*Troye's POV* (also before you even yell at me, no, Tyler doesn't come out in this chapter because I had to do some more rearranging shit but he will before the sleepover's over so take a big old chillpill and relaaaaaaaaaax)

"Mom, you said a 'couple things' not an entire grocery list of stuff!" I complained, leaning back against the counter and eyeing the ripped-out sheet of a notepad she'd just handed me. When she'd politely asked me to pick up some things from the store when I went to pick up Tyler I had not expected this. I'd expected one, maybe two things at most, and considering what a good mood I'd been in since waking up, I hadn't thought twice before agreeing to it. 

"That is a couple things! It'll only take you a minute to grab them, Troye. God forbid anything take your time with Tyler away from you." She huffed, turning away from me to march off into the living room. I rolled my eyes despite the fact she clearly couldn't see it, listening as she barked at Tyde to help her set up some of her never-ending Halloween decoration collection. She'd been in full-on control freak mode all day, so I knew better than to actually seriously argue with the whole grocery situation. 

I decided to just leave it at that, turning on my heel and walking out of the room after her, grocery list folded-up and tucked in my pocket. I made a point to dart toward the front door quickly, not wanting her to catch up with me and load any more of her chores onto me. That could be left for Tyde and Sage, payback for yesterday. I managed to make it out the door with seconds to spare, considering I heard her start a sentence with my name before the door clicked into place behind me. I hurried over to my car, slipping into the driver's seat and immediately moving to start it. The drive was short but I was already running late to start with. And as my mother so kindly put it, god forbid anything take my time with Tyler away from me.

By the time I got there it was already technically time for Tyler to be closing up, but thankfully he hadn't actually locked the doors yet and I intended to take full advantage of that last couple of second time window I had for grocery shopping. Not that I was really that passionate about making sure I got everything, more-so because I knew it'd frustrate Tyler having to stick around until I'd finished. 

I practically jogged to the door, not wanting to get there just as Tyler locked up or anything. Thankfully that wasn't the case and I managed to slip in pretty easily, only tripping over my own feet like an idiot once on the way. As soon as the doors closed behind me I started scanning the room for the familiar head of blonde hair, pouting slightly when I didn't see him in his usual spot by the register. Ugh, now I have to find him. I stood on my tippy-toes, just barely being able to peer over the shelves with the height advantage. I didn't actually end up seeing anything, but after a couple seconds passed the sound of Tyler humming softly filled the room and gave away where he was just as easily. My eyes fell on the office where the supplies closet was, just barely catching a bit of movement through the door before he walked out of my line of vision. My eyes went wide, an idea sparking in my mind and my feet moving toward him before I even had time to think it through. 

It wasn't until I was actually standing beside the door, my back against the wall and my breathing hushed, that I realized that a jumpscare would probably only piss him off. Then again, wouldn't his reaction make it worth while if he actually did get scared? I could tease him about it too, earning one of those adorable bashful blushes he hardly ever wore. No, it'd definitely be worthwhile. Or at least that's what I thought, until I'd been standing there bored out of my mind for five minutes. What the hell was he doing in there that was taking so long? Was he trying to sort out the supplies closet? God, I hope not, we wouldn't get our of here until midnight if that was the case. Maybe I should just go in there and check on him- My train of thought was cut off by the unmistakable sound of Tyler's feet shuffling against the floor, walking closer to the door. He was mumbling under his breath too, it sounded almost like complaining- Oh shit, right, I was supposed to be here to pick him up fifteen minutes ago. To be fair, I had gotten here ten minutes late, he just didn't know that yet. As he got closer I got into a better position, tensing all of my muscles as I got ready to jump forward. Closer, closer, closer-

"Boo!" I yelled, jumping right in front of his path as he reached the door frame. I watched his eyes go so wide it was almost comedic, a girly shriek filling the room a second later as he jumped backward into the door. He cursed then as he hit his head, rubbing his scalp and pouting slightly as he looked back up at me. I was laughing uncontrollably up until the point he'd hit his head, concern now flooding every one of my veins as I took a step toward him.

"Hey, are you alright?" I asked quietly, moving his hand out of the way only to replace it's spot on his head, weaving my fingers through his hair and trying to see if a bump had formed. He just glared up at me through his eyelashes, clearly seething with anger to the point he was silent. That's when you really knew Tyler was mad, when he actually kept his mouth shut. 

"Sorry, it just felt necessary on Halloween. Don't be mad." I whispered, letting my hand slide down to his cheek. He immediately shook his head though, and with a dejected sigh my hand fell back to hang by my side. I watched him turn on his heel, squaring his shoulders slightly and stomping off toward the counter.

"I'm not mad. Just a little irritated that you have the nerve to show up so late and then pull that-" 

"Pull what? A joke? You're just mad because it scared you and you reacted like an idiot." I said, hoping a more serious response would get him to come to his senses and forgive me. We were both behind the counter now, him with his back to me as he busied himself with some sutpid chore he probably didn't even need to be doing.

"Oh great, and now you're calling me an idiot!" He huffed in response, throwing his hands up in the air before crossing his arms securely around his chest. My eyes went wide, feeling bad despite how obviously he was blowing my words out of proportion. It didn't matter whether they were hurtful or not, if that's how he'd taken them.

"Tilly, that's not what I meant..." I said quietly, stepping closer to his back tentatively. When he still didn't move away I decided to take the risk, wrapping my arms loosely around his waist from behind and praying he didn't push me off. When a few seconds passed and he hadn't I finally let out the breath I'd been holding, relaxing and pulling him tighter against my chest. I let my forehead fall against his shoulder, hoping he couldn't feel my smile through the fabric of his sweater. After a bit he started to squirm in my arms, so I stood back up and loosened my grip, watching as he turned around to face me with a grin enveloping his entire face.

"You are so whipped." He cackled, weaving one of his arms between us and reaching up to slap the side of my face playfully. I rolled my eyes, watching as he disentangled himself from my arms and went back to counting the money.

"What's that supposed to mean? Sorry for caring whether my friend's mad at me or not!" I snapped, hoisting myself up to sit on the counter beside his money stacks. He just not-so-subtly rolled his eyes, not looking up from the task at hand. Judging from past experiences it was pretty easy to make him lose count of the money, but I wasn't about to purposely do it. Sure he didn't seem mad anymore, and at this point I wasn't even sure if he'd been actually mad or if he was joking around to be a dick, but making him lose count wouldn't benefit me in any way. The sooner he finished the sooner we could go back to my place.

I was actually starting to doze off by the time he finally finished. I didn't realize this, but he did, immediately reaching up and pinging me on the tip of the nose. I jolted upright, genuinely surprised that I hadn't noticed my head lolling to the side slightly. Great, I probably look like the most lively exciting person to have a sleepover with. I'm sure he can't wait.

"I hate you." I muttered, scrunching my face up like an angry bear, as if that would lessen the sting on the tip of my nose. He just beamed a smile in response, an overly cheery bright one that only succeeded in irritating me further. I'm pretty sure that was his intention though, especially when I heard his next reply.

"Good. It's the beginning of my payback for you scaring me." He purred, flashing me another smile before walking away, absentmindedly rearranging some display while constantly looking over his shoulder to see my response.

"Okay, whatever- Wait... The beginning?" I hadn't realized what he meant at first, but after starting my reply his words had really sunk in. This isn't all? What kind of revenge does he have planned?

This must have been the reply he was hoping for, considering he all-together abandoned the fancy coke bottle display halfway through, instead skipping back to my side. He leaned over the counter I was sitting on, tilting his head way upward so we could still keep eye contact.

"Well, I have to scare you back, it's absolutely mandatory. I think I'm leaning toward a scary movie. Which would you prefer, zombies or possession?" My eyes went wide upon hearing this, my heartbeat immediately speeding up. He couldn't be serious. We'd discussed scary movies a couple times in the past, both of agreeing they weren't exactly or favorite. Well, that's what he said, I said I absolutely could not watch them under any circumstance. But I guess in the spirit of Halloween it made sense to suggest it, but that didn't mean I was looking forward to it at all. I am going to make a total idiot of myself. I can see it already.

"Zombies, definitely." I replied after a moment's hesitation, spending the extra few seconds to weigh both of my options. Neither actually sounded appealing in the slightest, but I decided solely because I didn't think zombies would be quite as scary. They just didn't seem as realistic as ghosts, and therefore weren't nearly as intimidating. To me, anyway.

"Good, we'll go with possession then." He beamed, my jaw immediately dropping as I glared at his cheeky expression.

"Why'd you ask if you weren't even going to take my opinion?" I snapped, shoving his elbows until they went over the edge of the counter, forcing him to stand up again or fall to the ground. Reasonably, he chose to stand up, though he didn't seem very happy about it.

"Obviously the one you didn't choose you find scarier, so clearly I'm going to go with that one." He explained, his tone teasing. I rolled my eyes, ignoring his obnoxious laugh at how well his plan had worked out. After he'd finally managed to calm himself down he took one heavy breath, smiling up at me widely and slapping my knee excitedly. "Ready to go?"

"Actually I've got to pick up a couple things first." I sighed out, only to earn an even greater sigh from him. I giggled, sliding off the counter to stand in front of him. "It'll only take a minute, stop pouting."

I'd planned on running through the aisles and gathering it all up as quickly as possible, but between the constant distractions and the fact I didn't know where or what half of these things were, that was a lost cause. I did pretty well though, managing to locate it all in the small store after about fifteen minutes. At least I thought I did pretty well, but upon heading back toward Tyler with my basket in-hand, and seeing his utterly unimpressed expression, I had to wonder.

"A couple things?" He asked skeptically, raising a single eyebrow as he stared down the amount of things in my hands. I wasn't sure if it was over how many items he'd have to scan or how long I'd took, but either way he didn't seem too happy.

"Shut-up." I mumbled, walking over and hoisting the heavy basket up onto the counter. The counter he'd taken the liberty of sitting on like I had earlier, despite the fact he had his own comfortable chair behind it. Then again, the counter did have a better view of the store, had he wanted to follow me around with his eyes. Whether that was the case or not, I was definitely going to pretend it was.

"What are you trying to feed? An entire army?" He asked, his eyes set on inspecting the contents of my groceries rather than actually looking at me. I thought for a second at how to get his attention back, my lips curving up into a wicked grin as I thought of just the thing to say.

"Actually just you, but I'm sure your appetite is near as big." I teased, watching as he immediately snapped his body back to face me. I thought that'd be it, but a second later he followed by kicking his leg out, nailing me in the shin just lightly. It still hurt though, my hand coming down to clutch at it.

"Dick." I breathed out, not bothering to look back at him now until I heard the unmistakable sound of his feet hitting the floor after he slid off the counter. Well, that and he'd landed directly in front of me, so I had a pretty clear view of his sneakers. Not surprisingly, it registered after a matter of milliseconds that he was standing backward, meaning he was still facing the counter. I stood up then, curiously peering over his shoulder to see what he was doing. I couldn't resist the urge to scoff when I found him absentmindedly pulling all the food items out and inspecting them, almost like he was reviewing my choices. 

"What's the verdict?" I asked eventually, actually curious after watching him scan them all so intently for so long. He shrugged his shoulders, and the indifferent reaction had my mind going crazy. He didn't like any of it? Surely he'd tell me, Tyler doesn't joke around when it comes to food, right? I was terrified he was going to just leave it at that and let my mind continue to roam, when he let out a short sigh, turning around. I hadn't really calculated how close behind him I was standing though, immediately blushing when our chests actually touched. I promptly took a step backward, crossing my arms tightly over the spot his chest had touched mine, like that'd be enough to get the butterflies under control.

"Well..." He started, trailing off and leaving me on yet another cliffhanger. I realized immediately he was doing it on purpose, glaring into his eyes when I noticed all the mirth dancing in them. He giggled then, picking up where he'd left off. "If you're actually buying for me, I'm genuinely offended by the lack of cool ranch Doritos in that pile."

I debated shoving him in response, ultimately just turning on my heel and speed-walking to the familiar back corner of the store. I reached forward, snatching two bags of said Doritos, and then made my way back to him with one in either arm. It was meant to be a sort-of spiteful thing, but I couldn't wipe the stupid grin off my face when I saw how much his eyes lit up just from seeing the stupid chips. What a loser.

"Happy?" I laughed, skirting around him to toss them in with the rest of the pile. I was expecting him to walk around the counter and actually do his job then, but what I definitely wasn't expecting was his hands coming up to brace on either side of my head, turning it to the side gently. I furrowed my brows, totally confused, before I felt his lips press against my cheek. It was only for a split second, but it still had my knees going unnaturally weak and my heart skipping a beat. He pulled away, but not far, stopping with his lips by my ear to whisper his response.

"Never been happier." He purred, his breath washing over my sensitive skin and causing me to shiver. I didn't even bother to hope he hadn't noticed, standing this close behind me with his hands in my hair, clearly he had. He didn't call me out on it though, instead immediately jumping backward and skipping around to his rightful side of the counter. He then started scanning items casually, like he hadn't just left me completely breathless and my heart racing unhealthily fast. I gulped noticeably, trying desperately to keep my attention on watching his hands fly through the items and toss each of them in plastic bags. I really didn't want to see his expression right now. Okay, well, there was never a time I didn't want to see his face, but I wasn't sure if I was quite ready to see his reaction to how obviously flustered I was. 

Thankfully he didn't make me forcefully distract myself for long, speeding through the chore before numbly reporting the cost to me. I dug out the bills, wordlessly forking them over, still not looking into his eyes. But after he tried to hand me my change back and I insisted he kept it as a tip, the tense mood evaporated as quickly as it'd fallen over us.

"Alright, let's get out of here."

"I'm warning you now, things are a little bit hectic in there." I laughed, leaning back in my seat after turning off the car. I was in no rush to head back into the disaster area my house was today, but Tyler seemed more than eager. I watched him lean forward in his seat, grinning widely as he scanned the house. "What are you smiling at?"

"Your siblings with their faces pressed against the windows." I quirked my eyebrows now, sitting up to inspect if what he'd said was true. It's not like it was surprising or anything, I just hadn't expected them to have any time to goof around when Mom was giving them so many chores. But sure enough, they were, their faces squashed right into the glass. After a second more studying I noticed the shadow of someone else in the background, recognizing it as my mother's almost immediately. Wow. Not only did she let them off the hook solely to creep us, she'd decided to join in. My family are such loving perfect people that are never overbearing in any way at all, huh? "What are you waiting for? Can we get out now?"

"Remember you were the one that asked for it." I chuckled, watching him flash me a quick grin before hurrying to unbuckle his seatbelt and get out the door. Why he was in such a rush to go see those nuts I couldn't understand, just like I couldn't understand why it made me so happy he was. I mean, I can barely stand my family half the time, but it felt like it was important he could. 

I hadn't realized just how long I was sitting there lost in thought about it until the sound of someone knocking on my window had me breaking out of the trance. I looked up quickly, finding Tyler making 'hurry-it-up' hand gestures at me. I rolled my eyes, grabbing the keys and awkwardly stumbling out of the vehicle. 

"I need you to unlock the trunk." Tyler ordered as soon as I got my footing, sounding like the average over-eager five-year-old. I didn't call him out on it though, just rolling my eyes before walking around to the end of the car and doing as I was told. As soon as I'd lifted it up Tyler's hands darted in, grabbing his school bag I assumed held his overnight materials and throwing it over his shoulders. What I wasn't expecting was for him to go back and grab the grocery bags as well, leaving me to carry nothing while he was loaded up like some sort of mule. I opened my mouth to argue with it, but he just shook his head, winking at me and leaving me there with my mouth hanging open as he pranced off toward the front door. I probably would have stayed there a lot longer had he not yelled back and reminded me I had to get the door for him. I slammed the trunk shut then, jogging until I'd reached his side then slowing down to the same pace as him.

"You didn't have to carry all that." I mumbled awkwardly, to which I got no response aside from a sideways glance of indifference. I sighed in defeat, deciding it was a useless argument and just skipping ahead to open the door for him. I leaned my weight on the doorknob as it slowly eased open, watching as Tyler carelessly walked in ahead of me. As soon as his feet touched the welcome mat my mother had appeared in the entryway, greeting him with a smile so huge it was actually scary. Especially considering how grumpy she'd been when I left the house, talk about total opposites. Though, to be fair, Tyler had that sort of effect on me as well.

"Hi, Tyler! How have you been?" She beamed, leaning against the wall a few steps away from the two of us. I watched Tyler purposely move out of the way, giving me room to close the door. I did, though I made sure to listen for Tyler's response while my back was turned to them.

"Great, Laurelle, and you?" Oh, so they're on a first-name basis now?

"Amazing! I love Halloween, it just puts me in such a good mood." I rolled my eyes at her sappy tone, knowing she was probably going to turn this into some rambly conversation about all the reasons she loved it. I really didn't want that to happen, partly because it'd be boring as hell to listen to, partly because I didn't like the idea of her stealing all of Tyler's attention away from me. He was my friend and my crush after all, couldn't she just let me have this?

"It didn't earlier..." I muttered spitefully, not even intending for her to hear. Obviously she did though, judging by the gasp she gave and Tyler's bubbly giggle that quickly followed it. I gave a quick thank-you smile to Tyler, knowing his laugh had definitely lightened the mood and whatever sort of punishment I was about to get. She still seemed angry though, her hands on her hips and her usualy warm eyes narrowed into angry slits.

"Don't you have groceries to be putting away?" She asked pointedly, raising her eyebrows before letting her eyes fall to Tyler's hands. I suddenly felt a little bit guilty, realizing he'd been stuck holding all that this entire time. I just nodded, wordlessly prying his fingers off the handle of one of the bags. I went to grab the other as well but he snatched it away before I got the chance.

"I'll help!" He beamed. Mom didn't seem as thrilled about it as he sounded, likely because she was looking forward to getting to talk to him. 

"You don't have to-"

"No, I want to." He interrupted, giving her another smile before starting to the kitchen ahead of me in a hurry. I locked eyes with her then, feeling slightly bad when I saw her confused expression- until I remembered she had been forcing me to do chores all day and suddenly I didn't feel nearly as sympathetic.

I hurried after Tyler, catching up to him just as he walked through the kitchen door.

"Still not ready to be left alone with my family?" I laughed, walking past him to toss the bag on the counter carelessly. He set his down more gently, giving me a perfect view of his flushed cheeks as he did so.

"I mean, I'm sure I could manage, I just prefer your company." He mumbled, turning to face me then. It was my turn to blush then, though I wasn't neary as forward about it as I quickly turned away and started sorting out all the groceries we'd brought home. 

"Cheeseball." I chuckled under my breath, looking back over my shoulder now that the blush had died down some. He was awkwardly leaning against the counter, his hands shoved in his pockets and his eyes scanning the room yet again, like he hadn't been here before. "Hey, I thought you said you were gonna help. Put the refrigerated stuff away." 

"Okay!" He leapt forward, scrambling around me and grabbing the milk carton first. I smiled to myself as I watched how much of a rush he was in. I saw it coming even before it happened when the milk carton fell to the floor, not hard to predict when he was trying to rush through the chore so quickly. He cursed loudly when it slipped out of his fingers, earning a chorus of 'what happened?' from around the house. I knew they'd all be running in to check up on us in a second, and Tyler seemed to too seeing as he was moving to pick it back up so quickly. Thankfully it hadn't burst or anything, it was just horribly disfigured and dented up. 

Just as he tucked the milk away in it's spot on the inside of the door, my lovely overly-curious and overly-protective family finally arrived on scene. It wasn't just my Mom though, both of my younger siblings and both parents were here to torment us now. 

"What happened?" My mother asked immediately, looking like she was the only one actually concerned. The others just looked curious. Sage had half of her costume make-up done and looked like an idiot with only one half of her face done-up, Tyde had vampire fangs in but no other element to his costume, and the most horrific (but clearly not in the way he'd intended) of all, was my father dressed up in what was probably supposed to be a zombie football player costume. Actually, it was kind of ironic my mother was the only one not in costume yet considering her love for the holiday.

"Nothing, Tyler was just being a klutz and dropped your groceries." 

"Troye!" Tyler hissed immediately, shuffling closer to me and not-so-discreetly elbowing me in the side. I rolled my eyes, secretly warding off a smile at how much he seemed to care what my family thought of him. What he didn't seem to understand though, was that he could be a psychotic clingy weirdo and they'd probably still adore him, solely because he was the first person I'd taken any sort of interest in in the last six years.

"Okay, well, seeing as you aren't capable of doing that, how about you just go change into your costumes? I want to get pictures of everyone before we all head out." My mother laughed, sounding a lot cheerier than she had just a few moments ago. Somebody is having some severe mood swings today. I wasn't going to comment on that though, learning long ago that was not the sort of thing you mentioned to a girl.

"I'm sure we can manage that." I replied simply, slinging my arm around Tyler's shoulders in what I hoped was a careless manner. I wanted to make sure I could steer him out of here before they tried to make any more conversation, and it seemed like the easiest way. And I mean, if they want to read more into the simple gesture, I'm not complaining. The fact they can think I'm Tyler's boyfriend and believe it is rather flattering.

I gave them a final awkward smile before tightening my grip around him and hurrying toward the door, feeling a little bit bad when I nearly knocked him off balance with my unannounced gusto. We'd nearly made it out the door with no further interruptions, when the dreaded sound of Sage's giggle had my eyes going wide.

"Yeah, they're very good at taking their clothes off." I let out a breath of relief at the fact she'd just whispered it to Tyde, though she definitely wasn't off the hook considering she'd clearly said it loud enough for both Tyler and I to hear. At that to the list of things he'd be teasing me about later when they'd left. 

We continued on until we reached the bottom of the stairs, where I reluctantly slid my arm off his shoulders, knowing we both couldn't fit up them side-by-side. I gestured for him to go first then, smirking slightly to myself at the fact I'd managed to get myself a good view of his butt the entire trip up. I quickly wiped it off my face though as we began to ascend the stairs, not wanting him to turn around and catch me with such an incriminating expression. What did I really have to smirk about right now other than his ass in my face? 

It still felt pretty weird watching how casually Tyler tossed himself onto my bed, like we'd been friends for years. I mean, I definitely wasn't complaining, it was just... new? Plus then I was left awkwardly hovering in my doorway and trying to decide where I was supposed to sit in my own room. I could fall onto the bed beside him, but would that be too close? Or I could sit in the chair by my desk, but what if that offended him for being not close enough? He might think I didn't want to be close to him or something, which really wasn't the case, I just wasn't sure where-

"Are you just gonna stand there and look pretty all day or do you plan on joining me?" I blinked, momentarily dumbstruck before what he was asking actually sunk in. I blushed crimson, looking down at the floor and dragging my feet slightly as I made my way across the room. I sat at the very foot of the bed, my shoulders tucked in and head hung low as I tried to hide how flustered I was. It was a pretty useless effort, considering even a blind man would be able to sense that sort of thing, but I wasn't listening to reasoning right now. Instead, I was listening to the adorable giggles slipping past Tyler's lips occasionally, each separated by a span of seconds as he clearly tried to ward off his laughter.

"What are you laughing at?" I decided to ask the obvious question, hoping it'd break some of the tension in the room. He sat up then, putting space between us for only a second before he was awkwardly crawling across the bed to sit beside me. Once he'd situated himself so close to me his knees were touching my leg, he let out a happy sigh and playfully shoved me.

"You." He laughed. I didn't find it nearly as entertaining, just rolling my eyes and scoffing. He could have been a lot more precise about what about me it was.

"Wow, thanks, I couldn't guess that much-"

"At how awkward you are." He elaborated, successfully cutting me off mid-sentence to do so. I probably would have just rambled useless stuff anyway though, so I guess it was alright. What wasn't alright, however, was what he'd actually said. I mean, sure I know I'm awkward, and I know he knows it, but it's kind of different to point it out. I can't be mad at him for something like that, but it still kind of stings.

"Gee, thanks Tyler, makes me feel real good about myself-"

"Oh, shut-up. It's the cute kind of awkward, obviously." He blurted in interruption, his eyes going wide as his mind seemingly caught up with his mouth. I watched the blush spread across his cheeks, making it clear he took the compliment even more serious than I had. The cute kind of awkward. I like the sound of that. I wasn't about to say that though, instead wracking my mind for absolutely anything else I could reply with.

"Oh." Okay, so it wasn't the brightest thing I could have said, but whatever. There were worse reply options out there, I'm sure. After that silence enveloped us, but not really an uncomfortable one. I also don't think it was my fault, considering Tyler just seemed pretty distracted as his eyes flitted around my room curiously. Sure he'd been in here before, but I guess it had been over a month ago now so the image wasn't exactly fresh in his mind. I let him observe it in silence, perfectly okay with just watching his face as he did so. How his lips turned up into a smile when they fell on the keyboard in the corner, likely remembering the time I'd played for him. Or how his eyes widened curiously when they landed on the stack of papers on my desk. I made a mental note to myself to clean those up before he actually got the chance to look at them, not quite sure how I felt about him seeing my song-writing attempts yet. But hands-down, my favorite part, was when he'd finished checking everything out and his eyes flickered back to mine, his whole face lighting up and sending a whirlwind of butterflies through my stomach.

"I love your room, it's so... you."

"Thanks? I think?" I laughed, unsure of just how to take that statement. I mean, in my eyes it meant he was calling my room horribly socially-awkward and only mildly good-looking, but I had a feeling he viewed me a lot different than that. I hoped he did at least.

"Oh yeah, it was definitely a compliment." He replied simply, giving me another smile before hopping off the bed. I watched him casually shift closer and closer to my desk, making it look like he was observing random things along the way. I knew what he was really doing though, slowly ambling toward where the papers laid strewn across the flat surface of my desk. I cleared my throat loudly just before he reached it, causing him to turn around and look at me with an expression of pure innocence. I just glared at him though, and eventually he gave in and wiped the clueless look off his face, sighing quietly before speaking up. "We should probably get changed before your mother accuses us of being incapable of that too, huh?"

"Yeah! You can change in the bathroom and I'll let you know when I'm decent." I beamed, trying to sound as cheery as possible in case I'd unknowingly hurt his feelings by not letting him see what was on the desk. He didn't seem too phased though, just smiling before making his way back over to where he'd dropped his bag by the door.

"Sounds good." He replied as he picked it up and slung it over one arm, heading straight for the bathroom then. I waited until the door clicked into place to hop up and go to clean off the desk. I shoved the papers carelessly into the first drawer I could reach, not worrying if they got wrinkled. I'd still have to re-do and copy them a thousand times over before I was happy with any of them.

After they were all packed away I rushed to get changed, not wanting to make Tyler wait in the bathroom awkwardly just because I was half naked still when he finished. Come to think of it it probably would have been normal to get changed in the same room, it's not like we were getting full-out naked or anything. I mean, I'd seen him in his swimtrunks and that really wasn't any different than in his underwear. Well, I guess that depends on what kind of underwear he wears... Or if he wears any at all...

Damn it, Troye! Not the time!

I decided this internal debate could wait for another time, seeing as it was clear what kind of direction it was going to go in if I pondered it any longer. I'd just come to the conclusion that things were different with Tyler, especially because I was out of the closet now. 

I hastily pulled the striped shirt over my head, pouting slightly that we'd grabbed one so skin-tight in our rush to get out of the store. I usually wore clothes a size or two too big for me, they were just more comfortable that way. Next I dropped my pants and hurriedly grabbed the all-black pair off the bed, hopping into them clumsily. I had them halfway up my legs, when the unmistakably eery feeling of something crawling on me had me freezing. It was only for a second before I regained the ability of movement and flipped my arm over quickly, immediately screaming daintily when my eyes fell on the huge spider on my forearm. I flung my arm wildly and leapt backwards, ignoring my family and Tyler demanding to know what the hell was going on. 

"Ow! Fuck!" I yelled, realizing I'd smoothly jumped backward right into the corner of my bedside table. That's definitely going to bruise, badly. 

"Troye? What are you doing out there?" Tyler laughed between his words some, but there was no denying all the concern in his tone. I didn't reply though, freezing yet again when I caught sight of the wretched creature again. 

"Are you two okay in there? What's wrong?" My eyebrows shot up upon hearing my mother outside the door, before realizing I'd locked it and I didn't have to worry about her walking in on whatever this shitshow was. After that my attention went back to the spider, watching in horror as it approached my pillow. I will never be able to sleep on that again if he even so much as touches it once with those grimy little-

"A spider? A fucking spider? Are you kidding me?" Tyler's breathless voice right behind me was probably the only thing that could have gotten me to turn away at that point. I spun around, blushing furiously when I saw he was still shirtless. He was standing on his tippy-toes, likely so he could see what I was looking at over my shoulder. 

"It's huge and it was on my arm!" I whined, like that justified my total freak-out. It didn't, but I was sure going to pretend it did. He just rolled his eyes, pushing past me and grabbing a tissue from the very table I'd just hit my leg on. Then, as if it was the most easy thing in the world, he just reached over and plucked the spider up with it, crinkling it up and walking away to toss it in the trash bin. The second it made contact with the rest of the garbage he turned back around, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes as he stared me down with an almost skeptical look. I was confused as to why, before I followed his gaze and realized my pants were still around my ankles. 

"New trend?" He muttered through his oncoming giggles, his eyes staying trained on where my pants should have been covering.

"Stop staring!" I shouted suddenly, using one hand to cover my bulge and the other to attempt reaching to pull up my pants. I realized after a matter of seconds I wasn't going to be able to without bending over, locking eyes with Tyler as I did so so his eyes didn't try to wander anywhere else again. I grabbed the waistband of the pants, yanking them up hastily and turning around as they neared the top of my legs. I awkwardly readjusted myself, aware that his eyes were on me but also momentarily distracted as I tried to get comfortable in the too-tight pants. These weren't even just skin-tight, they were probably too small on me. I could always wear another pair of black pants, but right now I really just wanted to get myself covered before Tyler's eyes lingered on my body for any longer. Sure, part of me was all for him staring me down, especially because it meant he was showing interest in my body. But that doesn't make it any less awkward being under his gaze.

After I'd finally gotten the pants buckled and fitted on in the most comfortable they were going to get, I turned back around to face Tyler. He had a mischievous smirk on his lips and every now and then they'd twitch like he was trying to fight off laughter, but his eyes were oddly emotionless. The mirthful light they usually held while he teased me was absent, but I wasn't about to dwell on it right now. I had more important matters to attend to, like trying to make myself look as casual and composed as I possibly could after letting my crush see my screaming over a spider in my underpants.

I sat down on the edge of the bed, trying to conceal how surprised I was when he made his way over and sat down beside me. I wasn't sure if that made things less or more awkward. But as the seconds ticked by and both of us were still deadly silent sitting beside each other, I realized it was definitely more awkward. I sighed heavily, decided to try and mend the moment myself. (Which was actually probably a horrible idea, considering how good of a job a usually did when it came to trying to do anything social).

"It's your fault anyway, we clearly agreed that you weren't to leave the bathroom until I'd announced I was decent." I muttered, squaring my shoulders and sitting slightly taller as I tried to pass the blame off onto him. I should have known that wasn't going to work though, considering Tyler couldn't stand to be wrong in any situation and also because it really wasn't his fault at all.

"Well, excuse me for worrying when you started screaming like a freaking banshee!" He snapped, actually sounding slightly offended and making me worry I may have even succeeded in making the situation worse. I turned my head nervously, locking eyes with him and swallowing with a gulp as I awaited his reaction. His eyes were cold at first, and I was really beginning to panic, when his lips suddenly curved up and he burst into his signature cackle. I really should have convinced him to go as a witch for Halloween.

His laugh seemed to go on forever, to the point he was clutching his stomach and leaning on me for support. I bit my lip, actually hoping to hear one of his thoughts. It had been a while and I was curious what was actually going through his head right now. But I guess it wasn't much, considering I got absolutely nothing, other than the insanely loud noise of his laugh in my ear as he nuzzled his face into my neck. All of his body weight was leaning on me now, but I wasn't really complaining, especially not when he moved from clutching his stomach to hugging my arm to him and continuing to laugh so hard he'd snort occasionally.

"Stop laughing!" I giggled out, actually starting to laugh myself after listening to him go on for so long. He didn't listen though, only laughing harder after hearing my voice. I rolled my eyes, smiling widely as I fought off my own bout of laughter. After about another minute he finally managed to regain control over himself, lifting his head from my neck to lock eyes with me.

"You're a mess." He giggled. I debated feigning hurt over his words, before realizing I'd be an idiot not to agree with them after what had just happened here. 

"I know I am." I sighed out, running a hand through my hair. He gave one last lopsided smile before raising his arms over his head, my eyes following how all of his abdominal muscles up flexed with the stretch. He was wearing solely the tight black police pants and his hat, which was actually a really good combination. Why do people need shirts at all? He could pull it off just like that.

"I'm gonna go put a shirt on." I guiltily let my eyes drift back to his, certain he'd caught me staring and it wasn't just a coincidence he remembered he was shirtless at that moment. Sure enough his eyes were locked with mine. I could have reacted to this really nervously and averted my eyes, but something about the intrigued expression he had on seemed to encourage me.

"You don't have to, you know. You could be one of those shirtless cops like the ones in Magic Mike." I mumbled, my eyes flitting around the room instead of meeting with his as I said it. It probably would have been less awkward and meaningful if I could have held his gaze as I said it, then it would have seemed more like a joke and less like his thirsty gay best friend begging him to be shirtless more often. I guess it's a good thing I'm 90% certain he's equally as gay and even thirstier.

"They were not shirtless cops, they were male strippers. Also I'm not sure if I'm more interested in the fact you want me to remain shirtless or that you've watched that movie at all." I blushed, not realizing I'd given away that information before he mentioned it. It had been a pretty recent watch for me, considering my sexuality and dirty mind were both pretty recent discoveries. I was about to try and muster some sort of smooth comeback, which would have surely failed and been the furthest thing from smooth there is, when he suddenly rose from the bed. He didn't say anything before walking over to the bathroom, but he also didn't close the door now. I watched him trifle through his bag and pull out the smaller bag that presumably held his costume contents, watching as he carried it back over and tossed it on my bed. He'd pulled the shirt out beforehand though, and instead of following the movement of the bag flying through the air toward me, I found my eyes trained on watching him shrug on the shirt. I didn't even look away when the costume bag hit me in the leg, instead watching his skilled fingers hurriedly flit through the buttons one-by-one, moving up at a steady speed until they reached the one at the collar of his shirt. He didn't button those though, which had me silently thanking the gods when I realized it left the perfect amount of his chest exposed. Well, actually, the perfect amount would have been all of it, but I'm a reasonable person and I'll settle for what I can get.

"Who's the one staring now?" He asked, winking at me before reaching forward and snatching the costume bag back up. I swallowed noticeably, watching as he turned on his heel and sauntered over to the mirror to check himself out. Coincidentally, what he didn't realize, was he wasn't the only one checking him out at the time. 

He finished his costume while still looking at himself in the mirror, slipping his belt through the loops in his pants, pinning his badge on, and clipping the gun holster onto his belt. I blushed when I watched him withdraw a police baton from the bag, my mind immediately wandering back to where it had been yesterday in the lunch line. God, I'm beginning to think I have less control over these dirty thoughts than my freaking mindreading.

"Where are your handcuffs?" I looked up from the floor, not realizing Tyler had turned around until he spoke up. I sighed, reaching over to snatch my own costume bag off the floor. I didn't have nearly as many props, just the handcuffs and the small black mask to cover my eyes. Probably why my costume had been so much cheaper than his.

"Do I have to wear them?" I whined, giving him a hopeful eyelash batting. He just rolled his eyes though, gesturing for me to walk over to him. I listened, carrying the mask and handcuffs in my hands. He snatched them from me as soon as I reached him though, grinning as he lifted them and waved them in front of my eyes.

"No, but you're gonna, at least for your mother's pictures." He commanded, his tone leaving no room for argument. I sighed, reluctantly extending my hands and trying to ignore his small victory dance as he clicked them onto my wrists.

"But you know how accident prone I am, what if I fall and can't catch myself?" I complained, knowing it was a useless effort and I'd already lost the battle. His hands stayed on my wrists, but his eyes flickered up to mine.

"I'll catch you." He said matter-of-factly, like it was something I should have just assumed. I'm certain he meant for it to be a casual confession or whatever, but it had my stupid heart fluttering faster like it always did when he said something cute. I couldn't bring myself to look away from his eyes either, which ultimately meant he wasn't looking away from mine. He furrowed his brows so slightly it was barely noticeable, and I watched his eyes darken slightly as he likely tried to figure out whatever was going on in my head right now. I don't know why he has so much trouble, really, you'd think it'd be clear as day what sort of things I think about in moments like this. Then again, to be fair, I can never tell what he's thinking about either. Well, without the help of my good old mindreading curse, which had been seriously lacking lately. Way to be so faulty just when I start to like reading thoughts, curse.

"We should probably head downstairs. Come on, you worthless criminal scum." He laughed obnoxiously at his own 'joke', and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at what an adorable idiot he is. I didn't reply though, other than just subtly nodding in agreement. How was I meant to speak when he'd let his hand drift down and weaved his fingers between mine? It was pretty weird when I thought about it though, holding his hand while mine were handcuffed together, but as long as I got to feel his skin on mine I definitely wasn't complaining.

A/n: It's dark in my imaginationn, darrrk in my imaginationnn. Okay, wow, hi, it feels like forever since I've updated. How have y'all been? Also if this chapter was boring or whatever iddijrhegtfhrdh I had so much trouble actually sitting down and writing it so yeah, bear with me. Also, i know there's going to be a riot in the comments yelling at me for not having him come out to Troye yet but it was moving slow okay and idk, I want them to do it later after his family are all out of the house and I want it to be perfect so pls just bear with me. IT WILL DEFINITELY BE NEXT CHAPTER OR THE ONE AFTER, IF I HAVE TO POST A 15K WORD CHAPTER. Also I know this chapter could have used more mindreading but shsshshhshhshhhshshshhhh, I sometimes forget to do it and then cant add it in or dont know what to say so shutup and leave me alone. Let me be free. WHY YOU GOTTA BE SO RUDE, DONT YOU KNOW IM HUMAN TOO!??! Ugh, isn't Tronnor gross? (author's note inside a fucking author's note bc the comments on this are beginning to annoy me. I, personally, think Tronnor IS gross. I wasn't saying you all have to, I was sharing my opinion on it. I don't mean to offend, I meant to start a discussion. If you're gonna leave a comment yelling at me for calling Tronnor gross think twice and if you still feel the need to comment don't be mad if I get sassy with you) (wow that sounded really rude and out of place in this rather happy author's note, what have I done?) (sorry this is future me and I'm having a bad day) (okbye) Also there are some very exciting things in store like new story wise but I'm not going into details yet so stay tuned puppets. 

Finally, this chapter is dedicated to the lovely, Chloe (gurlyouafiiiineapple). I know I dedicate to her like 24/7 but I actually have an excuse this time! The day I posted my last update (august 29th) we started dating and idkk, its really cool and im really excited and shes really perfect (aside from when she takes ages to update and ships tronnor) (i still love you though shh) and agaddghjgdhkffhgjd. SO YEAH, it's like long distance and yadda yadda weird stuff, but idc because she's literally everything and I can actually call her miiiine and I'm just eeeeeek. Eeek all day erryday. ANYWAY WTF AM I DOING RAMBLING, SORRY, I JUST MEANT TO TELL YOU ALL TO FOLLOW HER. She's an amazing writer of a teacherxstudent au, troyler oneshots (smutty ones in the future), aNNNNNNND like this really cute highscool based one where Steele and Tyler are best friennds and Troye is younger but they've kind fooled around and are trying to fight their feelings for each other. ITS ADORABLE AND SHE WRITES SO GOOD, SHES A LITERAL QUEEN I SWEAR IF YOU DONT GO READ IT RIGHT NOW AND MAUL HER WITH LOVE I WILL SEVER YOUR LIMBS. okbye kiddies that's it for today. vote and commennt and all that jazzy jazz mazzz fazz.