"How's your foot feel?" Jude asked, glancing at Connor's leg.

The other boy stretched his foot out in front of him, rolling his ankle around. He answered, "It's weird. I'm so used to having to baby it that I don't quite believe that I'm allowed to walk on it again."

"Well, at least now you don't expect me to take care of you," Jude sniffed.

Connor nudged his shoulder against Jude's, laughing. "Hey! As my boyfriend, you're expected to cater to my every whim!"

"Shh!" Jude said quickly. "Not at school, Connor. You know that."

Worriedly, he glanced over the back of the bench to the schoolyard behind them. He could see many of their classmates milling around, taking advantage of the freedom that their lunch period offered. It didn't look like any of their classmates had heard what Connor had said, though Jude was still concerned.

"I know," Connor said, although he had stopped looking at Jude and was staring toward the horizon instead.

Jude watched his boyfriend's profile, just thinking. To him, it made perfect sense to keep their relationship a secret at school. Both he and Connor knew what the bullies could be like and how their peers could judge relationships. Jude didn't want to have their relationship under a microscope. He liked having their relationship just be between he and Connor and he liked having Connor all too himself; and, since Jude wasn't comfortable with a lot of PDA, he didn't think they would act any differently in school even if people knew they were a couple.

"We talked about it," Jude reminded him. They had talked about it a lot since they officially became boyfriends. Jude knew that Connor didn't care if people knew. In fact, Connor wanted people to know. Connor wanted to be able to casually tuck his hand into Jude's, like he once had with Daria. He wanted to kiss Jude when he saw him in the morning and kiss him when they headed home after school, no matter who was standing in the school yard to judge.

"Do you remember," Connor said quietly, "when my dad didn't think we should be friends and you said that you didn't want to be a secret?"

Jude nodded.

"That's how I feel right now, Jude." Connor looked at him. "I'm not ashamed of who I am or who I'm with –"

"It's not that I'm ashamed –"

"– but the way you're acting is making me feel like I should be." Connor double checked that there was no one around and then he gently laid his fingers over Jude's. "I really like you, you know that. I definitely don't want to break up with you or anything like it. But I don't want to be your secret, Jude."

"I'm not ready," Jude protested feebly.

"I don't want to push you, either." Connor frowned, looking upset. "I want us to both be happy, but I don't want to pretend I'm happier than I am. I want to be able to call you my boyfriend and be with you in public like everyone else gets to be with their boyfriend or girlfriend. Now that Dad's come as close to terms with me being gay as I think he will, I want to be out."

"If you come out, even if we don't say we're dating, everyone will assume we are. You know what they all think of me."

"They don't matter!" Connor cried.

"I'm scared," Jude whispered.

"I'm sorry, but I want you to think more about it, at least?"

Jude nodded eagerly. That, he could do.

"Connor! Jude!"

Connor's hand snapped away from Jude's at Jordan's voice. The newcomer leant against the back of the bench, looking down at the two seated teenagers. "You're being antisocial today."

Connor shrugged. "What's up?"

"I just needed to ask you something, Connor," Jordan admitted.

"Yeah?"

"I know you and Daria are over, but the bro code dictates that I ask: is it all right if I ask her to the semi-formal dance? You two seemed serious when you were together."

Connor shook his head. "I don't care if you ask her. Whether Daria will go with you is completely up to her."

Jordan laughed. "I'm confident. Are you going to the dance?"

"I don't think so," Connor answered. "Walking is bad enough right now."

Jordan looked to the other side of the bench. "What about you, Jude? You're friends with Taylor, right? She'd go with you. Maybe you, Taylor, Daria, and I could double!"

Jude didn't doubt that Taylor would go with him if he asked her to. She was a friend like that; the only friend that knew the truth about him and Connor. Still, he shook his head. A school dance had never been Jude's idea of a fun night and, if Connor couldn't go, there was really no point in him going either.

"I don't think I'm going either."

"Buzzkills, the both of you." Jordan accused, and then he laughed again. "I'll see you in math, okay?"

"Okay," Jude said, while Connor said, "See you."

Once Jordan had gone, Connor turned to Jude. "If you want to go, you should. I promise I won't get jealous if you take Taylor." He grinned, trying to make the earlier tension disappear.

"I'm not going," Jude said firmly. "Maybe you could come over instead."

"I'll pester Dad," Connor agreed.

The lunch bell rang and the two boys gathered up the remains of their lunch, slowly heading back inside with the rest of the student body.

"Jude?"

"Yeah?"

"I just …" Connor hesitated as they walked down a crowded hallway. "I need you to promise you'll think about what we talked about earlier."

"I will, I promise."

(-.-)

When Jude got home after school, the first thing he did was call Taylor. She was the only person that he could really turn to. He and Connor both knew one another's view points and he needed an outside perspective. While Moms would both be helpful in their advice, they just couldn't see seventh grade from the viewpoint that Jude needed them too.

"I really think you should just tell," Taylor said. "It's not going to matter. Like, yeah, people will probably talk about it for a while but what else are we going to do? Pay attention in class? Everyone gets talked about from time to time."

It wasn't so much the gossip mill that Jude was worried about. It was getting grabbed by the collar and thrown against a locker that he was worried of … or that same thing happening to Connor. Jude had been bullied before and, while he would never say that he was used to it, he was more prepared for it than Connor was. The last thing that Jude wanted was to see Connor get hurt.

"I just don't want to make things harder than they have to be."

"Things are obviously hard on Connor if he's not happy with the secret," Taylor pointed out. "Are you happy keeping it a secret or have you just gotten comfortable in the secret?"

"Uhh …" Jude mumbled, thinking it over. Taylor had made a valid argument. Still, he had to say, "What if telling doesn't make it any better? What if it makes it worse? Once we say something, we can't take it back."

"What if you just calmed down?" Taylor asked. "Do you want me to be honest?"

Jude sucked in a deep breath, then decided, "Be brutal."

"We're thirteen. We're in seventh grade. Do you know how many boyfriends or girlfriends people in our grade go through per week? Look at how long you and Connor have been together already! You and Connor are going to be together a while … Yeah, I think you and Connor are going to be together for a while, but only if you stop worrying about other people and start worrying about your relationship! When you're thirty or forty or fifty, it's not going to matter that the weird boy that sat behind you in English was mean once. What's going to matter is that you treated your first boyfriend – who, need I remind you, is also your best friend – the way that he deserved to be treated!"

"How long have you been waiting to yell at me?" Jude asked, Taylor's words settling into him.

"Long enough. Grow some balls, Jude."

"You're right. Connor's been right this whole time." Jude sighed. "Connor cares about me. I care about Connor. If I don't get over myself, we'll both never be as happy as we should be."

"Aww," Taylor gushed, though Jude could hear her sarcasm, "you sound like you love him."

"I – I …"

"Calm down. You don't need to bust out the 'l' word just yet."

"I should tell him in person. I'll do it tomorrow at school and then we can figure out how to tell everyone."

"Or," Taylor said dramatically.

"Or?" Jude repeated.

"The semi-formal dance is coming up," Taylor said.

"I know."

"A big gesture might be a better route."

"You mean, just show up at the dance together?" Jude said, frowning.

"Well, for telling people, yeah. But I mean with Connor! You and me, we'll think of a cute way for you to ask him to the dance and to let him know that you're okay with being out in school as a couple!"

Jude smiled, just thinking of the look on Connor's face if he and Taylor found the perfect way for Jude to ask him to the dance. When he thought of the way that Connor's eyes would light up, Jude's heart skipped a beat. Suddenly, he wanted to see that look very badly.

"I like that plan."

"I thought you would." Taylor sounded smug. "Okay, we've got almost three weeks to the dance, but we'll still have to move quickly. We need to find an idea, plan it out, and then we have to execute it perfectly."

"We can do it!" Jude said with confidence. "There's a downside, though."

"What?"

"Connor's going to be unhappy with me until I ask him because he's going to think I still want to be a secret."

"You're going to have to keep him thinking that if you want to surprise him."

"I want to surprise him more," Jude said.

"Besides, I don't think that he's entirely unhappy with you."

Jude laughed. "No, I don't think so either."

"Tomorrow, you and me at lunch in the library so we can do some research, okay?"

"Okay!"

(-.-)

"You're not eating with me?"

Jude shook his head, trying to keep from caving to the pout on Connor's face. "Taylor needs to talk to me. She's got some stuff going on."

"She's my friend too. Maybe I can help," Connor insisted.

"She just wanted to talk to me, sorry."

"I hope she's okay. I'll see you later, then."

"Bye."

Out of habit, Connor tilted toward Jude, as if to give him a kiss goodbye and then caught himself at the last moment. It didn't help his expression when he noticed a couple – a boy and a girl – casually making out in the corner, tucked where the teachers couldn't see them. Connor didn't want to make out with Jude at school, but he did want to at least be able to hold his hand, peck him on the lips when they went their separate ways, and just act the way they did when they were at home; when they were free to be a couple.

Jude turned his back on Connor, making his way down to the library as quickly as he could. Taylor was already set up at one of the computers. Jude dragged a chair over so that he was sitting next to her, looking at the several internet tabs that she already had open.

"Prom-posals," Jude read. "This isn't prom."

Taylor rolled his eyes. "All the good ideas come from prom. But we need to find something that fits you and Connor. We can't just randomly pick something." She clicked to one of her tabs. "I saw this baseball one, where you write on the ball and throw it at them?"

"Connor hasn't been able to play this year because of his foot. He's been a little upset about it. I don't want to rub it in his face."

"Okay … there's the pizza one, where you write it on the inside of a box with a marker. What about that?"

"We always get pizza when we're with my family or his dad." Jude shook his head. It would do no good to do it in front of their families; it wasn't what he wanted.

"Fine, fine." Taylor clicked past a few more ideas, two of which Jude rejected and four of which she didn't even ask about. "Can you think of anything off the top of your head?"

"I don't – Wait! Stop!"

Taylor paused in her clicking. "What? Leaving a note in his locker? That's not really a big gesture, though."

"I know." Jude agreed with her. It wasn't big enough. "But I like the idea of leaving something in his locker."

"What about the scavenger hunt idea? Lots of people do scavenger hunts. We could start with his locker and then lead him all over the school."

"I'd be worried that people would find them before he did," Jude said slowly. "What if … I left something in his locker for the next few days leading up to the dance? Not like scavenger clues but something."

"Oh! What if you left a different letter – like alphabet letter – in his locker every day and then in the end it would spell out something like 'go to the dance with me' or whatever."

"I like that!" Jude exclaimed. "And I'd mix up the letters to keep him in the dark longer!"

"It'd be like a puzzle!" Taylor added.

"Okay, so how many school days do we have until the dance?"

Taylor pulled up the calendar on the computer. "Fifteen to the day of the dance. But maybe we should go with fourteen, just so he's not completely blind-sided with the dance on the day of, you know?"

"Fourteen, good plan." Jude grabbed a notebook out of his bag, feeling energized and excited. He couldn't wait to see Connor's face. He picked up his pen and numbered fourteen lines on his notebook page. "What will fit into fourteen letters?"

"How many is 'let's go to the dance'?"

"Too many," Jude guessed right off the bat, scribbling them down. "Yup, too many."

"Be my date to the dance?"

"Too many," Jude repeated. He thought of 'be my date' but that was too short. Hmm, what about … "Darn."

"What?"

"'Be my dance date' is one letter too short."

"We could go with thirteen," Taylor suggested, but didn't press it further once she saw the look on Jude's face. "Or we could add a question mark?"

"That's smart."

"I have beauty and brains!" Taylor preened. "Who knew?"

"Thanks for helping me," Jude said.

"Thank me if it works. Now, come on. We still have time to cut the letters out before the bell goes."

(-.-)

"What the?"

Jude leant against the bank of lockers, standing next to Connor as his boyfriend pulled a large, blue 'T' out of his locker.

"What's that for?" Jude asked, trying to look genuinely confused. He looked confused enough for Connor to not give him a second look, anyway.

"I have no idea," Connor answered and he shoved it to the back of his locker. "I found an 'E' in there yesterday."

"Why?"

"I have no idea," Connor repeated, shutting his locker and securing the lock. "Something dumb, probably. Or someone got the wrong locker."

Jude crossed his arms over his chest, trying to look annoyed. "You don't have a secret admirer, do you?"

"I could," Connor said, thinking about it. "I mean, as far as people are concerned, I'm single."

"Maybe Daria wants you back," Jude muttered, sincerely annoyed by his boyfriend's comment. Connor was not single. Connor was his.

"It wouldn't matter if I were able to tell them I was in a relationship," Connor said, passive aggressiveness ripe in every word.

"Soon," Jude assured him without thinking, and Connor stopped in the hallway, pulling Jude from the flow of traffic.

"Soon?" he echoed, looking torn between hope and reality. "You thought about …"

Jude shook his head, remembering the role that he had to play. "No … I mean, I did think about it, but I didn't mean like this week or next week or that soon. I'm working on it, Connor, I promise."

"That's better than nothing," Connor said. Jude didn't know what expression was on his own face but in response to it, Connor hurriedly said, "I'll wait for you."

"Thanks," Jude said, meaning it with every fiber of his being.

"It's for my own benefit," Connor told him with a laugh.

"Oh, so this has nothing to do with me?" Jude teased as they began to walk again.

Connor pretended to look puzzled. "Why would it have anything to do with you?"

Jude just shoved Connor's shoulder.

(-.-)

"Jude! Come here!"

The moment Jude walked through the front door of Anchor Beach that morning, Connor was standing there, ready to seize his upper arm and march him down the hallway.

"What's going on?" Jude asked, although he was almost nervous to ask.

Connor parked Jude beside his locker and quickly put in his combination, opening the little grey cube and pointing inside. "I have five letters now."

"Five?" Jude repeated. "Do they spell anything?"

He peered into the depths of Connor's locker, where Connor had taped all of the letters to the back wall. E, T, D, N, and another D.

"Dent … Maybe it's supposed to be dented." Connor's breath came out in a huff. "Tend? But there's the second D. It keeps screwing me up!"

"Maybe someone's just trying to mess with you," Jude suggested, trying not to grin. "Maybe it's not supposed to say anything."

Connor sighed. "You're not up to something, are you?"

Jude offered Connor his patented look. "Why would I leave letters in your locker?"

"Maybe you're trying to tell me something."

"Why wouldn't I just tell you?" Jude asked him. "Why would I need to leave stupid letters in your locker?"

"I don't know! But I don't know who else would."

"Someone's just trying to screw with you," Jude said, trying to make it sound like there was no other option. Was Connor already suspicious of him? It wouldn't be quite as much fun if he actually were, although it wouldn't stop Jude's plan.

"Maybe I should just throw them out then," Connor said, seriously considering Jude's words.

"Wait and see if anymore show up." Jude tried not to say anything too quickly, otherwise Connor really would get suspicious of him. "If someone is trying to tell you something, you want to have all the puzzle pieces."

"You're right."

"Of course I am."

As Connor sorted out what he needed from his locker, Jude felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled the electronic from his jeans, reading the text from Taylor.

Taylor: did he figure it out?

Jude looked up, spotting Taylor standing near the end of the hall by Daria's locker, looking concerned at the interaction between the two boys. Quickly he typed back, No. He thinks someone's just messing with him.

Taylor: is it driving him crazy?

Jude: Completely.

Taylor: Good. Then it's still working.

"Ready for class?" Connor asked.

"Yeah," Jude said, putting his phone back in his pocket. "Let's go."

(-.-)

Connor: what does EDNDTBYAM spell?

Connor: THERE'S A QUESTION MARK IN MY LOCKER!

Jude: my end tand? … No. By am nend?

Jude: maybe that means you're supposed to figure it all out now.

Connor: it doesn't mean anything!

Jude: maybe it's going to lead us to pirate treasure.

Connor: you think you're funny don't you?

Jude: Yup!

Jude: You're obsessing over this, aren't you?

Connor: the word you're looking for is investigating.

Jude: let me know if you need any help while you're playing Scooby-Doo.

Connor: Want to join me on a stake out?

Jude: how are you going to stake out your locker when we're in class all day?

Connor: I wasn't trying to stake out my locker. I was just trying to get you alone.

Jude could think of nothing to say to that, so he just sent Connor back the blushing face emoji.

(-.-)

Jude showed up at Connor's locker that morning, knowing that Connor would want to catch him up on the latest letter development. Jude was swiftly running out of letters and the closer he got to the bottom of the pile, the more worried he became that Connor would figure it out beforehand. Luck, and Connor's brain, were on his side though. Connor was still in the dark, if only because he had been studying the letters too much and wasn't even sure if there was a real word in the mess of them at all.

"Hey, Jude," Connor said, walking up.

"Hi, Connor."

Jude hadn't been able to leave the letter in Connor's locker yesterday. In the end, he'd texted Taylor his locker combination and told her to give Connor an E. He was worried that she had forgotten to or that she had gotten the wrong locker or that something else had gone wrong, but when Connor pulled the locker door open, there was an E sitting on top of his science textbook.

Connor just grabbed a piece of tape from the dispenser he'd taken to keeping his locker and stuck the E up on one of the metal walls with all of the others.

"Not even going to try to puzzle it out?"

"No," Connor said, sounding mildly grumpy as he slammed the locker door shut. "I decided that I'm just going to figure it out when I have all of the letters."

Only two more to go, Jude thought, and then he realized that he'd have to write 'the end' or something else on the last letter – the C – just to tell Connor that it was time to figure out the phrase. "Are you still coming over after school on Thursday?"

"Of course!" Connor exclaimed. "Even though I'm spending the night Friday."

Jude shrugged. Connor would never question Jude wanting to spend extra time with him and Connor was going to seize every moment Adam allowed him. Still, Jude said, "You don't have to."

"You know I want too." Connor smiled at Jude and Jude smiled back, feeling the overwhelming urge to hold Connor's hand.

Soon.

(-.-)

Jude had butterflies in his stomach as he accompanied Connor to his locker. He and Connor were gathering their things before heading to the car, where Lena was supposed to be meeting them. Jude had slipped the C in Connor's locker only half an hour ago. In just a little while, Connor would know what the message said. In just over twenty-four hours, if Connor agreed to go to the dance with him, everyone would know that they were together.

Jude was ready.

Connor opened his locker slowly. "Let's see what we have today." He reached inside and pulled out the C. Out of habit, he reached for the tape, but when he turned the letter over, he noticed a spidery, black scrawl on the back. "The end," Connor read. "Jude!"

"What?" Jude's eyes widened, trying to analyze the written words as if he were an outside observer. He'd used his non-dominant to write them, just so that Connor wouldn't guess that it was Jude who had written them. He had managed to keep Connor in the dark for a lot longer than he had expected too and was determined to keep it that way if he could.

"I have all the letters!" In a rush, Connor started pulling the previous letters from the walls of his lockers. "You're going to have to help me put this together!"

"If it means anything."

"It has too. This is utter B.S. if it doesn't!" Carefully, Connor pressed the letters between the pages of his notebook to keep them from getting wrinkled and then he slid the notebook into his bag. "Let's go out to the car so we can get to your house and figure this out!"

"If we're smart enough to figure it out!" Jude laughed, following Connor out to the staff parking lot.

Lena was already sitting in the car, waiting. When they got into the car, Connor couldn't help but peeking at the letters. Lena caught Jude's eye in the rear view mirror, fully aware of what was going on, and Jude gave her a smile. They pulled into the driveway and Connor practically dragged Jude into the empty living room, taking a seat on the floor so that they would have room to spread out the letters.

"You're so excited!" Jude observed, feeling happy as he realized he had caused this excitement in Connor.

"This has been going on for weeks. I need to know."

They spread out all of the letters, Connor immediately rearranging some. "We have three E's."

"Two A's."

"Two D's."

"Only one B, one M, one N."

"One C and one T."

"Plus the question mark."

Connor nodded. "Um. Where do we start?"

"This is your project."

"Okay. Give me the question mark because that obviously goes at the end."

"Obviously."

"So, is it 'my' and 'be' or 'me' and 'by'?"

"Or neither," Jude said.

"Are you going to be helpful?"

"Sorry," Jude apologized. "Well, let's go with 'my' and 'be' and see if we can make it work around that."

He slid the letters around to create the words. He hadn't intended to help Connor. He and Taylor had planned it out that he would act stupid and sarcastic so that Connor would have to do it on his own, but Jude couldn't keep that kind of façade going. Now that Connor was so close to figuring out Jude's message, Jude wanted him to do it right now.

"'Be my' makes sense. Like, to go after one another," Connor mused, switching the two words around. "All right. Well, pass me the … T."

"Why?"

"We just have to start somewhere," Connor explained with a shrug. "I still see the word 'tend'."

"'Be my tend'. That makes sense."

"Maybe it's the last word." Connor grabbed one of the D's. "Okay, forget 'tend'. What about na … nope. That's not it either."

"What about a word that starts with the D?" Jude asked.

"D … E ... A … D?" Connor's eyes widened.

"I don't think someone's trying to kill you," Jude said quickly. "Let's forget about that word."

"I hope no one's trying to kill me!"

"I'll protect you," Jude promised.

Connor moved one of the D's and the E. "D … A … T … E. Date. 'Be my date'." He frowned, looking at Jude. "You have to have something to do with this!"

Jude shook his head, trying to look upset that Connor was accusing him, although inside he thought that he was going to burst with the thrill of watching Connor put the pieces together. "I swear, I don't!"

Connor looked skeptical. He pulled the remaining letters toward him, able to quickly rearrange them into the remaining word. "Dance. Be my date dance … No. Be my dance date?" He read the words with a thrill of triumph, congratulating himself on figuring the puzzle out after so long of staring at it, and the words sunk in and he read the words again in a low tone. "Be my dance date?"

He looked up at Jude, hardly daring to hope but he couldn't keep the anticipation off his face.

"If you want to go with me," Jude said, "I want to go with you. But even if we don't go to the dance, Connor, this is me telling you that I don't care who knows anymore. I want you to be able to call me your boyfriend and hold my hand and –"

Jude was silenced as Connor leant across the message displayed on the floor to kiss Jude. As Jude always did, he found himself pressing his lips against Connor's, wanting more from the kiss. Kissing Connor hadn't stopped being thrilling; it had even become even more intoxicating through all of the kissing that they had been doing.

"I want to go to the dance with you, Jude."

"Really?" Jude said.

Connor nodded. "Although, someday, I'll get you back for these weeks of torture."

Jude didn't care if Connor's version of revenge included kissing, a prank, or, drastically, a firing squad. Everything that would happen, from here on out, had been made worth it by the light of hope that flared in Connor's eyes when he realized what Jude was telling him; had been made worth it by the slow smile that had become brilliant; had been made worth it by the toe-curling, heart-stopping kiss Connor had just given him. Whatever their classmates said didn't matter, because it was Connor that mattered. It had always been Connor that mattered.

"Just one thing," Connor said.

"What?" Jude asked, a little concerned now.

"Just because we're going to a dance together doesn't mean I want you to get me flowers."

Jude laughed and, just because he could, wrapped his arms around Connor to give him a hug. "Just because we're dating doesn't mean I've stopped knowing you."

Connor's arms folded around Jude.

"For the record," Jude said, "I don't want flowers either."

"Deal," Connor agreed, and then he kissed Jude again.

(-.-)

Jude fidgeted nervously, watching the driveway through the living room window. Adam was driving him and Connor to the dance and they should be here any moment to pick Jude up. He would also been picking Jude and Connor up from the dance, only to drop the two of them off at the Adams-Foster house for a well-supervised sleepover.

"Love, you're going to be fine."

"I know," Jude said to Stef, who was sitting beside him on the couch, keeping him company through his anxious minutes.

"Even in the aftermath."

"I know," Jude repeated. Ever since he and Connor had started dating, he, Stef, and Lena had talked more times than Jude could count about coming out and all of the outcomes that could possibly happen afterward. Jude didn't need to hear a rehash of the lecture now. Stef's and Lena's accounts of coming out and being in a gay relationship were more valuable to Jude than he knew how to tell them, but all three of them knew that there was only so much that discussion could do. It was through experience, trial and error, and simply living that he would learn how to deal with the world.

Jude saw headlights and bounced from the couch.

"You look so cute," Lena said, already in her sweats. She wasn't chaperoning tonight but now she was sort of wishing that she had volunteered when they were looking for staff to fill the chaperone positions.

It was only a semi-formal dance, so Jude had on black pants and a button up shirt. But Stef and Lena had been telling him how good he looked since he had gotten dressed.

"Have fun," Stef said.

"Mom and I will be waiting for you and Connor when you two get home," Lena said, hugging Jude.

"Bye, Moms!" Jude said, waving once as he ducked out the front door.

He walked quickly over to Adam's car, letting himself into the backseat. Connor was sitting up front with Adam.

"Hello, Jude," Adam greeted.

"Hello," Jude replied. Things had been awkward with Adam, but Connor's father had sworn up and down that so long as the two of them behaved, he wouldn't try to keep them apart. Adam had laid out several rules for the boys whenever they were in his presence or in his house and, as they were only mildly stricter than Stef's or Lena's rules, neither boy could complain.

Adam wasn't usually talkative and this night was no exception. He drove the boys up to the dance's location, which was already flooded with other cars dropping off their seventh grade wards.

"I'll pick you up after the dance. Connor, if your foot is bothering you, make sure you call me earlier."

"Of course, Dad." Connor was reaching for the door handle when Adam blurted, "Wait!"

"Yeah?" Connor said, turning back toward his father.

"I'm going to sit out here for another little while," Adam revealed.

"Why?" Connor asked, while Jude frowned in confusion.

"Because I listen when you talk," Adam said. "If you and Jude end up feeling unwelcome, then I want you to know you have a quick escape route. I just want you to be safe. Both of you."

"Thanks, Dad. That means a lot to me," Connor said.

"Thanks, Mr. Stevens."

"It's all right, Jude, if you want to call me Adam," Connor's father said, turning in his seat so that he could see the teenager sitting in the back.

"Okay, Adam." Jude smiled. If this was how the night was starting, he and Connor had absolutely nothing to worry about.

"Go, have fun." Adam said. "I'll be right here for the next bit, just in case."

Connor nodded, and then he and Jude both let themselves out of the car. Once the doors were shut behind them, Connor looked over at his boyfriend.

"Ready?"

"Ready?" Jude said with a nod.

He held out his hand to Connor, painted blue nails pointing down at the pavement. Connor confidently placed his hands in Jude's, his own blue nail polish gleaming. Holding tightly onto one another, not knowing what the night would bring, they walked in the front door of the dance. Boys in button ups, some with ties and some without, were standing around, some of them looking toward girls in brightly patterned dresses, while couples were clinging to each other on the dance floor, spinning around in circles even though a slow song wasn't playing.

"Jude!" Taylor leapt toward the couple as soon as they walked in. "Connor!"

"Hey," they said.

"Did you like your dance invite?" Taylor asked Connor slyly.

"I did … Although, when I get my revenge on Jude for it, I'm also taking revenge on you."

Taylor mockingly rolled her eyes. "Neither of you can ever just be thankful. You're meant for each other." She looked at their interlocked hands. "Doing okay?"

"Doing okay," Jude echoed. "Hopefully we stay that way."

"If anyone gives you trouble, just kill them," Taylor said, sounding so serious that Jude had to do a double-take.

A slow song began to play overhead and Taylor looked over her shoulder. "If you'll excuse me, I promised a boy a dance. Maybe you two should join us on the dance floor!"

Jude and Connor watched her walk toward Jake. They lingered against the wall for a moment, unsure of what to do next.

"Do you want to dance?" Connor asked, taking the initiative.

Jude nodded. He knew the moment they stepped out there and wrapped their arms around each other like all of the other boy-girl couples were doing, the stares and the gossiping would begin, but he didn't care. He wanted to dance with Connor. He squeezed Connor's hand and repeated his new mantra to himself: This is not about them; this is only about Connor and I. This is not about them; this is only about Connor and I.

Feeling confident, Jude said, "Let's go."

Hand in hand, they made their way across the floor so that they were relatively near Taylor, who they knew for sure was on their side. Jude curled against Connor, feeling his boyfriend's arms encircle him. He stepped as close to him as any other couple, feeling the heat of Connor completely against his body. He rested his head against Connor's shoulder, feeling Connor's cheek lean against the side of his head. As they turned in slow circles, half shuffling because of Connor's reluctance to trust his injured foot, Jude caught sight of classmates, some whom had even paused to stare. He felt Connor's hands dig into his ribs in worry at the same time Jude caught sight of Daria, dancing with Jordan, a mixture of shock and confusion on her face. When Jude met her dark eyes, though, she managed to smile at him and he found himself smiling back. Daria had been hurt in the aftermath of her and Connor's break-up but if she could forgive them and be happy, and if Adam could let them be happy, then Jude was sure that everything else would be fine. He could feel it. Everything was going to be fine.

Jude lifted his head so that his lips were next to Connor's ear because, as the whispers swelled around them, Jude had to ask, "Are you happy, Connor?"

No matter how confident he felt about the future, he needed to make sure his boyfriend felt the same way. After all, he had done all of this so that Connor would be happy.

"Of course I am!"

Jude smiled, the strength of Connor's response leaving no doubt.

"Are you happy, Jude?" Connor asked, meeting Jude's dark eyes.

"The happiest," Jude said and then, even though it was technically against school rules, Jude gave Connor a quick kiss.

As their lips met, Jude felt the moment Connor began to smile.

So, uh, this one-shot wasn't supposed to happen … Um, yeah. This is another one of those "I wrote it in a day and finished it at three in the morning so it's unedited and I'll go back and fix it up later" one-shots.

I don't own anything recognizable.

~TLL~

*Edited June 9th 2015

*Edited June 14th 2015