Author's Note: This is set in the same Modern AU as my other fic, They Grow Up So Fast, several years after that fic. It also heavily features my OC, Dirk, who appears in several of my other fics including An Outside Perspective and Glowing Up.

Bow's fingers were going numb.

How long were you supposed to hold your date's hand? Did it really have to be the entire time? Because now that they weren't dancing, it was kind of cold out and he would much rather have his hand in his suit pocket. He subtly free it but Perfuma was oblivious, still explaining her plant anatomy project for Bio in loving detail.

Their friends were shrieking and throwing October leaves at each other by the front steps of the school. There were still a few dozen of their other classmates milling around outside the gym, waiting to be picked up. Even though he knew, rationally, she wasn't here, wouldn't have come now when the dance was already over, he couldn't help but turn hopefully every time someone new walked into his field of vision.

Where WAS she? He checked his phone again, even though it had only been a few minutes since the last time, but there was still nothing. That had been the case all night, but it didn't stop the hollow feeling in his middle from getting worse.

"Oh! There's my mom!" Perfuma waved at the green hybrid that was pulling up to the curb. "Thanks for being my date! This was fun!"

"Yeah!" It had been fun. Mostly. Well, it was fine in the beginning anyway when he thought… but then he couldn't really enjoy himself, not when he spent the entire night worrying and scanning the room for that head of familiar pink hair. He still couldn't believe she never showed, not at all.

"So…" Perfuma swayed their linked hands together a little. Uh, she wasn't expecting a kiss, was she? In front of her mom and everyone out here? It was a relief when she just pulled him in for a hug instead. Perfuma was great, and it had been fun hanging out with her tonight, but he didn't like her like that. "See you at school on Monday?"

"Sure will. Have a nice rest of the weekend!" He waved to her mom as she opened the car door. She tossed her flowered purse into the front seat and almost got in before she dashed back.

Oh shoot, now she was really going to kiss him. But no, all she did was squeeze his hand and whisper. "Bow, just… talk to her, OK?"

As he watched the car pull out out of the school parking lot, it occurred to him he probably should have asked something like, talk to who? Or, about what? But he was pretty sure he knew exactly what Perfuma was talking about. It was the same reason every time he'd run into Adora all night, she'd given him a sympathetic look and said, "She's still not here?"

His friends were still horsing around on the steps, and Catra waved him over from where she sat between Adora's knees. He waved back, but didn't go over to join them. They'd danced and goofed around and did everything at a dance that was normally fun, but there was something… off about it. A feeling he couldn't put into words. Dissatisfaction and disappointment and almost… sadness? He was staring at the flickering street lamp at the edge of the sidewalk, like the pattern was something he could almost figure out. Then a horn blared directly next to him, nearly giving him a heart attack.

"Hey! Get in, doofus. You think I have nothing better to do than chauffeur your ass around tonight?"

"Yes." Bow snapped, because Dirk had scared the H out of him. He HAD to convince his dads to let him get his own car. He called a quick goodbye to his friends and ducked into the passenger seat. "What are you doing here? Where's dad?"

"They're at some thing." His oldest brother grabbed a handful of fries from the bag resting on the center console and shoved them in his mouth as he pulled out of the school parking lot. "I'm supposed to keep you out of trouble. And, consider yourself warned, I take that job VERY seriously."

"I am 18 years old?"

"Exactly," Dirk said through a mouthful of fries. "Which means you can get into a lot of fucking trouble."

Bow exhaled. Normally Dirk was one of the least taxing of his many siblings, but he absolutely did not have the patience for him right now. "Since when do you eat fast food?"

"Since everything to eat back home is good for you. I'm dying here! I understand I'm in the doghouse and I appreciate the roof over my head and all, dads, but, shit, let me LIVE!" He shoveled another handful of fries into his mouth. "There are some nuggets in there if you want 'em."

Bow wasn't normally a fast food guy, but he was in A Mood. Besides, the smell was making him hungry. He grabbed the bag and rummaged as they pulled out of the parking lot.

"So, how was the dance?"

"Fine."

"Oooh, that was a very loaded 'fine.' What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Please, Bow. I'm back home at 26. My life is very boring." Dirk took a sip of soda and almost chocked on it. "Wait! Where's your bestie? Was I supposed to drive her, too?"

Bow swallowed the bite of nugget. It felt like lead going down. "She didn't come."

"Why not? You two fighting?"

"No!" Well, that may not be entirely true. She had seemed pretty annoyed at him this week. Ever since she'd found out who he was going with. "She said she was coming, and I looked for her the entire time but she never showed."

"Stood you up?"

"Well, she wasn't my date or anything. I went with Perfuma."

"Wait, hold on. You went to the Homecoming dance with this Puma person? I don't even know who that is!"

"Perfuma. She asked me, so I said yes. I didn't think it would be a big deal. We all just hang out together at these things anyway but Glimmer…" He dismantled the nugget container until it was perfectly flat. "I don't know. She was weird about it. I'm now I'm worried that's why she didn't come."

"And you wanted to hang out with her?"

"Well, yeah! She's, like, the person I MOST wanted to hang out with tonight."

"Mmm. Mmhmm. I see your problem." Dirk held up a finger, taking a drink so his next words were perfectly clear. "You're an idiot."

"F you, Dirk."

"Wow, did you really just say "F"? Like the letter? What are you, legally unable to swear or something?" Dirk was laughing and Bow glared at him. "Don't get mad at me, you're the one who fucked up here! Baby bro, when there is one person you especially want to spend time with at a dance… you invite them as your date!"

Bow opened his mouth and closed it again. Because that made a kind of sense. But he was in absolutely no mood to give Dirk any credit right now. "I'm not taking advice from you."

"You should! Literally the only thing I have together right now is my love life."

This was true. Dirk had been in love with the same girl for basically forever. As soon as Sugar finished culinary school, they'd probably get married, and she'd become a famous baker and Dirk would do… whatever Dirk did when he wasn't hanging around the house trying to meddle in Bow's life. He going out to see her tomorrow and Bow couldn't wait to get rid of him.

But something Dirk said was nagging at him. They'd pulled onto their street and Bow was getting weirdly nervous, waiting for Glimmer's house to come into view. "Glimmer and I are just friends."

"Mmhm, yeah. Sure sure."

"What? We are!"

"No, bud, I know you are. Best buds. BFFs. I have seen the matching T-shirts, the choreographed handshake, the whole deal." Dirk slowed the car to a roll and leaned over conspiratorially. "But you're also way less subtle about staring at her ass than you think you are."

Bow slammed the empty nugget container back into the bag. "Let me out. I'm going to just walk home."

"Come on, I thought we were bonding!" Dirk hit the brakes as Bow threw off his seat belt. He was out of the car and storming down the sidewalk in half a minute, not even sure what he was running from. The only light was the street lamps, the stars and the headlights of the car because his pain in the butt brother just rolled down the window and drove alongside him. "Bow, come on. It's not a bad thing! You're in love with the girl next door. It's cliche but adorable. You've known each other since you were toddlers! The pops already love her! She's cute too! At least… in theory. In my head you're both still, like, 5 years old so it's weird to think about you hooking up or whatever but— Hey! Where are you going?"

Bow cut across the playground at the end of the street. It meant having to walk a whole extra block home in the dark, but that was fine with him if he didn't have to talk to his brother right now. Except that Dirk lived in the same house, so he was going to have to see him either way if he went home.

He sank down in a swing, leaning his forehead against the cold chain. What the H was with him today? Everything felt charged and weird and he didn't understand why. Tonight had been fine. He'd seen his friends, they'd danced. It was exactly like every other school dance he'd been to in his entire life. So why did this one feel like it had a hole blown into it?

The park looked different at night. There were summers they'd spent every nice day here. The swing was way too low for him now and he stretched his legs out in front, staring at the peeling white gazebo, while he swayed slightly. The one they'd pretend was a castle, a house, a fort, a merry-go-round, a pirate ship, a dance floor, whatever the game called for that day. If you sat just under the benches, on the left side, the shrubs completely hid you. They'd passed hours sitting there in the shade, talking about everything in their own little world.

That was the thing about Glimmer. She was the first person he wanted to tell when he got good news, the only person he wanted to see when he was sad. Whenever he wasn't with her, it felt wrong, like he was missing half of himself. Sometimes, when she was away at school, he missed being able to touch her so much it was like a physical ache. But that's what it was like when you were best friends, right?

Maybe he should have gone with her tonight. When Perfuma had asked him to the dance, he'd said yes without even thinking about Glimmer at all because Glimmer and school dances were not a thing that had ever existed in the same world before. She'd always been away at her boarding school, doing her own thing while he was back here, doing his.

But it's not like he'd forgotten she was here now. Lately, he defined his days by how many times he'd see a flash of pink in the hallway between classes. He'd been borrowing Entrapta's geometry notes for weeks because he couldn't seem to focus on anything but the cute little way Glimmer's nose scrunched up when she was trying to figure out a math problem. Even in her plain white gym uniform, she was still somehow the most beautiful person in the room. She was just suddenly there, in his world, all the time and instead of making her feel more ordinary, it did the opposite.

So why did the whole idea of going with Glimmer as his date feel so… dangerous? He and Perfuma had gone together as friends. Wouldn't it be the same thing?

He'd be lying if he said he hadn't pictured it. She'd be wearing one of those beautiful dresses she'd modeled for him over facetime. Maybe that purple one from her school gala that made her look like a princess. And then he'd show her all the cheesy dances he and his friends made up and she'd laugh and dance with them and his friends would finally know the real Glimmer, the one he knew, not the quiet one who always looked so sad at school.

And it wouldn't be the usual sweaty, awkward small talk when there was a slow dance. That was the thing with Glimmer. Silence was as easy as talking. He'd hold her close, her head resting on her chest, and twirl her sometimes just to be silly. And she'd look up at him, her eyes twinkling the way they did when she was really happy, and maybe he'd lean down and…

Huh. He stopped the motion of the swing, his heart pounding.

He didn't want to give his brother any credit, but maybe he WAS kind of an idiot.