Bdubs, for someone who had almost just crashed a van with all his friends inside, felt pretty calm. He parked the van and got out, vaguely aware of Keralis and Xisuma running over.

Keralis engulfed Bdubs in a hug, burying his face in Bdubs' shoulder. "BUBBLES WHAT HAPPENED?"

Bdubs hugged back, "'m.. not sure, re-"

Scar jumped in and explained what all had happened, lightly sugar-coating as much as he could to make the story less painful for everyone. He even left in Zedaph's frantic love confession.

Bdubs sighed. "So I zoned out."

"While driving!" X pointed out, "Is everyone okay? Why did you zone out? Where's the other-"

"X calm down, I'm sure everyone's is just a bit shaken."

"No, I'm frEAKING OUT, SCAR!" Xisuma exclaimed, "I DIDN'T EXPECT THIS TO HAPPEN!!"

"O-okay- Swashswammy, let's maybe.. get the celebration picnic set up, yeah?" Reluctantly, Keralis let Bdubs go, the capped brunet giving him an apologetic look. "Sorry. I'll be back, Bubbles. Feel better."

He led Xisuma, who was still worrying over everything, away. Scar gently placed his hand on Bdubs' shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

"I think so." Bdubs said. He tried for a smile. "But I should probably see the school counselor or something."

Scar chuckled, "After that, I think we all should."

The duo fell silent. They then watched as a pale green van rolled past the finish line. As soon as it came to a halt, everyone piled, scrambling out the van as if it were diseased. Ren attacked Iskall in a hug. Grian collapsed onto the cement and laid down. Mumbo sat down next to him.

Doc scanned the area, and made eye contact with Bdubs. Both boys looked away.

"You should talk to him."

"Wha-" Bdubs whipped his head around to face Scar, "Are you crazy? He hates me! I almost just fucking killed everyone!"

"You'll feel horrible if you don't settle things, Bdubs, trust me." Scar pushed the tanned boy forward, "And I wanna call Cub. G-go away."

Reluctantly, Bdubs slowly dragged his feet over to Doc Monster himself.

Doc was getting his backpack from the van. Bdubs tapped his shoulder. The brunet turned around, and his eyes widened.

An awkward lull of silence, before the boys simultaneously said, "I'm sorry."

"What-?"

"whAt?"

Doc closed the van's trunk and slung his backpack over his shoulder. "Look.. Bdubs, I'm sorry for being a dick last night and I'm sorry for snapping at you I just-"

"No! It's on me!" Bdubs inturrupted, "Like, I mean it's on both of us but I overreacted! So I'm sorry."

Bdubs was dreading Docs response. Doc was silent for a moment, before smiling. "Does that mean we're good?"

"We.." Bdubs thought back to what he had told Doc the previous night. "We can't know eachother."

Since then he had realized that's not really true. It's not what he wanted. It is, infact, the exact opposite of what he was wanting.

But was he ready? Bdubs didn't know.

Bdubs let out a breath he didn't know he was holding."I think we can be good."

Doc's smile grew, "And does that mean we're friends?"

Bdubs' heart fluttered. "I-If you're down! Uhm.. What do you do with your friends usually?"

"I... like to infect my friends with my music taste." Doc and Bdubs started walking to Bdubs' van to pick up his backpack. Doc studied. "I have a few ideas of songs you might like."

Bdubs let himself smile, "O-oh yeah?"

"Uh-huh. D'you know 'Eyes Blue Like the Atlantic' by.. Sista Prod, I think?" Doc asked, as they came up to the blue van. "It's a really nic-"

The german was inturrupted by the van's door swinging open. Impulse got out the vehicle, a smug look on his face.

"Oh hey Doc. Bdubs-- Hope you're feeling better man!" Impulse patted Bdubs on the shoulder, then pointed his thumb to the van. "Maybe give it a bit before you get anything from in there. Tango and Zed are-" Impulse's smile, "having a moment."

Doc and Bdubs exchanged glances. It was obvious there was one unanimous thought that the three boys were all thinking. "Finally"

---

Impulse lied. Tango and Zedaph weren't really having a moment.

The trio had been staying firmly in the backseat of that van, waiting for their heartrates to lower. Though that task seemed a bit harder for two of them, seeing as they had other things on their minds. But Zed and Tango weren't talking about it.

Impulse realized it was probably because he was there. He unbuckled, promptly taking his leave. "I'll let you two talk about it."

Easier said than done.

"S-so." Tango started, "You l- ...me-"

Zedaph held his breath. "I-- do. If you didn't- y'know- pick it up from the flirting."

Tango nodded, "And.. you kissed me."

"And you didn't pull away."

Tango's cheeks tinted pink. "I.. I didn't-"

Zedaph laughed lightly, surprising Tango. Zed patted the shorters hand. "Chill Tango. In all honesty, I know you like me."

"Wha- I-" Tango's face only got redder. "Was I that obvious?!"

"Yeah, kinda." Zedaph said, "And--don't kill him--but Impulse did hint at it quite a bit."

Tango sighed, "I should've expected that much, honestly."

The boys fell silent, unsure how to continue the conversation. Suddenly, Tango moved his pinky, stretching it out so it just brushed Zedaph's.

The taller blond smiled, linking their pinkies.

"How does this change things, Zed." Tango asked glancing down at his and Zedaph's hands.

"I mean.." Zed turned to Tango. "That depends. What are we?"

"What do you want us to be..?"

Zedaph answered instantly, as if he'd had his answer read for a long time. He gave Tango a shy smile. "I want us to be eachothers."

Tango's heart simply melted. He was dreaming-- no, he had died. Bdubs had killed them all and he was in heaven now. And Tango was totally okay with that. "I'd like that."

Tango pulled his and Zedaph's hands closer.

"Zed?"

"Mmhm?"

"I think I love you."

Zedaph flushed, "I- I love you too, Tango"

---

Iskall's felt a twang in his heart when Zedaph and Tango arrived hand-in-hand to the picnic X had laid out.

He was happy for them, of course. They'd been pining for eachother for so long, and they deserved eachother. It just made Iskall wish he had someone like that.

The swede subconsciously glanced over at Ren.

Iskall sighed. He needed to stop doing that.

As if sensing his sadness, Ren looked over at him in concern. He shuffled over to sit next to Iskall.

"How're you feeling?" Ren asked, "Still shaken?"

Oh right. Ren thought Iskall was sad because of the car. Which made sense, but because he wasn't in the swerving van, he wasn't as freaked out as he could've been.

"No, I'm feeling better." Iskall assured, offering Ren a smile. "I'm just kinda sad that the roadtrip's over."

Ren nodded, picking up a PB&J sandwich. "I getchu." He said between bites, "I'm gonna miss you, dude."

Iskall's heart stopped. "A-are you going somewhere??"

Ren laughed, "Oh, no no! We just- don't talk at school I guess."

"Oh." Iskall's face fell. "I'm guess you're right."

Ren hummed. "Butttt..."

"Hm?"

"If I could maybe get your phone number.." Ren suggested. "And we could perhaps go somewhere sometime."

Iskall's eyes widened, "F-for real?"

Ren smiled, "Of course! We are friends, aren't we?"

"Huh. Yeah." Iskall pulled out his phone, handing it to Ren to punch on his number. "We are."

---

So where are we now?

Xisuma and Keralis now know not to let a bunch of emotionally unstable twelfth-graders go on roadtrips with real adult supervision.

Impulse is happy making fun of Tango and Zedaph for being in love, because that's what friends do.

Scar is ready to go home. He was tired of all the drama. He just wanted to pet his cat and cuddle Cub.

Iskall was exhilarated. He was friends. With Rendog. Holy shit.

Grian and Mumbo were still begrudgingly aware that they were side characters. They didn't even get to tell Iskall what they were planning too on the trip. Oh well. They could keep it under wraps for a little while longer.

Bdubs was ready to know Doc. At least, Bdubs was ready to try.

What a roadtrip.

---

(I got this out before I needed to leave for the lake.. YES!... but it's 2:30AM. The prices I pay.)

HOLY FUCK IT'S DONE. HOLY FUCK I'VE MADE IT SEEM LIKE THERE'S GONNA BE A SEQUEL. (And there might be idfk) What a journey this was, holy shit.

I hate writing. It's so fun.

But seriously, thank you to everyone who read, commented, and voted on this story! I couldn't have done it without you! I'm so grateful for every single person who is reading this, genuinely.

I don't know if there's going to be a sequel. If there is, I don't know what it would be about. Those are questions for another day.

Thank you again, everyone. Goodbye for now :)

STAY SAFE AND WELL HYDRATED *BoNK WATER BOTTLES AND LOVE <3 APPEAR IN FRONT OF YOU WoOW*

Buh bye o/