By the time the song came to an end, most everyone had joined Winston and Monty on the dance floor. The music had changed to a much more upbeat song, one that wasn't really able to be slow danced to.

Winston figured that when the song ended Monty would pull away, but he didn't. He stayed exactly where he was, still swaying to the beat of the slow song.

Winston smiled against Monty's neck, "Monty?"

Monty didn't say anything, he just held onto Winston tighter. Winston tried playfully shoving him off, but Monty was strong and unwilling to ease up on his grip.

Winston almost laughed, "Monty, you have to let go."

Monty fiercely shook his head, "No, I'm never letting you go."

Winston grinned at Monty's words. He tilted his head away from where it was rested on Monty's neck and looked him in the eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere." He told him.

"I know, it's just..." Monty paused, "I-I love you. I love you so fucking much and I don't want to lose the best part of my life."

Winston smiled sadly, "You'll never lose me."

Monty looked away as tears began to fill his eyes, but Winston put his hands on the sides of Monty's face and forced him to look back at him, "Hey, you won't. I'll be here. Always."

"Always?" Monty asked.

Winston nodded, "Yeah, always."

Monty pulled him back in for a hug, "Okay."

Winston hugged him back just as tightly. The hug was filled with emotion; Monty wrapping his strong arms around Winston's waist, while Winston threw his arms over Monty's broad shoulders and leaned his head against one of them.

This time when Winston pulled back, Monty eased up on his grip and allowed them to separate.

Winston looked around the room, "You wanna go find the others?"

Monty nodded and Winston reached down to grab Monty's hand. Monty immediately looked down at their intertwined fingers, being reminded of the drive in the car to the police station. The anxiety Monty felt that entire car ride, the thought of not being able to see Winston again or hold him or-

"Hey?" A voice broke him out of his thoughts, "Is this okay?"

Monty looked up into Winston's warm brown eyes, "Yeah. More than okay."

Winston smiled and began walking to where he spotted Estela, Diego, and Charlie. The three of them seemed to be immersed in a conversation, but as soon as Diego saw Winston and Monty approaching, the conversation was the last thing on his mind.

"Oh hey! If it isn't our prom kings!" Diego cheered.

Winston blushed as Monty rubbed at the back of his neck with his hand.

Monty laughed, "Come on, dude. This wouldn't have even happened if it weren't for you."

"Why does everyone keep blaming me! It was a group effort-"

"Shut up, Diego." His four friends said collectively, while laughing.

Diego pretended to pout for a few seconds, until Charlie playfully threw an arm around him, which made him start cracking up.

When the laughter died down a bit, Winston went over to Diego and pulled him in for a hug. Diego hugged back even though he was slightly confused.

"What was that for?" He asked when they pulled away.

Winston grinned, "You constantly are coming up with crazy ideas that I'll admit are a little reckless, but you always have good intentions and you really want the best for everyone." Winston shrugged, "Just thank you for being you."

Diego looked stunned at Winston's words. He would deny it later, but the four friends swear they saw his eyes become watery. Smiling widely and going in for another hug, he picked Winston up and twirled him around, only stopping when Winston started hitting him in the arm.

Charlie, Estela, and Monty were all hysterically laughing by the time Diego put Winston down.

"Dude!" Winston shrieked, "This is exactly what I'm talking about with the whole reckless thing, do you know how much money this suit costs?"

"Oh my god, what you just said was so gay." Charlie stated.

Everyone turned to Charlie and gave him a look.

"What? I'm bi, I can say that." He turned to Winston and Monty, "Right?"

Winston shook his head while grinning and Monty started chuckling. Soon everyone was laughing again, until Estela felt a finger tap her shoulder.

When she turned around, she was met with the face of Tyler looking nervous as ever.

He shifted on his feet, "Hi, Estela. Uh, I'm Tyler."

Estela chucked slightly, "I know who you are."

Tyler nodded, "Right, obviously, sorry. Well, I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to dance with me? You don't have to if you don't want to, but I just-"

"Tyler!" Estela stopped his rambling, "Are you kidding me? Of course I want to dance with you."

Tyler looked surprised, but then relieved and happy. He suddenly looked up at Monty and his nervousness returned.

"Only if it's okay with you." Tyler stated, shifting on his feet.

Monty's eyes widened, surprised with Tyler's need for his approval, "Oh, uh yeah. Go ahead."

Tyler smiled slightly, "Thanks, Monty."

Monty shook his head, "No, thank you, man. For everything you said."

Tyler smiled shyly, "You're welcome."

Tyler then held out his hand and Estela smiled as she took it. They made their way out onto the dance floor.

"Aww!" Charlie smiled as he watched them begin to awkwardly hop around to the beat of the music.

Diego mimicked crying, "They grow up so fast."

"Shut up, man." Monty laughed, jokingly smacking Diego upside the head.

Diego burst out laughing and went to hit him back, when the sound of a throat being cleared startled them. All four boys turned around and saw the last person they expected to see.

"Evening gentlemen." Deputy Standall greeted as he walked up to them.

"Uh, hi." Monty replied hesitantly.

"Quite an eventful night." Deputy Standall continued.

"Yeah, you could say that." Winston said, adjusting the tiara on his head.

Charlie pointed to Deputy Standall's plain t-shirt and jeans, "You're not wearing your police uniform."

Deputy Standall chuckled with barely any humor, "Well, I won't be needing that old thing anymore. Got canned this morning for misconduct."

Diego frowned, "Oh, wow. I'm sorry, Mr. Standall. That's not fair."

"Yeah, you shouldn't have lost your job over this. I mean, you helped me so much. Might've even saved my life." Monty told him.

Mr. Standall waved the comments off, "Nah, it's for the best. I was looking into retiring anyway."

The group nodded and stood in silence for a few seconds before Winston spoke.

"So, how are you holding up?" He asked in a gentle tone.

Mr. Standall sighed, "Could be better."

"That's understandable." Winston replied.

"I'm looking into options for parole for Alex. He's not too keen on the idea, but I think I can talk him into it."

"That's great!" Charlie exclaimed loudly, causing a few people nearby to look over.

When Mr. Standall gave him a confused look, he was quick to stutter out, "Sorry, I mean, oh that's cool or whatever."

Diego and Monty had to keep themselves from laughing out loud.

"Right. Well, I'll leave you boys to it. Have a good rest of your prom." Mr. Standall waved goodbye and began walking away.

"Thanks, Deputy- I mean Mr. Standall." Monty called after him.

"Don't mention it, son." Mr. Standall replied without turning around.

Monty smiled slightly as he watched him leave. He then felt a tugging on his arm and looked to see Winston grinning at him.

"Hey." Monty smiled.

"Hi." Winston smiled even wider, "Wanna get out of here?"

"Oh, god." Diego groaned suddenly, "You guys are giving me diabetes."

"What Diego meant to say was that you guys are really sweet." Charlie was quick to swoop in, "And you guys can go."

"Really? Are you sure?" Monty asked apprehensively.

Diego nodded, "Yeah, go. We'll all hang out at Winston's tomorrow cause we know that's where you're ending up tonight." He winked at the end of his sentence.

Diego started doing body rolls as Charlie pretended to grind. Winston hid his face behind his hands and Monty grinned as he shook his head at his friend's antics.

"Don't show up before ten, alright?" Monty told them.

"You got it, man." Diego agreed as he pulled his best friend in for a hug, "I love you, dude."

Monty nodded and patted him on the back, "Thanks, man."

He moved over to Charlie and gave him a hug as well, "Thanks for calling me out on my bullshit earlier."

Charlie huffed out a laugh, "Anytime." Then after a second, "Love you, man."

Monty smiled and pulled away. He looked over at the love of his life who was stepping backward toward the exit.

"What are we waiting for?" Winston asked him.

"Nothing." Monty said, "Let's go."

Both of them reached for each other's hand at the same time and began walking toward the double doors.

Monty stalled and Winston was about to ask what was wrong. That is until Monty turned around and cupped his hands around his mouth, "I love you guys!" He yelled to Diego and Charlie over the loud music.

Diego and Charlie couldn't have smiled wider, "We love you more, now get the fuck out!" Diego shouted back.

Winston laughed and grabbed Monty's hand again as they finally left the building.

When the two of them reached Winston's house, they barely made it inside before Monty was pushing Winston against the back of the front door.

Their lips connected as Winston rested his hands on Monty's muscular arms and Monty grabbed either side of Winston's face.

Monty pulled back, "Shit, your parents aren't home are they?"

Winston shook his head and that was all Monty needed to dive back in and capture his lips once more.

Tripping as they went, since they were both unwilling to separate for more than a second, they were finally able to make it into Winston's room.

Monty picked Winston up and lifted him up onto his desk. Winston wrapped his legs around Monty's waist and deepened the kiss. They both pulled away to get a breath of air, when all of a sudden...

"Woah, what the fuck." Monty said as he grabbed something on the desk. He walked away from Winston and began pacing in the middle of the room.

"What?" Winston asked in annoyance and opened his eyes.

Monty was standing in front of him, holding his journal up.

"Why the fuck do you have this?" Monty's whole frame was shaking.

"Oh, shit. I-I can explain-" Winston stood up.

"You..." Monty cut him off. "You didn't read any of it, did you?"

Winston swallowed thickly, "I read a little bit."

Monty sighed, "Fuck..."

Winston blinked in confusion and then finally understood what was going on, "Oh my god, you're embarrassed that I read it."

Monty immediately shook his head, "Am not."

Winston smiled, "It's okay."

"No, it's fucking not, cause now you know all the shit that was in my head and that was private stuff-"

"Hey, hey." Winston came over to him, "I know reading your diary wasn't the right thing to do and I'm sorry about that." He apologized.

"It's not a diary, that shit's for little girls." Monty mumbled.

"But Monty," Winston continued, ignoring that comment, "Everything you wrote in here. I feel the same way. You're my oxygen after not being able to breathe. You're my drink of water after walking for days in a desert. And you're my peace after being at war for years."

Winston pulled Monty close and leaned their foreheads together, "Don't ever be embarrassed in front of me. I love you. I love everything about you."

Monty's eyes were closed and he didn't say anything, so Winston wasn't sure if he understood.

"Okay?" He asked him.

Monty nodded, "Okay."

When Monty finally looked up at Winston, he smiled slightly and pressed his lips against Winston's softly.

When they pulled back, Winston smirked, "Have I ever told you that I love you?"

Monty laughed, "Yes, but tell me again."

Winston grinned, "I love you."

Monty smiled, "I love you too."

——————————————————————————