"Oh god." Winston said as he and Estela walked into the building. "I already hate it."

Estela chuckled, "What are you talking about? We just got here, give it a minute."

Winston shuddered, "I told you I'd give it a chance, but this is just depressing."

"What do you mean? People are dancing and having fun. It's the exact opposite of depressing." Estela said as she pointed to everyone in the middle of the room.

"Them being happy just reminds me of how upset I am." Winston said.

Estela sighed, "Wow. You really are depressed." She tried to say in a joking tone, but Winston just nodded in agreement.

"I'm gonna go see what this place has to drink." Winston told her, then began walking away in the direction of the 'bar'.

Estela watched him leave, until she heard people approach her. She turned around and there stood Diego with Charlie at his side.

"Hey." She greeted, then looked behind them, "Where's Monty?"

Diego looked confused, "You didn't get my text?"

"No. What text?" She asked, reaching for her phone.

"Uh oh." Charlie said as Estela saw the message she hadn't read yet.

"What does 'we might have a problem' mean?" She looked back up at Diego and Charlie who were looking at each other with concern.

"Is it anything that's going to affect the plan?" She wondered. "Cause if so, we should probably fix this before Winston gets back."

"Wait. Winston's here?" Diego asked in a panicked voice, his eyes frantically searching the room.

"Yes?" Estela confirmed questioningly. "That was the plan, right? Get them both here."

Charlie pinched the bridge of his nose, "Yeah, that was the plan, but we may not have exactly done our part."

It was Estela's turn to look panicked, "What do you mean? Is Monty not here?"

Diego shook his head, "We tried convincing him! I've never even heard Charlie talk that much, but I don't think it worked."

"Fuck. What are we gonna do?" Estela asked both of them.

"Well, you didn't tell Winston about the plan, did you?" Charlie asked.

"Of course not." Estela said.

Charlie nodded, "Okay, good."

"How is any of this good?" Diego asked.

"Because, we can just pretend that this was the plan. We have a fun night with Winston and just try to cheer him up. He'll never know." Charlie suggested.

Estela shrugged, "That seems like our best bet right now."

Diego let out an exasperated sigh, "This isn't how tonight was supposed to go."

"I know, but-" Estela was about to say when Winston reappeared, holding a cup of what looked like sparkling cider.

"Hey guys." Winston waved at them with his free hand.

"Hey!" They all said in unison, way too enthusiastically.

Winston looked at them questioningly, but didn't say anything about it, "So what's up?"

"Nothing!" Diego spoke up. "Just super excited to spend tonight with my best friend." He poked Winston in the shoulder.

Winston squinted his eyes, "I'm your best friend?"

"Hell yeah. We've basically been to hell and back together, we're brothers for life." Diego threw an arm around his shoulder and lead him to the dance floor.

Charlie and Estela watched them go. Diego was trying his hardest to get Winston to smile by doing ridiculous dance moves. Winston let out a particularly loud laugh when Diego did a boyband twirl.

"He still might show up." Charlie spoke from beside her.

Estela looked at up at him, then looked back at Diego and Winston who were now beckoning them to join in.

Charlie and Estela looked at each other again, before smiling and all but running toward them.

Almost the entire paranoid group was there, dancing along to whatever song played. People were dancing and laughing, acting like nothing traumatic had happened in the last few days.

If they were being honest, it felt good. It felt amazing to feel like they were kids again. Not caring about whatever would happen tomorrow or the next day, but living in the moment.

Winston tried to have a good time and push the sad thoughts to the back of his head, but just couldn't. He wanted desperately to have fun for Estela's sake, but he couldn't help feeling like he was putting up a front. Pretending he was okay, when he felt like dying.

The music came to a stop after a while and everyone looked toward the stage where Jessica was standing in front of a microphone, holding an envelope in her hands.

"All right, Liberty High. The votes are in. It's time to announce your prom king and queen!"

Winston groaned internally. He was going to have watch a happy couple dance in front of everyone.

"The votes were tabulated by one of our chaperones. I'm not sure who, but at least we know that it's secure."

Most everyone cheered at that and Jessica tore open the envelope, taking a piece of paper out of it and reading it once. Her eyes almost bugged out of her head and she'd never looked more confused.

"Holy shit." She said under her breath.

Jessica shook her head, "Um, I don't really know how this is possible, but your prom king and queen are- or I guess king and king. I don't know, it's whatever they prefer."

Everyone waited in anticipation as she rambled.

"Montgomery de la Cruz and Winston Williams." She announced, sounding confused and a tiny bit annoyed as she read it.

Gasps filled the room as people began looking around and muttering amongst themselves.

"Oh shit." Diego swore.

Winston's face went pale as he looked over at Diego in a panic, "What the hell is going on?!"

"I completely forgot we did that." Charlie said, eyes wide.

"What did you do?!" Winston tried to ignore the stares that were coming his way.

Diego let out a fake laugh, "Okay, funny story, we rigged the voting so that you and Monty would win and have this epic moment together-"

"Oh my god!" Winston whisper yelled. "What were you thinking?!"

"It was his idea!" Diego accused, pointing a finger at Charlie.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now?" Charlie got ready to defend himself.

"Guys! What the fuck?" Estela interrupted. "Now is not the time! Do you have any idea how stupid you two are? How humiliating this must be for Winston?"

Winston was looking at them, clearly hurt and confused and unsure of what to do.

Diego sighed, "Here, I'll go with you."

"No! I'm not going up there." Winston immediately refused.

"It'll be fine, we'll get crowned and dance, then leave. Problem solved." Diego told him.

"Not problem solved, Diego!" Winston couldn't believe this was happening.

Diego shook his head, "Listen, I'm sorry, okay? But the more we stand here, the awkwarder it gets. Let's just get it over with." He then grabbed Winston's hand and began walking toward the stage.

"This is insane, I don't even go here." Winston held his head low in embarrassment and didn't dare look up at anyone.

Jessica grimaced when she saw them coming up. Diego smiled and tried to act as confident as he could, but no one could ignore how uncomfortable of a situation this was.

Jessica was about to go and retrieve the crowns, but paused when she heard loud footsteps echoing throughout the building. It sounded as if someone was running toward the room.

Whoever it was got closer and closer, until someone finally appeared in the doorway.

"Wait!" The person said from the doors. Everyone turned to look and see who the call came from.

Winston gasped when he saw Monty standing there, dressed in a grey suit with a black bow tie.

Monty looked scared out of his mind. The crowd parted, giving him the space to walk up to the stage. His eyes were locked onto Winston's as he began walking to him.

When he climbed up on the stage, he didn't dare look at anyone else besides Winston.

"You're here." Winston said, breathlessly, when Monty stood in front of him.

"Yeah, I am." Monty said like he couldn't believe it either.

Diego backed away from them, smiling from ear to ear. Estela was holding onto Charlie's arm, while Charlie's mouth was completely agape in shock.

On the stage, Winston and Monty were still looking at each other, seemingly unaware of whatever else was going on in the room.

Jessica reappeared with both crowns and held one in each hand, "Which one of you wants the crown and which one of you wants the tiara?"

Her voice pulled Winston out of his stupor and he looked over at her, unsure of what to say. Monty, however, hadn't stopped staring at Winston.

Winston saw Monty's hesitance and decided to speak up instead, "Um, I guess I'll take the little one."

Jessica placed the small tiara on top of Winston's wavy hair and he reached up to make sure it was steady.

Monty's eyes finally tore themselves away from Winston long enough to see Jessica approach him with the bigger crown. It fit on top of his head perfectly, but felt heavy.

Monty finally took a look at the crowd, who were stunned into silence. He didn't think anyone would make a single sound, but that's when he heard cheering come from somewhere in the sea of students.

Estela was clapping wildly as Charlie cupped his hands around his mouth and began cheering. At first, they were the only ones, but then there was distant applause coming from the back.

Tyler was clapping for him. It was quiet a little unsteady sounding, but it looked like he knew what he was doing. Justin joined in after a second, a small smile on his face. Zach, who was standing next to him gave a loud whistle. Diego, still standing on the stage, began cheering, clearly happy with this turn of events.

Soon, everyone was clapping for them. It started off hesitant and slow, but by the end, most everyone was cheering.

As Monty looked at all of them, he felt his eyes begin to water. He tried convincing himself that he wasn't about to cry in front of the entire school, but couldn't stop a tear that fell. It was obvious that he was overwhelmed and overcome with the feeling of acceptance and something else that he'd always had a hard time dealing with.

He looked over at Winston, who returned his gaze. Love. That's what's he was feeling. But it wasn't the complicated and hard to deal with type of love he was used too. It was the simple and wonderful kind that made him feel like he could be whatever he wanted to be.

The DJ held up his microphone, "Alright, King Montgomery, King Winston. It's time for your first dance as Liberty High School royalty!"

He pushed a button on whatever machine he used and the beginning chords of a slow song began to fill the room.

I got the good side of things

Left you with both of the rings

My fingers danced and swayed in the breeze

The change in the wind took you down to your knees

They made their was down the steps and walked toward the middle of the dance floor. Everyone formed a circle around them as they looked at each other.

Monty held his hand out to Winston, a smile beginning to form on his face. Winston smiled back and grabbed onto it without hesitation.

Monty's hand found Winston's waist as Winston placed his hand on Monty's shoulder. Their other hands coming together to hold each other's. Monty moved closer to him so he could say something only Winston could hear.

"I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for you."

Winston smiled, "Don't you mean if it weren't for Deputy Standall you wouldn't be alive?"

Monty rolled his eyes playfully, "Don't bring him up right now."

They both laughed quietly.

"I'm sorry I left you." Monty said after a moment.

"It's oka-"

"No, it's not." Monty interrupted, "I hurt you. I don't ever want to do that."

"Hey, it's okay." Winston took his hand from Monty's grip and placed it on the side of his face, "You're here now. That's all that matters to me."

Monty shook his head, "I don't deserve you."

"Don't say that." Winston said immediately, "You deserve so much Monty."

Monty went silent after that. Not wanting his emotions to get the best of him, he pulled Winston closer and hugged him tightly while they danced.

"I've always wanted to do this." Monty told him after a minute, "Dance with you."

Winston pulled back from the hug to look him in the eyes, "Me too."

Winston knew saying this right now could very well ruin everything, but it was how he felt and he was done hiding it, "I love you."

"I know." Monty paused, then after a second, "I love you too."

"You do?" Winston asked, surprised.

Monty nodded, "I always have. I was just scared, but I'm not afraid anymore. My dad's gone, my family loves me and most importantly, I have you."

Winston grinned, "You'll always have me."

They leaned their foreheads together and let their lips meet. They heard a few 'awe's from around the crowd. When they pulled away, Monty placed both his hands on either side of Winston's face.

"Good." He said.

Winston couldn't have smiled wider as he surged forward again, kissing Monty hard. They continued until they heard 'whoops' and a few whistles coming from people.

Another song began playing. This time, a more upbeat one that you couldn't exactly slow dance to.

And even as people from the crowd began to come onto the dance floor with them, they pretended the slow song was still on, holding onto each other as they continued to dance.

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