Plot Twist

by D0ubleFelix

Lucas has been homeschooled his entire life. But now that both of his parents are gone, it's time for him to go to a real school. Things go well. However, Ness, a student from a powerful family, decides that Lucas is a suitable person to pick on. But even through the harm and humiliation, Lucas knows that there's some good in Ness. He just has to help find it. (NessCas fic)

11. The One Where Ness Falls in Love

Here's a quick list of F.A.Q. All of these have been asked at least three times, so I'll clarify.

Q: Who's Nana?

A: If you play MOTHER 3, in the first few chapters, there's an NPC named 'Nana' who is shown to have kind of a thing for Lucas. She also talks a lot. She doesn't have a very important role in the game, but she's there.

Q: Are there any original characters in this?

A: Nope! Every character mentioned has been either a Mother/Earthbound protag, an NPC, or an unnamed background character who was given a name by me.

Q: Why do you put so much theatre in this story? Not everyone will relate.

A: Then don't read it? Lol it's literally that simple. I like theatre, and a lot of the characters were based off of my drama friends. I like to write about things I'm passionate about.

Q: Will there be smut?

A: Nah. This story is focused on the emotional relationship between the characters, not the sexual one.

---

"I can't believe you talked me into this." Ness shut the door to his car and glared over at Lucas, who had just exited the passenger's seat.

"Oh, hush. Follow!" Lucas motioned for him to walk, and the two walked down the sidewalk, which was framed by fenced trees. Sunlight streamed through the leaves, casting a dappled shadow on the concrete, and lush green leaves floated to the ground. Behind the trees was a line of small, cozy houses. It was the nicer side of the city, where citizens often turned their own houses into businesses, with signs in their front yards and in their windows. Lucas was leading his friend to a house near the end of the street.

"I really don't need to do this, Luc." Ness protested, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"It's good for you! Trust me, it did wonders for Claus." Lucas promised.

"Yah, sure, but...therapy?" Ness said, "Are you sure?"

"You listen to me! Last time something happened between you and your father, you bottled everything up and turned into a dickwad." Lucas reminded stubbornly. Ness rolled his eyes, and Lucas continued, "This time, I want you to get help. Please, Ness?"

"Only for you, Lucas." Ness muttered, sighing.

They finally reached the house, and made their way up to the porch.

"I think a therapist's a little extreme." Ness said.

"Better safe than sorry. Trust me, Ness. This woman is a very good friend of mine, she basically raised me and Claus back when we were kids and our parents weren't around. She's very good at what she does." Lucas explained, knocking on the door. A few seconds passed, and a familiar, friendly face appeared in the doorway.

"My, my, it's Lucas!"

"Hi, Caroline!" He greeted as the woman grabbed his face and kissed his forehead. Ness snickered, and received a swat on the arm by his friend. Lucas gestured to her, "Ness, this is Caroline. Master's Degree in Psychology, and total professional."

"You must be Nesley, hi!" Caroline smiled and shook Ness' hand. Ness glared daggers at Lucas, who stifled a laugh at the mention of his birth name.

"Just, uh...just 'Ness' is fine." He clarified with an awkward grin.

"Alright, I'll call you that. Come on in, drop your stuff off! You're right on time." Caroline entered the house and beckoned for the two of them to follow. Once the two of them had removed their shoes, she led them to a separate room where two couches sat across from each other. She began to talk again, "So, Ness. You and I have about an hour and a half together, so the first thing I want you to know is that you can trust me. Alright?"

"Okay." Was Ness' quiet reply.

"Now," Caroline continued, "You have a choice. Do you want Lucas to be in here with you, or do you just want it to be private?"

"It's okay, he can leave if he wants." Ness suggested, suddenly feeling very introverted. Lucas nodded and shrugged his bag on.

"Yah, okay. I'll go wait outside, yeah, Carol?" He asked, to which Caroline nodded. Ness watched as his friend left the room and Caroline began to close the door. He suddenly panicked without the presence of Lucas with him.

"Wait! Hold on..." Ness called, "Sorry, um...Lucas, could you...? Um..." He trailed off, jerking his head a bit to motion for him to come back. Lucas shrugged.

"Ooookay, I guess I'll stay." He said. Ness sent him a quick grateful smile. He didn't know why he felt so small all of a sudden.

Caroline sat down in a recliner nearby, gesturing for the two boys to sit across from her. They obliged. Caroline grabbed a clipboard and positioned a pen, where she wrote something down; most likely her patient's name.

"First thing's first, I wanna be a friend of yours, yeah? My job is to make sure you have a friendly face to turn to." She stated. Ness only nodded in response. She continued, "Like I said, you can trust me. Everything we discuss is completely confidential. The only time I'll tell someone what's going on is if I think you may be hurting yourself or someone else, okay? But other than that, I am sworn to secrecy."

"Okay." Replied Ness. He didn't feel uncomfortable, but he felt out of place. Wasn't therapy only for messed up people?

"So, perhaps you could start by telling me why you think you needed to see me?" Caroline suggested, crossing one leg over the other. Ness laughed a bit and turned to Lucas.

"I'm actually not the one who signed up." He playfully said.

"Alright, so, Lucas? Why do you think he needs this?" Caroline asked, also laughing. Lucas made sure to make eye contact with Ness.

"Can I tell her?" He asked. Ness hesitated, but eventually nodded. Lucas continued, "Well, um...at the beginning of the school year, me and Ness weren't really friends. I was new and vulnerable, and Ness had a sense of...well, entitlement." He explained, feeling sad because he had to look back on these events. tHroughout his explanation, Caroline would respond with either nods or 'mmhmm's. He continued, "To put it simply, it was a bullying situation." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ness wince. He reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezing it in reassurance. When he began to pull his hand away, Ness held on tight, obviously not wanting him to let go. So, he didn't.

"I see." Said Caroline, "How intense would it get?" There didn't seem to be a sense of repulsion or surprise in her voice, but Ness could tell that she now had a sense of distaste for him.

"It started off as just constant taunting and the occasional shoving into lockers," Lucas said, "It got worse as time went on. I found out that I was the only person to really stand up to him, and that's why I was his main target. Eventually, it got so bad that he-" Lucas found himself unable to explain, and his voice had grown shaky. Ness noticed this, and took matters into his own hands.

"I hurt him. Real bad, too. At first, all I wanted to do was to rough him up a bit, you know? He stood up to me in front of the whole school that day, and I needed revenge for that. I only meant to shove him, maybe cause a bruise or two. But then he fought back, and that just fueled me. After that, I didn't even know what I was doing, I..." Ness took a minute to catch his breath, as he was beginning to breathe heavily, "...I beat the shit outta him. And I just...left him there. It was snowing, for god's sake, and I left him there. He would've died if the cops hadn't found him."

"You're the one who-" Caroline stopped herself, clearing her throat, "I'm sorry, goodness..."

"It's okay, I get it. I'm the one who should be sorry." Ness said. He noticed that Caroline looked a little off. "Do you want me to leave?"

"No, no. I promise, if Lucas doesn't have any hard feelings, then I don't either. You've obviously changed." Caroline said, returning to her usual cheerful state. "Carry on." She said.

"I'll say the rest. I'm okay." Said Lucas, "Anyways, shortly after that, we actually called the police, because we felt like something needed to be done."

"And he freakin' bailed me." Ness interrupted, brow furrowed, "God...he straight up lied to the cops to keep from getting arrested, and I didn't even say thank you until, like, a month later..." He clenched his teeth, "I just went back to being an ass! And I hate myself every day, Christ..." Lucas squeezed his hand again, which calmed him down a bit. He took over explaining again.

"But I didn't wanna give up on him. You know me, Caroline. Everyone has potential to change, in my eyes, and...so did Ness. It took some time, but here we are today. And he's growing! The days after we made amends, he was introverted as hell. He would really only ever talk to me. But here he is now!" He turned to Ness and tried to put an encouraging tone in his voice. "Goin' back to your usual self. Just...minus the shitty attitude." He said. Ness failed to keep a straight face and burst into a small fit of laughter.

Caroline smiled, seeing to two boys connect so well. "Well, I'm glad that things worked out. I would've never been able to guess that you two were once enemies." She admitted.

"Heh...yah. But anyways, that's why I came to you. The reason he turned out like that was because something happened between him and his father. Instead of getting help, he just kept things in, you know?"

Caroline's brow furrowed, "What happened between them?" She asked, "If you don't mind telling me?"

Lucas didn't answer. He realized that Ness never actually told him about it. He turned to face Ness, who was staring intently at the ground with a troubled expression, hands clasped and legs drawn tightly together. "Ness?" He prompted, nudging him slightly.

"Wow, um...heh..." Ness gave an uncomfortable laugh, "It's been a while since anyone asked about it..."

"We're here to listen." Lucas assured.

"My job is to help, Ness." Caroline reminded, "But I can't if I don't know what's going on, okay?"

Ness only nodded in response. He brushed his hair out of his eyes, took a deep breath, and began.

"I was probably...nine? Ten? All I know was that I was in the fifth grade. I'm sure you know my dad and...his position." He guessed.

"Yes, he's done a lot of good for this city, I've heard." Caroline said.

"Heh, yeah. Anyways, I think the whole thing started when he won the election. I was excited as hell, I mean, who wouldn't be? Having your dad be the mayor of the town is pretty much every kid's dream, and here I was living it. Needless to say, uh...I started to get a little cocky." Ness admitted.

"That is very common in youth who have considerably 'important' families," Caroline remarked, "Was this when you started to pick on other students, or...?"

"No, I was just a little arrogant, that's all. Through the months after the election, my dad was never home. And I'm not exaggerating; he was never home. He'd leave for weeks on end and come home for like, two days." Ness said, a hint of bitterness in his voice, "And when he came home, he was never in a good mood. He wasn't mean or anything, he was just a little neglectful, you know? My mom kept telling me that he couldn't help it; he was just too stressed."

"Is your mom caring towards you?" Caroline asked.

"Well..." Ness pondered a bit, "She loves us, that's for sure. Ask Lucas, my mom is awesome. But she's a little neglectful too, you could say. She's a really important woman, yeah? She's the principal of our school, she's super busy. So you can see the problem. I'm sure she's trying, but...she forgets. A lot. With both my parents constantly doing things, me and my little sister had to kinda take care of ourselves."

"Has this been hard?"

"It was, but we've pretty much gotten used to it. Anyways, like I said, my dad was never home. But one night...I remember, it was two thirty in the morning, because I remember looking at the clock. My sister needed some water, and our mom wasn't home either, so I went to the kitchen to get her some. I remember it was raining, really hard. And I remember hearing the door close really loud. I knew it was my dad." Ness explained, "And I didn't get it back then, but now, when I look back on it, you could tell he'd been drinking. A lot."

"And was this a normal thing for him?"

"Actually, no. He told me he had quit a long time ago, but I guess that maybe the stress was too much on him, and he broke. I went up to him, and I noticed that he was walking all weird, and he was staring at the ground, and I was scared. So I said 'Hi, Dad' to maybe snap him out of it. I didn't get an answer, so I said it again. Still, no answer. He didn't even put his stuff away like he usually did; he just kinda took it with him to the kitchen. I said something like, 'Dad, are you okay?' or whatever. This time he answered, with 'Yes'. I remember he sounded really annoyed and angry. He wasn't yelling or anything, he was just really scary at that point. I got a bad feeling, and a little voice in the back of my head told me to get outta there. But I stayed."

Lucas continued to listen intently to his friend's story. "He's really getting into detail..." He thought, solemnly. Ness must've remembered this a lot more vividly than he should have.

"I think I tried talking to him a few more times, and I got an answer each time, but it got even more forced and irritated. Eventually, I put my hand on his arm, and he-" Ness paused. He cleared his senses. He counted to ten. He drew in a shaky breath, "My mom always told me that back when my dad still drank, on the days where he was just completely plastered, he'd get really mad, really easily. And when he did this, he'd throw whatever he had in his hands at you. This wasn't so bad, because at first, it was just his jacket, his bag. I was terrified, because my parent was basically attacking me, but he didn't actually hurt me just yet. It was a total mess; I was trying to calm him down, he was just loosing his shit at me, and then he ran out of things to throw. So, he grabbed the nearest thing to use." Ness suddenly trailed off.

"What was it?" Lucas murmured from beside him. Caroline was furiously scribbling in her clipboard.

"...A jar." Ness replied, "No hesitation whatsoever, he just...chucked this massive Mason jar right at me. I dodged, but it still hit the fridge behind me. And that thing fucking shattered right next to my head. I looked right up at him, and he looked at me, and then he just...left. I can remember seeing how terrified he looked. He stared at me for a solid three seconds before just bolting out of there. I don't know where he went, probably to a motel. But Jesus Christ...I got cut. All over the god damn place, there was blood. My face got the worst damage. Most of the scars are gone, but you can still see a few right around here." He traced his jawline, pointing out dozens of tiny, faint white marks.

"So that's where those came from..." Lucas thought. He'd noticed them once or twice, but had brushed them off multiple times.

"Did you get the help you needed?" Asked Caroline, her eyes solemn.

"Yeah. I went to my neighbor's, and they called 911. When they asked me what happened, I couldn't seem to tell them that my dad was the one who did it. If I did, he might loose his job, or get a bad reputation. So I kept quiet and said that I dropped a jar. They got me all patched up."

"And could you tell me about the aftermath, perhaps? What did your father say about it after the whole ordeal?"

"...Nothing." Ness shrugged and carried on, "It was as if it never happened. The next time he came home, he came with his usual class, you know? He didn't apologize, he didn't even mention it. I didn't either; he just went about our lives and never resolved it. I don't even think he remembered what he did, to be honest. He was so shitfaced that night, and...look, altogether, it was never mentioned again. Tracy was super young at that point, so she doesn't even know it happened. My mom doesn't know it happened, because I just told her it was an accident on my behalf. And my dad...well, he just signed me up for all these classes, all of a sudden. Mondays, it was dance. Tuesdays, it was Martial Arts. Wednesdays, it was music...and so on and so forth. Just constant courses in anything he could find. I mean, at least nowadays, I'm pretty multi-talented." He laughed a bit, "But I don't know why he did it."

"Perhaps he does remember, and he doesn't want to face it." Caroline suggested, "Do you think that maybe he was too afraid to see you at home? You mentioned that he looked scared after the whole ordeal happened. Maybe he was guilty, and he didn't want to face you."

"Hah, as if that man could be sorry about anything whatsoever..." Ness shook his head, "He sure wasn't sorry when he threw me outta the house, I'll tell you what."

"Dear me," Caroline's eyes widened, and she became alert, "Do we need to call someone?"

"What? Oh, nonononono, I'm eighteen. Don't worry. Plus, it was half him kicking me out, half me willingly leaving. So, uh...yah. It's fine, I'm living with a really good friend of mine." Ness told her, slightly nudging Lucas, who smiled at him.

"Okay, just making sure. So, do you think this event was the breaking point for you?" Caroline asked.

"Yeah. After that, I just locked up. You see, the thing is, I was never really disciplined. I pretty much got away with anything as a kid, and the most I'd ever gotten from my parents was a 'Don't do that again'. But of course, I'd do the thing again, and I was off the hook. So having my dad randomly attack me like that was...different. I wasn't used to it at all, so I just retreated into myself and didn't talk to anyone for weeks. And you know the rest." Ness leaned back, looking outside the window nearby.

"Did friends or family ever try to help you out, in any way?"

Ness perked up, a bit troubled with his answer, "Well, uh...no, but..." He trailed off.

"Do you think that if your friends had reached out to you at the time, things would have been different?" Caroline asked him. Ness paused and turned to Lucas, who had the same debating expression.

"Maybe." Ness shrugged, "I mean, they tried to at first, but then I lashed out at one of 'em, and they never talked to me again after that."

"You seemed very hesitant with that answer. Why?"

"...I...I don't want to blame them. All of this, it's my fault. They don't deserve any blaming for any of it."

There was quiet for a moment.

"What I'd suggest..." Caroline suddenly began, "...Is to think of it as more of a butterfly effect kind of thing. It wasn't exactly their fault, but it was the changed wind to your eventual hurricane. Not the reason, but a factor. Does that make sense?"

"Mmhmm. I think so."

After that, everything went smoother. Ness didn't feel nearly as cooped up and uncomfortable as he did before. He actually felt...free. He could tell this woman whatever he needed to tell her, and she would never tell a soul. And so, he did. He told her about himself; what he liked, what he thought about life, everything. He told her about his aspiring sports career, and how he wanted to be a professional baseball player when he grew up. He told her about his relationship with his sister, and about his friends. With Lucas' permission, he even told her about what had happened behind the school that one day.

By the time the meeting had ended, Ness didn't feel perfectly okay, but he felt lighter. He felt like a huge weight had been taken off his chest. After telling Caroline about all his little insecurities that he'd been too scared to admit before, and not have her judge them, he felt satisfied with himself. He had an overwhelming sense of safety.

He also felt much closer to Lucas at this point. His friend had been there to hear everything. He definitely knew a lot more about him now, that was for sure.

Just as quickly as they had arrived, the two friends eventually left. Lucas gave Caroline a quick hug before murmuring his goodbyes and thanks. Ness, in an attempt to show his thanks and respect, attempted to pay Caroline full price, but she politely refused, offering him a discount due to his friendship with Lucas. They said their farewells, and before they knew it, they were back out on the sidewalk, slowly making their way back to the car.

For a while, it was silent, until Lucas decided to speak up.

"So?" He said,"How do you feel?"

Ness took a moment to think of an answer. He could use a lot of words, but he could only find the ability to say one.

"Good." He said, looking up at the leafy greens above him, "Do you think...we could see her again?"

Lucas smiled in satisfaction.

"Sure."

---

Claus, Lucas, Paula, and Ness had decided to hang out a bit before classes started.

The twins were constantly together now, to make sure that the events from the past week wouldn't repeat. Both were still pretty affected, and still very disappointed in themselves. But things seemed to be going fine. Lucas was happy to be living with his brother again. Though there was still a sense of tension every now and then, they were making up slowly, but surely.

The bell of the nearby Tim Horton's rang as they stepped in, Claus leading the way. The store was practically empty, save for a few other people who had the misfortune of having to get up early.

Claus whistled a bit, to grab the attention of the current cashier working at the time; Ninten.

Ninten looked up, and locked eyes with Claus, narrowing them and hunching his shoulders threateningly.

"Aye!" Ninten called from behind the counter, "Do my eyes betray me, or am I truly looking at a filthy Starbuckian trespassing in this territory?" He dramatically snarled, with an over exaggerated accent. Claus played along.

"I beseech thee, rival Tim Hortan!" He replied, "A suppliant at your feet, I kneel...I come in urgent need!" He walked forwards. The three others watched, amused. This happened every time.

"What in this world could scum like you be wanting in my perfect land?" Ninten responded, raising an eyebrow.

"You see, my lord, there is something your company possesses that mine does not." Claus approached the counter and slammed both hands down, "I am in need of an Iced Capp, or I will freaking die." With his last sentence, he had returned to his normal voice.

"I think I can do that, Hun" Ninten laughed, returning to his usual demeanor as well, "How 'bout you guys?" He asked the other three. They all took turns ordering.

"Sooo...do I get a discount?" Claus asked, looking at Ninten through lowered eyelashes, his shoulders raised in an attempt to look cutesy. Behind him, Ness rolled his eyes.

"Depends," Ninten casually said, "Do you have a coupon?" He murmured.

With two fingers, Claus reached into his shirt pocket and flicked out a white piece of paper, a smug smile on his face. Ninten took it and inspected the 'coupon', his eyes widening for a quick moment, before he smiled and tapped out a few things on the register. He mocked a gasp.

"You get...wait, what? This must be a really good coupon! 100% off?!" He breathed, handing the paper back to Claus.

"Christ, they're fucking gross." Muttered Ness, causing Lucas to stifle a very obvious laugh and nearly spit out the water he was drinking.

As the four of them waited for their orders to be completed, Lucas turned to his brother.

"Was that really a coupon?" Lucas asked. Claus sighed and handed him the small clip of paper. Lucas unfolded it, and couldn't help but groan when he saw the single word written in red pen:

'Prom?'

"You smooth fucker!" Paula exclaimed, when she examined the paper.

"Usually I hate the whole 'Promposal' thing, but yeah. This is pretty clever." Ness admitted.

"What is it with everyone hating Prom? It's such a nice time!" Lucas said, crossing his arms.

"It's groooosss!" Ness told him.

"Hush, you've never even gone! Only Seniors can go!" Lucas protested. Ness shook his head.

"Wrong! I've gone Freshman and Sophomore year. If you get asked to prom by a Senior, you can go." Ness explained, "Plus, even if you don't get asked by a Senior, everyone just sneaks in anyways. Trust me, Prom is just...gross."

"Well, I'm going, no matter what you say. I think it sounds nice." Lucas decided, crossing his arms stubbornly.

"And just who do you think you're going with?" Paula asked. She took notice of his somewhat bashful expression, and nudged him, "Come ooooon, Lucas! Who's the lucky guy? Who're you asking?"

"No one, I'm not telling!" Lucas muttered, turning away sheepishly.

"Great, now you've made us curious." Claus groaned.

Suddenly, Ninten rounded the corner, changed back into his school uniform. In his hands, he held a cardboard cup holder which held everyone's order.

"Okay! My shift's done, so now we can walk to the hellhole." Ninten said, throwing away the holder once everyone had grabbed their drink. He locked hands with Claus and sent him a smug look, touching his forehead to Claus'. "Yes." He murmured.

They were interrupted by Ness making an obnoxious gagging sound.

"You wanna go, Ness?" Threatened Ninten, playfully.

"Right now! Let's go! Let's take it outside the school, where people will film it!" Ness said, playing along.

"You guys seem to be getting along." Said Lucas, "How's living together? Have either of you snapped yet?"

"It's been going surprisingly well, I'd say. How 'bout you, Ultra?" Asked Ninten.

"Same. We're bros." Ness agreed.

"Well, I'm glad." Paula remarked, "You two were constantly at each other's throats back then, it's nice to see you guys finally getting along nicely."

By the time the four of them had made it to the school, they still had about thirty minutes before classes started. Paula, Ninten, and Claus all left to take a retest, so Lucas and Ness said their 'See you later's' and made their way upstairs, where their lockers were. Ness' locker was only a few units away from Lucas', so they casually chatted whilst gathering their things.

Suddenly, Lucas was alerted by a flowery scent wafting nearby. He glanced up, and found himself facing a pair of girls he recognized from Claus' culinary class. They were both smiling.

"Oh!" Lucas jumped a bit, startled, "Hi, girls, uh...can I help you?" Ness had gained interest, and approached the situation.

"Hi Lucas!" Said one of the girls, a brunette.

"We have a proposition. You know our friend Nana, right?" Said the other, a blonde.

"Sure, she's Claus' friend. Sweet girl!" Lucas nodded. He definitely knew her. For almost the entire school year, Nana had been hopelessly pining for him.

"Well, um...you'll never guess, but..." The brunette trailed off.

"Sheeee...has a pretty massive thing for you." Finished the other one.

"Wow!" Lucas tried to be shocked, "I, uh...I never saw that coming!"

"Right?" Said the brunette.

"Anyways. Did you hear what happened to her?" Asked the blonde. She continued when both Lucas and Ness shook their heads, "Well, she totally flunked math this year. Like, she failed. And her parents are insanely high standard, right? Get this: Next year, she's going to a boarding school."

Both boys' jaws dropped.

"Are you kidding me?" Gasped Ness.

"Not for a second. It's brutal." Replied the brunette.

"Which is why, um...don't tell her we asked this, but...you know how Prom is coming up, yeah? We were thinking, because she's our friend and all, maybe you could...ask her? Just to make her last year at WPHS a good one?" Begged the other girl.

"Ouch, uh..." Lucas glanced back at Ness, who shrugged. "Gee, I would really love to help, but, uh...I was actually already gonna ask someone else. Plus, the whole concept of a pity date kinda freaks me out."

"Yeah, we figured." Said the first girl, with a defeated sigh.

"We just thought it was worth a try, right? I mean, she totally loves you. You too, Ness! She's got a crush on both of you, she told us. Don't tell her we told you." Said the second girl.

Ness perked up upon hearing this, and stepped forward, "Where is she now?" He asked, eyes glimmering for just a second. The two girls pointed to the end of the hallway, where Nana stood at her locker, texting someone casually. He nodded at them, and began to make his way toward her. Lucas followed.

"Um...Ness?" He whispered, "What're you doing?"

"Just go with it." Ness said. He put a hand on Lucas' shoulder, stopping him. "Stay here."

Nana noticed him approaching, and instantly jumped back, obviously stunned that he was coming towards her. Ness smiled one of his signature half-grins and leaned against the locker beside hers.

"Hey...Nana, is it?" He greeted.

"Y-yeah! That's me! This is weird, you've, like...never talked to me. Like, ever. We've literally gone to the same school ever since Kindergarten, and I don't think you've ever said a word to me. I mean, I don't see why you'd wanna talk to me, now, but you obviously have something you need to talk about! Well, I am totally all ears!" Nana rambled. Ness paused, to make sure she was finished, then began.

"Uhhh...well! That's...okie dokie!" Ness stammered, unsure of how to respond. He clapped his hands together, "So! You are aware that Prom is coming up..."

"I am!" Nana replied, hands held behind her back.

"You going with anyone?" Ness asked.

"No," Nana said, face dropping, "I never get asked."

"Well, that's funny! Because I was thinking, maybe it would be pretty cool if you went with me." Ness asked.

Nana didn't say anything; she simply froze and stared ahead, mouth open in utter shock. She realized she had to eventually say something, but all she could muster was a bit of a strange squeaking noise, "Oh!" She finally managed to choke out.

"Sooo...?"

"Yes! I mean, no. I mean...me? What's so great about...about...? Ack, I can't talk today, apparently...I guess I'm just a little frazzled! I mean, it's not like you're the most popular boy at school or anything...!" Nana awkwardly stuttered. "We're both Juniors, though!"

"Do you remember who I am, Nana?"

"Oh, right. Heheh! Um...what I really, really mean to say altogether is...yes. I'd, um...I'd love to go. With you. To Prom. This isn't a trick, is it? It's not gonna be the whole 'Carrie' scenario? Where everyone ridicules me after I get named prom queen and I kill everyone? I mean, not that I would ever kill anyone. That would be kinda weird. Well, I guess weird is a bit of an understatement."

As Nana continued to talk, Ness turned over his shoulder and cast a smug grin at Lucas, who was frantically mouthing 'Why?!' with over the top hand gestures. Thankfully, the bell rang, and Nana shut her locker.

"So...that's a yes?" Ness asked.

"Yes!" Replied Nana, her face depicting the definition of happiness.

"Nice. I guess I'll see you later." Ness said, as he turned around and approached Lucas, who's face had a look of what could only be described as "What the fuck."

"What the hell was-" Lucas began to say, before he was cut off.

"Ssssh." Ness hissed. He counted one, two, three on his fingers, before pointing behind him. At that instant, a very audible group of excited shrieks rang through the hall, signifying that Nana had just broken the news to her friends. He rolled his shoulders confidently.

"You wanna tell me why you just asked some random girl to Prom? You heard her, you've never even said a word to her!" Lucas whisper-cried, visibly and audibly very upset.

"Chillax! Nana's a nice girl, I actually kinda wanna go with her. Besides, she's totally obsessed with me. If this is her last year at WPHS, might as well make it a good one, right?" Ness shrugged, hoisting his backpack up on to his shoulder. Lucas shook his head.

"You're going back to your old self, huh?" He grinned.

"What do you mean?"

"Overly confident, self centered," Lucas teased.

"Yeah, yeah, okay, let's drop it." Replied Ness, as the two of them weaved their way through the crowd of students. They entered their usual English classroom, and sat down next to each other at their usual desks. Lucas seemed a little more quiet than he usually was. Ness noticed this, "You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Alright, you just seem...suddenly really quiet. Is there anything going on between you and Claus?"

"No, it's okay. Everything's okay." Lucas smiled, assuring Ness that he was fine. Ness shrugged and returned to taking his things out of his backpack.

"If you say so."

---

It was a Friday, and it was a spare period. The sun was out, but a cool breeze still blew, so it wasn't too hot, but wasn't too cold either. Just as they always did on Friday spares, most of the friend group had retreated outside into the courtyard to take in the fresh air. They sat near the large school gate, which had a sign perched on top that cast a shadow, which shielded the students from sunlight.

Paula, Kumatora, Ninten, Ness, Travis, and Claus all sat in a circle, attempting to play a circle rhythm game, hands set on their knees and overlapping one another.

"Okay, here we go. Ready?" Ninten cued, "Five, six, seven, eight..."

"Stella ella ola, tap, tap, t-" They had all started singing, but the game was quickly lost by Ness, who was unable to high five Ninten's hand in time. Every groaned.

"Neeeessss! You messed it up again!" Kumatora laughed. "I think we're done."

With a few murmurs of agreement, the circle disbanded. Ness dramatically hung his head.

"Sorry." He said, snickering. He casually laid back against the brick post of the school gate, looking up to the sky and closing his eyes to rest them. The others attempted the game again, but over the sounds of their chanting, Ness could hear footsteps. He'd memorized the sound of those footsteps, and knew who was coming before he even saw him, "Hey, Lucas." He called.

"Hi!" Replied Lucas, sitting down on his knees and putting his bag to the side, not seeing Ness sit up, his eyes wide. "So I've gotta tell you about-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. What the hell?" Ness asked, inspecting Lucas. Lucas got a concerned look on his face, looking himself up and down.

"What?"

"Your voice!" Ness pointed out, "When did it get that deep?!"

Lucas laughed, relieved that nothing was actually wrong with him. In the past two weeks, his unforgiving vocal chords had finally decided to cut him some slack and deepen.

"Surprise! I don't sound like a preteen girl anymore!" He playfully replied.

"From a stunning mezzo soprano to a lovely tenor." Ninten said, patting Lucas on the shoulder and smirking proudly.

"But what about the show? Won't they have to recast you?" Ness asked. He'd been surprisingly interested in the show lately; he'd attended almost every rehearsal for the past months

"There's no time. We go up in less than a month, we don't have an understudy, and no girls gonna wanna learn such an important part in that little time. We talked to our director this morning; she just threw up her hands and didn't do anything. Cosette's a dude, now." Ninten presented, laughing.

"Gay Les Mis!" Added Lucas, flashing some jazz hands. Ness shrugged and leaned back again.

"Alright. Sounds good to me, I guess." He said. There was silence for a while, and he lifted his head once more to see what had happened. He glanced quizzically at his friends, one eyebrow raised. All of them grinned at him with a smug expression, "Umm...guys?" He said with a nervous laugh.

"We've heard through the grape vine that, uh...Nessie got lucky, huh?" Kumatora slurred. Ness went red and turned away bashfully.

"Aww, he's getting flustered! Our Ness with his prom date. Nana's quite the lucky girl, isn't she?" Asked Paula, resting her chin in her hands.

"I wouldn't say 'lucky', I mean...heh..." Ness said, trailing off.

"You like her!" Insisted Claus, a devious smirk on his face.

Ness simply hid his now crimson face in his hoodie as the others all sang a dramatic cover of "My Heart Will Go On". Lucas was the only one who didn't join in; he simply put a hand on Ness' shoulder and laughed a bit.

"Come oooon, let them have their fun." He said, "You do like her, don't you?"

Ness peeked up from his hoodie and sighed, "Okay, fine, maybe a little." He muttered playfully.

"She's a sweet girl, I can see why you're interested." Lucas said. "By the way, I've decided that after school today, you and I are going shopping."

"You can't just decide that, come on!" Ness laughed, straightening up.

"I just did! We're going tux shopping. I need the help and honesty of my best buddy." Lucas said.

"Wait...if you're tux shopping..." Ness suddenly brought up, "That means you're going with someone!"

The other friends instantly crowded Lucas with questions. He backed up, shocked that he'd accidentally let the secret slip out. He shook his head.

"No! No, I told you, I'm not telling! Besides, even if I did tell you, you guys would be pissed." Lucas denied, putting an end to the conversation by pulling out his phone and diverting his attention to it.

Although many group members exchanged concerned glances, the decided not to pursue it further.

---

"Alright! Show me!"

Ness leaned forwards on the cushioned stool and rested his elbows on his thighs. Lucas bashfully poked his head from behind a door; the door to the changing stall of the formal wear shop they currently sat in.

The beautiful weather from earlier that day had done a complete 180; the skies were now grey and rain violently pelted sideways due to the harsh winds blowing. That didn't stop Lucas from practically dragging Ness to the student parking lot through the storm and taking refuge in his car, where he eventually convinced Ness to drive them both to the small corner shop. Ness, as usual, pretended to be completely uninterested, but was actually enjoying spending time with his friend. Seeing him so excited about Prom was surprisingly uplifting.

Lucas emerged, looking himself over in a nearby mirror. He was wearing a sleek, neat white tuxedo, complimented by a purple dress shirt and the classic black tie. He looked back over his shoulder at Ness, unsure.

"I like it." Ness said. Lucas pouted.

"You've said that every single time!" He replied, playfully.

"That's because I've liked it every single time!" Ness said back, crossing one leg over the other.

"Mmm...I dunno about this one. I like it, but..." Lucas paused, turning around and examining how it looked from the back, "...It's a little extra."

"Good! Be extra. Show that you're the best." Ness suggested. "To be completely honest, I like this one the best. I think you should do it."

Lucas thought a little bit more. He perked up, getting an idea.

"Here, uh..." He shrugged off the top layer and carefully draped it over a nearby chair. This revealed a simple white vest. "I think the sport coat's a little much. I think I'll go with this."

"Sounds good to me." Ness said, "Now, since I just helped you for half an hour...?"

Lucas rolled his eyes. "You wanna know who I asked." He guessed. Ness only nodded, scooting to the side and patting the area on the chair next to him. Lucas, who knew that Ness was only gonna keep bringing it up, shrugged and sighed, trudging over and sitting down.

"So?" Began Ness.

"...So...uh..." Lucas said, "...You're not gonna like it."

"I can take it, go ahead! I won't tell anyone."

"Fine! Um...so, do you know that guy?"

"Oh yeah, that one guy, with the face, and the legs. Good choice." Ness said sarcastically, receiving a jab in the ribs by Lucas' elbow.

"You know what I mean!" Lucas snickered, "...So, you know that...Ryan guy?"

Ness instantly doubled over and groaned, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Lucaaaaaaaas!" He muttered, gripping at his hair. He was being half playful, half sincere.

"I know! I know, I make terrible relationship decisions!" Lucas replied, in a mocking nasal tone.

"Yeah, no kidding! He's ditched you...what, three times now? Why are you even dating him? He never talks to you, he never makes an effort to see you..." Ness ranted, counting down on his fingers. "He gives an inch when you give miles, Lucas!"

"I'll admit he's sketchy, but he's nice! When we do hang out, he treats me very well."

"Nice is not the same as good, Lucas. I'm not trying to tell you how to live your life, but...please be careful. I'm gonna keep telling you that."

Lucas nodded, giving Ness an affectionate smile, grateful for his concern.

"I will be." He murmured, before jokingly poking Ness' arm, "And you'd better be careful with Nana, yeah? Try not to sweep her off her feet too much."

They shared a short period of laughter, followed by a much longer period of silence, only filled by the buzzing of the lights above and the rain hitting the roof and the windows. The bright inside of the small, empty shop contrasted against the blackened outside, giving Lucas a safe feeling. He turned his head slightly, peeking at Ness, who stared at the floor with a mellow smile.

"Probably thinking about her," Lucas thought, "What a cute little crush he's got." He nudged his friend a bit, and with a slight jerk of his head, he motioned for him to get up, "We can go now," He said, "You're free."

Ness only responded with a dramatic flourish, draping his hand over his face. "Finally!" He jokingly breathed. "Pleasure to be at your service, master."

Lucas pretended to look hurt, but couldn't hold in his burst of giggles.

"That just sounded weird!" He snickered.

"Sorry," Ness cleared his throat, "Pleasure to be at your service, daddy."

"Nesley Dale Wyman!" Lucas nearly shrieked, swatting at Ness' arm, trying to hold in his uncontrollable laughter. "Jesus. Only you, Ness. Only you."

---

The school musical opened in less than a week, and the entire drama program was increasing in anticipation. Tech students rushed to build the set and fix the lights, others struggled to sell tickets, and the actors themselves were at their wit's end. Now that their main female lead was no longer a female, the stress was only rising.

One person who didn't expect to be wrapped up in the whole thing was Ness.

Ness often didn't enjoy going home after school, and always looked for excuses to delay it. For the past two months, he'd been attending the rehearsals. He'd practically been accepted as a member of the crew, even though he didn't do anything in particular.

That is, except for being used as the ever so famous crew member, "guy-who-plays-Marius-when-Ninten-is-being-a-little-bitch" guy, named by Kumatora.

Whenever Ninten was unable to be there, whether he was sick or busy, Ness was used as his 'understudy', of sorts, due to the fact that they were of similar body structure and height. Also, Ness conveniently had most of the soundtrack memorized because Les Mis was one of Tracy's favourites, and he'd been subjected to watch it multiple times, and had also been forced into singing all the male parts where Tracy would handle the female parts.

It had been two days after Ness and Lucas had gone shopping, and Ninten was unfortunately absent due to a doctor's appointment. Thus, Ness had to pull himself up and get up on set. While he pretended to be disinterested, he couldn't help but have fun with it.

He now stood below a short platform where Lucas sat, casually draped over a prop rock. The two of them were running over a scene without too much effort; only running through the movements so that the technical crew could figure out lighting.

"A single look, and then I kneeeewwww..." Ness, in a monotone voice, sang through the lyric. He dramatically rested a hand over his heart and the other on Lucas' hand.

"I knew it tooooo..." Lucas replied in the same deadpan voice.

The director raised her arms, signaling a cut so that she could take down notes. The actors currently onstage released their positions and relaxed. Ness ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

"Jesus, I'm gonna have that song running through my head all day. It doesn't help that Ninten is constantly singing this at home." He breathed.

"You know you love it. Also, don't tell Ninten, but I kinda like the way you sing it better than he does." Lucas said, crossing one leg over the other.

"Whaaaat? Have you forgotten that Ninten's literally professionally trained?" Ness replied, casually leaning against the setpiece.

"Um, so were you! Voice classes for seven years really show, Ness. You've got this nice, silvery little voice. Ninten's a liiitle too operatic." Lucas admitted.

"Gee, I'm nothing special." Ness bashfully turned away, secretly loving the compliment.

"Alright, we're gonna run through with music this time!" The director suddenly called, "Play as if you were onstage! You too, Ness." She said in a somewhat teasing voice. The other students chuckled a bit as Ness rolled his eyes with a small grin on his face.

With that, the rehearsal pianist started plunking away, and Ness managed to put on a relatively serious face. Following the stage direction, he glanced up at Lucas, who leaned over and rested his chin on his hand, looking at him through love-struck eyes. It took every inch of physical strength Ness had to stop himself from winking. This time, having been somewhat motivated by Lucas' compliment, he put in much more emotion and passion into the music. Although he was no professional singer, he tried his best to copy what Ninten did. He tried to put vibration in his voice like his roommate did, and surprised himself with how nice that sounded. Even Lucas seemed to snap out of character for a brief second.

Still following the blocking, Lucas lightly dropped down from the platform, still gently holding Ness' hand and taking small, slow steps towards him.

"How the hell does Ninten do this with a straight face?!" Ness thought, "Fuuuck, I'm gonna screw it up..."

Lucas, finishing up his last lyric, gingerly touched his forehead to Ness' and keep his gaze locked on him. Ness, at this point, was a complete disaster. At least, mentally, he was. They'd practiced this scene together many times, but had never taken it seriously. He'd also seen Ninten and Lucas do this scene, but it was a lot harder than it looked to not break down into a hot, blushy mess.

And then came that scene. The conveniently placed kiss scene.

Lucas had probably guessed that Ness wasn't doing so well at the moment, and took the scene into his own hands. He slowly blinked, as if assuring his friend that none of this was real and that it was alright, before slowly moving his head forward.

"Holy shit, fuck, fuck, fuck, oh my god," A million words ran through Ness' mind, "I can do this, I mean, I've kissed him before. Then again, we weren't exactly sober, but that's okay, right? It's pretty much the same." He assured himself. When he'd watched Lucas and Ninten run through this part, it seemed to go by so seamlessly, without any struggle. Why would this be any different?

Then, when the two of them couldn't get even a millimeter closer together without some sort of lip contact, the director called cut.

"Oh, Jesus Christ, thank you!" Ness gasped, backing up a few feet. Lucas also seemed to be relieved, as he tugged at the collar of his shirt nervously.

"Sorry that was so...awkward." Lucas snickered a bit.

"That's, uh...that's okay! Heh...Ooooh, boy..."

The director called a fifteen minute break. Both boys made their way to the front row of seats, where their backpacks and other belongings sat. Many other students around them smugly glanced at them every once in a while. Paula, Ana, and Tony, who were all in the chorus, approached them.

"Well, well, well, that was disappointing. I really wanted to see you two kiss." Taunted Paula. Lucas pretended to glare at her, but sent her a quick smirk as well.

"Yah, not gonna happen, Princess." Ness said, "Where the hell is Ninten? Didn't he say he'd be back by six? It is very much six O'clock, and he is not-"

"Ultra-Vi? Cupcake? Holy crap, I saw the whole thing," Speak of the devil, it was Ninten, who was excitedly making his way down the aisle between the seats, "That was beautiful."

"You just had to sit and watch, didn't you?" Sneered Tony, playfully rolling his eyes.

"But in all seriousness, isn't Ness so fantastic?" Asked Lucas, tugging on Ninten's arm.

"Uh, yes? Ness, why didn't you tell me you had such a sweet little voice? Very, very nice tenor you've got." Ninten gushed. Ness glanced at the floor sheepishly, and shrugged. Ninten's eyes lit up, "You'd be a pretty good Marius, you know that?"

Ness shrunk further into himself, unable to handle all the praise. The others all responded in agreement to Ninten's comment.

"I guess I'll go up there and pretend to be you, huh? Like an understudy or something." Ness replied, jokingly. He'd expected for the others to laugh in response, but he got a very different reaction than what he was hoping for.

"You know what?" Lucas was the first to speak, his face full of excitement. "That's a good idea!"

"Yah!" Said Ana, "Go on, be his understudy!

"Do iiiiitt..." Paula added.

"You guys, come on. Why would I do that? He's already got two other understudies." Ness crossed his arms.

"Why not? Better safe than sorry, yeah? What if I die, and what if my backups die? No one will be able to play the role, which is where you'll come in." Ninten said.

"That's not gonna happen." Ness replied.

"Don't jinx it! It just might, you never know! Come on, Ness!" Tony said. "You know all of the music, you know pretty much all of the stage directions, why not give it a go?"

"One of us! One of us! One of us!" Paula began chanting, eventually being joined by everyone else except for Ness. He struggled to keep a calm expression, showing that he wasn't phased. However, the chanting eventually got so intense that he finally threw up his arms.

"Alright!" He exclaimed, "Alright, I'll do it. But only to get you guys to stop talking, okay?"

His friends all cheered, and Ninten wrapped his arms around Ness and tightly squeezed him.

"Yaaaaaay! Let's go talk to the director! Ness is in the shoooowww!"

As his friends dragged him over to the director, Ness only followed along in a deadpan, uninterested state. While he appreciated their enthusiasm, there was no way that all three actors already cast to play the role would all be unavailable. That was just too much of a coincidence.

This kind of thing only happened in fictional romance stories, where it was convenient to the plot. There was no way it could really happen.

---

Claus and Lucas were filled with the utmost excitement, as just two hours later, the most amazing night of their life would finally come.

A week earlier, Ness had agreed to join the cast of the school musical as the understudy for Ninten. Lucas was excited about that, but even that couldn't compare to the euphoria he felt knowing that prom was that night.

Claus waited in the living area, running a lint roller over the traditional black suit he'd decided to wear. The sound of Lucas' footsteps alerted him, and he looked up. A smile crossed his face upon seeing his twin dressed up. He walked over to him, arms outstretched.

"Awwww, Lucas..." He cooed, "Look at you. So handsome." He gently pinched Lucas' cheek.

"Claus, come on..." Lucas bashfully averted eye contact and shrugged away his hand.

"Let me gush! That boyfriend of yours is gonna be stunned." Claus insisted. He backed up a few steps, and twirled around a bit. "How's this very unique set up?"

"Traditionally trendy." Lucas commented. He pulled out his phone, checking the time, "When's Ninten gonna get here? He is driving us, yeah?"

"Yep. We figured out how to get in, too. We found this senior couple and got them to pretend that each of them was going with each of us, and once we're in, me and Ninten are free. It's a little technique I like to call 'teenage rebellion.'" Claus proudly crossed his arms, "Anyways, your boy's a senior, yeah? You should be okay."

"We're all set!" Lucas looked down at his phone, which had just vibrated, "Aaaand, there's Ninten's text. Let's go!"

Within minutes, the twins had practically sprinted down the hallway and burst through the fronts doors onto the street. Of course, Ninten was already waiting a few feet away. Once he glanced up and caught sight of Claus, he made sure to ham everything up.

"Oh...my god..." Ninten gasped, dropping to his knees and putting his hands over his mouth. "I'm having an actual heart attack. Oh my...oh my goodness..."

"Ninten, doooon't!" Claus turned the other direction, embarrassed. Ninten stood up and hugged Claus from behind.

"This is my boyfriend!" He cried, making sure that everyone around them heard, "This is my boyfriend! This guy!"

"For god's sake..." Claus laughed, "Can we just get in the car?"

"Right after I get the news crew to come over here and put you on TV." Ninten smirked.

"Get in the car!" Claus, giggling uncontrollably, pushed Ninten by the shoulders over to the beat up truck nearby. Lucas only followed, amused by the whole ordeal. The three of them piled into the red leather seats, Claus sitting up at the front next to Ninten, and Lucas enjoying the room in the back. Ninten turned on the radio and played an old school rock album, and the three of them loudly sang along as they drove towards the school.

Along the way, Lucas wondered how Ness was doing.

"He outta be at Nana's by now," Lucas thought, "I bet he's ecstatic."

---

As Nana stepped out of her front door, Ness was ecstatic.

She was wearing a short, tight fitting white dress that hugged her figure, accented with sequins and lace. She looked fantastic compared to Ness' simple navy suit. He felt his heartbeat quicken. Ever since he'd asked Nana weeks ago, a simple crush had transitioned into a serious like-like.

"H-hey! Nana!" Ness breathed, searching for words. All he could muster was, "...Wow."

"Aww, heh...hi, Ness." Nana grinned, walking up to him. "Are you sure I look okay? I really hope this isn't too much...or maybe it isn't enough? I don't know! It's very simple, I don't want to under-dress...then again, you're very simple, people won't even know we're going together! That's no problem. Do you think I should go change? Are you gonna go change at all?"

Her last comment was a little off to Ness, "Huh?"

"Are you sure you don't have anything else? I mean, yeah, you look amazing, as usual. But for someone so popular, wouldn't you wanna be a little more eye-catching?"

"Oh. Well, I didn't really wanna go with too much." Ness said, brushing the comment off, "You ready?"

After suffering through Nana's parents taking what felt like fifty photos, the pair were on their way. Due to how close Nana lived to the school, they chose to walk rather than drive. Ness attempted to start a conversation without sounding too awkward, and trying to maintain his usual confident attitude. As usual, Nana would take complete control over the conversation, but Ness didn't mind too much. Hearing her ramble on about what she was excited about was actually kind of cute.

Finally, they reached the school, where a large amount of students had already gathered. Although the event actually started at eight, they had planned to arrive early so that they could spend some time with some of their other friends.

After scanning the crowd, Ness managed to locate the familiar red hair of Claus. He took Nana's hand and pointed. "Over there!" He led her to the spot, and came to meet Claus, Ninten, Lucas, and someone Ness didn't recognize.

"Hey, guys!" Ness greeted. He smiled at Lucas, seeing him in the outfit they had picked together. Everyone exchanged the usual hellos, except for the unfamiliar boy, who stood silently. He had porcelain skin, piercing blue eyes, and redish-brownish hair that was obviously dyed. Ness observed him, confused, until he saw that he was holding Lucas' hand. Ness' eyes narrowed.

This was Ryan.

"Oh, Ness! You haven't met Ryan yet!" Lucas suddenly realized, gesturing for Ness to say something.

"Ah, no, I, uh...I haven't. Hey." Ness reluctantly shook his hand. Ryan gave a side smile and brushed his bangs out of his face. Something about the way he moved and how he looked did not seem right. That, and he was a good few inches taller than Ness, who was pretty tall himself.

"So you're the one and only Ness, huh? This little cutie's told me a lot about you, man." He said, his voice low and honeyed. The way he mentioned Lucas didn't sit well with Ness. He made a mental note to keep an eye out.

"Really! Wow, uh...cool. Yeah, I was the guy who sat with him when you couldn't show up that one time." Ness said somewhat passive aggressively, referencing the first time Lucas had been asked out. Lucas didn't say anything, he only looked at the ground.

"Oh yeah, that point! Yeah, I was gonna go? But then I just got so tired, man. Can't always expect me to be there. Lucas understands though, yeah?" Ryan looked down at Lucas, who looked back up at him with a smile.

"Yeah! He was just tired all those times." He said.

"You get it. Mwah." Ryan grinned, kissing the top of Lucas' head. For a split second, he smugly glanced back at Ness through a half closed eye. Ness' entire body tensed.

"Asshole..." He thought, keeping his expression positive. This guy knew Ness didn't like him, and he was loving it, because as long as Lucas was there, there was nothing he could do. Ness kept himself composed, as he knew it was unfair to challenge someone just after meeting them. "Doesn't stop me from not liking him."

When eight O'clock had finally rolled around, the group split. Ness felt a little uneasy by leaving Lucas alone with Ryan, but he decided that he had to trust his friend more than anything. With that, he and Nana said their quick goodbyes and made their way into the school. Lucas watched them go, waving.

"So, this is exciting!" Said Lucas. "You wanna go inside with them?"

"Eh..." Ryan stuffed his hands in his pockets, "I'm not too big on the whole 'dark room, big crowd' thing. I dunno about you, but I'll stay outside."

"Oh," Lucas replied, a little disappointed, "That's okay! Yeah, we can stay out here! It'll be just as fun!"

"Let's just kinda wander, yeah? This school's campus is massive, plenty of room to walk around." Ryan grabbed Lucas' hands and pulled him along playfully.

"Sounds fun to me, heh!" Lucas, who was just excited to be there, followed happily.

---

"Eeeeeek! Nana, look at you! You look fantastic!"

Ness stood to the side of the hallway while Nana caught up with a few of her friends. The group of excited girls shared enthusiastic conversations, and it seemed as if they were all talking over each other.

"Is this how girls talk?" Ness thought to himself, smiling and shaking his head.

"And look at who you managed to get under the arm of." One of Nana's friends approached Ness, looking him up and down. "Aren't you just the luckiest girl at WPHS?"

Nana grinned and took Ness' hand. "The absolute luckiest." She looked up at Ness, who's face went red.

"Aww, come on, I'm luckier." Ness murmured, in the best attempt of flirting he could muster. This proved to be effective, however, as Nana gasped and practically melted, hiding her face in her hands. Ness mentally celebrated; he was doing okay.

"Ness, you absolute treat!" Laughed one of the other girls, who was reaching into her handbag, pulling out her phone, "We have got to take a picture."

After a few attempts, a decent picture was taken of the four of them crowded together, struggling to keep inside of the frame of the picture. Afterwards, the conversation between the girls resumed, and Ness waited patiently, leaning against a locker. He guessed that it would be the gentlemanly thing to do, and let Nana catch up a little bit. He had plenty of time to spare.

However, plenty of time eventually turned to not as much time as he'd originally hoped for. Not wanting to screw up this time he had with Nana, he simply let her go about her business. They did eventually make their way into the gym, which was filled with people. Ness turned to his side to ask what she wanted to do, but Nana was gone. He glanced around, a bit nervous, before spotting her in the back corner of the gym. He jogged over to her and raised his arm to tap her on the shoulder, but hesitated upon realizing she was wrapped up with another group of people again.

He felt a small sense of frustration, but didn't dare show it. He simply inched his way into the circle of people, observing the conversation and pretending he was part of it.

"So, yeah. All in all, I feel like...the princess of the school right now." Nana said, with a sense of entitlement that hadn't been there before, "Crazy, right? I managed to get a practical celebrity." She bragged, taking Ness' arm.

The last comment set off a small red flag in the back of Ness' mind. He furrowed his brow and glanced at her, concerned. As usual, she didn't notice. Ness backed up a bit.

"Uhh, Nana?" He rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm, uh...I'm gonna go to the washroom for a few seconds, yeah?" He alerted, jerking his thumb behind him.

"Oh yeah, sure." Nana replied, before instantly turning back around and resuming the conversation.

Ness frowned, but shrugged, turned around, and walked towards the gym exit. It couldn't hurt to take a small break.

---

Lucas leaned back against the bark of a willow tree, bursting into uncontrollable giggles.

"Wow, oh my goodness...! I never knew colouring your hair would turn out that disastrous." Lucas snickered, drawing his knees to his chest. Ryan, who was sitting across from him, laughed a bit and crossed his arms.

"Yep, it was an adventure. I had to live with seaweed green hair for a week after that fiasco." He shook his head in amusement. He looked back up at Lucas and scooted a bit forward, "Okay, now your turn."

"Aw, man...you can't know every embarrassing thing that's happened to me!" Lucas said, twirling a bit of his hair around his finger.

"But it's cute! Come on, that story about the time your brother trapped you under a laundry basket for half a day was pretty funny."

Lucas blushed a little, and glanced down. He felt Ryan's shoes gently brushing against his own. His heart began to beat a little faster.

"Alright, I got one. This one time, me and Ness were hanging out at the mall, right? So we go into this casual clothing store, and I try on a few shirts. No biggie. Turns out, I totally forgot to take one of them off, and I walked right out of the store with it. It wasn't until we were halfway to my apartment when I realized I had basically stolen a shirt, and we had to drive all the way back so I could return it. Definitely humiliating, I tell you what."

"Hah! Wow, you turned down a free shirt." Ryan teased.

"Um, shoplifting is against the law, thank you very much." Lucas replied, smugly. "I think Ness was even more embarrassed than me, the poor guy."

"Yeah..." Ryan trailed off, letting his head fall casually to the side. He got a bit of a confused look, "Why do you talk about him so much?"

"Who?" Lucas furrowed his brow.

"That Ness kid. You talk about him a lot." Ryan explained.

"Well, we're best friends, I'm mean..." Lucas shrugged, "Is it too obvious?"

"A little bit. You know I'm sitting right here, right?"

"Huh?" Lucas was confused, before realizing what he was hinting at, "Oh, no! Nonononono, it isn't like that! Don't worry, I don't...like him or anything, I promise!" He assured.

"I'm sure you don't." Ryan nodded, satisfied with the answer. Lucas hadn't realized it, but Ryan had been slowly making his way forward until he was right next to him. Lucas felt his face suddenly increase in heat, feeling the other brush up against him.

"Oh! H-hey there! That was quick!" Lucas gave a little bit of a nervous laugh. Ryan smirked, placing his hand on Lucas', and using to other to caress the side of his face.

"You're so cute, you know that?" Ryan murmured, eye-to-eye with Lucas at this point.

"Really...!" Lucas stammered, his voice shaky.

"Mmhmm." Was the hummed reply, before the gap between the two was slowly closed by Ryan.

Lucas' breath hitched, and it seemed as if his whole body went numb. This was much, much different from the last time he'd kissed someone. This was a lot...rougher. While the last time was experimental, this was real, and Lucas was very much sober this time. He glanced around at the courtyard around him, actually catching sight of the tree where he'd felt this last. He couldn't tell whether he was feeling panic or euphoria. He felt an arm curl around his back and pull him in closer. Not even a pull; a yank, almost. The sudden force brought a surprised yelp from Lucas. Ryan seemed pleased from the response, because he did it again, but this time, by the hair. This got another reaction from Lucas, which was more out of pleasure rather than shock. He felt his wrists being pinned to the ground, and the kiss got rougher. When he felt Ryan's tongue slip over his bottom lip, he didn't know what else to do, other than to do the same thing. The minute there was actual contact, a small moan escaped from Lucas, despite all he had been doing to keep quiet.

"Oh goodness..." He breathed, when Ryan had moved down to his neck, having undone the first button on his dress shirt. He felt him bite down on his collarbone, causing him to cry out again. Lucas clamped his hands over his mouth, hoping no one heard that. It felt as if Ryan was trying to tear off his skin. Despite how good this actually felt, he gently put his hands on Ryan's shoulders and guided him away.

"What?" Ryan asked, his face red and his hair slightly disheveled.

"Listen, um..." Lucas began to button his shirt back up, and re-straightened his tie, "I know what you're trying to do and all, and I'm glad you trust me enough. I really am. It's just..." He sat up, having been pushed into a laying down position, "I'd like to wait a little while longer. I've only known you for...a few months, can we wait until things get more serious between us?"

"Oh, you're one of those guys." Ryan said, with almost no hesitation and a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Um...what?"

"You get me all hot and bothered, and then you just stop? Man, highschool kids."

"Aren't you in highschool?" Asked Lucas. He paused, then raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you?"

"Twenty three is a little old for high school, don't you think?" Ryan asked, sitting back.

"Your profile said you were nineteen." Lucas stated, suddenly feeling sick.

"People always lie on that site, come on."

Lucas, still flustered, stood up and staggered back a few steps. He put on a content smile.

"Hey, uh...! You know what? I think...I need to go to the washroom. So...I'll go do that, yeah?" He asked. Ryan shrugged.

"Sure."

Lucas nodded, and swiftly walked around the school, towards the entrance. Once he was out of Ryan's sight, he booked it into the building and sprinted into the first washroom he saw.

---

Ness, after splashing water onto his face and checking to see if his hair looked alright for the fourth time, finally turned around to exit...

...Only to run right into Lucas, who had come right around the corner.

"Ah! Lucas!" Ness cried.

"Ness!" Lucas cried back.

"What're you...doing here?" Asked Ness.

"...Going to the washroom." Lucas replied. The uncertainty and reluctance in his voice was suspicious.

"Are you? Really?" Ness asked, crossing his arms. Lucas groaned and threw his hands in the air.

"No! I'm taking refuge from my weird date!" He admitted, leaning back against a stall. He hid his face in his hands, and groaned again.

"Now, now, tell me all about it." Ness offered.

"So first, he thinks it's weird that I talk about you a lot. And I say, 'we're friends! duh!' And then he thinks that I've got a thing for you, and I tell him, 'Um, no.' Then, he starts kissing me! And I kinda liked it, until he just got way too sexual, and so I say 'Hey, can you maybe not?' And that kinda pisses him off, and apparently, he's not even nineteen! He's twenty three! And I know it's not that big of an age gap, but...it was just really shocking and really out of nowhere." Lucas rambled, beginning to pace around the washroom.

"Jesus..." Ness shook his head, "Is he getting creepy?"

"No, not creepy, just kinda off." Lucas sighed, and looked up at Ness, "How about you? Things going well?"

"Um...yeah! All that and more." Ness said.

"Good!" Lucas replied, smiling. He rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Alright, I'm gonna go out there again. Maybe I'll convince him to finally dance with me, huh?" He decided.

"Heh, alright. I'll see you." Ness said, "Also, there's a very obvious hickey on your neck, dude. Just thought I'd let you know."

"What?!" Lucas rushed to the mirror, and to his expectations, there was a small, but noticeable mark just above the collar of his shirt. He rolled his eyes. "Oh, god dammit." He spat. He simply tugged up his collar and gave a small wave. "Later."

"Later." Ness replied. Once Lucas was gone, he turned and looked at himself in the mirror. He couldn't stay in here forever. "Then again, it's not like she would even notice I was gone." He thought, somewhat bitterly. He fixed his hair, straightened his jacket, took a deep breath, and exited the washroom.

---

Lucas composed himself as he made his way down the main hallway of the school. As he passed a row of trophy cases, he caught sight of his reflection. He sighed in relief, seeing that he didn't look too disheveled. He was going to go back out there and tell Ryan that he wasn't interested in what he had planned.

That changed when he glanced up, and caught sight of him, near the end of the hallway.

"Ryan!" He called, breaking into a jog and waving him down.

"Oh, um...hey, Luc." Ryan greeted. He seemed absentminded at the moment.

"Where...where're you going?" Lucas asked, confused. Ryan had been heading for the front entrance of the school. The red haired boy before him bit his lip and ran a hand over his face, looking stressed in a way. He sighed, and managed to hold eye contact with Lucas.

"Lucas, listen." Ryan began, "You really are a catch. Believe me. But you're really not gonna get far with any guy if you keep up an attitude like that, alright?"

"W-what...?" Lucas breathed, unsure of how to feel.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but...you're gonna come off as kinda boring." Ryan said.

"Oh..." Lucas glanced down. Was he boring? Was that how people saw him?

"Yah. Anyways, when you were gone, I met this girl. We're gonna go chill out for a while. And as for us," Ryan paused, "We should take a break."

"Wait," Lucas held up a hand, "You're breaking up with me?"

"That's basically what I'm doing."

"Because you can't respect my choices?!"

Lucas regretted raising his voice.

"You know what? Maybe I'll come back when you decide to stop being a total bore, okay? Once you decide to loosen up, maybe." With that, Ryan turned and walked away. Lucas felt his eyes begin to sting.

"Yeah? Maybe I don't want you to come back! Everyone was right, I do deserve better!" Lucas cried, before he was finally alone in the hallway. He stared down at the floor. It felt like his head was full of white noise, and his heart was full of nails. He turned around, going the opposite direction, heading towards the back exit of the school. "I don't deserve to feel heartbroken over him," He thought, "So why does it hurt so bad?"

Lucas, unsure of where he was actually going, found himself outside, wandering around the campus. He often passed by other couples who'd decided to take a break from the inside of the gym. He made sure to hide his tear-stained face. After circling the entire area, he approached the only lit up place; the basketball court. Although the empty, surrounding darkness was eerie, the sound of his footsteps echoing against the asphalt and the flickering lights nearby comforted him. He took a deep breath, and sat down against the brick wall of the school, listening to the bass gently pulsing from the other side of the school.

---

Ness navigated his way through the thick crowd. There was less than forty minutes left until students would be encouraged to leave, and he was determined to spend at least a little time with Nana. He approached the back corner where she'd previously been, but saw that she was no longer there. He once again scanned the area, unable to spot her. Unfortunately, Nana's colour of dress was very common, making it difficult to spot her. He asked around, but no one had seen where she'd gone. He began to panic a bit. He exited the gym again, looking around the hallways. When he turned a corner, to his relief, he caught site of a familiar white dress.

"Nana! There you are, oh geez..." He breathed. Nana turned, her eyes wide.

"Oh! Wow, hi!" She replied.

"So, uh...there's kinda not that much time left! I was wondering, you know...they're getting into the slower music now, um..." Ness suddenly found himself unable to talk properly, and began to fidget with his hands. Nana's face fell into a sympathetic type look, and she clasped her hands together.

"Ah...oh goodness...Ness, sweetie, I..." She stammered, avoiding eye contact, "I really had a nice time, I really did. But...I really don't think it would work between us." She admitted.

Ness felt his heart drop. It took him a while to come up with a response that he didn't even want to say, for he didn't want to know the answer, "W...why...?"

"Trust me, it really hurts to tell you this, and I'm so sorry. But you're just..." Nana paused, "...Really quiet. This whole night, you've barely said anything. I guess I'm just looking for someone who's a little more social, yeah? You get it, right?"

Ness looked down and bit his lip. He'd actually thought he'd had a chance with her. He barely had the heart to tell her why specifically he hadn't said much, and the last thing he wanted to do was disagree with her. So, he said one thing, "...Yeah!" He put on a fake smile, "Yeah, I get it!"

"I knew you would. Anyways, I met a guy, and we're gonna head out soon. But Ness, thank you, still. You really are a sweet guy. Big change from earlier this year." Nana grinned, patting his shoulder. "We can definitely stay friends. Bye bye!" She waved, and with that, she was gone. Ness stood alone for a while, still fidgeting with his hands. He eventually snapped out of his trance, and glanced around the area. He was thankful that no one had been around to see that. He put his hands in his pockets and decided to go outside to get some fresh air.

As he walked down the hallway, he caught sight of Paula, who was holding the hand of his college friend, Fuel. They both waved at him, and he smiled and waved back. At least his friends seemed to be having a nice time.

Upon feeling the nighttime air rush against him when he opened the back exit of the school, he felt a little better. He walked towards the first light source he saw. He turned and saw that the light came from the basketball court nearby. He jumped a bit, seeing that someone was already there, a shadow lurking on the court. Ness squinted to try and see who it was.

"Hold on..." He thought, "Is that Lucas?" He walked a little bit closer, and got a clearer view of the silhouette. It was definitely Lucas. He was sitting alone. "Oh, no..."

Ness broke into a jog. Once he was within earshot of Lucas, the blond jumped, startled at the sudden sound of footsteps. Ness made sure to come into the light, to reveal who he was.

"Oh, thank goodness..." Sighed Lucas, placing a hand over his chest. Ness approached him.

"Just me, heh..." He said, "What're you doing out here all alone?" He asked, deciding to sit down next to him.

"I, uh..." Lucas seemed reluctant, "...I just went through my first breakup." He drew in his lower lip.

"Aw, man..." Ness replied, sadly, "Jesus, I'm sorry." He put a hand on his friend's back.

"Heh...you probably wanna say 'I Told You So', don't you?" Lucas asked.

"You know, I think that's the last thing you need to hear from me." Ness responded. Lucas smiled gratefully. He leaned over and bumped Ness' shoulder with his head, signaling that he wanted comfort. Ness put an arm around him.

"Ness?" Murmured Lucas.

"Hmm?"

"Why're you out here?"

"...I, uh..." Ness sighed, "I got the same treatment as you."

"Oh no, really? I'm sorry!" Lucas said, "You...really liked her, didn't you?"

"I did. She said I didn't talk enough. Take a wild guess why." Ness said a bit playfully. 'She was polite about it, though. It wasn't, like, a mean breakup. It just kinda sucks. Also, she...kinda used me as an accessory. Turns out, people like my status a little more than me sometimes. Still."

"Ouch." Lucas cringed. "Well, turns out we both deserve better." He said. After a few moments of just sitting there and enjoying each other's company, Lucas spoke again, "You know what? You were kinda right. I thought Prom was supposed to be this great time and all. It...really isn't. I didn't like it at all."

Ness looked down at him, regretting what he'd previously said about the event, "Hey, dude! Don't believe what I said, okay? Listen. Prom really is amazing, okay? The thing is, you gotta go with the right person. You and I just weren't all that lucky this year. Trust me, next year, I'm sure you'll find this stellar guy. And you'll see what Prom is really about. Trust me; it really is great." He assured. Lucas glanced up at him, hopefully.

"Yeah?" He asked. Ness nodded. Lucas laid back against him, his mood enlightened.

The next twenty or so minutes were almost silent, the only noise being the muffled music coming from the school and the frequent group of friends passing by every once in a while. Ness seemed to simply close his eyes to rest them while Lucas, the whole time, was mentally debating with himself. He struggled to come to a conclusion, as he felt like he needed to mention something important. Something he'd been trying to hide. He prepared himself, and straightened up a bit, catching Ness' attention.

"What's up...?" Murmured Ness, sounding somewhat tired.

"Ness, uh...can I...can I ask you something?" Lucas asked, shrugging his shoulders a bit, "Something that I probably should've asked a really long time ago?"

"Oh, uh, sure." Ness replied, his interest perked. "What is it?"

"I was gonna ask this, but I got to scared, and...I kinda lost my chance." Lucas admitted.

"Scared?" Ness repeated, "You don't have to be scared, go ahead and ask away."

Lucas nodded and drew in a deep breath. When he breathed out again, he made sure to look Ness directly in the eye, "Ness?" He began, "I was wondering, i-if you'd be willing...um...would you like to maybe go to the last..." He looked down and checked the time on his phone, "...nine minutes of Prom with me?" He asked, his voice trailing off.

Ness' eyes widened, and he let out a small gasp. He found himself unable to respond, out of shock. He covered his mouth with his hand, before replying, "...Lucas, you were...? You were gonna ask me?"

Lucas looked away, and nodded hesitantly. "Kinda."

"And...I asked Nana before you could ask me. That's why you were so quiet all of a sudden."

"Yep."

"And so you asked Ryan instead."

"Pretty much."

Ness paused, before hiding his face in his hands, "And now I feel like an ass...!"

"Nooo! Nonononono, please don't feel like an ass! It was my fault, I'm the one who was being a chicken! You didn't know!" Lucas assured, somewhat regretting everything he'd said at this point.

"Ahhhh, shit...Lucas, I'm sorry, I-" Ness stopped, before looked at him quizzically, "Why me?" He asked.

"Well, when I found out that Prom didn't necessarily have to be a romantic thing, I couldn't really think of anyone else I'd rather go with." Lucas confessed, "...You're my best friend."

"Oh." Ness replied, now becoming somewhat flattered, "Wow, that's...kinda sweet."

Lucas smiled and looked at the ground. Ness, not entirely sure how to respond, hesitated for a few moments. Finally, he smiled, and turned to Lucas.

"Yeah." He said, "I'd love to go to the last..." He checked his watch, "...Eight minutes of prom with you."

His friend broke into a smile that looked really real this time. There was a sparkle in Lucas' eye that Ness' hadn't seen in days.

"Wooooo!" Lucas said softly, pumping a fist into the air, "This is fun."

"Better than the rest of the night." Ness added. Both laughed.

Once again, there was silence. There was now an awkward tension between the two, and neither of them knew what to say or do. That was, until Lucas heard the music in the school switch to a slow pop song he recognized. He'd been assigned to this song in his dance class to choreograph a routine. Having nothing to lose, Lucas sighed, hoisted himself up, and once finding where he was in the song, started to dance.

Ness tilted his head to the side, raising an eyebrow, "Whaaaaat are you doing?" He asked.

"What I should've been doing all night." Lucas replied, his voice shaking with the movement. Ness shrugged.

"Alright, you do you." He said. However, he was suddenly met with Lucas stopping in front of him. He looked up, seeing that Lucas was holding out his hand towards him. Ness stared at him, confused, before realizing what his friend was implying. Ness laughed nervously, "Oh, no, I can't dance."

"Yah, I call BS." Lucas stated.

"What?"

"Don't think I didn't see those certificates in your house that stated that you completed five years of advanced ballroom dance." Lucas recalled, smugly. Ness froze, upon realizing what Lucas knew about him. He sighed in defeat, but shook his head again.

"What I mean is...I can dance, I just don't." He clarified.

"Why not?"

"'Cuz...it's kinda embarrassing? I'm an athlete, man. A classic jock. People would whisper about me and stuff." Ness explained.

"Well...no one's here except for me." Lucas suggested, once again holding out his hand. Ness glanced around, and eyed his friend again. This time, he smirked, and took Lucas' hand, allowing himself to be helped up into a standing position.

There was a few awkward seconds of the two trying to figure out hand placements, until they finally settled on Lucas placing his hand on Ness' shoulder, and Ness having his hand rested on Lucas' waist. They held eye contact, at first unsure of what to do. Lucas eventually decided to step to the side, then to the other, shifting his weight on his feet. Ness went along with it, still feeling strange. He knew he was supposed to be leading, but he wasn't too confident in his abilities in partner dancing, as he hadn't gone to a class in years. However, Lucas had an expression of assurance on his face, and that seemed to be enough for him.

Ness slightly applied pressure to Lucas' hip, indicating that he was going to experiment a little with footwork. He did one of the more professional steps he knew, and Lucas, being as experienced as he was, easily adapted and went along with it. For a few moments, they exchanged advanced techniques, eventually trying to outdo the other. This ended in laughter.

Once again, they locked eye contact. Lucas, feeling a strange sense of safety, let go of Ness' hand and hesitantly moved it to his other shoulder, before gently laying his head over his chest. Ness realized he was going for the traditional sway. He obliged. And that was it. There they were, together on a dimly lit basketball court, a thumbnail moon above them. It would seem like nothing special, but to them, it was more than special. Just two guys, giving each other what their previous companies had not, slow-dancing, as friends. Simple, platonic friends.

That was until Ness slowly opened his eyes, raising his head a bit to glance down at Lucas, who had a comfortable, content smile on his face. He thought about the feeling of his friend up against him, and how connected they were. He thought about the friendship they'd grown. He thought about almost everything ever since the beginning of the school year, up until this very point. He thought about all that Lucas had done for him, and how much better his life was because of him. Ness felt like he was coming to a realization, but he didn't want to admit it.

Slowly, the song faded out, leaving only silence. However, they didn't split apart. Instead, Lucas moved his arms around his neck instead, and hugged him.

"Thank you." He softly murmured, "Those few minutes were more fun than everything before this combined."

"No problem..." Ness replied. Normally, he'd try to back out of a hug, because it wasn't masculine enough. But now, he didn't want it to end. Because at this point, Ness allowed the realization to sink in. And upon coming to it, he only squeezed his friend tighter.

It was often said that Prom was meant to be the most special of all nights.

Ness believed that now.

---

It was three days after the Prom fiasco, and now, all the attention was set on the school musical. They opened the very next day, and the stress was rising to ungodly limits. Ness now had Ninten's entire role memorized. Scripts were tossed aside. For now, the show seemed absolutely perfect.

This was the thought running through Ness' head as he sat on the couch in the living area of the apartment. He was waiting for Ninten to return, as he'd gone out to buy coffee. Speak of the devil, he finally heard the front lock move around. The door swung open, and Ninten struggled to hold two drinks, his keys, and his back. He looked up at Ness and grinned, giving him a salute.

"I'm home, sweetie." He greeted, panting.

"Hey, bitch." Replied Ness. Ninten winced.

"Owie, thanks." He laughed. He walked over, and set down two beverages on the coffee table. He sat down next to Ness and motioned to one of them, "There. I drove all the way to Starbucks because you just had to have their black coffee, no cream or sugar, because you're boring."

"Wow, burn returned." Said Ness, "You sure Claus didn't poison this?" He asked, picking up the coffee and slowly beginning to drink it.

"I can't make any promises." Ninten grinned, picking up his low-fat-soy-espresso-whatever. Ness leaned back.

"So! You nervous? For tomorrow?" He asked.

"Yikes, a little. I hope the show goes okay." Ninten said.

"Eh, you'll be fine. Even if something bad happens, everyone's gonna be too distracted about the fact that you guys made the two main characters gay." Ness teased.

"Don't start poking fun, remember that you may have to play this role yourself." Ninten reminded.

"Will you stop? Unless you, your understudy, and your understudy's understudy all...I dunno, break your legs or something, I'll be fine!"

"You're gonna jinx it, I told you."

"It's fine. Trust me, Ninten. Nothing's gonna happen."

---

Hey, look at that! I actually updated. Sorry for the late update, my friends :)