He decided it was best just do it and get Pete the fuck off his lap. He was mere inches from his cheek when Pete turned his face causing Bob to kiss him smack on the lips. He gave Bob a scandalized look, calling him fresh before giggling insanely and disappearing into the forming crowd. 

"Is he crazy?" Bob asked no one in particular once Pete was gone. He touched his lips which were tingling from the rushed contact. He couldn’t believe his first kiss was with some guy he didn’t even know. Somebody who was just messing around. Bob was embarrassed and even a little angry, not at Pete but at his so called friends for laughing. 

"Don’t mind him. That’s how Pete initiates all the new kids in. It either scares the living shit out of them or turns them into sluts," Gerard informed him in a casual tone. 

Bob let his anger ebb away once he heard this. That meant the same thing had happened to Patrick and in his head, that made it okay. Frank, he imagined, probably kissed back. He had the confidence that Patrick and he lacked. 

As the night wore on, the place continued to get more and more crowded. Every seat was filled, at least two dozen kids on the dance floor. Some couldn’t dance at all, just laughing and moving along to the music with their friends. Others looked like they came straight out of a music video, busting crazy moves or gyrating against their partner. The one thing that stuck with Bob through it all though was how happy everyone looked. Like this was their home. Nobody was nervous like he was and everyone had someone to talk to. 

The other thing was, nobody bothered with the social rules that seemed to permeate every school in existence. It didn’t matter what clique you came from or how you dressed here. There was one thing they all had in common and, apparently, that was enough. 

Whenever one of Frank’s friends came over to speak to him, they always treated Bob like he belonged there. They asked him a ton of questions, always encouraging him to come again. He even had a boy ask him to dance, but Bob had said no, that he didn’t dance. Bob didn’t even dance back in Middle School when he had actually gotten a date that one time. He had sat against the wall with her, commenting on the other kids until she got bored and went to spend time with her friends. Bob guessed he should have realized then that girls weren’t exactly his thing, but then maybe he wouldn’t be here now with Frank if he had. 

Frank was being beyond nice to him too. More than a few guys had asked him to dance and every time he said no saying he was with Bob that night. Bob was under the impression that a lot of them thought they were dating but he really didn’t mind them thinking that. It made him feel good that they all thought someone as attractive as Frank would spend his whole night attached to his side. 

"My boyfriend is a fucking tool!" 

Bob was startled out of his thoughts by a flurry of movement out of the corner of his eye. It was a boy who looked no different than any of the others he had seen outside, his Abercrombie ensemble speaking volumes about him before he even opened his mouth. 

He sat down where Patrick and Gerard had once been. Gerard was off doing whatever it was volunteers did and Patrick was on one of the computers checking his email. Bob noticed how closely he sat to Frank even with all the room on the couch. 

"What now Adam?" Frank turned to Bob, rolling his eyes and mouthing ‘gay drama’ to him before turning back to his friend. 

Adam was going on and on. Something about how his boyfriend was choosing some event for school over spending time with him, forcing him to go solo for yet another week. His words became white noise to Bob as he further took in his appearance. Adam had long hair, longer than Gerard’s even. But unlike Gerard who seemed to do nothing with his, Adam’s hair was styled and well maintained. As Bob’s gaze traveled down his body, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the hint of skin peaking out between his shirt and his jeans. He couldn’t fucking believe it, but he was actually checking out a guy who wasn’t Frank. 

"Dance with me Frankie," Adam whined, twining their hands together. 

"Nah, not this week." Frank gestured to Bob, Adam acknowledging him for the first time. 

"You don’t mind, do you?" 

Bob did what in his mind was the right thing. He gave Frank the leeway to dance. He had been holding him back all night anyway and he didn’t want Frank to be like that girl in Middle School, leaving him to be around more interesting people. Maybe if Frank had some fun he wouldn’t mind coming back to the couch with Bob. 

"Are you sure?" Frank was frowning, his hand on Bob’s thigh. 

Bob looked down at it, swallowing the lump in his throat before nodding again. He hated and loved the way Frank always touched him. He loved it because he craved it like nothing else before, but hated it because Frank touched all his friends that way. He didn’t want to be just another friend. 

When he saw Frank and Adam dancing though, he didn’t think he would mind very much being a friend like Adam. Frank had his arms draped over his shoulders, their bodies pressed tightly together. They were talking as they danced, but when the song changed to something a little faster they got more into it. Frank turned around, grinding against Adam, his head tilted backward against his chest, Adam’s hands gripping his swaying hips. Bob felt his breath quicken and his pants tighten at the sight of it. He had never seen anything hotter before in his entire life. 

He got up quickly, intent on finding a place where maybe he could learn how to breathe again. He wondered how a feeling so strong could remain dormant in him for so many years. He wondered why he had wanted it to. 

He found his way into the deserted bathroom. He leaned against the sink, surveying his image in the mirror. The person he saw didn’t look like the person he had been only a few weeks earlier. In that moment, it was like the truth suddenly dawned on him. Everything he had been battling for weeks, for years really, was laid out before him. He could deal with the fact that he was gay, the fact that he liked Frank. And he could deal with the thought that two boys dancing together was the greatest thing ever created. 

He wasn’t exactly comfortable with himself yet. The fact that he was attracted to men still worried him and brought up more questions than answers. 

And he still thought he wasn’t the most attractive boy around. But other people had wanted him that night. Other guys had wanted him that night. He had seen the way some of Frank’s friends had looked at him.
It wasn’t only that. Almost every person he had seen that night had looked content, happier than all the kids he saw in school everyday. They looked like they were living and that was more than Bob could say for himself over the years. He had always felt like each day was just something he had to get through until he was older and something good could happen to him, but now he saw he didn’t have to wait. He could be happy and free and enjoy himself, even if it was only one day out of the week. 

Bob splashed some water on his face, coming to a single conclusion. Every Friday night, this place was going to be his home.