Back, and better than ever.

SEMIFORMAL!!!!

"C'mon, Mom. You have like four sets of Christmas cards by now." Mickey groaned, tugging at his white shirt, which he wore paired with a black jacket, pants and shoes. (Clue: Mickey's House of Mouse.) Lily Allwine sighed as she nodded and set down the camera, pulling her son into a hug.

"Are you gonna be okay? I know you were so disappointed when you couldn't ask that girl Minnie out." Mickey nodded, resting his chin on his mom's shoulder. "Yeah, I will. Donald, Daisy and some of my other friends were forming a group at school, so I volunteered to pick everyone up. I'm just really worried about Minnie, I can't shake the feeling that Mortimer is going to really hurt her somehow tonight."

Lily put her hands on Mickey's shoulders, looking him directly in the eye. "You're a good boy, Mickey. You've never been ashamed of the choices that I've made in the past, or your dad. I know if the Bennet boy tries anything with Minnie, you'll be there to make sure she's safe. I know that because I can see that you genuinely care about this girl, it's not just a crush."

Mickey nodded, smiling. "Thanks, Mom. Anyway, I really should be going, I told Donald I'd be at his place about now." He then said bye to his dad, running across the lawn to his car and got inside, driving it across the street to Donald's house. 

Soon they arrived at the school, Donald and Daisy walking quickly up to the doors to present their tickets while Mickey hung back. "Hey, Mick!" He heard Goofy say as he turned around to meet his friend. "Hi, Goof. Thanks for being my unofficial date for tonight, it'll be a lot more fun if I'm hanging out with you instead of just drowning my sorrows at the punch bowl."

Goofy laughed, waving back to his mom as she honked and drove away. "No problemo, buddy. I definitely know how hard it can be going to a dance like this by yourself, you couldn't get rid of me if you wanted to." Now it was Mickey's turn to laugh, as the two went inside the school and were greeted with loud music and muted strobe lights.

Marcus Taylor opened the door to a knock, seeing a well-dressed, tall boy on the other side. "Oh, you must be Mortimer." "Nice to meet you, Mr. Taylor." Mortimer said, shaking his hand. "Is Minnie ready yet?" 

"I'll go check. In the meantime, why don't you come in?" Mortimer nodded and stepped inside, sitting on the sofa while Marcus went down the hall to Minnie's bedroom. She stood inside, twirling around dressed in a red polka dotted dress and a jean jacket. Then she heard a knock on the door, and went to go open it.

"Hey Minnie, are you ready? Your date is waiting in the living room." She smiled when she saw her dad on the other side. "Yeah, I'll be right out." She stepped out and walked towards Mortimer with a blush on her cheeks. "You look great, Minnie." She smiled wider at this. "Thanks, Morty."

"I'll have her home by eleven, Mr. Taylor." Marcus shook his head, though. "No, that won't be necessary. Apparently they're doing this thing at the end for any parents who show up, so I'll be at your school later on. Just go and have a fun time." Mortimer looked surprised at this news, but his usual grin was soon back as he and Minnie waved, and walked down the path together.

Marcus watched them go, and felt a strange thought nagging at the back of his mind. He couldn't really explain it, but even though he knew he'd see Minnie later that night, he couldn't help but feel like part of his innocent little girl was about to fade away.

About a half hour later, Mickey and Goofy were dancing to Thrift Shopping by Macklemore (hey, can't all be disney songs.) when they saw Minnie and Mortimer walk in. That's just like him, to be so fashionably late it's already last season. Mickey thought, glaring at the bully, before remembering the main reason why he was so angry in the first place.

Calm down, Mickey. Yes, Mortimer's a jerk, but the important thing is he doesn't try to get Minnie into an uncomfortable situation. Just keep your eye on them for now, he won't do anything to her as long as they're around all these people. 

Minnie and Mortimer had been dancing for about twenty minutes, before he stopped to take a breather. "Hey, I'm going to get some punch, do you want anything?" Minnie nodded vigorously. "Yeah, get me a glass, too." He left with a wink, and soon Minnie met up with Clara. "Hey, when are you going to start singing?" Minnie asked over the music, and Clara replied with an excited smile.

"Just about now, better find Mortimer." Minnie nodded. "He left to go get punch, I'll go see if I can meet him on the way back." Clara nodded too. "Okay, I'd better get on the stage. Good luck, and have fun!" Minnie turned to walk towards the refreshments table, trying to see if she could locate Mortimer in the crowd. 

She made it to the table, but he wasn't there either. Huh, that's strange. Maybe he got lost coming back?  She looked around for a while, trying to find him. She pushed through a group of people watching a dance battle, trying to call out his name over the cheers and jeers as the two showed off their moves. What she saw on the other side terrified her.

She saw Mortimer, dancing with a sophomore girl named Mona. Spinning her around with the utmost ease and grace. Looking into her eyes like she was the only girl in the world. Minnie just stood there like a ghost, trying to make sense about what was happening. This was the dance she was looking forward to all week. This was the boy she defended even though her friends said he was a jerk.

Turns out they were right. Not bearing to watch the terrible scene any longer, Minnie turned and ran, bumping into people as she desperately searched for a way outside. She could barely breathe, she just couldn't believe it, but at the same time she should've known all along. Minnie saw people go through that and worse on TV, but it just seemed so fictional then. Like no one in real life could possibly go through something so awful.

Mickey was biting into a frosted cookie at the refreshments table, and almost choked when he saw Mortimer dancing with some other girl. Suddenly Minnie ran past him, and he could only guess why she was crying. Mortimer, you idiot. Mickey wanted to say, and punch his face in with every ounce of strength in his body.

He knew there were more pressing matters at hand though, than getting revenge for Mortimer's latest blight on humanity. He had to find her. He had to make sure she was okay. Mickey ran out of the school, not caring if he got weird looks, and searched desperately across the school parking lot.

Suddenly he saw her, running between two rows of cars. He dashed after her. "Minnie! Minnie, stop!" He yelled, and she only turned around to see who it was. Even though she kept running, he eventually caught up enough to grab her hand. "I promise Minnie, it's all going to be okay." She looked at him with a disbelieving expression on her tear-stained face.

"No it's not, nothing is okay. My mom is dead, I'm thousands of miles from home and the guy I like is a complete jerk." Mickey looked sternly at her, he wanted to help her but she was being really dramatic. "You know that's not true, Minnie. I know you're upset, but you're home if you're with the ones you love. 

"Daisy and Clara tried to warn you about Mortimer, but you didn't know and you just wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. The past is past, and your mom wouldn't want you suffering so much. I know you miss her, but I think it's time to let her go. You'll always remember the times you had together, I promise, but she's okay. I truly believe that where she is, she's not sick anymore, and she's happy. Your mom would want you to be the same."

Minnie's eyes started welling up at Mickey's words, until she couldn't keep the tears in any longer and started sobbing into his shirt. He didn't make any moves of surprise or pull away, he just held her, and patted her on the back until she finished crying. "How about we go back inside now, I know there are people in there who saw you run out and want to know if you're okay." 

Minnie laughed and nodded, knowing that for the first time in a long time; she was truly okay, better than okay. She spent so long being confused about her mom dying and moving across the country, she sort of just bottled it up inside her. Once Minnie had let all of those emotions fly free, she realized how much stronger she was as a result. 

She didn't know what would happen to her and Mickey for the foreseeable future, they were just crazy kids who were just realizing what love truly was. Whether or not anything would come from their feelings for each other, well, that's another story for another time.