Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Okay everyone!" Ocean announced. "We are finally at the fair. We have... two hours before we're needed for our performance!"

"Awesome, bye," Noel replied as he grabbed Mischa's hand and slinked away.

"Make sure to be punctual, Noel!"

Ricky slowly moved his way towards Penny, trying to get her attention. She smiled in her silent, comforting way, and went with him to go get some food. Ricky always felt like Penny was the one person that truly understood him. Their relationship was one that didn't need any words. She, too, had that melt-in-the-background, noticed-by-nobody type of lifestyle. Around her, Ricky wasn't the only one nobody could ever hear.

"Let's go play some games," Constance said to Ocean.

"Constance, you know that all those games are scams," Ocean lectured. "Let's not waste our money. How about a ride? Bumper cars?"

Constance shrugged. "I guess. If you want."

Noel had led Mischa to a quiet, secluded location. It was in between two rides, but they were both rollercoasters and everyone was too busy screaming their heads off to notice the two boys hiding away below them. They could see the entire, wide, blue sky from there. They were lying down, pointing at clouds in the sky.

"That one looks like a rat," Noel said.

"I saw a rat earlier," Mischa replied. "He was eating a cable."

Noel rolled over onto him, moving his lips closer and closer to Mischa's. He lowered himself slowly, before making timid contact. Mischa returned the kiss.

Noel pulled away, sitting up next to his boyfriend. He was waiting for the day when Mischa would finally feel ready for them to go public. It was common knowledge in Uranium that Noel was gay. Everyone thought he was the only one. He thought he was the only one. But then when Mischa joined the choir, and they started stealing time away from one another and hiding in the practice rooms after everyone else had left... Noel learnt just how wrong he was. He'd tried multiple times to convince Mischa to come out of the closet - but he hadn't been successful.

Meanwhile, Mischa was just telling everyone that he had a girlfriend from Ukraine named Talia. It was his excuse as to why he was sending flirty messages, or stealing roses from the florist. It was for Talia, of course. Who else? Maybe one day he'd feel ready. Someday soon, in fact. The more time Mischa spent with Noel, the more he wanted to go public so he could enjoy him all the time. Soon. Mischa would come out soon.

Penny subtly placed her hand on top of Ricky's. They gave each other a quick glance, before blushing and turning away. Penny had another scoop of ice cream. And she kept on thinking about how to tell Ricky how much she loved him.

"Where is everyone?" Ocean demanded. "We have five minutes to be on stage!"

"It'll be okay, Ocean," Constance reassured. "They're probably on their way right now."

As if on cue, Mischa and Noel stumbled into the room. Ricky and Constance weren't too far behind.

"Great, let's go everyone," Ocean said, ushering everyone on the stage just as their choir was called.

"Hey, Ocean," Constance whispered. "I was thinking, after the performance, we should all ride the Cyclone."