I Cherish You

Chapter 12

         “Welcome to New York!” Connor shouted with boyish enthusiasm.

        Troye nodded and made some sort of grunting noise. He was jetlagged and tired, but Connor’s smile was infectious.

        “It’s been waiting for you.” Troye sang softly.

        They all half-listened to Connor’s animated chatter about New York and Playlist and whether they should vlog this one as they shuffled through security, mostly awake but still not all there. It was only when they walked out the doors that they were shocked awake by an icy blast of wind.

            “Wha-“ Troye felt like they’d walked into a freezer that was pelting them with bits of ice. “The fuck is happening?”

        Connor gave them all a bemused look before saying, with a note of playful condescension, “It’s winter you guys. It gets cold and windy and icy here.”

        “I thought it was just snowing?” Tyde muttered, his teeth already chattering.

        Connor tried to hail a cab as the four Mellets stood frozen on the sidewalk behind him.

        “Well yeah, but the snow melts and, because it’s so cold, refreezes into ice.” Another blast hit them in the face, causing the group to shrink back. “Also sometimes it’s less like light, fluffy snow and more like hail.” Connor ran over to the taxi that had finally stopped, yelling back, “but it’s pretty, right?”

        Troye looked around. It was beautiful. Every street, every building, every tree, even, was covered in a soft white blanket that hid all the impurities and caused the whole city to glisten. It was breathtaking in the most cliché way possible, but Troye couldn’t stop staring.

        “I know, right?” Connor appeared next to him, pausing for the first time since they’d gotten off the plane. “It’s beautiful.”  But Connor wasn’t even looking at the snow anymore; his gaze was directed at Troye.

        The rest of their group was busy loading their luggage into the taxi, so they didn’t see the way Connor looked at Troye’s cheeks, rosy from the wind, or the way Troye’s breath hitched at the snowflakes resting on Connor’s eyelashes. They stood like that for as long as they could, just taking in the other boy in the snow-covered landscape, until they reluctantly tore away from each other to get in a yellow cab and stare out windows, hands secretly locked together the entire time.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

            The next morning, they headed over to their Tumblr meeting to discuss Playlist and sponsorships. Troye was incredibly excited about it, but found little time to gush to Connor about it, as Tyde had taken to almost following him around, asking him endless questions about how he made his videos look so professional. It was actually cute, and Connor was obviously flattered that someone was so interested in what he did, but Troye couldn’t help feeling a little jealous of both of them.

            “I can show you how I did it at the hotel later if you want.”

            Tyde lit up at the offer. Troye wasn’t really surprised. Youtube was a great place to showcase your talents, and they had all worked hard to make that stage look presentable enough to not be distracting, but Connor had serious talents for both filmmaking and editing. He had an innate sense for that kind of stuff, and it showed even if he was always too modest to admit it. Troye also knew that Tyde spent plenty of extra hours editing his videos to look good, and that Connor was something of an idol to him in that sense.

            “Thanks, man.” Tyde responded in an overly casual way.

            Connor just laughed and looked at Troye, who slipped his arm around Connor’s, leaning in towards him. Because if your little brother looking up to your boyfriend wasn’t a good sign, he didn’t know what was.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

            “Ready?” Troye asked.

            He and Connor had been practically buzzing with anticipation. Playlist meant so many things: seeing all their friends, meeting fans, being around a group of people who were all working towards the same thing. They lived for these conventions, and weren’t about to hide it.

            “Can we leave yet?”

            “The bus will be here in ten.”

            “Finally!” Connor practically jumped out of his chair and grabbed all the stuff that had been prepared for hours. He felt like he’d been waiting years.

            “Con, wait.” Troye wasn’t moving yet.

            “What is it?”

            Troye walked over and kissed Connor on the cheek. “I just want you to know that I’m good with us keeping things between us for now. And that whenever you do decide to come out, I’ll always be there for you.”

            “Thanks, Tro.” Connor smiled, knowing that Troye supported him meant a lot, but they were quickly interrupted by a loud horn outside their window and a scream, in unison,

        “GET ON DA BUS! IT’S PLAYLIST BITCHES!!”

Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.