The rest of the night was spent at GoGo's house, the two best friends holed up in her room watching their favorite movies about the teenage wizard and his friends. It was oddly comforting-Fred had heard somewhere that people reread and rewatched the same books and movies because they enjoyed the certainty that the story would always turn out the same way. You knew how it would end, and even if it wasn't a happy ending, at least you knew what was coming. With his own future so uncertain right now, he definitely was glad to know that, at the end of the day, Harry, Hermione, and Ron would be okay and triumph over evil.
"You doing okay?" GoGo asks halfway through Prisoner of Azkaban.
"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine-why do you ask?" Fred returns, looking up at her from where his head was resting in her lap-maybe some people thought it was weird how few physical boundaries they had with each other, but they were like siblings, and even though GoGo wasn't a big fan of cuddling she put up with it because she knew Fred liked it, which basically made her the best friend ever in his books.
"I just… I know how upset you were earlier," GoGo answers. "And I wanted to make sure that you're not still freaking out. It's okay if you are! I just want to make sure that you're not holding in stuff that's going to psych you out or make you think stuff you shouldn't be thinking about yourself."
"Trust me, I'm okay," Fred reassures her. "I mean, there's nothing like a good Harry Potter marathon to make you feel better about everything, right?"
"I suppose…" GoGo replies, not looking fully convinced. Seeing this, Fred lets out a quiet sigh before admitting,
"All right, so maybe I'm still a tiny bit freaked out-I mean, this was kind of a lot to take in all in one afternoon. But… On some level, I'm kind of relieved?"
"How so?" GoGo asks, turning the volume down on the movie so that they could talk without distractions.
"I guess… This kind of explains a lot of things?" Fred answers, playing with the fringe of the blanket hanging off of the other teen's bed. "Like… I'd be lying if I said I hadn't had… thoughts about other guys before? But I never really let myself really think about it 'cause I knew how my parents would react and I didn't want to go there. I thought maybe there was something wrong with me for feeling attracted to dudes and there was no way I could ever bring it up without bringing a whole bunch of shit down on myself…"
"Oh man, Fred..." GoGo says softly. "I wish you'd said something so I could have helped you... You know that I'd never judge you for anything you ever tell me, right?"
"Yeah, I do," Fred answers, gratefully nuzzling against her. "And I'm sorry I didn't say anything earlier…"
"Well, the important thing is that you know that you have me now and that I'm behind you one-hundred percent," GoGo answers, deciding to put up with him being extremely snuggly at the moment-she wanted to do whatever it took to make Fred feel okay again.
"So, how about you?" Fred asks softly after a few minutes of contented silence. "Did you ever… Y'know, have feelings about a girl before this?"
"I honestly don't know," GoGo admits. "You know I never really let myself think about crushes too much if I could help it so if I did I probably just shoved it away. I guess Tadashi was kind of my first time letting myself think about maybe being interested in someone and honestly I think that was probably because I felt weird being one of the only people in our class who's never been in a relationship, and he seemed like a decent choice if I was going to date anyone. But Honey Lemon… I dunno. Something about her…"
"Aw!" Fred grins up at her. "You're blushing!"
"I am not!" GoGo protests.
"You totally are!" Fred answers gleefully. "GoGo Tomago, you are actually blushing!"
"Oh shut up!" GoGo lightly shoves his shoulder. In retaliation, Fred grabs a pillow that was lying nearby and whacks her with it.
"Admit it! Admit that Honey Lemon makes you blush!" he declares.
"Not in a million years!" GoGo answers, grabbing a pillow of her own and whacking him back. Within moments it had escalated into a full-on pillow fight, and it didn't stop until, laughing, they collapse onto the floor, Fred having declared GoGo the winner after she'd pulled him into a half nelson. They both have to take a minute to catch their breath, and then fanboy finally speaks again.
"So, what are you going to do about the maybe-sort-of date tomorrow?" he asks GoGo. "I mean, I know you're planning on going on it, but how are you going to find out if it's an actual date or not?"
"I dunno," GoGo admits with a slight shrug, hugging a pillow to her stomach as she tries to get her lungs back to their normal working order. "I'll probably just show up at the school and see what happens. I like to think on my feet, y'know?"
"That makes sense," Fred agrees before sighing and adding, "I have no idea how I'm going to approach Tadashi on all of this… I mean, at least I know that he's gay, so that's good? But that doesn't mean that he actually likes me-just because he likes dudes doesn't mean that he's attracted to me specifically."
"True…" GoGo agrees with a quiet hum. "But can I be honest with you for a second?"
"Uh, sure?"
"Well, I never wanted to say anything 'cause you hadn't said anything about actually liking Tadashi-y'know, that way? But those times I'd pick you up from robotics club and I'd get there a little early so I'd just sit off to the side while you finished working? Whenever I would catch Tadashi watching you when he thought you wouldn't see him-he always looked like he thought he was staring at an angel or something."
"Oh. My. Gosh." Fred squeaks, burying his face in a pillow.
"Ha, now who's blushing?" GoGo teases him, although her tone was gentle instead of mocking.
"A-Are you being serious?" the fanboy finally manages to get out.
"Completely," GoGo answers firmly. "Trust me, I wouldn't mess with you on something like that."
"W-Wow…" Fred hugs the pillow tighter but peeks over the top of it to look at his best friend so he could see her face and tell for himself that she wasn't just making things up. "So… You think he actually likes me likes me?"
"I'd say it's pretty much a definite," GoGo confirms.
"Oh my gosh… Oh my gosh…" Fred breathes. "W-What should I do? Should I bring him flowers or something? Is it weird to bring another guy flowers?"
"I'd say hold off on the flowers for right now," GoGo tells him gently but firmly. "I know that big, grandiose gestures are kind of your thing but you might scare him off a bit by going overboard. Maybe start by just talking to him?"
"Talking is good," Fred agrees, glad that he had someone to help keep him from taking things too far like he had a bad habit of doing. "When do you think I should talk to him?"
"When's the next time you're going to see him?" GoGo asks.
"Tomorrow afternoon?" Fred answers. "We're getting ready to head out to our big robotics tournament so I'm supposed to get there early to help the team load everything we need up before driving down to the city where it's being held in. Do you think maybe I should wait until after the meet is over to talk to him so I don't make things awkward by bringing that up right before the competition?"
"With most people I'd say yes," GoGo replies, seeming to be thinking hard. "But with you? Maybe not."
"Why not?" Fred asks.
"Because I know you-when you've got something on your mind, you tend to act a little crazy until you spill your guts on it," GoGo answers with a wry smile.
"I do not!" Fred protests.
"Sixth grade. You were throwing me a surprise birthday party. You stress ate halfway through an apple before realizing it was made of wax," GoGo deadpans.
"Oh… Yeah, good point," Fred agrees with a sheepish grin. "Still, in my defense, it was made of edible wax so at least I didn't get sick off of it!"
"Thank goodness, or else we would have spent my birthday party in the ER getting your stomach pumped," GoGo laughs before going slightly serious again. "What I'm trying to say is-the sooner you talk to him about this, the better for both of you. Don't push it out. Heck, get to school super early tomorrow so you can talk to him alone before all the others get there! You'll feel a lot better having it out in the open one way or another-and hopefully you won't end up eating any more wax fruit."
"Point taken!" Fred laughs before letting out a quiet breath and saying, "Wow… I'm actually doing this!"
"We're both doing it," GoGo answers, gently squeezing one of his hands. "I mean, I'm kind of confessing to my crush tomorrow too, if that makes you feel any better."
"It does, actually," Fred admits, giving her a grateful smile. "Thanks, GoGo-you're an amazing friend, you know that?"
"Yes, yes I do," GoGo replies playfully before adding, "And, for the record, you're a really amazing friend too."
"Aw!" Fred beams at her. "C'mere!"
"No hugs!" GoGo protests, batting his hands away. "Sheesh! Crushing on a guy is making you waaaay too mushy!"
"Hey, I resent that! I was plenty mushy before I started crushing on Tadashi!" Fred answers playfully.
"Whatever!" GoGo playfully rolls her eyes before surprising the fanboy by actually hugging him first. "I love you, you big nerd," she tells him. "And no matter what happens, I'm here for you, okay?"
"Yeah, I know," Fred answers, gratefully hugging her back. "And I'm here for you too, okay?"
"I know," GoGo reassures him before finally pulling away. "Okay, enough of this sentimental stuff-people are going to start thinking I'm going soft! Back to the Harry Potter marathon?"
"Back to the Harry Potter marathon!" Fred agrees with a grin, happily settling in next to her to continue watching the movie. He couldn't have asked for a better friend than GoGo. And if she thought that everything was going to be okay, then he had a good feeling that maybe it really would be.
The next day, GoGo arrived at the school half an hour before she was even supposed to be there to meet with Honey Lemon. Usually she liked to be places on time, but getting here this early was a sure sign that she was a lot more nervous than she was letting herself admit to. She was just debating doing some basic stretching exercises to work off some of excess energy while she waited, only to look up and see Honey Lemon crossing the parking lot towards her, smiling and waving. One thing she'd forgotten: the other girl actually had a penchant for being early to everything too, so she'd actually probably gotten here at just the right time.
"Hey, GoGo!" Honey Lemon greets her with her trademark sunny smile. "Thank you so much for agreeing to help me out with this today, you are seriously the best!"
"I-It's not a problem," GoGo mumbles, cheeks flushing bright pink in spite of herself.
"Well it's still incredibly sweet of you, and I promise to take you out for the best gelato in the whole city as a 'thank you' afterwards!" Honey Lemon declares.
GoGo was just trying to get up the nerve to ask her about whether or not this was an actual date when the other girl starts tugging her towards the door, saying eagerly, "C'mon, we've got work to do!"
Asking about the date thing could wait, GoGo decides. Right now she should focus on helping Honey, and then when they were done she could ask. It wasn't that she was chickening out! She was just… waiting for the right time. Yeah, that's what it was.
The two spend the next few hours liberally covering every empty space of wall with posters. It was more work than GoGo had expected, but on some level it was actually kind of fun since she was getting to spend time with Honey, the two of them laughing and talking the whole time. The other girl apparently felt the same way, because as they tack up the last couple of flyers, she turns to her and says,
"Thank you so much for helping me out with this! I usually end up doing this all by myself and it gets kind of lonely being in an empty school all alone, y'know?"
"I'll take it you do this a lot?" GoGo asks curiously.
"Yeah-I mean, whenever I'm on a committee a lot of the time I end up picking up a lot of the slack," Honey sighs as she puts the empty poster box into a recycling bin. "I try to get other people to volunteer, and I've even tried assigning people to do different things, but somehow I still end up doing most of the work…"
"Probably because they know that you'll do the work for them if they push it out long enough," GoGo notes with a small frown.
"Probably…" Honey Lemon agrees with a wry smile. "But it's not like I have much of a choice-either I do the work or it doesn't get done, and then I feel terrible because things end up being ruined."
"But it's not your fault! It's the fault of those lazy bums for not doing their work!" GoGo protests.
"I know that," Honey Lemon sighs. "But I'm the 'responsible' one so somehow the blame always comes back to me even if it isn't my fault."
"That's really messed up," GoGo tells her-usually she would have told someone dealing with a problem like this to just woman up and make the people who were being lazy get the work done, but she could tell that Honey was already trying her hardest to do just that and there wasn't much she could do about it.
"Why do you do it?" GoGo asks as they walk back to the supply closet to return the stapler that they'd borrowed. "I mean, if you get stuck doing all the work…"
"I mean, I do enjoy what I do," Honey Lemon answers as she unlocks the door and places the stapler on a shelf. "It's fun for me-I kind of thrive on having a million things going at once, y'know?"
"I can see that," GoGo agrees. She wasn't much of one for working with other people, but she was a major adrenaline junky so she understood the need to constantly have energy buzzing through your veins.
"And, I mean, even if it wasn't that I enjoyed it so much, I'd still probably do it because it'll look super good on my college resume," Honey Lemon adds with a slight smile as she locks the closet back up and starts heading for the door.
"Trying to get into an Ivy League school?" GoGo asks wryly, following after her.
"No, not aiming quite that high," Honey Lemon laughs. "But somewhere that fits my interests a lot better-SFIT!"
"SFIT? No way!" GoGo gasps.
"I know, I know." Honey Lemon lightly rolls her eyes. "Most people think it's not exactly a school a girl should be attending because it's really hard for women to break into most science fields…"
"Screw what they think!" GoGo tells her fiercely. "That's not going to keep me from applying!"
"You want to go to SFIT too?" Honey Lemon asks, her whole face lighting up.
"Yep! Mechanical engineering!" GoGo answers proudly. "You?"
"Chemistry, what else?" Honey Lemon happily giggles.
"I should have known!" GoGo laughs.
"Wow, this is kind of amazing!" Honey Lemon says, practically beaming at her. "I mean, if we both get in-"
"I think you mean when we both get in!" GoGo cuts in.
"All right then, when we both get in," Honey Lemon laughs, "we'll be going to the same school so we'll still be able to see each other-maybe we'll even be able to take some of the same classes!"
"That would be totally awesome!" GoGo says, grinning at her.
"Yeah!" Honey Lemon happily beams back at her as they step out into the afternoon sunshine. "Wow, it sure is bright out here!"
"It is!" GoGo agrees, feeling oddly giddy.
"So, ready to go get that gelato I promised?" Honey Lemon asks. "You totally deserve it after all your hard work!"
"I-It was nothing…" GoGo answers, suddenly feeling nervous as she was reminded of the main reason that she was actually here today.
"Hey, you okay?" Honey Lemon frowns as she studies her expression. "You look a little tense…"
"I'm fine!" GoGo answers quickly-a little too quickly, she realizes as soon as the words are out of her mouth.
"GoGo, if you don't like gelato, it's totally okay-I promise I won't be offended if you want to get something else!" Honey Lemon tells her, obviously trying to find the root of the problem.
"I-It's not that…" GoGo quietly mumbles, her face flushing red as she realizes that any chance she had of just playing it cool was long gone.
"What is it, then?" Honey Lemon asks gently.
"I just…" Oh gosh. GoGo was pretty sure that her heart was about to come bursting right out of her chest-she'd never felt like this except for that time she tried to complete an Iron Man challenge back in sixth grade! Still, she takes a deep breath and forces herself to keep going. "W-When you asked me to come help you yesterday… It kind of sounded like you…. Like you were maybe asking me on a date?"
