Masquerade! Hide your face so the world will never find you {p}

< Once again thank you so much for creating this. >

Alex could feel his heart slamming against his chest as he sloppily tied on one of his father’s ties. Normally he wouldn’t bother, but his father had specifically told him how ties “tie together the outfit.” He heard you honk the horn and he glanced at his phone screen, he was on the verge of being late. He rushed to the bathroom, and began to brush his teeth hastily, while at the same time, spraying a thin layer of cologne on his wrists.
He was nervous to say in the least, despite him being in a relationship before, he’d never been so formally been asked out like this before, especially be a guy. Alex was fairly open with who he was, and that he was gay, but it was nothing compared to Dallas, the cheer squad leader, the best cheerleader, let alone male cheerleader, in the school. He hasn’t really noticed Dallas too much, considering cheerleading wasn’t up his ally, but he certainly appreciated the whole talent aspect of it, and he couldn’t help but be over the top flattered that anyone had even invited him. He was originally planning to skip prom and hang out with you, when it seemed as you didn’t plan on going either, but then he got asked last second, and he couldn’t help but accept.
Snatching up his phone, he stumbled down the stairs, and waved goodbye to his father before jogging out to your car, it was fairly chilly out, and he presumed it would get cooler as the night went on. He quickly hopped into the front seat next to you and grinned at you with a “Hello my kind chauffeur.. my sincerest apologies for being a bit behind schedule.” Mimicking some sort of British gentleman. He buckled his seatbelt and pushed down your car mirror to glance at his face and push away some pieces of hair. “You excited for tonight? I’m prepared, as your wingman, to assist you in finding a girl you’d like. I’ve been thinking.. which I know, is dangerous... but I think you need to get on the dating game... We can go on double dates so I won’t have to deal with too much small talk.” He murmured dreamily, pushing the mirror back up and sitting back against the seat.

Alex could definitely see how the tie looked significantly better, but he also couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed that he’d managed to have it like that. You not in the dating game? What bologna, you were obviously handsome, you could probably get any girl you wanted, or guy, if you were into that sort of thing. Listening as the song came into play, he let out a soft chuckle, “of course I do!” Tapping his fingers lightly against the dashboard, he couldn’t help but think of how long they’d been together to get to their senior year. It’d been years, lots of years, and he’d never imagined that their friendship would grow as it had. Driving nearer and nearer only made his heart rate steadily increase, he didn’t know why, he barely knew Dallas, no reason to get overworked. Your question managed to slightly catch him off guard, but he quickly responded “One photo? Listen, just because I have a prom date doesn’t mean you’re being left behind.. I’ll take as many pictures with you as you want.” A sly smile stretching across his face, the lights of the prom were fairly bright, and it seemed that lots of people were already there. He figured Dallas might be there already. His stomach was churning a bit with anxiety but he ignored it and turned back to you for comfort. “Thank you for taking me by the way, my dad driving me would’ve been a bit of a disaster, who knows what time we would’ve showed up...” he joked, giving you a half hug. He really did appreciate it, and as excited as he was to meet back up with Dallas, it didn’t beat hanging out with you. He really hoped you found someone you liked, or at least someone that could replace Alex whenever he hung out with Dallas. Sure, he was getting a little ahead of himself, but he couldn’t help it, he was nervous. He scooted up to hand in his ticket, got it collected, and went inside the big museum.
The main room was fairly large, anything that had been there as an artifact had been moved somewhere, hopefully safely far away. The items had been replaced by a number of large tables and a series of other prom style things. He couldn’t even remember what the theme of the prom had been. Looking at you with a small smile, he took a few small steps back against the wall and texted Dallas, asking for confirmation if he was there yet.

Sliding his phone into his left pocket, Alexander nodded at you, and he cheerily walked over next to you, and he obliged with a big grin for your picture. After he looked at it, he concluded it was a nice picture, “You’ll have to send me the pictures from tonight.” He stated, following behind you to go get the punch. As cliche as it was, there was a giant red bowl of punch near the center of the table, and a series of small plastic cups all around it. He looked around, taking in who else was there. If he was being honest, it seemed as if everyone was there, he saw some of his classmates together, and others didn’t seem at all familiar. Most people were just talking and sort of dancing? The people who were dancing were closer to swaying along than actual dancing. Alex quickly looked back, saw that nobody was getting punch, and he pored a cup and held it out to you with a smile. “Your highness” Bowing his head slightly at you.

Alexander smirked at you and took the cup from you, giving it a quick sniff, “If you weren’t all that special, would I be your best friend?” He questioned with a raised eyebrow. “An interesting point, but if I was royalty, I would be a neglecting dictator, you’d probably be a better king if I’m being honest.” He joked, taking a couple steps away from the crowded table. Taking his first sip of the punch, it was quite obviously cherry, but it wasn’t all that bad in comparison to what he’d expected. Looking at you, he smiled, he was happy he’d come with you. Then he remembered Dallas, after checking the clock on the museum wall, he saw that it was technically 20 minutes since the prom had officially begun. Clicking on his phone, no response from Dallas. Returning his phone to his pocket he gave a sort of shrug to you. He wasn’t worried, Dallas was sure to show up. He’d invited Alex, why wouldn’t he show up? It wouldn’t make sense. He sort of meandered back over to the side of the room.

“Well of course I do.” Alex brushed it off lightly. They sat back for what seemed like an eternity in awkward silence, the minutes were slowly winding by. Your question relieved his silence and he nodded at you, “That’d be great actually.” Making his way through the crowd, he went through this side entrance that was much closer than the main entrance. Going outside, he figured you were close behind.
Nobody was out here, but the sound of the music was still just as audible from right outside. This seemed to be an employee entrance of sorts, as the door lead out to some side parking lot that surprisingly enough, didn’t have any cars. The gate leading here must’ve been locked, he assumed. Alex made his way over to the curb and took a seat there.
Looking at you, he thought hard about Dallas. Clearly his phone was dead, or he never planned to show up in the first place. As time ticked by, it seemed more and more like the second option.
“I was expecting more from the party planning committee if I’m being honest... I mean come on... they used the same exact banner last year, they only changed the date..”
Alex’s small talk was just to get his mind away from whether or not Dallas had seriously stood him up.

Alex was privately asking himself the same questions. Did Dallas even like him to begin with? Did he even like Dallas? Either way, at this point it seemed fairly apparent he wasn’t showing up. Not much point in trying to convince himself otherwise. He stared at his shoes for a while, then right at you. Your question had caught him off guard a bit, but he assumed you realized that Dallas was a no show. He gave you a small smile and nodded. Come to think of it, he didn’t know how to dance. He couldn’t imagine it’d be really hard but he could be wrong. He took a careful step towards you, some of the ground had puddles from this mornings rain.
He was staring at you when he quietly asked “Do you know how to dance?”

Of course he remembered, he’d been with you once or twice to watch now that he thought about it. “ Didn’t cross my mind..” he murmured. Listening to the song choice, he was immediately happy that you’d decided not to go inside. You had a clear sense of better taste in music than whoever was running prom’s DJ booth. “Alright. I trust you.”
He stepped close to you, and he set his hands on the top of your shoulders. Was this where his hands were supposed to go? Or on your waist? He was hopeless. He grooved frequently to his own music, but it was more of a subconscious silly thing, nothing like this. Hit bit his lip slightly but then looked at you, he was more nervous than when he arrived. He couldn’t even explain why he was nervous, but a small tingle went up his spine.
“Lead the way my my liege.” He chuckles out awkwardly.

Alexander followed your lead at about a par, stepping carefully at the best of his ability. He wanted to try his best, especially considering he really appreciated how you were trying your best to make the evening more successful for him. Dancing with you was a weird experience, not in a bad way, it was just different from what they normally did. Sure, they sometime had underlying sarcastic sexual tension, and they joked around a lot, but this was verging on being intimate. Their hands were practically locked together, and they were far closer together than he had been with you in quite a while. He was feeling cheeks beginning to heat up, and he hoped it didn't show through his cheeks. Why was he nervous about all this? He had been planning all night to dance with Dallas, yet that boy had practically melted from his thoughts. All he was thinking about was you holding on to him. The song slowly faded away, but he stayed with you as you seemed to not mind it either. It gave him a sense of security, plus it was a lot warmer with you there. It was on the verge of freezing and he could feel himself close to shivering, but he smiled slyly at you. Locking eyes with you, he blinked slowly, "Yeah of course."

Alex remembered coming out quite well. To you it was sort of awkward, but luckily it all turned out perfectly fine. His main fear coming out to you, is that you’d think ‘He’s going to hit on me now, gotta blast’, and then leave. Looking back at himself thinking that made him almost smile, they’ve been together since 6th grade, and to think you’d leave over something like that boggled his mind. He smiled brightly at you when you pretty much came out to him. He’d assumed you were straight, or maybe even asexual, simply because you never seemed to be interested in dating anyone. Maybe you were just shy and uncomfortable with being gay? Either way it was nice to hear you finally coming out to him.
That’s when the second part hit him.
Alex’s smile sort of faded away, more into a look of solid confusion, not disgust or anger, but sheer confusion. You liked him? You still did? Sure, that explained a lot actually. Heck, he’d simply just answered his own question, you hadn’t dated anyone because you were interested in Alex? The male took a couple steps back from you. What was he supposed to say to that? Did he like you back?
He didn’t know. It was hard to imagine him being more than a friend, but at the same time he already felt like they were dating at times. For God’s sake they were just slow dancing to one of their friendship songs, how much more romantic could that get?
He tried to say something, after the awkward silence, but no words immediately came out. He couldn’t comprehend what had just happened. Taking one more step back, he tripped slightly on the curb, but caught himself from falling with balance. He opened his mouth once more before slightly closing it, “I... don’t know what to say...” He mumbled, looking down at his dress shoes. His mind began to go through his memories. You were absolutely his best friend, and he loved you for sure, but did he love you like that? For starters, you were obviously the kindest guy, and you always stuck around him even when Alex felt sad, angry, or whatever it may be. They shared so many memories together, it’d been nearly 7 years, that was a long time, but he wouldn’t switch you for anyone. He had a better relationship with you in the first year, than his mother in all the years he knew her.
Secondly, he had to admit you were attractive, but was it like that? Did he feel attraction to you, or was it more of a general love for you?
He wasn’t opposed to the idea of dating you. He just didn’t want things to change, what if things got worse? What if they broke up soon after and their friendship dissipated?
All these questions went unanswered as he looked back up to you slowly.
<I’m thinking instead of his parent(s) picking him up, maybe you drive him back home whenever, and then before he leaves the car he kisses him ;) is that change alright? >

< Okay coolio :) >Alex knew he’d probably upset you. If you actually liked him, he could imagine you feeling good right now. He wished he could know what he wanted right then and there so he could give it you you straight.
After your statement, he looked back and indeed, you were correct. People were funneling out through the front entrance. Alex had so many things he wanted to say, but he refrained. The young male looked at you and nodded slowly.
The walk back to the car was incredibly uncomfortable. Not only was it freezing, but without their banter, he was miserable in the cold instead of playful in the code. Getting to your car, he quickly sat in the passenger seat and looked out the window. He aimlessly looked around for anything to take his mind off of what had just occurred.
Why should be take his mind off of it? He still didn’t know much of what he was thinking. Theoretically, if they did date, it’d be pretty similar to their current relationship, except less sexual tension and more actual acts. He tried to imagine him kissing you, was that an image he wanted to hope for, or not? He quietly sighed, Alex felt worse than before, and the night had been a whirlwind of emotions.