"Nothing like that new home smell." Geoff said brightly as he opened the door to the apartment the five would be sharing.

"Yeah, yeah. I call dibs on the biggest bedroom." Tony replied as he wheeled his two black suitcases into the room.

"Where can I hook up my video games?" Layne pondered as he looked around the room, having a suitcase and a box carrying his video game counsels. "Oh, there's the TV." he carried his box over to the television and set it on the table next to it.

"I just hope I don't get sick of you guys too soon." Eli remarked with a smirk before he carried his duffle bags down the hall, following Tony.

"Sick of us? Us?" Earl made hand motions to refer to all of them, "We've been friends for how many years? You ain't goin' no where!"

"Guys, guys. Let's just figure out who's sleeping where like civilized human beings." Geoff began, then cleared his throat, "I call dibs on the comfiest bed!" he declared before dropping his bags to run and claim his bedroom.

Tony was next to abandon his things once he saw Geoff dash past him and straight to the room he was headed to. "Hey!" he barked before going after Geoff.

"Is it too much to ask for a longer-sized bed?" Layne requested softly in a neutral voice, "I just don't want me feet to hang off the end..."

"Tony can have this one." Earl mused as he opened the door to one of the bedrooms. "It's black and ominous like his soul."

Eli tried the one next to that one Earl had just opened. "Hm, I like this one." he decided, enjoying the cream colour with the blue and grey. "I'll take it."

Layne peeked into the room Geoff was in and blinked as he saw the man laying spread out on the mattress with wide and relaxed smile on his face. Geoff sighed in pleasure. "This bed his like heaven. I think I'll stay here."

Meanwhile, Tony was looking around the closet. "Not bad..." he pondered as he shut the doors; then turned to look over his shoulder to Geoff. "Scoot over, I wanna try."

Earl came into the room just as Geoff had reluctantly moved over for the dark-haired man. Geoff raised an eyebrow as Tony shifted to get comfy on the mattress.

"This mattress is pretty nice." Tony pondered in agreement as well, noticing Geoff side-glance his way. Then, Tony turned to look over his shoulder to see Layne's sleepy-brown eyes peek over the end of the bed, saying, 'can I come on too?'

Tony groaned loudly while Geoff grinned. Before Tony knew it, Layne was pushing the shorter man over towards Geoff to make room for himself.

"No!" Tony gasped as he found himself trapped between two taller men. "Not the middle..."

"Room for one more?" Earl asked with a grin as Layne and Geoff welcomed him in while Tony's eyes widened as he attempted to wriggle out from between the two.

"Of course, buddy." Geoff's deep voice said as he scooted over to make room for the newcomer, squishing the baritone even more between them.

"Eli!" Layne called from the bed, "You wanna cuddle?"

"What?"Eli's shocked voice came from his bedroom, and the three guys laughed while Tony tried to keep a straight face and hide his smile. "Did you say cuddle?" he called from the hallway.

"Come on, Eli! We need you to complete our cuddle squad!" Earl encouraged.

The shortest man then entered the room as his eyebrows raised at the scene. "Please tell me you all aren't sharing one room..."

"There's room for one more.." Layne said temptingly as he referred to the available spot next to him.

"You guys," Eli shook his head, but smiled despite that. He grinned at Tony's pleading eyes saying, 'help me'. Eli smiled, "Aw, what the hell?" he gave in with a smile spreading on his lips that no one could keep back.

They all scooted in, Eli crawling over Layne to take the spot between him and Tony.

"I hate you all." Tony said blandly and the other four grinned at his response, exchanging looks from each other to the baritone.

"Aww, is Tony feeling bad?" Geoff commented teasingly, even though Tony was angled away from him. "Would hugs make him feel better?"

"Awww." Layne exasperated before he wrapped his arms around Eli and Tony, which they were long enough to wrap around both the frames.

"Gahh!" Tony gasped, "Guys, I'm really OK!" he nodded quickly, his green eyes shutting tightly in the process. Geoff wrapped his arms around the gang as well, then Earl soon after.

There were a few moments of silence before Earl spoke up, referring to Tony, "... Is your ice-cold heart melting yet?"

"Earl, it's a black hole, remember?" Eli reminded him as he, too, had his arms around Tony.

"Oh, right." Earl recalled casually.

"My legs are going numb." Tony mentioned dryly as he attempted in vain to squeeze his legs out from Geoff and Layne's.

"Mine, too." Eli mentioned mutually. "But we should get back to unpacking."

"Yes!" Tony agreed exasperatedly, "I'm totally for that."

Geoff sighed with a smile spreading on his lips, seeming to ignore them, saying, "It seems like just yesterday it was prom night..." he began dramatically.

~ Flashback ~

"Layne? Layne! Get out here already!" Geoff called into the washroom for his friend. The other four young-adults were impatiently awaiting their fifth member, all of them dressed in their formal attire already.

"Your face is fine," Earl added impatiently from where he was.

"Guys, do you think she'll notice?" Layne asked insecurely as he opened the door to reveal himself. The tallest man, Layne, had been 'fortunate' enough to get a breakout the day before prom.

"Everyone gets zits, Layne." Geoff said surely and as assuring as he could, "Don't worry about it, man. She'll understand."

"Yeah, man, don't stress. Stress is a killer." Eli, the shortest of them all, mentioned as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Layne bit his lower lip insecurely as his brows furrowed with the growing worries of what his date would think. Geoff stepped in front of him and began to adjust and straighten Layne's white bow tie. "Eli's right. Hell, if anything, just say it's an allergic reaction to cotton or somethin'." he said simply as his fingers tugged at the fabric.

"Alright, we ready to go?" Earl asked the gang in conclusion as he headed towards the door. "We gotta pick up the girls yet, just reminding."

"One sec'." Tony halted as he checked his hair in the mirror one last time. All the guys sighed exasperatedly.

"Seriously?" Geoff exclaimed seriously.

"Hush, hush. Might want to keep that vein inside your forehead, cause that ain't attractive." Tony shook his head as he prepared his suit in the mirror. It was a rebellious type of formal. Consisting of black jacket over a loose-fitted white shirt.

Geoff rolled his eyes. "Y'know, it's hard to believe that somehow, miraculously, you landed the hottest girl in school." he commented blandly.

Tony grinned smugly, giving a loose shrug of his shoulders. "Maybe it's my charm."

Layne leaned over to Earl and whispered jokingly, thought intentionally loud enough so everyone could hear, "How much do you think he's paying her?"

Tony shot a green-eyed glare towards Layne while the others chuckled. "Come on, let's go guys." Eli finally said, still smiling from Layne's comment.

Layne and Eli grabbed their corsages before the five guys then loaded themselves into the limo that they rented for all of them. 

~ Flashback Pause~

"That was one memorable night." Eli sighed as looked back at the memories. "One of the best nights of my life. I remember every single detail crystal clear."

"It was a lot of fun. I'd do it all over again if I could." Layne added in as he, too, was fond of the pleasant memories that played in his mind.

"You're just saying that 'cause you're dates actually turned out well," Tony sighed miserably as he attempted to burry his face in the pillows, "so please don't rub salt in the wound."

"At least your date wasn't taller than you." Eli pointed out to Tony in hopes to be optimistic, but Tony only responded with a heavy, muffled sigh with his head in the pillows.

"You're being such a sourpuss today, Tony." Earl commented.

"Anyway, so when he went to go pick up the ladies..." Geoff trailed off once more.

~ Flashback Resume ~

"You sure you didn't want to get a date, Geoff?" Layne asked the bass as he glanced at the man sitting at his side.

Geoff shook his head and said in a sure and optimistic voice, "Nope. Geoff Castellucci is flyin' solo tonight, boys!"

"Yer not the only one 'flyin' solo' tonight." Earl mentioned dryly. "Just sayin', if I'm dancin' with anyone, it's gonna be you." the tenor said in a jesting seriousness.

"You'll have to catch me first," Geoff pointed out, "I'm like a white-and-grey blur on the floor." the bass referred to his white shirt under a formal grey vest.

Eli looked out the window and noticed that two of their dates, which were friends, we're already approaching the vehicle. "They're coming," Eli said informatively. "Quick, how do I look?"

"You look fine." Layne said hurriedly, "How 'bout me?" he was referring to his breakout which he tried his best to hide and dull.

Eli made the on-point gesture with his hands before saying a quick and light, "Like gold, my friend."

Just then, the limo driver had opened the door for the two women. The taller of the two had dark, curled hair with blue eyes. She wore a dressy yellow and white prom dress. The shorter had blonde hair which was tied up in a near-mesmerizing array of braids which wrapped around the back of her head and fell to a neat side-ponytail. She wore a formal blue dress.

"Hey, Tristan. Hey, Kelly." Geoff was the first to greet them.

"Hi." Tristan replied with a smile as she climbed into the vehicle and sat herself beside her date, Layne.

"Hey, Tristan." Layne greeted in the most friendly, yet confident voice he could gather of himself. Tristan smiled at him with her icy-blue eyes. The eyes that could make Layne's heart skip a beat.

"Hi, Layne. Ready for this?" she asked.

"Yep." Layne nodded surely. He then remembered the corsage he had gotten Tristan. He quickly retrieved it from the spot next to him. It was a white flower bracelet in a clear plastic box. Tristan couldn't help but beam.

"Thanks, Layne." Tristan smiled as she took the box into her hands and opened it.

"I hope you're okay with white. I wasn't sure what you'd he wearing." Layne explained to her.

"It's beautiful, Layne. I've never gotten a corsage before." she pondered as she slipped it onto her wrist.

Meanwhile, Eli and Kelly sat next to each other. Eli, too, had gotten a corsage for his date. "I got you this." he mentioned as he offered out to her a similar plastic box. This one had a blue flower bracelet. "I know your favourite color is blue and you did mention that your dress would be blue, but I didn't quite know which shade—"

"I would've loved it whichever color you chose." Kelly answered reassuringly, "Y'know, if I had a nickel for every time I wore a mismatched pair of socks in my lifetime..." she trailed off intentionally, offering a soft laugh.

"You didn't get Rachel a corsage, Tony?" Tristan asked the baritone who seemed to be quite silent so far. Both Tristan and Kelly weren't very fond of Rachel, they didn't get a along very well. Rachel was a typical popular girl to them.

"Hm? Oh, nah. She didn't want one." Tony mentioned, leaving it at that since he knew how they felt about her.

Once they picked up Rachel, the group made small talk until the question finally came up, coming from Tristan, "So what're you guys planning on doing after grad?"

The gang exchanged looks before Layne decided to speak up, "We're all going to college, I guess." he shrugged his shoulders. 

"You're all going separate ways?" Kelly asked them, hardly being able to grasp the concept that this group would ever split.

"Not forever." Eli added in, "Just for college, then we're actually planning on moving in together someday."

"... All five of you?" Rachel asked them in disbelief as she sat beside the black-haired baritone. "In one house?"

"Yep." Earl confirmed. 

"We figured a smart thing to do would be to move in together," Tony mentioned, "and with the money we would save from that, we'd be able to pay off student loans sooner."

"Clever." Kelly commented in a quite impressed tone.

"None of you are planning to get married any time soon then, are you?" Tristan assumed as she raised an eyebrow.

"Definitely wasn't on the agenda, not for a while." Geoff answered, "I guess we'd move in after college, then if one of us got married afterwards ... I guess that person would move out."

"Well, whatever happens, good luck." Tristan said genuinely, and quite surprised.

Kelly nodded her head in agreement before saying, "Yeah, good luck."

~ Flashback End ~

"Well, this is gonna be an interesting one." the four knew the bass was referring to all five of them living in the same apartment.

"Oh, yeah." Earl had to agree, and Layne nodded his head knowingly as well.

"Can't feel my toes..." Tony went on to try and emphasize his desperation to get out from being squished in between them.

"We'll be alright, though, right?" Layne questioned optimistically, supporting his head with his hand and looking over to the four.

"'Course we will." Eli said positively, "We've all put up with each other for this long, haven't we?"

"Y'all are my best friends!" Geoff exclaimed whole-heartedly to emphasize his sureness, "This'll all turn out in the end."

"Oh, gosh, pins and needles..." Tony said as his voice switched to a higher pitch to emphasize his pain.

"As long as we all stick together." Earl added in.

"I don't think we could be any closer than we already are." Tony mentioned, "... Literally."

"And metaphorically." Layne pointed out brightly, earning a look from Tony.

There was a moment of silence before Tony finally bursted, "Fine!" he groaned, "Love you guys, too."

Geoff dramatically gasped, "What was that I heard? Nah, I couldn't have been, could it?"

"Hm? I don't think I heard..." Layne teased as he cupped an ear with his hand.

"He has feelings!" Eli marvelled exaggeratedly to poke fun at the baritone.

"What've we done to him...?" Earl's eyes widened and his voice was shocked in pretence.

Tony rolled his green eyes, but laughed nonetheless. "Okay, but, seriously, we need to get to packing. You can have the room, Geoff, I don't want to be cuddled to death at night." Tony mentioned, then lifted his head to peek over Geoff's broad shoulders towards Earl. "There was a darker room, you said?"

Geoff grinned while Earl smiled widely and nodded. "Yep."

One-by-one, they all shifted off the bed, except for Tony, who remained laying there on his back with his arms spread out.

Eli stumbled out of the room due to his numb legs. "Ow... ouch... ah!" he mumbled with every step.

Layne ran his fingers through his dark and spiky hair before he, too, left. Earl followed the taller man soon after. Geoff was the only remaining one aside from the baritone.

"... You gonna go pack?" Geoff asked Tony as he raised an eyebrow. He paced towards the door to go fetch his things.

"Hm? Yeah. Just a minute." he answered, "... I'm just gonna wait until the pins and needles fade."

Geoff smiled before heading out the door, calling from the hallway, "Alright then."

~•~

ScarletMIX