Chapter Text
Looking back, he could have known it for a while. There were signs, and over time the evidence had collected, until it had overtaken him with its intensity. Anthony would sometimes try and think back to remember the moment he first truly felt it.
Maybe it was a couple of weeks ago, when they were laid on Anthony’s bed with the door propped open (at his mom’s request). They had ditched school after taking their SATs and had a lunch date instead to destress. Then they went back to Anthony’s place to watch a movie, a laptop with some random Netflix film playing. Coy had fallen asleep on his shoulder, and he had fought back the urge to brush the hair out of his face before remembering that he was literally his boyfriend and doing it anyway. Anthony swore up and down to himself that he had caught Coy smiling at the action. He might’ve been less asleep than Anthony had originally assumed.
Maybe it was a few months ago at the New Year’s party he and Hanbon had dragged Coy and Will to. Where Coy had chosen to do a bit where he tried to convince everyone at the party to eat vegetables with him, and actually managed to pool together a dozen people in the living room. When it was a minute to midnight, Coy had abandoned his vegetable eating challenge to come and kiss him, the cheering of the party muffled through walls as they held each other.
Maybe it was before all of this, before they had even given this a label, when Anthony was still hopelessly pining over him. Maybe it was in the moment Coy had seen him show up for the Seussical auditions. Coy had made no effort to hide his surprise and annoyance back then, and Anthony had found it endearing.
In any case, it didn’t really matter where this began. What mattered was that it was here now, swirling and splashing around deep in his chest, crashing into his heart and pulling it deeper and deeper down.
Yes, Anthony Po was in love with Coy Pisofour. He knew this now. There was no denying it.
And he had no idea how to tell him.
He wanted the first time he told him “I love you” to be perfect. He wanted it to be a story they could tell at their wedding, or perhaps to their future children, if they were so lucky to achieve those things. At the very least, he wanted it to be perfect for Coy, because Coy deserved a fairy tale romance, and Anthony was determined to give him that.
Anthony had a few ideas of how to achieve this scribbled down in a notebook. At the top of his list he had written that he wanted to write Coy a love song. He had called Hanbon over to help him, and they sat in his garage with a ukulele trying to get something written.
“We need something that rhymes with eyes,” Anthony said, staring down at the notepad in his lap blankly.
“Your song doesn’t have to rhyme, Ant,” Hanbon reminded him, plucking random notes.
“A good love song should rhyme. It’s, like, poetry.”
“Poetry doesn’t have to rhyme either.”
Anthony groaned. “I just want it to be good, Bon. This is a mess.”
“It’s not thatttt bad…”
He started reading off the paper. “ Coy, you are the boy that I enjoy. Day and night you bring me light, and you make everything feel alright. Your eyes are green, and your… blah blah blah… I love you.”
Anthony looked back up at Hanbon with a deadpan expression.
“… He might find it charming?” She shrugged, and Anthony laughed and shook his head. “Yeah, probably not. Do you have any other ideas?”
“If I had better lyric ideas I would’ve already written them.”
“Not lyric ideas, ideas for confessing your love! Keep up!”
Anthony’s cheeks flushed at the wording, but he couldn’t argue. That’s what this was.
“I mean, I do have an idea for prom coming up…”
---
He had planned to spend the afternoon getting together the finishing touches for tomorrow’s promposal, but Coy had asked if he could come over today, so he was putting that on hold. He hid the supplies in his mom’s room so that he wouldn’t grow suspicious.
When Anthony opened his door, Coy was dressed in a suit holding up a sign. It was written with small lettering, and upon further inspection, was currently being held upside down.
Seemingly noticing Anthony’s confusion, Coy glanced down at his sign before realizing, giggling to himself as he flipped it over for him to read.
Wow this is a sign. Do you like signs? I should’ve asked. Do you like the suit Coy is wearing? I think it looks great on him. Anyway, your boyfriend thinks it would be really really really cool if you would be his prom date. Especially since he agreed to be your homecoming date. It only seems fair. And you’re literally his boyfriend, so you’re basically contractually obliged to. I’ll even provide a script for you to use during your prom date acceptance speech. Read it aloud: Yes Coy, I would be so honored and happy and overjoyed to be your date for prom in a few weeks. I also think Coy is really hot and sexy and I owe him 20 bucks. If you got this far into the sign, make sure you comment the phrase “I AM COY’S PROM DATE” and leave a like and subscribe.
“Yes Coy, I would be so honored and happy and overjoyed to be your date for prom in a few weeks. I also think Coy is really hot and sexy and I owe him 20 bucks. If you got this far into the sign—”
“That part isn’t part of your speech, you don’t have to read it.”
“Oh, gotcha, gotcha.”
“Sooooo… will you go to prom with me?”
“… “Yes Coy, I would be so honored and happy and overjoyed to be your—”
“You’re so dumb!” Coy threw his sign at him in an attempt to get him to stop reading off of it. Anthony held it with both hands and used it to pull Coy closer to him for a hug.
“Yes, Coy, of course I will be your prom date,” He properly answered, accenting his words with a kiss on Coy’s cheek.
It was only when Coy eventually left that Anthony remembered that he wouldn’t be able to do his “promposal into telling him he loves him” plan now. He would have to find another time.
---
Anthony could’ve been content spending the whole prom ogling at his boyfriend. He looked so good in his suit. His hair was the perfect length. He was so happy, and Anthony was entranced by it.
“You haven’t acted this ridiculous since we got together. Am I really that pretty?” Coy joked.
Anthony snatched Coy’s hands, taking them into his own. “Yes.”
Coy rolled his eyes, but he wasn’t going to fool Anthony. He admired the way redness spread across his boyfriend’s face.
He loved him.
“You’re such a dork. Why did I ever think you were cool?”
“You thought I was cool?”
Coy got defensive, and Anthony bit back a laugh. “In, like, an objective way. I didn’t think you were cool.”
The two of them dissolved into giggles. He wanted so badly to say it right then.
“I—” he had started, then backed out. It wasn’t perfect. The room was way too loud, and Anthony couldn’t be certain Coy would even hear him properly if he were to say it. Nothing would be more humiliating than having to repeat himself louder over the music right now.
Besides, Anthony was already being dragged off by his boyfriend to go to the photo booth.
There were thousands of moments like this that night, where the words sat at the tip of his tongue but wouldn’t spill out. It was always too loud, or too bright, or too quiet, or there were too many people around, or it was too early in the night, or it was too late, or Coy was already talking, or—
He didn’t find his moment that night.
---
After some light begging, Will had agreed to help Anthony with his new idea. In the early June sun, Will helped Anthony carry blankets, candles, flowers, and other supplies up a small secluded mountain in their local park.
He was going to take Coy on a romantic walk leading up to a picnic later that night to surprise him. It was their half a year anniversary, 189 days since they had officially labeled themselves a couple. It had to be now. It was perfect.
Will teased him on the whole way up.
“Imagine being so in love with someone that you make yourself climb up and down a mountain twice in one day.”
“If Shirley was a person you would be doing the same shit,” Anthony retorted. It was a weak come back, but that’s all he had, too focused on trying to remember where the picnic spot he had picked out was.
“I’ll have you know, I wouldn’t take her on a hike. The leaves would get caught in her hair. We would go somewhere classy like the spa for our dates.”
“Do you think Coy would like that?”
“Oh my god, you’re obsessed.”
Still, Will was a good sport. He helped make sure the blanket was perfectly centered and collected the rocks to keep it put while Anthony laid out the flowers and the picnic basket.
When Will dropped him off back at his place, he immediately went from Will’s car into his own to pick up Coy for their date. He showed up 5 minutes early, relieved that he hadn’t been late.
Perfect so far.
The car ride went well. He let Coy have control over the music, and he laughed as Coy did purposefully shitty karaoke to musical theater songs he only half recognized. He’d have to invite him and their other friends over to do a karaoke night sometime soon.
The energy carried over to the walk. Anthony was essentially chasing Coy through the woods as he went on about belonging in a Hunger Games edit. Anthony indulged him, glad to have a distraction from his anxiety about the picnic.
“And then Effie Trinket would call your name to play for our district in the Hunger Games, and I would volunteer as tribute, obviously, because you wouldn’t survive a day.”
“Excuse me?!” Anthony acted offended. “I would win over you in the Hunger Games any day! I literally play football!”
“Being able to throw that ball around wouldn’t be able to help you when you’re starving because you got no sponsors because all the sponsors loved me and then I come after you and break your skull open with an acorn I found and you die and I’m heartbroken but at least I’ve won the Hunger Games!”
Anthony picked up a random stick and chucked it at Coy’s back. “You’re saying you wouldn’t eat the suicide berries with me at the end and force the capitol to let us both win?”
“We aren’t fit to be the Mockingjay, Anthony. Not all of us can be Josh Hutcherson.”
It was still going perfectly. They were having so much fun. Today was the day.
They reached the end of their walk, and Anthony was nervous again. He led him up the mountainside to their picnic area. When Coy realized what was happening he was ecstatic.
“Oh my god, you planned this!”
Anthony laughed as Coy ran over to the picnic basket and opened it up, finding the carefully wrapped sandwiches and fruits he had left for them, careful to prevent bugs from getting to them before he got back with Coy.
“This is so cute that it genuinely outweighs how cliche and cheesy it is, thank you so much!”
They sat down on the blanket, leaning up against each other messing around as they dug into their lunches.
Anthony was about to turn to Coy and tell him what he had been meaning to say when Coy suddenly interrupted him, sounding alarmed.
“Ant, is it going to rain?”
“What do you mean?”
“I just felt water hit my hand.”
“Are you sure that it was rai—”
A droplet of water hit Anthony’s glasses, and he frantically pulled out his phone to check the weather. It took a few moments to load, and while he was waiting, his answer was actively being answered. The rain was starting to pick up, a light sprinkle starting to fall from the sky over them.
“Fuck!” Anthony shoved his phone back into his pocket while Coy starts packing the food back into the picnic basket.
Anthony picked up the picnic blanket and tried to drape it over Coy to keep the rain off him, but as the rain picked up it stopped being very effective. Hands full of picnic stuff, they raced back to the car.
When they got back in, Anthony rested his forehead against the steering wheel. He listened to the rain pound against the roof of his car as he tried to stabilize himself.
“I’m so sorry, Coy.”
“For what?”
“I forgot to check the weather. I would’ve picked a different date spot if I had known. You deserved a better half year anniversary than that.”
“No no, it was fine! I still had fun!”
“… You sure?”
“Of course!”
“God, I love you.”
Anthony’s heart fell from his chest. He hadn’t meant to say it. It wasn’t the right time. Everything was going wrong.
He clutched the steering wheel, holding onto it tightly as though it was what was anchoring him here. Like he might blow off in the wind if he loosened his grip.
Coy had said something back, but Anthony didn’t hear it over his thoughts and the rain and his heartbeat and the car engine and his breathing and—
“…Ant? Anthony? Are you okay?” Coy asked, placing a hand on his back where his wet dress shirt was clinging to him.
“I just wanted it to be perfect.” Anthony spilled out between breaths. He needed him to know this wasn’t his plan. That he deserved better than this. “I’ve spent weeks trying to find the perfect moment to tell you I love you, but it’s never been right. And today, today really felt like the day, but the weather ruined it because I didn’t bother to check before we planned this and then I accidentally said it and now I’ve blown the whole thing and—”
“Anthony, it was perfect.”
“But—”
Coy gently took hold of his hair and lifted Anthony’s head to face him. Looking at him, Anthony saw that Coy was still wet from the rain, his hair sticking to his face. A blush was creeping up Coy’s neck, across his cheeks, and to his ears.
Anthony was sure he was in a similar state.
“It was perfect because you’re the one who said it to me, Ant. Nothing about where we are or when you say it or who we’re with changes that. I still love you back.”
“I love you.” Anthony said again, wanting to hear himself say it again. He could say it as much as he wants now, really. He loved him. They both knew it. The pressure of the first time was finally gone.
Coy pressed a kiss to his forehead. They were both smiling now.
“I love you too.”