The moment the music ends Mason breaks away from Ethan. Anger and confusion bubbled up in his brain more and more the longer they danced together. After a moment Mason let himself slip into the emotions he's been keeping at bay; he felt so comfortable in Ethan's arms, maybe they did have a spark like Mr. Burkley said. But soon after this dawned on him he forced it down deeper and deeper until it was replaced by frustration. Frustration with Ethan, frustration with Mr. Burkley, frustration with himself.

 Mason was trying to avoid being close to Ethan so they could still be friends without him feeling strange, dancing together was the exact opposite of what he wanted in their relationship. He couldn't wait to end their embrace as soon as possible, his heart was pounding wildly the entire duration of their songs they had to preform to. The heat radiating off Ethan's body made Mason's inside twist and turn in ways he isn't comfortable with. Not wanting to even look at the other boy, Mason chooses to avert his eyes down to the floor of the ballroom, staring intensely at his shoes. He can feel Ethan’s eyes burning into him from the side but he can’t bring himself to look up, he fears it's as if anyone could just by looking at him that he has lingering, confusing feelings towards someone who is strictly his friend. The instinct to pull away from the boy again is strong, enticing him to stop speaking to Ethan for good this time but he attempts to ignore this. Nobody knows of how he's feeling no matter what Katie said, his thoughts are his alone - no matter how ridiculous they may be. Ethan has no idea any of this is swirling through his mind whenever they're together.

“I am absolutely blown away, boys,” Mr. Burkley speaks, finally breaking the awkward silence hanging in the air, “you two did an incredible job, I knew you had a spark! I can’t wait to get you two in a competition.” 

“Mr. Burkley, wait,” Ethan says suddenly, pulling Mason’s eyes away from the ground to finally look up at his face. His curly hair is matted to his forehead with sweat after the thirty minutes of dancing they just did, much like Mason’s own hair right now. “I don’t know if I want to do this.” 

“Aww c’mon Ethan, what’s stopping you? You danced beautifully! Would you rather try leading? Mason are you okay with that?” He rambles on, not waiting for an answer from either of the boys. 

“No that’s not it. I just-”

“I agree,” Mason interrupts, “it’s just...two guys dancing, ya know? Isn’t that a little weird?” 

Ethan meets Mason’s eyes suddenly, an expression he can’t quite read is written on his features. Feeling he may have said something wrong Mason flashes the smallest of smiles to the other boy to soften the blow of his words. 

“Boys, listen to me,” their instructor starts, speaking softly, “I understand where you’re coming from, I do. But remember what I told you? If couples that consist of two males enter competitions they always do amazingly, nobody else would find it weird because it’s not! Don’t you think that’s being a little close minded?” 

"So we would only be getting good mark because we're two boys then is what you're saying? We wouldn't really be rated fairly," is what Mason says, but what he's thinking is a far different reason for refusing.

His words struck Mason in the gut, his fear of his feelings is making him sound close minded, is that what he really wants? What would really happen if he were to go through with this? Anybody at school who knew he’s a dancer has never seen him dance even once - he didn’t talk about it to people who wouldn’t understand the art of it - they would never find out. The kids who already called him gay as an insult would never find out. If he could keep Ethan a secret maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. But should Ethan really be a secret? A boy who was so special shouldn't be shielded from people like that; Mason couldn't live with himself doing that to another human being. The other problem would be his parents and fellow dancers, there’s no way to hide their partnership from all of them; and the thought of his parents seeing him in an embrace with another boy makes Mason feel like he’s going to throw up. No matter what his feelings may mean, he wasn’t ready for his parents to know anything about it. No matter how he looked at it, Mason knew this was a horrible idea.

"That's not true Mason! You saw how you two did just then, you make a perfect couple!" The words send Mason's heart into a panic, he knows it wasn't meant the way it sounded but hearing somebody call he and Ethan a couple wasn't something he was ever expecting. 

“But…” Ethan starts but stops himself almost immediately, the brunette boy could have sworn he heard his voice catch. 

“Okay, how about this then: before you both make a final decision just give it a little bit of time. Practice together for let’s say...a week? And then you can get back to me with whether or not you want to make this official or not. If you still think it’s weird,” he emphasizes the word with air quotes, “we’ll try something else. But trust me, listen to a wise old man for once, there’s something special between you two. If you do this, you can make something great.” 

Both boys are rendered speechless, his words twist Mason’s insides, the way he’s talking is like he knows what’s been going through Mason’s mind as of late.

Unsure what it is that makes him open his mouth, Mason musters up the most confident sounding tone he can when he says, “Alright. Fine. Whatever.”

Ethan looks over at Mason with an expression of desperation on his face, pleading for Mason to take back his words.

“It’s like you said Ethan, how can we say no?” his words quaver in the air and he hopes neither of them notice how uncertain he sounds, “I guess it’s worth a try. It’s only a week then we never have to again, right?” With that last word he looks at Mr. Burkley who agrees but holds an obvious smile on his face.

“I can’t believe you’re okay with this!” Ethan exclaims, suddenly angry.

“Aren’t you the one who agreed to do the damn audition in the first place?” Mason responds, raising his voice; it echoes loudly around the empty ballroom. What is Ethan’s problem? Mason clearly didn’t want the partnership either but he wasn’t going to take it out on his friend who was in the same situation. 

“Mason, language,” Mr. Burkley warns from across the room, “stop arguing boys, this isn’t a reason to get upset! Now go get dressed into your casual clothes, I’m going to start getting ready for tonight’s lesson.” 

Without even a sideways glance at the other boy, Mason spins on his heel striding briskly to the door, away from Ethan, away from Mr. Burkley, away from the ballroom, away from his feelings. Walking through the halls to the boy’s locker room he hears the door open and shut again behind him, bracing himself for spiteful comments from Ethan the boy waits for him to enter the room to change his clothes. 

A minute passes, then another, and another. Quickly slipping out of his suit jacket and into the outfit he wears during lessons Mason wonders why Ethan never came into the room. Suddenly fearing that the boy up and left, the brunette stuffs his clothes into the locker before slamming it shut. After everything that’s happened he finally felt like he could become real friends with Ethan and then the boy has to go and get angry for a reason Mason doesn’t even understand. He craves stability and consistency in his life, he's not going to let Ethan get away that easily. 

His dad always taught him that if you want something bad enough than you have to work for it; maybe they weren't best friends, or even close friends for that matter, but Ethan was a friend who he's shared experiences with and that's good enough for Mason. 

Entering back into the halls, Mason glances behind him to the ballroom where Mr. Burkley stands alone. Worried that the conversations they had both before and after the painfully awkward audition pushed Ethan over the edge into wanting nothing to do with Mason, the boy begins the anxious walk to the front of the building to see if Ethan has indeed left. As he walks the boy finds himself passing the bathrooms, just as he’s about to turn the corner into the front lobby Mason stops in his tracks, hearing something coming from the bathroom. Straining his ears the boy backs up a few steps, stopping just outside the boy’s restroom. Sniffles sound from inside, along with a quiet whimper. A mix of feelings flood through Mason as he realizes what the noises are.

 Ethan is in the bathroom, crying. 

At first sadness strikes Mason’s heart but it’s quickly overridden by hurt and frustration. Did Ethan really dislike Mason that much? Sure, Mason didn’t want to be partners either, but enough to cry? Was Mason really that horrible? Annoyance runs through his veins, Ethan was the one who convinced him to go through with the audition in the first place and now he was upset that they got partnered up. If anything, it’s Ethan’s fault they are in this situation! 

Before he can talk himself out of it Mason bursts through the door, ready to really tell Ethan off. Opening his mouth to speak as soon as the door swings open, Mason stops as soon as he sees the scene inside the room. Ethan sits on the floor across from the sinks and next to the stalls, hugging his knees to his chest. Heading whipping up at the sound of the door opening Ethan stares with wide, puffy eyes and tear streaked cheeks. The door swings shut as Mason stands still, staring. Neither of the boy’s move a muscle, locked in place while they stare at one another. Regretting all his decisions Mason wishes he could run out of the room and never stop until he reaches his bedroom. But it's too late.

“Mason, what are you-” before he can finish Mason takes a step closer to the boy.

“Hey, are you okay?” he asks softly. His words contort Ethan’s face into one of deep sadness, tears well in his eyes before spilling over.

“No,” he croaks, putting his head down by resting it against his knees, “please, Mason, just go.” 

This scene reminds Mason of himself mere days ago, when he broke down in this very bathroom and Ethan had walked in on him. Much to his relief, Mason had cleaned himself up enough so that the other boy had no clue - as far as he mentioned - that Mason had been crying at all. The fact that they both found one another in this situation though, it has to mean something, right? 

“But Ethan...what’s going on? Can I help?” Guilt creeps up the boy’s spine that he burst in the door to pick a fight with Ethan and instead found him falling apart on the floor, he can’t just leave him like this. Mind flashing back to when he caught Ethan’s arm at the competition after he heard the altercation with his Mother, Mason realizes this is the second time his words have made the boy cry. 

Slowly and cautiously Mason moves closer to Ethan until he’s standing directly above him, resting his spine against the cold tile of the bathroom wall Mason slides down to the floor until he’s sitting next to Ethan. Feeling heat radiating off the boy’s thin frame he searches his mind for something to say. Drawing a blank, the silence stretches out into minutes; before long Ethan’s shoulders stop trembling and his heavy breathing falls back into a steady rhythm. 

“What’s wrong, Ethan?” he asks again, quietly.

Lifting his head from the spot where it was tightly nestled against his knees Ethan looks up at Mason. Mason has never known what to do when people cry in front of him, he feels awkward and uncomfortable but the urge to make Ethan feel better is stronger, so he stays, waiting for the blue eyed boy to respond.

“Why are you still here? I’m a mess.” Ethan laughs softly, but there’s no humor in his voice. 

“Because we’re friends. I can’t leave you here.”

“Are you mad at me?”

“No, ‘course not. Why would I be mad?”

“Because...I don’t want to dance with you.”

Mason laughs softly. “No offense, but I’m not too thrilled about the idea either.”

“No that’s not what I mean,” Ethan speaks sternly but quietly.

“Wait, what?” Mason asks, confusion furrowing his eyebrows as he looks sideways at the other boy. Ethan looks away and smiles softly, his cheeks rosy underneath the streaks of tears. 

“I mean...I do want to dance with you, I just can’t.”

He processes Ethan’s words but can’t seem to decipher them. He wanted to dance with Mason but he couldn’t? It didn't make any sense. But even so, the mere thought that Ethan said he wanted to dance together makes his heart skip a beat, did he feel the same magic that Mason did when they were dancing? Maybe it wasn’t all in his head, this feeling.  

“Oh. Oh, Ethan I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-” guilt swims through his head, he just admitted to Ethan that he didn’t want to be partnered up. How could he be so dumb. But still, what did Ethan mean by his statement? 

“No it’s fine. I get it, two guys is weird right?” he chuckles, shaking his head. But his face falls, the sadness crashing back down onto him. “Weird…” he mumbles under his breath.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Mason mumbles, tension filling the air around him, “we’ll do the practice week like Mr. Burkley suggested. I wouldn't mind...if you haven’t guessed already I’m not that good at this make-you-feel-better thing.” 

“It’s fine," he chuckles, "but still, I can’t.” 

“Why? I mean I understand, but if you want to why can't you?” 

The question hangs in the air when Ethan doesn’t reply, the silence seeming to last forever. 

“Do you remember,” Ethan mumbles, staring off into space, speaking but not directly to Mason, “what my mom said to me at the competition? About my dad? Why he left?” Glancing over to Mason to check that he’s listening Ethan continues talking. 

“Well a big part of the reason he left was because of me...he was embarrassed of me. He hated the fact that I wanted to be a dancer. He and my mom fought about it all the time, but I knew what the real problem was.” Tears slowly begin streaming down his cheeks again but he doesn’t bother to brush them away, he simply lets them fall.

“Ethan, I’m really sorry, that’s awful. But your parents problems are not your fault.”

Meeting his eyes Ethan smiles and Mason thinks it’s the saddest he’s ever seen someone look. It kind of breaks his heart.

“Thanks, Mason,” he whispers, “but my parents will never understand. They think I’m broken.”

“What are you talking about? Ethan, look at me.” When the boy turns his head over to Mason they lock eyes for a long moment before he speaks again. “You are not broken, dancing isn’t-

“No,” Ethan cuts his off, “it’s not the dancing that they hate so much.” His voice catches on the last word, causing him to cough.

“It’s not?”

Mason stares intently at Ethan, he can see the boy’s mind working behind his expression. His blue eyes drop to the floor, opening his mouth to speak but can’t seem to form what he wants to say. Stammering for a moment he squeezes his eyes shut and takes a deep breath before saying the words slowly.

“Mason, I’m gay.”