Trevor’s idea for the band to contribute to the songwriting process this time had worked out. They’d all gotten to sit in with the songwriters and toss around ideas. But Trevor wanted to write his own song.
Sometimes he looked at Skyler and a random lyric would float into his head. Sentimental words that would have made him gag a year ago, but now never felt like enough. In his opinion,allthe love songs in the world should be written about Skyler James.
Skyler liked sitting in the studio with the writers, but it seemed his heart wasn’t fully in it. Trevor could tell he missed his family even more now, without having the tour to distract him. And it was killing him to see Skyler sad and not be able to do anything about it. But then he’d realized hecoulddo something. There may not have been time for Skyler to go to Ohio, but everything they were doing was based in L.A. for a while, so there was time for his family to come to him.
Trevor had snagged Skyler’s phone one day when he wasn’t paying attention and arranged the whole thing with his parents, insisting on buying their plane tickets even though they tried to protest.
He was excited to surprise Skyler, but now as his family’s arrival neared, Trevor started to get nervous. He’d briefly met Skyler’s mom, Theresa, when she helped Skyler move into the house. But that was before he and Skyler were anything. Well. That wasn’t true. They were something from the day they met, weren’t they? But it was before they werethis.
Now making a good impression was super important to him.
When he slipped into the bathroom and caught Skyler humming one of the band’s songs as he washed his hair, he smiled to himself before stepping into the shower with him. He took Skyler by the shoulders to turn him around so he could rinse out his hair for him, and told himself there was nothing to worry about. He loved this boy with everything he had, and surely that would be enough for Skyler’s family.
His phone buzzed while they were getting dressed and he lunged for it, ignoring the amused look Skyler shot him. So fine, Skyler knew he was up to something. But he had no idea what.
Skyler’s family was five minutes away.
Trevor smoothed his blue Henley over his stomach nervously and caught Skyler’s eyes.
Skyler looked absolutely giddy with anticipation. “Surprises, surprises. How did I get so lucky to have the best boyfriend in the world?”
“You don’t even know what the surprise is yet.”
“I know you.”
Trevor had to kiss him for that, it couldn’t be helped. And then they got slightly carried away until the doorbell rang.
“We’ve got it!” he shouted so none of the other guys would answer it.
Skyler chuckled as Trevor practically shoved him out of their room and down the stairs. “All right, I’m going, sheesh. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this eager for something.” The bell rang again as they reached the door, and Skyler turned to him. “Are you going to answer it or am I supposed to?”
“You do it.”
Skyler obeyed with no more hesitation, pulling the door open wide. Peering around him, Trevor could see the three people standing on their doorstep as they yelled, “Surprise!”
“I—you—what?” Skyler sputtered. And then, recovering—“Oh my god!”
It was a flurry of movement as he rushed forward and all three of them tried to step through the doorway to hug him at once. His sister, Layla, won, tucking herself against Skyler’s torso as he enveloped her in his arms. Trevor smiled at the utterly contented look on her face. He knew how it felt to be hugged like that by Skyler.
“My turn,” Theresa said, prying her daughter out of Skyler’s grasp so she could hug him. It took a minute, but then Mr. James got a turn too.
Skyler finally turned to Trevor. There were tears in his eyes, and when he first opened his mouth to say something, nothing came out. Then he shook his head and said, “I fucking love you so much.”
“Language,” his mom chastised him.
Layla snorted. “It’s just a word, Mom. Pretty sure he’sdoingit, so saying it can’t be that bad.”
Theresa’s mouth dropped open as Skyler let out an embarrassed squawk, and everyone shot awkward glances at one another. Then Mr. James burst into laughter.
Skyler and his mom were both a little pink, though Theresa seemed to be fighting a smile. “Well. Let’s move on from this, shall we?” she said.
“So,” Trevor spoke up, wishing Mr. and Mrs. James’ first impression of him hadn’t included thoughts of him fucking their son. But too late. “Welcome to our house. I think the other guys are making themselves scarce so you could all have a minute, but I’m sure they’ll be happy to meet you too.” He cringed, realizing he hadn’t even introduced himself, and only Theresa had met him before. “Uh, I’m Trevor, by the way.”
“We know who you are, silly,” Layla said, flinging her arms around him. “You think this one hasn’t sent me tons of pictures of you? Saying things like, ‘Can you believe how hot he is? It’s like trying to look directly at the sun.’”
“She’s totally exaggerating,” Skyler said, ducking his head down.
“We also know who you are because of the band,” Mr. James offered helpfully.
