That evening, Connor packed his favourite blanket (one that he brought from home), and grabbed a small, pink book from underneath his pillow, shoving it into his pants pocket (no matter how much he trusted his fellow Elders, he didn't want to leave anything behind, in fear of embarrassment). With a deep breath, he started out the bedroom door, only to be greeted by Chris, with James lingering behind him.

"Hey, guys," Connor forced a smile, allowing them into the room.

"I'm sorry to be a bother," James apologized, shuffling over to Connor's bed.

"Oh, no! James, you're not a bother at all. Don't worry about me. I'm more focused on the wellbeing of all of my Elders. I care about you all."

"You're very kind, Elder McKinley," James smiled, before taking a seat on Connor's bed. "Thank you..."

"You're welcome, hun," Connor turned his attention to Chris, speaking in a much quieter voice. "I still can't believe you put me in the same room as Kevin! What the Hell, Christopher?!"

"Trust me, it's going to be worth it. You'll see..."

"I hate you so much," Connor glared at him, as Chris teasingly blew a kiss at him.

"Love you, sweetie~"

Connor rolled his eyes, sarcastically blowing a kiss back. After the two had a small giggling fit, Connor bid his goodnights, and started off to Kevin and Arnold's room. He took a few preparing breaths, before knocking on the door.

It took almost a good minute, before the door actually opened (Connor patiently waited the entire time). Kevin appeared in the doorway, already in his undergarments. It was needless to say that Connor had a rather hard time hiding his blush, but somehow managed to do so. He was so flustered. He had never seen Kevin Price with so little clothes on (even if he was clothed in his temple garments).

"Good evening, Elder Price," Connor greeted, "may I be allowed inside? It appears I am your temporary roommate until the conflict between Elder Davis and Elder Church can be resolved."

"I already know. I was there..." Kevin trailed off, clearing his throat. "...Sorry... I didn't mean to come off as a jerk..."

"It's quite alright, Elder," Connor managed a smile.

When Kevin stepped aside, Connor made his way into Kevin's room. Immediately, he was met with the extreme aroma of overused hair products and cologne. It smelled like a barber shop, and it was definitely surprising for Connor. He was used to sleeping in a room that smelled of strawberries and chocolate.

"Oh, wow," Connor refrained from plugging his nose, seeing as how that might come off as rude. "Do you get ready in the morning here, rather than the bathroom?"

"Uh...yeah, I do. How can you tell?"

"Just a lucky guess..."

Connor examined the room, noticing something that made his heart sink a little. Kevin and Arnold's beds were pushed apart, with a nightstand in between. Had that been the case for a while? Did Kevin not enjoy sleeping right beside Arnold? Or was it because of Connor? Was Kevin uncomfortable sleeping next to Connor because of their arguments? Was it because he was uncomfortable sleeping next to a gay man? Was it for personal reasons? Connor wasn't sure, but he hoped the reason was not as heart wrenching as he was figuring it to be.

"I see that you pushed apart the beds... Any specific reason?"

"Arnold's a loud snorer, and I have a hard time sleeping as is. Pushing the beds apart was the best option we could get, since there's no way that Arnold would allow me to switch rooms."

"Ah, I see..." Connor avoided letting out a sigh of relief, that the reasoning behind the change wasn't because of him, and made his way over to, what he could presume was, Arnold's bed.

When Kevin was distracted, Connor snuck his book underneath Arnold's pillow, and laid out his blanket on the bed. When he was done with that, he scribbled on one of his handy post-it notes, that he always has with him, a message to Arnold, informing him of the temporary sleeping arrangements, and sticking it on the outside of the door, just in case he were to come home, after all. After that, he made his way to the shared bathroom of the mission hut, and stripped to his undergarments, since he felt a bit uncomfortable doing that in front of Kevin Price-- his long-term crush of almost a year, now. As soon as he was all finished with that, and brushing his teeth, he made his way, once again, back to Kevin's room. The awkward tension, that always seemed to surround them, was thick in the air.

"Um, so," Kevin wrung his hands together, taking a seat on his bed, "hi..."

"Hey..," Connor sat on Arnold's bed, doing his best to avoid eye contact with Kevin. "So, this is a thing..."

"Yup..," he scratched the back of his neck. "Shit, this is really awkward..."

"I'm sorry." Connor hopped to his feet, collecting his things. "I can go stay in Elder Davis' room, or on the couch. It doesn't matter. This doesn't have to be awkward."

"No!" Kevin shouted, a bit too quickly and too loudly. He cleared his throat, regaining his composure. "No, no. It's fine. This gives us a chance to talk things through..." Kevin paused, frowning. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For making you hate me..."

Hesitantly, Connor sat back down once again. "No...I'm sorry..."

Kevin didn't say anything. He couldn't really say anything. He just glanced in the direction of Connor, before hiding his face.

"I'm sorry for making you feel like I don't like you," Connor abruptly stated, catching Kevin's attention. "That's not the case at all, I swear. I just can't...tell you why. It's not you, it's me. I'm so, so sorry. Please don't hate me. I actually really want to be friends with you. You're amazing, and funny, and wonderful!"

That managed to bring a small smile to Kevin's face, as his expressions livened up. "You really think that about me?"

"Kevin, you think that about you," Connor teased, making Kevin's smile waiver. "Oh, um... In all honesty, you're a fantastic person. I honestly want us to be much...closer."

"Wow, uh, I wasn't expecting that," Kevin rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks tinting pink. "I do, too! I really want us to be friends, and I hated the fact that you were avoiding me."

"So, wanna start over?" Connor smiled at Kevin, causing the latter to smile back.

"Yes! Please?"

"Then, let's do it," Connor hopped up, walking over to Kevin. He outstretched his hand, putting on the same chipper appearance he had the first day they met. "Ah, the new recruit! Pleasure to meet you. My name is Elder McKinley, your District Leader, but dropping all formalities, you can call me simply, 'Connor', if you'd like." Kevin tried not to get too excited over the fact of learning his District Leader's first name, but he could barely hold back his large, innocent smile. "No need to introduce yourself, Kevin Price. The mission president had sent me your portfolio prior, and I have received all information regarding you and your companion Arnold Cunningham. It's so wonderful to finally meet you in person."

"Kevin," he introduced himself, anyway, shaking Connor's hand. "It's great to meet you too, Connor."

Connor managed to hide his darkening blush, and reluctantly let go of Kevin's hand. "So, can I ask a favour of you?"

"Uh, yeah, what is it?"

"That you don't let anybody else know my first name. I really don't want a lot of people knowing."

Kevin rose an eyebrow at him quizzically. "I won't if it means that much to you. But, why? If I may ask..."

"It's a personal thing. Something I'll tell you about sometime, maybe," Connor rubbed his upper arm, biting his lip. "Alright, Kevin, speaking of personal things, and now that introductions are over, I say we get to know each other better."

"Sounds fun!"

Instead of being seated on opposite beds, they both sat on Kevin's. Connor racked his brain for a topic. "So, what do you plan on doing after we get back to America?"

"Well," Kevin thought for a moment, "I hope to be able to talk things through with my parents, and explain why I failed my mission, and why I'm leaving the LDS Church. Then, after going through all of that bullshit, I'm gonna find a job, and make enough money to move to Orlando."

"Orlando? That's where you want to live?" Connor watched Kevin's expressions light up intensely at the thought. It was adorable. He looked like a star-struck child.

"It's only the greatest place on Earth. It's been my dream since I was nine."

"That's...a really great dream. I hope you can make it there."

"What about you?"

"Hm?"

"What do you plan on doing after getting home?"

"Oh!" Connor chuckled. "I'm...not really sure. I'm probably going to get disowned by my family, so that's fun."

"What?!" Kevin's eyes widened. "Why are you going to get disowned? Just because you failed your mission?!"

"That's probably part of the reason," he shrugged. "But, I can see my family disowning me completely because I'm gay. And, y'know... Strict Mormon families and gay kids don't really coincide."

"Oh shit, I forgot you were gay," Kevin nervously laughed, feeling horrible for the situation Connor was placed in.

"How the heck can you forget that I'm gay?" Connor smiled at the thought. "Do you not remember my coming out? Or the Steve Blade story? Or the choreographed tap dance routine? Or the pink, sequined vests? How could you forget the vests, Kevin!?"

"I never said I was surprised that you are gay. It's mostly that I forgot you were. You have been ignoring me for months." Kevin ran a hand through his hair, fixing it. "But, man. I still feel horrible for you if your parents are gonna be complete douchebags over your sexuality. If I was gay, and came out to my parents about it, I'm not even sure how they'd react. I'd hope they'd be accepting..."

"Can we...not talk about this right now?" Connor stared down at his hands, visibly distressing. Kevin decided it would be best to shut his mouth. "Let's talk about positive things! Optimism is the best thing that you can have!"

That statement tipped Kevin off a bit. "Connor, you know that you don't have to turn off your feelings anymore, right? If you're upset, you can talk about it with me, if you want. Or, I can go get Poptarts, and you can talk to him. I just don't want you to conceal how you're feeling..." He watched Connor awkwardly move around where he sat. He looked like he wanted to say a million things, but couldn't find the right words.

"Don't get Chris..."

"Then, can you talk to me..?" Kevin basically pleaded. His mission in life was to help others. And, that was what he was going to do. It started with Kitguli, and it's continuing with Connor McKinley. "Please..? I want to help you..."

"I'm scared," Connor mumbled. "I'm so, so scared. I don't have any non-Mormon friends in St. George, aside from Chris. But, then again, he's really the only friend I have left, as an adult." His voice started to break, as he began to softly cry. "What am I gonna do? Where am I gonna go? I'll be homeless, if my parents kick me out. How am I going to find work? Go to college? Do anything?! I'll have no money! All I'll have is my stupid optimism, and hoping to push through it! I'm terrified, Kevin. I don't want to go home. I want to just stay here. Free housing, with real friends who love and accept me. I don't want to go home."

Kevin watched Connor break down, bringing a few tears to his own face. "Connor, pal... Come here." He leaned over, pulling Connor into an awkward hug. But, it was still comforting to the both of them. "It's going to be okay. Hey, if it comes to it, and you need a last resort, you can always come stay with me. My parents are already helping me get a place when I get back to America. I'd let you stay with me rent-free, until you got back on your feet, if you need it."

"But I'm from St. George, and you're from Salt Lake. That's like four and a half hours away," Connor sniffled, wiping his eyes. "And besides, I don't want to be a burden on you at all."

"You wouldn't be a burden! I swear! Just," Kevin managed to find a smile, "think about it, okay?"

"See? This is what I mean!" Connor smiled brightly up at Kevin, his blue eyes glistening from leftover tears. "You're so considerate. I love that about you."

"You consider me considerate?" Kevin rose an eyebrow at the statement. "Well, that makes you the first. Congrats."

"Oh, come on," Connor rolled his eyes. "Yes you are. Look at everything you've done for us. You helped us gain strength after the excommunication. You managed to keep positive through the hardship of it. You convinced us all that we were our own versions of Latter-Day Saints, still. You helped make the villagers of Kitguli's lives much better."

"No, that was Arnold..."

"Do you really think Arnold could've done it without you? From what I know of the story, if you never abandoned Arnold, a lot of the things that happened could never have occurred."

"You mean like getting The Book of Mormon shoved up my ass?" Kevin gave a fake laugh. "Because, I'd rather that not of happened."

"You got The Book of Mormon shoved up your...butt?" Connor stared blankly at Kevin. That was the most incredible thing he heard all day. "O-M-Gosh, how did that even happen? That must be one heck of a story."

"It was incredibly traumatizing, thanks."

Connor bit his lip, finding it best if the subject were changed. "But, listen... Everything changed when you and Arnold arrived. Without you guys, we would just be mindlessly ranting verses from The Book of Mormon to a bunch of Africans, still holding onto zero baptisms for two years. But, look at all we've managed to accomplish! You guys did something incredible!"

That alone made Kevin's expressions light up. After all, that was his main goal when sent on his mission. To do something incredible. But, he was quickly brought back down to Earth.

"You know, it kind of sucks that all of the success here only happened because I'm an asshole that broke rule 72 and abandoned my mission companion," Kevin sulked. "So, remind me again how I'm so considerate of others?"

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Kevin," Connor unknowingly caressed the side of Kevin's face, habitually. Once he realized what he was doing, he immediately retracted his hand.

"Hey, um," Kevin scratched at his wrist, "I'm glad we're able to be friends. I would never have forgiven myself if I did something to make any of the missionaries here despise me. It's reassuring to know that isn't the case with you."

"We should get to bed," Connor walked over to Arnold's bed, yawning. "It's late, and I'm still stuck on the sleeping schedule of being in bed by ten. So, I'm exhausted."

"Right, right."

Kevin watched Connor struggle to situate himself on Arnold's bed, before beginning to fall asleep. Deciding that maybe it was best not to be a creep and stay up later than his temporary roommate, Kevin laid down on his own bed and attempted to fall asleep as well. However, sleep has proven to be a challenging thing for Kevin, after his exposure to coffee. So, instead, he ended up just laying there, in his uncomfortable cot, thinking about whatever came to mind, until he finally was able to pass out.

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