*Tyler's POV*

"Tyler, are you paying attention?" I jumped, a guilty blush spreading across my face before I even turned to face my coach. I'd been staring off into the stands, again, running my eyes over the growing crowd and coming back just as disappointed as before. Sure, Troye had made it very clear he wouldn't be coming, but apparently my heart didn't get the memo.

"No." I said honestly, knowing it was pointless to even attempt a lie at this point. I turned slowly, sighing nearly as loud as he did when our eyes met.

"Look, Ty, I'm sorry to break it to you but whoever you're expecting probably isn't going to show if they aren't here yet. Now either you can mope and cost us the game, or you can take all your pent up frustration out on the other team and win this game." He said gruffly, though if you really knew him, like I did after the last three years on his team, you could hear the underlying sympathetic tones to his voice. Everyone knew what it was like to get stood up, even strict football coaches. I guess I couldn't call it being stood up, he'd been blatantly clear with me he wasn't coming, but I don't know. It just felt a lot more final to look into the stands and not find him there. "So? What's it gonna be, Ty?"

"I'll get my head in the game, sir." I mumbled awkwardly, giving him a curt nod and wandering the short distance back to the bench. I grabbed the vitamin drink, chugging some of it and ignoring the weird glances I was getting from Caspar and Joey further down the bench. They were probably talking shit again and were worried I'd heard them, not necessarily a new aspect of our friendship. I took a deep breath, knowing it would only be a matter of seconds until the whistle blew and we were all asked to assume our positions. I was not looking forward to this, wishing I was less responsible and could have blown the whole thing off to go sit in the hottub with a half-naked Troye. Oh well, hopefully there'll be other chances for me to see him half-naked, or fully naked, I mean, I wouldn't be opposed to seeing him in any amount of clothing, or lack of clothing. I groaned inwardly, realizing I'd already ruined my promise to keep my head in the game. It's not my fault the game didn't have a cute butt, pretty eyes, and an adorable laugh, maybe if it did I'd think about it a bit more.

After that I managed to do pretty good, concentrating at least enough to react to other people's moves, just maybe not enough to execute as many of my own as usual. I was beginning to worry I'd taken the coach's words a lot more seriously than he'd meant them though, quite literally taking out my frustration as I plowed through the players on the opposite team. There was one in particular, that had been annoying me all night. He kept giving me this knowing smirk, one I often got when I was in public and accidentally acted overly flamboyant. It was basically the 'I know you're gay' smirk, something used by both people that wanted to beat you up and people the wanted to beat you up in an entirely different sense of the word, if you catch my drift. The worst part was, I couldn't tell which one he meant. I genuinely couldn't tell if he was angry with me or wanted to get into my pants, but either way I was not here for it. I tried to make this clear in an array of different techniques; avoiding him, being extra rough with him, and simply raising my middle finger at him when all else seemed to fail. I immediately regretted this, my eyes going wide as he changed courses suddenly and started straight toward me. I tensed, watching as he lumbered toward me with a predatory glare.

"W-What do you want?" I asked, trying to sound a lot bigger than I felt. I failed, obviously, considering the fact I'd decided to develop a stutter right at that very moment. He just grinned, obviously very aware of all the people shouting random things at us as he began to circle me. I moved as well, trying to keep a distance between us without looking wimpy. 

"Does the your team know you're gay? Do you watch them in the showers after practice?" He spat, the hate laced in with his tone making it clear he was most definitely not looking for a hook up. Surprisingly, I wasn't that disappointed by this new-found information.

"Are you implying I'm a pervert just because of my sexuality?" I asked, anger rising in my own throat as I thought about this. It made my physically ill to think that there were people out there that seriously believed stuff like that.

"Well, I've got to give you credit for owning up to it, if I had that sort of sickness I'd try and hide it any way that I could." He laughed, the noise sounding strange and cruel on his tongue. I bit down on my own tongue harshly, knowing I'd better keep my mouth shut if I wanted to keep from getting beaten up. I was strong, but this guy was easily double the size of me. He was moving closer and I spent every step wondering how to get out of the situation, actually panicking a little when he reached arm's length away.

"Go Tyler!" We both froze, the undeniably nervous voice that cracked halfway through the statement causing us both to look up into the stands. I didn't dare to hope as my eyes scanned the crowds, landing on the only standing person seconds later. I felt a wave of relief wash over me, my knees feeling like they'd gone to mush underneath of me. That was Troye. He decided to come after all! An absolutely giddy air came over me, none of what the guy had said affecting me at all any longer. Troye showed up. He cared enough to face his fears for me. 

"Is that your boyfriend?" The guy asked, drawing my attention back to his direction. He had on that same cocky smug smirk from earlier and I wanted nothing more than to wipe it off his face. I gave a smirk of my own, giving him a quick wink.

"He will be soon." I purred, jogging off and snickering under my breath at the taken-aback expression on his face. Someone hadn't been expecting me to be so blunt. I ignored him after that, concentrating solely on the game. If I was being honest it probably had more to do with impressing Troye than actually caring about the outcome, but that didn't matter.

By the time the announcer finally called out the words I'd been waiting to hear all night I was practically bouncing with impatience. I'd pounced off the bench, shoving through the crowd of sweaty football players and heading straight for the bleachers. Normally I would have walked right along with them back to the locker rooms and talked over the game and the girls in the crowd, a sort-of tradition of sorts when it came to games, but today I finally had something more interesting to occupy my time. I jogged into the stands, a huge goofy smile on my face despite the fact I was still stuck in my sweaty uniform. I didn't dare take the time to go change yet though, what if Troye left before I got back? I wanted him to know just how much it meant to me that he'd decided to show. I walked in the general direction of where he'd been sitting, standing on my tippy-toes to try and locate him. My heart fluttered in my chest when I recognized the familiar boy. Not that I'd ever admit it, but it probably had more to do with his father's bald head being noticeable than him. Still, I trotted over, pleased to find he had his back turned to me and I could surprise him. They looked like they were about to leave, their hands in their pockets and turned toward the closest exit. I wasn't having that though, bounding forward and nearly knocking over some kid in the process. She grumbled a bit but ultimately wasn't too much of an interruption in my plan. They'd already started walking when I reached them but I didn't care, carelessly throwing my arms around Troye from behind and pulling him back into my chest. He tensed in my arms, going completely rigid like I'd assaulted him or something. I decided to quickly reassure him, squeezing slightly tighter and letting out an elated hum.

"You came." I whispered, nuzzling my face between his shoulder blades. He relaxed immediately, his arms coming up to wrap around my own on his stomach. 

"I couldn't resist seeing your manly prowess, obviously." He mumbled, though his sarcasm wasn't nearly as convincing considering how quiet and meek his voice was. I didn't call him out on it though, just enjoying the feeling of having him so close. I was still doing just that when a loud cough made us both jump out of the embrace, our cheeks flaming as we both turn to Shaun guiltily. He just smirked knowingly though, an almost cocky air to the look.

"I told you he'd be happy to see you, Troye!"

"Dad. Go away. Now." Troye said flatly, earning a giggle from me and a sigh from Shaun. He listened though, giving me a sly smile and handing Troye what looked like a wad of money before heading toward the exit.

"I'll be waiting in the car, take your time." He snickered, ducking away just as Troye reached out to swat him away. He was quick to leave now, heading off with the same smirk on from earlier. As soon as he was out of sight Troye turned around for the first time since I came to him, a huge grin on his face. We just stared at each other like idiots for a few seconds, before both of us broke down into hysterical laughter. After we'd finally regained control over ourselves I stepped forward, carelessly slinging an arm around his waist and hauling him down toward the locker rooms. I didn't plan to take him in with me obviously, it wouldn't end well to introduce him to that type of enviroment, but he could wait outside as I changed. We stayed silent the beginning of the trip, waiting until we'd almost reached it to spark up any kind of conversation.

"So, did you enjoy the game?" I asked, pausing outside the door to the locker room. Most of the boys had probably finished by now and were on their way, but on the off-chance they hadn't I took the liberty to stand  between him and the door. He seemed to think through his response, leaning back against the brick wall and rolling his lip between his lip.

"Truthfully? It was boring, and the people were annoying, and I was hungry the entire time, and-"

"So you hated it then?" I asked, my voice suddenly quiet and unsure. I mean, I guess it was stupid to think he'd enjoy it when he hated everything about it, I just felt a little bad that I'd basically forced him to come and he'd hated every second. In fact, I felt so bad I found myself hanging my head, staring down at the dirty ground.

"No! I mean... it was worth it." My lips quirked up into a smile at this, my eyes slowly flickering up to his. He gave a shy smile, blushing slightly and seemingly trying to blend into the wall he was leaning against.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." He confirmed, giving another shy smile instead of elaborating. I decided I'd let him off the hook this time, simply telling him to 'wait here' before heading into the locker rooms. I was relieved to find only two people still in the room, both rather nice guys that wouldn't give Troye any trouble when they left. I guess everyone had been in a rush to get to the feast or something. I stripped down quickly, practically launching myself into the showers. I tried to be hasty, not wanting to leave him waiting outside awkwardly. 

Ten minutes later I was dressed in much comfier clothes, rushing out with my stuff slung over my shoulder messily. Troye was still loyally waiting in the exact same place as earlier, staring down at his phone and looking rather small despite his height. I rushed over eagerly, shoving him playfully before running off ahead of him. He groaned, though a second later his footsteps were echoing down the hallway after me. I ran faster than him obviously, dodging all of his advances effortlessly as I ran out into the parking lot. I slowed down then though, realizing I was wasting the bit of time I had with him before I myself had to go to the feast. It's not like I even had any excuses to stall for time, I literally only had until we reached his car. He caught up quickly, immediately darting his hands forward and playfully punching me in the shoulder.

"You're the worst." He grumbled quietly, shoving his hands into the pocket of his hoodie and falling into line beside me. I rolled my eyes, watching in horror as the familiar black car came into view. Why did they have to park so close to the exits? Damn it, it meant I had even less time with him. We fell silent then, likely both worrying about the looming separation. It wasn't fair, that I'd been stuck on the field the entire time instead of in the stands watching the game with him. I could have made a cheesy movie moment out of it, offering him my sweater and going to buy him food at the concession stand. I was still daydreaming cutesy things we could have done when Troye suddenly stopped next to me, subconsciously taking a step closer to my side.

"Troye?" I asked quietly, following his nervous gaze. It landed on a girl and her boyfriend, both of which I recognized from parties in the past. Without thinking I took another step toward him, now standing so close his arm was pressed up against my side.

"Nothing, they were just being jerks in the crowd earlier. It's nothing, if we don't stare they'll leave us alone." Troye mumbled, his gaze trained firmly on the pavement. I felt a twinge of pain in my chest at seeing how he dealt with his problems first hand. I glanced toward them again despite his warning not to, not surprised when my eyes met with their wandering ones. Before I knew it they were both lumbering toward us, Troye mumbling under his breath about how I 'shouldn't have looked'. 

"Hey Tyler!" The boy shouted, making me feel slightly bad for having no idea what his name was. I just nodded politely, quickly moving to switch Troye and I's positions and be the one closer to him. They came to a stop right beside us, matching Chesire cat smiles on. 

"Who's this?" The girl asked, giving me a huge smile like she'd known me her whole life. I sighed, suddenly feeling rather defensive of the way they were eyeing Troye up. I wasn't sure how their encounter earlier had gone, but Troye definitely hadn't seemed happy to see them.

"This is Troye." I said blandly, not giving them any of the information they so obviously wanted me to. Troye seemed thankful of this, wordlessly shuffling closer to me to the point his body heat radiated off him and mixed with mine. I wasn't complaining though, the extra warmth more than welcome on the chilly night. The couple exchanged knowing looks then, before turning back to us.

"Are you two friends?" The guy asked, the slightest of smirks on his lips as he spoke. Part of me wanted to hit him for asking such an obvious question, obviously we were friends if we were walking together and chatting. At the same time, I knew the way I answered this was going to affect a lot more than just his knowledge of Troye and I's friendship. I could say we weren't friends and come up with some elaborate rouse as to why we were chatting, which would mean they'd completely forget about it in a matter of hours. Or I could tell them the truth, that I was friends with Troye. It seemed simpler, but it would lead to a lot more complications down the road. They'd judge me for being friends with him, they'd judge him on whether or not he was good enough for me or everything that was wrong with him, and then they'd surely tell everyone else and make their opinions on the entire matter very clear. I wasn't sure why it was such a big deal that I had one not-extremely-popular friend, but for some reason to them it was. It'd be the news of the school, for whatever stupid reason. But yet, when I felt Troye stir against my side slightly, the sound of his ragged nervous breathing, the way his hand somehow just managed to brush against mine, I couldn't bring myself to do anything that might upset him in the slightest. I didn't want him to think I was ashamed to be his friend, especially not when I was saying it to irrelevant losers like this.

"Yes, good friends. Why?" I asked, pointedly narrowing my eyes at both of them as if challenging them to question it. They exchanged looks again, more confused than cocky, before just nodding their heads at us.

"Okay, cool, I guess we'll see you both around then." The girl said hurriedly, lacing her fingers with the guys and tugging him off. I sighed, knowing their quick departure meant they'd definitely only had the conversation to gain information. I didn't care though, continuing toward Troye's car unfazed. I had only made it a couple steps when hands wrapped around my wrist, tugging it roughly.

"Tyler! What was that about?" Troye hissed, keeping his fingers on my wrist as he spoke. I shrugged, turning around to look at him slowly. His eyes looked different usual, though at first glance he just looked angry with me, I knew him well enough to see the underlying emotions. He looked more confused than anything, like me being honest about our relationship was the most unlikely thing he'd ever witnessed.

"What was what about?" I said innocently, batting my eyelashes almost teasingly. I immediately regretted this move, watching as his eyes lost all undertones and just looked solely angry.

"The entire school is going to hear about this, you know. Everyone's going to talk about you hanging out with 'that weird boy' and everyone's going to stare at me in the halls. Why would you even say that to them? You could have lied." He said, his eyes dark as they locked with mine, challenge glinting in them. I just shook my head though, not wanting a fight with him of all people. I decided to just be honest with him, if anyone deserved it, it was him.

"I don't know, Troye, I'm kind of tired of lying. I want to be able to hang-out with my best friend when I want and I don't want to worry about who sees. If they want to talk, let them. You mean too much to me to let people I don't even care about affect what we have." I rambled, sighing at the end as we came to a stop beside his car. I was aware of the fact Shaun was probably watching us through the tinted windows, but I couldn't be bothered to care as Troye looked up with flushed cheeks and his mouth hanging agape. He closed it, before opening it again as if he planned to reply. When nothing came out this time either he seemed to give up for good, giving me a weak smile.

Awkwardness settled after that, the familiar pattern of neither of us wanting to separate starting. We were both standing in front of each other with our hands in our pockets, staring down at the ground instead of at each other. I really didn't want to leave him, we'd barely spent fifteen minutes together and it wasn't fair. I was slightly surprised when he was the first to move a moment later, his shoes scraping against the pavement as he stepped toward me.

"So, uh, I guess this is goodbye for tonight." He mumbled, his unsure tone making me smile despite the heaviness of the situation. I looked up slowly, surprised when I was immediately greeted by his arms wrapping around my torso. I was used to me being the one to initiate hugs, but this was a pleasant change. I lean into his embrace, wishing it'd never have to end. We were still hugging quite some time later when a familiar horn going off had us both jumping, my forehead smacking against his jaw. We both turned to glare at his car, knowing Shaun had been the one to so rudely interrupt our embrace. Eventually Troye turned back though, giving a weak smile before turning back toward the car, He made it about two steps before I let out a squeak, not even sure what I planned on saying but knowing I had to say something. I wasn't ready to let him go just yet.

"Hey, Troye, what are you doing after this?" I asked quietly, blushing as he stared me down questioningly.

"Nothing..." He mumbled tentatively, keeping his eyes on me as he spoke. I took in a shaky breath, knowing there was no turning back if I said what I was about to. I was really going to choose him over the feast, the thing I looked forward to most every single football season. It was the only reason I played, and yet it wasn't nearly as important to me as a certain blue-eyed boy with an angel's voice.

"Want to do something then?" I asked finally, regaining my courage after a few seconds daydreaming about him. His tentative expression was immediately replaced with a warm one, his mouth stretching into one of those smiles I loved so much to see on his face. You know, those truly happy ones that made you feel like a saint for managing to make anyone look so absolutely at peace with themselves.

"Like what?"

"It's a surprise." I beamed cheekily, mostly because I had absolutely no idea what I planned to do if he said yes. I hadn't thought that far through. All I knew was I wanted to be near him, what we did didn't matter.

"What about your feast?" He asked, eyeing my suspiciously. I decided not to give too much away, giving an indifferent shrug. He wasn't buying this though, a huge smile immediately invading his features that challenged even his last happy smile. "Have you chosen me over food? That's like the highest of honors when it comes to Tyler Oakley."

"Shut-up, do you want to hang-out or not?" I mumbled, my cheeks red as I debated what I'd actually do if he rejected me. I'd be crushed. I wasn't sure when it had happened, but due to a series of fortunate events, Troye had somehow ended up the most important thing in my life. It was stupid, and risky, and unpredictable, but it was also something I wouldn't give up for anything. What I felt for him was so intense, like all other emotions rolled into one to create one super emotion. I could never give up something like that, something so important.

"Of course, Tyler, do you even have to ask at this point?"

A.n: GUYS ITS 5AM I AM LITERALLY SO TIRED IM NOT EVEN GONNA EDIT BUT I MEAN, I DONT THINK I MADE MANY MISTAKES THIS CHAP. POINT EM OUT IF YOU FIND ANY. OKAY, WOW WOO, basically nothing to say other than COMMENT and VOTE. Also, it's not important quite yet, but I sort of have something planned for when I hit 1k followers so just to alert you. I'm going to upload a oneshot every day for the week after I get 1k. Don't like rush to get it though because I still have to get things written for it yanno. Okbye Im tired as frig and i only stayed up to write this bc like 5555 people messaged me asking about it. (That's an over-exaggeration obviously but there were a lot)