Happy pride month y'all and get ready for gays!

...I mean this chapter has zero romance, but. Uh. There's definitely gays.

Also eyyy go to my tumblr I did actual gay pride art jhdfbvjdkhfbjhdbf

Warning in this chapter for mentions of homophobia, though no actual homophobia among characters occurs.

"...So, why are you dressed like that again?"

Danny and Wes stood in front of the Baxter household at 7 o'clock at night, presumably because it was Paulina's birthday. For reasons they could only guess at, she refused to host the party herself, leaving the most popular boy in the school to do it for her. As such, in typical Dash fashion, the birthday party had turned into something of a costume party, inviting every jock, cheerleader, and A-lister— and a plus-one, either a friend, or a loser to berate— to dress up as an idol of their choice.

And Wes, it seemed, had taken a rather interesting approach. He wore oversized rose-tinted glasses, making his eyes look comically huge, and a headband with pipe cleaner antennae glued on. He also wore a black sweatshirt, over which he had poorly-shaped aluminum foil wings attached via a pair of old belts looped around his arms, which had been crudely cut and sewn together through holes that appeared to be punched in rather than punctured. The costume as a whole looked very shoddily put together, and seemed to have no connection to the theme whatsoever.

"I'm Mothman," Wes answered snobbishly, hands on his hips. "Seeing him as a kid was pretty much the whole reason I took up cryptozoology. And you'll never guess what!" He fumbled for his phone with one hand, the other flapping in his excitement. Once he located his phone, he held up the screen so that Danny could see. "He was right here in town, barely a week ago!"

Danny squinted, rearing his head back so that the screen wasn't two inches from his nose. The image, taken with shaky hands, depicted a seething Riesenross. He faced off against an indistinct figure, humanoid but too blurry to make out any details, save for a pair of piercing red eyes. Or at least Danny assumed they were red; the picture was, humorously, grayscale. Either way, they were the only part of the figure that could be parsed out.

"See?! See?! He even preceded a disaster, just like the myths say!" Wes said with a grin, his breathlessness indicating that he had been ranting and raving for quite some time before Danny had noticed.

Danny squinted at the picture, frowning. "...Okay, so where are his wings?"

Wes faltered. "...Well, maybe they're just folded."

"And what am I already doing there? Mothman shows up before bad things happen, right?"

It was Wes's turn to frown. He turned the phone around, peering at the picture with narrowed eyes. After a considerable amount of studying, he sighed. "...It's a picture of me, isn't it."

Danny snorted. "You seem to have a knack for showing up in cryptic photos. Who else would it be?"

Wes let out an amused huff at that, the comment being enough to offset his disappointment. Looking up from his phone, he pursed his lips. "...I really can't believe that's the costume you went with."

If it could even be called a costume, that was. Danny had opted to simply transform into Phantom. Sure, he had his aura muted to nothing— he would credit Johnny for that idea— with that one change being enough to allow him to pass as human. Still, it seemed beyond risky to go to a party as an actual ghost.

"Come on, do you really think I'm gonna get busted?" Danny guffawed. "Half the party is probably gonna dress up as Phantom. Nobody will even be paying attention to me!"

"And you don't think people are gonna wonder why your costume looks so accurate?" Wes prodded.

"Wes. Dash once saw me slowly turning human until only the top of my hair was white. If that didn't clue him in, I don't think anyone is gonna catch on."

"...How nobody has caught you yet is beyond me."

"Come on, there's nothing to worry about," Danny insisted. "Let's go in there, have fun with a bunch of popular kids who don't even care we exist, and eat everything in their kitchen."

Wes chuffed, rolling his entire head. He supposed Danny was right. If nobody had figured him out yet, even after everything that's happened and despite Wes's best efforts, then maybe everything really would be okay. As long as Danny didn't use his powers in front of everyone, that was.

Okay, scratch that. He had done such a thing before. And people still had no idea.

Wes was beginning to think Danny was actually blessed.

The pair walked up to the Baxter house's porch, Danny pushing the buzzer. Even through the closed door, the two could make out muffled, but no doubt deafeningly loud, dance music. It wasn't long before Dash answered the door, wearing a Phantom costume of his own. Wes didn't know who had done his hair, but it was clear that they had done a very poor job of it, having gotten the dye all over his ears and the back of his neck.

...Actually, it didn't look like dye at all. Was that spray paint?

"It's about time you got here, Weston," Dash sneered, nose wrinkling as he appraised the pair. "Ugh, and you brought Fentinkerbell? Lame!"

Danny scowled fiercely at the jab, while Wes stepped forward and replied, "Lay off, I know you brought Mikey along."

The student in question peeked out from between Dash and the doorframe, waving meekly. He didn't appear to be in costume. "Hey guys."

"Uh, yeah, as a punching bag," Dash scoffed. "Who isn't supposed to be talking, by the way!" Mikey yelped and made himself scarce.

Wes crossed his arms. "So are you gonna let us in or not?"

Dash rolled his eyes, letting out the most dramatic sigh he could muster. "Ugh, fine. Just don't wreck the place, dweebs." With that, he finally stepped aside to let the pair in.

Inside the house were what had to be around three dozen people, maybe more, dancing to the too-loud music in the cramped living room. Most of them appeared to be jocks or cheerleaders, though a few were definitely from the theater club. Quite a few of the football players had brought bully fodder along, and were happily shoving the poor teens back and forth between each other. And, true to Danny's word, at least a quarter of the guests were wearing Phantom outfits, with varying degrees of costume accuracy.

"Ghost Boy, you made it!" cheered Paulina from somewhere amidst the crowd. "I just knew you would come!" The sea of people parted to reveal the birthday girl as she approached, wearing a gorgeous pink dress that trailed behind her like a wedding gown. Hearts were practically fluttering around her, but they immediately shattered when she saw who she was talking to. "...Oh, it's just you. Your costume is terrible, by the way." She turned her head, and saw the boy who was accompanying Danny. "Ew, you're the Weston boy! Who invited you to my party?!"

Wes's amused smirk was wiped clean off of his face. The plain but irritated frown spoke of multiple interactions just like this. "...I play basketball. That makes me an honorary popular student. So, that means I was invited by default."

Paulina's nose wrinkled. "Well, did you have to come?"

"School clique rules say yes, I did," Wes groaned. "...And didn't the party rules say you had to dress up as your idol?"

"Yes," replied Paulina, tossing her hair, "so I dressed up as myself! Because who would be a better person to look up to than me?" She rested a hand on her hip, brushing past Wes and Danny. "I'm gonna go make Star get me some punch. You two losers better not ruin my birthday party."

Wes scoffed. "Ugh, can you believe her? I know she's the most popular girl in school, but who does she think she is, always talking to us like that?" When he got no answer, he looked at Danny. "...Uh, hello?"

Danny was watching Paulina's back, sighing dreamily. "I dunno, it's kinda cute when she gets rude and bossy."

Wes frowned, grabbing Danny's arm and forcibly dragging him away. "Come on, let's find something better to do than stare at her."

As it turned out, there really wasn't much for them to do. Everyone at the party avoided the both of them like the plague, aside from the occasional mean comment or dirty look. Wes was certain most of the drinks had been spiked— the belief was not helped by the fact that most of the teens had red cups, cliché as that was— meaning the only known safe thing to drink was the tap water. There was hardly even any room to dance, not that Wes or Danny really knew how.

In the end, both of them decided to hang out by the wall, away from the other kids at the party, each with a cup of water in their hands. Wes had at some point ditched his glasses, letting them hang on the collar of his sweater; the ever-changing lights were making it hard to see through the tinted lenses.

"...This party sucks," Danny blurted.

"Yeah," Wes agreed.

"...Wanna grab some snacks and leave?"

"...You can go if you want," Wes said. "I'm pretty much socially obligated to stay here for at least an hour."

"What? Why do you even care about that junk?" demanded Danny. "They don't even want you here. I don't think anyone would care if you left."

Wes pulled a face, staring down at his drink. "...It's complicated," was all he said.

"But you aren't even having fun," Danny pointed out. "What's the point of going to a party if you aren't enjoying yourself?" Wes remained silent. "...Come on. We can go and do something ten times more fun than hanging out with these chumps."

Wes didn't speak for a long time. He pursed his lips, mulling the offer over in his head. Finally, he smiled. But just as he opened his mouth, Dash appeared, his entire torso poking out of the crowd. "TRUTH OR DARE UPSTAIRS!" he bellowed. He was met with hoots and cheers from the rowdy teens.

Danny cackled. "Seriously? Truth or dare? I didn't realize this was a birthday party for a ten-year-old."

"Are you kidding? This is basically the one good thing to come out of these parties," Wes informed him. "It doesn't matter who hosts these things, it's practically tradition to make everyone do the most humiliating thing possible. Come on, let's do a couple rounds and then we can leave."

"I don't know, being publicly humiliated in front of the cool kids doesn't sound like fun..." Danny murmured, but he didn't resist as his friend tugged him towards the staircase, where about fifteen other teenagers were making their way up.

Danny and Wes followed the small crowd down a hallway, until they had reached a large bedroom; based on the photos, it appeared to belong to Dash's parents. Everyone formed a sloppy circle, with four of the teens, Paulina and Dash included, sitting on the edge of the king-sized bed.

"Alright, here's a reminder of the rules," Dash began. "We take turns in a circle, starting with whoever the party is for, and ask whoever we want for a truth or a dare. If you pick truth, you have to be honest, and if you pick dare, you have to do what you're told, no backing out. But no dangerous illegal stuff, no taking off clothes, no breaking stuff, and no leaving the house. And no matter what, you can't make the same person pick truth or dare twice in a row. Everyone got that?" He was met with a round of nods and semi-verbal agreement. "Good. It's Paulina's birthday, so she gets to go first."

"Hooray!" Paulina cheered, shaking her fists erratically in front of her chest. "Hmmm... I pick... Kwan."

The jock perked up, eager to answer. "You know I gotta say dare!"

"I dare you... to order some snacks," Paulina decided. "Oh, I know! How about the place with the cute little sandwiches? You know which ones are my favorites."

"Aw, man, but they cost so much," Kwan whined. Still, he pulled his phone out of his pocket, placing the desired order. When he finally put his phone away, the group turned their heads towards Dash.

"Alright, pick your poison, Fenturd," he sneered.

"Oh boy..." Danny groaned. "Um... truth?"

"How many people have you kissed?" Dash grinned. "On the lips?" The teens all oohed, with a few chuckling behind their hands. "And your mommy doesn't count!"

Wes glared at Danny's interrogator, while the smaller teen hunched his shoulders against the sudden onslaught of snickers. "Oh, man... That I've kissed?" He hummed nervously, counting in his head. "Uh... I think... four? Maybe five?"

Many of the students gawked. Others booed. "No way!" Dash shouted. "There's no way you've kissed that many, you liar! Not unless you count your freaky friends!" He barked a harsh laugh. "Oh wait! You only have three of those! So you are a liar!" The rest of the teens followed along, pointing and laughing. "And the punishment is, Paulina?"

"You know the rules. Five minutes of Pig Latin," she answered, making a shooing motion with her hand.

Wes growled at the ridicule on behalf of his friend, the sound not unlike that of a small, angry dog. He didn't quiet down until Danny subtly jabbed him with his elbow, still hunched up and red in the face. "Ugh, is-thay is-yay onna-gay uck-say," he grunted.

Next up was a student Wes wasn't as familiar with, but who was apparently a friend of Star's. She made Dale do the chicken dance, while the next person in line, Mia, commanded Kyle to spill the secret Nasty Sauce recipe. Mikey was forced to be at Hannah's beck and call for the duration of the game, Dash was told to berate Pookie— only to be subjected to Pig Latin when he refused— and Rebecca made Nathan call Valerie and confess to her, not that everyone wasn't already aware of his crush, Valerie most definitely included.

Still, it seemed that most had it out for Danny, and by extension Wes. The much shorter teen was made to do everything from speaking with his belly, to singing a terrible memetic song, to doing a handstand against the far wall. Wes was commanded to share his most recent controversial theory— the mayor was a cheese vampire— so that he could be berated and mocked, and soon after was told to do a Phantom impression, after which the A-listers teased that he must be the ghost in question.

Whereas the small group was determined to make Danny look like an idiot, Wes's fate was to be made out like the gossip-spewing madman everyone believed him to be. It was to the point that nobody else was receiving truths or dares; it seemed that every other teen there had made a game out of alternating between Wes and Danny, by far among the lowest people on the social totem pole— save for Mikey, though his invisible status allowed him to blend in somewhat even among the popular crowd. The truth or dare game became a test to see which of the pair could be made out to be the bigger fool.

Until it was, once again, Paulina's turn to choose.

"Weston. Truth or dare?"

Wes sighed, resigned to his fate. "...Dare."

Paulina smirked, her eyes sharp. Wes didn't like that look. "I dare you," she said, her cunning gaze meeting Danny's startled one, "to kiss the biggest loser in the room."

No. There was no way she could be asking that of him. But maybe Wes misunderstood. There were quite a few girls playing, but no, none of them had any sort of questionable status; even the lowest of them was bosom buddies with someone at the party with more social standing. No, anyone that could be considered a nobody was a boy. But Paulina wasn't daring him to kiss just any boy. She was daring Wes to kiss his plus-one, who looked just as alarmed as Wes felt.

But there was no way. He couldn't do it. He just couldn't. But all eyes were on him, gazes amused and, dare he think it, judgmental. Most were giggling. Some were beginning to whisper to their neighbors. Critical. Wes was sweating bullets. He couldn't refuse. If he did, they would all know. But if he kissed Danny anyway, there wasn't a doubt in his mind that word would spread like wildfire that he'd kissed the Fenton freak. No matter what he did, he was doomed. And, if he was really unlucky, he would be doomed in the literal sense, too. Totally done for.

There was only one thing he could think to do to salvage the situation.

Rather than simply turn to the right, Wes got to his feet, knees shaking and hands clammy. The group watched with fascinated confusion as he quickly made his way across the room, towards the bed. And before anyone had time to wonder what he was doing, he kissed Dash right on the lips.

Silence. Nobody made a sound as Wes pulled away from the chaste kiss, wiping his mouth with his wrist. Though his heart was racing, threatening to escape from his throat, he forced himself to remain cool, leveling a frozen Dash with a glare, daring him to say something. Anything.

But it wasn't him who spoke. "...He wasn't the one you were supposed to kiss!" Paulina shrieked.

"...You told me to kiss the biggest loser," Wes said, having finally found his voice, though somewhat shrill. "And I'm pretty sure this guy is the biggest."

"Oooooooooh," someone in the ring of teens crowed, a couple others following along. Soon the entire circle was sniggering.

It seemed like Wes's little plan had worked. There was no way he would have been able to escape smooching someone, but that didn't mean he couldn't put the spotlight on someone else. He had turned a death sentence for himself into a witty misdirection, one that caused no harm except for someone else's bruised ego. But it was nothing Dash wouldn't recover from. It would take more than that to bring down the star quarterback. All in all, a successful maneuver.

Maybe too successful. Dash had gone rather impressively red in the face, a vein on the side of his neck throbbing as he clenched his jaw. His face only made some of the students laugh harder. He grit his teeth, eyes darting back and forth as his cheeks slowly turned purple with strain. And finally, he snapped. He screamed, shoving Wes to the ground before sprinting out of the room.

Everything went quiet. Teens whispered amongst themselves, confused and curious. One could hear the rumor mill begin to turn, and Wes sat up, rubbing at a sore shoulder where he had struck the bedframe. Something heavy settled in his stomach, leaving a sour taste in his mouth.

This... This wasn't what he expected. He'd predicted some amount of roughing up after a stunt like that, but he hadn't thought Dash would react so... harmlessly didn't seem like the right word. The jock usually had a more aggressive approach when it came to retaliation. He didn't do hit-and-runs. Though Wes himself was unhurt, he got the feeling that he had just done more damage than he could properly comprehend.

He looked at Danny, and hated what he saw. His expression was hard to read, but it certainly wasn't good. Surprise? Alarm? Hurt? Disappointment?

That settled it. Wes needed to fix this. Now.

Nobody made a fuss as he left the room, and he didn't make it far down the hall before he heard the game resume like nothing had happened. He wasn't sure where Dash could have ended up, but one could easily assume he'd gone to find somewhere private. Maybe his own room?

It didn't take long to find. The house wasn't enormous, and out of the two doors on the second floor that weren't supply closets, one of them was a bathroom. Wes knocked on the last door past the stairs, listening for a reply. Of course, he didn't receive one, so he entered anyway. "...Dash?"

The room was a lot smaller than Wes would have expected. It certainly wasn't big enough for a muscle-bound teenager who was well past the six foot mark. Opposite from the bedroom door was the window, a bed small enough to suit a prepubescent child pushed against the wall. At the foot was a small vanity, and by the headboard was a desk and monitor, above which the wall was plastered with as many football posters and trophies as would fit. To Wes's right was a closet and a few more posters. Outside of that, there really wasn't room for anything else.

Dash had holed himself up between the bed and the desk, knees tucked up and head low. If he had been trying to hide, he was doing a very poor job of it. Wes didn't think he'd ever seen Dash hide. Not even from ghosts. He ran, sure, but he never felt the need to hide.

The quarterback looked up as Wes entered the room, scowling darkly. His face was just as red as it had been in his parents' room. "...What do you want?" he demanded. "Haven't you already done enough?"

Wes gulped, having the humility to lower his gaze to the floor. Dash's reaction only cemented his resolve. He softly closed the door behind himself, making his way further into the room. Dash glowered even harder as he did. "...I came in to apologize."

"...Apologize?" Dash squeaked out, his short laugh incredulous. "Do you seriously think an apology is enough to fix this?" He slowly got to his feet, his expression hopelessly manic, volume rising with every word as he advanced. "You just kissed me in front of the most popular kids in school! Do you have any idea what that means?! In ten seconds flat you freaking ruined me!"

Wes found himself backpedaling. Dash's demeanor was hardly threatening, coming across as more desperate than outright aggressive. Even so, his words hurt worse than any physical blow he could have inflicted. Wes knew. He hadn't thought it would apply to someone with as much status as Dash, but god, he knew. "...I-I didn't-"

"What am I supposed to do if my dad finds out, huh?!" Dash shouted, now looming over Wes entirely. The smaller jock couldn't say when, but he had been backed against the closet, pinned by Dash's furious gaze. "Do you have any idea what he would do if he knew?! Any idea?! If word gets around that I go around kissing boys and my dad hears about it, I'll... he...!" Dash choked on whatever he was about to say, instead beating his fists against the wall on either side of Wes's head. Though his expression was one of seething anger, his eyes told a very different story. "...You just ruined my life back there. I hope you're proud of yourself."

During Dash's tirade, Wes had sunk down to the floor, at a complete loss. He knew that Dash would be fine at school. Rumors would float around for a few days, and then everyone would move on. Dash would remain the most popular boy at school, virtually untouchable. But Wes hadn't considered what such an incident could mean for him at home. It hadn't even crossed his mind.

"...I'm... You're right," he eventually said, lip quivering. "I didn't... I wasn't thinking. I thought everything would turn out fine, but I should know better. Of all people, I should know better. I'm sorry."

Dash's eyes brightened at that, some sort of realization dawning on him. Wes clamped his mouth shut, heartrate spiking. "...You're gay, too," Dash whispered. "You're gay, aren't you."

Wes couldn't speak, gaping like a fish. He recoiled and trembled, old memories he wished he could forget bubbling to the surface, threatening to smother and drown him. But there was one word that stuck out, that kept him rooted to the present. He cracked his eyes open, unsure of when they'd screwed themselves shut. "...Too?"

Dash paled, drawing away just enough to give Wes room to breathe. His expression had morphed from one of fearful resignation to something more akin to astonishment. "...You didn't know. Here I thought you were rubbing it in, but you really had no idea."

Wes couldn't help it. The whole situation was just so absurd. He laughed, at first just a quiet bark, but quickly dissolving into a bout of hysterical giggling. Mirthful tears spilled over, even as he itched and picked at his bangs as his anxiety tried to consume him. "Did... Did we just accidentally out ourselves to each other?" he gasped, having barely enough air to speak.

Dash leaned back, eyeing him like he was crazy. "Why are you laughing about this, you freak?" Still, he slowly settled, sitting down across from Wes. "...But, yeah. I guess we kinda did."

The two sat in near-silence as Wes reigned in his habitual distress, stifling his giggles until they more resembled hiccups. His arms rapidly crossed and uncrossed, and he gently rocked from side to side. He could hardly stand to be so close to Dash right then. Everything in him begged to flee. But there was something more comfortable in his presence than there had been moments before, calming his nerves just enough that he didn't feel like he was about to shake himself apart.

"...I know this won't fix anything, but. I really am sorry. When Paulina told me to kiss Danny, I got scared, and I panicked. I thought that if I made everyone pay attention to you and made a joke out of it, they would forget about me. I thought you would be fine. You're popular, nobody would care if some weirdo like me made fun of you. But..." Wes trailed off, exhaling harshly through his nose as he struggled to articulate himself. "...But I still shouldn't have done it. I was worried something would happen to me if my classmates knew. I didn't think that maybe you could have been worried, too. Just... not about other teenagers." He swallowed, finding his throat rather dry at the notion. "...I know an apology won't do any good. But for whatever it's worth, I'm sorry."

Dash let out a puff of air, leaning back so that his hands rested behind himself. He studied Wes, gauging his sincerity. He at least seemed honest. Even so, there would be no undoing the damage that had been done. "...Whatever, pipsqueak. Saying sorry isn't gonna make anyone forget about it."

"...I know." Wes leaned back against the wall, where the two sat in tense silence. Seconds ticked by, maybe minutes. A thought occurred to Wes, drawing his shoulders up. "...Are you gonna tell everyone? That I'm gay?"

Dash sneered. "Why shouldn't I? If you get to drag me out of the closet and destroy my life, why shouldn't I do the same to you? If I'm going down, I'm taking you down with me."

"Wait!" Wes shouted on panicked instinct. But even as he made his frightened exclamation, he got an idea. "...Wait. I think I know how I can save both of us."

({O})

Danny, wearing a bonnet that someone had forced him to put on, heard the thundering footsteps before he saw their source. The door was practically thrown open as Wes was shoved through it, Dash's hands firmly clenched around the fabric of his sweater. Wes's feet scrabbled to find purchase on the carpeted floor as he was pushed towards the circle, until Dash shoved him back, releasing him to strike with a vicious hook to the cheek that sent him sprawling to the ground.

"If you ever put your lips on me again," Dash shouted, "you're gonna get a lot worse than that, Weirdston!"

Wes sat up, groaning as he probed his tender, split lip. His eye was already darkening from a prior blow that he had not had an audience for. He made to stand, but Dash shoved him back down. And then, to Danny's astonishment, he winked.

He didn't have much time to make sense out of it, though, because Wes got back to his feet, this time uninterrupted. "Come on, let's ditch this stupid party," he said. "It's obvious we're not wanted here anyway."

Danny grinned, ripping off the bonnet and throwing it down with as much force as he could muster. "I thought you would never ask."

The two of them had to shoulder their way past Dash to leave the room, and had their backs glared at for their efforts, but were given no further trouble than that. Wes limped the entire way out of the house, Danny at his side to make sure he didn't collapse. But the moment they were outside, Wes straightened out, walking like he hadn't just been struggling to move.

Danny blinked. "...Were you just... faking all that?"

"Huh?" Wes glanced over. "Oh, no, everything is in agony. So much pain. Ouch. He sure hit me hard."

"...Okay, yeah, sure," Danny hummed disbelievingly. "What really happened up there?"

"Nothing, nothing happened," Wes replied. "I made fun of Dash, I went to say sorry because it wasn't nice of me to do that, and he beat me up." And it seemed to be an effective ploy. Dash's reputation would be safe, since he'd rather violently lashed out against his instigator. It put in no uncertain terms that the kiss was less than welcome. It also left Wes's insult itself unrefuted, ensuring that suspicion didn't fall back onto him. Both of their reputations were, relatively speaking, intact.

"...So you kinda made up?" Danny asked.

Wes smiled. "...Yeah. I think we kinda did."

Mmm, gay. As promised. But I think I'll do something for real gay soon. I've got a couple ideas for what I wanna do for the next chapter, so I'll see you guys next time!