A/N: I'm actually a little surprised by how fast I wrote this.
"Well, I don't know, Potential Treble Herlihy," Bumper said, circling the smaller boy. Louis swallowed. He wasn't about to say it out loud, but he was nervous; if the Trebles didn't accept him, the whole plan would go to shit. "What do you think, Jesse?"
"I like him." Jesse nodded. "I think he'll do well with us."
"What about the rest of you? Yay or nay? Hands up for Herlihy's in?" Louis shut his eyes. "Hands up for not?" Bumper cleared his throat. "Well, Herlihy?" Louis opened his eyes and looked at Bumper. "You're in."
"Now it's time for you to give up the goods, Herlihy," Elijah said as Louis was pulled into a chair by two Trebles. "What are those girls planning for Sectionals?"
"Jazmine Sullivan's Bust Your Windows, Wannabe by the Spice Girls, and Stronger by Britney Spears," Louis replied without a moment's hesitation, thinking of the first three girl power songs that came to mind.
"You're not lying to us, are you?" Max asked, leaning in towards Louis. "You know the punishment if you are: we'll beat the shit out of you."
"Hand to God, not lying." Louis raised a hand.
Jesse caught Louis just before he left the room and pulled him into an empty classroom.
"Louis, we need to talk." Louis yanked his arm away and folded his arms.
"About what, Jesse?"
"Well, two things," Jesse elaborated. "One, did you tell anybody about what happened last Friday?"
"Maybe," Louis smirked. "Why?" Louis was surprised to find himself slammed against the wall. "Whoa, Swanson, if you want to stay in the closet, you better let me go."
"I know you're have a big mouth, Louis, but for once in your life, keep it shut," Jesse hissed.
"Jesse, you're usually so submissive and now you're getting tough. Anyway, what was that other thing you wanted?"
"I realized something last night," Jesse said, releasing Louis. "I think I like... I mean, I..."
"Come on, Jesse, I have other things to do today."
"Should I tell Benji I like him?" Jesse looked down. Louis bit his lip to keep from saying something he'd regret. When Louis didn't respond, Jesse looked up to find a tear sliding down Louis' face. "Louis, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. E-excuse me." He hurried out of the room and ran down the hallway, Jesse watching after him.
After leaving Jesse, Louis locked himself in the bathroom, where he tried to compose himself. He heard the door open and then the voice of Nick Steadman and one of his cronies.
"Dude, fucking Herlihy is going to regret running out on us. Remember how we were going to rig the vote on Applebaum? Well, now Herlihy's going to be crowned king of the prom and a bucket of pig blood is going to spill all over his smug face." Nick's goon laughed and Louis slammed the stall door open, shoving Nick into the mirror.
"I'm done with your shit, Steadman!" Louis shouted. "Why don't you do us all a favor and kill yourself?" Louis was pried away from Nick and shoved back into the stall.
"Looks like Herlihy's finally growing balls, huh, Connor?" Connor laughed stupidly and held Louis back. "It looks like you and Applebaum are butt buddies. Did you break up?"
"Shut up!" Louis spat. "Don't talk about him like that, fucking prick!"
"See you at the prom, Herlihy. Be sure to wear your prettiest dress," Nick sneered, leaving the bathroom, Connor in tow.
Louis wiped his eyes and hated himself for liking Benji when he knew Benji liked Jesse. He cleaned himself up and headed for the small room occupying the auditorium where the Bellas practiced. He opened the door quietly and found Benji singing with Fat Amy. Louis put his bag down and sat in the back as the two finished.
"Louis!" Benji ran over to him and pulled him out of his seat. "How'd it go?"
"I'm in." Fat Amy hurried over and hugged Louis. "Oh, Fat Amy, you and Benji sing marvelously together. I don't think I've ever heard a better cover of Take Me with U."
"Did they ask you anything about the Bellas?" Aubrey asked, watching Louis closely.
"I fed them crap, duh," he said. "As far as those assholes know, the Bellas' Sectionals setlist consists of Bust Your Windows, Wannabe, and Stronger."
"You went for the greatest girl power anthems, huh?" Lindsay asked. "Good call."
"Hey, Louis, can I talk to you outside for a sec?" Benji whispered. Louis nodded and followed Benji out into the deserted auditorium. "Did you talk to Jesse?"
"Yeah, he asked me if you like him the way you do." Benji's eyes widened. "I told him that you do and that if he gets your hopes up and crushes them, I'll destroy him." Louis' voice cracked a little and Benji raised an eyebrow.
"Louis, something's going on with you. What is it?"
"I'm fine, Benj." Louis tried to wipe his eyes but Benji caught his wrists.
"You looked so upset last night when my brother accused us of being boyfriends and I said that we weren't. On top of that, you've been crying. What is going on?" Louis shook his head and tried to wrestle away from Benji, who kept his hold on him.
"I... I..."
"You what? You can tell me."
"I love you, Benji!" Louis burst out. Benji let go of Louis and stepped back. "I'm in love with you. Like Veronica and Logan; like Hazel and Augustus, except we're not dying; you know what I mean. Except I know you don't like me back because you want Jesse."
"Louis, I..." Louis put a finger to Benji's lips.
"Don't say anything. I'm gonna go." Louis walked into the room, where the girls were watching the entire exchange. "Ladies." He nodded curtly before grabbing his bag and leaving.
"Hey, Benji!" The curly-haired boy flinched at the volume of the voice. "Shit, sorry," the voice apologized. Benji turned to face Jesse, who was smiling sheepishly. "Um, I was wondering a couple things. I know you hang out with Louis. Is he alright?"
"Yeah, I think so," Benji shrugged.
"And the other thing is... uh... would you want to maybe hang out tonight? We could catch a movie, you know, just the two of us." Jesse looked hopeful.
"You want to be seen with me in public? But what about Beca? I thought you guys were a thing."
"She's my beard," Jesse admitted. "When I told her I liked guys, she was the one who thought it would be a good idea if we pretended to be a couple so it didn't attract attention. A lot of good that did though; I hear people questioning my sexuality every day."
"But why me? You could have your pick of anyone at this school and I'm like the bottom of the barrel. What makes me so appealing to you?"
"Benji, you are the nicest guy I've ever had the pleasure to meet," Jesse said, walking outside with Benji. "You're adorable and sweet and I've heard you sing. You have the voice of an angel." Benji was scarlet.
"So what should we do?" Benji was ecstatic that Jesse liked him back but, for some reason, felt like a bad person because of Louis.
"How about we go back to my place?" Jesse suggested. "We could pop some popcorn and put on a movie. My folks are out of town for the week, so the place is ours."
"Sure," Benji grinned.
"Stupid!" Louis hit his head on his steering wheel. "Of course he doesn't like you back, you fucking idiot. You're worthless, a worthless nothing." He broke down in tears. A few minutes later, he heard a knock on his window. He wiped his face and looked up to see Bumper and a couple Trebles standing there. Opening the door, Louis cleared his throat.
"What do you guys want?"
"You alright, Herlihy?" Bumper asked. "We heard a horn honk from the other parking lot and came over here to see you hitting your head on the wheel."
"I'm fine," Louis murmured, wiping his eyes.
"Were you rejected or something?" Drew asked. Louis avoided their eyes and sniffled. "Who is he?"
"He- w-what are you talking "he"?" Louis tried to play it cool but faltered.
"Dude, we know you're gay," Kyle said.
"I am bi, thank you very much. I swing both ways. But this one is a guy and he's interested in someone who's not me."
"Who's the guy? We could talk to him for you," Josh suggested.
"No, guys, it's alright." Louis began to smile a little, feeling like the Trebles understood him. "He knows who he is, but thank you for the offer."
"Why don't you come with us and we'll celebrate your initiation with some drinks, huh?" Bumper extended a hand. "Jesse's bailed on us for some unforeseen reason and we always order for twelve." Louis accepted the gesture and beamed.
"Whoa." Benji stood beside Jesse in his living room, looking at the extensive collection of movies that Jesse's family owned.
"Take your pick, Benj," Jesse smiled. "I'll go make the popcorn and you put something in." Jesse left the room and Benji felt weak in the knees. Jesse liked him back; it was his dream come true. He scanned the shelf and found a musical he'd never heard of. He placed the disc in the DVD tray and pressed PLAY. Jesse came back with a large bowl of popcorn and sat beside Benji.
"Good choice. You ever see this movie before?" Benji shook his head. "You'll love it." Jesse put an arm behind Benji, who slowly slid towards the slightly shorter boy.
"You boys come in here more often than most of these winos," the barmaid said, shaking her head at the sight of the Treblemakers. "We're not even supposed to serve you but the boss man said to do it anyway because you're where most of our revenue comes from. Twelve as usual?"
"You got it, Judy." Bumper winked, sticking a hand down the older girl's apron. She swatted his hand away and shook her head.
"Boys," she murmured on her way to the bar.
"So, Louis, how does it feel to be in the most popular club on campus?" Travis asked.
Louis took a sip of the complimentary water at the table and sighed. "It feels pretty good," he said, smiling. "Honestly, I never took you guys to be understanding."
"Do you want to come out and play the game?
It's never too late,"
Jesse sang along with the movie. Benji smiled; listening to Jesse sing just to him felt like it was just a dream all over again.
"I don't know how anyone who loves musicals could not have heard of Camp," Jesse said. "I know it was one of those independent film-festival-circuit kind of movies, but it's so good."
"You know, the girl who plays Fritzi looks a lot like Beca," Benji observed.
"You're right, she does," Jesse agreed. He pulled Benji close enough that Benji could feel Jesse's breath on his neck. "Did I get around to telling you how cute you are?"
"No, why don't you go into detail?"
Louis was on his fourth beer when he started hiccuping. The other Trebles were chatting animatedly while Louis drank.
"You know what's funny?" he asked once garnering everyone's attention. "I always thought I would never become friends with you guys, especially since you treat most non-Treble people like crap, like Benji. He's not a bad guy; he's just awkward. I mean, aren't we all at our age? You know, I was talking with the Bel—"
"He's cool, I guess," Elijah interrupted, slurring his words. "I like how he actually stands up to us instead of succumbing to our crap like everyone else."
"You guys should be nicer to people and that way they wouldn't be afraid of you," Louis said, swaying back and forth.
"People are afraid of us?" Todd asked. "I thought they envied us."
"No, they hate you," Louis confirmed. "I did too, for a while."
"Benji?" Jesse whispered. The curly-haired boy had dozed off in his lap. "We finished the movie. You've been out for the past fifteen minutes."
Benji opened his eyes to see Jesse smiling down at him. "Was it only fifteen? Felt like longer," he said. He sat up and lay back against the couch. "What time is it?"
"It's only eight-thirty. Want to put in another movie?" Benji shook his head. "Well, there is one thing we could do."
"And what's that?" Benji turned to look at Jesse, who was smiling shyly.
"I've wanted to do this for a long time." Jesse put a hand on Benji's leg and kissed him gently. Benji made a small, surprised noise and felt himself relax in the kiss.
When Jesse pulled away, Benji was stupefied. "Wow, that was amazing." Jesse was grinning. "But I have one problem."
"What is it?" Jesse's face turned to confusion and worry.
"I don't want to move too fast," Benji explained. "No one's ever kissed me before, not like that. I don't want a rushed relationship, Jesse." Jesse nodded; he understood what Benji was getting at. "Let's take it slow. This is our first date."
Jesse took Benji's hand and nodded. "I'm sorry. I was thinking only of myself. Let's go on a second date. Does tomorrow work? I'll cook us a nice dinner and we can talk or whatever you want to do, alright?" Benji smiled and nodded.
A/N2: Mind dropping a review?
Songs featured:
-Century Plant (Camp) - Jesse