Trevor had to give Sierra expensive jewelry and take her out to a fancy dinner, but it was all for show. No matter what, Skyler was the one he came home to. They didn’t need to go out to a restaurant for a romantic meal together in order to be a couple.
But Skyler stillwantedthat. He wanted to have all the same options as he would have had if he were straight. He wanted the chance to get all dressed up solely with the intention of taking Trevor out and showing him off. Wanted to post annoyingly cute pictures of the two of them on Instagram. Fuck, he just wanted to be able to hold his boyfriend’s hand in public.
Maggie’s threats scared the shit out of him because he didn’t want to look like the bad guy. He didn’t want everyone to believe that he thought he was better than the band.
He only wanted to be able to live his truth, and she wasn’t letting him. So underneath his worry, there was a strong undercurrent of rage.
As he’d waited for Trevor, he kept telling himself Trevor would understand. Trevor would take charge and fix things like he always did. Trevor would be on his side. They were a team.
Except now he realized that had been the alcohol talking. In the harsh light of day, he had to admit that Trevor’s reaction wasn’t all that surprising. Trevor’s stance hadn’t changed. And while he’d convinced Skyler it was for the best for them to keep playing their management’s game for now, to wait for the right time to take a stand, a part of Skyler was starting to suspect that Trevor would never decide it was the right time.
And he didn’t know if he could be okay with that.
All he could do now, though, was grit his teeth while he waited for their cue and hope his stomach wouldn’t betray him in the middle of a song. Hope he could fake his way through this. The pain was mostly emotional at this point.
As he performed, Maggie watched him like a hawk and Trevor kept shooting him concerned glances. But fuck Maggie, and Trevor didn’t get to be concerned now. He should have been concerned last night when Skyler told him what he was feeling. He should have taken his side and said,Okay, let’s both do this together.But he didn’t.
So without planning it, Skyler ended up staging his own little bitter rebellion. First, he made one tiny lyric change during “Summer of Me and You.” And probably no one even noticed. But then he made another in “18 and Mine.” And another, bigger one, in “Love Me Like It’s Easy.”
As the rest of the guys caught on, Trevor avoided him even more than he was already supposed to, Jermaine gave him one disappointed look, and Noah glared at him any time they made eye contact. Skyler should have felt bad for putting them all on edge, but he didn’t.
Oli, at least, found it amusing. He even started changing some pronouns in his own parts, laughing at himself like it was all a joke.
But it wasn’t a joke to Skyler.
He would surely pay for this later, but in the moment, he needed the catharsis. Screw the consequences. This was all he could do to pretend like he was in control.
In reality, though, he’d never felt more like everything was spinning so wildlyoutof control in his life.
TREVOR
Trevor couldn’t take itwhen Skyler was upset with him. It made him feel brittle, like his skin was going to crack open and all his vulnerable insides would spill out.
Skyler had expected Trevor to feel the same as him, totally done with their management’s treatment of them. And yeah, Trevor wasn’t happy about any of this. But he also wasn’t prepared to do anything to change it.
We’ll do it together when the time is right.
That was what he’d told Skyler, and even as the words had come out of his mouth, they’d felt like a lie. And he was worried they’d felt that way to Skyler too. From the way Skyler had behaved since, he was sure they had. Skyler wasn’t saying it, but Trevor could tell he wasn’t only upset with their situation—he was upset withhim.
So Trevor had done the only thing he could think of. He’d followed the feeling in his gut telling him he needed to make Skyler happy. Telling him he needed Skyler. Telling him there would never be anyone else.
When he’d showed Skyler his new tattoo this morning, the small blackSon his left hand in the spot between his index finger and thumb, Skyler had rewarded him with one of his full-dimpled smiles, throwing his arms around Trevor’s neck and kissing him enthusiastically.
But after pulling away, Skyler’s smiled dimmed. “Everyone’s going to think it’s for Sierra.”
“Not everyone,” Trevor assured him. He had faith in the Blue Skies shippers. There was no way they were buying his and Sierra’s relationship. But it was convenient that she and Skyler shared the same initial, otherwise Maggie would've had his balls for this. “And so what?” he added. “You know it’s for you.Iknow. I know who I belong to.”
And that had been enough to appease Skyler for the moment, to make him beam again.
Now, though, sitting for an interview, Trevor knew the questions about his and Sierra’s supposed anniversary were coming, because Maggie had prepped him for it. And Skyler knew it too, but there was no telling how well he’d handle it. That was the hardest part for Trevor. It wasn’t having to lie—it was the way the words he was forced to say could sometimes break Skyler’s heart.
The interview hadn’t even started yet, and he was on edge. The five of them were squished together on a large couch with the interviewer in a chair by one end, angled to face both them and the cameras. They’d been arranged into the order of Oli, Skyler, Noah, Jermaine, and then himself. Oli was closest to the interviewer with Trevor farthest away. She was young, with pale white skin and black hair pulled into a high ponytail. And while the crew was buzzing around them fussing with the cameras and lighting and last-minute makeup touch-ups, she kept eyeing Skyler in a way that made Trevor want to leap out of his seat and drag her away from him by her ponytail.
But he managed to stay calm as they began the interview, and through the inane introductory questions about how proud they all were of the new album and how excited they were to be on tour once again.
Then the woman’s eyes zeroed in on Trevor’s fresh tattoo, and he braced himself.
“So Trevor,” she started with a conspiratorial smile, “I couldn’t help but notice your new ink. It’s tiny compared to most of your others, but it makes a pretty huge statement, doesn’t it?”
