Chapter 3 – The Prom Revolution
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"Prom," Julie said by way of greeting, ambushing Luke and Reggie where they were helping Mr. Molina finish arrange the charcuterie board because Flynn was going through a phase and Julie was a sucker for surprising her best friend. Luke and Reggie were testing out the different cheeses to see which ones Alex and his forever picky tastebuds would need to avoid, though Reggie also seemed to be having fun rolling the different meat slices into little flowers. "Lucas."
"Julianne," Luke countered evenly, arranging the non-Alex safe cheeses on the far-side of the board under Mr. Molina's amused eye. "Why are we talking about prom?"
"I need to know if you have a date," Julie said, holding up her tablet with a narrow-eyed sort of menace.
Luke knew in a distant way that prom was a big deal for the ladies of their school. Well, the ladies and Willie, who'd started choosing his outfit for prom before the fall semester had even ended. Because of this, Julie and Carrie had been on a prom-planning spree for weeks now, tracking down restaurant deals and securing a limo rental and scouting photo locations because apparently they needed to do that before they could eat before they could get to prom and then there was the afterparty to contend with.
The only thing Luke had cared about was whether or not he could book Sunset Curve to play, but the dumb planning committee had taken the coward's way out and avoided picking any favorites between Sunset Curve, the Phantoms, and Dirty Candy by getting a DJ, which was probably for the best in the long run but in the short run Luke was still sort of bitter.
So Luke hadn't put a lot of thought into prom, much less a prom date. He hadn't actually gone on a real date in months now – or, a real date he could tell the guys about. He'd gone on many secret dates with his not-boyfriend Reggie, but seeing as that was a secret, well, that didn't really build him up in the public romantics' department.
"I'm going with Bobby," Julie continued, because when she started talking about prom stuff she had to lay out every detail every time, and Luke didn't hold it against her because Alex got that way with his anxiety too. "And Alex is going with Flynn."
"Alex is gay," Luke pointed out, sharing a confused look with Reggie.
"Flynn is also gay, so it balances out," Julie dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Carrie's still making Nick and Willie battle it out for who gets to take her-"
"Why are the even competing, is the question," Luke interrupted, unable to help himself. Like, Carrie was cool in a brutal, will cut you sort of way, but she wasn't battle royale for the privilege of paying for her shit kind of cool.
Julie rolled her eyes, indicating that she must have already explained this at some point. "Because whoever isn't her date has to find one on their own – which they are both too lazy to do – and if they don't, will definitely get stuck watching our purses all night." She narrowed her eyes at them. "That is, assuming you guys don't have dates. If you don't, you could probably take turns."
"I have a date," Reggie spoke up, never one to want to be entrusted with responsibility of Carrie's personal effects for fear of fucking up.
Luke could relate.
"Me too," Luke said. "So uh- no stuff-sitting duty for us."
Julie gave them an unimpressed look, but dutifully added this information to her tablet. "I need names by the end of the week so we can finalize our party number for dinner. Do not give me names without buying tickets."
"Ugh, whatever," Luke huffed. "Yes, mom."
"Do not disappoint me," Julie said in true mom fashion, and then she was off to harass whatever poor soul happened to wander into her view about the next thing on her checklist.
-:-:-:-:-:-
"We have to get dates now?" Reggie complained later, the two of them detouring to a park near Luke's house so they could wait for his parents to fall asleep. Like, they might be chill with all the sex and stuff, but Luke tried to be tasteful about the arrangement. At least, when his enthusiasm allowed for it. "Man, I don't want to do that."
"I don't want to do it either," Luke agreed with a sigh. "And all the cool girls were probably already asked out."
Not that Luke would want to spend his night with a random girl anyway, not when he'd rather be dancing with Reggie.
He sighed. "Why can't we just be each other's dates?" he asked, making Reggie perk up. "We'll just tell everyone we're going as bros, and Nick won't be able to complain about it when we don't help him watch the purses because, you know, we have to do bro date things."
"How do you know that Nick's going to be the one to lose?" Reggie asked, focusing on the wrong part of that statement.
Luke shrugged. "Willie might seem chill, but he has a thirst for victory that will destroy Nick in the end."
He seemed to only bring it out specifically to spite the blond, which led to a series of questions that Luke had decided he wasn't brave enough to ask.
"So?" Luke continued. "Wanna be my date?"
"Sure," Reggie said with an easy grin. "But uh- I don't know if I'll have the money for my ticket by Friday."
"Dude, don't sweat it, you're my date." Luke winked at him. "I'll get the tickets for us."
"Only if you let me get us flowers," Reggie pressed, his face determined. "I saw this tutorial online about how to fold them out of paper."
"Sounds rad," Luke said, making his not-boyfriend flush a little bit. "Okay, let's do this."
"Assuming it can be done," Reggie agreed, the two of them trading fist bumps.
Look, it wasn't like Luke was that forgetful, he'd buy the tickets on Monday – easy peasey.
-:-:-:-:-:-
The lady manning the prom ticket table in the cafeteria levered a glare at Luke that was so unimpressed it made him think that maybe he'd accidentally killed her cat or something. Just, that was a lot of emotions from someone he'd never met before.
"No," she said simply after Luke had informed her who his date was.
Luke paused, grateful that he was the only person in line. "What do you mean, no?"
The woman sighed, then pointed to the rules sign stationed on the far side of the table, something Luke hadn't bothered to read because he assumed it said stuff like 'wait your turn' and 'no checks allowed' or whatever. Like, who needed rules for standing in a line?
"The purchase of the combo ticket and picture package is forbidden by two students of the same sex," she explained with a bored sort of drawl.
That… seemed like a super dumb rule, though in hindsight, it explained why Alex was taking Flynn to prom.
"Um- okay," Luke said, not understanding why the rule was in place at all. "But like, this isn't a romance thing." The woman paused, intrigued by Luke's half lie (it was a secret romance thing, the clarification was important), so he continued. "Reggie's my best bro, but…" He leaned forward, dropping his voice. "He can't afford the tickets, okay? He can't really afford to take a girl either, so like – could we please have an exception? He deserves to have a good prom night too. We just want to go as best buds and get a picture taken together."
He was still sort of confused why the rule existed in the first place. Like, he knew Alex complained about how conservative their town was, but Luke hadn't realized they'd be that bothered at the idea of two girls buying their tickets together or whatever.
The woman sighed, looked around, and then started scribbling their names into a ledger.
"Okay," she said. "We'll make an exception for you."
"Thank you!" Luke chirped, gladly passing the money over. "Thank you so much, we really appreciate it."
"Do not spread this around," the woman warned him, and Luke mimed zipping his lips, accepting the prom tickets with a bit more excitement than was probably warranted.
But yep, they'd done it. They had couple's tickets and Nick wouldn't be able to say shit about it. Looked like their night of fun was back on track indeed.
-:-:-:-:-:-
"Name, Lucas," Julie said when they were dragged into their weekly prom-update Skype call. Luke usually spent most of his playing footsy with Reggie or attempting to perfect the lyrics of whatever song he was working on while the others got into the specifics of discussing the boring details of prom, but then Julie had to go and say his name, dragging him unwillingly into the conversation. "What's your date's name?"
"Reggie," Luke said, pointing to the bassist lying on the bed beside him, the two of them sprawled out on their stomachs and definitely not playing thumb war instead of paying attention to the great shoe debate of fifteen minutes ago.
Reggie gave an enthusiastic wave before turning his attention back to their battle, which was why they didn't immediate notice the rest of the call going quiet.
"Seriously, Luke," Julie sighed. "Who are you taking?"
"I just told you," Luke huffed, allowing Reggie to win so he could give his full focus to this dumb meeting. Seriously, he didn't care where they ate, he and Reggie were the least picky eaters here. "I'm taking Reggie. I already have our tickets and everything."
There was a pause.
"They sold tickets to you?" Flynn asked. "Did they confuse Reggie with a girl or something?"
"No," Luke huffed. "I just stated my case. They made a best bros exception."
Nick perked up from his distant corner of the chat. "If you're just going as bros-"
"We are dates," Reggie interrupted, holding up Luke's hand. "You can watch everyone's stuff on your own."
"I haven't lost yet," Nick huffed, all offended.
"The key word here is 'yet'," Luke murmured to Reggie, earning a startled laugh from the other teen.
Willie gladly joined in on it until the amusement at Nick's expense seemed to take over the chat. Like, Alex and Julie didn't seem to laugh that much, but they were still in party planning mode, so that was to be expected, obviously.
-:-:-:-:-:-
"Reginald, please," Luke sighed, staring up at the ceiling so he could avoid the might of Reggie's wounded puppy eyes. "My mom's giving me money specifically to cover our dinner, just let me pay."
"You already bought the tickets though," Reggie huffed, the two of them going through the haul of clothing they'd managed to acquire from all the thrifts stores around town. They maybe weren't the most stylish of threads, but Julie had already warned Luke that if Reggie sported any flannel or his leather jacket, there would be problems. Which seemed kind of rude, because those were part of Reggie's signature style, but whatever. Flynn had already promised she'd help them upcycle an outfit for Reggie if they could find all the right components, so they were in the process of working that out when the argument about who'd pay for dinner had started up.
"And you are already delighting me with the wonder of your company," Luke countered easily, comparing two dress shirts and wondering if Flynn could use the torso of one and the sleeves of another – sort of like a mix and match thing. Or like, keep the torso and the sleeves but trade out the collar and cuffs. That could be cool. "Reg-"
"You're making me the girl," Reggie complained, his lip dragged low in a pout.
"That's sexist," Luke said absently, his mind immediately drawn to places it probably shouldn't consider, manifesting Reggie's statement a little too literally and getting a flood of warmth at the results.
"What?" Reggie asked, intrigued by the dazed look on Luke's face.
"Um." This was a bad idea, but it was now the only idea Luke had on his mind, and he knew it probably wouldn't go away until he shared it with Reggie and had the bassist appropriately shame him for it. "I- you want it to be even, right?"
"Right," Reggie agreed tentatively, narrowing his eyes in thought.
"So in exchange for buying us dinner, you could do something for me."
Reggie got all confused. "Like a sex thing?"
"No." That felt way too close to prostitution for Luke's own comfort, and he didn't want that with his not-boyfriend. "No, I mean like- maybe? Something sex-adjacent."
"What is it?" Reggie asked, curious now.
It would probably be better for Luke to just show him. "Would you be okay here on your own?" Luke asked. "I need like, half an hour."
Reggie gave him a strange look, then waved him on. And maybe Luke took closer to forty-five minutes because there'd been way more options than he'd expected, and like, it wasn't like he'd intended to actually ever visit this store, or even remember where it was, but maybe this idea had been on his mind for a little bit longer than he'd anticipated.
That being said, his heart was totally threatening to beat out of his chest when he made his way back, Reggie having narrowed down his choices to the exact options Luke had expected him to pick an hour ago.
"Okay, so um- you don't have to consider this if you don't want to," Luke said, holding up his nondescript shopping bag. "But I- I got you something you could um- wear under your clothes so…"
Reggie just stared at him for a moment before ducking his head with a bashful flush. "Dude, if you didn't like my underwear, you could have just said so."
"I like your underwear just fine," Luke said, because Reggie got the short type of briefs and they always made his ass look pretty great. "This is- I mean, when you said you were the girl…"
He passed the bag over to Reggie who took it tentatively, pulling out the garment that Luke had tactically positioned on top, because if Reggie didn't like that, he wasn't going to like the rest of the stuff in the bag.
Reggie lost a few moments staring at the silky lace thing dangling from his hand, and then he balked. "Are these panties?"
"Just- if you want," Luke offered.
"Why would I want these?" Reggie asked, and he seemed more surprised and confused than legitimately offended.
"Because you'd look really hot?" Luke tried.
That made Reggie pause, the bassist biting at his bottom lip. "You really think so?"
"Oh, hell yeah," Luke said, giving him a wide smile. "Again, no pressure-"
"I'm gonna try them on," Reggie declared before disappearing into Luke's bathroom, taking the majority of Luke's restraint with him because this was actually happening.
Luke stood with bated breath, lingering a little too close to the door. He strained his ears, trying to get a feel for Reggie's reaction.
After five minutes, he risked clearing his throat. "Do you hate them?"
There was a pause. "…no."
"Would you be okay wearing them?"
Another pause. "Yes."
Luke bit down on his bottom lip. "Do you want to wear them?"
"I want to know what else is in the bag."
"I- oh," Luke said, fumbling for it. "Um, well- they had matching sets, right? So uh- there's some red stockings-"
"Stockings?" Reggie echoed, maybe a little breathless.
"They're like thin socks," Luke offered. "Um- they go about thigh high. They're held up with a garter belt and uh… I mean, you don't have boobs, but they had these bralet things that are just for guys-"
"Oh my god," Reggie said, sounding a little strangled.
"They had pasties too, but I thought you'd like these better," Luke murmured. "Oh, and um- I got you a robe, but that's- I mean, that'd be for the beach house, but it's all flowy and stuff-"
"You want me to wear this at the beach house?" Reggie asked, surprised and maybe a bit scandalized.
"I mean, just when we all break up to have sex, right?" Luke said.
He hadn't super paid attention to the details of their prom after party, but Luke was fairly sure that the only rite of passage he'd actually known about prom before all this was that sex happened on prom night. That was why Julie had them nail down their roommate situation so early on. Willie was sharing a room with Nick (to finally make good on those things Luke didn't want to ask about), Flynn would be with Carrie to make good on all the eye fucking they'd done for the past semester, Julie would get her own room because 'she deserved some damn peace and relaxation' (her words, not Luke's), and Bobby and Alex would be together as best bros.
That left Luke with Reggie, and if Reggie was wearing those panties to prom, Luke definitely wanted to make good on the opportunity to massage the hell out of him.
"Are the others going to have sex?" Reggie asked, almost a squeak. "Is that what they talk about at those meetings? Man, I should actually start listening to those."
"No, that was more of a culturally implied thing," Luke offered. "We don't have to have sex if you don't want to."
"Well, now I want to," Reggie huffed. "Okay, gimme the bag, I wanna try the rest of it on."
"Okay," Luke said, dutifully staring up at the ceiling when he passed the bag through the cracked open door.
It seemed to take forever for Reggie to talk again. "…oh," Reggie said, sounding distracted.
"Well?" Luke asked.
"I look hot as hell," Reggie declared. "I think I'm gonna have to shave my legs though."
"Razor and shaving cream are on the ledge," Luke offered before he could think about it. "Not that- that you have to now- or you can now, and however much you want going forward-"
"I want to see the full look," Reggie decided, leading to the most torturous hour of Luke's existence while he listened to Reggie shave from the other side of the door.
Eventually, when he'd given up and was slumped on the floor, Reggie cleared his throat.
"Okay," Reggie said. "Okay, pack the robe, I'll um- wear this to prom."
"Can I see it?" Luke asked, wishing he sounded less pitiful than he felt.
"Fuck no, you'll have to wait," Reggie cackled, sounding pleased with himself. "Taunt yourself with the possibilities of what could be, darling."
"You're a cruel man, Reginald," Luke sighed.
Reggie giggled. "If you're naked and on your bed by the time I get out of here, I'll suck you off as an apology."
The bassist immediately laughed when he heard Luke scramble to follow his orders, but Luke was okay with that. You didn't have pride in the wake of Reggie's talented mouth, and he knew if their positions were reversed, Reggie would do the same for him.
-:-:-:-:-:-
Because Luke's mom was a stickler for traditions, she made Luke get ready in the downstairs bathroom while Reggie overtook Luke's bedroom, intercepting Luke's one and only chance to get a peek of Reggie in the red lingerie, but that wasn't exactly something he could complain about. He might have grumbled a little, but he still eagerly walked around the side of the house when he was done so they could have what his mother declared was 'the prom moment', where Luke rang the doorbell and Reggie got to make a grand entrance down the stairs while they all took pictures.
(Reggie had argued that Luke should be the one who got to go down the stairs because it was his house, but they'd already agreed he'd be the girl for the evening (even if that was an arbitrary designation anyway), and Luke liked the way Reggie's cheeks had gotten all warm when his mom had suggested the idea).
Luke might be a showman, but Reggie made an awesome dramatic entrance. He was bashful as hell, his head ducked and cheeks flushed and shoulders a tiny bit hunched, but he looked like a thousand bucks in the outfit Flynn had pieced together for him, and the smile he gave Luke when the singer dutifully pinned the paper flowers Reggie had made them onto his lapel made every moment of tedious prom planning worth it. It even made the thousands of pictures his mother must have taken of them in the entryway worth it too, and then they repeated the process all over again when they got to the Molina's, everyone posing together by the limo in their formalwear.
Ray took their overnight bags since he'd be delivering them (and the provisions their parents had pooled together and purchased) to the beach house shortly after they left. It was their first big overnight stay without any kind of chaperone, but with the way Julie had been eyeing all of them, they all knew better than to allow for any 'funny business'. Both Julie and Alex were a little terrified of betraying their parents' trust, and Luke didn't blame them. Like, before this semester he might not have gotten it, but his secret boyfriend-ship with Reggie had really done wonders for his relationship with his parents. They were learning how to better communicate with each other now, mostly because Luke was forcing himself to because he didn't want Reggie to get hurt, and well, it was pretty cool to see his parents unquestionably support the weird arrangement he'd accidentally stumbled into.
"To prom!" Willie declared with a dramatic wave of his hand as he climbed into the limo.
"To the fountains!" Julie countered. "And then the restaurant, and then prom."
"To the prom experience!" Willie corrected from the inside of the limo, the rest of them laughing as they piled in behind him, Luke managing to squish into a corner with Reggie that was as amazing as it was terrible. He could see a peek of red stocking extending up under his pants, and everyone else might think they were just fun socks to add a pop of color, but Luke knew better.
Ugh. Why did they even have to do prom in the first place? Luke just wanted to ravish Reggie right now.
"Soon, big boy," Reggie whispered in his ear as they got through pictures at the fountains, then settled down at the restaurant.
Fortunately, they were sitting side by side while they ate, so Luke was allowed to play footsy with Reggie to distract himself, something the bassist repaid by obnoxiously licking up the whipped cream that was on top of his dessert.
"Tease," Luke muttered, getting revenge by stealing some of Reggie's ice cream and making a show of licking it off his lips, until the two of them transitioned into just sort of making dumb faces at each other until Carrie kicked Luke in the shins, because apparently she had to pull some strings to get this reservation and they were being embarrassing.
"Not that I'm surprised," Carrie huffed as they made their way back to the limo. "But come on guys, at least try to be classy."
"And assy," Luke murmured to Reggie, giving a small shake of his butt that had the bassist giggling into the palm of his hand.
"I don't know why I even try with these humans," Carrie muttered before making a beeline to Flynn, who was taking another set of selfies for her Instagram.
They got to prom in short order and everyone immediately got in line to take pictures. Julie, because she was a generous soul, ended up taking pictures with both Bobby and Nick so the rest of them would stop making fun of the blond as much (not by a lot, but like, not as much), and Luke and Reggie brought up the end of the line.
Because the photographer was not a part of their school's conservative administration, he didn't really think much of two guys getting couple's photos, probably because they weren't living in the nineties or whatever, so he instructed Luke and Reggie to pose the same way as everyone else. They got a picture of Reggie hanging off his arm, of the two of them holding onto each other, and then Luke requested they do the awkward hand holding thing so they can match his mom's prom photo she tried to hide in the bottom of some storage box (because the dress was atrocious, apparently, and not because the dude she was with definitely wasn't dad). Fortunately, both Reggie and the photographer went along with the last one, further proving that Reggie was unquestionably the most perfect prom date ever.
"You guys are stupid," Flynn informed them fondly when they caught up with the others. "But you look good."
"Back at you," Luke said with a wink, causing Reggie to pile on with his signature finger guns. "Did they grab a table yet?"
"Did they grab a table," Flynn echoed, her voice rife with amusement. "It's like you never listen to our meetings. Carrie was on the prom planning committee for a reason, Patterson. You don't have to fight for one of the good tables if you can have a reserved sign put up instead."
"Man, you guys are freaky," Luke said, offering his arms to Flynn and Reggie while they made their belated entrance. "Why is this so important anyway?"
"Boys," Flynn huffed under her breath, rolling her eyes while still managing to model her custom gown with effortless beauty. "It's the high school equivalent of the Oscars."
"No one cares about the Oscars," Luke grumbled. "The Tony's, on the other hand…"
"You are so whipped," Flynn informed him, knowing that the only reason they sat down and watched the Tony's at all was because Alex and Reggie thought they were amazing. Bobby and Luke never kept track of the newest musicals, but for the others, they pushed through. And like, Luke could appreciate a different type of musical performance. It might not be rock and roll, but people were still throwing all their passion and talent into it, and that was pretty cool.
"Whipped cream," Reggie murmured in his ear, glancing meaningfully at the dessert bar until Luke dragged him away from it, the singer knowing full well he wouldn't be able to stand another round of Reggie's teasing.
They got to their table where Willie surprised them with a system that allowed the girls to hide their bags safely out of view without anyone having to stay and watch them. It involved hooks or something, Luke didn't get the specifics, but Nick spent a full two minutes staring all wide eyed at it before attempting to bodily tackle Willie, who managed to smoothly transition it into swing dancing, much to Nick's continued sputtering.
Still, that was cue enough for all of them to hit the dance floor, Willie and Nick breaking apart so they could take to the floor in force.
The music was pop and not entirely Luke's scene, but Alex and Reggie were both obviously jazzed (though Alex made an effort to hide his enthusiasm. He'd always been a little embarrassed at how much he liked pop music) and that was more than enough to see Luke through. He still didn't understand the prom hype, but any evening with his friends was a good time, and Luke held onto that. He and Reggie took turns moving through their crowd so they got some time with everyone, both of them sure to thank the ladies for their hard efforts in planning the evening. Julie preened, Carrie took the adulation as her due, and Flynn demanded Luke take pictures of her and Reggie so she could show off her hard work in her portfolio.
Everything was moving right along, and then the music seemed to slow down some, the dance floor breaking apart into dedicated couples.
"Oh," Alex said, combing a distracted hand through his sweaty hair. "Um- Flynn?"
"I guess we may as well," Flynn said with a shrug. "Get the full prom experience."
"Right." Carrie rolled her eyes but graciously accepted Willie's arm. "The full experience."
"I feel like we're missing something," Reggie whispered to Luke while the others coupled up.
"We probably are," Luke offered, because they weren't really the best when it came to subtext or reading hidden cues. That sort of stuff required a way bigger attention span than either of them had. "Dance with me?"
"Duh," Reggie said with a grin, and then he was resting his head against Luke's shoulder, sliding in close like all the other couples were.
It was nice. It wasn't the first time he and Reggie had slow danced before. The two of them had practiced together in the studio after a couple of their rehearsals, Reggie nervous about potentially doing it wrong. This, at least, was an insecurity Luke had been glad for, because he'd enjoyed practicing with Reggie. He liked holding the bassist close and swaying to the music with him. He liked the idea of keeping Reggie safe, of Reggie feeling safe with him. Sometimes when they did this, they'd have to cut off because Luke was hit with a sudden deluge of inspiration, words flowing from his pen like water, and Sunset Curve didn't really do love songs – but things about empowerment and protection and belonging, those felt accurate, and Reggie was his muse.
Granted, so were Bobby and Alex, even if they didn't need Luke as much. They never really had – both of them were too put together, too responsible and mature. They didn't need help the way Luke and Reggie did, which was why they usually fell together. Neither Luke nor Reggie ever wanted to hold anyone back, but they were birds of a feather so like, it wasn't like they could drag each other down. At least not much.
Luke was musing over this when a throat cleared beside him, and he turned to see who he guessed was one of the chaperones, the dude's face slightly scrunched up.
"You two need to break apart," the chaperone dutifully informed them. "No same-sex couples are allowed on the dancefloor."
"We're not a couple," Luke said, trying to keep his cool when he felt Reggie tense in his arms. "We're best friends."
The guy paused like he hadn't been expecting this, which was enough to push Luke onwards.
"I mean, you can ask anyone around," Luke continued. "They'll tell you we're not dating."
The guy shook his head. "Regardless-"
"I should be allowed to dance with my best bro. Like-" He pointed to a random couple nearby. "I bet we know each other way better than those guys do. And we can't dance together because of what? Some dumb rule? I don't want to dance with some random girl I don't know, I just want to chill with my best bud."
The guy sighed. "If you continue to violate the rules, you will be escorted…"
He trailed off when Carrie and Flynn moved up beside them, the two of them having broken away from their partners at some point. While Luke was pretty sure they'd heard the entire conversation, they both acted like they hadn't, Carrie pulling Flynn into her arms and letting the fashionista rest her head against her shoulder.
"What?" Carrie said after a few beats where the chaperone just sort of stared at them. "She's my best friend."
"The very best," Flynn agreed with a hum.
The chaperone shook his head. "No same sex couples-"
"Not a couple," Carrie interrupted, her voice sweet. "We're friends, you could ask anyone."
The chaperone seemed flabbergasted for a moment, something that only grew when Willie showed up with a flushed Nick.
"Don't mind me," Willie said, spinning Nick before he dragged the blond in close. "Just dancing with my good bro here."
At this point, the chaperone's face was getting all flushed. "All of you are in violation of the school's prom etiquette-"
"The etiquette dictates no same sex couples," Bobby cut in quietly, his voice soft but firm. Alex lingered almost shyly beside him, but they were holding hands, which was pretty cute. "But none of us are couples here. We're all just friends."
The chaperone's jaw clenched. "The definition of couple in this instance is in reference to a duo of students, not-" He cut off abruptly, gaze going wide as he looked beyond Luke and Reggie, and the two of them turn to see another few couples of students they don't know have joined them. Two pairs of guys and three pairs of girls were all dancing with each other, and more seemed to be coming over to join them.
"You dancing with your friends?" Carrie asked the girl couple closest to them. "You know, like we are?"
"Oh yeah, this is definitely my friend," the girl hummed, and beyond them Luke could see the rest of Dirty Candy showing up and pairing off, Kayla trading a high five with Carrie before beginning her dance.
The chaperone's hands started to shake. "All of you are in violation of the school's prom etiquette," he said, his voice tense. "If you do not desist immediately, you will be asked to-"
More students were joining them. It seemed like half the dance floor was same sex couples now, and more and more were joining on. Like, dudes Luke was pretty sure were a hundred percent straight were dancing with their buddies, girls who'd never given a hint at batting for their own team were dancing with their friends. It almost felt like it was planned even though it totally hadn't been, even though Luke hadn't intended to set anything like this off, he'd just wanted to dance with Reggie.
"What are you going to do?" Carrie pressed. "Eject all of us from the prom? What kind of story is that going to spread? Someone's going to start asking questions, and there will be hundreds of angry teens more than happy to explain that their school emptied out their own damn ballroom because of their dumb, bigoted policies." She waved her arm angrily. "It'll start trending on Twitter. Some late-night talk show host will do a segment on it, and do you know who's going to look like the villain in all this? Let me tell you, it's not the two best friends who wanted to dance with each other."
Because it was Carrie, and Carrie was a force of nature – the chapterone, despite being like, twenty years older than her, still looked suitably cowed. It was probably why he was relieved when another chaperone wandered over – this one the vice principal, Luke was pretty sure.
"Just let it go, Darryl," the woman said, nudging the man off the floor. "It's an outdated policy."
"It's still policy," the man, Darryl, hissed.
"If you want to fight that battle with any of the news outlets, be my guest," the woman said. "But we can't empty out the ballroom for something this… benign. We'd be a laughing stock." She turned back to their group. "You guys have fun and remember to stay safe."
With that, she ushered the other chaperone off the floor, which seemed to cue the other chaperones around the room to follow in suit, until everything was normal again.
At least, as normal as it could be without a loud cheer falling over the crowd.
"Oh my god," Alex said, hiding his face against Bobby's shoulder. "Did that actually just happen?"
"Um- yeah, I guess," Luke said. "Way to go, Carrie. You kicked super ass."
"Way to go, you two idiots," Carrie huffed, but she was smiling at Luke and Reggie – one of her wide, earnest ones. "You're the ones that kicked this all off."
"Well, I mean-" Luke felt himself get rambly. "I just wanted to dance with my best bro."
"And that's great, Luke," Julie said, her grin kind and earnest. "But now I'm out of a dance partner."
Luke glanced to the side where Bobby was very much still holding Alex close, then gave an apologetic shrug. "You can always dance with me and Reggie."
"Yeah, Jules!" Reggie cheered, the two of them untangling their hands and holding them out to Julie. "You're always wanted here."
Julie laughed, but with them, not at them. "I suppose we've already rocked the boat once; it wouldn't hurt to do it again."
"Exactly," Luke said, and they finished out the slow dance with just the three of them, Reggie giggling in giddy relief after the close call with the chaperone.
They spent the rest of the night exactly how they wanted to. Julie bounced from couple to couple, though more often than not she ended up dancing with Willie and Nick, who both looked at her with an open sort of reverence that she entirely deserved. Carrie didn't allow anyone else to dance with Flynn, not that Flynn seemed to mind, but the rest of them traded off their slow dances now that they had the choice to. Luke still spent most of them with Reggie, but it was nice to take Alex for a spin too, the blond getting all flushed and stutter-y every time Luke turned him. Bobby was the same fountain of quiet support as always, holding Luke close and letting him rest his head over the rhythm guitarist's heart, taking comfort in the steady tempo under his ear.
The entire room didn't stay divided in same sex couples, but there were certainly more than there had been before, and a lot of them sought out Luke and Reggie. They asked for selfies or just talked for a little bit, but a lot of them thanked them, even when Luke told them that Carrie had done all the hard work, not them.
It turned out that Carrie had been sending a lot of them their way though, so the teens wouldn't hear any of it, requesting commemorative photos and saying what a cute couple Luke and Reggie were before moving on. Sometimes this happened when Luke was with Alex or Bobby though, and they'd still get thanked by the kids that hadn't been close enough to see who the first confronted couple was. Bobby took it with grace but Alex just sputtered, flushing dark for every picture because Luke was having too much fun not to play along with it.
By the time they piled into the limo, the overall mood of the evening was victorious. Flynn even pressed a kiss to Luke's cheek, something he wouldn't have expected in a million years that made him flush down to his toes.
"Luke damn Patterson, despite being the least involved members of our prom planning team, you and Reggie really came through." She gave him a wide smile, squeezing his hand. "Thanks for giving us the prom we wanted but were too scared to fight for."
"Ah, guys," Luke said, grinning bashfully. "You know we were happy to help."
However accidental that help might be.
"I can't believe it was Luke that started the prom revolution," Carrie huffed, throwing an arm around Flynn's shoulder.
"I can," Bobby said, his grin small but knowing.
Luke didn't preen, because he could have some amount of class, but he definitely perked up on the inside, knowing he'd hold onto the comment for a long time to come.
-:-:-:-:-:-
Endnotes:
Hey look, other people! They do exist! I was honestly surprised by the turn this story took, but it was a lot of fun writing these guys exploring prom shenanigans while Luke and Reggie's relationship continued to develop in the background :)
Thanks for the feedback, guys! It really is a delight. Some of it straight up makes me cackle, and all of it is appreciated :D
Story notes:
No joke, way back when my high school required everyone who was buying more than one prom ticket to give the name of their date, and if they were of the same sex, that was definitely not allowed. Conservative towns are fun, am I right? Anyway, I thought it would be fun to play around with Luke and Reggie casually breaking that system entirely on accident.
Until next time :)