Chapter seven: Mutual Friends

Prompt: #50 Party

Universe: AU

Rating: T

A/N: A:TLA reference... see if you can spot it :)

x

The way they met was purely coincidental.

Dawn was friends with Barry, who was friends with Lucas, who in turn was close friends with Volkner (so close they were almost a couple), who was then best friend to Flint, who was close friends with Cynthia.

So, of course, when Flint invited Volkner and Lucas to a party, Lucas invited Barry who in turn brought Dawn with him. Dawn, on the other hand, was rather reluctant to attend a party full of crazy adults when she herself was only sixteen. With some persuasion on both Barry's and Lucas' part, she agreed to go, but only if they could leave at eleven.

So, they went. They rode Volkner's sweet ferrari and made it to Flint's house at seven fifty. In the time between, Dawn became good friends with Volkner, who had quietly admitted to her he had feelings for Lucas, to which she offered to help him with. Barry and Lucas had been none the wiser, playing 'I Spy' in the backseat with the radio on at full blast.

"I SPY... SOMETHING RED!"

"WHAAT?!"

"RED! SOMETHING RED!"

"SOMETHING DEAD?! YOU'RE SICK, LUCAS!"

She also admitted to Volkner her attraction to girls, to which Volkner smirked and cryptically told her she'd meet someone quite nice while they were there.

With excited grins, the boys exited the car, Dawn trailing behind them. Volkner locked his vehicle and they walked up the steps to Flint's humble abode, located on the outskirts of Jubilife city, and Volkner smirked at their awed expressions.

There were lights varying between shades of orange, red and yellow lighting up the path to the house and the house had been decorated to resemble a glowing flame as well. Flint had gone all out on the decorations, something he always did.

The boys all wore jeans and dress shirts, Volkner yellow, Barry orange and Lucas blue, while Dawn wore a simple navy dress to her knees, with the straps hanging on the side of her shoulders. Her hair was devoid of her usual beanie and clips, and even Volkner commented on her beauty. In turn, she coyly suggested Volkner keep his hands off Lucas' messily neat hair, to which he pinked and turned away with a sly grin.

Volkner knocked on the door, a bored expression on his face when Flint swung it open and greeted them with a wide smile. He was wearing dress pants and a silk red shirt, his hair a crazy red afro.

"Hey! Come on in, guys.. and girl," Flint remarked, smiling at Dawn. Dawn smiled back at the nicely dressed man and followed Barry in, keeping close to him. Barry turned to her and took her hand, pulling her with him out of the foyer and into the living room. There were already a few people conversing, mainly a man with a magenta suit and shoulder-length purple hair and a younger man with dress pants and a light green dress shirt with the same colour hair slicked back.

There was a table lined with snacks, in the motif of fire, which was the overall theme of the party. The snacks and beverages were either yellow, orange or red or had names synonymous with 'heat' or 'flame'. Dawn approached the table and held up a bag that said 'flameos' and turned to Barry with 'are you serious?' look.

"Hey, don't look at me! I didn't design anything!" Barry shot back, holding his hands up in surrender. Dawn shook her head with a smile on her face and followed Barry to one of the sofas sitting next to him and looking around. There were three leather sofas and a flat screen television placed atop a fire place. The soccer matchs of earlier today were playing and Dawn noticed that there were many trophies related to soccer lined up along the shelves.

"Yeah, I'm an avid soccer player, and one of the best too!" a voice exclaimed, catching Dawn by surprise. She turned around and saw Flint behind her, arms crossed and a proud grin pulling at his lips.

"Volkner says he could whoop your ass anyday," Barry retorted, putting his arms behind his head and smirking.

"Oh, he said that, did he? We'll see about that tomorrow when I crush him!" Flint replied angrily, glaring at Volkner's head. He marched stiffly to the yellow-haired man, who had been in a discussion with the other two men, and tapped his shoulder, yelling about a challenge tomorrow. Volkner then glared at Barry, who in turn gave him a thumbs-up and laughed sheepishly.

"Was that really necessary?" Lucas asked Barry. He had his hands on his hips and a frown on his lips.

"Yeah! I want to see them play live! Right, Dawn?" Barry turned to her with a pleading look in his eyes and his bottom lip jutting out in a pout.

Dawn stifled a sigh and turned away. "Don't drag me into this," she muttered.

Lucas laughed when Barry dropped his head and sat down beside the girl, leaning back and watching Volkner argue with Flint.

"You know, you and Dawn could pass as siblings," Barry remarked, looking between the two. Dawn and Lucas turned to each other and nodded slowly, fist under their chin.

"Yeah, we could pass as long lost twins or something," Lucas laughed, shoving Dawn lightly.

Dawn smiled and shoved him back. "Uh huh, and you and Volkner could pass as Romeo and Juliet, without the tragedy," Dawn said, grinning at Lucas' beet red face.

"Wha... I need to go to the bathroom," Lucas hurriedly excused himself and dashed away.

"Haha, nice one Dawn! Now he'll confess for sure!" Barry joked. Dawn grinned and leaned her head on Barry's shoulder, watching the door for any newcomers. So far, there had been few: a girl with pink hair and a bandaid on her nose; another girl with black hair styled in braided pigtails; a woman with purple hair, an extravagant purple dress and a heavy french accent and a man with red hair and glasses.

They passed the time commenting on the guests' various appearances, laughing so hard they cried when they heard the french woman speak. She turned to the teens with an annoyed frown on her face and was close to scolding them when Volkner appeared and engaged her in conversation. The teens smiled sheepishly at Volkner's glare and resumed their activities in silence.

An hour passed and the guests had begun to dance to some trendy pop song. The sofas were pushed back and the snack table was against the staircase. Barry had gone to hit on a few girls that had appeared and Dawn raided the snacks, trying out the 'flameos' then promptly pulling a face. She avoided the punch, hearing about the legendary 'spiking' that happens all the time at home parties such as this.

Lucas joined her later and they cracked jokes about the other guests and leaned against the wall beside the table. Soon enough, their conversation turned to Volkner and Dawn nudged Lucas' ribs with her elbow.

"You should tell him how you feel" Dawn suggested seriously.

"I don't know... what if he doesn't feel the same way? I'll be totally humiliated," Lucas replied, head bowed.

Dawn remained silent, not wanting to divulge what Volkner confided in her but wanting to give Lucas a boost in confidence. "If you live on 'what ifs' your whole life you'll regret it," she warned him.

Lucas scoffed but offered no reply.

"...he feels the same way, you know," Dawn quietly divulged.

Lucas' eyes widened. "What?"

"He told me on the way here, while you and Barry were goofing off. He's just shy about it 'cause you're so carefree and he's scared of your reaction," Dawn explained, smiling gently.

"..." Lucas remained speechless, standing still.

Dawn shoved him and he stumbled, glaring at her weakly. "Go. Tell him, now. If you're not a couple by the end of this," Dawn continued, "Flint will take him from you," Dawn concluded, fully aware that Flint was heterosexual and didn't have any feelings for Volkner.

Lucas sputtered, beet red, but quickly ran off to see Volkner. Dawn sighed and leaned back, closing her eyes.

"Wow.. you're quite the matchmaker," a voice commented. Dawn opened her eyes to see who spoke but her voice failed to give any reply. In front of her was the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen. She wore a tight black dress outlining her curves, had steel coloured eyes and long blond hair. Dawn stood straighter and blushed, making eye contact with the woman. She cleared her throat and turned away to watch Barry getting slapped by the girl with the braided pigtails.

"...I try," she replied weakly.

The woman smirked and leaned against the wall beside Dawn, crossing her arms.

"The name's Cynthia. What's yours?" she asked, glancing at the blue-haired girl with vivid blue eyes.

"Dawn," she answered, smiling at Barry's indignant look. He was probably threatening to fine the girl for hitting him.

Cynthia followed her look and arched an eyebrow at the blond teen, then sighed disappointingly. "Is that your boyfriend?" she pointed out, nodding her head at Barry.

To her surprise, Dawn laughed and shook her head. "Haha, no. We're best friends, but that's it. I came because Barry is a mutual friend between me and Lucas, who is now Volkner's soon-to-be boyfriend. Barry threatened to fine me a million dollars if I didn't show up," Dawn explained, turning to Cynthia with those blue, blue eyes. Cynthia laughed in response.

Her mood considerably lifted, Cynthia decided to investigate further. "Well, why isn't he your boyfriend, then, if you're such good friends?" she prodded, leaning closer to the girl.

Dawn remained quiet, no longer smiling and she turned away, fiddling with her dress.

"Is he... gay?" Cynthia asked, curious.

"No way!" Dawn exclaimed, meeting the woman's eyes and shrinking back at the resolve she saw in those steel eyes.

Cynthia jumped back slightly at the exclamation but slowly, she began to understand. She hid a smile and leaned down to the younger girl's ear.

"Are.. you?" she breathed.

Dawn gasped, and stumbled back, face red and eyes scared. Her mother warned her to stay away from people who tried to seduce her like this, or people who tried to figure out her secret and blackmail her. She didn't know what to make of Cynthia, so she refused to answer and was about to run away when the woman took her wrist and pulled her back, locking her arms around Dawn.

"Hey, no need to be so scared," the blonde murmured, "I swing that way, too, if that's any comfort."

Dawn swiveled around in shock, staring up at the woman whose arms had her locked in an embrace.

"Huh?"

Cynthia smiled, leaning down. "I'm attracted to you, Dawn. You know, girls that like girls, lesbian," Cynthia joked, chuckling.

Dawn blushed and looked down bashfully. "I know what you mean. I just... don't believe it."

Cynthia smirked and pressed her lips against the girl's. Dawn overcame her shock and pushed back, reaching her arms around the woman's shoulders. They stayed against each other for two minutes, lips moving until they pulled back, faces flustered and grinning.

"Now do you believe me?"

Dawn nodded. "Uh huh."

Cynthia released the girl and stepped back, hand on her hip. Dawn smiled and checked the clock on the wall, gasping at the time. It was already ten fifty. Cynthia gave the girl a worried look as she panicked, shaking her hands and jumping, looking for Barry.

"Oh crap," she moaned, "damndamndamn... Barry!" She turned to Cynthia, apologized and ran away, pulling Barry out of his heated discussion with a new girl. Cynthia watched them argue, him stomping his foot several times and pointing at the girl while Dawn leaned forward, hands on her hips and face set into a scowl, yelling and pointing at the clock. It was rather comical.

Finally, he sighed and surrendered to her grabbing his wrist and dragging him away, presumably to Volkner for a ride. Cynthia realized this was her chance and approached them.

"I could give you a ride," she offered.

Dawn turned to her, surprised, and shook her head, blushing. "N-no.. it's fine, we just need to find Volkner then—"

"Volkner's busy," Cynthia interrupted, "I'll drive you."

"O-okay," Dawn relented, easing up slightly. The two teens followed the woman as she walked back to her car, seemingly texting Volkner about the change in plans regarding the rides.

"Do you know her?" Barry whispered to Dawn.

Dawn refused to meet his orange eyes and blushed, crossing her arms. "Sorta," she replied nervously.

"A-ha! You two made out, didn't you?" he whispered loudly, pumping his fist up. Dawn stomped on Barry's foot and he shouted in pain. Dawn covered his mouth when Cynthia looked back and forced a smile, to which the woman smiled back.

"Shut up, Barry," Dawn muttered, wiping her hand against her dress.

"So where do you two live?" Cynthia asked, unlocking her car.

"Twinleaf town!" Barry answered, opening the passenger seat door and shoving Dawn in. He ignored her indignant hey! and slammed the door shut.

"Wow, that's pretty far," Cynthia commented, igniting the engine.

"Yeah, but Dawn's into long-distance relationships. Right, Dawn?" Barry smirked, laying back on the backseat with his arms behind his head.

Dawn turned to him, murder in her eyes as she reached to throttle the teen. "You...!" she seethed. Cynthia smiled and pulled out of Flint's driveway.

"Well, I certainly don't mind," she replied airily, turning the radio on to some indie rock station.

Dawn stopped strangling Barry and pulled her hands to her lap, glancing at Cynthia shyly. "You... don't?"

"Nope!" Cynthia assured, popping the 'p'.

Dawn smiled and looked out the window, reaching her hand to grasp Cynthia's.