Lauri looked at the blonde girl from underneath his curls, watching her across the room. She was not the prettiest girl there, but something about her attracted him; the way she swung her hips, the way she moved, the way she'd been playing this game with him since he'd gotten there.

He was at a party for one of the local bands whose gig he'd been to that evening. His friend Riisu was friends with the band and had invited him to come, and he had never been one to turn down free alcohol.

Yes, he was drunk, but something about this female intrigued him, and when she gestured for him to come, he followed. He had a hard time keeping up, making it across the room and to the dark hallway he thought she'd gone down, but if she was there, he couldn't see her. Where had the blonde gone?

And then all of the sudden there was a very hungry mouth on his and he was being kissed quite aggressively against the wall and all he could do was kiss back, letting his hands roam a very tight stomach and defined ribcage. He liked the way she felt under his fingers, exploring, until suddenly he felt... something. Surely not... But no, it was there. There was something very demanding being pressed against his thigh, and the realization made him recoil, eyes wide.

At the same time, before either of them could say anything, a door next to them opened, letting a stream of light into the hallway, and out walked Riisu, nearly running into them.

"Oh, Lauri," he said, not noticing his friend's shock in the still-mostly-dark hallway. "I see you've met Jonne. He's the singer of the band we saw tonight, Negative."

And suddenly, the pieces came together in drunken Lauri's mind. That's why she hadn't been the most beautiful girl in the room; because she wasn't a girl to begin with. He'd been trying to judge Jonne by standards for a woman, and now that he knew he wasn't a woman at all, he realized what an incredibly beautiful boy Jonne was. He found that he wasn't at all put-off by it, and it wasn't as if he hadn't been with boys before - he'd even had a fling with Riisu - but he was eighteen and still a bit shy, and he had not gone all the way with another male yet, and he hoped that was not what Jonne wanted from him. He was not afraid to touch Jonne, no, he wanted to, but his lack of experience in the area made him a little nervous, and Lauri hated being nervous.

"Well... we haven't been properly introduced yet," Lauri said finally, blushing slightly. Jonne turned an even brighter shade of red than he; Lauri could see it in the darkness.

Riisu's eyes lit up with understanding, and he gave the two a smile. "I see. I'll just leave you to it, then." After all, there was only so many reasons why two people would be in a dark hallway together, and Riisu wasn't a fool.

"I thought you... knew," whispered a very embarassed-sounding voice as soon as Riisu was out of hearing range. Lauri realized it was the first thing Jonne had said to him all night.

"Well, I do now," Lauri said, not at all deterred.

Jonne chewed his lip, obviously not comforted by that. It was not the first time he had been mistaken for a girl, but it was not any less embarassing. Lauri could tell he was going to have to sweet-talk the blonde if he wanted to continue what they'd been pursuing.

"It's okay, I like boys too," said Lauri, giving Jonne a little smile. "I'm just... surprised, is all. It's not bad."

"It's not?" Jonne asked, looking as if he wanted Lauri to reassure him.

And he did, pressing his mouth to Jonne's, kissing him very tentatively and slowly, letting him know that it was alright, that he still wanted. Jonne gained more and more of his confidence back and by the time Lauri had slid his hands down the back of his jeans, he almost couldn't fight the blonde off.

***

"Have you seen Jonne?" Antti asked Riisu, nursing his drink. "We had a bet, and wanted him to settle it, but I haven't seen him in hours."

Riisu laughed, remembering what he had walked in on. "Well, I think Jonne's.... busy, now."

"With who?!" Jay asked loudly. "Maybe I've won the bet!"

Riisu looked up, toward the hallway where he had last seen the two, and smiled when he saw Jonne and Lauri walking toward them, hand-in-hand, faces flushed, hair all messy, and Jonne's shirt buttoned wrong.

"See for yourself," said Riisu, inviting them over with a wave of his hand.

"You're Lauri, right?" Jay asked, extending a hand to the curly-haired boy.

Lauri shook it, nodding. "Well, everyone calls me Larry these days, but yes."

"I'm Jay, the drummer for Negative. Jonne's band," he added, just in case Lauri didn't know.

Lauri turned a little redder, having a feeling he was going to have to explain himself now. But, he found he didn't mind. "Oh."

Antti decided to step in and rescue Lauri, and Jonne gave him a grateful smile. "I've seen you play a few times, you're not bad."

"I'm better than fucking Slash," Lauri said, looking at Jonne when he said it, giving him a cocky, sideways grin.

"Then you'll play guitar for us," Jonne told him, tucking a hand in Lauri's back pocket and tugging him towards the bar. "Come on, get me a drink."

He winked back at his bandmates as he walked off with Lauri.

"Well, I've won," said Antti, once Lauri and Jonne were gone. "I can't believe you thought he'd try to pick up a girl here. Jonne's been after him all night."

Jay handed over the money he owed Antti, grumbling. "Well, if I'd known that..."

"He's had mischief in his eyes all night, and those eyes have only been on Lauri," Riisu had to agree, giving the two across the room a glance. They were laughing, totally lost in eachother.

"At least he's happy," Jay said, smiling - because Lauri did seem to make Jonne happy; the two seemed thick as theives already.

"At least we have a new guitarist," said Antti, with a knowing smile.