:November 8th, XX46; Friday.

:SIMMER DOWN.

•~~~~•

"Places in ten!"

"Thank you, ten!"

Joe turned back to talking to Sage with a grin. The two were sitting backstage, their performance now only minutes away. Joe was probably gonna have to run to get in place early, maybe at the five minute mark, but in that moment he was freaking out about being alone with Oliver more than anything. Especially since as of late his want to tackle-hug him every time they made eye contact was multiplied by about a thousand.

"I am so glad I got my lines memorized early," Sage let out a sigh. "It was so much easier to have them down quick, a couple weeks before we had to be off-book. Especially since I'm one of the leads. Ooh- I hope our parents got good seats."

"I'm glad I don't have any lines at all," Joe smirked a bit. "Our parents probably got one of the first rows, though, I'm sure. Your pop definitely saved my parents seats if I know him right."

"He absolutely did. You think your uncles are gonna be watching, too?"

Joe got out his phone for a moment to check his notifications- he had none. "Uh... yeah, I'm pretty sure. Er- I'm certain, actually. It's just that my Uncle Remy sent me a single text yesterday after I got home just saying he'd be there but couldn't talk after the show at all. Like, at all."

"Kinda weird. You said Emile was a therapist, right? You think they just have some, like, night patients?"

"I don't know. I tried to ask why but he left me on read."

"Huh."

"Five minutes, everyone!"

"Thank you, five!"

"Shit- I should probably go," Joe fiddled with his mic that was attached to his headphones for a moment to make sure it was moving up and down properly. "Break a leg, Sage, you'll do great."

"You too, man!"

With one last wave Joe got up from where he was and went out to the hallway surrounding the auditorium, entering the auditorium through the back and quickly making his way to his and Oliver's booth. The latter wasn't there yet, but he didn't really need to be for another minute or two, so Joe took a moment to stare out at the audience to see if he could see anyone he recognized. Just like he thought, he could see Sage's and his parents in the row behind the front, near the middle. He continued looking around for a few more seconds, eyebrows furrowed, because he just couldn't seem to find his un-

"Joe?"

"Shit-" Joe covered his mouth as the whispered curse tumbled out of it, and he turned around, breathing a small sigh of relief but feeling his heart begin to pound when he saw who it was.

"...Sorry, Oli. You scared me."

"Oh- no, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No- no, it's okay. It's fine."

The two stared at each other for a moment, and a smile came upon both their faces.

"...I still don't know if I'm gonna do this right, it's a lot of work," Oliver chuckled to himself, still whispering.

"You're gonna do great, I promise. As long as you're paying attention to what's happening, it'll be fine."

"So we can't really talk to each other during it?"

Joe frowned. "No, I guess not really. But we'll still be here together. And we can talk during intermission. That's maybe twenty-five minutes long."

"Ah, right. Okay, good."

Oliver stepped up to Joe's side, staring at all the lighting controls in front of himself. Joe pursed his lips, and then reached down to hold his hand. At this point it barely made Oliver bat an eye, but he still smiled to himself a bit regardless.

And then, just like that, they both got the cue to dim the lights through their headphones, and the show had begun.

•~~~~•

"-And then I swear my shoes were getting loose in the last scene but I pulled through and look at us now! Act 1, done!"

Sage let out a relieved sigh, and Joe smirked at him, Oliver laughing a bit. It was intermission at that point, after it begun the three met up backstage to talk for a bit.

"You were really good out there, though, Sage," Oliver said.

"As always," Joe added.

"Thanks, you guys. Now we just have Act 2. How long have we been in intermission?"

Joe checked his watch. "Uhm... maybe ten minutes? Ten to twelve."

Sage's eyes widened. "Shit- really?"

"Yeah, but it's twenty-five in total, isn't it? So we still have fifteen."

Sage blinked a few times, and then let out a relieved sigh. "Oh. I thought it was fifteen in total but you're right, it's twenty-five. Phew, I still have a costume change- oh, god, that's gonna take me a hot second. I should do that. Get back to your booth, go be gay with each other or whatever."

Joe felt himself blush a little bit, but he nodded, feeling Oliver's hand once again clasp around his.

"Break a leg," they both said, and Sage waved at them as he started speed-walking to where his costume was apparently laid out. Joe and Oliver made their way quickly back to their booth, and sat down on the floor in it, notably where no one would be able to see them but they'd be able to get back on lights as soon as intermission ended with only a quick stand.

Their hands stayed intertwined as they sat there, still too sheepish in their fairly new relationship to be able to start conversation easily.

"...So," Joe finally decided on saying after some time, "how are you?"

"Not bad, how are you?"

"Not too bad myself."

"Good."

"Yeah."

Silence. Neither made eye contact quite yet. They adjusted their sitting positions a bit.

"Well... you're doing really good so far- with tech, I mean," Joe glanced over at Oliver. "You should've seen me the first time I did it."

Oliver smiled a bit and looked back at him. "When was that?"

"Sixth grade, I think. Seussical."

"Oh my gosh, I remember that. Yeah... you guys were really trying your best."

Joe laughed a bit. "I mean, none of the eighth graders and barley any seventh graders ended up doing it so it was just a bunch of eleven and twelve year olds, so we have like, half an excuse. I don't even remember most of it, though. I blocked it out."

"I thought it was really good when I saw it, but I heard the older grades talking about how bad it turned out and then I realized. I don't remember much of it either, but that was... what, five years ago? Something like that."

"Yeah. Something like that." Joe smiled a bit. "I, uh... I just remember that after it was done was one of the first times you hugged me."

"Really?" Oliver raised an eyebrow, smiling a tad. "How do you remember that?"

"Oh, you know... just- uh..." Joe began to tap his foot. "-well, I guess I can tell you this since we're dating now. I'm pretty sure that's when I got a crush on you."

Both of them blushed, and Oliver giggled a bit out of surprise, looking to his lap for a moment. "Really? Sixth grade? It's been that long for you?"

Joe sighed. "Yeah... I mean, when did you start liking me, you think?"

"Uh... oh, now I sound like a hypocrite. I think it was maybe mid or late seventh grade. Or maybe it was early eighth, actually. I can't remember. I just know it was before I came out to you and Sage, so before like- mid eighth, I guess."

The two laughed a bit. "That sounds pretty complicated, then," Joe said.

"Yeah, a little. Was I, like- your gay awakening, then? When I did come out to you guys?"

"A little bit, actually," the two both laughed again. "Yeah... I mean, I was already pretty sure I was in some way queer but that just kinda... confirmed it."

A silence. The two stared at each other, but Joe looked away when he could tell his expression went cheesy. Oliver scooted a bit closer to him, and they squeezed each other's hands.

"Did you tell your dads, then?" Oliver asked.

"What, about us?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. Uh, yeah. Sorry, I probably should've asked first, I was just pretty excited."

"No, it's fine, I know they're not gonna go telling anyone that shouldn't know. I trust them more than my own parents," he laughed a bit to himself.

"That's kinda sad, but... yeah. Yeah, it'll be fine. They're in the audience right now, they'll probably wanna say hi after the show."

"So this is a meeting the parents date, now?" Oliver suppressed a snort.

"Hah- I mean- I guess? You've literally known them for the same amount of time you've known me."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm just kidding."

Joe was silent for a moment. He looked to his lap for a moment and then back at his boyfriend. It astounded him how happy Oliver could make him feel by just... sitting there, next to him. And by being his boyfriend. The excitement that usually came with reciprocated romantic attraction just filled Joe's veins every time they locked eyes. It was amazing.

"...I'm just really glad we're together now."

Oliver blushed, but smiled. "Yeah... me too."

"I can't believe we could've technically been dating since, like, the beginning of high school, though." He laughed a bit. "I was just too chicken to say anything."

"Hah- yeah, so was I. I mean, I still was now... you're the one that asked me out."

"I was, yeah. That was probably the most nervous I've ever felt in my life. I wasn't sure if you liked me or not."

"Wait, really? I thought it was obvious I liked you."

"I thought it was obvious I liked you."

"...Oh. Well maybe it was, for both of us, but we just couldn't tell."

"That was probably it."

Joe scooted himself closer to Oliver, making their sides touch and their legs brush together. They made eye contact, and Joe had to use all of his self-control not to glance down at his boyfriend's lips. Well- wait, he was his boyfriend. Would that be acceptable now? Is that something they should talk about first? Did Oliver want to do that for the first time in a tech booth? Oh, god, but the thought of it happening was just so anxiety-inducing and mesmerizing at the same time. Maybe they should actually go on a real date before they...

"Do you wanna go on a date sometime?" Joe asked. He noticed that it felt a lot easier to ask now that he knew the answer would likely be yes, but even as the words slipped out he felt his heartbeat quicken.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure. I don't know when we could do it, though, midterms are gonna start soon, aren't they?"

"Ah- shit, yeah they are. Well we could do it before."

Oliver frowned. "My mom definitely wouldn't let me go anywhere. She's gonna want me to stay home and study. And it's already gonna take a lot of convincing for her to let us be alone together somewhere."

"Ugh, yeah. If there's any chance she would let you, having it at my house could be fun. Sometimes I sit on the little roof below my bedroom window, we could, y'know... watch the sunset or something."

Oliver smiled. "That sounds really cheesy. Perfect."

Joe chuckled. "Cool. I'll get my dad to talk to her about it. We can always go to a public place, though, if she would only allow that. And she won't know it's a date, of course."

"Yeah, that's true. Awesome."

"Five minutes until intermission ends."

Joe raised his eyebrows at the noise coming through his headphones and mumbled thank you, five, to himself, then squeezing Oliver's hand and pulling them together up to stand. Oliver was surprised by the sudden movement and ended up with his hands on Joe's shoulders to keep himself from falling over, and when the two found themselves with their chests practically pressed together they blushed, quickly separating with an awkward laugh, hands intertwining instead.

"...You ready for Act 2?" Joe smiled.

"I think so," Oliver smiled back.

•~~~~•

"Joseph!"

As soon as Joe exited the backstage and into where the actors could meet up with the audience, he received a very familiar bone-crushing hug from Sage's pop. Joe laughed a bit and hugged him back, smiling at his honorary-uncle's enthusiasm.

"You did astounding, once again, on tech," he said as they pulled away. Roman's husband sent Joe an approving smirk.

"Hah- thanks, you guys. Do you know where my parents are?"

"They're making their way over right now, I think they- oh, there's my lead-role performing son. Gotta go, Joe!"

The two turned around and made their way over to Sage, and Joe watched them all hug for a moment until he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Good work," he heard his father tell him from behind. Joe smiled, looking back towards both his parents.

"Thank you. Yeah, it was a really good show. I like doing tech because you can still be apart of it but also watch at the same time."

"It definitely seems fun, it's something I wish I would've done when I was your age," Joe's dad smiled. "Say- where's Oliver?"

"Oh, I think he had to run to the bathroom. Why?"

"Well, I gotta congratulate him, of course! I heard he got a new boyfriend."

"Dad..."

Just then, as if on cue, Joe heard footsteps approaching, and he turned around to see Oliver walking towards the three of them. He reached Joe's side, and Joe's dad grinned once more.

"Hey- Oliver, you did amazing, kiddo," he said.

"Thank you, Mr. Patton," Oliver smiled.

"Mr. Patton? Oh, son, you might as well just call me your dad-in-law at this point."

Oliver blushed, but his smile only widened, while Joe decided that the floor was absolutely the most interesting thing in the entire world at that moment. He felt his dad ruffle his hair a bit at that point, who was now laughing, and his father chuckled.

"Oh, right- where's your mom, then? I haven't had to come up with an excuse for who Logan is yet since she doesn't exactly know we're married and I don't know if now would be a great time for that."

"She's not here, it's okay."

Joe's father frowned a bit. "Do you need a ride home?"

"No, she'll be here in maybe five minutes. I'm just gonna walk out to her car."

"Oh, we should go get your stuff, then," Joe said. Oliver nodded.

"Yeah, you two go do that. We'll wait out here."

With another nod, Joe and Oliver once again intertwined hands before making their way out of the room and to the hallway that linked together the auditorium entrance and the backstage. The hallway was completely empty apart from them, at that point. Halfway to the backstage, though, Oliver suddenly stopped his walking, halting Joe as well.

"...Oli? Everything okay?" Joe turned back to look at him.

"Uh... yeah. Just- I wanted to, real quick, uh..."

They stood, facing each other, both their hands now interlocked, Oliver blushing and Joe not sure what to expect. The only other noise that could be heard in that moment was faint talking coming from the room they had just exited.

"Wanted to... what?"

"Hah- sorry, I'm not good at this. Just..."

Oliver stared at him for another moment, before taking a deep breath and very suddenly leaning forward to give Joe a quick kiss on the cheek. Joe was hit with an instant wave of emotion, and as he was left to process the sudden burst of butterflies in his stomach and warmth on his face, Oliver walked quickly away from him out of pure embarrassment. Joe covered his mouth, and then he touched his cheek, though he was now smiling. He willed himself to turn around and walk quickly after Oliver.

"H-Hey, bubbles, uh-"

He reached him and Oliver turned around, and then after a moment both of them were grinning, giggling a bit under their breaths as they stood, not sure how to proceed with what had just occurred. Warmth still spread itself throughout Joe's body from the place Oliver's lips had touched his face, and without thinking about it much first Joe leaned down and kissed Oliver's cheek himself, making Oliver squeak and then causing both to laugh once more. They then hugged, a tight embrace, stumbling back and forth as they laughed through their mutually requited feelings.

And they were just two gay teenagers, likely far too excited by what had just occurred- but it didn't matter to them. Because what had just occurred was perfect.

•~~~~•
homosexual.

see ya in the next chapter!🍽
    ~Maxx(SanderShipper)