John was much better at texting and even then, most of the time him and Lucas were talking it'd be them sending memes to each other. Lucas was always the one to start conversation, which made the quiet boy wonder how much he knew about John than he led on. Or was he able to identify these things about John without him realizing it?

Monday had come too fast and John found himself laying on his bed, the time being 12:39 am, as he thought about how unreal everything felt. His crush, on the cutest boy around, was actually talking to him and (at least) didn't seem bothered by him. His face flushed at the thought of him and Lucas becoming close. His body began to heat up as his imagination ran wild, thinking of various situations and he was excited when he heard his phone ding next to him with a familiar, funny tone that John had only assigned to one specific person.

cute boyy <3 12:39 am

Do u ever die on the inside and outside bc ryan accidentally sends you nudes

John had to muffle his laughter as he read through what he had just been sent again, wondering how the hell you send someone nudes accidentally.

myself 12:40 am

how the fuck do you send nudes on accident??

cute boyy <3 12:40 am

What did you do? I sucked dick on accident. How do you suck dick on accident?!?!!

myself 12:41 am

?

cute boyy <3 12:41 am

Do you not remember that vine?

Panic rose in John's chest and he realized how dumb he was. He should've been caught up on vines so he could understand Lucas' jokes fully (this was the first time, then again, Lucas had quoted a not-so-well known vine). Should he lie? Should he straight up tell Lucas that hey, sorry, I don't watch vines but for you I'd watch all of the vine compilations that exist. Curse him and his inability to lie.

myself 12:42 am

sorry ive never rlly watched vines

cute boy <33 12:42 am

Omg today at tech im making you watch them with me

myself 12:43 am

sounds good!!

John was a fool for him.

///

"John!" Marcel's loud greeting at lunch made the brunette sigh in exasperation as he glanced up at his friend who had his phone in one hand and a notebook in the other.

"Hey." After he spoke, John reached towards his bag and grabbed his water, realizing how dry his voice sounded.

"So guess what?" Marcel's tone was on edge but excitement was hidden behind it and John was curious why and how Marcel hadn't sent any texts to him personally or the group chat.

"What happened?" John was full of curiosity as his best friend sat down, the others at their table were currently running late so it was only him and Marcel.

"You know David is an actor and he's good friends with Brock and Brian," as he said their names, Marcel's cheeks grew increasingly redder and John chuckled lightly at the sight. "And he got me in a group chat with them, saying it was for some stupid tech-actor bonding thing and they were all for it and all day I've been messaging them and holy shit John, they're such cute texters I want to fucking make out with their asses." Marcel's comment caused John to almost drop his phone in hand.

"Yeah I know you wanna suck their dick until it's all dry but don't go too fast bud." Marcel shrugged at the comment and began to pull out his lunch.

"So how're things with Lucas going?" The question made John freeze as his face flushed and he began to think about the past weekends conversations with him.

"I'm really fucking gay for him but what's new? Also, he said he's going to make me watch vines with him at tech today but I don't know if he was being serious or not." Marcel gestured for John's phone and the brunette unlocked it and opened up him and Lucas' conversation, which Marcel began to read through.

"Holy shit you're both so gay." The comment caused John to choke on the water he was sipping and John brought his arm up to wipe the spilled water on his chin.

"You're one to talk though," As John said that, he looked across the lunchroom to see Lucas and Ryan standing at their table, mouths moving, as the people who sat with them were laughing.

"Before you start talking about Lucas, which by the way you're looking at him you're either about to cry about him or just ramble about how fucking cute he is and how much you want to make out with him, where the fuck are the others?" Marcel asked and John shrugged, his eyes glancing towards the exits and he was surprised that their friends weren't already there.

"No idea but I guess we'll have to survive without them." John joked as his phone vibrated and Marcel gave him a look before pulling the phone between them.

cute boy <33 12:34 pm

ITS 1234 BOYYYYYYY

cute boy <33

But more importantly are you still up for vines after school today at your domain? aka the auditorium

Marcel's laughter rung in his ears and John looked at his friend as he thought about what to say.

"Is fuck yeah too aggressive?" John asked as Tyler and Craig came into view and Marcel cracked up more.

"What the fuck are you saying that's causing Marcel to laugh like that?" Craig asked as he dropped his bag down, standing above them since he needed to buy lunch but this was something he didn't want to miss.

"Go get lunch babe, he can explain after." Tyler lightly pushed his boyfriend towards the actual kitchen area and in return, Craig stuck his tongue out.

"So what took you guys so long?" John asked and he remembered that he still had yet to reply to his boy.

"Had to talk to a teacher about something on the test. I swear AP Calc is going to be the fucking death of me." Tyler sighed as he shook his head, letting it rest in his hands.

"It's your senior year Tyler, just think, not many days left of AP Calc." Marcel tried to comfort and for the first time of that year, John realized that next year, he'd be alone.

Well no, he'd have Craig, but he wouldn't have his best friends. He wouldn't have the two people who understood him better than his family, who understood him in any situation that arose. How was he going to survive next year without those two by his side?

"So explain what the fuck happened." Craig demanded as he slammed down his tray on the table, causing some people to look at their table.

"John's afraid to be aggressive with Lucas." Marcel couldn't contain his laughter as he began to talk.

"Okay, no," John interrupted, knowing well that sounded too ominous. "He texted me something and what I was thinking of saying was too aggressive and I don't know what to say."

"And you want the underlying tone that you'd be up for sucking his dick?" Tyler's question made John's face flush red and the rest of them laugh.

"Ye- I mean no! We're friends and yeah I like him a fuck lot but I'm not going to suck his dick like that!" John yelled and when the next voice came, he hid his face into his sweater.

"Like that? John, it's simple, just suck his dick." Lui's teasing tone made him feel even more embarrassed. "Also, whose dick are we talking about?" The small boy asked as him and his tall friend sat down.

"Lucas' dick." Marcel answered and John glared at him for exposing his ass like that.

"Lucas? Theater club Lucas? Memer Lucas?" Lui checked and John looked at him before slowly nodding.

"Him and David are good friends!! They bicker a lot but behind the scenes they're buddy-buddy. If you want, David can talk about you in a cool way!" Lui suggested as he looked towards his friend who looked dazed out but when the small boy's wide eyes looked at him, he suddenly came to conscious.

"What'd ye say?" David's question caused Lui to lean on him and John smiled at the closeness of the two.

What he'd give for that with Lucas.

"Talk about how cool John is to Lucas and make sure Lucas goes super gay for him." Lui joked and David looked towards John, giving him a confused look before looking back to the boy leaning on him and shrugged.

"Can do." David's response made Lui hug him and John didn't miss how red David's face, and even Lui's face had gone a bit red too.

"Oh right," Marcel interrupted as he leaned his head onto John's shoulder, sliding his phone towards the brunette. "You never sent your text to your lover." The comment caused John to elbow Marcel's side, causing the boy to start coughing-laughing.

"Fine, you can respond for me then." John regretted what he said as soon as the mischievous smile grew on Marcel's lips.

Marcel turned his body, along with the phone, as he looked at the screen. He stuck his tongue unconsciously as he began to type, and John's stomach began to feel like a void. He was beyond nervous and scared, especially since Marcel was the most inappropriate yet straightforward guy he knew. Marcel, while a good friend to him, never missed the opportunity to mess with him. When his phone was handed back, the anxiety that had filled his chest was quick to dissipate.

me 12:47pm

you know it, ill always down for vines

"Marcel you fucker." John whispered as his close friend began to laugh.

///

"I don't know if I can do this." John whispered to Tyler as they sat in the back of the auditorium, watching the people interact in front of them.

"Of course you can, all you're doing is watching stupid videos on one of your phones. You don't even have to interact." Tyler tried to reassure his friend, wrapping a close arm around the smaller boy.

"Okay but what if I don't laugh at one he laughs at or what if I laugh at one he doesn't find funny? What if he thinks my humor sucks? What if he realizes just how fucking terrible I am??" John's final question made the larger friend groan as he grabbed his best friends hand, causing the two to stare at each other.

"John, you're not a piece of shit, accept that at least. Your humor is fine as it is, fucked up like everyone else's in this damn world, so stop being hard on yourself. And if Lucas judges you for anything then I'm going to beat that bitch up." Tyler's word made John internally die since while Tyler was protective of those close to him, he had never been so obvious about it. Plus, Tyler had never threatened to beat someone up for John's sake (while they joked about fighting on a daily basis, neither of them had truly meant it.)

"God I hate your guts." John whispered, and Tyler only laughed.

///

"Perfect." Lucas said with a big grin as they sat in the back row of the seats, right next to a corner.

"Better than uh, dealing with anyone on stage." John made sure to leave out the "who might disturb us," part.

Lucas was quick to pull out his phone and opened up youtube, finding different compilations and began the introduction of vines to John. Minutes passed fast as they watched different compilations (the names of the videos made him laugh from "vines that cure my deepest depression" to "clean vines that i can play in front of my teacher"). John had a great time, though he hated that he found himself usually watching Lucas. Missing most of the vines were worth it though when he got to see Lucas do the cheesiest smile and bark out a laugh every time one of his favorites came on (and when those did, he'd tell John to pay attention but it was difficult to when something even better was right next to him).

Soon the actors were called and John was expecting Lucas to just get up and leave him, but he still sat there, holding his phone in front of them as the video "vines that were there for me when no one, not even myself, was there" played. It took Ryan actually approaching them minutes later, Luke at his side, to get Lucas to leave and even then, the cute boy was reluctant. He at first flipped off Ryan, who fake gasped, which caused the senior to convince him with many things and when he finally got Lucas to come, the cute boy turned towards John, a grin on his lips.

"We'll continue this another day, but for now, I'll see you around." Lucas farewell was sweet and John could only nod, scared that instead of a goodbye, he might start panicking and possibly yelling in happiness.

He just waved a goodbye.

John found his friends who were on one of the sides of the stage now, complaining about some teachers. Sami was the lead of the conversation, moaning about how terrible her AP Physics teacher was. Marcel shared the class with her and agreed with everything she said, mainly focusing on his phone where he was currently tapping away at his screen. The brunette found himself smiling as he silently snuck his way into the group, taking the empty seat in between Tyler and Scotty who barely acknowledged him.

As he leaned on Tyler, he quietly sighed and could only think about how bright Lucas' smile was. What he would give for the cute boy to give him that smile, John would go miles for it.

a/n

apologies for not posting this fic in over a month fbejbe ive been going thru some shit and im still suffering haha but i finished hw early for once AND i am deciding not to study for my ap exam (which i should but o well) and im just overall suffering yknow, anyways, i love and ahte this chapter. i lvoe these boys smsmsmsmsm god bless. anyways, um, hope you enjoyed the chapter!! thank you so much for reading this and supporting and ill see you in the next chapter (which'll hopefully be posted quicker lol)!!!