*Troye's POV*

Timeskip to mid-November (so two weeks if you're a nincompoop)

I ran my fingers along the book spines as I tried to find the one I was looking for, beginning to get frustrated with how long it was taking to find it. Yes, the library was arranged alphabetically, but our very useful and not-at-all-lazy librarian hadn't gotten around to putting all the books back yet. Given this was a grade-wide project, it made sense someone else had snagged the book first, but I'd purposely put this trip off until the day before it was due in hope's of getting it after they brought it back. At this rate I might as well just give in and accept my F, even if I get the book I doubt I'll be able to pull the whole project together in one night. God, Tyler was going to tease me to no end, he'd brought it up a thousand times claiming he was reminding me so I didn't put it off until last minute. That didn't do much good, huh?

"Excuse me." My head snapped up, immediately jumping out of the way politely. The girl giggled slightly at the awkward reaction, giving me a smile before stepping forward and raising a book onto the shelf. I was about to turn and give up on studying altogether when my eyes landed on the title of her book, my mouth falling open.

"Hey, are you done with that?" I blurted, realizing a moment later I could have just waited to see if she left it on the shelf rather than interacting. She looked over her shoulder at me, flashing a bright smile before turning completely and extending the heavy book to me.

"Yeah, I was just flipping through to write the notes for my presentation. It's all yours if you need it." She offered, batting her eyelashes at me and causing me to unintentionally make a face at her. It wasn't anything personal, she was very pretty, I just wasn't really a fan of girls flirting with me. Actually, I wasn't really a fan of anyone flirting with me other than Tyler.

"Thanks." I muttered simply, gently taking it from her hands and eyes going wide when I misjudged it's weight. However before it fell she caught it again, giggling and once again holding it out to me. I took it, sighing under my breath when she followed me out of the aisle and toward the seating area.

"Putting the finishing touches on your project?" She asked conversationally, swinging her hands at her sides as she walked beside me. I shrugged noncommittally, feeling slightly embarrassed considering I'd yet to even start it. She was clearly the type who'd had it all done weeks in advance, it made me wonder why she'd looked at the book today at all.

"Um, yeah, something like that." I laughed, running a hand through my hair as I fell into one of the many colorful beanbag chairs in the corner of the room. The librarian's desk was in the middle of the room and I could see her eyeing us curiously, pushing her glasses up further on the bridge of her nose with her middle finger.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" The girl asked, my eyebrows arching as I looked back up at her. I wasn't sure when or how, but she'd ended up with some small novel in her hands. A romance novel judging by the close-up picture of two half-dressed people kissing. Lovely. She's going to read literary porn next to me.

"Yeah, but I'm trying to study so try not to be too distracting." I said, unintentionally sounding more irritated with her than I should have. She just frowned slightly before falling into the seat next to me, making me feel a bit bad. I didn't mean to come across as rude or snappy, I just wasn't really into spending time with people and liked it even less when I was practically forced into it.

I tried to urge an apology out of myself, knowing it was the right thing to do, but I also couldn't bring myself to speak up when she was already wrapped up in her book. What if I just made things worse by annoying her? She doesn't seem that bothered by it. I'm sure it'll be fine, I don't even know her name.

Instead I settled into my chair as well, opening up the book and grabbing a piece of paper. I was in the process of arranging all my pencils and utensils on my stomach in a neat row, getting ready to start taking notes, when a blaring song breached the silence of the room. Everyone jumped, from the librarian to the girl sitting next to me, jumping so high both of their books went flying down by their feet.

"Turn that off!" The librarian screeched, standing up to emphasize her point. I looked around the room with my eyes in a glare, attempting to find the culprit and make him feel even worse. I succeeded too, when I realized it was my phone going off in my pocket. I'm a fucking idiot.

Worse yet, it wasn't just a default ring, it was a song Tyler himself had picked out for his ringtone. Of course he hadn't chosen something innocent, that was out of the question with him. No, instead my pockets were blaring a beautiful scratchy rendition of the chorus to Ginuwine's "Pony".

I blushed crimson, looking to the librarian and shrinking further into the beanbag when I was met with her cold glare. I was quick to feel up my pockets then, fumbling about with a desperate pace to shut the damned thing up. Why was Tyler leaving it to ring for so long anyway? Stupid idiot.

"I am so so so sorry!" I blurted out as my fingers finally wrapped around the small device, eyes flickering up to the librarian as I hit the answer call button. She just shook her head in obvious annoyance though, looking back down to her book she must have retrieved while I was searching for the phone. I glimpsed to my right, locking eyes with the girl from earlier and feeling even worse when I seen her disgusted look. Can I really blame her? What kind of bloke has "Pony" as his ringtone? 

The kind that has to put up with Tyler.

"What do you want?" I whisper-hissed into the phone, purposely holding the book higher up so the librarian wouldn't see me on the phone. I don't think there's technically a rule against phones here, granted you keep it quiet.

"Hey babe, you sound kind of cranky. What's wrong?" Tyler asked, his casual tone only making my blood boil hotter. How could he be so cool when I'd practically snapped at him?

"I'm busy, what do you want?" I asked bluntly, glaring at the text in my book. I wasn't actually reading, just using it to hide from the librarian behind, but it was still an effective target for my death glares when Tyler wasn't readily available.

"Busy doing what?" Tyler asked then, the suggestive tone rolling off his tongue making an unwanted slew of goosebumps to raise over my arms. I squeezed my eyes shut in exasperation, refusing to let him affect me right now, and over the phone for that matter! 

He'd been a total nuisance these past two weeks, constantly flirting and finding unnecessary excuses to touch me. It had started right after our sleepover, mostly just small stuff like grabbing my hand or snuggling up to my side whenever we were close. However, the most memorable had definitely been a few days ago when I was standing in the lunch line and he'd sneaked up behind me, snaking and arm around my waist at the same time as his other hand discreetly groped at my butt. He hadn't dared to try that again or anything quite that physical after my ludicrous reaction, as of yet anyway. I'd spun around and outright shoved him, partly because he'd surprised me but mostly because I didn't want to condone butt-feeling at school. I had enough trouble keeping it together around him as it was, I didn't need his hands all over my body in a blatantly sexual way to add to it. That said, I was highly anticipating the day he did it after school, I would definitely not be pushing him away then.

"Tyler, not now." But right now was during school, in an already awkward situation, and I did not need to get a boner or something just because he wanted to play around and whisper-purr into the phone like he was.

"Not now? What about later?" He asked, his tone heavily innocent despite what he was subtly implying. I shook my head, not willing to put up with his games right now. Without another thought I clicked the end call button, smiling contently as I started to turn the volume down. I only got it halfway to muted before the phone was going off again, a loud collective sigh filling the room from everyone in it.

"That is not turned off! Get out, come back another day when you know how to respect the libraries rules and regulations." The librarian snapped, pointing toward me with a surprisingly well-manicured finger. I just nodded, knowing this was coming. I discreetly hit answer on the phone, walking over to her desk and setting the book down.

"Yes, ma'am. Can I borrow this book first though?" I asked, slinging my backpack over my shoulder.

"Yes, but I'm trusting you'll be more respectful of it than you are of our rules here in the library." She said snootily, glaring at me from over her glasses before setting to work carding and stamping the book. I leaned against the counter, biting my lip as I waited. "Bring it back by the first of December."

"Thank-you. Sorry again about-"

"It's fine, just get out." Wow, way to be blunt about your hatred for me, lady. I didn't care though, considering I hated her nearly as much. I turned and promptly left the room then, aware Tyler was probably still listening in over the phone. That had been my intention though, hopefully making him feel bad about getting me in trouble. That was the first thing I mentioned as I lifted the phone back to my ear.

"Did you hear that? The sound of me getting bitched out by our terrifying librarian?" I snapped immediately, stomping angrily down the hall. I wasn't even really sure where I was going, just away from that wretched woman and her room.

"Well, you could have told me you were at the library." Tyler muttered, not even trying to hide the guilty undertones in his voice. That's right, Tyler Oakley, feel bad about it. Maybe if I rub it in he'll offer to make it up somehow. I could think of a lot of ways he could make it up to me, actually.

"I only had time to get one book and there's absolutely no way I'm going to finish my project now-"

"Don't you mean start your project?" He interjected, my anger that had only just started to dissipate coming back full-fledged over his stupid little jibe.

"What did you want anyway? Because if it's nothing, I have stuff to do and-"

"I'm skipping class with Marcus and remembered you mentioned having a free before lunch today. I thought I'd check what you were up to." He cut me off for the second time now, his tone cheeky like he was offering something great that would just make me instantly forgive him. 

"Well, I was studying." 

"You're not anymore though, right?" He asked, the hopeful tone to his voice making me almost feel bad about the fact I had no intention of going to meet with him. Clearly that was what he wanted and normally I would have dropped everything to go see him, ecstatic to have a better way to spend my free period, but I was being spiteful right now. "We're out on the bleachers, you should come see us."

"I have stuff to do, Tyler." I answered dully, trying to sound utterly unentertained with the whole exchange. I was angry with him and I wanted him to know it. Or at the very least beg me to forgive him.

"Please. I haven't seen you since Friday." He whined, sounding needy to the point it was kind of cute. I guess he really wanted to see me, huh? Not just some split-second decision to invite me along. I wasn't going to let him know how happy that made me though, stopping to lean against a vending machine to reply.

"So?" I scoffed, surprisingly pulling off the unaffected reply. He sighed loudly on the other end of the phone then, seconds ticking by before he replied, like he had to decide how to word it.

"So I miss you." He whispered, my chest tightening uncomfortably at how honest his voice was. I could just picture him right now too, turning away from Marcus all blushy to whisper that to me. It didn't make me angry he didn't want Marcus to hear, if anything it just made it feel more intimate.

"I'll be there in a minute." I sighed out in defeat, ending the call before I got the chance to hear his reaction. I had a feeling it'd be a triumphant hoot or something, when really I was just looking for more of those sentimental whispers.

I wasn't kidding when I said I'd be there in a minute, moving through the halls as fast as I could manage. My free period was half over now, but we had lunch right after anyway so it's not like I'd get there only to be called off to class. I had tons of time, yet here I was jogging the second I walked out of the building, breathless and gross feeling but yet my feet refused to slow down. For someone who'd almost turned down the opportunity to see him minutes ago I really was over-eager now, huh?

I slowed down to a walk as I entered into the football stadium, spinning around and trying to located Tyler and Marcus in the bleachers. I wish they'd find a better place to hang-out, what was so cool about this place anyway? It was beginning to get cold to the point of having to wear a jacket some days and I was suddenly regretting my haste to get out here seeing as I'd forgotten mine. 

I spotted Tyler and Marcus to the farthest right there was, starting toward them. They were talking, clearly joking around considering the way they pushed and shoved at each other, ear-t0-ear smiles on both of their faces. 

At first I'd been nervous about hanging around Marcus, but after about a day spent with him around I was quick to change my mind. Similar to Tyler, he was nothing like the school played him up to be. He was the biggest softie I'd ever met, genuinely one of the nicest people in the school, without a doubt. He didn't share Tyler's sexual humor or his non-stop talkative trait, but that was okay, I wouldn't want them to be similar. It was weird though, because a couple months ago that's all I'd seen them as; similar. I just looked at them both as dumb arrogant jocks, but they were so insanely different. It made me feel like I'd been the dumb one all-along.

"Hey!" My head snapped up from watching the white line I'd been walking on, not even taking a second to notice Tyler standing up and waving his arms in the stands, like he was trying to get me to notice him or something. Obviously I'd already saw him if I was heading in his direction, but whatever, I'll let him have his moment.

I raised a hand to wave, surprised when Tyler started jogging down the stairs instead of just keeping up his waving. I stopped just before I reached the bottom of the stairs, watching him run down them so fast there was a pang of worry in my chest he'd fall. He didn't though, only stumbling a bit when he hit solid ground. He quickly regained his composure again though, panting slightly as he straightened up from his doubled-over position, eyes falling on me. A goofy smile invaded his face immediately and then he was running again, barreling toward me so fast I started to panic. Is he going to tackle me or something?

When he reached me I'd instinctively tensed up for impact, but I was expecting him to do something along the lines of headbutt me, not jump up and latch himself onto me.

He looks so good in blue!

"Tilly!" I yelled, stumbling backward a couple steps before outright falling onto my ass. With him wrapped around my entire torso this left us in a pretty compromising position, him sitting on my lap with his legs on either side of me, but he didn't seem to care one bit as he hugged me to him. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the greeting, my chest feeling unusually warm as he buried his face into it, but I also knew Marcus was watching us and I didn't want people talking. 

"Fuck, Tyler, what's gotten into you?" I laughed, trying with minimal effort to pry him off of me. He let out a content sigh when I 'gave up', letting my arms wrap around him instead.

"It's been nearly three whole days since I saw you last." Tyler muttered into my shirt, like that was supposed to merit the over-the-top welcoming completely. Oh no, not seventy-two hours without me, how ever did he survive?

"I'm still mad at you, you know." This was a total lie, I couldn't even find a fiber of my being even slightly irked with him, but he didn't have to know that. I was going to milk the incident for all it was worth, clinging to every apology and grovel I got out of him. 

Or at least, that was the plan, before he lifted his head and I saw the huge frown that had replaced his gorgeous smile. Ugh, why can't he just suck-up to me and not feel bad? I didn't want to make him sad, now I feel bad.

"Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get you in trouble you big baby. I wrote you up a shitty project anyway, calm down." He snapped, sounding annoyed with me for the first time today. I was going to apologize for blowing the situation out of proportion anyway, but his last sentence had my jaw dropping and heart thudding heavily in my chest.

"You what? Are you serious?" I blurted, eyes wide with awe as I tried to find a hint of sarcasm hidden midst his features. He just nodded though, the beginnings of a smile starting to tug at his lips again.

"Well, I finished mine early and it was only a matter of-" I didn't let him finish though, instead pushing him off and onto his back against the grass-covered ground. I watched him shiver slightly and relished in his disgruntled 'oof', following after him a moment later and practically pouncing onto him. He let out another 'oof' at the sudden impact of me landing on his stomach, trying and failing to shove me off of him. I reached up and gently slapped the side of his face, the smile on my lips now even bigger than his.

"Now I remember why I love you." I giggled, only meaning for it to sound casual. However his eyes lit up when I said it, refusing to meet mine as a small but genuine smile found his lips. I watched as he nuzzled his face into my hand further, rubbing his cheek up against my palm.

"Yeah?" He whispered quietly, his eyes almost shy when they finally flickered up to mine. I sucked a deep breath in through my mouth, trying to concentrate on how cute he looked sprawled out underneath me, blushing red like that. How kissable he looked.

"Come on, you big sap, Marcus probably thinks we're about to suck each other's faces off." I said dismissively, quickly distracting myself before I let the thoughts carry on for long. I'd been thinking about kissing him a lot these past two weeks. Okay, I've been not-so-subtly thinking about kissing him since we first started to hang-out, but it's been worse as of late. I even caught myself starting to lean in the other day at work, when he was completely unsuspecting and it wasn't even a romantic moment. It's getting to be a serious problem.

"Oh, we aren't? I was under the impression we were?" He purred underneath me, slowly hitching his leg over my hips. Before I even really had time to react to that I felt his finger on my chest, trailing down at such a slow pace it gave me forever to back off, which was exactly what I did. My eyes went wide at his forwardness, scrambling off of him. It was only after I was looming over him and he was still there laying on the ground, looking slightly hurt, that I realized that might have offended him. I quickly extended my hand to help him up, blushing like mad. 

Ugh, I hope he realizes it was just because Marcus was watching. I was constantly worrying he'd take my rejections seriously and just stop trying altogether, it was probably my biggest fear. He never did though, sometimes giving me space afterward, but usually coming back with his usual flirting gusto in a matter of minutes.

He just always tried to make a move at the wrong time or when I wasn't expecting it, which ultimately led to me getting too flustered and backing off. I guess it's possible I was just nervous though, now that I think about it. I just wanted it to be perfect and the thought of messing it up all over again was something that had plagued many a nightmare the last few weeks.

"Troye? You coming up to see Marcus?" I blinked, realizing I'd managed to zone out completely to thoughts of the man standing next to me. I simply nodded, not really trusting myself with the task of talking right now.

He led the way, his cheerful mood only faltering for a few seconds over the rejection before he was skipping up the stairs ahead of me. I followed behind at a slower pace, reaching the step they were on after Tyler was already comfortably seated. I noticed he'd left a space between him and Marcus though, immediately moving to fill it.

"Hey Marky!" I greeted, lifting a hand to give him an awkward wave of greeting. He nodded to acknowledge it, smiling and shifting over slightly as I sat down.

"How was your weekend?" He asked, clearly just trying to be polite and keep the conversation going. I didn't care though, considering it'd only take a second to answer that question. My weekend was far from eventful.

"Boring, uneventful-"

"Probably because it was lacking a certain purple-haired best friend, amiright?" Tyler quipped excitedly, leaning forward so Marcus could see him on the other side of me. Marcus took to laughing at that, which was clearly Tyler's expected reaction given his satisfied smile. He locked eyes with me then, smirking slightly as if proud of himself.

"You're so needy today, Ty, calm down." I scoffed, rolling my eyes and playfully shoving him. However, just as my hand was about to meet with his chest, he grabbed it instead, weaving his fingers between mine. I swallowed roughly, trying not to outwardly react as he let our entwined hands fall onto his lap. I wasn't sure if it was the public display of affection itself or just how close my hand was to his crotch, but I didn't really have the time to think it over before I remembered I'd left Marcus without a reply. "How was your weekend?"

"Good, getting stuff ready for my birthday party with Shane mostly." He laughed, stretching his arms high above his head. My eyes went wide, surprising myself when they followed the movement of his muscles flexing. Despite knowing he couldn't see my eyes from this angle, I still felt guilty even thinking about checking out other guys when Tyler was literally holding my hand. It only made it worse when he squeezed my hand, the stupid part of me insisting he somehow knew what I was looking at.

"Oh?" I prodded finally, only trying to remember what I was asking about after I'd said it. Oh yeah, he said something about a birthday party.

"Yeah, I told Tyler to tell you about it when he got the chance, but since you're already here I'll just tell you myself. It's Friday night and it's more of a little get-together than a party really. I was never actually that into the big parties I used to have, I feel like this might be more fun." He explained, my head nodding along with each new piece of information.

"Yeah, it does sound fun." I answered after he'd finished, surprising even myself with how genuine it was. I'd never desired to go to a party ever, but it could be fun, if he really was serious about just having a few people. Especially if Tyler came too.

"So yeah, just let me know for sure if you can come sometime during the next couple days. I actually have to go, I promised to spend lunch with Shane at that pizza place. You two don't mind being left alone, do you? You can come if you want-"

"We're fine. Have fun!" Tyler blurted, lifting his hand to wave Marcus off. Marcus didn't seem that surprised by the rude goodbye, just nodding and starting down the stairs without another word. I, however, was not at all impressed by Tyler's interjection.

"That was rude." I stated blandly, watching as Marcus reached the bottom of the bleachers and started across the grass.

"How so?" Tyler asked from beside me, his fake-innocence not convincing at all.

"How do you know I didn't want to go out for pizza with them? You can't speak for me like that." I snapped, tugging my hand out of his to grumpily cross my arms over my chest. Tyler sighed heavily beside me then, leaning his head on my shoulder. I wasn't having that, leaning my body even further away from him. He sighed even louder in reaction to that, something I hadn't thought possible.

"But he was stealing all your attention!" He gasped dramatically, not even warning me before he was falling backward and draping himself over my legs. His head ended up resting in my lap, eyes looking upward at the cloudy sky rather than at me.

"And here I thought you were needy earlier." I chuckled, giving up on feigning annoyance with how clingy he was today. It was actually adorable, and a lot more tolerable now that we were alone and he wasn't constantly trying to steal my attention back. I let one of my hands fall limply on his chest, the other ending up in his hair and playing with it absentmindedly. "Did you actually write me a whole project?"

"I didn't make any snazzy diagrams or anything, but the writing itself is done." He explained, sitting up just slightly to pull his bag closer. He fumbled through it for a second before retrieving a stapled-together wad of papers, immediately falling back onto my lap as he handed them to me. I took it gently, studying the first page and feeling even more thankful with each word I read. He was kidding. He made it sound like he'd thrown together some shitty half-arsed attempt, this was better than anything I could have written even if I studied. It's not fair some people get to be attractive and smart. Not to mention talented, charismatic, and capable of going from adorable five-year-old to provocative porn star in the span of five seconds.

"Are you cold?" I blinked, looking back down at Tyler and noticing his gaze set intently on my arms. I looked down, noticing the goosebumps coating them and deciding it'd be useless to deny it now.

"Little bit." I said dismissively, leaning over him to slip the project back into his backpack. I'd get it back later, my bag was too far away for me to reach without getting up, which was definitely not an option when I had Tyler's head on my lap.

"Do you want my sweater?" He asked, distractedly playing with the stray threads hanging loosely on the bottom of my shirt. I shook my head, wincing when he lifted it too high and a wisp of icy wind found it's way under my shirt.

"No, then you'll be cold. I'm fine." I answered, reaching down to slap his hand away.

He's such an idiot, going out here without a coat on. If he gets sick and I have to nurse him back to health or spend even a day at school without him, I'm going to kill him before the cold comes close.

My heart felt heavy upon hearing the caring thoughts going through Tyler's mind, though you'd never be able to tell just looking at him. Outwardly he looked carefree and bubbly, just grinning to himself as he raked his eyes over my torso and up to my face.

"We could share, one arm each." He teased, mirth dancing behind the frames of his glasses. My initial reaction was to scoff and dismiss his teasing, though something about his lopsided smile had me intrigued to play along.

"I don't think your bulging biceps would allow that." I answered, daringly letting my hand drift up from his stomach to one of his arms. I trailed a finger over his bicep slowly, watching the way his eyes followed the movement. I kept my eyes trained on him, watching his reactions the entire time, right down to the way his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, unknowingly making my heart skip a beat. I didn't intend for it to be a serious moment, I'd meant to jokingly squeeze his arm and move on, but instead I found us in a silent stare-down as I practically caressed it. His skin was so soft and I was relishing in the way it felt every time he shifted and his muscles flexed in my touch, finding myself way more into the moment than I was supposed to be.

"They are pretty big, huh?" He whispered, his seductive tone making my eyes go as wide as saucers. Immediately he fell into a total fit of laughter, squirming around and cackling at my dumbfounded reaction. I let out a huff of air and withdrew my hands, folding my arms tightly over my chest and pouting slightly. It was probably childish to get offended by him not taking it seriously when it had been a joke from the start, but that didn't stop me. I didn't want to stop touching him, but I couldn't very well carry on now, embarrassed out of my mind.

"Why do I put up with you?" I muttered under my breath, surprised when he immediately settled down and locked eyes with me.

"Because you love me." He answered without missing a beat, a cheeky smile seemingly permanently imprinted on his lips. I blushed, debating denying it like I usually did when he lined things up in these situations. He seemed to strive to remind me of my feelings for him all the time, like they weren't constantly nagging at me already.

"Still not worth it."

A/n: Hello little shrimpfaces, what's new? I know everyone's probably already commented on it, but yes I realize Marcus's birthday is in December. IN THIS FANFIC, it's in November. Don't even bug me about it. And um idk what to say in these anymore. Can we talk about the fact I wrote chapter's 49, 50, and 51 all in three back-to-back days? I'm posting this later because idk I am but yeah, I'm quite proud. Anyway, vote and comment and shit WAIT JUST A SECOND I REMEMBERED SOMETHING IMPORTANT!!! There's been a meet-up set up on Tumblr for this fanfiction. The hashtag is #Freak meet up and it's on October 25th. You can hunt the post down by searching that hashtag probs but idk come out and join us, we'll have a little barbeque get together yes okay great