Vian's first week of university had been both delightfully uneventful and overwhelming all at the same time. He had expected pushback from at least some of his new teammates, but they all welcomed him with open arms. He had rotated with all the spotter combinations Coach Vega had come up with him, and, hilariously enough, wound up having the most chemistry with Kepler. At one point the topic of his uniform choice came back up when a few of the team were stretching together, this time around he felt more comfortable explaining that he'd always liked more "feminine" things and just wearing shorts just felt ugly when he had tried it out back in high school. None of them batted an eye and the conversation soon shifted to their weekend plans, to which he was explicitly invited to.

He hadn't expected things to fall into place so easily, even Ethan was pleasantly surprised and happy for him. So maybe that's why Vian, regardless of his plan to focus on school and making real friends, was letting his mind wander back to that cute guy he had stumbled into on his first day on campus. He kept thinking he saw him around, but was never actually able to confirm it was him. Kepler caught him looking around the gym on Friday.

"Looking for someone?" Kepler teased, handing Vian his water bottle.

"What? Nope, not at all!" Vian replied, all too quickly.

"Right, so are you coming with us to Cosmos tomorrow? I'm sure whoever you're not looking for will probably be there."

"That's the night club, right?" Vian toyed with the cap of his bottle.

"Yeah, going there is almost a rite of passage, everyone on campus does it at some point, plus it's really fun and the music is great." Kepler must have noticed the way Vian kept fidgeting with the cap because he added. "Most of the squad is gonna be there, but don't feel like you have to go, I just thought you might enjoy it there."

"Could… could I invite my brother?"

"Of course dude!" Kepler smacked his shoulder playfully. "It's not a private party or anything! Plus it's kinda crazy we haven't met your twin yet, with all of us living on campus and all."

Vian laughed it off and they finished their workout, not wanting to mention that Ethan intentionally steered clear from him and the cheerleaders all week.

The rest of Friday and most of Saturday passed by in a blur, Vian felt like he blinked and he was already getting ready to go out, opting to meet up with the squad at Cosmos rather than pre-game at Lyra's dorm. Ethan lied on his bed, playing video games on his phone while Vian finished getting ready.

"For fuck's sake Vi, you're slower than a girl." Ethan mumbled.

"And how would you know?" Vian mocked his twin through the mirror as he worked his fingers through his long curls, applying product all too carefully so they wouldn't turn from perfect golden coils into a lion's mane, at least not before he was done tearing up the dance floor.

"Just because I have no interest in dating them doesn't mean I haven't been around girls getting ready, pendejo." Ethan tossed one Vian's plushies at him and Vian dodged with a laugh, picking up the poor stuffed fox from where it landed and setting it back down on his bed with a pat to the head. "Are you ready? It's not like anyone's going to see that your eyeliner is crooked in there, it's dark as hell."

"It's crooked?!" Vian shrieked, turning back to the mirror and inspecting his work.

"It's not, I was just messing with you." Ethan got off the bed and squeezed Vian's shoulder. "You look perfect, dude. Why are you freaking out so much?"

"It's my first time going to a night club, I just wanna look good." Vian tried to shrug him off.

"Right, let's pretend I have more than one neuron and realize that's not what has your panties in a twist." Ethan retorted.

"How do you know I got panties on? Did you peek under my skirt? Pervert." Vian's attempt at a joke fell flat even to his own ears.

"Stop trying to horrify me with twincest jokes and cut the bullshit already. Why are you nervous Vi?" Ethan rolled his eyes but stepped out of Vian's space.

"It's my first time going out with friends, you know, as an adult. What if I fuck it up?" Vian finally admitted with a sigh. "I can't ruin this, ET. If I do, I'll have to quit cheer for good."

"Well, first of all," Ethan said picking up his phone along with Vian's and putting them in his jacket pocket, "there's no amount of preening that is going to prevent that from happening." He grabbed Vian's coat and held it for him to put on, Vian obeyed. "Second, from what you've told me and what I've seen from them around campus, your new friends are as sickeningly sweet as you. I'm pretty sure the only way you could fuck up a friendship with them is deliberately getting one of them hurt. Now, let's go before we're there too late, I can't find a place to park and we have to make the long-ass line by ourselves." He added picking up his car keys.

"You're driving?"

"Like you said, it's your first time in a night club, if it's not turning out to be something you enjoy I'll be your exit strategy. Better than us trying to find a cab that won't charge us half a kidney or you having to walk there and back in those death traps." Ethan motioned to Vian's high heeled boots, they were four inches high and reached his mid thighs, leaving only about a palm's width of bare skin between them and his glittering miniskirt.