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Monty hadn't moved from his spot on the bed. He'd never heard Charlie say that much, let alone yell at him. It felt completely wrong to have that sweet adorable golden retriever turn into a total rabid dog before his eyes.

"Fuck..." Monty mumbled to himself, holding his head in his hands.

Monty didn't want to admit it, but he knew deep down that Charlie was right. Maybe that's what hurt him the most right now. That his mind wasn't ready to accept what his heart already knew.

Monty lost track of how many minutes he sat still, staring at the ground. Different images of the past flowing through his mind.

"Where's the fuckin' bathroom?" He asked to no one in particular, pushing open a random door.

"Not the bathroom, friend." A beautiful boy said from his spot on the floor.

Monty let himself smile. Meeting Winston was one of the best things to ever happen to him.

Another image came to him.

"Hey, it was nice meeting you. We should hang out sometime." It was him. The guy from the room who had blew him no less than an hour ago.

"What'd you say to me, faggot?" Monty asked before he could stop himself.

"Dude, chill. Alright?" The guy held his hands up, trying to calm Monty down.

Monty flinched as he remembered what happened next. He had hit Winston. He had completely beat the shit out of him. God, just the thought of causing him any pain made Monty want to cry.

He closed his eyes as another flashback began.

"Good hit, Monty." Bryce spat out.

"Keep coming Walker, keep coming!" Monty told him.

"You think you're gonna scare me?" Bryce taunted.

"Oh, I'm gonna fuckin' kill you." Monty assured him.

"Okay, buddy." Bryce walked away with a smirk.

Monty looked down, then back up. There was someone taking pictures from the sidelines. It was him. The boy from the party. What the fuck is he doing here? And what gives him the right to look like that?

Monty remembered how angry he felt at that moment, not knowing that it would later become one of the best nights of his life. Monty sighed, then thought of what else happened.

Monty looked away from the retreating Hillcrest bus, "The fuck are you doing here?" He asked when he saw the boy from the party leaning against his car.

The boy looked up, then back down to his camera, "Yearbook. I-I'm in yearbook. I'm going." He stuttered out, while reaching in his pocket for his car keys.

'Shit, he's scared. He's scared of me.' Monty thought to himself. "Hey, hey, I ain't gonna do anything." Monty told him.

The boy nodded, "I gotta go."

Monty took a step toward him, "Listen man, I'm sorry about last Summer. I was drunk and really fucked up."

"It's fine." The boy smiled slightly, "I mean, whatever."

Monty moved forward once more, "You seem like a good guy."

The boy didn't say anything for a moment. He just stared at Monty's face, like he was trying to understand what was going through his head.

Finally he licked his lips and said, "Um, do you want... My parents are gone all weekend, if you wanna hang out."

Monty raised his eyebrows in surprise, then found himself nodding before he could even think about it.

Monty shook his head as he remembered the car ride to Winston's house. How awkward, yet strangely turned on he felt. The car ride was just the beginning of that unforgettable night.

"Holy shit!" Monty gasped out as he fell onto the bed next to Winston.

Winston turned around and laid next to him, "You gonna beat the shit out of me now?" He asked.

Monty rolled his eyes, "I said I was sorry."

Winston took a few breaths, clearly still worked up from what they'd just done, "I know. I was just making a joke." He sat up and looked at Monty.

"I can give you a ride somewhere if you don't want to Uber." Winston offered.

Monty frowned, "You trying to kick me out?"

Winston smiled as he shook his head, "No, I just figured you'd want to go."

Monty stared at him for a moment, then grinned as he turned to lay on his side, "Well maybe, I wanna stay and do that again."

Winston chuckled, "Yeah? Okay."

Monty kept looking at him, until a voice in the back of his head reminded him of something, "I'm not fucking gay."

Winston's expression faltered, before he nodded, "Okay, cool. You can be whatever you wanna be."

Monty frowned, feeling tears pool in his eyes, "No, I can't."

"You can when you're with me." Winston told him.

Monty opened his eyes with a gasp. He didn't know how long he'd been thinking about the important parts of his past, but he did know one thing.

"I love him. Fuck. I'm in love with him." Monty realized.

Monty dove to the other side of the bed to grab his phone and looked at the time: 11:14. Shit. He knew he needed to hurry. He ran over to his closet and threw it open, riffling through all his clothes.

"For fuck's sake, why do I have so many flannels?" Monty exclaimed as he tried to find something.

"Monty?" A soft voice said from his doorway.

Monty immediately recognized the voice as his mother's, "Hey, mom." He didn't stop looking through his closet.

"What are you doing?" His mom asked.

Monty sighed, "It's stupid. Forget it." He backed away from the clothes and flopped onto his bed.

His mom gave him a look, "You're trying to find something to wear to the prom tonight aren't you?"

Monty's head shot up, "How do you even know about that?"

She laughed, "Do you think I didn't hear your friend's little outburst? This isn't a very big house, I can practically hear everything."

Monty shook his head, "I-I don't know. Don't worry about it. Everything's fine."

"Monty, what did I tell you?" She asked, taking a seat next to him on the bed, "I told you that I love you and that I love who you are. You don't have to hide anything from me."

Monty's vision blurred as tears began to fill in his eyes, "Mom, I... I'm-I'm gay." He'd never said it out loud before. Even though he was terrified, he immediately felt relieved.

His mom smiled, "I know. It's okay."

Monty nodded and forcefully wiped away the tears beginning to form, "Okay." He said.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Monty collecting himself while his mom comfortingly rubbed his back.

"So, did you want to go to prom?" His mom brought up again.

Monty shook his head, "I don't think I can. Just, I can't..."

"I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do, Monty. Hell, I just got you back, I'm kind of reluctant to even let you leave the house." She said, honestly.

"I'm not going anywhere." Monty told her.

"Okay." His mom said, understanding that he didn't want to talk about it anymore. "Can I ask you one more thing?"

Monty nodded, "Sure."

"What made you want to go in the first place?" Then after a moment, "Is it that boy? Your lawyer's son?"

Monty sighed, "I... yes."

"I don't know what to do." Monty admitted with a broken voice.

His mom cupped his face and looked him in the eyes, "Be who you are. Be proud."

His mother's words reminded him of what Mrs. Walker had told him. And in that moment, he'd never felt more determined.

"I'm going. I'm going to prom." Monty stated as he stood up quickly, rushing back to his closet.

"Monty, do you really think you have a suit in there? In that endless wall of flannels?" His mom asked, jokingly.

Monty turned around, "You bought me these flannels!"

They looked at each other for a second before cracking up. They laughed, seemingly forgetting what they had just talked about a minute ago.

"So, I have nothing to wear?" Monty asked, but it sounded more like a realization than a question.

His mom shook her head, "There has to be something, come on."

She walked out into the hallway and then into her own bedroom, Monty following close behind. She went to the right side of the room and opened a black closet.

Monty's eyes widened when he saw a grey suit with a black bow tie hanging on the closet door. A note was attached to the inside of the suit jacket. He took the small piece of paper and turned it over.

"Wow." Monty said under his breath.

His mom took it out of the closet and then off its hangers. She held it up to Monty, "It's the right size."

"She must've rented it for me. How'd she know?" Monty wondered.

"Your sister is smart, that's for sure." She said as she handed the suit to Monty, "Go put it on."

He smiled, then pulled her in for a hug before leaving to get dressed.

Monty was pretty sure that he'd broken almost every road safety law as he sped to the location of the prom. He looked at his phone to check the time. 11:27. He still had time. Monty could see the flashing lights from the building. He was so close.

Not caring where he parked, he pulled into a random spot toward the front of the building and left his keys in the ignition. He opened the car door and almost toppled out from how much he was shaking and how quickly he was moving.

He ran as fast as he could. He was a football player, which meant that he was used to running, but right now, this felt more important than any game he'd ever played.

As he pushed open the front doors, he didn't stop to apologize to a couple he bumped into on the way inside. He just kept running.

He knew he was close to the main room because he could hear Jessica speaking into a microphone. He knew she was announcing the prom king and queen, but he tuned her out as he tried to find his way.

After a moment, he realized that if he listened to her voice, he might be able to follow it.

Jessica's muffled voice came through, "I guess it's whatever they prefer. Montgomery de la Cruz and Winston Williams."

"What the fuck?" Monty said to himself, stopping in his tracks.

Was this some kind of joke? Did some cruel person stuff the ballot box? Winston doesn't even go to Liberty.

Winston. The thought of him being alone in there, humiliated and confused, hurt Monty more than he could express.

He took off running again and finally found the right room, "Wait!" He yelled out.

Every pair of eyes in the room looked back at him, but not for a second did Monty think about turning around, because there he was. Winston was standing on the stage, mouth agape and eyes wide in surprise.

He took a step forward and watched as the crowd parted for him. He continued walking, not looking away from Winston once. He made his way up to the stage, the sound of his footsteps on the stairs filling up the silence of the room.

When he finally reached the center of the stage, Winston said, "You're here."

"Yeah, I am." Monty replied, still having a hard time believing how he had the strength to do it.

A small smile graced Winston's face as Jessica came back, a crown in each hand, "Which one of you wants the crown and which one of you wants the tiara?"

Monty ignored her, he just kept looking at Winston, unable to comprehend how someone could be so beautiful.

Winston's voice called him out of his stupor, "Um, I guess I'll take the little one."

Jessica placed the tiara on top of Winston's perfect hair. Then she came over to Monty and put the heavy crown on his head.

After a moment, Monty finally took a look at the crowd, who looked like they 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 next to Charlie, both of them cheering loudly, not caring what anyone else thought. At first, Monty thought they would be the only ones to cheer, but then the unimaginable happened.

Distant clapping could be heard from the back. Tyler. He was clapping for him. It was quiet and unsteady, but it seemed like he knew what he was doing. Justin joined in after a moment, a small smile etched on his face. Zach gave a loud whistle and Diego, who Monty hadn't even realized was on the stage, was cheering with a wide smile.

Soon everyone was cheering for them. For him and Winston. As Monty looked at all of them, he felt his eyes begin to water for what was third time that night. He was overwhelmed with the way things had turned out.

He looked over at Winston. He so pretty, Monty thought, I'm so in love with him.

The DJ announced something that Monty didn't care to listen to. He understood what was going on when he heard a slow song begin to play.

He stared at Winston as they made their way down the steps and walked to the middle of the dance floor.

Monty held out his hand and Winston smiled, grabbing onto it. One of Monty's hands found Winston's waist and the other held Winston's hand.

Monty moved closer so he could say something over the music, "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 had to stop himself from laughing, "Dont bring him up right now." They laughed.

Monty couldn't help the guilty feeling in his chest, "I'm sorry I left you."

"It's oka-" Winston tried to say, but Monty wouldn't have it.

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

Winston placed his other hand on Monty's face, "Hey, it's okay. 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 disagreed, "You deserve so much, Monty."

Monty didn't say anything. He just pulled Winston in by his shoulders and hugged him tightly, while they continued to sway to the music.

A minute went by, when Monty realized something, "I've always wanted to do this. Dance with you."

Winston pulled away so he could look at Monty, "Me too." He replied, then after a moment, "I love you."

"I know." Monty said, his heart beating fast, "I love you too." He finally told him.

"You do?" Winston asked him. It hurt Monty to see how surprised Winston was.

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

Winston tearfully smiled, "You'll always have me."

Monty couldn't have been happier with that news. He leaned forward to press their foreheads together and let their lips meet. He ignored everyone else in the room and just focused on Winston.

When the pulled away, Monty smiled as he cupped Winston's face between his hands, "Good."

Monty wished he could've taken a picture of Winston's smile when he said that. He threw himself into Monty's arms and kissed him again.

And in that moment, Monty was the happiest he'd ever been.

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