I Believe In Us - (McPricely)

Chapter 8

   Eventually a week passed, and Connor and Kevin became even closer friends in the time. They often studied the book of Arnold together in the afternoons, and bonded over their shared love of classic literature and the struggles that came with having multiple siblings. Connor had further come to terms with the fact that he was gay, and his hell dreams had lessened greatly, but he had fallen pretty hard for Kevin upon becoming closer with him. Of course he never looked to share his feelings about him. Kevin was just nice to have around. He was incredibly gentle and caring with Connor, and crazy smart. His intelligence helped decode more of the book before Cunningham's homecoming back to the village.

   Before anyone had so much as a chance to catch their breath, it was the day that Arnold and Nabulingi would be arriving back home. It was late morning, and Kevin found himself hanging up pathetic looking paper decorations, distracted by the hustling environment that was the mission hut that day. Elder Neeley and Schrader were hanging a large paper banner above the chalk board in their living space. It read, "Welcome Back!" in large lettering. The sign had silver stars painted across it, and the Star Trek logo on the right side, welcoming Arnold with some of his favorite things. The design was personally made by Elder Micheals, who proved to be highly passionate and skilled when it came to art.

   Kevin scanned the rest of the room, noticing Elder Church and Elder Thomas in the corner, with Elder Thomas adjusting Church's tie for him as the two laughed with one another.

   Connor however, was whipping around the house like a tornado, going from helping Elder Zelder fix a small tray of snacks, before running to assist Elder Davis in picking up the boxes of materials for the village they'd ordered (courtesy of the Mormon church; the villagers successfully guilt tripped the mission president into paying for useful items like medicine instead of taking them back to Salt Lake City), and then instructing the group in the living room on how to hang to hang the decorations in the ultra specific way he wanted. He was aware that Elder Cunningham wouldn't care to look at any of the minuscule details the way Connor did, so it wasn't worth all the fuss. Nevertheless, one suggestion of a welcome back party for him and Naba was enough to make Connor feel the need to plan something magnificent.

   "Elder Schrader, did you do the dusting yet?" Connor called to him as he packed away the board games that sat open on the coffee table.

   Schrader stuck the corner of the banner to the wall with a wad of tape. "Ah sorry, I didn't yet, I'll do it in a second," He apologized.

   Connor took note of how much tape he was using to hold up the banner; it was sloppy, to put it kindly. He'd definitely have to fix that later, and he wasn't sure if he trusted Schrader to do any cleaning. "Nahhh, it's okay, don't worry about it bud. I'll just do it myself," he said, his eye practically twitching.

   By now, he had caught the attention of Kevin across the room. Connor's face was red with exhaustion as he raced toward a nearby chair, to pick up a stray monopoly dollar that had been left out from the previous night. He appeared to be mumbling to himself, repeating the tasks he had to do. "Elder McKinley..?" Kevin began, clearing his throat. The others weren't aware they were on a first name basis, so for the time being he'd stick to addressing Connor in the proper, more formal way while people were around.

   Oh Heavenly Father- what now?! Connor whipped around to the source of the voice, "What?!" He exasperated. He immediately regretted his tone, especially once he registered that it was Kevin of all people who called for him. Kevin's eyes were widened at him, fueling Connor's embarrassment. "Sorry— I mean yes. What is it?" He corrected himself.

   Kevin couldn't help but be alarmed at his aggravated tone. It wasn't often that Connor got so tense, and it was over something as small as Arnold coming back after less than a month long trip. Connor was reminding Kevin of himself, which was something he definitely did not want to see. He was not the best at handling his stress. "Just checking in. You look like you need a break," he observed.