It took them nearly two weeks to find time to go in for an interview. Between tests and homework, both boys found it difficult. But finally, immediately after school on a Thursday, Jean announced that he was going to apply at the café he'd brought up so many days ago. Marco decided to do the same.

When they got there and asked for applications, the proprietor waved them over to a table, asked a few questions, and hired them on the spot. Apparently the shop was in desperate need of new employees, as three had quit just a week ago.

When they asked their interviewer why, they earned a sort of sorrowful look.

"I hired a trans man." Was the only reply. They chose not to question it further, assuming they'd learn more on the subject in the weeks to come, seeing as they'd both been hired on as part-time employees at the hipster trash café that Jean had almost jokingly suggested they apply at.

The café's owner, after introducing themself as Hanji and explaining their personal preference of pronouns, was happy to work out a schedule that wouldn't interfere with their school time. They also promised that they could ask off when they needed. They were really only there to hold up the counters at night when few people came to get coffee, and the shift could easily be handled by a single employee if they needed a night off.

They even managed to share most of their shifts, only a few odd ones coming up because of Marco's afterschool activities. Hanji was very understanding of their situation as soon as they awkwardly explained it to them, and was more than ready to work with them as far as hour preferences.

It quickly became clear that this little café was something of a queer haven. How it had become such, they didn't know, but they weren't complaining. Hanji hadn't batted a lash when Jean announced that he and Marco were dating. Hanji was genderqueer, which was a term that had to be explained to the two confused boys. And they eventually met Levi, the aforementioned trans man that had been hired on as Hanji's assistant manager. Petra, who they met as they came in for their third shift, introduced herself as Hanji's girlfriend.

And then there was Krista, who came as a surprise to both of the boys. Marco knew that she was still in high school, having seen her around a few times. And Jean apparently knew her personally, explaining that she was within his circle of friends, and dating Ymir. (According to him, she was the Freckled Satan to Marco's Jesus.) The first thing he asked was how she was managing school and a day job, because she only worked morning shifts, but she only laughed, explaining that she had earned most of her credits early, so she only had afternoon classes every other day.

Oluo seemed to be the odd one out with his obvious crush on Petra that was going absolutely nowhere, but he was clearly much friendlier to the queer community than most people his age in the area, which the boys were thankful for. It was nice to have a place where they didn't have to worry about getting in trouble for stealing kisses.

Once they had at least met everyone, they made something of a game out of trying to figure out what they were all doing working in a tiny coffee shop. After all, most of them were adults who, according to society's standards, should have been doing more respectable things with their lives. Their guesses were usually very wrong, but it was still fun to play. Marco was usually the one that caved and asked, as politely as he could, what had led them all down this path.

Instead of being an experiment gone wrong, Hanji was actually working on a doctorate, and did some work as a scientist (which was sort of related to Jean's cruel guess), but needed something to make up the difference. So they'd decided to take the old building that their parents had long since abandoned after purchasing and made a café out of it. Petra, who was genuinely very fond of baking, took it upon herself to help Hanji out, and became their first employee.

Oluo, who wasn't actually a secret undercover agent, applied when he'd learned that Petra was an employee, and for some reason hadn't yet given up on her. He didn't say it like that, but it was sort of obvious.

Krista, much like Jean and Marco, simply needed a part time job through high school. She had moved out with her girlfriend when her parents had forcefully evicted her after she came out, and they had both taken up jobs to pay for their little apartment.

Levi was the scariest one to ask. He was in a higher position and rarely dealt with customers, which was most likely for the best. The man was sour, to put it lightly. But Marco held to his belief that no one is actually as terrible as they seem, and somehow worked up the courage to ask the terse man about his life choices. Levi was the one they had made the most guesses about, since it took them so long to guess, but they had been very off indeed.

At first they simply received a rather scathing glare from their assistant manager, but finally he sighed.

"A few guys at my office job started to wonder why I always went into the stall when I used the bathroom. So they took it upon themselves to find out."

The cruelty of the recollection stung at first, and they weren't exactly sure what to say. It wasn't something they'd expected to hear. But Levi simply returned to his work, apparently unaffected. Of course, Marco got the feeling that it bothered him more than he let on, but they decided they'd done enough damage and retreated to the front of the café to run their orders.

Marco's mother was furious when she found out about it roughly four days after they'd been hired. She'd sat them down in the living room and scolded them something fierce.

"I told you that I didn't want you to get a job until after school!" She cried, throwing her hands up in exasperation. Marco smiled sheepishly, hoping to abate his mother's fury.

"Well, I technically only work afterschool, so…" He began, but she rounded on him.

"Don't even finish that sentence." She warned, and he gulped, looking down at his feet. She paced in front of them for a few seconds, running her hands through her dark hair in irritation. Finally, she sat down opposite them with a sigh.

"I guess there's nothing I can do." She admitted, frowning deeply. "But the second your grades slip-" She growled. Marco quickly put his hands up in a display of surrender.

"They won't slip, mom." He promised. She then turned her gaze to Jean, eyes narrowing when he just stared back. Marco nudged him.

"O-Oh, yeah, mine won't either." He added, smiling nervously. She stared them both down for a few more seconds, then nodded curtly, stomping to the kitchen.

The two boys shared a sigh of relief, sweaty hands parting to air out after they'd latched them together at the beginning of their scolding. Marco smiled softly, toes curling in his socks.

"That could have been worse. And now we'll have our own money." He breathed. Jean nodded, scooting closer until their thighs pressed flush together, then he leaned over and planted a kiss on the freckled teen's cheek.

"We can buy food and stuff. Think your mom'll let us pick up the electric bill or something?" Jean wondered. Marco scoffed.

"Yeah right. She's a little too proud for that." He replied, turning and catching Jean's lips before the other had a chance to look away. The smaller teen hummed, hands coming up to pull Marco closer, slotting their lips together properly.

They ended up making out splayed across the couch, only parting when Marie trudged into the living room and shrieked with horror, then launched an attack on the two after taking a running leap straight onto Jean's back.

Ten minutes and a lot of rolling around and falling on the floor later, and Marie emerged the victor, laying all of her four foot body against as much of the couch as she could manage. There was still room for at least one of the boys to sit down, but they accepted their defeat with grace, sitting on the floor and stealing kisses while Marie watched some ridiculously dramatic Disney Channel special, awkward studio audience reactions included.

It wasn't until the day after they received their first paychecks that Marco recalled that prom was naught but a week and a half away. With a groan, he looked at the number printed on his paycheck stub, and realized that there was no way under the sun that he could afford to rent a tux. He'd be lucky if he could even find one this late in the game, and the normal price was usually well over $100 on a normal day. During prom season? He hadn't a chance.

And he still had to buy a ticket. And they still needed to find two girls willing to get them in. And they had barely more than a week to do so.

He began calling every female he knew, even trying Krista at work. Unfortunately, he didn't really know that many girls, and the ones he did were already paired off. Without any other options, he brought it up with Jean.

"Shit." Was the eloquent response he received.

Jean was now in on the panicking, and he too contacted every female he knew that still attended high school, to no avail. And when Marco brought up the cost of tuxes, his chain of curses only increased about tenfold.

Unable to find girls, they'd gone to the office and asked if they couldn't go together, or by themselves. The principal, with a sneer, shooed them out of the office. He couldn't be sure, but Marco thought he heard the word faggot on his way out, and quickened his pace, biting his lip with some strange mix of hurt and anger, and tangling his fingers with Jean's.

With three days left until prom, they admitted defeat. They hadn't been able to find anyone to go with, and hadn't even had time to look at tuxes. And they tried to play it off like it didn't bother them. Marco smiled in the morning when he woke up practically on top of Jean, and Jean tactfully avoided the topic and told stupid jokes to try and keep their minds off it. He'd gone as far as to thread a pipecleaner through his eyebrow ring and bent it into different shapes in a bid to divert the conversation when one of Marco's siblings, Arturo, brought it up. The kid was a freshman, so he knew what he was talking about.

But it bothered them. Marco's smile was forced as he listened to Armin gushing about his outfit and how he'd convinced Eren to get a pastel blue cummerbund and bow tie. And Jean kicked the ground roughly when Ymir mentioned all the plans she had for Krista, how she was going to make it the best night of the blonde's life.

Both teens were frustrated, but had no way of alleviating it. While it might not have been Disneyland, they'd been looking forward to prom, and now the event was being denied them. It was a letdown, one that kept coming back to remind them that they wouldn't be having fun with all of their friends in one of the last rites of passage they'd share.

On the night of, Marco sat on the couch, sandwiched between Marie and Jean, trying to pay attention to Finding Nemo and failing. His mind was too wrapped up in wishing he was dancing with Jean instead. He sighed, worming his way under the other teen's arm and resting his head on the smaller's chest. Jean ran his fingers through dark hair, kissing at his temple when he thought no one was looking. Marie leveled him with a glare though, showing she hadn't missed the display.

He cleared his throat awkwardly, tugging Marco out of his seat and towards the stairs. Marco went without too much protest, and their spots on the couch were quickly appropriated by several Bodt children who squabbled for a minute as they raced to get off the floor.

Once they were in their room, Jean closed the door, and pulled Marco closer for a kiss. The taller teen sighed, but returned the affection the best that he could. He let himself get swept up in the feeling, wanting to distract himself from his disappointment, so he squeaked with surprise when Jean suddenly shoved something against his chest.

He pulled back and looked down, finding that Jean had handed him a shirt. He was confused at first, but held it out to look. Then he scoffed, giving Jean a look.

"You're kidding." He accused. Jean only grinned, slipping an exact copy of the shirt over his own head. He reached for his innumerable bracelets, slipping them onto his wrists.

"Put it on." The two-toned teen commanded, reaching next for his deodorant. Marco groaned, but started taking his shirt off anyway.

"You cannot be serious." He grumbled, pulling the stupid tuxedo t-shirt over his head, looking down at his own chest with disdain. Jean grinned wolfishly, reaching into his bag and pulling out a little sprig of flowers, and Marco groaned. "Tell me you did not."

Jean didn't grace him with an answer, grabbing his shirt and easily sliding the pin of the boutonniere through the thin fabric. Marco covered his now red face, only moving his hand away when Jean slipped a matching flower into his hand. Though he shook his head at the ridiculous nature of the whole thing, he took his turn pinning the flower to Jean's shirt, latching his lips onto Jean's as soon as he was done.

"You are the stupidest, sweetest boyfriend in the whole world, and I don't care how many spikes you have on your bracelets or your jackets, you will never convince me otherwise." He gushed, arms wrapped tight around Jean's neck.

The one in question scoffed, pushing his boyfriend away gently.

"You mean that in a totally punk way, right?" He wondered. Marco rolled his eyes with a sigh. "And what makes you think we're done? Put on some deodorant, steal my cologne like you always do, and put some shoes on." He instructed.

Now Marco was worried. That made it sound an awful lot like they were going somewhere. But where would they go in their stupid tuxedo shirts and Converse? It didn't matter how many times he asked though, Jean wouldn't utter so much as a word, not even when he shoved Marco into the bathroom and proceeded to comb his hair for him.

And there was no warning before they were down the stairs and suddenly getting blinded by the flash of the infamous Bodt vacation camera. Marco whined, making an attempt at hiding himself behind his boyfriend's body.

"Moooom!" He cried, listening to the chorus of giggles from the crowd of children and his father. "Seriously? Did everyone but me know about this?" He demanded, crossing his arms over his chest. Jean smirked, pulling him closer and posing appropriately for a prom photo.

Mrs. Bodt snapped more than too many, then tugged both boys down, planting wet kisses on their cheeks before shooing them out the door. Marco blinked, unable to argue as Jean dragged him to the car. He got in and buckled up, waiting till they were driving to ask.

"Alright, I'm in the car. Where are we going?" He inquired.

"That's for me to know, and you to find out." Jean replied cockily, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel to the shaky beat of a very angry sounding song. Marco sighed, rubbing at his eyes and settling in for the ride. So be it.

When they pulled up to a bar, he turned to give Jean a questioning look.

"I played along and came, but what, pray tell, are we doing at a bar?" He wondered. Surely Jean didn't intend to get drunk! That hadn't ended well the first time.

"Just trust me." Jean pled, parking the car and getting out. Marco followed with a sigh, entering the bar despite his concern over the fact that Jean had a key. He was surprised to find it totally unoccupied, not a soul in sight but the two of them. Granted, someone might have been lurking in the shadows, but it was too dark for him to make much out.

Jean flipped a switch, and some lights started coming on. They weren't super bright, but it was at least better than when there had been no lights at all. Marco took a few minutes to look around. It was honestly kind of run down. Not that he'd been to many bars, but he'd always heard about hopping clubs and flashing lights. This place looked to be pretty quiet. It had sort of a nostalgic charm though. He turned back to Jean.

"I'm serious Jean, what's going on?" He demanded, frowning. But Jean only shook his head, smiling.

"Go sit down for a bit, baby. I've got some stuff I've gotta do." He instructed, pointing to the bar. Marco threw his hands up in defeat, finding a barstool and planting himself in it, eyes trained carefully on Jean's movements. He watched the other teen mess with a few things, eyes lighting up when a line of Christmas lights came on, sparkling through different colored glass bottles.

Working his way around the room, Jean turned on about ten sets of these, then he returned to the bar area, lugging out an old stereo, which he promptly attached his IPod to. Marco watched, catching on to what was going on.

"Jean, seriously, when did you even find time-" He began, but Jean cut him off.

"I know a guy. Now are you gonna sit there and wonder how, or are you gonna come dance with me?" He asked, holding his hand out.

Marco stared at it for a good eight seconds, butterflies rising in his stomach as adoration overcame his senses, until he finally put his hand in Jean's letting the other teen pull him out to the empty floor. The music that started playing from the outdated stereo system was a little too fast for the dance Jean was trying to do, and the teen hadn't lied when he'd told Marco he was bad at dancing. But it didn't matter.

Marco couldn't have been happier than in that moment, swaying awkwardly in Jean's arms in the middle of an empty bar on prom night. Maybe it wasn't the infamous night of friends and spiked punch that he'd been expecting, but this impromptu imitation was even better. Stupid tux shirts and all.

Jean's head snapped up when the door opened, and he and Marco both turned towards the sound of a bell fixed to jingle when hit by the sturdy wood.

"Shit, I forgot to lock it back up." Jean hissed. "Uh, we're clos-" He began, calling to the person, but then they saw who it was. His huge form made him pretty recognizable, and they both blinked in surprise.

"R-Reiner?" Marco stammered. The hulking teen in question nodded his head, grinning in their direction. Bertholdt ducked under the doorway as well, offering a nervous smile.

"Erd tipped us off that you two were borrowing his place for gay prom." Reiner explained, gesturing to the bar. "We thought we'd supply some extra gay." He added gesturing to the both of them. Bertholdt started to turn red, the color pretty striking against the tux he was wearing. Reiner had one on too, and the two groaned.

"You guys have tickets to actual prom!" Jean groused. "What are you doing here?" He demanded. Reiner only barked a laugh, the sound filling up the space easily.

"You won't even believe how stupid it was. We went with Ymir and Krista, and were there for about ten minutes. They didn't even have spiked punch. Just water. And all they played was the nation's top twenty." He complained. "While I may not like your music, at least here I won't have to listen to Demi Lovato and Pink every other song."

Marco's lips pouted, limbs still wrapped around Jean in their dancing position.

"What's wrong with De-" He started.

"Baby, no." Jean interrupted, shaking his head. "Don't you say it."

"I seriously don't know why everyone hates-" Marco tried to continue, but he was again cut off.

"Shhh, sweetheart, one day you'll discover music that isn't popular, and become hipster trash just like Bertholdt over there." Jean promised, nodding to the tall boy in question. "Until then, just hush and listen to Star Fucking Hipsters." He cooed, gesturing to the stereo.

Marco was at a loss, but he didn't argue it further, instead turning back to the other two.

"So, uh, you guys are crashing our prom?" He wondered. Reiner grinned, grabbing Bertholdt's hand and pulling him onto the floor as well, initiating some strange dance that was still a million times more graceful than whatever Jean was attempting to do.

"We queers have to stick together." Reiner decided, kissing Bertholdt's cheek as he said it. Then it clicked for Marco.

"Oh." He breathed, blinking. "Oh!"

The other three looked at him with surprise, halting any movements that could be considered dancing to stare him down. Jean spoke first.

"Seriously?" He quipped, eyes wide.

"Alright, look, in my defense-" Marco began, face going red, but Reiner's booming laugh cut him off.

"You really didn't know?" Bertholdt wondered, barely audible over Reiner's laughter. Marco hid his face in Jean's shoulder, shaking his head slowly. Jean laughed too, the sound vibrating through his chest pleasantly.

"I just thought you guys were roommates or something." He admitted. Bertholdt was the only one not laughing at him, but even he couldn't help but smile.

"Well, we're that too. But we've been dating since middle school." He explained, patting Reiner's shoulder in hopes that he'd calm down. Marco groaned, still hiding his face in Jean's shoulder.

"Your gaydar is shitty." Reiner accused, finally calming himself down to snickers. It was Jean that threw him a look.

"Not everyone can be as accurate as you." He groused, trying to coax Marco out of his hiding spot. "It's infamous at this point." He added.

"Beep beep." Reiner droned, smirking as he returned to dancing with Bertholdt.

They were all quiet for a couple of minutes, then Marco made a noise of realization.

"Uh, if you guys were supposed to be at prom with Ymir and Krista, then what happened to them?" He wondered. As if on cue, the door opened again, and a familiar head of blonde hair poked in. When she saw the four gathered on the small dance floor, she smiled, opening the door fully.

"Ah, finally! We've been looking for this place all over!" She laughed, pulling a freckled girl that could only be Ymir in behind her. The taller girl sighed.

"You could have given us better directions, asshole." She growled at Reiner. He only shrugged, not paying her much mind in favor of spinning the awkward teen in his arms around a few times.

"Welcome to gay prom." He laughed, earning a scowl from the brunette girl.

"It's not even your gay prom." She snapped, and Marco turned to Jean.

"Uh, was this part of your plan?" He wondered, blinking owlishly. Jean rolled his eyes, sighing loud enough for Marco to hear him over the music.

"No." He groaned, hands resting on Marco's waist, still attempting to sway him back and forth. Ymir and Krista decided to join the fray, though Ymir didn't really dance as much as she rubbed her butt against Krista's pelvis. The blonde took it in stride though, playing along rather well for someone so innocent looking.

Marco smiled, kissing Jean's cheek.

"Well, the more the merrier, right?" He laughed, forcing Jean to at least attempt to turn a circle while they swayed. The other teen grumbled under his breath, but didn't say anything else on the matter, too focused on making sure he didn't step on Marco's feet.

After about ten minutes, Ymir started bickering about Jean's music, trying to switch it to her own IPod, so everyone took a break from dancing while the two went at it, no one daring to step in between them. They didn't stop arguing until the door opened again, revealing a group of four.

Armin smiled coyly, his lips as baby blue as his dress, and he had Eren by the hand. He walked over to Marco, and gave him a pointed look.

"Now, why did I have to learn about gay prom through Annie?" He demanded, hands on his hips.
Marco blanched, looking behind Armin to see Mikasa and Annie had come as well. "I thought we were friends!" The blonde lamented dramatically. Marco smiled, shrugging.

"In my defense, I didn't know about gay prom until about forty-five minutes ago." He offered lamely. Armin rolled his eyes, then took a moment to spin around in his dress.

"Do you like it?" He wondered. Marco laughed, nodding.

"It's definitely your color." He agreed. And it was. Blue suited Armin marvelously. "I'm surprised they let you in with a dress though." He admitted. Armin nodded, pouting again.

"They almost didn't! But Eren nearly started a fight with the vice principal. It wasn't even worth it though. It sucked. This is already a hundred times better." He announced, winking at Marco before pulling Eren over to the dance floor, Mikasa and Annie not far behind. Ymir gave up on the music in favor of pelvic thrusting at Krista, so Jean returned to Marco's side, punk music still safely blaring out across the room.

"Well, what the fuck?" He wondered, and Marco giggled.

"Looks like we got to go to prom after all." The darker teen joked, pulling Jean back into his arms to resume their awkward swaying, actually managing to get his boyfriend's feet moving with a bit of effort.

The last addition to their little party was Connie and Sasha. They entered out of breath, both carrying big shopping bags, which they lugged over to the counter.

"Sorry we're late!" Sasha squeaked, pulling snacks out of the bags she'd been carrying and placing them on the counter. "We stopped to get the refreshments!" She explained. Connie hefted two huge bottles of Hawaiian Punch onto the bar with a grunt. Ymir moaned in annoyance.

"Who invited the heteros to gay prom?" She demanded. Sasha shrugged, shoving a cookie into her mouth.

"We go where the party is." She replied, locating a punch bowl among her bags and dumping the red juice in. Without chaperones, she dumped a whole bottle of vodka in without much remorse. Ymir quieted down at the sight, dragging Krista over to get a glass.

"And besides, we're kind of queer by proxy?" Connie tried, grabbing Sasha's hand before she could reach into a bag of chips and pulling her to the center of the room where everyone else was gathered.

No one questioned it, nor did anyone argue when Bertholdt eventually took over the stereo. His IPod had a more eclectic mix of music, so pretty much everyone was alright with it, aside from Jean who continued to demand to know what was so bad about his own music. It was his gay prom after all.

Marco hushed him with a kiss, laying his head on the other teen's shoulder as a slow song came on. Jean grumbled, but complied, doing his best to sway to the beat.

"Thank you, Jean." Marco breathed happily, finding he didn't really mind that Jean still had yet to attempt anything but the back and forth motion. In his mind, it was perfect.

A/N: I've been feeling really blah here lately. I know that's a weird way to feel, but I can't think of another way to sum it up. I guess meh. I've been feeling meh.

I haven't been too excessively busy, but it's been hard for me to find motivation to write. Well, I've still been writing, it's just hard for me to focus on any one story at a time. I've been jumping around a lot, which makes it sort of hard to update, hence why I've slowed down.

Excuses, excuses.

Well, regardless, I hope you enjoyed the first installment of gay prom. And yes, there is a second installment. Rejoice. Maybe it's just me, but I really love these two chapters a lot. It was a lot of fun writing all of these queers at once. They're all interesting characters, and shoving them all into one scene is hectic but entertaining.

I sort of have headcanonons for what all of them would wear, but I've only managed to draw Armin and Annie thus far. Maybe I should hire someone to do it for me… Alas, I haven't any money. Armin's dress is already posted on tumblr, though I haven't gotten past the sketch phase for Annie's. But you know, you guys are free to imagine what they'd look like for yourselves. That's half the fun of reading!

Before I leave you, I'd like to mention that I've begun posting a new JeanMarco story. It's called Where Wildflowers Grow. Just to warn you; It's nowhere near as lighthearted as this story. It's meant to be a lot more serious, but I'm seriously in love with the story. I wrote literally ten chapters in the span of about two weeks, which is a feat for me. I've currently only got the first chapter up, but it should be updating soon, if you'd like to check it out. It will only hurt a little. ^.-

Alright now I bid you goodbye! Thank you all for the feedback and whatnot, and if you have time, I can always use more. And, as always, you can tag anything related to this fic with: fic tmttr. Thanks for reading!

KuroRiya

九六りや