*Tyler's POV*

I held up my two shirt options for today, narrowing my eyes as I glared into the mirror. I'd always been the type to take forever to get ready in the mornings, but since meeting Troye, I'd only gotten a hundred times worse. It wasn't just what I thought looked cute anymore, I had to worry about what outfits he'd prefer as well. I mean, obviously I didn't have to consider it, he wasn't shallow enough to actually judge a person based on their outfits. But if it meant catching his eyes lingering on me for just a few seconds longer or earning an adorable shy compliment from his lips, then of course the extra effort was worth it.

Speak of the devil, a familiar ringtone was filling my room seconds later. My mother was also hollering for me downstairs, but priorities. I tossed the shirts carelessly onto the floor, rushing over and collapsing onto my bed. I only let myself rest for a second though before my hand was shooting out, retrieving my phone from under the pillows and bringing it back to my face.

"Less than twenty-four hours!!" I groaned out loud as I read what the text was, rolling my eyes in time with the sound. Normally I ignored his little update texts, but judging by the amount of exclamation marks he'd decided to include, he figured this one was a pretty big deal. Which gave me all the more reason to make fun of him for it.

"You are a total loser." I punched in quickly, smirking as I pictured what his reaction would be. I hadn't expected him to take that one conversation so seriously that he actually went through with his words and gave daily update texts, but yet here he was. It had started out with me teasing him and saying that I was willing to bet he was counting down the days until I came over. He'd taken it quite literally though, sending me daily update texts stating how much longer we had until Halloween. To some it might have been annoying, but considering there was nothing I loved more than his attention, I actually didn't mind it at all.

My phone went off in my hand and my train of thought was immediately abandoned, my curiosity to see what he'd respond with absolutely overwhelming.

"Says the idiot who just dropped everything he was doing to reply to me." I sighed heavily upon reading this, my eyes drifting away from the screen to peer at the forgotten outfit choices on my floor. That wasn't even talking about the fact I'd directly ignored my mother yelling, not even knowing if it was to say goodbye to me before work or what. He was definitely right, I had dropped everything to reply to him. I wasn't going to let him know that though, the last thing that boy needed was one more thing to tease me about. If one thing had changed in the last two weeks, it was the fact our teasing relationship was no longer one-sided. He seemed to always know what to respond to make me blush when I was trying to get him to, and I both hated and loved it. Of course I hated to be made a fool of, but I couldn't help but love that accomplished grin he got every time he made me stutter.

"Shut-up." I replied simply, convincing myself that I was not going to reply to him until I got to school. I could do that. Surely I wasn't so obsessed that I couldn't stand twenty minutes not knowing what he had to say.

He texted me back almost instantly, but I grit my teeth and refused to answer it, trying to prove to myself that I could put myself before him. I managed to choose an outfit, style my hair, and even eat breakfast, all while ignoring the now constant buzzing of my phone. I guess he didn't like being ignored, considering it had only encouraged him to spam me.

I stuffed the final bite of my breakfast into my mouth, getting up and sliding on my sock-feet to the counter. I picked up my phone then, grinding my bottom lip between my teeth as I resisted the urge to just make that one click of the touch screen and see what these fifty-eight missed texts were. I was willing to bet emojis or random letters, but how would I know if  I didn't check?

I surprised even myself when I ended up just pocketing it, smiling proudly at my own self-discipline as I turned to head toward the door. I snatched my backpack off the kitchen table, humming quietly as I practically skipped toward the front door. I made it about three steps out the door and across the porch, when the sound of someone clearing their throat had me gasping and spinning around. What was originally fear quickly turned into annoyance upon seeing Troye leaning against the small wall beside the door, his lips quirked up into an obviously amused smile.

"Troye! You dick! I thought you were a kidnapper or something!" I shouted, trying to pass my shaky voice off as anger rather than shock.

"A kidnapper? Who the hell would want you?" His tone was teasing but it only took a few seconds of staring into his eyes to recognize his usual concern that he'd actually offended me or gotten on my nerves. He was a lot quicker to tease me, but I got the feeling he hadn't gotten any less cautious around me. And the only way to reassure him it was fine? To tease him right back.

"You would, clearly. What are you doing here?" I giggled, gesturing to the way he was leaning against the side of my house. He smirked, his confidence seemingly regained as he pushed off the wall and started toward me. He didn't stop until he was directly in front of me, his arms coming up to clasp his hands together at the back of my neck.

"I'm here to drive you to school, obviously. I texted you saying that I was just a little bit ago, is your phone dead or something?" He asked, his eyes going wide with what was clearly fake innocence. He knew damn well that there was nothing wrong with my phone. I let his act carry on only a few seconds longer, shoving him off when he started to bat his eyelashes.

"Or something." I muttered under my breath, refusing to feel bad about ignoring him for barely twenty minutes. I don't want to be as obsessed with him as I am, it's unhealthy. Then again... He did drive to my house to see me after just this long without talking, who's the real obsessed one here?

"So, you do want a drive?" He asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets, clearly not bothered at all that I'd shoved him off. It was when he asked stupid questions like that,  that I remembered he wasn't as sure of himself as he let on.

"Do you even have to ask? Your car has hella comfy seats and it means not having to pay for gas, of course I want a drive!" I beamed, hopping down the steps ahead of him. I waited patiently for him to catch up then, noticing that his steps weren't nearly as enthusiastic as mine were as he scuffed his feet against the concrete behind me. He stopped beside me, and I was about to sling my arm around him, when he responded.

"Right." He muttered, his tone sounding oddly hurt. I furrowed my brows, thinking back to what I'd said last. I frowned when I realized how differently he could have taken that, looking up at him and feeling even worse upon seeing how withdrawn he looked, staring at the ground. I sighed out loud, reaching out and tugging on his wrist until he let me pull his hand out of his pocket. As soon as I was able I laced my fingers through his, looking up at him with my mouth bent up into such a huge smile it was probably anything but attractive. I wiped it off my face abruptly a few seconds later, opening my eyes and getting a sense of happiness upon seeing how much cheerier he already looked.

"I don't exactly mind your company either, you know." I added, squeezing his hand without breaking my eyes away from his. He nodded, his cheeks deepening to an adorable shade of pink.

"Right." He repeated himself, though the one-word statement sounded much different now that his tone had changed.

"Someone has a very limited vocabulary today." I teased, expecting him to shove me in reaction. Instead, he simply scoffed and rolled his eyes, swinging our hands between us just slightly. If I wanted to be really vain, I could say he just didn't want to break our hands apart and that's why he hadn't bothered to shove me, but it'd be foolish to believe that, right? Not so much foolish because it was unlikely, but foolish because it'd freaking suck if I found out that wasn't the case after I'd let myself believe it.

Despite the oddly high amount of traffic on the roads, the drive to school still felt like only seconds passing. I guess time flies when you're trying to procrastinate doing something you really don't want to. It's not that school had been horrific compared to usual or anything, it was just an undesirable place in general, and the odd homophobic slur definitely didn't make it any better. It could have been worse though, I could have had to go through it without Troye by my side. Besides, I was just getting whatever ricocheted off of him, he was the one who had actually came out of the closet, it was probably a thousand times worse for him. Yet he didn't seem too downhearted by it, especially considering I still complained more than him when it came to getting out of the car for school.

"Come on! We're gonna be late for class." He groaned, reaching over the console to swat at my thigh. I didn't outwardly reply at first, just silently shifting my eyes up to glare at him through my lashes. But when his swats turned more into punches, repeatedly on me kneecap, I realized he wasn't going to back off until I told him too. Damn him and his growing confidence around me.

"I don't wanna!" I pouted, flailing my own hand out and knocking his away. He let out an indignified huff, crossing his arms as he sunk back into his seat. You could physically see the gears turning in his mind as he tried to come up with some sort of scheme to get me up, which was why I was so surprised when he ended up sighing and running a hand through his hair dejectedly.

"Fine then, I'll just leave you sitting here in my car. Don't break anything." He sassed, giving me a pointed glare before slowly reaching for the door handle, like he expected me to stop him any second.

"Troye." I blurted, deciding to make him believe for a second his stupid pity plan had worked.

"Tyler."

"You're annoying." I giggled, surprised when any trace of a smile vanished from his face, leaving behind a cross between an angry and sad expression. He opened his mouth as if he was going to reply to me before just slowly shaking his head and hurriedly opening his door. He grabbed his bag and hauled it out with him, slamming the door roughly considering how much he babied this car. He was promptly starting across the parking lot and leaving me sitting dumbfounded in his passenger seat, unsure of where to go from here. Was he actually upset? Shit. I hadn't actually meant he was annoying, it was a stupid playfight! Before I could even think it through I, too, was grabbing my bag and quickly jogging to catch up with him. I was panting as I caught up to his side, immediately scrambling to explain myself. "Hey! I was kidding, dork!" 

"I know, but what better way to get your ass out of the car than to storm off and leave you feeling guilty?" He replied without missing a beat, looking up from the ground with an annoyingly cheeky smile. I guess he had a right to wear it though, he'd gotten his way exactly. I groaned, gently shoulder-checking him and strutting ahead of him grumpily.

"I don't like how easy it is for you to manipulate me, it's not fair." I pouted, trying to look sad and failing when I felt his hand brush against mine that was hanging between us. If it weren't for the whole 'being at school surrounded by homophobic peers' thing, I liked to believe he might have even tried to hold it.

"And I don't like hearing you whine before class everyday." He replied finally as we walked through the doors into the school. He didn't actually sound annoyed though, just like it was the first thing that had come to mind when he was trying to come up with a reply to me.

I continued to drag my feet as I silently trailed behind him to his locker, watching as he started to sort through it was an expression of pure-concentration. After about a minute he'd managed to dissect it's contents and pull out an armful of his obligatory books for today, using his back to lean on his locker door until it shut. After he'd heard the definitive click he finally turned back to me, giving me a lopsided smile.

"Your locker next?" He asked, raising his eyebrows intuitively. I sighed heavily, nodding despite how eager I really was for it.

"We don't even have any classes together today." I mumbled, like that was a perfect explanation for my less-than-attractive whiny behavior. He rolled his eyes, scuffing his feet along the worn floor as he walked beside me. 

"Oh you poor thing, what ever will you do without me?" He replied finally, looking up to wink at me. My eyes went wide and I shoved him, huffing quietly as I came to a stop in front of a familiar locker. 

"Probably get some peace and quiet." I muttered, wordlessly tearing off the piece of paper on the locker stating simply 'fag' that looked suspiciously like Caspar's messy scrawl. Before I'd had nightmares about dealing with this sort of thing, now it just didn't feel like such a big deal. You know what did feel like a big deal though? My ever-growing affection for the idiot next to me. I doubted anything could even compare to that, everything else just felt like background noise. Who knows, maybe he feels the same and that's why he's been taking all this as well as he has.

"Dick." He giggled, leaning against the locker beside mine as I impatiently tugged out textbooks, letting garbage fall to the floor and not even glancing down at it. Troye, however, still had his overwhelmingly nice guy persona, bending over and gathering it up for me. He even set his own books down to deal with it, making me feel slightly bad. Then again, I didn't feel bad when I thought about what a perfect view of his ass I had when he was bent over like that.

After he'd straightened back up and I'd gathered all my things, it was dangerously near to the dreaded time the bell would ring. Half of me wanted to rush off toward my first class before everyone else started rushing through the halls, but I also couldn't bring myself to leave Troye before I absolutely had to. I shifted the books higher up on my waist, looking down the hallway as I continued to ponder over whether it'd be worth it to leave right now.

"Hey, Tyler?" He sounded almost tentative, making me quickly turn around, my first suspicion that someone might have been shooting him a weird look or something. Usually they knew better to do so when I was around him, but there was always an idiot or two that decided to challenge it. I hadn't beat anyone up over their pestering or anything, most idiots I could set in their place with just a dark glare. I wasn't exactly that popular guy everyone looked up to and wanted to be anymore, but I guess it took a while for them to stop addressing me like I was. I wasn't complaining, especially if it made it easier to get them off of Troye's back.

However, my eyes found no one looking even mildly suspicious or rude in the hallways, only a few people scrambling to get ready for their classes. I looked back to Troye then, slightly confused, but the blush in his cheeks and the way he refused to meet my gaze made me realize this wasn't that type of uncomfortable at all.

"What?" I asked, my tone slightly hushed like I expected other people to listen in. Of course they wouldn't be, but I also felt like it made the moment more intimate. And if Troye was about to utter something along the lines of what I'd been waiting for for over a month now, I definitely wanted it to be intimate. I didn't really have any set reason to believe he was about to, other than the fact he was blushing like mad and that he'd already so long being oblivious it was only a matter of time before he figured something out.

"Look, this is really stupid, and it's totally okay for you to say no, but..." He trailed off, laughing at himself like he'd messed up his words horribly or something. It was adorable seeing him so flustered, but I was also about to die from curiosity, rushing to prompt the rest of his question out of him.

"But?"

"My, uh, my mom wants to know if you'd dress up tomorrow to pass out the candy. Like I said, if you don't want to it's fine, just let me know. It's sort of her favorite holiday and she takes it way too serious." He mumbled and stumbled through his words way too quick, but I got the just of it. I watched him rub the back of his neck awkwardly, trying to ward off a smile as I thought about how stupidly nervous he was getting over this. Did he think I was going to call him a nerd or something? It was actually crazy cute, much like anything he does. I mean, it was no love confession by any means, but it was still cute.

"I would, I swear, but I don't have anything to wear unless it's something stupid like my pajamas." I sighed, biting my lip and feeling almost guilty. Who knows, maybe he'd offer me a hand-me-down costume of his or something. I mean, I definitely wouldn't mind wearing anything he had before.

"You don't have a costume left over from past years?" He asks, still sounding slightly unsure like he thought I was making this up to get out of having to wear one. I decided to just be honest with him and tell him why I didn't have a costume. I'd do it sarcastically though, in hopes of not making the mood too serious and awkward.

"I'm a certified cool kid, Troye, we didn't wear costumes, we just went to parties and got blackout drunk." I scoffed and rolled my eyes after I said this, like it was information he should have already known. He just laughed, rolling his eyes right back.

"That definitely sounds 'cool'." He scoffed, his eyes dancing with mirth as they met with mine again. I decided not to comment back, not really wanting another fight so early in the morning, even if it was a playful one. Instead I forlornly looked up at the clock on the wall overhead, watching the seconds tick by to the time our class was scheduled to start. I was actually pretty into watching the second hand tick along, when Troye spoke up again.

"If you're serious about wanting to wear a costume, I'm actually being forced to take Sage and Tyde and go get all of ours tonight. You're free to come along, if you think you can survive a couple hours with my siblings." His tone was once again nervous, but I had a feeling it was more to do with the idea of spending time with both of his siblings and me at the same time that had him worrying rather than my reaction to his suggestion. I grinned cheerily, looking back down at him and nodding.

"I'm sure I'll pull-through, it sounds like fun. I'll call Bruce and let him know at lunch that I'm going to reschedule a bit and work tomorrow instead. Then I'll just come over tomorrow after I get off?" It was more of a statement than a question really, but my quirked eyebrows and inquisitive tone insisted otherwise. I was just checking back to make sure our plans were still in tact, the last thing I wanted to happen was them to get cancelled over bad planning. As much of a dick as he'd been about teasing me over it, I really was insanely excited for tomorrow night. I mean, any night I get to fall asleep in the same room as Troye is bound to be a good one.

"Okay, sounds good. See you in a bit?" He asked hopefully, though as he spoke I couldn't help but to notice the familiar head of hair in the halls behind him. Caspar was surrounded by his usual goons and though I didn't want to leave Troye on his own with him so close, I also knew he'd feel even more inclined to bother us if he saw us together. 

"Yep." I whispered in answer, my eyes locking with Caspar's as strolled past us. I guess you could say he was the king of the school now or whatever, but people didn't really respect him like they had me, they more-so feared him. Understandably, after seeing what he was capable of doing to a person. 

Before either of us had the chance to say anything more, the cringe-worthy soud of the bell ringing was filling the halls. Everyone seemed to scatter at once of the remaining people dwindling, and not surprisingly, Troye was one of them. He gave me a sympathetic smile, likely because of how shitty our goodbye had been, before turning on his heel and taking off in the other direction. I sighed quietly, though I couldn't really be upset knowing he'd just avoided a possible run-in with Caspar. That was the last thing I wanted to happen. But when I turned around I was pleasantly surprised to see Caspar and a couple of other slacker goons slipping into the men's room, clearly to skip class. I bit my lip, slightly embarrassed that my first thought in reaction was using it as an excuse to call Troye back. I mean, he wasn't that far away, I could still easily see the back of his head. Without giving myself time to think it through I snatched my phone out, smirking to myself when I seen Troye's messages were still open. I didn't give myself time to read through them though, knowing we were already late for class.

"Hey, just so you know Caspar's skipping class in the bathroom so you should probably avoid it." I watched him come to a full stop after I'd sent the message, taking his phone out and reading it. After a second, I got my reply.

"Thanks, I'll keep it in mind." I found myself frowning at it though. I wasn't sure what I'd been hoping for but this wasn't it. I looked up from my screen, unable to hide my grin when I seen he'd turned around to face me again instead of continuing on. Upon seeing how adorably misplaced he looked standing there all on his own, his jumper at least two sizes too big, I knew damn well what I was missing out on. I sighed, deciding to give in to myself. It was gonna bother me all day if I didn't.

"Would it be really needy to ask for the hug we just skipped or?" I typed out, biting my lip nervously before sending it. I watched Troye as he looked down at his phone and read it, letting out a breath of relief when I seen him smile at the screen stupidly. He pocketed it again after presumably texting me back, and I watch him open up his arms just as I felt my phone go off in my hand.

"Not if you hurry the hell up." I grinned down at the text before hastily shoving the phone into my back pocket and speed-walking/jogging to where he stood. If anyone else asked I was just walking fast, partially because it'd be embarrassing for them to see how eager I was to hug Troye, but also because it was technically against the rules to run in the halls. I didn't even stop as I reached him, instead just barreling into him and trying to keep my cackle quiet when we both stumbled slightly. He managed to get his footing before I did, encasing me in his arms so tightly I wasn't capable of falling over. After we'd gotten our balance I let my forehead fall against his shoulder, saturating in the moment despite the fact Biology class was looming over me for as soon as it ended. I was beginning to suspect Troye wanted me to back away, considering we were missing class right now, when he bent over and whispered in my ear.

"Definitely a certified cool kid, the kind that can't cope without hugging his best friend before they separate." I rolled my eyes at his teasing tone, subtly bringing a hand up between us and shoving him. It was only lightly though, not enough that he'd have to stumble away from me, god forbid that. I wrapped my arms back around him then, grabbing tiny fistfuls of the back of his shirt as I let my head fall back against his chest. 

"Are you complaining?" I replied after I'd situated myself, immediately feeling Troye shake his head against the top of mine in response.

"No, never." He whispered back, his tone strangely intimate. It definitely wasn't the sort of voice people would use hugging their best friend goodbye, but then again, most people don't have to hug their best friend goodbye before class. He realized it too, he'd have to be blind not to see how different our friendship was than the average one. Yet he didn't seem stressed by it, if anything he was encouraging it with all the sappy whispering and subtle flirting he'd done recently. It was kind of nerve-wracking to think about, but what if he's waiting for me to make a move just like I am him? I'd really feel like an idiot then. I'm still not going to though, I can't risk messing up our friendship. But, I could make it a lot easier for him to make one. I can't really expect him to make a move on me if I haven't even come out to him, can I?

"Tilly, I do have to go to class sometime today." I tensed in his arms upon hearing his sudden words, realizing I'd completely zoned out about him while in his freaking arms. I wonder how long we've been standing here. I backed out of his arms, risking a quick glance toward the clock before I met his gaze. I could physically feel my cheeks heating up into a rosy blush upon seeing we were already ten minutes late, a good portion of which we'd probably spent nuzzled into each other. 

I was almost reluctant to look back at Troye, knowing he'd surely see my blush and know he had something to do with it. But at the same time, I couldn't keep hiding things like that if I wanted him to get his butt in gear and make a move. As scary as it was, I wanted him to suspect my feelings, or we'd never get out of this 'just friends' rut we'd gotten ourselves into.

I turned back toward him before I looked at him, giving him a good few seconds to observe how flustered I was without me having to see his reaction. Sure I was curious, but I was also nervous. What if he really was completely oblivious and just straight-up asked me what I was doing blushing as red as a tomato over a platonic hug? When no question came after about five seconds, I finally let my eyes drift back up to meet with his. He didn't look confused so much as intrigued, his eyes warm but it was also clear his thoughts were running wild inside his head. I tried to read what he was thinking through his facial expressions, but it was soon proved useless. He was impossible to read when he didn't want you to. After what felt like forever of just staring at each other with our mind's in completely different places, his eyes focused again. He squinted, raising a hand and setting it on my shoulder.

"Tyler? Are you okay?" He asked, his tone cautious. I wasn't sure if he was genuinely asking or trying to get me to elaborate on my current state, but I wasn't about to tell him anything. Mostly because I wasn't sure I'd be able to speak right now even if I wanted to.

"I, uh, I gotta get to class. I'll see you at lunch!"  I blurted, turning on my heel and silently cursing myself the entire way to my next class. I hadn't even looked back at him once and he was probably confused as hell, but I wasn't about to come out in a school hallway, much less admit my feelings for him. Like I said, he's going to be the one to take that plunge first, assuming he does feel the same. I would come out soon though, he'd have to be an idiot not to at least suspect it by now, it's not like it'd be that much of a risk to just confirm it. Who knows, maybe it'll be one of those picture perfect moments where I come out and he just kisses me in response. 

A/n: First of all, I apologize for the wait for this chapter and that its just filler. I don't even really have an excuse. I mean, yesterday I was at the zoo all day and snuggling llamas and camels, but other than that I've just been kinda struggling with this chapter. So if it's really rambly or whatever that's because I wrote it in different mindframes over the course of a week instead of just sitting down and writing it all. Also, this was meant to be longer but the second half needs to be Troye's POV now so we can see what's going on in his head and I figured you guys would appreciate having this now so maybe I'll post the next one later today if I find the time. Yes, this means the coming out chapter is now 42 instead of 41 for y'all simpletons. Sorrysorrysorry, I'm rambly. Yeah so comment and vote and stuff okbye