*Tyler's POV*

I was definitely nervous as I continued to flip through the pages of the photo album, but surprisingly, it had nothing to do with his family watching us. All I could think about was the fact he'd initiated our cuddling, he'd been the one to lay his head on my shoulder. I mean, with anyone else it'd be something small, but with him it felt like such a huge accomplishment. It was one thing laying my head on his shoulder and not having him shove me off, but this was something entirely different. He wanted to cuddle, he wanted to be as close as I did, he wanted this when he wouldn't even let people touch him half the time. I wasn't sure what made me any different from the rest of the world, but I was eternally grateful for it.

I was on the fourth book now and his family had long ago filtered off, each in different directions. Not to be rude, but I was kind of glad they had. Troye was much less nervous without them around, partaking in our usual teasing and flirting much more openly. Yes, flirting. There wasn't really any other word to refer to it, and I didn't really want one. Troye had called it that, but not in a negative light. He was okay with it being flirting so of course I had no trouble admitting to myself that was what it was now.

Come to think of it, I'd fucked up the whole 'taking it slow' thing a while ago. I mean, I hadn't jumped him or anything, but I wasn't exactly making a big deal of hiding my feelings. I didn't admit them either though, leaving Troye to assume exactly what he wanted to assume. When the day came he asked me about it, I'd be honest. I knew him well enough to know he wouldn't be a dick about it, he wouldn't tell anyone and he wouldn't be mean about rejecting me if he did. Despite knowing all of this, I didn't see myself being the one to bring it up any time soon. I wanted to make sure the timing was right, that he was ready to hear it before I said anything. He was going to have to call the shots, whether he wanted to or not, because I wasn't about to risk losing him because I did or said something wrong.

"Tilly, this is boring!" He whined, letting out a huff of breath against my shoulder. I ignored him though, knowing he was only being a nuisance because we'd reached the awkward pre-teen stage of his life. He was still far from unattractive, though it was also clear he hadn't quite grown into his long legs and huge eyes yet. 

I flipped another page, furrowing my brow over a photo of him and someone I didn't recognize from his immediate family. This was a first, considering it was the only photo of him with non-family members other than his softball ones. He was hugging the girl tightly, their faces pressed together with matching huge grins. I felt him shift next to me, obviously wondering why I was taking so long on this one page. He tensed against me suddenly, reaching over to flip the page quickly.

"L.S?"

"Yeah." He mumbled, his voice barely audible and faltering despite his response only being a single word. I sighed heavily, closing the book and tossing it onto the table with the rest of them. He seemed happy with this, nuzzling into my shoulder further as I grabbed the remote and turned on the television again. I was actually still pretty interested in looking at the photos, but the last thing I wanted was to find anything more of L.S and upset him all over again. I wasn't sure why it still affected him so much considering he was only around twelve at the time, but I was completely sure I never wanted to see him cry again. It felt weird putting a face to the initials, especially after how mad I'd gotten earlier without explanation, scratching the carving out without a second thought. It just made me so mad to think that anyone at all could hurt Troye. He was so shy and loyal, like a mistreated puppy. The fact that someone could take advantage of that, even a little girl, disgusted me.

"Tyler, not to intrude on whatever's going on inside your head, but we're watching 'I didn't know I was pregnant' and it's kind of terrifying." I blinked, coming back to reality at his whisper. I hastily changed the channel, the sound of a baby crying filling the room just before I did. I turned on a music video channel instead, hoping this would be less uncomfortable. I was quickly proven wrong when the screen lit up with a rap singer surrounded by nearly-naked women. I groaned, ignoring Troye's soft giggle as he snatched the remote from me and found a show himself.

We were still cuddled up like this two hours later, making fun of the snobby rich housewives together as his family bustled about. Occasionally one would come to sit with us, on the opposite couch of course. But I think they all quickly realized we were better off alone, considering none stayed for longer than ten minutes. I flickered my eyes to the clock, trying my best not to move as I did so. I didn't want to leave, but it was 8pm now and I was worried I'd annoy them if I stayed too much longer. Besides, I was actually beginning to feel a little tired, considering how early I got up. I sighed loudly, alerting Troye I had a dilemma going on, and shifted a bit underneath him. He didn't respond though and I rolled my eyes at his stubbornness, knowing he just didn't want to give up cuddling again.

"Troye." I whispered, straightening up. He let out a confused whine at this and I was surprised to find he was actually asleep. I froze, watching as he readjusted to a more comfortable position again, before his squirming stopped and he presumably fell back into a deeper sleep. I felt the corners of my lips turn up and before I even realized what I was doing I leaned in, pressing a kiss into his hair. 

"Tilly?" He mumbled, his voice low and gravelly from sleep. I felt my heartbeat speed up, watching as he moved off of me and gave a big yawn. He was the most adorable thing I'd ever laid eyes on, watching as he rubbed his eyes and brought his knees up to tuck against his chest. His hair was completely flat on one side where he'd been laying, something I know would annoy him if he knew it was going on. He seemed to have a thing for making sure his hair game was always on point.

"Morning sleepyhead, you fell asleep on me." I beamed happily, reaching over to mess up his hair. He grunted at this, moving out of my hand's reach and settling back into the couch there.

"It's not my fault you were so boring I had to slip into unconsciousness." He mumbled, staring down at the couch between us. I gasped at this, eagerly crawling over and closing the distance between us, going straight for his ribs. He burst out laughing, squirming around underneath me and flailing his arms.

"You little shit! And by 'boring' I assume you mean comfy, right?"

"R-Right! Right! Stop t-tickling me!" He cried out, trying to kick me off. I stilled my hands eventually, giving him a moment to catch his breath with big gasps. After about a minute his breathing had returned to normal and he was just glaring up at me in silence. "I swear to God, if you ever tickle me again I'm going to-"

"Going to what?" I interrupted, wriggling my fingers against his sides again. He was back to laughing like a hyena now, to the point his family had wandered into the room to see the cause. I tried to keep my attention on him, but every now and then my eyes would flicker up to his family, wondering what they were thinking as they watched us interact. They were all in an almost-perfect line over by the kitchen door, alternating between exchanging knowing looks and just smiling at us so widely it was creepy. "T-Tyler! I can't breathe!"

"Fine." I sighed, hopping off clumsily and standing beside the couch. He began the process of taking deep breaths again, continuing to scowl at me the entire time. "If you're not careful your face might stay like that."

"I hope it does, that way I can permanently show my annoyance with you." He sneered, sticking his tongue out at me. I just rolled my eyes, waiting for him to get to his feet. He did a moment later, stumbling in the process  and gripping my arm. "Sorry, I, uh, my leg's asleep."

"Whatever excuse you wanna use." I teased, jumping when he dug his nails into my arm as payback. We swatted at each other for a few seconds longer before someone cleared their throat, making us both freeze and look in the direction of his family. They'd actually left for the most part, the only person remaining was Shaun. He looked so serious compared to earlier, making me bite my lip nervously as I threw an arm around Troye's waist. I wasn't sure if this was taking it too far on the physical contact scale, but I really just wanted him near to help me with facing his father. Shaun walked over to us then, pointedly staring at my hand on Troye's hip.

"I, uh, I'm not really sure how to do this, it's been a while since any of my kids have brought a friend home, particularly Troye-"

"Dad!" Troye groaned, his embarrassment showing in his tone. I wanted to turn my head and watch the blush spread across the back of his neck, then the tips of his ears, and then his cheeks, but I also felt I was supposed to keep my eyes on Shaun during this.

"Anyway, I just figured I should tell you that I like you? Like, you seem like a really good friend for him. I've never seen him smile as much as he has today." I grinned happily at this, actually turning my head to see Troye's reaction.

"Dad!" He snapped, his entire face flushed pink. I bit my lip as I studied how obviously flustered he was, squeezing his waist to me tighter.

"I tend to have that effect on people." I purred, watching his eyes go wide in reaction to the flirty tone.

"Tyler!" He snapped, turning to face me now. It was my turn to blush now, realizing how close our lips were. I quickly looked back to Shaun, hoping I'd done so before the blush got too noticeable.

"I guess I just wanted to warn you not to hurt him, I'm not sure he could take it." Shaun said almost nervously, running a hand over his head where his hair would have been.

"Stop talking about me like I'm not right here!" Troye pouted, stomping his foot to emphasize his point. I ignored it though, instead focusing on my attention on Shaun. This wasn't a normal 'first time meeting the best friend' conversation, was it? It sounded awfully similar to how one would lecture a new boyfriend or something. I bit my lip, deciding I'd better respond that way too.

"I wouldn't dream of it, I don't think I could take it either." I said honestly, surprised when Troye didn't have an angry quip to respond to this. Instead he just sighed heavily, leaning more of his weight against me. Shaun seemed to notice this, his eyes falling between us and a smile spreading across his lips.

"Alright, good. It's been nice meeting you, Tyler." He said finally, snapping his eyes back up to mine. I nodded eagerly, flashing my biggest people-pleaser smile.

"You too, Mr.Mellet." I said cheerily, watching as he promptly turned around and disappeared back into the kitchen. I turned then, steering both Troye and I in the direction of the front door wordlessly. It wasn't until we got into the entryway that Troye shrugged my arm off with an angry huff, falling onto the bench by the door and watching as I laced up my shoes.

"Why did you go along with that? You realize you don't need my father's approval to be my friend, don't you?" I smirked at this, looking up from my feet to grin at Troye. Did he actually not realize what that conversation was? Whether he saw me like a love interest for him or not, his dad definitely did.

"Sure I do! It's a lot harder to hang-out with you if your father hates me." I beamed, standing up straight and sauntering over to him. He still didn't seem convinced, eyeing me warily.

"Yeah, but he-"

"Shush, come walk me to my car." I cut him off, reaching my hands out and hauling him up off the bench. He sighed at the interruption, trying to pull his hand away. Without thinking I did the opposite, lacing our fingers together. He tensed, though a second later he started toward the door like nothing was out of the ordinary at all, tugging me along behind him. I smiled happily at this, hurrying to catch up to his side as we started down the same path as earlier. I wasn't sure just how far he planned on walking me, but was pleasantly surprised when he continued right across the road, leading us to a stop in front of my car.

"So, uh, night." He mumbled, breaking his hand away. I didn't miss the way he wiped it off on his jeans, alerting me of his sweaty palms. I smiled to myself, flickering my eyes back up to meet his.

"Goodnight, Troye." I beamed, flashing a huge smile like his family had sported all day. He rolled his eyes in reaction, reaching out and shoving me.

"Get out of here already." He teased, giving me a little smirk before turning on his heel and jogging across the road, back toward his house. I scanned his house one last time, my eyes going wide when I seen two faces in one of the windows. Were they spying on us the entire day? I raised a hand, waving at them. They waved back this time, even opening up the window just as the door closed behind Troye.

"Bye, Tyler!" Sage and Tyde shouted in unison, continuing their waving. I couldn't help but fall into a giggle fit, eventually getting a grip and shouting back.

"Bye, Sage and Tyde!" I yelled back, cupping my hands around my mouth. I was about to turn around when I seen a shadow looming behind them, knowing who it was by their height. I turned to get into my car, not without overhearing Troye yelling at his siblings. I was still smiling to myself like an idiot as I drove off, insanely amused by his family's ability to embarrass him so easily.

A/n: I know it's kind of short for me but shut-up because the last few were overly long so, deal with it. Ugh, I don't want another author's note like last chapter that ended up a page long so I'm going to just get straight to the points
-Comment and vote, because I love to see your opinions and thoughts and ugh you guys make me smile more than anything else
-After this chapter there are going to be some time skips starting, some major, some minor. I've done timeskips in other stories, though I feel like this one has been so detailed and compact I don't know how it'll play out so PLEASE tell me if anything gets choppy, I won't be offended. I want this book to cover their entire school year so the timeskips are necessary.

- I want to know your guys' opinions on a werewolf troyler fic (THAT BEING SAID I KNOW THERE ALREADY IS ONE SO SHOUTOUT TO YOU @troyesivanmellet I haven't read your fic yet but hopefully this isn't the exact same plot or i will cry) . I know the topic is a little overdone in other fandoms and literature in general, but idk, I just dig the whole supernatural thing and I want to know if there'd be interest in it, yanno? I guess a little sypnosis is necessary so like, here goes. Troye would be the alpha's youngest son and like suuuuper sheltered and babied by the rest of the pack, and Tyler would be a rogue misunderstoood wolf they caught. And I mean, Tyler would obviously find some ways to corrupt him, if ya catch my drift ;) I know you do ;)

-LASTLY, dedication, I have so many people I want to dedicate to lately but this chapter is going to the lovely and perfect, @Joyler. Although, more commonly known as Sobler because she has amazing music taste and likes TO RECOMMEND HORRIBLY SAD SONGS THAT REMIND HER OF FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS. God, that fic and this girl will be the death of me. Aside from her music taste she does have even more attributes, including SUPER FLUFFY ADORABLE ONESHOTS YOU WILL LOVE LIKE LITERALLY GO READ THEM RIGHT NOW I PROMISE.

well shit. My author's note turned out a rambly mess anyway. Hmm... Oh well. aLSO THIS GIF FELT NECESSARY BC THEY ARE LOOKING AT BABY PICTURES OF TROYE AND FUKCING LOOK AT BABY TROYE HE IS SO PERFECT IN EVERY WAAAAAAAAAAAY