As ever, thanks to Shine for fabulous beta.

*****

Wade danced up to the bar, still twirling his glowsticks to the beat from the dance floor. He was about to wave to Lance to order a drink when he spotted a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.

"Britney!?" She turned at his exclamation, and her face lit up. "Brit! Oh my God!" He picked her up and spun her around, then set her down laughing.

"Wade, my god, I haven't seen you in, like, forever! Where have you been?"

"I've been out of town, working for Chantal. By the way, she sends her love."

Britney laughed in his face. "No she doesn't. You just made that up." At his look of dismay, she relented. "Okay, okay, tell her I send her my love too."

Wade's smile returned. "So what have you been doing for the last two months?" As Britney opened her mouth to answer, he cut her off. "No, you know what? I can barely hear myself think in here. Let's go outside so we don't have to shout." Britney nodded and reached for her drink, then hoisted herself up and leaned over the bar.

"Lance!" she called. When he walked over, she said, "I'm going outside to catch up with Wade. I'll be back in just a bit, okay?" He smiled, and she leaned even further over to kiss him.

Wade stared, wide-eyed, as they locked lips. When she let herself down and turned to lead the way out to the porch he followed, mind racing. As soon as they found an empty spot on the benches lining the porch, he let his curiosity take over. "Dude! What's the deal?"

Britney smiled, beatific, as she said, "Lance and I are dating."

Wade spluttered. "Holy shit! How long has this been going on?"

"About three weeks now. I really didn't expect it." A far-away look entered her eyes. "We just clicked so well. And he's really good to me - he likes me for what's on my insides, not just my outsides. He even likes me better without this stupid corset."

Wade snickered. He had never seen anyone look starry-eyed before, but Britney definitely fit the description. "Drink up, honey."

Britney grinned, blushed, and took a sip of her drink. "Okay, so I'm a dork. Sue me." She gasped. "Oh, hey, did you hear? DJ Irish and Justin are going out!"

"No way!" Wade thought a moment, then asked, "Hey, wait, didn't you used to date Justin?"

Britney waved dismissively. "Pssh, I tried to, but he was never really into it." Ruefully, she added, "Besides, it turns out the kid makes me crazy after, like, twenty minutes. Chris is pretty cool, but I have no idea how he keeps up with Justin."

Wade stole Britney's drink for a sip. "Wow, damn, you leave for a couple of months and you miss all the good action."

Britney giggled. "Yeah, you're totally behind. Oh my God! You weren't here when Joey and JC got together!"

Wade choked on the drink and coughed a few moments before he could gasp out, "Joey's dating someone? Fuck! I was going to ask that boy out!"

Britney snickered and said, "Dude, you wouldn't say that if you had seen them. They hooked up right here at the club! They were totally making out on that bench right over there." She pointed to the opposite side of the porch. A shadow crossed her face as she said, "And, like. I wouldn't advise trying to split them up, or anything. They're a thing, a real thing."

Wade's nose twitched as he smelled intrigue. "What happened, Brit? C'mon, tell Waaaaade," he wheedled. She shook her head and retrieved her drink to take a sip, but he kept the imploring look on his face until she relented.

She sighed. "Okay, okay. But don't go spreading this around, because it's over and done with." She took a breath. "I slept with JC a few weeks ago. Joey was so fucking pissed off at me, man."

Wade's jaw dropped. "You slept with JC?" he squeaked. Gorgeous, shy, always-just-out-of-reach JC? Britney blushed. "Was it...was it good?" he whispered.

She giggled. "Well, yeah. I mean, we were rolling, so it was fun, and stuff." She sobered as she added, "But it was his first time on Ecstasy, so I kind of shouldn't have done it, probably. I mean, he was totally willing! But...yeah. And it made things tough between him and Joey for a while." Wade nodded sympathetically, and gestured for her to go on. "And like I said, they're a thing, definitely a couple, so they got it figured out, but Joey looked like he was going to bite somebody's head off for a while."

Wade asked, "What does JC say about it?"

She smiled a little. "He says he had a lot of fun, and to please never let him have that much fun again."

Wade grinned. "Girl, I wish I had been there for all that. Sounds like you've had an interesting couple of months. And - how the hell did you end up with Lance?"

Britney smiled, shining with happiness. "He just got lucky, I guess."

Wade said, "Damn straight, although I think you're the lucky one." She smacked him on the arm, and they laughed.