*Troye's POV*

I hadn't expected Tyler to follow me to my car, definitely not when I'd been such an asshole. I didn't mean to, it just sort of hurt when he'd been so sarcastic about my nickname suggestion. I mean, what had I really expected? We weren't five year olds, we were eighteen year olds and nicknames were hardly a necessary aspect of friendships anymore. It's just, I'd never really had the chance to experience that stage where nicknames were cool, you know? 

So you can probably imagine my surprise when he suddenly charged into my back, knocking the breath right out of me. I stumbled forward, grabbing onto the hood of my car for support subtly. I turned around to glare at him, swallowing hard when I came face to face with his usual happy grin. It's weird how much it meant to me knowing that I was the one to make him smile, especially when he was smiling ninety-percent of the time anyway, but that didn't change the bubbly feeling it gave me when I managed to make him grin even slightly. I came back to Earth slowly, feeling completely bashful that I'd managed to get lost in my head yet again. My embarrassment quickly faded though, noticing Tyler had been too lost in his own mind to notice my slip-up. He was still staring up at me and smiling, though his eyes had a faraway look in them. I decided to indulge myself for a second, staring back into his framed eyes. As overly cheesy as it was to admit, they really did seem to sparkle in the moonlight. He didn't look away though, and eventually I forced myself to put an end to the moment before it ended up awkward.

"Can I help you?" I asked, suddenly remembering that I was mad at him, even if his eyes were sparkly and easy to get lost in. These eyes immediately darted to the ground at my question, making it very hard to predict what he was about to say.

"I just didn't want to go to bed with you mad at me." He mumbled, sounding very childish as he pouted down at the ground. I felt my resolve slipping the longer I looked at his puppy dog face, eventually giving in and shoving my keys into my pocket. I closed the door then, taking a step closer to him and fighting the urge to hug him. Of course I wanted to, but I had to have my limits. Sooner or later he was really going to question how touchy-feely I was around him compared to everyone else in the world.

"I'm not mad." I said honestly, shoving my hands into my pockets. If I wanted to get specific I wasn't really sure what I was. I wasn't mad though, how could I be with him standing in front of me so intent on gaining my forgiveness?

"You're not happy either. I was being serious you know, I really do like the nickname." His serious tone caught me off guard. He was barely ever serious, making it all the more important to focus on when he actually was. I eyed him warily, not finding any hint of sarcasm on his face.

"You do?" I asked quietly, watching him bob his head eagerly and look up at me with those same sparkly eyes.

"Yeah, it's special, something only you can call me." He elaborated, his voice just short of a whisper. I felt my lips twitch up, threatening to break out into the huge smile I knew was coming with his sweet words. It definitely sounded a lot cooler when he explained it like that. It was almost like it was a privelage for me to be able to call him that, something that only I was allowed to do. I took a deep breath, reaching forward to squeeze his shoulder seeing as a hug was out of the question still. I was actually surprised when I felt the familiar buzz, mostly because the mind-reading had been really on the fritz the entire night. I'd barely heard anything he was thinking, much less important things.

I wonder where he got Tilly? It's so cute and innocent! It's also really close to Tallie, which only makes it even cuter. 

I blushed at how bubbly his thoughts were, wondering how he found ways to use the word 'cute' so often and still make it work. Didn't he have any other words in his mental vocabulary? As much as I could silently bash him for not having more creativity, there was no denying his thoughts had made me considerably more happy. If I hadn't been reassured earlier that he genuinely liked it, I was now. 

"Fine, we'll see if it sticks or not. Goodnight though, for real this time, my parents are going to interrogate me the second I walk through the door." I knew it was going to 'stick' even as I said this, I was going to force it to 'stick' if I had to, now that I knew he liked it too. I watched him nod knowingly, though I didn't miss the slight pout because I had to leave. I didn't dwindle on it though, knowing I'd give in to him in less than a second if he asked me to stay longer. As much as I wanted to, this was going to be hard enough to explain to my parents as it was. Hanging out with friends at all was weird for me, but I couldn't remember a time I'd been out this late ever. That sounded pretty lame actually, considering it was only 10pm, but this was crazy late for me. Like, parents-are-going-to-be-worried-I've-been-murdered late.

I drove home quickly, my mind a complete jumbled mess of thoughts. Okay, to be fair it wasn't a complete mess, they all had the same theme. They were all about a boy who I may or may not have recently realized my feelings for. Of course I never planned to act on them, I couldn't afford that kind of rejection. I could however, spend hours on end gushing over how it had felt to hold his hand or that one hug after he'd called me his best friend.

His best friend.

I am Tyler Oakley's best friend.

An absolutely giddy feeling had fallen over me with these thoughts, smiling to myself like an idiot all alone in my car. I didn't even think once about changing the station when a familiar Lady Gaga anthem started blasting through the speakers. In fact, I found myself singing along. It wasn't until the song ended and my car came to a stop in my familiar driveway, that the depth of this really sunk in. A week ago I would have hissed at the song like it was death, jumping to turn off the sound. Something had changed in this past week, something seemingly light but in reality much more intricate. It wasn't just the fact I listened to a song I hadn't liked before, or that I actually found myself enjoying time spent with another human, but that I was enjoying myself at all. There were no dark broody thoughts looming in the back of my mind or wishes to just sink into the walls and be invisible. I was visible, and I liked it, I was actually embracing it. I liked liking it. I liked myself, for once. 

I laid back in my seat at the new realization, trying desperately to pinpoint exactly when this had happened. I didn't just like one thing about myself, I liked all of it. Even the mindreading, especially when it gave me insight into Tyler's thoughts. After another hopeless ten minutes of thinking I came to the simple conclusion that it hadn't been just one moment. It had been a compilation of a whole bunch, some as important as Tyler saying I was his best friend and some as seemingly pointless as him pointing out that stupid dead fish. It was like I could tell how much he cared about me through each and every one of his actions. And hey, if Tyler Oakley cared about me that much then I must be something worth caring about, right?

I sighed and got out of the car a moment later, realizing how long I'd been sitting there lost in thoughts of Tyler. He was definitely a healthy alternative to my usual train of thought, but now really wasn't the time to be daydreaming about anything, much less cute boys. Right now was the time to act guilty as I let myself into the house, keeping my head hung low as I walked toward the lounge. I wasn't surprised at all to find my dad stretched across the entire couched with our dog collapsed on top of him, or to hear my mother singing in the kitchen just across the hall. Of course they were waiting up for me, whether they tried to act subtle about it or not.

"Hi, Troye!" My mother beamed, rushing into the room and shoving a bowl of cookie dough at me. Okay, this was new, she never willingly let me eat cookie dough. I decided to play along though, grabbing the bowl and sitting down on the free couch. I stuffed some into my mouth and hummed at the taste, though I couldn't shake the uneasy feeling with how fixed their eyes were on me.

"Guys, I can't read minds, you're going to have to tell me what you're thinking." I laughed nervously, smirking inwardly. The correct statement would have been that I can't read minds well. They both exchanged glances, Dad sitting up and Mom sitting down next to him all in one swift movement.

"Look, I really don't want to pry but I gave you that cookie dough so really it's fair ground, right?" I just raised my eyebrows in response, not sure if I wanted to go along with her or not. She took a deep breath, exchanging a glance with my father that I'd never be able to decode. They both turned to me with eager smiles then, practically bouncing with excitement. "Is it true you have your first crush? What's he like? When do we get to meet him?"

"Sage!" I yelled, not surprised when she walked out from behind the corner. Someone had definitely been listening in, that little shit. I scooted over on the couch and patted the spot for her to sit down. She at least had the decency to look guilty as she came and sat down to the left of me. I was about to start my lecture to her when another two people wandered into the room, trying and failing to look casual. Why is my family so annoying?

"So?" My mom urged after my brothers had sat down, looking at me expectantly.

"If this is how you're going to act about it you are never meeting him." I scoffed, crossing my arms and tucking my chin against my chest. I was expecting them to be at least a tiny bit phased by this, but they didn't hesitate a second between it and their next question.

"So you're admitting to it?" I glanced up and locked eyes with my father, narrowing them into a glare.

"No." I said strictly, sitting up tall. I could feel all of my siblings staring at me, just as interested in the topic as my parents. Was me getting a crush really that interesting? Maybe they were just surprised to see me standing up to my dad, at all. Usually I would have stormed away by now and refused to answer any of his questions.

"Alright, fine, we'll have a subject change." He said finally, letting out a small sigh of defeat. 

"Thank-you!" I laughed in exasperation, leaning back against the couch. I was just getting comfortable when he spoke up again, his mischievous smirk telling me I wasn't going to like this topic either.

"Where were you tonight?" 

"You fucking suck, you know exactly where I was." I groaned, slapping my hands to my face. He'd purposely done that to draw the conversation back to Tyler again.

"With him?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows annoyingly. I glared at his bald head for a minute before deciding I wasn't getting out of this without giving them at least a tidbit of information.

"If by him you mean Tyler, then yes." I said strictly, getting to my feet. Everyone looked disappointed in me as I started to leave the room, but only my mother spoke up.

"Troye, this isn't fair! Is it really such a bad thing that we want to be included in your life? We care, Troye." I bit my lip and stopped in the doorway, pondering her words. Normally I would continue on to my room without a second thought, but I actually felt guilty tonight. Damn you, Tyler, infecting me with your family-oriented personality.

"Yes, I like him. What's he like? Loud, funny, obnoxiously cheery, outgoing, smart, straight. You know, basically everything I'm not." I answered, turning around to face them. Their faces looked like they were going to snap with all the pressure from those huge smiles, though with my finishing statement their expressions all fell.

"Troye-"

"No, it's okay! I'm not bothered by it or anything, it's not like I expect us to work out. I'm happy just being friends with him, which is exactly why none of you are to mention a word of this to anyone ever. If you ruin my first real friendship over some stupid crush I will never forgive you." I said, emphasizing the 'never'. They didn't seem that convinced, exchanging unreadable expressions with each other before looking back to me.

"We won't." They all said in perfect unison, which was actually pretty creepy. I nodded in response, leaning against the door frame.

"Okay, can I go to bed now? Is the interrogation over?" I asked, moving from one foot to the other. I really just wanted to get out of here. I loved them, but I really wasn't in the mood for all these questions right now.

"I suppose we could save the safe sex talk for another time." My dad said, smirking. I groaned, running a hand through my hair roughly in exasperation.

"Dad! That's not funny!" I yelled, feeling the familiar blush creeping across my neck. They seemed to think it was quite funny though, the entire room in a fit of giggles. I decided this was my cue to leave, before my face got any redder or they came up with anything else to add to his statement. 

I jogged up to my room and closed the door behind me with my foot, breathing heavily from all the effort of the stairs. I locked the door, scowling when I heard more laughter downstairs. I really hope they weren't on the topic of Tyler and I still. I walked across the room and collapsed onto my bed, clumsily squirming out of my pants. I was too lazy to bother with my shirt, instead just burying my face in the pillows and sighing contently. I closed my eyes and was begging sleep to take me when my phone vibrated from wherever it had ended up on the floor when I threw my pants. I groaned, trying to stretch across my room without actually getting out of bed. I snatched up the pants and recoiled back into my bed, grabbing the phone eagerly. I wasn't surprised to see Tyler's name lighting up the screen, mostly because no one else ever called or texted me. I waited to catch my breath for a couple seconds before eagerly answering, nuzzling down into the pillows.

"Did you miss me already? Is this going to be a nightly thing now? Bedtime phone calls?" I teased immediately, picturing his usual corresponding blush. 

"I couldn't think of a better way to fall asleep." Instead my cheeks lit up red, not expecting him to tease me back. I also wasn't expecting that deep sleepy voice, or how much I was going to love it. I let my eyes fall shut as I concentrated on my breathing for a few seconds, not wanting to alert him there was anything wrong.

"What do you want?" I said finally, trying to sound irritated but the uncanny amount of adoration I normally had pooling into my voice anyway.

"What? I can't call just because I miss you?" He asked, gasping dramatically. I chuckled nervously, waiting for him to backtrack on his flirty words. He didn't though, an almost awkward silence falling over us. I chewed nervously on my bottom lip, my heart beginning to speed up in my chest. I knew it was beyond stupid to even dare to hope, but that didn't stop the butterflies in my stomach. I had a feeling there was very little that could stop those pests at this point.

"I, uh, I mean you can-"

"I'm kidding, doofus." He cut me off, the smirk very evident in his voice. I held my hand over the speaker, sighing. For someone who knew we wouldn't work out I sure got pretty disappointed when I was reminded of it. 

"So why did you call then?" I asked finally, forgetting my disappointment as curiosity sparked. 

 "I just realized we kind of abandoned my piece of shit car at school and I really don't want to take the bus tomorrow so I was wondering if, uh... Canyoumaybedriveme?" The frown completely vanished now, the goofy lovesick smile I was getting used to spreading back across my features. The way he'd rushed the question made it even cuter, how it sounded like he was so nervous to ask. What did he really expect me to say? Did he think there was even a chance of me saying no to anything he wanted at this point?

"Of course!" I blurted, sounding way too excited over the casual question. He immediately started to giggle, obviously trying to stay quiet considering how late it was. I groaned in response, blushing again despite myself. I really had a knack for embarrassing myself when it came to him. As his laughter slowly faded out silence enveloped us again. It wasn't necessarily awkward, though I'd much rather be conversing with him. I was about to come up with some completely random conversation topic when he cleared his throat, alerting me he had something to say.

"Thanks, Troye, it means a lot to me. You have no idea how much I hate the bus."

"I doubt it's anymore than I do." I scoffed, thinking about the last time I'd had to go on the bus. It was a couple years ago, but it had been mortifying. 

"Are you kidding? I get nauseous just thinking of all the rancid smells, obnoxiously loud idiots, and the judgmental glares from people as you walk past their seat. Ugh, I do not do well packed into a giant tin can with a bunch of immature kids like some type of sardine." I was speechless at this, surprised someone on such a different part of the spectrum from me felt so similar. I mean, obviously it was normal not to like the bus, but the way he said explained it it wasn't really a matter of just not liking it. Not being able to stand it, getting sick over the thought of it, avoiding it at all costs, that sounded like the familiar crowd anxiety I knew so well.

"The ever popular Tyler Oakley isn't a fan of crowds?" I asked, trying to sound teasing and casual despite how much the topic interested me.

"I don't dislike them, I'd just rather not be in them if I can help it. I don't like having all those eyes on me at once and not knowing what they're all thinking." He elaborated, making an over-the-top cringe noise at the thought. I smirked a little at the irony of his statement, not even thinking before muttering my next words.

"Trust me, it'd probably be worse to know what they were thinking." My eyes went wide as I realized what I said. Sure, it wasn't like the statement would automatically make him jump to some crazy conclusion, but it was still a very big deal. I'd never said anything even slightly about mind-reading, the topic way too close to home. That, and every time it came up in any form at all I felt like all eyes would turn to me at random and they'd just know. It was unrealistic, but I still found myself constantly worrying that someone would find out somehow, that they'd tell everyone. What if my family found out and completely disowned me? What if they thought I was nothing more than a freak as well? They were the only constant thing I'd had in my life, the only thing that hadn't abandoned me or left me disappointed to the point I couldn't stand to be around them. They were annoying and clingy, but they really did love me, and that was more than I could say for anyone else in the world.

"I'm not keeping you up, am I?" Tyler's tone was obviously worried, making it clear I'd managed to miss his last response while I was lost in the clouds. He probably thought I'd drifted off to sleep for a moment or something.

"No! No, of course not." I said, my voice evening out much more after the initial panicked 'No!'. I just didn't want him to get the wrong idea, I was far from finished with this conversation. He giggled in response and I couldn't help but grin at the bubbly noise. A second later he let out a long annoyed sigh though, making my smile immediately vanish as I started to worry about what I'd done wrong.

"Well, you're keeping me up." He said, his voice completely void of it's usual sarcasm. It was so blunt and unexpected I couldn't help but wince a little. How could I not have realized? He asked if he was keeping me up in hopes of ending the conversation. I am so stupid!

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't even realize, I'll let you get to sleep then-"

"Nah, you're better than sleep anyway." He mumbled, his words slightly slurred as it trailed off into a long yawn. I listened to him smack his lips after he'd finished, smiling to myself.

"Are you sure? Sleep's pretty great." I asked, giving him a last chance to back out of the conversation if he wanted to. Of course I didn't want him to though. I was overtired and sleepy myself, but there was nothing that mattered more than talking to Tyler. It was a feeling unlike any other knowing he felt the same.

"Whether you believe it or not, you're pretty great too." He whispered, making my heart flutter. I was blushing again and silently cursing him for being so damn good at making me. It was like he purposely tried to make me blush with all these flirty one-liners. I tried to remind myself he was known as being flirty and that he probably did this with everyone, but my mind was far beyond the point of listening to rational thought.

I realized I hadn't replied to him in all my silent fangirling, struggling to come up with a response that wouldn't seem attention-seeking or conceited. I ended up just scoffing, my obvious disbelief of his words coming through.

"You don't believe me though, do you?"

"I mean, I wouldn't call myself great. I'm decent-"

"No, you are definitely great. In fact, I might even go so far as to say you're incredible." He purred, making me roll my eyes.

"You are such a-"

"You want to know why you're incredible? I could spend all night listing reasons, easily, but for both of our sake's I am going to summarize the list. You are so good at keeping a conversation interesting, there is never a dull moment while talking to you. You are hilarious, to the point you can make me laugh when I want nothing more than to scream and give up on everything. You're so freaking strong, obviously I don't know what happened in your past to make you hate people so much, but the fact you were willing to move past it to get to know me is substantial, Troye, it really is. And you are so sweet, I swear I am going to get cavities from hanging around you so much! I mean, you brought my mother flowers, Troye, fucking flowers! That's not even mentioning how absolutely-"

"Tyler, stop!" I interrupted, scrambling to sit up and lean back against the headboard of my bed. I closed my eyes lightly, trying to even out my heavy breathing as I listened to him begin to ramble.

"Did I say something wrong? Shit, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought up the whole hating people thing, it was too soon wasn't it? I'm so sorry, Troye, it's late at night and I got caught up and I wasn't thinking and-"

"No, quite the contrary actually, you said too many things right. I can only handle so many compliments at once, you're going to fucking smother me at this rate." I explained, trying to make it sound lighthearted with a fake chuckle at the end. In reality, I was very much serious. I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take without exploding, or worse. What might be worse than exploding you may ask? Well, I wasn't certain of it, but I had a feeling if he kept rambling off compliments at me I was likely going to end up saying something I'd really regret. Something that'd most definitely steer our relationship in a whole new direction, for better or for much worse.

"True, I am definitely glad I went with the summarized list then." He said smoothly, his tone completely casual like he hadn't just listed off a book of sappy compliments to me. Fuck, how was he so good at this conversation thing? It was like absolutely nothing phased him. 

"Why are you so perfect?" I mumbled, running my free hand through my hair. His response was instantaneous, reminding me yet again how there was nothing I could say off guard. 

There was nothing I could say because he'd probably heard it all before, a million times.

"I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way!" He sang, his voice slightly strained as he was obviously tired. I smiled warmly, biting my lip as I continued to grin.

"When did this conversation get so sappy?" I laughed, not really complaining. I looked up at the ceiling as I awaited his response, studying the glow-in-the-dark wall stickers that had been stuck up there years before. Totally nerdy, I know, but I was definitely one of those kids that went through the outer-space phase. 

"You answered the call with the classic 'Did you miss me already?', I'm pretty sure it was sappy from the beginning." He responded finally, happily blaming it all on me despite him being the real mushy one here. I didn't call him out on it though, instead deciding a change of topic was necessary. 

"Who's your favorite musician?" I asked, crawling back under the blankets finally. He didn't even hesitate a second before replying.

"You."

"Tyler, I swear to God, I am going to punch you if you say one more sappy thing during this conversation. I've blushed enough for one lifetime." I growled, though my tone made it very clear I wasn't that serious. He giggled then, actually taking time to think of his response.

"Have you heard of Ed Sheeran?" He asked tentatively, sounding almost nervous of my reply. Little did he know I was a total fangirl of Ed to the point I had folders on my laptop saved of just his videos and photos.

"Are you kidding me? Have I heard of him? Hell yes, I have heard of him!" I said eagerly, trying to completely obliterate his nervousness.

"Ugh, there you go, another thing to add to the list of reasons you are incredible; you also have amazing music taste."

"Tyler. I'm making a fist right now, I will not hesitate to punch."

"Alright, fine, I'll force myself to stop for you, though rest assured I am still thinking all of these sappy things. Who's your favorite musician?" And thus started the longest and most in-depth conversation about music I'd ever had in my life, and I'd never been happier. I was so in my element, listing off good bands and listening to Tyler's live reactions as he looked them up on Youtube. It was one thing gushing about my passion in private, but with Tyler it was a thousand times better. Come to think of it, was there anything that wasn't a thousand times better with Tyler?

A/n: HOLY, THIS WHOLE CHAPTER WAS MOSTLY DIALOGUE AND I AM VERY INSANELY SORRY. BUT AT THE SAME TIME IT WAS CUTE DIALOGUE, RIGHT? RIGHT? EHHHHHH? RIGHT? *Eye twitches* TELL ME I'M PRETTY!!!@! Ugh, I am a mess. Okay, basically there were so many votes and comments last chapter I am dead for all of eternity. WE.HIT.20K!!!!!!! ILOVEYOUSHITSSOMUCHYOUDONOTEVENUNDERSTAND!!!! In other news, some angel sent from heaven above made a tumblr post about this story and it got TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY NOTES.TYERSDIFJNHRMTD. I am just, I will never cease to be amazed at what a positive reaction I have gotten to, not only this story, but all of my stories. I never dreamt of this and I don't mean to be sappy but ugh, I just, it's so insane. 
Hmmm, what else, what else...... I am very sorry about this update being kinda late but with the romantic aspects kicking in I want to take more time to consider that their relationship is moving at the right pace for their characters and all that bullshit. Also, the lateness might have had something to do with the hurricane that put my power out for 24 hours or my brand new Wii U I am literally addicted to. I JUST LOVE LUIGI SO MUCH, HE IS MY SOULMATE. SCREW MARIO. 
Did I really just ramble in an Author's Note for that long? Sorry bout it,  I am talkative today. FINALLY, the 'wet dream' idea has been very widely recieved and I have taken it into SERIOUS consideration. There were a few people skeptical about it fitting in with their relationship or clashing with how special their real first time is going to be, but trust, I am going to find a way to pull it off considering all the overthinking I've done on the topic. ALRIGHT, LOVE YOU NUGGETS, SO MUCH, COMMENT AND VOTE AND SHIT, LET ME KNOW IF THIS WAS TOO MUCH DIALOGUE SO I NEVER DO IT AGAIN