Mumbo's Perspective-

One Week Later-

Mumbo sighed as he put on his tie, staring at himself in the mirror. He tucked in his shirt and tied on his dress shoes, feeling nervous.

Just as he was about to leave, he got a phone call.

"Hello?" He answered, hearing Pix cough from the other end of the phone.

"Woah- are you okay?" Mumbo asked, concerned.

"No, I got sick." Pix sighed, his voice hoarse.

"Hang on," Mumbo grabbed his bag, "I'll be right over."

-

Mumbo thanked his mother before entering Pix's home, walking up to his bedroom.

"Hey." Pix smiled over his beagle Pebbles.

"Jeez, you look awful." Mumbo said and Pix frowned.

"Thanks." He rolled his eyes.

"What happened?" Mumbo sat at the food of his bed and Pebbles sniffed his hands.

"I caught that bug going around." Pix sighed. "Coughing, feeling sick to my stomach, my throat hurts like hell."

"So stop talking." Mumbo chuckled.

Pix grumbled and Mumbo smiled weakly.

"I let Mr. Ray know I wasn't gonna be able to take pictures so he's there tonight."

Mumbo nodded and Pix then raised an eyebrow.

"Wait- aren't you supposed to be there?"

"Eh, it's fine if I miss it. Really only Scar was expecting me, and he knows I don't like dances."

Martyn's Perspective-

"Yeah, I somehow convinced Mumbo to be here." Scar chuckled as he ran into some of his friends.

"Oh really? That's cool." Martyn smiled. "Is he here yet?"

"No, not yet." Scar shrugged. "But I expect he'll be here soon. People are still showing up."

Martyn nodded and glanced around.

"I'll go wait outside for him." Martyn said and Scar smirked.

"Can a guy not just be friends with him?" Martyn defended and Scar chuckled.

"Why are you so curious about him now? Seems that hangout went well." Scar teased and Martyn's ears turned red as he walked out of the gym.

He stood by the curb, the neon lights reflecting onto his back from the gym. He ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath, fidgeting with some flowers Grian had given him (apparently Grian's mother made him take a giant bouquet in case he got a date, so Grian just handed out some of the flowers to his friends).

Why am I waiting out here for Mumbo? Is it because..? No, no it's not. I'm not meeting someone after Ren...

Martyn paced around a bit, feeling his nerves as his thoughts raced.

I don't have crushes this fast anyways, and I'd do this for my friends! I'd do this for Jimmy or Grian!

A car pulled up and Martyn looked up, feeling his face flush red. To his disappointment, a girl hopped out with her date. She whispered something to him when staring at Martyn and they both laughed before going into the gym.

Martyn sighed and sat on the curb, holding the flowers and feeling a bit hopeless.

-

Mumbo felt his phone buzz after twenty minutes or so at Pix's home. He saw a picture of Martyn sitting on the side of the road and he felt his heart drop.

"Dude you gonna show? Martyn's waiting" Scar texted, and Mumbo felt immensely guilty.

"You okay?" Pix asked.

"I...I have to go. To- to the dance. I'm so sorry I- " Mumbo was a bit scatterbrained as he grabbed his stuff.

"You're fine, just be safe- "

Pix didn't get a chance to finish his sentence when Mumbo was out the door. The school was within walking distance from Pix's home, but Mumbo was running as fast as he could.

-

"You okay?"

Martyn looked up as he heard the familiar voice, and he felt his heart stop as he made eye contact with them.