ten
It had been a week since Tyler's dad had kicked him out, and he hadn't heard from any of his family. Zack hadn't even liked one of Tyler's Instagram pictures. They were lying low. This anniversary of sorts would have made Tyler upset, but the sadness in the pit of his stomach that day had been replaced with butterflies. That Friday was the Christmas dance, now coined as the "Hopping Holiday Dance", after a Jewish family had complained. The dance was now a week earlier than last year and would not sport only red and green decorations, but all colors. It wasn't a big dance, like homecoming or prom, so most people didn't go in groups- Tyler, Josh, and Gerard were going to meet the rest of their friends there.
Tyler was still nervous. Nervous of dancing with Josh (he'd never danced with a boy before!), and nervous of dancing with Josh in front of other people, and nervous of saying something dumb, and nervous of spilling punch on himself, which he had done at homecoming that very year.
Gerard lent him a black tie and watched as he struggled to tie it, his eyebrows raised. "That's how you tie a shoe," Gerard drawled, his eyes lazily following Tyler's hands. "If you're six, that is."
Tyler glared at him and went to sit next to him on the bed, where Gerard was lounging and already in an all black suit. Tyler watched as his friend leaned over and tied the necktie with ease, giving him a triumphant smile when he sat back. "It's a piece of cake, Tyler."
Tyler was about to say something that he hoped would be semi-witty, but his speech was interrupted when the door opened, Mikey standing in the doorway with Josh behind him. "Gerard," Mikey said, staring at his brother, who stared right back. "I need to talk to you." Gerard sighed, but got up and shouldered past Josh, who was walking into the room. Mikey closed the door behind him and Tyler and Josh were alone.
Tyler's breath caught when he caught sight of his boyfriend. Josh was wearing a blue suit that made his hair look even brighter than usual, and Tyler thought he looked perfect. He was so stunned he couldn't even speak. Josh, on the other hand, barely missed a beat.
"You look amazing Ty," he said, leaning down to kiss Tyler softly. Eventually he pulled away, murmuring, "Darling, I love you."
"I love you more," Tyler told him softly before burying his head in Josh's chest while Josh ran his fingers through Tyler's dark hair, humming softly. Tyler heard shouting from the room over, but he couldn't make out any words other than the occasional "stupid" or "die". He couldn't tell if it was Gerard or Mikey yelling, but it was more controlled than Gerard's usual screaming. A minute later, Tyler heard the door open, and he and Josh both looked up to see Gerard standing there. He didn't look even slightly angry- more shaken and almost detached.
"You good?" Josh asked, stepping back. Gerard nodded. "Let's go then."
-
Gerard was sort of a wallflower. At least, he probably looked like one to Brendon when the lanky boy sauntered over to where Gerard was leaning against the wall, watching the dance. Gerard and Brendon were the token dateless people in their group- Tyler and Josh had been clinging to each other, dancing, since they'd gotten into the gym, and Halsey had managed to convince Debby to date her for more than a week, and Patrick had somehow gathered up the guts to ask Pete to be his date. Gerard was almost positive Pete, as the painfully oblivious guy he was, thought the offer was totally platonic. Poor Patrick.
"Want to help me spike the punch?" Brendon asked, looking over at Gerard and smirking. Gerard stared at him for a few moments before saying, "god, why the fuck not?"
-
Josh was a really good dancer. Tyler had been nervous, and it had clearly shown, but Josh had pulled him into the middle of the crowd anyways, insisting all would be okay. And, as it turned out, it was. A few freshmen and some of the basketball guys had given them weird looks, but no one had bothered them. And Josh was a really good dancer.
His timing was perfect, and he held Tyler close enough that the taller boy could feel the heat radiating off of him, and had a gentle grip that made Tyler feel safe, like even if someone tried to mess with them it would be okay. And Josh whispered dance instructions in his ear so Tyler wouldn't be too nervous.
"You're not bad at all, love," Josh said to him, a grin on his face, and Tyler couldn't help but return the smile. Josh made him feel like he was flying. Made him feel like there weren't a few hundred other sweaty teenagers around them, like they weren't in a high school gym. He made Tyler feel like it was just the two of them, dancing goofily together in a bedroom at three am to soft music, instead of the blaring music of a fifty year old DJ who was trying to be cool. God, Josh made him feel alive.
Tyler told him so while they sat on the floor, drinking water. Tyler wanted punch, but Josh had shaken his head and said, "I saw Brendon over there earlier."
"You make me feel alive," Tyler told Josh, very matter of factly. "I love you, Josh. You make everything worth it," he said, swallowing hard. "The basketball guys calling me stuff, and my dad kicking me out and- everything. I love you so much."
Josh had stared at him, almost mesmerized, before saying, "I love you more than anything in the whole wide world." Josh leaned over and kissed him, just a peck on the lips, since there were chaperones (underpaid teachers) everywhere, but it still made Tyler feel warm.
-
"You want to dance, Way?"
This question made Gerard's head snap up, fast, because he assumed someone had to have been messing with him. He relaxed when he saw the threat was just a very sweaty Brendon Urie.
"I don't dance, Brendon," Gerard said, rolling his eyes. Brendon stepped towards Gerard just a little more- they were nowhere near touching, but the closeness still made red shoot up to Gerard's cheeks.
Brendon rolled his eyes and said, "c'mon, Gee. I'd die if I didn't dance with someone."
"You've been dancing all night," Gerard retorted, looking down at Brendon's incredibly expensive looking shoes.
Brendon sighed and said, "please? One song."
Gerard was tempted to ask Brendon why the hell he was so adamant, but he just said, "I don't know how."
This was a big lie, because Gerard and Josh had once taking a ballroom dancing class together and Gerard had remembered every single thing about that class.
"I will start screaming right now."
Brendon's voice was incredibly serious, and his expression had gone from cheeky to solemn in a matter of seconds. Gerard knew he wasn't messing around, so he just sighed exasperatedly and nodded. How bad could one slow dance with Brendon Urie be?
As it turned out, very bad was the answer. Brendon tried to do a weird version of the tango. He even tried to dip Gerard. He grabbed his tie just in time, but Brendon almost dropped him. Gerard informed him of this.
"You almost dropped me."
Brendon pulled him closer, uncomfortably close, in Gerard's opinion, and said lowly, "I'd never let you fall, Way."
Gerard knew he was bright red.
He also knew he saw Josh smirking at him.
Jesus.