The Fic Where Stephen Realizes He's Gay From a Picnic

Day 36

It was two days before Halloween and Daniel only yesterday thought to tell them of a Halloween party Joe invited everyone to. He said that he swore he already told us, but knowing him, he probably let it slip his mind when he was working. So now with Dan having already planned a costume and Hosuh, Jay and himself having not, they had to do that now or suffer the consequences of Hallow's Eve shopping. The party was of course on Halloween, and it'd be going on from around 7PM to somewhere in the AMs and Stephen really doesn't want to stay that long. Of course he'd go, but as the responsible and soon-to-be only sober adult out of his friends, he wants to keep everyone in check. Instead of Daniel keeping him on a metaphorical leash it's gonna be the other way around. And he dreads it. Hosuh doesn't even like parties, but he said as long as we're there it's okay. I mean, how crowded can this party be?

Since Daniel wasn't tagging along this time, Stephen and Jay were waiting on Hosuh. Which is surprising, Hosuh isn't usually so slow. But when Hosuh comes downstairs Stephen takes a moment to process what was clearly the reason why. Hosuh's hair was in a bit of a higher ponytail rather than the looser ponytails he usually has, and he had these cute little hair clips with a metal flower on each of them, pinning his bangs out of his face. Stephen wonders if Hosuh is trying to give him a heartattack. Jay goes up to Hosuh, about to mess his hair up, "You can see just fine, you're just wearing those clips to look cute," Hosuh slaps Jay's hands away as if it were a cat fight, "I'm not cute, and don't touch my hair! I spent too long on it," Jay just shrugs and heads for the door, jingling Dan's keys around. Dan didn't want to bother taking the car key off his bundle so he just let Jay have all of his keys.

Stephen lagged behind a little but that's when he saw that the hairband holding Hosuh's hair in place also had flowers made of fabric on it. This is very on the nose about flowers. It reminds him of that dream he had. Wait. Before he could even think to message Dan, Hosuh turns on his heel to face him, "You're still not saying anything about my hair?" Like the first time Hosuh brought this up, it catches Stephen off guard. Stephen forces out a response while looking at how cute Hosuh looks. "Cute. I-It's cute," Stephen is an idiot. Since the word cute was on his mind he just had to go and say cute when he could've said anything else. On top of all that, he stuttered! He flushes with embarrassment. He looked away, pretending to have his attention on the shelf just a bit away, so Hosuh didn't see his reaction and so he didn't have to see Hosuh's own, no matter how much he wanted to. He waits for Hosuh to say something like "I'm not cute!", but he doesn't say anything.

So Stephen was currently in the car, taking his place in the passenger seat as Jay drives their trio to the mall. Since Daniel wasn't coming, they'd have to pay for their own costumes. Daniel did give them each twenty dollars and told them to play nice, though. Jay never plays nice, so Stephen's a little apprehensive about him having responsibility over them. Dan formally dubbed Jay the one in charge, he pretty much got knighted, and Stephen would be getting no where if he were to argue with him. So that's why Stephen is deciding to joke around with Hosuh for the most part, Jay's too intimidating when Daniel isn't around to get him into their bits. He doesn't have anything against Jay, he's just so serious. Like a strict dad. Having a strict dad when shopping isn't fun, right? Stephen wouldn't know, but he's probably going to.

Stephen contemplated possible costumes he could wear. He doesn't want to be basic and be a vampire or werewolf or something, but then what? Technically he could be anything, he doesn't have to be scary. But is there any fun in that? Maybe he'll figure it out once they're there. They arrived eventually, heading for the costume store in the mall. The store had a large variety of costumes on racks and it was just a bit crowded, so Jay lightly yanked Hosuh and Stephen closer as if they were his kids and about to tell them to stay close and to not leave the playground. Hosuh clung onto Stephen's arm again, "What kind of costume were you guys thinking of doing?" Stephen groaned as his brain struggles to keep up with the costumes they pass by, "No idea, how about you?" Hosuh hummed, eyes looking to all the costumes, not missing a single one.