*Tyler's POV*

"So, where does this boy live?" My mother asked quietly, watching me as I cooked breakfast. Normally I just had toast or the quickest thing I could find, but I was purposely trying to waste time today. Being the overexcited little kid I was, I'd woken up at 7am, five hours before I had to be at Troye's. I mean, I know I like to utilize time to get ready, but really there was only so much I had to do before I was presentable.

"Mom!" I snapped, already slightly irritated from having to wait around so long. I'd spent an entire hour laying in bed thinking about Troye after waking up. And no, not even in the dirty way, just the completely sappy lovesick way. I had it bad, like, to the point it was worrisome.

"Alright, at least tell me when I can expect you home by." My mother spoke up again, giving me an expectant look and raising her eyebrows demandingly. I just gave her a skeptical glare, wondering why it mattered. Was she worried about me spending time around Troye or something? "I need to know whether I should make supper for both of us or not!"

"Ugh, I don't know! I'll text you as soon as I do." I sighed, sinking down at the table across from her. I immediately felt bad for being so short with her, but of course she understood. She was the most understanding person on the planet, of course she realized I was only acting out because I was nervous. Yes, nervous. I'd thought it cute and almost laughable when he got all flustered around my mother the first time he met her, but that was because I knew how absolutely harmless she was. I knew nothing about his family, other than Sage was a sarcastic little shit. What if I got there and they were super strict bible-thumpers who were homophobic? Or maybe I'd get there and they'd be complete idiots, burn-outs doing drugs and not giving a single fuck about their children. As you can tell, all the extra time to get ready this morning has given me quite a bit of time to think out every possible way things could go wrong today.

"While you're at it you should probably text me updates throughout the day, you know, so I know if you're making any progress." I snapped out of my head then, rolling my eyes at my over-eager mother. She'd barely shut-up about Troye last night when we followed our routine and watched television together for hours on end. She was asking me constant questions about his personal life, about what all we'd done together so far, what his school life was like. Obviously the questions got annoying quite fast when I was trying to pay attention to the screen, and a wave of guilt hit me when I lied about his school life through my teeth. Well, it wasn't like I could tell her the truth, that he was some invisible kid who no one cared about and he cared even less back. No one aside from me anyway, and I guess Shane and Alfie maybe. But when she shifted closer to me and leaned her head on my shoulder, mumbling simply the words 'I have been waiting for you to bring a boy home forever, this is so exciting!' it was impossible for me to actually be angry with her never-ending curiosity. In fact, I kind of liked that talking about Troye had become part of our routine. I couldn't even really call it an interruption from routine at this point, considering we did it so much.

"You can wait until I get home, and even then I'm only telling you if you're good and stop embarrassing me in front of him." I chastised her, narrowing my eyes as I said the last part. She and Troye had both refused to tell me what they'd talked about over hot chocolate yesterday morning, which evidently, only made me a hundred times more curious. She could have told him I liked him for all I know.

"Fine." She sighed loudly, getting to her feet and leaving the room. This wasn't out of anger, but more-so because her shift was starting soon and she had to leave for work. I got up to go check on the eggs and bacon I had cooking, not missing the sound of her walking back into the kitchen. I looked over my shoulder with a small smile, expecting our usual simple goodbye.

"Have fun today, Ty." She said warmly, her eyes sparkling happily. I just nodded, knowing very well I was going to have fun, even if his parents did turn out unbearable. "-but not too much fun if you know what I mean." She added quickly, giggling and ducking out of the room before I could reply.

"You're a nuisance!" I called after her, hearing the front door close behind her seconds later. I chuckled to myself, turning back and turning the food off before it burnt. Just as I turned off the burners the sound I'd been waiting for all day drifted to my ears, making my heart stop as I scrambled to the table where I'd left my phone. I opened the text after a few failed attempts, my own fault for trying to rush and ultimately clicking the wrong thing on the touch screen.

"Hey, Tyler, just wanted to make sure you're still coming over. See you at noon." I stared at the text with a blank expression for a few seconds, furrowing my brows as I re-read it. Something's wrong, that text is way too formal. He'd spelled everything out and used proper grammar, looking more like a middle-aged man just getting the hang of texting than the casual Troye I was used to. Shit, what had I done this time?

"Yeah, see you at twelve." I typed in cautiously, not sure if he wanted me to be formal back or not. I stayed perfectly still waiting for him to reply for another five minutes, my heart pounding in my chest. It never happened though, and eventually I scampered back to the counter to gather up my food, which was now going cold. I had a sneaky suspicion I wouldn't even be able to eat it now, a thick feeling of unease firmly settled in the pit of my stomach that made even the thought of eating cringe-worthy. I slumped down into my chair at the table, gnawing on my lip nervously. One hour. I had one hour until I had to head over to his house, and now it wasn't just his family I had to be nervous about seeing.

After the short five minute drive around the block I found myself outside of the address Troye had given me the night before. I had seen the house before, obviously, considering how close to mine it was. I actually remembered specifically driving past this house when I was a bit younger and being extremely envious of it. It was huge, a giant peak window and a gorgeous dark grey with white trim. That wasn't even mentioning the huge pool you could see in the backyard, or the perfectly kept gardens. They were definitely rich, no doubt about it. The house was pretty intimidating, like I wasn't nervous enough already, so you can see why I was still sitting in my car, parked across the street like some sort of stalker. At first I thought if I just sat here for a few minutes my anxieties would vanish and everything would be fine, but it had only gotten worse with time. My heart was racing now and my palms insanely sweaty, making me feel like a total idiot. It's not like we're going on a date or anything, I am literally just coming over to hang-out.

To hang-out with the most gorgeous being you've ever met.

Shut-up, brain, you're not helping. 

I took another deep breath, deciding I was going to get out of the car on the count of three. Troye was probably beginning to wonder what was taking me so long. I counted to three inside my head, forcing my hand off of my face and to the door handle. I swung it open, swinging my feet out of the car before I had even a second to over think it. I froze for only a few seconds, perfecting my confident mask that I wore at school, and started across the road with my head held high. I can do this. I've faced way scarier situations. Do you know how many drunken parties I've been forced to attend? Hanging out with a cute boy is nothing compared to that... right?

I walked up the cute little rock path with a confident stride, hopping up the steps and lifting my hand to ring the bell. I was actually very proud of myself when I didn't even hesitate a second before pressing the button, something I hadn't expected of myself. See? I've got this-

As if in spite of me the door swung open, revealing a disheveled looking boy that made me realize I most definitely did not 'have this'. His hair was soaked and dripping water down his face, the stray droplets clinging to his eyelashes and making it clear he had only just gotten out of the shower. He was dressed in all black, from the tight-fitting tank-top to the tight-fitting skinny jeans, it was like he'd chosen clothes that he knew were going to drive me mad. And let's not even get started on the adorable nervous shaky smile he was giving me, his bright red lips trembling ever so slightly as he looked down at me. After a few seconds of silent staring he brought an arm up to the door frame, leaning all of his weight against it. He opened his mouth to speak then, but his eyes flickered down from mine, settling on my lips, and his jaw snapped back shut promptly. I quirked my eyebrows watching as his eyes snapped back up to follow the movement. 

"Howdy!" He drawled suddenly, waving at me excitedly despite the mere foot between us. I looked at him in disbelief for a moment, before realizing he was actually serious. He'd legitimately just greeted me with the word 'howdy'. Something is definitely off about him today, and I fully intend to find out what now that I know he isn't mad at me.

"Well, howdy to you too, pardner." I cackled, my nerves suddenly forgotten as I let myself into his house, ducking under the arm he was leaning on. I thought I caught him swearing under his breath, but I decided to let it slide for now, until I had more clues as to what was going on. Why was he so flustered? Was he just nervous about me seeing his house or something? Who in God's name would be embarrassed of this place?

I walked into the entryway, scanning the room carefully. It wasn't anything like my house, random paintings and photos strung all over the walls and clutter building up on the ground and surfaces. Everything was insanely neat, like they'd had a professional come in and design the whole layout and maids come and clean it up every day. It wasn't uncomfortably neat though, it still had that homey vibe to it, just a rich person homey vibe. I was staring at one of the sculptures on a little table when I heard Troye clear his throat behind me.

"Are we going to stay in the entryway the whole day, or?"

"Or?" I replied, annoyingly calling him out on the unfinished sentence. It was partly because I was genuinely curious what he had planned for the day, but most of it had to do with wanting to tease him when he was obviously already flustered. I heard him groan behind me, eliciting a bubbly giggle from my throat. I guess he doesn't plan to elaborate. 

I spun around with a huge smile on, surprised to see how far away he was standing. He was on the opposite side of the room, leaning against the wall. I eyed him warily, closing the distance between us and skipping over to his side.

"So, what do you want to do?" I asked, trying to spare us both the awkwardness of bringing up the obviously necessary topic. It wasn't like we could just stand around all day, definitely not with the unexplained tension this high in the room. Troye shrugged indifferently and I groaned loudly, showing my annoyance clearly.

"Well, do you know what you want to do?" He asked, sounding just as annoyed with me. I opened my mouth to make a snappy reply, before noticing how he was distractedly fumbling with the hem of his shirt, tugging it up just enough to expose the top of his happy trail. I felt my cheeks heat up then, forcing my eyes off of him before he noticed me staring. I definitely knew what I wanted to do, I just wasn't so sure he wanted the same. 

I walked into the next room ahead of him without even asking for permission, desperate to get his taut stomach out of my mind before I made a fool of myself. The next room was the living room by the look of it, two couches surrounding a big fireplace that wasn't lit. I started toward the couches, intending to suggest we watch television for a bit, before my eyes fell on an array of framed portraits on the far wall. There were five of them, and I knew before even getting a good view they were of each of his siblings and his parents. I trotted over, listening to Troye's unamused scoff behind me but not addressing it. I came to a halt directly in front of the portraits, my eyes falling on the furthest over. It was a younger boy, much tanner than Troye with prominent dimples. Next was the sassmaster herself, Sage, looking even prettier than she had that day in the store as she'd obviously spent more time on her appearance. Then, the middle photo, was of Troye. They were all recent photos by the looks of it, Troye looking no different really than he did right now. Even overly photo-shopped professional photographers couldn't make him look any more beautiful than he already was. Next, was an older boy, looking similar to both Troye and his younger brother. He looked extremely confident, you could practically feel it radiating out of the picture. He looked almost familiar too, not that that was surprising considering how small our town is. And finally, there was a couple photo of his parents. I seen where Troye had gotten some of his features, but that wasn't the thing that caught my attention most. They looked so insanely in love, I couldn't even decide if I was disgusted by how mushy they looked or envious. 

I wonder what it's like to have something like that. I'd never really even witnessed it through someone else, considering my parents had never had that sort of relationship. Not that I blamed them for it or anything, it wasn't exactly something you found easily. But it had affected me, I'd be lying if I said it didn't. It hadn't made me skeptical on love like you'd expect, if anything it made it so much more important to me. It was completely uncharted territory, of course I was curious to explore it. But it wasn't just a relationship I wanted, I wanted love. If it wasn't real then I wasn't interested. 

"Are my parents really that captivating? Just wait until you meet them, you'll change your mind." A smile broke out across my face at this, spinning around to find Troye still on the other side of the room yet again. He was on the couch now, looking really small sitting in the very middle of the huge chunk of leather. I sauntered over, debating only for a split second if I should join him on the couch or sit on the one opposite him. I fell down beside him, blushing a little when I quickly realized that he was sitting in the middle for a reason, the cushions sunk in that way. Not that I was against being smushed up against Troye's side, but he already looked so uncomfortable I couldn't help but worry it'd make matters worse. I scrambled to get my bearings, shifting up and putting some space between us, sitting on the very end of the couch while he remained in the middle.

"What are their names? Your family?" He rolled his eyes in response, making me worry I was genuinely bothering him. "Sorry, I just wanted to know before I meet them-"

"Tyler, it's fine, I was kidding. My little brother is Tyde, my sister is Sage, my older brother is Steele, and my parents are Shaun and Laurelle. They are all equally annoying, though Steele and my mother are sneaky about it." I giggled at this, not missing the way he managed to warn me of their annoyingness every chance he got. I wasn't even sure what to expect at this point, possibly a family of troublesome gremlins?

"They can't possibly be as bad as you make them out to be." I laugh, looking over to lock eyes with him. The corner of his lips twitch as he fights off a smile, glancing back over at the pictures.

"I mean, they're all right I guess, once you get past all the teasing and smothering they do." I didn't even really need to hear his words, the way his eyes lit up when he spoke about them gave it away before he even opened his mouth. Whether he liked to admit it or not, they obviously meant a lot to him. Which was a good thing, because, on the off chance he does end up my husband, he is going to need to be family oriented. I had given up on trying to push these husband thoughts out of my head, deciding to just embrace the full-on obsessive schoolgirl crush I'd developed. Hell, next thing you know he'll catch me scribbling his name all over my notebooks.

He jumped up from the couch suddenly, walking past me and toward the bookshelf covered in dvd and game cases. My eyes drifted toward his hips as he walked, unable to tear my gaze away despite knowing he could catch me at any time. He didn't though, instead beginning to search through the cases.

"Do you want to watch a movie or play a game?" He called over his shoulder, not bothering to look back at me. I bit my lip, debating this for a moment. Movies were fun, if you were allowed to cuddle up to the person you were watching it with. At least if I chose game I'd be able to watch him get all frustrated as I undoubtedly kicked his ass at it. Not to brag, but I'd spent enough time with brainless douches to know a thing or two about video games. It was basically the only thing I did with my 'friends' that I even mildly enjoyed.

"Game." I replied simply, deciding to let him worry about the details. He definitely seemed to have no  trouble with this, immediately pulling out a case and setting up the system. My eyes continued to follow him as he walked around, hooking it up and gathering the controllers. Then he was bounding back to me, just as the familiar title lit up the screen. 

"Mario kart?" I giggled, eyeing him as he fell into place beside me. He gave me a confused expression, looking almost hurt with my skeptical tone.

"What were you expecting?" He asked, looking to the screen to set it up. I smiled to myself, watching how his eyes lit up with excitement. I had not seen this coming at all, him actually getting this excited over the game, but I had to admit it was kind of extremely adorable seeing him be the childish one for once.

"I don't know, something manlier? Sports?" I offered, watching as he stopped what he was doing to turn to me with the most hilarious face I'd ever laid eyes on.

"Sports?" He hissed, crinkling his nose up in obvious disgust. That was about the second I lost control and fell into one of my common fits of cackling, clutching my stomach as I doubled over in laughter. I listened to his complaints and pleads for me to 'just shut-up and choose my character already', but I was too far gone to reply, even when he reached over and smacked my shoulder.

"I'll choose for you then." He said snappily, snatching the controller out of my hands. I glanced up, watching him select Princess Peach. He gave a snotty face to me then, like this was the worst punishment ever. I mean, there was nothing wrong with being a princess. Well, other than the fact it wasn't a queen.

"Princess Peach and I are going to kick your ass." I purred, sticking my tongue out at him. He fake gasped at this, throwing a hand over his heart. I giggled, licking my lips before sliding my tongue back into my mouth. It was a simple movement, but I didn't miss how wide Troye's eyes went in reaction. I didn't question it out loud, though my head had absolutely nothing but questions bouncing around. Since when did Troye get so flustered over stupid things like me licking my lips? Was it possible- No, I had to stop with this false hope building bullshit, it was only going to make it hurt worse if I found out he didn't like me. I had him as a friend, which wasn't enough for me, but it was better than nothing at all. 

I was only slightly ashamed when we were still playing the stupid game two hours later, just as into it as we had been before, if not more. We'd gotten to the shameful point of yelling out curse words or whooping whenever we passed or fell behind one another. As it turns out he was actually a decent opponent, even beating me half of the time. As much as my competitive nature screamed at me for losing, I was actually kind of glad whenever I did. The first time he'd won, after a solid losing streak of three, he'd jumped up from the couch and strutted around the room in a victory dance. That, had meant a hell of a lot more than coming in first in a video game. 

"I win!" I yelled loudly, making sure to lean in toward his ear before shouting. He groaned loudly in protest, tossing the controller onto the couch between us with a pout.

"I'm bored of this game." He declared, crossing his arms and sinking back into the cushions. I smirked, setting my own controller down and reaching over to ruffle up his hair. I stopped mid-way though, noticing the almost panicked look in his eyes, letting my hand drop back to my lap without a word. I'd picked up on how uncomfortable he got when I invaded his personal bubble today, wordlessly accepting it and trying to put space between us for his sake. I wasn't sure what was going on with him, but if I ever wanted to get past it I had to respect his decision, pushing it would only make it worse.

"You're only saying that because you've lost three times in a row again-"

"Shut-up, let's go do something else." He pleaded, looking at me with hopeful eyes. I couldn't say no to him, obviously, instead just rolling my eyes in defeat. He beamed a smiled at me and jumped to his feet, walking off toward the hallway. I followed, actually very excited to be seeing more of his house. It was decorated insanely well, exactly like my dream house would look, if I could ever afford it.

"Do you want to go outside or go see my room?" He asked suddenly, spinning around to face me. A sense of deja vu attacked me just as his chest did, remembering when this exact same thing had happened a couple days ago. He tensed up as my face collided with his collarbone, my annoyed grunt of displeasure filling the room. I didn't back away though, staying still for a moment to make sure he wasn't going to, before snaking my arms around his waist and taking a deep breath against him. As much as I wanted to appreciate his sudden 'no-touching' rule, this felt way too nice to give up for anything at all. For a fleeting moment I threw caution to the wind, nuzzling my face into his neck and sighing contently.

"I'm thinking your room, I want to see where you spend all of your time." I laughed, feeling him tense up again when my breath hit his neck.

"Alright, come on." He said, his voice cracking halfway through and making my eyebrows quirk up in question. He either didn't notice or didn't want to notice, because a second later he was heading toward the stairs in a speedwalk. I followed behind, quite a bit slower as my thoughts began to wander again.

If I didn't know any better I'd say he really was acting like he liked me. I mean, obviously my opinion might be biased considering that's exactly what I want him to act like, which is why I'm wary to come to a definite decision. But whether he likes me or not, he's definitely not acting normal around me.

He led the way down the hall a little bit, before stopping in front of a closed door and turning back to me as he turned the knob. He let the door swing open, revealing a room that looked shockingly similar to how I'd imagined it. Everything was neat and perfectly arranged, the color coordination and decorations the perfect mixture of classy and fun. I brushed past him eagerly, taking in everything, my eyes lingering on the '@ sign' lamp he had. That was freaking cool. I think my favorite part though, were the fairy lights adorning his bed-frame. Not to jump to conclusions or anything, but how many straight boys would have that? 

I tried not to let my hopeful thoughts get too out of hand as I walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed, looking over at him eagerly. He was still standing in the doorway, his face flushed the darkest shade of pink I'd ever seen. I threw my hands up at this, shrugging my shoulders harshly.

"What?" I asked innocently, keeping my eyes on him as he simply shrugged back in response. He walked across the room then, sitting at the spinning chair by his desk instead of beside me on the bed. I groaned at this, falling back on his bed and staring up at his ceiling. This weird distance that had fallen over us was really beginning to get on my nerves.

"So, what now? What do you usually do to pass the time in here?" I asked, sitting up to face him again. He shrugged, thinking for a second.

"Tumblr- But I guess that won't work for us, huh?" He gave a little ironic laugh, making me feel guilty about the stupid Tumblr thing all over again. I bit my lip as I tried to come up with a subject change, something we could transition to smoothly so he wouldn't be mad. That's when my eyes fell on the keyboard in the corner of his room, immediately widening in interest. I watched him follow my gaze, giving an annoyed expression when he seen what I was staring at.

"On a scale of one to ten, how mad would you get if I asked you to sing for me again?" I asked, flickering my eyes to him with a little convincing smile. He was already shaking his head slowly, but he didn't look mad.

"Zero, but I'm still not singing for you." He said flatly, as if it was just a fact that wasn't going to change; ever.

"Please?" I begged, getting up to go stand beside his chair and give my best puppy dog face. He simply averted his eyes, staring down at his lap and shaking his head.

"No."

"What do I have to do to get you to sing?" I sighed, jumping up to sit on his desk, swinging my short legs over the side cheerily. He simply shrugged in response, but a second later he looked up with a mischievous glint in his eyes that told me he'd had an idea, probably one I wasn't going to like.

"Give me your Tumblr url."

"You know I can't do that!" I groaned, sinking my face into my hands.

"And why not? Is it really all that bad? Are you a One Direction fan account?" He pried, bending over so he could look up at me. I just glared at him, trying to think of how I could answer his questions, without answering them at all.

"Troye." I said levelly, locking eyes with him.

"Tyler." He said back, not breaking our eye contact. Did he have any idea how hard it was for me not to give in to him as it was? I sighed loudly, being the first to look away. I looked over toward his door, crossing my arms grumpily. I was kind of what you'd call a sore loser, but it wasn't so much getting mad as it was pouting for hours afterward. We sat like this in silence for a few minutes, and the rational side of me was actually about to suggest we go outside after all, when he cleared his throat.

"Look, I'm sorry, I've just never sung in front of anyone before. I don't know if I could take any form of criticism, even if it's constructive." He sounded so small and vulnerable, I almost felt bad for bringing it up. But that's the thing, he was never going to get over it if someone didn't bring it up.

"I'm sure you're perfect, is there any situation where you aren't?" I quipped, enjoying the blush and eye-roll it got me in return.

"I'm not singing for you, Tyler." My smile dropped at this, though I tried to at least look a little bit okay with his decision. I had to respect his wishes, and if he didn't want to sing for me then- "Yet. Maybe if I practice more and-"

"Really?" I beamed, cutting him off. He gave a cute little smirk to answer my question, making me swoon. Before I knew it I was hopping off the desk and grabbing his hands without thinking. I hoisted him up, hugging him all over again, except this time I didn't have the crash as an excuse. Thankfully, he seemed a lot more okay with it than he had earlier, letting his arms drape over my shoulders as I squeezed him to me tighter.

"I can, however, play something for you on the keyboard." He whispered suddenly, making my heart race against his chest. Hopefully he can't feel that. I backed out of the hug to beam a huge smile of approval up at him, nodding eagerly seeing as I didn't exactly trust my voice right now. He lumbered over to collect the keyboard while I situated myself back on his bed, crossing my legs and watching him expectantly. 

A few minutes later he'd gotten all set up, facing me with his keyboard on a stand between us. He had a little grin on his face the entire time, taking a deep nervous breath through his mouth before starting. I knew only a couple seconds in that he was good, like insanely good. I guess while I was wasting my after-school time with goons and sports he'd been practicing this. But surprisingly, the song wasn't even the best part, it was watching his face as he played. He was biting his lip in concentration, his eyes sparkling as they flitted around the keys. He was so in his element, possibly the most carefree I'd ever seen him.

I sat happily through the entire song, a smile plastered on my face so big it was probably concerning. It didn't even dim when the song came to an end and he looked up at me. I realized how awkward the smile probably was, all of my emotions seeping into it, but I couldn't wipe it off my face even if I wanted to. He didn't seem too bothered by it, a goofy smile of his own growing across his face.

"So? What did you think?" He chirped, sitting up eagerly and sitting next to me on the bed. I pretended to be deep in thought, stroking an imaginary beard.

"Oh, pfft, I guess it was alright." I said finally, smirking at him. He gasped, obviously knowing I was kidding, but shoving me for good measure anyway. "I'm kidding, douchehat, it was absolutely amazing. Not that I expected anything less from my favorite musician."

"You are such a sap." He groaned, burying his face in his hands, though I didn't miss the smile on his lips as he did so.

"You are such a cynical grumpy old man." I retorted, falling back to lay on his bed. He watched the movement through the cracks of his fingers, waiting until I'd settled to follow my lead and lay down horizontally across the bed, our legs dangling over the edge.

"Am not." He said finally, turning his head to face me. I sneered at him, turning to look back up at the ceiling. I examined the glow-in-the-dark planets and stars all over his ceiling as I gave the usual response.

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not." He said firmly, actually sounding a little bit frustrated this time. I turned to face him again, surprised to see his grumpy expression.

"Hey, I was kidding, okay?" I said softly, shifting my entire body in his direction. He didn't react though, staring at the ceiling so determined it made me nervous. "Okay, you're a little cynical and grumpy, but it's such a small part of your personality, it doesn't even really matter."

"No, the thing is you're right, I am cynical and grumpy and it's not even a little bit, I'm-"

"Shut-up." I interrupted, watching as his eyes went wide in confusion.

"W-what?"

"I told you to shut-up."

"Why?" He croaked, his voice so small it made my heart hurt.

"Because, I don't like listening to people lie. You are so much more than that, Troye, and if you can't see it, you're also an idiot." I said flatly, watching as an obvious blush spread across his cheeks in reaction.

"Wow, thanks Ty, means a lot." He said sarcastically, trying to cover up that my words had affected him at all. I decided to play along with his game, giving a sly smile.

"You're welcome." I purred, turning to look back up at the ceiling. You could practically hear the gears in our minds turning as we both tried to come up with another conversation topic, but it seemed we were both drawing a blank. I mean, the best idea I'd come up with so far was rolling over and kissing him, which I couldn't see working out too well.

"Hey, Tyler?" He asked quietly, his tentative tone immediately making me wonder what he was about to ask.

"Yeah?"

"I-" He was cut off by the sound of a door slamming downstairs, followed by an immense amount of chatter that could only mean one thing. I couldn't help it when a smile of anticipation broke out across my face, actually excited to meet his family now. He rolled his eyes at me, sitting up to stare down at me.

"Are you ready to meet the nuisances?" I just nodded eagerly in response, though I also didn't make a move to stand up. Seconds later the sound of footsteps hammering up the stairs alerted me I probably wouldn't have to, considering they were coming to us. As if on cue, the door burst open, revealing his two younger siblings with bags in their hands.

"Hi, Troye!" They both beamed in unison, extremely mischievous smiles painted on both of their faces as they watched me sit up. I gave a nervous smile, waving at them. They both burst into a fit of laughter at this, running off as quickly as they'd appeared. I guess my expression must have been pretty dumbstruck because Troye was in a fit of laughter as well a couple seconds later.

"I warned you!" He managed between adorable giggles, looking up at me with bright eyes as he laughed. I stared at the empty doorway, still completely confused with the encounter.

"Were they laughing at me? Is there something on my face?"

"Oh no, they were probably just laughing at the fact we were on the bed together-" He went silent before finishing the sentence, cutting himself off like he realized where he was going and didn't see it fit to continue. I eyed the blush spreading across his cheeks scrutinizingly, almost begging him to explain further. He didn't though, instead jumping up before I could watch him for any longer and heading toward the door. I followed, but not before glancing at myself in the mirror to make sure there wasn't anything laughable about my appearance.

"Anytime now, Ty. You look fine." I froze, watching a blush invade my own face in reaction. Partly because I was embarrassed he'd been watching me check myself out, but also because that was the closest to a compliment on my looks he'd ever given me. I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm myself down before following him out the door, my heart racing in my chest as I trailed behind him down the stairs.

We walked into the living room a minute later, watching as his entire family buzzed around the room with arms full of groceries an animated chatter filling the area. None of them even cast a glance in our direction, only prolonging the uneasy feeling that had settled over me. Troye seemed to notice though, grabbing my wrist and hauling me over to the couch. We sat down together, this time disregarding the way the couch sunk us together and just staying that way. He leaned over and grabbed the remote, turning on the television to a random show before settling back beside me. I let out a breath of relief, focusing all my attention on the screen. I was actually beginning to get pretty into the random show about survivors when Troye turned it off suddenly. I scoffed angrily, turning to glare at him. My expression quickly went blank when I realized why he'd turned off the show. His family was lined up to the right of us, all with the same cheeky smile painted on their face. I swallowed nervously, subconsciously shifting closer to Troye. 

"Oh, come on, introduce yourselves." Troye sighed eventually, doing a dramatic hand wave. That's when the disaster started, Tyde, Sage, and Shaun all trying to introduce themselves first. I couldn't help it when a grin spread across my features, watching them bicker about whether the youngest or the head of the family had the right to introduce themselves first. They were still fighting in hushed tones when Laurelle sighed loudly, shoving all of them apart. They all went silent then and she stepped forward, beaming a huge smile at me.

"Hi Tyler, I'm Laurelle. This is Shaun, Tyde, Sage, and Steele is in the kitchen putting groceries away." She said calmly, gesturing to each of them as she said their names. They didn't seem impressed with this plan, all pouting as she turned and walked into the kitchen. As soon as she was in the other room they all fell onto the couch across from Troye and I, staring us down blatantly. I got the feeling I definitely knew who was in charge of this family, and it wasn't Shaun at all.

"Guys, you're creeping him out." Troye groaned, his embarrassment of them showing clear in his voice. I broke my eyes away from them cautiously, turning to examine Troye. I was glad I had, his adorable blush that seemed to cover his entire body something I did not want to miss. I couldn't help but smile at him, failing to stifle the giggle clawing it's way up my throat. His eyes flickered away from them then, glaring at me.

"Don't encourage them." He whispered, holding a hand up so they couldn't read his lips. I only smiled harder at this, bringing my hands up to try and hide it. It didn't work though, considering they were all whispering amongst each other when I looked back. I was a bit worried about what they were saying, but Troye's monotone expression made it clear it was nothing new and nothing to be worried about. After a few more seconds of their whispering they looked back at us with their matching smiles.

"So, what have you two been doing all day?" Shaun asked, his eyes locked on me despite the question being addressed to both of us.

"We played some video games, I showed him around a bit, talked, nothing all that interesting." Troye spoke up, glaring at Shaun until his gaze broke away from me. They locked eyes then, practically having a stare-off. I got the feeling they were having one of those without-words family conversations or something, but I couldn't make sense of the challenging glares they had no matter how hard I tried. Instead, I decided to try and put an end to it by speaking up myself.

"Oh and he played me a song on his keyboard!" I added in happily, looking up at Troye. I knew the second our eyes met I'd said something wrong.

"You don't say?" Sage purred, exchanging a look with the other two. And just like that they all got up, walking off to the kitchen to join Laurelle and Steele. I was pretty sure my jaw was gaping open in confusion at this point, but I made no move to shut it.

"Oh god, I am never going to hear the end of that." Troye muttered, leaning back against the couch.

"Sorry, I didn't realize."

"It's nothing, don't feel bad. It's just, I've never really even played anything for them, so they're going to read a lot more into it than necessary." I nodded in reply, though my head was in an entirely different spot. He'd played something for me when he wouldn't even do it for his own family? Why?

"Hey, Tyler, do you like tacos?" I straightened up upon hearing my name called, looking toward the kitchen door nervously. Troye rolled his eyes at this, shaking his head slightly.

"Yes, he does." He replied, thankfully answering for me. When no response came from the kitchen Troye struggled to get to his feet, the task proving pretty difficult considering the way the couch had sunk in. He held a hand out to me then, obviously only so it'd be easier for me to get up. That didn't keep my heart from fluttering when I took it though, enjoying the feel of his soft hands against my rougher ones. He helped me up, laughing under his breath when I stumbled a bit and he had to help steady me.

"Come on, doofus, let's go outside." He said warmly, breaking our hands apart and hopping over to the kitchen doorway. I followed after him, but made sure to stay out of their line of view behind him. They seemed nice enough, but they also weren't going out of their way to make me any less nervous. "We're going for a walk, we'll be back by the time dinner's ready."

"Can I come?" I grinned at the way Tyde and Sage asked in perfect unison, though Troye didn't seem nearly as amused as he just scoffed in response. He turned and started toward the front door then, me following behind him quickly so I didn't get left behind with his family. We shrugged our shoes on and headed outside together, not bothering to look back over our shoulders where his siblings were surely watching us leave.

A/n: HolY CRAP, GUESS WHO'S BACK BACK BACK BACK AGAIN, KALI'S BACK BACK BACK TELL A FRIEND. (no literally tell your friends because I feel my statuses weren't enough of an announcement) There is just so much I want to say and I already know this author's note is gonna be ramble city, so be prepared. First of all, before you even say it, there will be more chapters of them at Troye's house. Yes, chapter(s), two of them!!! As you know this is horribly late, because my internet decided to cut out for 5 days or so, so I've written quite far ahead in this :3 :3 Ugh, I am so excited, I am just so happy to be home. All of your comments last chapter, concerned messages/posts on my wall mean the world to me and hopefully there won't ever be any unannounced absences in the future. I feel liike I'm forgetting something important but I'm in a rush to post this so I can read all the updates I missed so fuck it, if it's that important I'll mention it next chapter.

Okay, this next part of the AN is the dedication. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEDICATED TO HER BACK WHEN I DISCOVERED THE SONG, BUT FUCKING INTERNET COMPLICATIONS LED TO IT BEING POSTED TODAY. This chapter is dedicated to the lovely @KitKatTaylor because of her SONG. Not her fanfic, her song!! Exciting, I know. She wrote a song for the Troyler fanfic 'Friends with Benefits' and it is SO good, I swear, it's all I listened to while writing this chapter. (That's a lie, it was a mixture between that and 'Best Shot' by Birdy and Jaymes Young) BUT YEAH, IT'S SO GOOD AND THE LYRICS ARE SO WELL THOUGHT OUT. It actually reminds me a lot of Troye's TFIOS song, just because it references all the most emotional lines of the book it's written about and it's perfect, just like Troye's song <3 Ugh, please go listen to it because I need people to fangirl over it with. (UPDATE, THIS WAS WRITTEN FOUR/FIVE DAYS AGO AND I AM STILL EQUALLY OBSESSED. I SWEAR, IT GETS ME LEGIT EMOTIONAL. GO TO HER PROFILE AND CLICK THE LINK, YOU WILL NOT REGRET) OKAY THAT'S ALL, I LOVE YOU ALL SOOSOSOSOSO MUCCH