Author's Note: Just a little pre-movie fluff that I wrote back in August to amuse myself while I was sick... it stuck with me so I finally decided to fix it up and post it :) Could be connected to my other AGM fics if you want, but I wrote it to be a standalone story. The title is from "I Want A New Drug" by Huey Lewis and the News.

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When I'm Alone With You
by Carrehz

Bobby leaned back in his chair, rocking it back and forth slightly as he stared up at the ceiling, mentally counting the amount of missing tiles. He wasn't sure how long he'd been waiting for the other two, but it felt like forever.

He was up to ten when he finally heard a soft, half-knock on the door, immediately followed by it slowly, cautiously creaking open. Immediately he crashed the chair back down onto its front legs and sprung to his feet, fixing his gaze on the two boys peering around the door - just the two dudes he'd been waiting for. "Fiiiii-nally! You guys get lost or somethin'?" He laughed.
Max and PJ hovered in the doorway; both looked awkward, with PJ alternating between looking at Max and behind himself, like he was afraid someone would swoop down on him out of nowhere.
"Uh, yeah," Max replied.
Bobby leaned forward, grinning. "Sooooo, you got the stuff?"
"Oh, r-right, your- dammit," Max cursed softly as he rummaged through his bag. "I must've left it in my locker, I'll uh, I'll go get it. One sec." He turned to leave, then paused and gently pushed the larger boy still standing stock-still next to him further into the room. "C'mon, Peej."
PJ started to make little noises of protest, but before they could form into actual words, Max had already left, the door slamming shut behind him. Bobby could hear his sneakers squeaking as he rushed down the hallway.

He looked at the other boy sidelong, head cocked to one side. PJ's eyes were darting around nervously, looking at anything but him, hands fidgeting. Bobby blinked behind his glasses. He'd wondered about it before, from their limited interactions, but now he was pretty sure his suspicion was correct: PJ was intimidated by him, or something like that. What he couldn't figure out is why. He wasn't an intimidating kind of guy, surely? No one else had ever seemed to think so. He'd been pushed around enough in grade school to know what intimidating people looked like, and he was pretty sure he wasn't one of 'em. Hell, he was shorter and smaller than PJ, even. Maybe it was just because the other boy was kind of a scaredy-cat - hah, literally a scaredy-cat, maybe he should- eh, he'd probably heard it a million times before.

He frowned a little. He didn't want PJ to be intimidated by him; he liked him. Like, like-liked him. Bobby liked lots of people. He didn't really care if they were a guy or a chick or whatever, that sort of thing had never really clicked with him. He just liked people. He wasn't sure exactly when PJ had caught his eye, maybe a bit before they'd started plotting this whole end-of-school thing together. Well, them and Max. Come to that, Max seemed kinda nervous around him too, like - respectful nervous, ya know? Like he thought Bobby'd get them all into trouble at any moment or something. Bobby thought about the way he'd scuttled off quickly to retrieve the missing Cheez Whiz, like he was afraid of how he'd react if he wasn't paid right away.

Honestly, he wasn't that bothered about it. He'd been half-joking when he agreed to help them out in exchange for 'goods and services'. It had just seemed like an easy way to get more cheese. 'Sides, it wasn't like this whole thing didn't come without risks, and as much as he liked them, he really didn't know Max and PJ. He might as well make sure he got something out of it. He'd liked it when the other two - well, mostly Max, admittedly - had seemed awed and impressed by his A/V expertise, the way he rattled off all the technical terms with ease. It was nice to have an appreciative, captive audience. But he didn't want them to be scared of him, geez. Especially not PJ...

He cleared his throat. "Soooo... 's'up, dude?" PJ flinched at the sound of his voice, his eyes darting to meet Bobby's at last.
"W-what?"
Bobby held his hands up as he spoke. "Hey, hey, chill, 'kay? I just said hi." He flopped back into the chair pulled out behind him, gesturing to the seat opposite. "You wanna sit down?"
PJ hesitated, then sat down in the seat indicated, now staring down at the table to avoid making eye contact.
Bobby didn't really know where to go from here. He hated awkward silences like this. He was used to messing around, acting the fool, doing anything for a cheap laugh. Somehow he felt like that probably wasn't the best move right now, though. He watched PJ for a bit. He was so cute - his round baby-face and nervous laugh and how big and soft he was. Well, looked.

God he wanted to find out if PJ really was as soft as he looked.

He was pretty sure PJ didn't even know how cute he was, which seemed insane. He opened his mouth to tell him, but the words wouldn't come out. It was easy to think all this stuff but when it came to actually saying it, his mind just blanked out.

For a while - he wasn't sure how long, he didn't really pay much attention to time - the two just sat there in silence like that, until they were interrupted by a loud clatter from the hallway. They both looked up, heads whipping round to look in the direction of the little window above the door. Bobby glanced over at PJ - his ears were pricked, fur slightly spiked up. He couldn't help but smile at that. He slid out of his chair and walked over to the door, opening it a crack - the window was too high up for him to easily see through - and poking his nose around the door, looking around for the source of the noise. Nothing. He shrugged and pulled back inside, shutting the door behind him and going back over to PJ, stopping next to him.
"Can't see anythin'."
"Oh." PJ blinked, then seemed to remember where he was, who he was with, his awkwardness from before returning in an instant as he looked away. "Uhh, umm..." His hands fidgeted in his lap, fingers tangling together.
Bobby bit his lip. "Hey, uh - have, uh, have I done something, dude?" he asked, quietly. PJ looked back up instantly, eyes wide. "'Cause... I dunno, you're actin' like I'm a psycho or somethin'."
"What? N-no, no, that's not it!" His hands flailed now, desperate to avoid offense. "No, dude, it's just.. IIIII dunno," he said, drawing out the syllable, his gaze going back to the table again. "I mean, I, uh... It's just that this whole thing really wasn't my idea and I just don't wanna get into any trouble, y'know?"
"Oh." Bobby processed this, then grinned, pushing PJ's arm a little - mostly just as an excuse to touch him. "C'mon, chillax, dude!" He said, sticking his tongue out. "You worry wayyyy too much, it'll be fi-iiiiine."
"Yeah, well that's what you say..." PJ looked back up at him, his tone lightly snarky, a slight smile on his face. Bobby grinned wider - he'd made him crack a little. Success!
"Aw, c'mon." He sat back down, immediately leaning across the table, about as close as he could get to PJ without actually lying on the damn thing. "So what sort'a music you like?"
PJ blinked, seemingly thrown by how fast he was moving. "Uhh... well, Powerline, duh. And the Subliminal Messengers - I mean I know they're kinda old-school now, but-"
"Dude no way, the Subs kick ass! Hey, 'you see their new vid for 'Pareidolia'?"
The other boy's eyes lit up and he leaned in a little closer. "YEAH! I-I mean, uh-" he stumbled over his words a little, like he was embarrassed by his outburst. "Uh- yeah," he 'corrected' himself, his voice lower, trying to sound interested-and-not at the same time. Bobby couldn't help but laugh a little. Max did that too - trying to come off as cool, disaffected, super hip and chill. He wasn't really that concerned with that sorta thing himself. He found it endearing to watch, though. Well, at least when PJ did it.

He stopped laughing when he noticed PJ's expression. "No, no, I didn't mean- I'm not laughin' at you," he clarified quickly. "It's cool, dude. Nothin' wrong with bein' enthusiastic." Before he could stop himself, his hand had shot out almost of its own accord and patted PJ's hand. It was meant to be a reassuring gesture, that was all, but he still felt himself blush a little as he realized what he was doing.
"Uh-"
"Soooo-" Bobby cut across him, pulling his hand back and casting around quickly for a new conversation topic. "You want some of this?" He dug around in his pocket, still looking at PJ.
"Wha- oh." PJ looked down at the spray can being offered to him, then back up at Bobby, eyebrow quirked. "Heeey, if you already had some, how come you keep gettin' Max to get it for ya?"
"Wouldn't you?" Bobby grinned again, shaking the can. "C'mooooon." His finger slipped and suddenly he was blinded, unable to see anything apart from the thick mass that was now covering his glasses.
He vaguely registered the sound of metal hitting linoleum and PJ's grossed-out mumble of "aw, dude" as he blinked confusedly, putting a hand up to his glasses gingerly as he realized what had happened.
"Geez..." Bobby leaned back and carefully eased his glasses off, eyes immediately narrowing to a squint as the bright, harsh light of the room hit them fully. He hated those stupid fluorescent lights they used in schools - they always burned his eyes. He blinked a few more times and then grabbed a corner of his shirt automatically, lifting it up to his glasses without really thinking about it-
"Wait!" He stopped, looked over at PJ. The other boy seemed to be rummaging in his pocket for something. "Wait- wait, you can use this." He pulled out a tissue and leaned over the table, holding it out. "I mean, you don't wanna get that stuff all over your shirt, right?"
Bobby blinked again, thrown off both by the disorienting light and PJ's words, his brain taking a second to catch up with what was happening. "Right- yeah, thanks dude." He straightened up again, dropped his shirt back down and took the tissue off PJ, quickly scrubbing his glasses clean. "Yeah, my mom'd be so mad if I messed up another shirt." Well, she probably wouldn't be mad, exactly - just tired - she was tired enough from work, he tried not to add to that if he could help it.
"Why'd you wear those all the time, anyway? We're indoors." Bobby glanced over at him, still scraping the cheese off his glasses. PJ was looking at him curiously, the question genuine, not mocking in any way. "Like, I get wearing sunglasses outside but-"
"'Cause light hurts my eyes, dude," he explained, finishing cleaning off the glasses and putting them back on. "I've gotta wear 'em. It's a real thing, 's called 'photophobia'."
"Oh! Oh geez, er, uh..." He almost laughed again at the look on PJ's face - scrambling for the right words to say, his eyes wide, he could almost hear the screaming coming from inside his brain. He was so worried about offending him, it was kind of adorable.
"S'okay, man, you were just asking." He waved a hand vaguely. "It's no big deal."
"Oh." Another pause, then PJ disappeared out of sight for a second as he leaned down, bobbing back up with the errant spray can in his hand, which he held out across the table. "Uh, here, you dropped this."
"Thanks," he said again, leaning in closer than was strictly necessary, deliberately brushing his fingers against PJ's as he took the can off him. PJ blinked at the touch but didn't say anything, and Bobby was surprised by how disappointed this made him feel.
"Why'd they call it that, anyway?"
"What?"
"'Photophobia'," PJ repeated, frowning in confusion. "That makes it sound like you're afraid'a cameras or somethin'."
This time, Bobby did laugh. "Dude, I know, right?!" He'd said the exact same thing numerous times; his mother usually just gave him a Look in response. PJ joined in, giggling nervously, and Bobby so wanted to lean over and kiss him-

The door burst open and Max flew into the room, slamming it shut quickly, leaning back against it, breathing heavily, his eyes wide. "Dudes, I am SO sorry-"
Bobby pulled back as if he had been electrocuted, his face flushing red.
"I went to get the stuff but there were so many people in the way, it took like forever to get to my locker, then this guy bumped into Marty and he flipped out, this big fight broke out, oh man you should've seen it- I was just try'na get away before anyone pulled me into it-" Max suddenly stopped, seemingly realizing he was babbling, and then straightened up a little, awkwardly, still catching his breath. "Uhh - here." He walked over to the table and dropped a little sack onto it, a can immediately rolling out. Bobby raised a hand to catch it automatically, instantly breaking into a huge grin.
"Aw ye-ahhhhh, that's what I'm talkin' about!" He drew back both cans - one in either hand - shaking them vigorously before spraying them in a wide arc, laughing hysterically the whole time.
"Dude!" He laughed harder at PJ's indignant tone of voice.