Yeah.
The band had learned by now that a lot of the articles written about them were garbage, but what was worse were the comments. None of them needed to hear what anonymous strangers said about them online. But Skyler had made a mistake, and once he’d started looking, he couldn’t stop.
“People said I must be gay because I wear skinny jeans and pink shirts. Plus my hair’s getting longer, and they were talking about the way I am onstage, how I dance and act silly, and I don’t know.” He looked down, the embarrassment creeping in. “Do you think I need to tone it down a little?”
“Fuck that,” Trevor said, shaking his head. “Fuck them. No.”
“But—”
“No,” Trevor repeated more firmly. He squeezed Skyler’s knee, then scooted in closer so he could take his chin in his hand, forcing Skyler to look at him. “You keep expressing yourself however you want, and do your cute little dance moves, and keep grinding on Jermaine’s leg even though it drives me crazy. Don’t you dare let anyone make you feel like you should be less than who you are. Because who you are is fucking perfect.”
When Trevor released his chin and kissed his forehead, Skyler melted. How was it that Trevor always knew the exact right things to say?
Trevor still looked upset on his behalf. “That’s all homophobic, toxic masculinity bullshit, and you shouldn’t waste your energy worrying about it.”
It was hard to shake all the words he’d read about himself from his brain, but amazingly, Skyler did feel a lot better. Because Trevor was right. And Trevor thought he was perfect the way he was.
As Trevor wrapped an arm around him and played with his hair, Skyler remembered the other stuff he’d read. Good stuff. Before the nonsense that had made him cry.
He’d seen a lot about him and Trevor. From the fans who believed they were together and supported it—the “shippers.” It was nice to think that all those people out there cared so much about the two of them being together.
“You want to see something cool?” he asked, reaching for his phone. He pulled up the social media thread he’d found about one of their recent concerts, then handed the phone to Trevor and watched as he scrolled through.
BlueskiesbabyyyOMG did u see the way Skyler looked at Trevor all night? Major heart eyes!!!
SkylerJamesBlueI know right?! Wish someone would look at me like that! They are sooo in love, it’s so obvious
BlueskiesbabyyyOmg yes! Don’t even get me started on the tattoos! It’s like they WANT us to know
SkylerJamesBlueAnd when Trevor sings his part in “All In” he’s always staring at Skyler! It’s so sweet
BlueSkiesIsRealU know he wrote that one, right? He totally wrote it for Skyler! They’re so cute I can’t take it ugh!
Even the handles were great. Although Skyler wasn’t ready to admit to Trevor how his heart had beaten wildly at reading the name Skyler James-Blue. Too soon.
“Well,” Trevor said, and Skyler could tell he was fighting a smile. “They’re not wrong.”
“About you being so cute?” he teased.
“About me writing the song for you. About how in love we are.” Trevor leaned in for a kiss, which Skyler happily gave him.
“Fans were bound to make the connections with our tattoos eventually, huh?” Skyler mused.
They’d both quickly developed a bit of an addiction, getting tattoos whenever they were bored or had some free time in a cool city. And more and more, after the house and door, they’d been getting ones that went together. They’d tried to make it subtle at first, but considering their last ones were a bumblebee on the inside of Skyler’s wrist and a dripping wooden honey wand on the outside of Trevor’s forearm, maybe they weren’t worrying about subtly enough anymore.Whoops.
“Especially when they’re constantly ogling you,” Trevor said.
“Youtoo, dummy.”
Trevor scoffed as if he didn’t know how hot he was or how much the fans wanted him, so Skyler took his phone back and scrolled down farther to find one particular comment that had made him bust out laughing.
TrevorisdaddyIs it weird that I want to lick the imaginary honey off Trevor’s forearm??
“What? Um. Yes,” Trevor sputtered, looking scandalized. Even though his forearm was probably one of the most innocent body parts fans wanted to lick. “And I don’t know how I feel about strangers calling me daddy.”
Skyler smirked. “What if I called you daddy? Would you like that?”
He expected Trevor to laugh, but instead his eyes flashed dark for a second and his grip around Skyler tightened.
