Title: High School Daze 5/5
Author: Girl Who Writes
Feedback: is beloved if you feel so inclined.
Pairing: Angel/Collins, implied Roger/April, implied Roger/Mimi
Word Count: 1981
Rating: M
Genre: Humour, Drama, Major AU.
Summary: New student Angel Dumott-Schaunard catches the eye of Senior Tom Collins, much to the delight of their friends.
Notes: This chapter is sadly the end of the first story. Chapter Six will be the second story, and will be posted June 9th. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, and please let me know what you liked and hated, and what things you'd like to see the group get up to in school, for future chapters; really, I want to write something everyone will enjoy. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Special Thanks: This challenge was set for me by discoapocalypse as part of speed rent, and it was awesome; it got me thinking and out of my comfort zone. I had a lot of crazy fun writing it :D Thank you so much, and I hope this is what you wanted and that you enjoy it!
Spoilers: Um... say movie and musical, but this is AU and drastically different.
Warnings: Language.
Disclaimer: Characters are property of the Jonathan Larson Estate. Hazel and Exodus are my characters.
Collins stood outside of the cinema, feeling incredibly conspicuous as people walked past him. The movie started in ten minutes, where was Angel? The traitorous little voice in the back of his mind was chanting, 'Stood up! Stood up! You've been stood up!' with varying degrees of evilness. No, Angel was just running late. It happened to the best of them at times.
"Tom."
Collins turned around to see Angel jogging towards him, with a smile on his face.
"Sorry I'm late, Mimi and my grandmother…" Angel trailed off and shrugged.
"No problem," Collins smiled and they walked into the cinema together. "Are you a popcorn person, or a Choc-Top sort of person?"
"Choc-Top," Angel grinned. "You've found my weakness, Tom – ice cream. You can never be too sweet."
Angel felt a little bad that Collins paid for their movie tickets and ice creams, but vowed that he'd pay for dinner; Collins had mentioned a pizza bar that was close to the cinema complex.
They settled into seats towards the back of the theatre, and chatted about other movies they'd seen recently, before the lights dimmed. Angel mentally cursed him self for not suggesting they go to dinner first; he didn't want to see this movie anymore, he wanted to talk and get to know Collins more. It seemed weird and almost awkward that they'd be sitting in a movie theatre for two hours without saying anything. Would Collins kiss him? Would he kiss Collins?
Angel mentally sighed, took a bite of his ice cream and tried to focus on the movie.
---
The movie had been fun, Collins thought as the credits began to roll. There hadn't been many people in the cinema; the film had been a little too avant-garde to attract a huge audience. But it had been funny and smart, and he and Angel had snuck looks at each other during all the funny parts, to see if the other was laughing.
So far, this was an absolutely perfect first date.
"So, did you like it?" Angel smiled up at him as they made their way onto the street.
"For a new director, I was suitably impressed," Collins said. "The scriptwriter deserves the nominations she's received, too. Definitly something I'll have to see again."
"Did you see the costumes? That dress that the spy was wearing in the last scene apparently cost seventy thousand dollars and was designed by Dior!" Angel's enthusiasm for the costuming of the film lead him to stumbling and almost toppling into the gutter.
"Woah!" Collins grabbed Angel's arms and righted him, Angel blushing with embarrassment.
"I'm so damn clumsy, I swear I caught it off of Mimi; that girl is a disaster waiting to happen," Angel blurted out, suddenly very aware that Collins was still holding onto him.
"You're cute when you blush." The words were out of Collins' mouth before he could stop them.
Angel's eyes widened and he smiled; an intimate smile Collins hadn't seen before but liked. "Thanks."
Collins didn't let go of him either; he grabbed Angel's hand. "I… haven't got any idea of what I was about to say."
Angel laughed. "Okay. Tell me about this A.V. project you're working on that Mark mentioned. It sounds interesting."
The walk to the pizza bar was short, and after they both relaxed, they found it easy to talk to one another – Collins aspired to one day help bring down social barriers through education – possibly a college professor, because he loved to learn and loved to teach. Angel admitted he had absolutely no idea what he truly wanted to do, except that it would probably involved art and design, because he loved it. They both loved musicals and avant-garde film.
"This is it," Collins swung open the door of the pizza place, and they walked in. "This has been fun. I should thank you for inviting me, because I never would have gotten up the courage to ask you."
"I admit, the second after I asked you out was followed by blind panic," Angel grinned, as the smile fell off of Collins' face. "What's the matter?" He turned around to the back table, where a bunch of teenagers were obscured by menus, except for one, who was filming them.
"Oh god," Angel groaned. "I should've asked my grandmother to keep Mimi busy tonight. I am so sorry."
"There's nothing to be sorry about," Collins reassured him. "Roger and Mark and… Maureen? Joanne? … are there too. Our friends are too god damned nosy for their own business."
"Should we pretend we haven't seen them or should we just join in the group effort?" Angel asked, with a smile.
"Come on," Collins hook his head and lead Angel over to the group's table. "Nothing better to do on a Friday night, huh?"
Five guilty looking faces appeared from behind the menus and camera.
"Mimi," Angel shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but it was Maureen's idea!" Mimi wailed, with a glint in her eye. "How was the movie?"
"Was the cinematography as good as the critics are saying?" Mark lit up at the discussion of the film.
"I heard that the book that inspired the movie paled in comparison; apparently the author lacked the ability to make her characters really come alive," Joanne added, intrigued by the topic.
Two pizzas, a round of ice cream and a walk through the park to where Roger and Maureen had parked their cars later, Collins and Angel were once again left alone.
"I'm sorry they interrupted our plans," Collins sighed. "They're amazing friends, but…."
"Don't be sorry," Angel shook his head. "It was a lot of fun. Marky's really stuck on Maureen, huh?"
"For the last five years," Collins agreed. "Mimi seems pretty taken with Roger."
"She's an amazing girl; he'd be lucky to have her," Angel grabbed Collins' hand. "So…"
"So…"
"I had a really amazing time tonight," Angel stopped, and span around so he was face to face with Collins'. "Despite the change of plans. Maybe we could do it again…"
Collins grinned. "What are you doing tomorrow night?" he asked in a low voice, intended for Angel's ears only.
"Going out with you, now," Angel replied, and there, in the middle of the park, with the fountain lit up behind them, Collins kissed him. A kiss that made Angel forget which way was up, and what his name was. Tom Collins was someone Angel just knew that he could trust with all his secrets and all his fears. This was right.
"Wow," was all Angel could manage to say. Collins grinned at him and took his hand.
"Want me to take you home?" Collins asked as they began walking again.
"Sure," Angel grinned up at him wickedly. "Your home or mine?"