Dinner was by far the most awkward family meal the Montgomery family had had since Steve's mother had found out her husband was cheating on her. This meal was less family cheating and more two teenagers making love eyes at one another when the other wasn't looking. Steve's father Jarenn was oblivious, but his mother Patty was not. She could see every little look between Steve and Andrew, and even though Steve hadn't told her, it was clear that her son had a crush on the shy, nerdy boy that sat on the opposite side of the kitchen table. It was also clear that Andrew had a crush right back, but it wasn't like she was going to call it out while they were all eating. That was just plain rude, and maybe the boys weren't ready yet. Maybe they hadn't even confessed. Patty knew she was going to have to ask Steve about the whole afterwards as to not make dinner even more tense. It was crazy enough with Steve's father on the brink of moving out, and with trying to get Andrew to live with them. Andrew couldn't stop looking at Steve, glancing up every once in a while from his spaghetti to look at the boy across the table. He was still wondering if Steve almost kissing him was a joke, the timing of it and his mother calling them down for dinner seemed a little too perfect to be a coincidence. Steve was doing the same thing as Andrew, somehow whenever Andrew was looking down at his food. Suddenly, the timing matched up and the two looked up together, meeting eyes for a split second before blushing and looking down at their food. Patty, who had seen it all, was trying to hold in her laughter as the two boys rushed to finish their food after the awkward interaction. Andrew, for a lack of more elegant words, inhaled his food faster than the Flash and Quicksilver combined, excusing himself up to Steve's room to "grab something", with Steve following just as quickly behind him, yelling "I'll clean up all the plates later, Mom!" However, Patty couldn't care less about her son doing the dishes and decided to give him the night off, well aware of what he was going to do upstairs with Andrew. She only hoped if it was going that far that Steve had some sort of protection he could use, but she quickly took that thought out of her head. Her husband deserved to give them the sex talk after all he'd done behind her back. She smiled to herself, grabbing the empty plates and walking into the kitchen. 

Upstairs, both boys sat on the bed, physically and mentally nervous as hell to finish what they had started downstairs, even confident charmer Steve. However, after a minute of staring at each other, Steve broke the silence, scooting closer to Andrew and putting his hand softly on Andrew's cheek, rubbing it in a clockwise motion. Andrew's breath hitched, hoping Steve wasn't buttering him up just to punch him in the stomach and call him a fag or push him off the bed. It was easy for anyone to see, he was purely terrified. He wanted this, of course he did, but the world had rarely ever given him what he wanted without him paying the price, so he didn't drop his fear. Steve, on the other hand, wasn't afraid anymore. He wanted to love Andrew, give him a better home, give him a better life and a better extended family, all he really wanted was Andrew. So, with all the bravery he could summon, he leaned in, finally closing the seemingly endless gap between them, his lips meeting Andrew's in a soft, short kiss. Andrew felt like he was in heaven, despite not believing in a God, leaning into the kiss, silently begging Steve in his mind not to stop. Steve wrapped his arms around Andrew, and the blond did the same, both of them too blissed out to think of anything but each other. Steve leaned forward towards Andrew, accidentally causing the older boy to lose his balance and fall back on the bed with Steve on top of him, their lips still slightly connected. They continued to kiss, hands exploring each other's upper bodies, Andrew letting out a low noise every once in a while. After a few minutes, they broke apart to take a breath, still reeling from the high they'd just experienced.  Andrew was the first to speak, his voice shakey. 

"Holy shit, dude.... that- that was amazing! T-Thank you, um... you don't ever have to do that again if you don't want to-" Steve cut him off by climbing back on top of him and connecting their lips, trying to ingrain in Andrew's thick skull that this was all he wanted to do right now. 

"Detmer, I love you, but seriously, you need to stop thinking everyone who gets close to you is gonna hate you! In case you haven't noticed, all I want right now is to kiss you, cause this is what love is, Drew." Andrew looked slightly dumbfounded,  but smiled, and for the first time, joined their lips together again. Steve mumbled something into the kiss Andrew couldn't decipher, so he pulled them apart and asked Steve to repeat what he said. 

"I said, I never knew love tasted like spaghetti and Mountain Dew." They both started giggling, laying down on the bed next to one another, laughing their heads off. They stayed like that for a while, talking about whatever they could think of, slowly moving closer together, until they realized just how late it was. 

"Fuck, it's almost 9, Aunt Deb's gonna murder me if I'm late-" 

"Stay here for tonight. I've got clothes you can borrow, just stay here. Plus, you're gonna live here until you're 18, right? If you sign the papers...." Steve was now the nervous one, hoping he hadn't scared Andrew off with his sudden declaration of love and a makeout session. Andrew smiled, nodding his head, slowly putting his hand on top of Steve's. 

"Yeah. You're right. I just... ugh, this is so awkward I'm sorry. I don't wanna be a burden or anything, I don't want you to force yourself to like me or take me in-" Andrew was cut off yet again by Steve's lips meeting his, both of them wanting to forget about their insecurities and their doubts, finding refuge in one another, their hearts and lips joined to form something better, to discover the goodness within each other. Steve made sure Andrew knew he would never be a burden, he would always be welcome here. They went to bed that night with Andrew curled up in Steve's arms, dressed in the shortest shorts he'd ever worn and one of Steve's old football t-shirts. If Andrew's phone was blowing up with messages from his Aunt, he couldn't care less. For now, he was safe, and loved, and very, very warm. That was all that mattered. For the first time in years, Andrew Detmer was officially happy. 

Andrew Detmer officially became sad when he woke up and realized his camera had been filming all night in the corner of the room and had lost all it's battery. It was only temporary sadness, as he could smell something from downstairs and realized Steve wasn't in bed. Andrew's first thought was that he left for good, but his second thought was that Steve and the smell somehow were connected. He got out of bed, well aware at how revealing the clothing was he was wearing before he grabbed his dead camera and walked down the steps, hoping to find Steve and whatever he was making. He found Steve, as well as a batch of pancakes and a box of microwavable sausages sitting on the table. Steve hadn't seen him yet, so Andrew called his name, not expecting Steve to yelp in shock and almost knock the pancakes out of the pan. Andrew, scared by Steve's scream, jumped back as well. 

"Holy SHIT, Drew, you scared the fuck outta me!" Andrew could see Steve was smiling and laughing a little under his breath, but nevertheless, he apologized and Steve told him to stop apologizing. Steve walked over to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek before bringing the pancakes to the table. They both took as many on their plates as they could, cutting them up and scarfing them down. In the middle of their giant feast, Steve realized he'd never put the sausages in the microwave, so they both got up from their seats and spent three minutes trying to open the package. As they watched the mini sausages spin around in the microwave, Andrew, in a bold move, started up a conversation all on his own.

"I didn't know you could cook. Those pancakes are so good, I'd have NO idea a chef didn't make em if I didn't know you did." Steve chuckled.

"Yeah, my mom taught me. She's a pretty good cook, and I guess I take after her. You got any cooking skills?"

"Nah. All I really know is how to burn water and microwave Spaghettios. I'm hopeless with a capital H." 

"Hey, that's not too bad! Your mom teach you at all? I know your dad... probably didn't-" 

"His name is Richard, and no, he didn't give a shit about me from the moment I was born. I was always less than what he wanted. Too small, didn't talk enough, cried too much, all that shit. He said I was retarded, wanted to send me away sometimes, but mom wouldn't let him." Andrew looked over at Steve, realizing how much he had just said and looked down at his hands, begging them again not to stim. 

"Sorry... you didn't need to hear all that." Steve looked at him sympathetically, taking Andrew's hand in his and rubbing it.

"It's okay, Drew. He's gone now, but it's alright to remember. I'm the one who should be sorry, I brought him up." Steve then switched to another topic, hoping it would lift Andrew's spirits. 

"What about your mom? She ever teach you?"

"I wish. She used to cook a lot, but she got sick before I was 'old enough' to use the stove. Once I move back in with her though, I'm gonna force her to teach me so we can all have a pancake contest." He snickered, finally looking up at Steve. The boys both burst out laughing as the microwave beeped, scaring them with its monotone alarm. They jumped off the counter, Andrew opening the door and taking the sausages. 

"Thank you, O Holy Microwave, for your service." He bowed dramatically with the plate still in his arms and Steve laughed so hard he fell to the floor, causing Andrew to put down the tray and make sure he was alright. 

In the end, both boys were sitting at the table, all the food nearby, and they had declared Steve the Pancake Master. 

"Wait... are you a pancake master because you're... panattractive? Pan...something?" 

"It's pansexual, dude!" Steve laughed, "And no, it's not because of that." 

"I can't believe there are other um... sexes besides gay and normal. Sexes? Shit no.. fuck, what's the word?" 

"It's sexualities, Drew. Don't worry about it! You don't have to be a master at everything when you learn it! There's gay, you know that one, lesbian, which is girl gay, bisexual or bi, which is liking two genders, there's pansexual which is liking people cause of their personality instead of gender, and then there's straight, which is what all the 'normal' people are." Andrew let out an "Ohhhhh!" and Steve continued on. Andrew learned that Steve had found information from the mother of all websites, Google. Andrew did love Google, and he knew he had to put in his research time eventually. 

"There's even more than that, those are just the common ones." Andrew looked shocked at this revelation.

"Really? How do people keep TRACK of all of them?" 

"I don't know, man. They just do. And there's genders too. Like, people who don't identify with the sex they're born as and stuff." 

"That makes sense. I mean, I'm fine being a guy, but I feel bad for people who don't. I'm pretty sure I'm just gay. Gay and weird." 

"You're not weird, Drew! You're great. You're amazing, and I love you." Andrew's eyes went wide. So last night WASN'T some big elaborate dream, he thought to himself. Steve, Steve Montgomery, the star football player and most popular guy in school, loved HIM, nerdy outcast Andrew Detmer, cousin to the now incarcerated druggie Matt Garretty.  It took Amdrew several seconds to get words out of his mouth. 

"I- ..... I love you too, Steve." 

And with a kiss on the lips, both boys understood what new love felt like. It was warm and sweet, full of morning breakfasts and laughter and basking in one another's company. It was perfect, the only perfect they ever wanted in life. 

As the months passed and June moved closer into view, Steve and Andrew had officially decided to become a couple. Steve broke up with Samantha, who he learned was indeed a closeted lesbian and overly thrilled stop being his girlfriend in favor of hanging out with her friends. They still remained friends themselves, but the days of romance had come to a surprisingly joyful ending. The boys weren't out at school, it seemed like too big of a risk to take, but soon Andrew Detmer became one of the cool kids under Steve's wing,the other kids apprehensive at first, but eventually figured out Andrew the Freak wasn't such a freak after all. Andrew got new friends in place of the old bullies, and he was invited to every single football game, which he never missed. Life was finally giving him the good stuff, the universe throwing him existential candy instead of its usual torrent of filth. Matt had somehow managed to get his sorry ass out of Juvie, coming back to finish off the school year with a full row of Fs and giving no Fs about that. To say he was jealous of Andrew now was an understatement. His powers were useless from all the time spent in jail, he'd lost all his buddies, and he'd lost all his buds too. The three boys were still friends in the end,  but they weren't meeting up every day to practice their abilities. However, Andrew and Steve were finding new ways to scare the shit out of the other any chance they could get. The biggest success, and shock, of all was Andrew's mother, who was finally able to get out of the hospital in April, meaning Andrew didn't have to sign the papers the Montgomerys had gotten. He did make them the biggest promise in the world to visit almost every day and make himself at home whenever he wanted. As Steve's boyfriend, he was a part of the family, and also swarmed with love by Steve's mother during his coming out to her, but when he came out to his mother, it was quite an unusual circumstance. He was afraid she wouldn't love him, but of course, Karen was no Karen and immediately accepted her son with open arms and smile. But that wasn't the end of it. She told him she "had to grab something", and walked over to the closet, rummaging around through a box for something Andrew clearly needed to see. It was a miracle to him just to see his mother walking around after all those years in bed, but what she pulled out was just as shocking. She came back holding a ginormous blue, purple and pink striped flag in her arms, what Andrew would later learn was the bisexual flag.

"What- H-How-" 

"I never told your father." Andrew flinched hard, jumping back a good inch. Karen understood, correcting her sentence. "Richard, I mean. I never told him about it, although I think I made it pretty clear anyone could love who the wanted."

"...So have you dated a girl before? Like, why Richard? Why not some cool dude or girl that wasn't him?" Karen let out a laugh and patted her son on the shoulder. 

"Yes, I have dated a woman or two, back in my glory days.  As for Richard, he wasn't like this when we first got married. He was kind, loving, doted on me like you wouldn't believe. It was after you were born when I started to have doubts about him. I did want a divorce, I have for years, and now that he's in prison, I feel like it's only fair to let him go and move on." Andrew nodded solemnly before adding 

"And find a nice guy or girl?" 

"Maybe, Andrew. Maybe. But for now, it'll be just you and me, and whatever flags we want to hang up on these walls." Andrew couldn't resist giving her a giant hug and a kiss on the cheek, and she did the same. 

"So... you're totally fine with me dating Steve and everything?"

"Andrew, my sweet boy, I couldn't be happier. Steve is good for you, and I have no doubts that you're good for him too." 

And for a while, that was how everything stayed. Karen, Andrew, Steve, and all the flags on the walls and on the flagpost outside. A few kids at school had questioned Andrew about the flag, and all he said was that he was an ally unless the other kid told him that they too were part of the community. Andrew didn't think much of it until dinner one night, when the doorbell rang and everyone else's mouth was full of his mother's homemade Mac and Cheese. 

"I'll get it." He sighed, opening the door and finding a young boy on his doorstep with two bags sitting on the steps behind him. 

"You're Andrew Detmer, right? The ally guy?" Andrew immediately understood. 

"That's me. .... Can you um... tell me why you're at my house with a bunch of bags?" 

"That's the hard part. My parents kicked me out cause I'm gay, and I have nowhere else to go. I know this is a LOT to ask cause I'm literally a stranger on your doorstep, but... can I stay with you guys?"

Andrew's heart almost stopped dead in his chest.