@mcntydcluca @downstvged @cvssndra
tess, peyton, and monty were walking back from what most would call work but with the three of them together, there wasn't much work going on. fnally they were free and they made their way back to the house. as they walked they passed a playground. tess grinned mischievously. "mon i bet you the next round of laundry that i can beat you to the top of that jungle gym."
monty was covered in tomato paste, and if that gave any inclination of how much work they'd done, he didn't know what would. nevertheless, he walked home, his best friends by his side and the fading scent of spaghetti fading behind him. his eyes snapped up, mischief glowing. " you're on, t. " instantly, he was off, daunting to the jungle gym.
six uncooked spaghetti rods made their home behind peyton’s right ear, like a cigarette, but way cooler. bunched together and bound with a bit of cooking string, they promoted a kitchen bad boy aesthetic: something his two best friends bagged him about for a solid half-hour at the close of their kitchen shift. “ you two are children! “ peyton called as monty and tess careened toward the playground. but his legs screeched into motion, too, and soon he hoisted himself up on top of the monkey bars. he was sure to steady his pasta accessory upon landing. “ it’s the de luca showdown of the century, and monty’s in the lead — but oh heck! tess is coming up strong behind him! “ peyton cupped his hands on either side of his lips, emulating a big league announcer. he swung his feet as he watched. “ who’s it gonna be, folks? who’s gonna take the cake ?! “
“listen you cheating sack of shit!” tess yelled, speeding after him. he was a fair fight against her abilities. she debated tackling him but then she pulled ahead and stuck her tongue out as she went. “me! i want cake!” she called to peyton.
the one thing monty could say about his sister was that in everything but charm, she was his equal. same routines, same workouts. it was hard to believe they shared no genetics. “ hey!” he groaned, kicking his legs faster, but he was only barely behind her. “ that’s my cake!” he screeches, jumping and lifting himself over the side of the jungle gym.
peyton watched his favorite morons with pure admiration. only the de luca siblings could spin a day spent cooking vats of spaghetti into one so amusing, his sides now ached with each laugh. " they're beginning the climb –– who's it gonna be?! it's the final countdown !!" peyton raised his hands in a trumpet mockery, humming the melody to the sporting world's most overplayed-yet-equally-as-badass tune.
monty could’ve had her beat if this was just a race on two legs, but climbing? climbing was tess’ specialty. she used to rock climb, she still hiked, and she had a lot of experience climbing in and out of second story windows. getting up a jungle gym was nothing. she reached the top in seconds, throwing her hands up in victory. “sucks to suck, sucker!” she teased, offering her hand down to pull monty the rest of the way up.
he knew his chance at winning was gone once tess hiked up her leg and got to work. she was always a better climber, monty's noodle arms being no help in keeping himself safe. that, and his fear of heights kept him from ever getting into it. nevertheless, he stuck it out til the end. de lucas don't quit. " ah, shove it. " and yet, he still took her hand. " y’know if we were on flat land i would've smoked your ass. "
" if i were involved in this race i would've smoked both your asses, " peyton amended with a grin. he hopped down from his spot on the monkey bars and trotted over to the jungle gym. " facts. " it was almost like this wasn't new ham any more, and they weren't on the cusp of no longer being kids. peyton hoisted himself up onto the jungle gym with ease, swinging his legs over to dangle off the silly rooftop covering the entrance to the slide. " think we'd make it onto the next season of american ninja warrior? "
“sure you would,” tess snorted as peyton climbed to join them. american ninja warrior was intriguing, maybe she’d have them try something like that next, if only to keep their minds off the shit show that was now their lives. “monty would be automatically disqualified for being too ugly,” she teased, ruffling his hair. it was then that tess saw her. cassandra pressman looking cute. even if she had a stick up her ass, there was no denying she was beautiful. it took her all of 3 seconds to hatch a plan. she gave monty a discrete nod and made a few hand gestures to relay the plan. she’d yell, he’d shove. simple yet effective. “hey cassandra!” tess yelled from atop the jungle gym, moving around so monty could sneak past her and shove peyton down toward her. “peyton has a question for you about prom!”
monty swatted at his sister, elbowing her in the side. “ you’re just mean, you know that ? people think we’re twins and you’re calling me ugly. “ monty couldn’t say it out loud, but he knew his best friends were gorgeous, like super model type, but he knew he had his own charm himself. the puppy dog eyes were his trade mark. immediately, monty caught on to his sisters plan, a smirk growing on his lips as they set it in motion. once she called out, monty’s hands flew to send peyton flying down the slide, a chuckle falling from his lips as he moved to offer a high five to his partner in crime.
peyton laughed at tess's dig. " aw, c'mon, this guy's adorable: he'd be a fan fave for sure. " he nudged monty with the toe of his sneaker and turned back to look at tess, but her entire disposition had shifted. " what're you–– " his focus swiveled to hone in on what she'd been looking at, but he was already slipping down the slide, accelerating toward: cassandra. ohshitohshitohshitohshit. wide-eyed, peyton reached the bottom of the slide and stuck the landing. if the definition of stuck was officially changed to nearly tripping over his own feet. " oh, hey! hey, cassandra uh –– " he rubbed the back of his neck and cast her a sheepish smile. his heart was gonna friggin' implode. " what's good? " smooth.
cassandra was confused to say the least but she couldn’t help but grin at the sight of peyton tumbling toward her. what’s good? that was some slang she hadn’t heard in awhile and realized his friends had caught him off guard so she figured she’d help him out. “i’m doing well, thanks for asking. i heard tess mention prom, did you want to sign up for something?” she happened to already know he was signed up for decorating committee, but kept that bit of information to herself.
did he want to sign up for something? peyton's breath caught in his throat. his expression blanked for a moment as his mind screeched to a halt. " uh..." you idiot. he offered a near-apologetic chuckle, eyes darting to his feet. her feet. the mulch. the swingset. " yeah, actually, i– " fuck, did she know he was already signed up? he couldn't do this. he could feel her eyes burning into him, and his hands felt buzzy, like they might start shaking. he pushed them into the back pockets of his jeans and did the only thing he could do: he smiled through it. " i... was wondering." breathe " if there was still a slot open. for prom. " jesus christ. " for like... your date? " oh, god. ohgodhe'sdoingthis. ohgodhe'sdonethis. " could i... sign up... for that? " peyton dared to catch her eye again with a hopeful smile, and fought to keep his nerves from tacking on more words.
this was a side of peyton cassandra had never seen before. he was usually so chill, something she wasn't very good at. but now it felt like they switched roles or at the very least like they were sharing one. a slot open for prom. her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. your date. the scrunched eyebrows raised. she pressed her lips together to hide her smile and pulled out her phone. "hmm, let me see." she pretended to check the list. "no one's signed up for that yet so-" she looked up at him, " you can definitely have that spot if you want."
peyton forgot how to breathe. his lungs nearly collapsed in on themselves as his lips fell agape. she said yes. she said yes. " wh- are you- " a bright grin lit his entire face, practically ear to ear, and if it weren't for the fluttering in his chest, he might have found time to be embarrassed. " really? " cassandra pressman. said yes. to going to prom. to being his date. " wow, that's, i. wow. thanks. " thanks? peyton brushed a hand through his hair and shifted his weight, attempting to reinstate his natural state of chill. maybe she'd ignore that stupid response. not likely. " so like. i could... i could pick you up. before? before prom, yeah. if you want? maybe around... i don't know, what time works for you? " holy shit. this was happening. holy. fucking. shit.
cassandra could no longer contain her grin, especially as he rambled. it made her feel better because this was usually how their conversations went, but usually the rambling came from her. she nodded and pretended not to notice the thanks tacked on at the end. “i was hoping before prom, after might be a little... inconvenient?” she did her best not to look straight at him for too long in fear that she’d get distracted and say something stupid. “prom starts at eight, so any time around then is fine. we don’t need to be early or anything.”
peyton ducked his head and laughed. " after's inconvenient, noted. " when he looked up at cassandra again, his eyes sparkled. this was real. he was going to prom with cassandra pressman. albeit, this prom was... not what west ham high typically put on. but it'd still be awesome. he'd have to recruit tess and monty to find something to wear. " okay, cool. 8ish. you're p– " peyton stopped himself and let out a light chuckle. get it together, man. " that's perfect. "
"perfect," she repeated. she'd managed to get this entire conversation without sounding like an absolute moron and she was trying to keep it that way lest he change his mind. "i'm um- wearing gold if, if that helps?" she semi shrugged. "we don't have to match or anything, i just thought i'd let you know in case you... needed to know that."
“ gold, “ peyton echoed with a nod. “ that’s cool. “ cool? eugh, dude. really? his eyes darted across her features as she rambled on, smile only growing as the words accrued. yeah, he thought, gold’s a good fit. “ i like knowing that. knowledge is always appreciated. “ jeez. “ is it chill if i match my tie? or, like — is that too much? not enough? “ he’s never taken a real date to a prom before. let alone cassandra. and he’d be damned if he fucked this one up.
"you're welcome to match... that's what people usually do for prom, right? match their date?" date. was she his date or had he asked her as a friend? did he just need someone to go with? she thought about tess. if he needed someone to go with he could've asked tess? did that mean he wanted to go with her or was tess already snagged up by someone?
" oh, they do? " peyton's hands dipped into his pockets before surfacing less than a second later. his fingers intermingled and broke apart before he finally, finally managed to get them to rest at his sides. " ha. yeah, right, they do. " did she want this to be a date? he'd asked with that intent, but–– " i mean, that would make sense, right? for us to match? as dates? " he cursed his mouth for running miles ahead of his mind. " i-i... if you... if that's what you... " he trailed off, hands opening and closing at his sides. god, he's bad at this. " ...envisioned. " a beat. peyton thought he was done speaking, but more words spilled out anyway. " because, that's–– that's what i envisioned. the date. the, uh... date thing. "
she grinned and nodded afraid of what would stumble out of her mouth if she opened it, especially since what he'd said was very much what she wanted. she tried to gather her thoughts and weave them into a coherent sentence but it ended up as more of a list. "prom, eight pm, gold, dates."
peyton beamed. " prom, eight pm, gold, " he echoed back with a definitive nod and a snap. " dates. " his fingertips buzzed. he wondered if she could hear his pulse from just a few inches away. and then realized, hell, he didn't care –– he'd do a fricken happy dance right now, if he could. " i'm looking forward to it. "
"great," she beamed. "i'll see you then. unless i see you before then, which is possible. i'm basically everywhere." stop talking cassandra. "okay i'm going to go make sure grizz hasn't already broken everything." she gave him one last smile before rushing off.
" okay. okay, yeah. " peyton chuckled. did she even know how amazing she was? cassandra was the only person who could manage to run this whole entire town and still find time to be adorable. " i'll see you. " peyton raised a hand in a tiny wave. as soon as cassandra turned her back, his hands rose to his head and he all but gaped, spinning on his heels. holy shit, he mouthed to himself. holy shit.
his grin was sinfully bright as he turned toward the jungle gym, where his two best friends still sat, overlooking the whole scene. ten minutes ago, he'd wanted to kill them. now? he wanted to practically kiss their feet. ( except not literally; that'd be... gross. ) with a look of elated disbelief, he spun around once more, as if trying to get re-oriented to real friggin life. " holy shit, " he said aloud this time, smile growing even wider.
monty sat in wonder as he watched the whole thing go down. he couldn't help the grin stretching across his face as his best friend finally turned back towards the de lucas. monty shoved his sister's arm, rattling her in a wave of shock. " tess, he got it. he got it! " he sprung off the jungle gym, arms already wide open. " my man! "
"yes i can see that, i have eyes you lunatic," she huffed, shoving him. she jumped down after him, watching monty practically tackle peyton. "he probably can't breathe yet monty, try not to strangle him before his date."
peyton met monty in a colossal hug, smiling so hard his cheeks ached. “ dude! dude!! “ he jumped in their embrace and patted monty’s back before breaking away. he felt like he could leap to the freaking moon. tess teased monty about strangling him before his date and the word drew a breath from his lips. peyton let out a loud laugh in disbelief. “ she said yes — how — how the heck did she say yes ?! “
monty ignored his sisters comments, instead continuing to crush the life out of the boy— he just achieved his fucking dream. and he was so proud. “dude!!!” he yelled back, a smile wide on his lips as he relished in the excitement of his friend. “i told you, man. you just had to ask.”
