It's been a whiiiile! Was busy posting other things and didn't update this in a while. Here is the long waited (lol) PROM CHAPTER! Yay!
You might have seen some months ago some very cursed ships on tumblr. I should apologize in advance for joking about one of them in there °w°

Was it on their prom night?

Vanitas was sulking. He got dragged in that stupid prom by Ven and he hated it already. He hadn't even been back in school for a long time, and he did not want to bond with anyone. But Ven had insisted, and insisted again, annoying Vanitas until he'd agree to come that night.

"Come on, it will be fun!" "You know, the food is pretty much free." "I bought a ticket for my date but she had hers already so it would be wasted money." "You will look amazing in a tuxedo." "I promise that if you're bored passed 10, I'll let you go home."

Vanitas made sure to wear a watch. He was a modern version of Cinderella, and at the first stroke of mid...ten, he would run back home.

Of course, going to the prom had meant going with someone. Vanitas had no one in mind. He didn't know the names of half of the girls in his class. He was going to use that as an excuse when Ven asked a girl from his class if she was free ; the girl, probably thinking Ven was asking her out, said she was, and that's when that sneaky brat clapped his hands and said "Great, my brother was looking for a partner!"

And now Van was standing in front of the gym with a girl he barely knew. Minerva - that was her name - was a petite girl with black hair tied in two buns on the top of her head. She had a ridiculous, flashy, huge pink dress that made her look like a wedding cake. Ven had coached Vanitas for his outfit, and while there was no way he'd ever wear a tux, he was wearing a white shirt, a loose dark red tie, black trousers, and this was the closest to elegant he'd ever been. Their mother had insisted to take a picture of them, and he knew it would soon be framed on every wall of the house. She might even make a mug with the picture. Or have it printed on a wallpaper. He now started to imagine every support this picture could be printed on, and started laughing while fearing for the worst.

"Vanitas, is everything alright?" Minerva was probably concerned by his cackling - not that he could blame her. She got tricked into dating a guy who got expelled for a whole month and who wasn't known for his kindness, and now said guy was laughing alone while staring at the door.

"Yeah, I just imagined how everyone would react when they would see I actually managed to get someone to come with me."

Minerva smiled at him with kindness. "Don't say that. I am sure you would have found someone even if your brother had not helped you." Tricked, you mean, he thought with a smirk.

"Hey, Van, it doesn't count if you don't get inside! Come on!" Rolling his eyes at Ven who was calling for him, Vanitas stepped into the hall, Minerva's hand on his arm (which caused him to roll his eyes again).

The music was loud. People were wearing nice outfits to dance ridiculously. The lights were moving a lot, finding their way to his eyes and blinding him. It was already hot in there, it smelled like sweat, and Vanitas considered running back home. It was 8.30, no way he'd be able to survive until 10.

"You know, you do not have to dance with me if you don't want to." Minerva chuckled and winked at him. "I can feel you are not really enthusiastic about being here. Don't force yourself to stay with me, this is totally fine."

He smirked. "Trying to get rid of me already?" She laughed again.

"Of course not! If you want to dance, or even chat with me - even if you just want to prove people wrong, feel free to any time. But if you'd rather sit by the buffet I would absolutely understand."

Vanitas sighed. She wasn't a bad person, and she was smart - at least smart enough to get him. He nodded. "Yeah, I'll just go sit in a corner somewhere. If you wanna show off to your friends what an awesome date you have, just make a sign or something. I'll pretend I was off getting you a drink."

She smiled at him. "We've got ourselves a deal, then. Enjoy your time sitting in your corner!"

He waved, already off to the buffet. There was a huge bowl full of some kind of drink, and some snacks on the table. Nothing enough to feed this whole hall - even though he guessed that people didn't come here for the food.

"Man, I hate this place already. Hey, give me something to drink". He didn't even spare a look at the student in charge of the buffet. Avoiding eye contact usually meant avoiding unpleasant, unnecessary conversations.

"Might I ask for a please?" The student answered back, and he cursed, regretting this look not spared.

"Are you there to spy on Ventus? Making sure he's being a good boy?" He turned around to see Aqua pouring some of the drink into a plastic cup. She handed him the drink with a frown.

"No, I am here because I used to be a student there and they needed some help."

And, of course, with her big heart, she couldn't refuse. Not all superheros wear capes ; but he guessed a cape would look nice on her. He took the cup. "I hope there's some alcohol in there." He tasted the drink. Of course, it was plain, regular juice. Too bad.

"I didn't expect to see you there, Vanitas. I didn't think you would care about the prom. I'm glad to see I was wrong." There was indeed something wrong about her tone - her kindness sounded fake, hiding some kind of anger.

"You were right." He shrugged. "But Ven wanted me to come, and you know he always gets what he wants. He even found me a partner."

She nodded with a polite smile. "Yes, that is like him."

She didn't add anything, and the silence was getting awkward. Should he go sit in his corner, like he had planned? He didn't mind leaving her like this, but he also knew there was something wrong, and he had nothing better to do than to figure this out.

"Why are you angry?" What was the point of subtlety? When you wanted to know something, you just asked. He didn't really expect her to tell him, anyway. He was pretty surprised to see her sigh and lose her mask, her eyes now showing how annoyed she was.

"You know, I really wanted to believe in you. That you wanted to be a better person. I have done a lot for you - trust me, more than what you'd think. But sometimes… I wonder if you even try at all."

He instantly was on the defensive. He had not expected her to be mad at him - for an unknown reason, although he suspected he might know.

"A real ray of sunshine, aren't you?" He was trying to look like he wasn't hurt, but he did a poor job at it. She sighed again.

"It was really hard to get you that job in the shelter." So that was really what it was all about. He kind of had guessed. "Even I didn't know you had a criminal record."

"It was nothing important."

"You punched a police officer."

"He was a douche."

"I had to defend your application really hard. To promise you were older now, you had changed. That you were really willing to work there. That you loved animals."

"I do. I just hate humans."

"You showed up at work completely drunk."

"It happened only once."

"It was on the second day! And you punched someone! Do you always have to punch people?"

"Only when they're asking for it."

She stopped to fill a cup for someone, and she handed the drink so violently to the student she spilled half of the drink on the table.

"And what could that person have done exactly to deserve a broken nose?"

Vanitas glared at her. "He brought back the dog he adopted two days earlier, saying she wasn't fit for a house with kids, that she got violent. The dog had fresh wounds. That dickhead hit her. That's enough of a reason. And then I quit the shelter because I knew they wouldn't want me to come back anyway."

Aqua massaged her temples, obviously doing her best to calm down. "Violence wasn't the answer. No matter what happens, violence isn't the answer. And as long as you don't get that, I fear I cannot help you."

"Fine. I don't need your help anyway. We're graduating in a couple of months, and then I'll live my own life. You'll be rid of me."

She looked pained, hurt, and her expression softened. "That's not what I meant. I'm not saying I want to get rid of you. I want you to be happy, but I don't want it to be at other's expense. And right now, I am not the most adequate person to help you. That's all."

It almost felt like she was breaking up with him - which was stupid, because there was no way they would ever be together anyway. He felt hurt, much more than what he'd like to admit. The only person who still believed in him was giving up. He was now back at square one, all alone.

"Hey Aqua! How's it going? I hope my stupid brother isn't bothering you?"

Was Ventus unable to read the mood? His stupid grin was a ray of light trying to go through the gloomy mist of betrayal between Aqua and Vanitas - however, this time, the mist was so thick it wouldn't go through.

"I just told him I was surprised to see him here, and he said you forced him. This isn't very kind of you, Ven."

Ven laughed. "Yeah, I know, but that's very likely to be the last prom of his life, I didn't want him to miss out! Oh, is that a new necklace?"

Aqua's fingers brushed the blue stone hanging from her neck. Her face suddenly got softer, warmer, and she even blushed.

"It is. Terra gave it to me for our first anniversary yesterday at the restaurant. It's lovely, isn't it?"

"He sure picked the right one, it is beautiful! I can't believe you've been together for a year, it feels just like yesterday to me!"

Aqua laughed and answered back, but Vanitas didn't hear a thing anymore. He just wanted to be away, far away, far from this place where the only one he ever trusted was now judging him just like anyone else, far from this place where he would hear her tell how happy she was with stupid stupid Terra and how much she loved him and how much she despised Vanitas.

They were so deep in their cheerful, cheesy, stupid conversation they didn't pay him any attention anymore. Not even when he pulled out the tiny bottle of vodka he had brought to make this evening more acceptable. Not even when he poured it into the juice with no second thought. Not even when he stormed outside of the hall.

On his way out, he caught the glimpse of a big, pink wedding cake. Minerva was dancing with Michael King, the class rep, a tiny guy with a high pitched voice Vanitas hated. So even she had lied when she had said she would gladly dance with him.

Everybody kept on lying to him, anyway. There was no one who'd understand, no one he could trust. They all had put a label on him a long time ago. "Keep out".

He came back home by foot. It was an one-hour-walk, and he hoped that would help him calm his nerves. It did not.

When he opened the door, his mother was in the living room, and before she could even open her mouth, he hissed "Ask me how it went and I am leaving this house forever.".

He slammed his bedroom door and locked it behind him.

He was furious. Just furious. He had been fooled by pretty blue eyes, and here he was now.

But, strangely enough, he felt something else in his chest. Usually, he would have just given up. People thought he was a loser? He'd hate to disappoint. But not this time. This time, he knew he would prove them wrong.

He wouldn't turn into a nice guy. He wasn't Ventus. He wouldn't stop punching people, even if Aqua would judge him for that. He wouldn't give up who he was.

Instead, he would show them who he was, how he could succeed while staying himself.

He was angry at Aqua, angry at the world. But he was also thankful. He didn't like doing things to please people, but he liked doing them to piss them off.

He had lost something, that night. But he also had gotten something much, much stronger.

I felt bad having to break the relationship they had :( but since this fic is a prequel to Dreaming Alone, it had to be somewhat accurate, and our kids couldn't be bff. Since I want to somehow respect the timeline, I think there are only a couple of chapters left, maybe only one! Nothing's written yet so I can't tell how many there are left, or when it's going to get released.

Hope you enjoyed this story so far! Don't put alcohol in drinks without telling anyone, it's not something nice!