I don't dedicate much but because this was HEAVILY inspired by the lovely Emma of TroylerToujours 's wedding scene in Icy Inferno ( AKA one of the stores that I'm constant trash when it comes to it ), I figured it's only fair to dedicate this to her.
ALSO LET ME TELL YOU A THING: I've been reading her story for the last three months or so, when there was only eight chapters, and she FUCKING UPDATED FOUR TIMES ON MY CHRISTMAS BREAK, when my parents and I went to Mexico and long story short I hated the trip because the I'm very heat intolerant and it was really humid and hot and the trip was very water based and I hate water so yano, but the updates made it all so much more bearable. I actually clearly remember reading my fav fav chapter ( 12 ) while listening to Fire Meets Gasoline by Sia, the memory was so clear. But yeah, thanks Emma. I owe you for that.
ALSO WE RAISED 500K FOR THE TREVOR PROJECT OMFG THIS IS AMAZING
Also I'm pissed because the 50 Shades Soundtrack is amazing but the movie is such trash wth.
But a few quick things about this one-shot: it's an AU, where they're both 17 going on 18, they're not dating but are into each other, and the wedding they're invited to is for Jim and Tanya, who, for the sake of everything, will be 22 and 24.
Troye POV
"So, are you going?" Tyler, my best friend, asked me, breaking the comfortable silence as we sat under a shady tree outside of the school grounds, eating our lunch together. The sunlight pouring down between the leaves caused a cascade of abstract shadows on the grassy ground beneath our crossed legs. A gentle breeze pushed the leaves in a rustling wave, making the silhouetted shapes blend together and fade in and out with each other.
I shifted my legs, adjusting my position and crunching the dry grass in the process; the sound made me grateful for the fact that I was wearing pants, because otherwise the grass would probably irritate my skin. "Going where?" I asked Tyler between chews of the sandwich that we bought together at Subway before settling down during our lunch period.
"Tanya and Jim's wedding," he said, furrowing his eyebrows. "You were invited, right?"
"Oh," I said, only now understanding what he was referring to. "Yeah, I am, I just forgot for a second."
"Ah, okay." He took a quick drink from a bottle of water that was lying beside him, and reiterated his question. "So, are you going?"
I shrugged indifferently, not having thought much about it until now. Tanya and Jim were nice people, but they were more Zoë's friends then ours - we'd only met the couple a few times, and always in group gatherings of all of our school friends and a few of their other friends and acquaintances. And Zoë, who got along easily with just about every human on the face of the Earth, just so happened to have dozens of friends, some of which I couldn't laid a name to a face for the life of me. Thankfully, I remembered Tanya Burr and Jim Chapman, or else the invite to the wedding would've been incredibly awkward, but that didn't necessarily mean I thought them close to me. They were probably just being polite ( both of them are easily the two most kind-learned people that I've ever met ) and invited everyone that has ever been friendly with either of them, honestly.
It didn't help that I don't have a date, either. I suppose that that's my fault, since I'm still stubbornly glued to Tyler - not that I've ever told him how I felt - but I couldn't exactly help it. He was my best friend, sure, but I've recently started realizing that maybe that wasn't all there was to how I felt about him. I didn't know how to define it; like seemed like too little a word, but love seemed a stretch right now too. In a way, sure, I do love him. I always have, since we've been friends since we met in middle school, when we were partnered for an art project ( that ended horribly ). But in the way that most people use love to describe romance these days, I didn't think so.
At least, not yet.
I had an eerie feeling that I was on that path already, though.
"I don't know," I said. "I don't have any other plans, but..." I trailed off, unsure where to go from there.
"You don't really want to go?" Tyler finished for me.
"It's not that," I insisted promptly, backtracking for a moment,"I'm just not very keen on going alone, you know?"
And he does, really. He hasn't dated and had flings with anyone in weeks, which was some sort of personal record for Tyler. Ever since he came out in Freshmen year, he'd been on the dating scene with out and closeted people alike. Most never lasted too long, however ( the longest relationship of his being nine weeks and three days ), though they rarely got him down when they ended. He never gets committed to most in the first place, therefore has little to mourn once it's over.
He was like one of those shitty insurance policies, that insurance commercials always warn you about to promote themselves. You can go ahead and take a loan ( aka a partner of some sort ) and spend time with them/use them however you like, with little cost. But if you crash and burn, and end up needing more than a dent repaired, then you lose your built up insurance ( aka innocence in the world of love ) all in one go, to the point where you now have to start over and reconstruct back up to the point where you were previously at.
The trick is not letting yourself get in too deep. That way, the potential of fucking everything up is much lower than it could be.
"No date?" Tyler asked, I slight teasing smile hinting at his lips. I'm not one for dating, and Tyler knows it; I've tried going on a few that he actually set up for me, and they all ended disastrously. I specifically asked him at one point, about six months ago, to give up on the blind date ordeal. It just wasn't working for me.
The funny thing is, I started suspecting my true feelings for Tyler about a week later.
"You know that answer to that," I deadpanned. "I'm fine with not having anyone right now-" lie,"-but that doesn't mean I want to go to a wedding by myself, surrounded by couples and people sharing heart eyes and giggling the entire time."
Tyler shrugged, eating the last bite of his sandwich. Crumpling up his paper, and tossed it towards the nearest trash can - about three feet away - and missed by a few inches. He rolled his eyes, making me have to stifle a squabble of laughter, but got up to pick up the wrapper and throw it away normally. As he sat back down, he said,"Well, I'm not going with anyone either."
I cocked an eyebrow. "Are you suggesting something, Ty?"
He lifted a shoulder, appearing nonchalant, but I didn't miss the unprecedented tenseness in his gait. "We could go together." Then, as an afterthought,"As friends, of course."
I mulled his offer over, feeling an even surge of delight and disappointment at his words. I didn't dare give away my thoughts, however, keeping a passive expression on my face. Then finally, I spoke. "Is the Tyler Oakley asking me on a date?" I asked coyly, smirking in bemusement to hide the fact that my heart was already racing with anticipation at the very thought of Tyler asking me on a real date.
As if that would ever happen, I reminded myself.
He huffed an over-exaggerated sigh, raising his eyes upwards as if he were addressing God, asking Why me?, even though I know he's in no way religious. A faint red tinge appeared on his ears and cheeks, however, giving away the fact that he was actually embarrassed by what I said.
"Troye Sivan," he began in a composed manner, using my middle name out of habit since that's what I told him my stage name would be, if I ever became a famous musical artist ( my life's dream ),"Would you do me the incomparable pleasure of accompanying me to Jim and Tanya's wedding this weekend?" As he said the words, he held his hand out in a flourish, and bowed his head lightly.
A had to fight the urge to grin like an idiot, smothering the huge smile that threatened to break through at any second. Instead, I focused on his hand held out to me. I demurely placed my own hand in his, interlocking my fingers with his. "I'd be honored, Tyler Oakley."
He glanced back up at me, gauging my reaction. Then, slowly but surely, his lips curved delicately into a half moon smile. "Alright. It's a date, then."
"A date," I repeated, testing the word out on my tongue. It felt alien, coming from my lips, due to not using it when talking about myself very often. At the same time, though, it felt right. Appropriate. Comfortable. Natural, as if it really should've been what described our outings together in the first place.
Tyler dropped our hands back to the ground, but to my surprise kept them joint together, stroking his thumb over the back of my hand in small circles. I looked down at our linked hands, noting out of the corner of my eye Tyler doing the same, and felt my heart beat wildly in my chest.
It was such an intriguing moment. The wind still blew. The leaves still brushed noisily against each other, making soft crinkling noises the harder the breeze pushed them. The sun still shone down on us, peeking through small gaps between the branches above. I was still Troye, and he was still Tyler, and we were still best friends, and nothing was ever said between us that changed that.
But this small moment, us sitting together in the shade, holding hands and not saying a word was such a perfect moment that seemed to stop time and make everything else but the two of us fade out into an indistinguishable blur. It was a moment to be relished, and savored for as long as I could remember it. It's one of those moments that I wasn't sure I'd ever forget, despite it being just my best friend and I holding hands.
But, as all moments tend to do, it was broken when one of spoke - Tyler, to be specific. "Blue."
Startled, I looked up at him, pulled out of my fleeting daze. "What?"
"Blue. That's the color I'm wearing to the wedding. I figured that since you're my date and all, you should try to coordinate your outfit to mine." He was obviously fighting a smile of his own at the end of his explanation, his eyes dancing with mirth.
I rolled my eyes, playfully slapping his arm. "Why do I even put up with you anymore?" I asked, my voice laced with sarcasm.
"Because you love me," he said simply, satisfied with the incidentally unprovable explanation.
Maybe, I thought.
AS USUAL THIS ENDED UP BEING LONGER THAN I THOUGHT WHOOPS BUT YANO I WAS LISTENING TO PRETTY RECKLESS AND LOLITA BY LANA DEL REY AND THAT SONG TAKES ME BACK MAN OKAY GTG MY BATTERY SUCKS AND MY CHARGER SUCKS I LOVE YOU ALL BYE
∞Hope