"Why did we come here again?" Neil asked, tugging on the sleeves of his lab coat. Max opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off before he could.

   "To support Max and his boyfriend, duh!" Nikki giggled. The girl was dressed as a "sick zombie," in Erid's words. Max flushed red. "We're not dating yet, Nikki."

   "Key word there: yet," someone muttered. Neil jumped, realizing someone was behind him. "God dammit, Harrison."

   The magical teen chuckled, stepping into the light. His hair was somewhat spiked and colored with black hairspray. There was also hints of blue in it, and he was wearing a strange black outfit. He threw an arm around the brunet's shoulders. "We're not dating yet either, are we?"

   Max snickered watching the scene unfold. Neil blushed and stared at the floor, irritated. "No, not yet..." He changed the topic. "Who are you dressed as, anyway?"

   "As much of a bookworm you are, I figured you'd know," Harrison murmured. He noticed everyone's confusion looks at rolled his eyes. "I'm Magnus from The Mortal Instruments."

   Max lost interest when Neil started talking about the book series. He glanced around the dark room, suddenly realizing Nikki had vanished. "Hey, where did Nik go?"

   "She ran off with Nerris," Preston replied, coming up beside him. The taller teen held out a red solo cup. "Care for a hit?"

   "Hey, that's my line..." The shorter boy pouted playfully. He accepted the drink, trying not to think too much on the fact their hands just touched. "Thanks, though." He took a swig.

   "So, what part of the conversation did I miss?"

   He almost choked. "Not much..." he coughed out. "Just... Relationship stuff."

   Preston raised an eyebrow at this. "Oh? Like what?"

   Max felt his face heat up and looked away. "You know... Neil and Harrison..." He cleared his throat before continuing. "And Nikki kinda thought we were dating."

   The dramatic boy tried to hide his hurt expression. "I mean, we... We could be dating..." he mumbled.

   They sat in silence for a while, the blood rushing to their cheeks. After a moment, Max spoke up.

   "Ok, I know you want to be asked out in a dramatic, romantic way..."

   Preston's eyes lit up. "Dead Girl Walking duet?"

   "No. Lower your expectations a bit."

   "Fight for Me?"

   "That's not a duet, y'know."

   Preston gasped. "So you do want a duet?!"

   "... Shit."

   The taller teen giggled. "Ok, ok. How about Seventeen?"

   "That's..." Max paused. "... Actually really fitting." He watched the smile appear on his crush's face. Then the older boy started singing.

   "Fine, we're damaged... Really damaged... But that does not make us wise," he sang quietly, not wanting to draw attention. The black haired teen sat back and watched. He didn't have a line until the second verse, anyway. He couldn't help but grin watching the show.

   "Can't we be Seventeen...? That's all I want to do..." He glanced over at Max, shaking off his nervousness. He finished off the chorus, excited to hear his crush sing. "People hurt us..."

   "Or they vanish."

   Preston was slightly taken aback by his voice, but carried on. "And you're right, it really blows."

   When he got to the part about camping, they locked eyes. The teens forgot about the fact they were singing in front of their whole school and raised their voices some. They focused on nothing but each other.

   "I'll stay if I'm what you choose..." They were getting close to the end of the song. Neither had noticed the distance between them was growing shorter by the minute. The music that had originally been playing seemed to stop. "If I am what you choose..."

   "If we've still got the right..." Max made a split second decision and grabbed Preston's hand. It almost messed up the next line.

   "You're the one I choose..." they finished. Cheers erupted in the room, followed by clapping. The boys looked around, suddenly realizing the whole school had just watched their performance. The drama club was being the most supportive, whooping and hollering from the front of the gym.

   Preston blushed and put a hand over his mouth, looking down at Max in shock. The shorter teen shrugged. "You wanted something grand, right?"

   Harrison whispered something to Neil. The two snickered and started chanting "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"

   Slowly, most if the school joined in. "Talk about dramatic!" The auburn haired teen giggled. Max rolled his eyes and grabbed the blue sweater, pulling Preston down to his height. Before the sophomore could register what was happening, their lips were pressed together. The crowd cheered around them.

   Max broke the kiss and released his grip on the sweater. He could help but smirk at Preston's flustered expression. "Well? Was that dramatic enough for you?"

   The theatre kid giggled again, smiling. "It was even better than I expected."