when the driver announces that they had arrived.

As Fred steps out of the car, he can't help but notice that all of the lights in the cafe were off and that the chairs were stacked on top of the tables..

"Um, Tadashi?" he says, turning to the other man. "I think that this place is already closed…"

"Oh, don't worry," Tadashi answers, smiling as if Fred had just said something funny without realizing it. "I know the owner personally and already made arrangements."

"Okay…" Fred wasn't quite sure what was going on but, deciding not to question it, follows Tadashi around to the side of the house where there was a set of stairs leading up to the second level of the house.

Tadashi starts to climb, and Fred was about to follow him when suddenly the door at the top of the stairs bursts open and a little boy with a messy mop of raven hair and the biggest brown puppy eyes that Fred had ever seen comes tumbling out, shouting, "DASHI!"

"Hiro!" Tadashi beams and opens his arms to the child, scooping him up and hugging him close. "How's my favorite little man?"

"I'm not little!" the boy protests.

"Sure you're not," Tadashi answers, lovingly ruffling the boy's hair before turning towards Fred. "Fred, I'd like you to meet my little brother, Hiro. Hiro, this is Fred. He's-"

"Is he your boyfriend?" Hiro asks without the tiniest hint of shame.

"M-Maybe someday," Tadashi answers, and even in the dark Fred could see his cheeks turning a rosy pink. "Right now we've just met so we need to get to know each other better before-"

"What this about you having a boyfriend, Tadashi?" A petite woman with chestnut brown hair appears in the doorway, looking down at the scene on the stairs with amusement but also marked interest.

"Aunt Cass, I just asked him out on a date, he's not my boyfriend yet!" Tadashi protests, looking thoroughly embarrassed.

"Mm hm." Aunt Cass doesn't look at all convinced but she smiles as she looks down at Fred, reaching around Tadashi to shake his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Tadashi's not-boyfriend! I'm Cass, his aunt, but everyone around here calls me Aunt Cass!"

"It's nice to meet you, ma'am," Fred says, politely shaking her hand and not quite sure what to make of her yet. "I'm Fred."

"Very nice to meet you, Fred. Are you hungry?"

"Always," Fred admits, his stomach growling at the mention of food.

"Good, because I made plenty of food! Come on in and grab a plate!" Aunt Cass tells him, immediately winning him over. Anyone who gave out free food like that had to be a good person.

"I am so sorry about this," Tadashi whispers to Fred, setting Hiro down so he could join Aunt Cass inside. "I know they can be a little bit much at times…"

"Are you kidding me? They're great!" Fred answers with a grin.

"You think so?" Tadashi gives him a relieved smile.

"I do! And trust me, as much as you talked about wanting to go back to having a normal life, being embarrassed by your family for bringing a date home is about as normal gets," Fred laughs.

"Well, I'm glad you think so." Tadashi gratefully squeezes his hand before heading through the doorway, and Fred follows after him so the two of them can join the rest of Tadashi's family in the kitchen.

The evening continues, full of Aunt Cass's excellent cooking, Hiro's mischievous pranks, and a Harry Potter movie marathon. By the time that Heathcliff pulls up outside to pick Fred up at a little past two in the morning, Fred was thoroughly exhausted but happy, and the icing on the cake was Tadashi pecking him shyly on the cheek as he helps him into the limousine.

As Heathcliff drives him home, Fred found that he was still having a hard time believing that he'd just spent an evening with Tadashi Hamada, at Tadashi's house, and that Tadashi actually wanted to see him again-possibly wanted to see him again on regular basis for the foreseeable future. It sounded completely insane. But it was also completely true. And that something that Fred was more than willing to get used to.