The last end of the day bell rang, Fern sighed and finally was able to unlock his locker. He squatted down and began shoving books into his bag. He knew he would have to speed through his homework before he went over to Anakin's house. Unfortunately for him, Halloween was on a Thursday, he had to find a way to drag himself up the next day.

"Hey!" Anakin called walking over to him. Fern looked behind him and watched as Anakin bypassed the constant stream of people. He smiled and waved, his heart rate picking up. From the moment he realized how much he wanted Anakin, it had become harder to hide the fact. The fact was pretty astounding to Fern, seeing as he spent a good amount of time reflecting on how nice Ani's ass looked on any given day.

"Hey, I barely saw you today." He zipped up his bag and closed his locker. Ani knelt down beside him and handed him a book that he had left behind.

"Yeah, I hate those days." Fern took the book and mumbled a thank you. Ani smiled at him, his smile was so bright it had made Fern's heart hurt. Ani was dressed nicer than usual that day. Of course, he had stuck with the spooky themed, so his makeup was much darker. There was black and green-winged eyeliner that was straighter than Ani would ever be. He matched that with a thigh-high fitted dress and boots that cut off just above his knee. To Fern, Anakin looked glamorous and sexy. The small witches hat that Ani wore wrapped up the look. "Um Fern, you're staring again."

"Oh! Yeah sorry, I just thought there was a fight starting up behind you." Fern said casually, already used to cover up his actions despite how unbelievable they sounded, even to him.

Anakin glanced behind him and turned back to Fern with an eyebrow raised.

"Where was the fight happening? Was it on my chest?" Fern was immediately on the defense, his tired school filled brain trying to figure out what to say.

"I didn't know you had breasts. Never thought I'd get in trouble for...wait...what?"

"Oh Fern." Anakin rolled his eyes and patted his chest. With minor compression, a small bump could be seen. "Play, remember? I had gym last so I slipped this on so I wouldn't have to go back to my locker for inserts."

"Oh yeah, forgot. Well, if it helps they look nice."

"Can you guess the cup size?" Anakin played with the straps on his bag. Fern's eyes drifted to Anakin's hands. His nails were painted black with pumpkins on top. The ends looked pointer than usual. Fern wondered if it would hurt holding his hands.

"Uh..." Fern's eyes drifted back to Ani's chest. Even while knowing he was most likely looking at a piece of foam, his lower half tightened uncomfortably. "I'd say B...but that wouldn't make sense because you've always practiced with A's..."

"Well aren't you an observant little perv, it's because the actual rehearsal dress came in. But of course, it was it was made for females, so too much chest room for me." He patted his chest a few times.

"That sucks, why don't they just tailor it or something?"

"It's kind of hard tailoring no chest into a female dress," Anakin emphasized the words female. He shrugged and stood up, brushing off the dust from his black dress. Fern got a good look at his ass before he stood up next to him.

"Well, in that case, good luck with you B cup."

"Good luck with...wait do you not have soccer practice or something?" Fern shook his head and swung his backpack onto his shoulders, huffing at the weight.

"Nah, Coach figured that most of us would go out partying. She just told us not to get too drunk."

"Well can't promise that." Anakin winked and shrugged cheekily, Fern scoffed and crossed his eyes.

"I doubt you've had a sip of alcohol." Anakin laughed at that, turning a few of the heads near them.

"Fernando, I feel like you missed a few moments of my character development or something. I've drunk before," He smiled, Fern waited for him to elaborate but Anakin just stood humming and smiling.

Fern's thoughts immediately went to a dark place. He wondered if it was his sisters friends, perhaps they had given him a few drinks before they had...or worse, he had wanted to get drunk with them. He wanted to forget his pain, his insecurities. Fern's frown deepened and he looked at Anakin, worry tracing all around his features. The fear of Anakin becoming an alcoholic was becoming real in his mind.

"Fern calm down, it looks like you're about to send me to rehab." Ani giggled and put his hand on Fern's shoulder. He moved closer to him, Fern could smell his body spray. He wanted to move closer but stopped himself.

"Well, when you say things like that...with your history." Anakin looked immediately alarmed, Fern chest constricted. He nearly hit himself with his own stupidity. "Not that I wouldn't trust you around alcohol! I was just I don't know...dumb."

"No, it's okay. I guess I wouldn't trust me either." Anakin's hand dropped from his shoulder. "I've only really drunk with my family. And for the record, I would never drink with people I don't trust." His voice was off, but Fern wouldn't let himself over think it.

"Yeah that makes sense, I've had a sip or two. Hey, I should let you get to play practice." At the mention of play, Anakin looked like he was able to ground himself again.

"Oh yeah! Don't want to piss off Mr. Sappe anymore than before. Are you not going to help with your new muscles? You could easily lift backdrops." Anakin blinked his eyes cutely, his eyelashes fluttering.

"Uh huh, because I had a ton of trouble lifting cardboard before. But sadly no, if I want to go to your party I have to finish all my school work."

"Can't you do it later?" Ani whined and he stepped closer to Fern his shoulder bumping into Fern's chest. Fern immediately felt like giving in and following Ani to the auditorium.

"Sorry, not everyone can be a smartie like you and do homework in under an hour. If I finish my work I'll get to stay longer and later."

"Why don't you just sleep over? I can bring you to school tomorrow, you can sleep in my bed if you want." He said it so temptingly that even if Fern's parents disagree with him, he would have said yes regardless.

"Uh yeah sounds good, I'll ask my parents though. But I should really go before my bus leaves." He looked to his side the halls were beginning to thin out.

"Awesome!" Anakin looked like he was glowing and stepped away from Fern. "I just have one question."

"Yeah?"

"If you didn't have soccer practice why did you take my flavored water?" Anakin's eyes narrowed playfully, Fern's smile was cheeky.

"Because it's tradition, I forget my water, you give me your fancy water, and I become in your debt even more. Now I gotta run." He put his hand on Anakin's shoulder.

There was an awkward silent moment, Fern's body had bent. It had taken his body a second too long to realize that his fantasy's of pecking Ani on the cheek before he left was just that. Fantasy. He fought a blush and took his hand away.

"Bye, see you later." He turned away quickly before he found himself doing anything else stupid and embarrassing.

"Bye," Ani said behind him, but his reply was much weaker. He sounded, confused. 

 "So...you're planning on sleeping over?" Fern's father asked him, he glanced at his son in the car as they drove to Anakin's house.

"Yeah, I thought Mama would say no."

"She almost did, but she decided that you've been trying hard this year. So she didn't want to stifle your development." Sebastian smiled at his son and tapped his thumb against the wheel of the car.

"I haven't changed that much." Fern shrugged and hugged his bag to his chest. He didn't exactly have a costume so he wore a Matador jacket and hat that his father had in his closet.

"Are you kidding Fernando? You've joined a sport, made friends, try academically, and actually use that unlimited data plan that we have." Fern tried to continue looking casual, he looked towards the window.

"It's nothing, I guess I didn't want to be bored." His father should have equated all the changes in Fern's life solely to Ani. Fern doubted he would have stayed in even drama club without him.

"Say what you want but your mother hopes this means you'll be bringing a girl home soon." His father said the sentence casually but Fern felt his muscles tense. A few weeks ago he would have hoped the same. He had never taken the time to consider how his parents would react if he brought a boy home instead.

"Hey, Papa?" He said slowly, he doubted he could look at his father without letting on too much.

"Yeah?" Fern hesitated before continuing with his questions. Despite both of his parents being second generation South Americans, they could be pretty relaxed. His father only exercised the full extent of his Spanish heritage around friends and family. Fern's mother tended to favor delving into her Puerto Rican heritage but, to Fern at least, it wasn't a large part of her personality.

"How do you feel about...gays?" Fern risked a look at his father. Sebastian had paused his eyes scrutinized in front of him.

"Well, to be honest, I don't know much. I don't really have an opinion, one of my cousins may be gay but he's never brought anyone home." Sebastian shrugged.

"So, do you think it's gross or anything? A sin or shit like that?"

"Well, I don't know. Your mother is the religious one and the only reason why we still go to church. I wouldn't call it a sin, it's...a quirk? Strange lifestyle but I guess it's fine." Fern sorted through his options. He doubted it would have been a great time to explain being gay isn't a lifestyle. He just needed to know where his father stood.

"How about Mama?" Sebastian winced, he looked unsure.

"I...don't know. I doubt she would be cruel to any gay person. But...she really wouldn't understand, you'd have to explain it to her." Sebastian looked at Fern and shrugged. "Our family has never really been exposed to gay-ness."

"Okay," Fern gnawed at his lip, he didn't know what to make of the information. He couldn't decide if it meant that it was safe to talk to his father about Anakin.

"Why do you ask? Do you think you're gay?" Sebastian's voice was hard to decipher, he snuck glances at his son.

"No, Anakin's bisexual." Fern said immediately, he felt guilty about how quickly his brain had diverged the attention away from him and onto Ani. He took comfort in the fact that Anakin was openly out.

"Oh? What's that one about?" Fern nearly smacked himself, he hadn't even considered his father wouldn't know the terminology.

"It means he likes men and women."

"So...is he confused? Or does he just like keeping his options open?" Sebastian's voice didn't sound judgmental, just curious.

"No, he...just is. Like I guess...it's like...well could you force yourself to be attracted to a guy?" Sebastian thought for a moment. He parked the car in front of Anakin's house before answering.

"No, I guess I couldn't." He shifted the car into park. He looked at his son, Fern bit his lip and looked at his father. "Could you?" Fern's breath caught in his throat, he didn't know how to answer. He put his hand on the handle of the car door and shrugged.

"I don't know, bye Papa." He opened the car door and made his swift escape away from his father. He could hear a faint goodbye as he slammed the door shut. Maybe too enthusiastically walking down the front doorway.

The yard looked wonderful, there were carved pumpkins, skeletons, and spider thread hanging from the house. He couldn't imagine putting this much effort into anything as trivial as Halloween. Fern stopped at the front door, he quickly knocked on the door. He only had to wait a few moments until the door was opened.

"Fern! You're early." Anakin stood on the other side of the door, wearing pink tights, a pink strapless dress with an excessive amount of feathers at the bell, and feathers at the top of his head. He looked strange for sure but Fern could see the detail Ani had put into his costume by looking at his eye makeup. It was pink, purple, and black with a line that reached all the way to the side of his face.

"We never really agreed on a time so I just came after homework." He looked behind and gave his waiting father a thumbs up, his father's cue that he could leave. "What are you supposed to be?"

"Can't you tell?" He turned to the side and bent so that his back and legs were straight, and his butt stuck out. He put his hand to his mouth. Fern noticed that he had one pink sleeve, and his hand was painted black with some white.

"Uh? Am I guessing or something, because I guess chewed up bubblegum." He held back a snicker, Ani rolled his eyes.

"I'm a flamingo can't you tell?" Anakin righted himself, he stepped back from the door giving Fern a chance to step inside. Fern stepped in his bag still clutched in his hand. He felt vaguely on edge, the last time he had been there he terrified Anakin's parents.

"If you're a flamingo why aren't you wearing some dumb inflatable thing?"

"Because Fernando we are nearly adults, I have chosen to be a sexy flamingo. The kind you want to undress and ruffle some feathers wit." Ani seemed pleased with his joke, Fern was too busy mentally agreeing with Ani to condemn his joke. "What are you supposed to be?" Fern looked tugged on his jacket a bit.

"I'm a Matador, found it in my dad's closet. But I doubt I'd be a very sexy matador."

"Oh, that's bull."

"Not really, there's nothing sexy about thi-"

"No Fern, that's bull. Get it? Matadors? Bulls?" It took another moment for the joke to sink in. Fern groaned deeply and shook his head at Anakin.

"You better be serving alcohol or I might not make it through this party." Anakin laughed and took his hand.
"I'll take you downstairs, it's supposed to be the man cave but I used it for the party." He tugged Fern along as he walked through his living room to the door by the kitchen.

Fern looked around, he didn't see Anakin's parents in sight. It put him on a slight edge but he didn't want to let two absent people ruin his night. Anakin opened a door and turned on a light that led downstairs.

"Promise you're not about to chop me into a bunch of little pieces?" Fern asked as he walked down the steps with him. There was soft music coming from downstairs.

"Not yet, my plan hasn't been fully realized. I can't dispose of you so quickly." They made it downstairs, Fern whistled. Whoever had done the downstairs area had put a lot of thought into it. It was aesthetically done with pumpkins, spiders, and other spooky things. The punch looked like it was overflowing with clouds of smoke, there were a lot of spookily-themed snacks, and there was a large Halloween themed blanket on the couch.

"Woah, did you do all this for me?" Ani let go of Fern's hand and hid his hands behind his back. He shrugged a bit and looked at Fern almost shyly.

"Well...yeah, I wanted to make it awesome. You said you never go to parties, so this one has to be good." He smiled warmly at Fern, Fern swore he could have kissed him the moment.

"You care too much, as long as there's you, and food then it'll be fine." He reached on the table and picked up a pretzel. It had a Rolo stuck to the top, there were several chocolate like things sticking out. It looked like a spider, it made Fern smile. "You're so creative."

"It's called pinterest young one." He smiled and picked up one for himself. He ate the spider Rolo humming as he chewed.

"Ani! There's someone at the front door!" A female voice called from the top of the steps.

"Coming Junior!" Anakin yelled, he rolled his eyes and looked at Fern. "I'll be right back, probably trick or treaters. I promise I won't do this all night." He turned and jogged up the steps, Fern watched him go up. He shrugged and continued sampling the snacks on the table.

The stairs creaked as two people came down. Fern turned to his left expecting to see Ani. Instead, he was met with Dakota followed by two college-age boys. Dakota wore a purple greek style dress with her hair in a high ponytail. Immediately Fern recognized the outfit from the Hercules movies.

"Ani made a ton of shit I'm sure he wouldn't mind us sampling stuff." She said as she reached the bottom of the steps. Fern stiffened and moved away from the food table, he drifted closer to the fireplace. The three college students ignored his presence and went right to the food table.

"I wouldn't mind sampling him." One of the guys said, he had blonde shaggy hair, and to Fern, a very punchable face. Dakota turned and punched his arm with some force.

"Shut up, he's my little brother." The guy just laughed and grabbed a plate.

"Fern you didn't tell me to expect guests, jerk." Ani came down the steps followed by Quin and Dillian.

"Fern you idiot, you didn't tell him we were coming over?" Quinn said with a laugh. Fern paused and facepalmed.

"Shit, I completely forgot." Dillian laughed and leaned against the railing of the staircase. He was wearing a flowy outfit that looked like a mix of a suit and a dress.

"You didn't even remember to ask when I texted you that we were almost there?" Fern took out his phone, and of course, the first thing he saw was a notification from Dillian.

"Sorry never checked," He rubbed the back of his head.

"Don't apologize to us, apologize to Ani." Quinn laughed obviously enjoying Fern's discomfort. Fern shot Quinn a dirty look then looked back at Anakin.

"Sorry, I'm an idiot."

"Nah, it's okay. I expect this much from you, you can't even remember to bring yourself water every day." Anakin turned to the Dakota and her friends. "You guys better not be eating all the food, I didn't make it for you."

"Calm down Ani, I'm sure there will be plenty left for you and your little friends." Dakota slipped a brownie into her mouth. Ani looked mildly annoyed but didn't push further.

"Hey Ani, are we still up for tutoring Saturday?" The one with Shaggy hair asked he looked like he was containing a laugh. Fern frowned and looked at Ani, it was almost scary how quickly his mood had changed. His face was red, and he crossed his arms.

"I told you, we don't tutor anymore." The way Ani had said that made every hair on Fern's body stand on end. The Shaggy haired kid got close enough to Ani, he looked like he was about to rub his head.

"Well, leave that book open for me next time, huh? I sure do miss our sessions thou-"

"He's tutoring with me, he doesn't have time." Fern said quickly, he took Anakin by the arm lightly pulling him back away from him. He looked at the college student, despite the age difference they were relatively the same height. He didn't know exactly what significance his words held, but the Shaggy Haired kid looked immediately uncomfortable.

"And he has play practice so his weekends are full," Quinn added, he wasn't slouching and actually looked minorly intimidating in his full height. Of course, the intimidation factor was taken down by his fake mustache and cowboy poncho.

"So basically we're telling you to go get fucked and let us have our party," Dillian added for good measure. His words actually gauged a small smile from Anakin.

Dakota immediately looked uncomfortable, she frowned at her friend and grabbed his shirt sleeve.

"Come on idiot, we actually need to study." With her other hand, she held a plastic plate filled with food. Fern felt like she didn't deserve that even that much but her leaving was enough for him. Dakota and the Shaggy haired kid went upstairs. The other boy stole a drink before following them up the stairs.

"Siblings are the worst," Anakin mumbled he rubbed his face, careful of his makeup. He took a deep breath, the next time he looked at Fern he was smiling. Fern was mad at his inability to tell if it was real or not.

"Tell me about it, my older sister fussed about my costume for hours before I left the house," Dillian grumbled and adjusted the crossover strap on his suit/dress.

"Oh yeah, I wanted to ask why are you wearing a dress suit thing?" Fern asked he noticed Ani had moved away from him. He had begun puttering with the setup of the table avoiding looking at the other three.

"It's called a Kimono Fern, and I found it in my dad's closet." Dillian clarified, he walked over towards the table and picked up a plastic plate. He looked like he was admiring the set up of food about the same amount as Fern had.

"Call it what you want, but why are you wearing it?"

"Why are you wearing a Matador's outfit?"

"Well, my dads Spanish so he had this in his closet."

"Well, my dad had this in his closet." Quinn began loading his plate with snack foods as he spoke.

"Okay...but why did he have it in his closet? It seems like a pretty random thing to own."

"Fern are you slow or something?" Quinn sighed scratching his pretend mustache. "A Kimono is a traditional Japanese outfit. Dillian's Japanese, that's why his dad has a Kimono in his closet. They've probably had to wear one for a wedding or something."

"Dillian your Japanese?" Fern asked crossing his arms. Dillian put down his plate and gave Fern the most exasperated look.

"Yes, I Dillian Tanaka is Japanese."

"But your name is Dillan!"

"So?" All three other guys in the room said, even Anakin had picked his head up to look at Fern.

"I thought you were American," Fern said in his defense, he supposed it made sense. Not that he had actually taken the time to learn Dillons last name.

"I am American Fern, Japanese American." Dillian sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Fern, honestly you are so stupid." Quinn shook his head as he poured Ruffles onto his plate, filling it up. He put the bag down and walked past Fern to the couch. Dillian just sighed and took his plate of food to the couch area.

"We have to admit it's kind of cute," Anakin said smiling in a way Fern knew was genuine. Fern blushed and shrugged. His stupidity aside, he was just happy it had slipped Anakin out of his thoughts.

"Nope!" Both boys said from the couch. Anakin chuckled and took the entire rest of the Ruffles bag.

"Come on dum dum, we can pick out a movie." Anakin shook the bag of Ruffles near Fern's face and walked towards the living room. Fern smiled, grabbed two juice pouches and followed Anakin.

Anakin sat on the ground, the bag of Ruffles in his lap. Fern sat next to him, his knee pushing against Anakin's. He showed Anakin the second Juice Pouch.

"Aren't you thoughtful. You can hold onto them and I'll feed you chips." Fern barely needed a second to come up with a response.

"Deal." The Halloween blanket was draped over both of their shoulders. Fern looked up to see Quinn winking at him, Dillian gave him a thumbs up from behind his head. Quinn gestured to Fern and Ani, then brought his hands closer together while nodding.

Dillian was just putting his finger through a hole he made with his thumb and pointer finger. Fern mentally flipped Dillian off and scooted closer to Ani. Not yet putting his arm around his shoulder. Ani didn't move away, instead, he closed the blanket around them and rested his head against Fern's shoulder.

Fern mentally panicked, he reminded himself several hundred times not to move. He took a deep breath and relaxed.

"Why don't we start this off with a classic." Quin turned on the TV.

"Halloween?" Fern asked from the floor, he didn't dare move his head to look at him. Ani's hand snuck up towards his face, Fern was scared for a moment until he saw an orange Ruffle. Fern opened his mouth and took the chip into his mouth.

"No Die Hard," Quinn said like it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"What the fuck, that's not a Halloween movie," Dillian said, he didn't sound annoyed so much as confused.

"Hush, there's like a pumpkin somewhere. Die Hard is a movie for every season, now all of you shut up and enjoy art." He had found the movie on Ani's movie service, he pressed play.

"This is dumb," Dillian mumbled, Fern shrugged slightly still careful of Anakin. As long as he could feel Anakin's heart beat against his shoulder he was pretty positive he was good with anything. 

 Four movies later Fern was pretty sure his veins had been replaced with junk and sugar. He looked to the side of him, there was a stack of plastic plates with a half-eaten ghost shaped brownie on top. Anakin was still on his shoulder, it was the only thing rooting him in place. On several occasions, he had to ask either Dillian or Quinn for something to eat.

"So shouldn't you be at some rager or something?" Dillian asked Fern couldn't turn his head so he opted to just listen.

"Maybe, but what's the difference between a party on Halloween and one on any other weekend?" Quinn answered.

"Um, sexy costumes?"

"Dillian I need to take you to a party one day dude. No offense Anakin, but a real party. They already dress like they're in costume." Anakin shrugged and shifted from Fern, his looked behind him.

"Nah, this is more of a get-together. But Quinn's right Dill, the girls in our school dress like complete sluts when it comes to events." Quinn scoffed, he put his bowl of popcorn to the side of him.

"Like you're one to talk, your shorts are way past the dress code."

"How do you have zero bulges? Your dick can't be that small." Dillian asked bluntly, Fern cringed but Anakin looked mostly unphased.

"Sluttiness is subjective, and it's not necessarily a bad thing. It's a good way to catch some dick, but it's also a good way to keep cool in the summer, and express yourself freely." Fern rolled his eyes, he leaned one arm on the edge of the couch.

"You should be the representative of the Nation Sluts Association," Fern said, raising a laugh from the guys.

"I mean I'm already a member of the Fern Dickness Protection Agency, I'm sure they'd let me into the NSA too." Anakin cracked his back and looked at Dillian. "And it's called tucking Dillian. Makes it look flat, I have to do it for bathing suits. That and shave my legs, but I don't like excess hair anyway."

"Is that a personal thing or are you not allowed to have extra hair for swimming?" Fern asked.

"Both, hair just looks kinda gross when I'm trying to show off these legs!" He raised one of his impressively toned legs, it lifted his dress but Anakin didn't seem affected. Fern bit his lip resisting perving under his dress.

"Are you going for the team this year? You could probably make Varsity." Quinn said, surprising Fern. It didn't occur to him that other people would know about Ani and swimming.

"Yeah, I think I might. I've been getting really stressed lately, and last year was a nightmare without it."

"How do you tuck?" Dillian asked it seemed like he hadn't been following along in the conversation his mind still stuck on tucking.

"Well...it's called duct tape and determination. So you take your dick and you bend it s-"

"Okay Anakin shut up, I do not need to hear about dick bending." Quinn shivered visibly. Fern also cringed, preferring not to hear about bending. Anakin laughed and came to his knees.

"Oh don't act like you've never had yours bend, especially with all those girls you have around." Anakin hummed knowingly.

"Okay fine, maybe a few times but those were all very bad experiences. Now can we do something else besides talking about dicks?"

"Isn't this what regular guys are supposed to do?" Dillian smirked looking at the three other boys. Fern shrugged, he was certainly no expert on male friendly interaction. They all looked at Quinn, the resident expert on social things.

"I'll admit that usually guys talk about dicks a lot, but we are better than that. Let's play a game, something normal teenagers play." Quinn said as he turned off the TV.

"We could play spin the bottle," Dillian suggested, Quinn and Anakin looked at him strangely.

"Dillian that's really gay, and that's coming from a bi guy. Literally, we'd just be kissing each other." Anakin said a laugh in his voice.

"Oh yeah...I didn't think through that."

"I mean Dillan if you want to kiss any of us here, then just pucker up," Quinn teased. He made puckering lips and reached for Dillian getting closer.

"Fuck off!" Dillian laughed pushing Quinn's lips away. Quinn smiled and reached for Dillian's sides, making him squirm and fall off the couch and right onto Anakin.

"Ugh, Dillian get your ass off of me." Anakin groaned pushed Dillian off and squirmed out from under him. Dillian was laughing as he rolled properly on the floor. Fern smiled at the three of them, he picked up his ghost brownie and took another large bite.

"Jesus Christ Fern, are you going to eat all the food?" Quinn asked. Fern shrugged defensively and took his last bite.

"Leave Fernando alone, he's a growing boy." Anakin touched Fern's arm and stuck his tongue out at Quinn. Quinn rolled his eyes unphased.

"Guys, why don't we just play Truth or Dare?" Fern wrinkled his nose at the suggestion, all his very small scale attempts with Truth or Dare always ended badly.

"Sounds fine, any rules?" Anakin asked, Quinn, tapped his chin and shrugged.

"Don't do anything life-threatening, don't do anything that would trash the place, and if you bitch out on a dare the group gets to decide your punishment." Dillian and Ani both nodded, agreeing to the terms. Fern was more reluctant and slowly nodded, he could feel it in his bones things going wrong.

Quinn slipped down to the floor with the rest of them. He clasped his hands together and looked at the other three.

"I'll start this off," Quinn smirked and looked at his friends, choosing his victim. "Ani, Truth or Dare?" Anakin hummed, he tilted his head slightly before answering.

"Keeping it safe and choosing Truth." Quinn looked mildly annoyed, he had to take another moment. He suddenly smirked and looked sinisterly at Anakin.

"Are you a top or a bottom?" Anakin barely looked affected.

"Bottom with guys, open to experimentation with girls. My turn!" Fern barely got to let the information settle in before Ani was already asking Dillian.

"Dillian truth or dare?"

"Dare." Dillian crossed his arms. He didn't look as worried as when Quinn was choosing his victim.

"Drink Quinn's spit," Anakin said with a broad smile. Fern couldn't help but feel nervous how proud Ani looked. Dillian's entire face scrunched up, he looked between Quinn and Ani.

"How?" Ani learned behind Fern and grabbed a potentially used cup. He made sure it was empty and handed it to Quinn.

"Fill it up to the first line." He ordered Quinn, Quinn looked equally as disgusted but wouldn't dare dishonor a dare.

They waited silently as Quinn to fill the cup up. With each wad of spit, Fern felt worse for Dillian.

"Damn my mouth is dry." Quinn wiped his mouth and handed the cup of saliva to Dillian.

"Sorry for inconveniencing you," Dillian said sarcastically, as he held the cup he looked ready to dump it.

"Oh don't be such a baby, when you go out with someone you'll be swallowing more saliva than a cup full" Anakin waved his hand dismissively.

"But I'm not dating Quinn! And sorry I'm straight and this is gross an-"

"Chug chug chug!" Anakin chanted, he was smiling wickedly.

"This isn't al-"

"Chug chug chug!" Quinn joined in, pumping his fist dramatically.

"I hate al-"

"Chug chug chug!" Fern joined in, he felt it was a bit sadistic but even he wanted to see it happen. The three boys chanted chug three more times. Dillian sifted and tipped his head back, he let the cup of saliva flow through.

Fern gagged and winced almost turning away from him. Dillian threw the cup down and looked absolutely disgusted.

"Anakin you piece of shit." Dillian gagged, he rubbed his lips with the back of his sleeve.

"Oh, that was gross." Anakin laughed, he stood up and grabbed a juice pouch off of the table by the couch. He threw the pouch at Dillian. Dillian caught it and quickly began drinking. "Your turn." Anakin sat next to Fern their shoulders brushing for a moment.

Dillian took his time finishing the pouch. When he finished he gasped and took a deep breath. He crushed the pouch and threw it Anakin, missing him by a foot.

"Quinn-"

"Truth!"

"Can everyone stop interrupting me?" Dillian sighed deeply, that rose a laugh from Ani and Quinn. "Fine pussy, if you were anything other than straight would you date Carson?"

"No, but I'd definitely fuck him."

"Gee that was fast," Fern noted, Quinn shrugged defensively.

"Carson is an average meathead guy, I mean he's pretty nice, he's a great friend but he doesn't treat his girlfriends as great as he could. I'm partly to blame for that. But I have heard excellent compliments about his sexual abilities."

"What do you mean by, partly your fault?" Dillian asked.

"Well, I don't know if I'm supposed to mention this, but who gives a shit. Carson is mostly straight, but I mean not many people are completely straight. So on an average day, he doesn't find guys that attractive but I'm pretty sure he's in love with me."

"What?" The rest of the boys said in unison. Each sporting a similar face of shock.

"So Carson is...bi?" Ani asked unsurely.

"I wouldn't go that far, but he's like 98% straight and that two percent gay is for me. So...yeah."

"How do you know?" Fern asked.

"It's...hard to explain especially if you're not friends with him. A few times when he was drunk he's said things that I won't repeat. I'm pretty sure he's such a serial dater because he's stuck on me."

"Do...you like him?" Dillina looked genuinely invested in Quinn's issues, they all were.

"No, well...I don't want to be with him. Despite how shocking this is but I'm straight? I think he either needs to find another guy to give his two percent to or just stop treating girls like shit."

They all took a moment to let the news settle in. For Fern, it was weird imagining that teens who seemed to have it all figured out like Carson, could deal with unrequited love and heartbreak.

"Fern truth or dare?" Fern froze, he looked around the circle and looked like it had to be his turn. He weighed his options. He was afraid to choose truth, Quinn would bait him into saying something about Anakin. On the other hand, dares made him nervous.

"Dare..." He said slowly, keeping strict eye contact with Quinn. Quinn's eyes shone, his look read like Fern had fallen right into his trap.

"Between Dillian and Ani, guess what their sensitive spot is and if you get it right then you have to kiss that area for about five seconds. If you get both wrongs you have to kiss the areas you guessed for ten seconds." Fern's felt his cheeks heat up, he was already mortified. He looked at Anakin then Dillian. Anakin looked mildly amused, while Dillian looked confused.

"Sensitive as in..."

"Makes you want to tear off your clothes sensitive." Anakin clarified for him. "Don't worry Dillian is straight, and I enjoy this outfit so it will be staying on." Fern nodded slowly, he decided to start with Dillian.

"Uh Dillian...is it your..." He didn't want to choose something outrageous and be forced to kiss that spot, but he also didn't actually want to get it right. "Your neck?" He stuck with the most generic spot he could get.

"Nope," Dillian shook his head. Quinn smirked evilly.

"I guess you're wrong, better get Ani's right then." Quinn's words came out melodically. Fern gulped and looked at Anakin.

"Um...is your spot.." He looked everywhere on Anakin, he hated Quinn for forcing him to think about Anakin in a certain way in front of the rest of them. He looked at Ani's neck and his eyes trailed down. "Your collarbone?" He felt like it was too oddly specific, but it seemed like a very Anakin spot.

"Wow, good job Fern you got it right." Fern smiled he couldn't help but feel excited.

"Sorry, I'll try not to make this weird." He mumbled trying to suppress his excitement. He was already sitting close to Anakin. He wasn't sure where to put his hands so he placed one hand on the small of Anakin's back.

"Only weird if you make it weird." Anakin reminded him.

"Fern makes everything weird though," Dillian said, Fern shot him a look and took a deep breath. Ani tilted his head up, out of Fern's way. Fern got closer and leaned in, he felt incredibly stupid. He couldn't remember ever doing this before.

He started by pecking the collarbone lightly.

"Five seconds consistently Fernando!' Quinn said from behind him.

"Go drink a cup of Saliva." Fern grumbled, he shook his head and just went for it. He closed his eyes hoping it would make it easier. He kissed the spot and grazed it lightly with his teeth. His heart felt like it was beating out of his chest, but it was beating in a refreshing way. When he felt the kissing was enough he tried sucking on the spot as well. His hand curled near Ani's waist, and their bodies tilted together. Ani made a soft sighing noise that went right from Fern's ears to his lower half.

Fern moved away with no sense time or space, he barely knew where he was. Anakin face was flushed, but not in an embarrassment sort of way. Anakin rubbed his neck, he was biting his lip.

"Damn Fern, I said five seconds I didn't tell you to go vampire on him." Quinn laughed, Fern winced he hoped he hadn't made his attraction too obvious.

"Sorry..."

"No no it's okay, I'll just have hickey." Anakin laughed, he rubbed the spot and looked at Fern with interest. "I'm going to get ice, I'll be back." He stood up and walked to the staircase. Quinn crawled over to him immediately.

"This hasn't gone according to plan but you're doing awesome." He gave Fern a firm pat on the back.

"Wait we had a plan?" Dillian frowned, "Why wasn't I in on it?"

"We forgot to tell you, sorry." Quinn shrugged. "So I decided not to try the make Ani jealous method because after your whole he tutors with me now moment we were practically in a movie, and you basically staked claim. Good shit by the way dude."

"I...just did what felt right."

"Well just be glad your subconscious doesn't hate you. Also, for a first timer, that neck kiss was pretty good. It was sloppy as hell and you got spit all over Anakin's neck, but he seemed into it."

"That's all that really matters." Dillian agreed.

"But don't blow your load now, okay? And I mean literally, you look like your going to cream yourself, you kissed him for like ten seconds." Quinn laughed, Fern crossed his legs and scowled.

"Shut up..." He mumbled.

"'Homecoming is two days away, it's on Saturday. If you're going to pull any moves on him, do it then. Wine dine him before you know..."

"Fuck him." Dillian finished bluntly.

"Nah, Fern said he's not into that." Quinn clarified Dillian looked at Fern suspiciously.

"You looked pretty into that a second ago."

"Would you two both shut up? I'm not going to fuck him, but I will...do something to prove that I'm interested Saturday. I'll show him a good time-"

"With your dick?" Dillian cut in, both he and Quinn cracked up. Earning another dirty look from Fern.

"No as in fun, I will show him-"

"The size of your dick?" Dillian cut in again, still laughing. Quinn let out another burst of laughter, hunching over his face near the floor.

"Both of you fuck off." Fern kicked Dillian with his foot nearly toppling him over. "I'll tell him I like him Saturday? Okay, douchebags?" Quinn and Dillian took a moment to let the rest of their laughs out.

"Yeah sounds good, but I kind of want to make your life harder now." Dillian wiped a tear from his eyes and looked at Quinn.

"I got ice and more soda," Anakin said from the top of the stairs.

"Hey Ani, you got twister?" Quinn called. Fern paled, as much as he could, and looked pleadingly to Quinn.

"Probably, doesn't everyone have Twister?"

"Could you get it, Fern really wants to play."

"I call spinner!" Dillian said quickly, Fern threw the juice pouch previously left on the floor at him. Anakin came into view holding a bowl of ice.

"Just so you know I go hardcore on Twister, I'm pretty flexible," Anakin said as he looked between the boys. Fern could see the two other boys holding in another fit of giggles. Anakin set the bowl of ice on the table.

"Sounds great..." Fern said weakly, he prayed to the lord that his pants were loose enough for the following events. At the very least maybe if he got out quickly he could wrap himself up in the blanket.

"Great, let's play." Quinn looked at Fern and winked. Fern took a deep breath, it would be a long night.