Chapter Text
Whizzer couldn’t believe Marvin kicked him out just for winning in chess.
Okay, maybe he could.
That was the moment that he realized that maybe, he didn’t love Marvin.
Oh, but he was wrong. He knew deep down, of course he loved Marvin.
He did the only thing he could think to do at the time. He took out his phone to make a call.
It rang for a couple seconds before someone answered. “Hello?”
“Hey, Kevin, are we still on for coffee?”
“Uh… no? I mean… I’m not allowed to have coffee? I thought you knew- CONNOR SHUT UP. Sorry, he won’t- No. It was one time! Hang on, give me a second.” There was some shuffling on the other end of the line before Kevin answered again. “Are you okay?”
“I’m… I think I’m fine. But I just… i just got kicked out of the house.”
“What?! Okay. Give us a little bit, you can come here and stay for as long as you need.”
“I… thanks,”
“It’s no problem. Meet me at that one coffee place?” They both knew which one they were talking about. They couldn’t remember the name to save their lives but they knew the look.
“Yeah, sure. Bring Connor if you want,” Whizzer teased at the end.
“I… uh. I think it’d be best not… to?”
“Awww, does someone have a crush?”
“No!”
Whizzer hummed, trying not to laugh. “Okay. Just text me when you’re ready,” with that, they hung up. He ran a hand through his hair. He had nowhere to go, and could only hope Kevin would be able to give him a place to stay for a little bit. It was impossible to tell until they actually met up. He laughed a little, wondering who Connor was, and hoping he’d get to meet him soon- he was interested in finding out who Kevin kept company with, and who Whizzer was sure Kevin had a crush on. He wasn’t going to let the other man get hurt. He wondered how Kevin would react when he found out, when he finally took in, what had happened.
Whizzer sighed, running a hand through his hair again before grabbing his bag and starting on his way. He knew he’d have to find a way to get to a bus stop, or to borrow a car. He was considering the latter, but he wasn’t entirely sure.
Meanwhile, Kevin was trying to figure out how he even ended up in the situation he was in. He had dragged Arnold and Nabulungi to the United States with him, telling them that they “needed to go to Orlando! You don’t know what living is until you’ve been there!”
Somehow, a certain Connor McKinley had ended up with them, so it was the four of them sharing two hotel rooms, with a wall between them, connected by a single door. With Whizzer added, it would be five people in two rooms, with only room for four.
Kevin sighed.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine,” he turned to smile at the other elder. Ex-Elder? He wasn’t entirely sure what their status was, but he was sure he wasn’t considered a Mormon elder anymore.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive,”
“Who called?” Connor smiled as he asked, clearly curious.
“An old friend. Would it be okay if I picked him up? Wait… he. He got kicked out. Where was he? He has so many questions to answer once we get him.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Connor was concerned now.
“I’m fine, Whizzer might not be, not when I’m done with him, if he’s not not okay right now.”
“It’s going to be okay, you don’t need to beat him or anything,”
“You don’t… you’ll understand when you meet him. Oh, if he even thinks about trying any of that…”
“Trying what?”
“You’ll see. I promise.” Kevin wasn’t sure how to explain Whizzer to his friend. “I’m going to tell Arnold I’m going to be gone for a little bit, i should hopefully be back soon. Do you want to come with me?”
“Sure!” Connor jumped off the bed, nearly falling onto Kevin when he did so.
“Be careful,” Kevin smiled as he spoke. He helped Connor get upright before grabbing a jacket and his phone to text Arnold that they were leaving. “Wait. Shoot. We’re going to need another room, or we’re all going to have to share a bed. I mean, as long as you don’t… um.” Kevin started to stumble over his words as he was asking Connor about sleeping in the same bed.
“That’d be okay, if you’re okay with it. Or you and Whizzer… wait, is his name really Whizzer?”
“Yeah. No, his parents weren’t high when they named him. Please don’t ask about it.”
“Got it. But if you wanted, you and Whizzer could share the bed, and I could take the other one,”
“No, no! I mean. I’d be fine sharing a bed with you, if you… wanted. I’m not sharing a bed with Whizzer, though. And I uh… I don’t think you want to either.” Kevin mentally slapped himself. He had almost told Connor that he didn’t want to leave him with Whizzer alone in a bed. He might have been just a little scared that Whizzer would attempt to take the other man as his own boyfriend.
“Why not?”
“He… tends to end up everywhere. He… you’ll understand later. If there’s another person with him, they’re either kicked off the bed or cuddled half to death. There is no in between. The amount of times we had to share a bed… that’s not important, though.”
“I mean, that doesn’t… what do you mean, ‘the amount of times we had to share a bed’? How… how did you meet Whizzer?”
“Oh, we’re… friends. No, no, we weren’t… you know, like that.” Kevin laughed awkwardly. “No. He’s my step brother.”
“Oh, that makes sense,”
“Yeah. I should warn you, he’s… a little… he’s different. He’s… i think he’ll like the sparkly pink vests.”
“Oh, good! I can make him one, too,”
Kevin shook his head, laughing a little. “You never cease to amaze me.”
Arnold chose that minute to come through the door. “Oh, good! You two are still here-“
“We’ll be back, we have to go pick someone up. We shouldn’t be too long, I don’t think, but if we’re not back tomorrow we’re fine. We’ll text you so you know nothing bad happened.”
“Oh… okay. Come back safely!”
“We will, see you later,” Kevin’s phone buzzed as he spoke.
Hey, can you pick me up from Krispy Kreme? I’ll send you directions.
He sighed at the text.
Yeah, sure. Give me a minute.
He put his phone in his coat pocket, reaching for Connor’s hand without thinking. When he had a grasp on the other man’s hand, he started to the door, making sure he had keys for the car they were renting and a key to the hotel room. He wasn’t paying any attention to Connor, not entirely realizing that they were holding hands as he opened the hotel room door and started on his way out.
Connor followed, trying not to think too far into the fact that their hands were touching, and made sure that the door was closed behind them.
“How far away is he?”
“Oh my goodness. He… he’s got a lot of nerve.”
“What happened?”
“He’s… in Tennessee. How’d he get in Tennessee? You know what… we’re going to have to go to Tennessee.”
“How long will it be?”
“Straight through? I’ll have to see, give me a second,” Kevin sighed as he looked it up on his phone. “About ten hours.”
“We can do it. You drive five, I’ll drive five.”
“Connor, Honey, no. It’s ten hours-“
“He can drive some too, once we pick him up,” Connor chose to ignore the fact that Kevin called him Honey, fighting down that feeling in his chest and considering taking his hand out of Kevin’s.
“I guess, I just… he's probably exhausted, and knowing him, he probably hasn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in a while. He could drive some, yeah, but I say we let him sleep some first. I don’t want to get in a wreck.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. Do you want me to drive first?”
“I can, if you want me to, it’s up to you though,” Kevin smiled at him softly, squeezing his hand just a little.
“If you want to, you can go ahead,” Connor tried to hide his face, knowing it was going pink, and smiling a little himself.
“Okay. I can drive for the first five hours,”
“Okay,”
Kevin opened the passenger door for Connor before going around and opening the driver’s door and getting in, putting the keys in the ignition and gripping the steering wheel.
Once he got out of the parking lot of the hotel, he subconsciously grabbed Connor’s hand again, but the other man made no complaint. The ride was silent at first, not awkward, but calming.
Connor decided to say the first words. “So… what are we going to do when we’ve got Whizzer?”
“Honestly? I don’t know,” Kevin shook his head. “There’s not too much we can do. We’ll probably have to let him stay around for a little bit, we’re going back to Uganda soon, right?”
“Yeah. A week and a half, i think?”
“That sounds right. Would it be okay if he came back with us?”
“I mean… that’s another plane ticket. It’ll be expensive. If it’s what we need to do, though, I’m willing to do it,”
“Okay. Thanks, seriously. You’re… yeah. Thanks.”
Connor nodded. “Do you seriously think I should make him a vest?”
“You need to, he'd absolutely love one,”
“…I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.”
“I’m being one hundred percent serious! He’d love one,”
“…alright,”
No declarations of love from either of them. Just a long car ride, with them stopping every so often to use the bathroom, get something to eat, or change drivers.
When they finally saw the sign for Tennessee, they both nearly cheered. Kevin was on his third coffee, and was seriously considering getting another at the Krispy Kreme they were picking Whizzer up at.
Kevin was thankful that they weren’t too far from their destination, which was Nashville.
It was eight p.m. when they finally pulled into the parking lot of the Krispy Kreme, and Kevin was fidgety after the three coffees. He grabbed Connor’s hand before they walked into the restaurant, pulling him along. He looked around for Whizzer, and waved when he saw the other man.
Whizzer gave a smile and a wave back. He look exhausted.
Kevin dragged Connor with him to sit with Whizzer, sitting across from his relative and Connor next to him.
“You don’t look too great. How long have you been out?”
“Not too long,” Whizzer took a sip of his drink.
“How long?”
“Just a couple days. It’s not a big deal,”
“Exact numbers, please,”
“Anywhere from five days to a week.”
“Why didn’t you call sooner?”
“I was in New York.”
“Whizzer, if you needed help, you could’ve called,”
“It’s not a big deal. Is this Connor?”
“Uh… yeah. Whizzer, this is my… friend, Connor McKinley. Connor, this is my step brother, Whizzer Brown.”
“Hi,” Connor considered holding a hand out to shake, but decided against it. Whizzer nodded.
“Hi, to you, too. Are you two…?”
“What? No! Why…?” Connor felt his face heat up at Whizzer’s question.
“Just curious,” the other man smiled and began to hum a little bit. “I shouldn’t stick around too long, so don’t worry about me, okay? I just need a place to stay for a little bit, so I can get back on my feet, you know?”
“That’s okay. We’re going back to Uganda in a week and a half-“
“Oh yeah, that’s where they sent you off to,”
“Yeah. We’re going back to Uganda in a week and a half, if you want to come with us. We plan on visiting back soon, and if you want to come back, you can,”
“I… might have to take you up on that offer. It’d be good “brother bonding time”, maybe I can get some good pictures while I’m there, too,”
Connor looked at Kevin, as if asking what Whizzer meant.
“He’s a photographer. He’ll also organize your wardrobe in rainbow order, and help you pick out what to wear every day.”
“Oh, that makes sense,”
Whizzer winked and smiled at Connor, almost laughing at the expressions on both of the other men’s faces.
“Do you two want to get something? I’m willing to pay, if you want me to,”
“I’ll get another coffee. Connor?”
“I’ll go with you,”
“Okay. I’ll stay here,” Whizzer started to play with the paper from the straw wrapper, trying to not drift off.
“He’s not too bad,” Connor whispered to Kevin once they were in line.
“Just wait. He’s tired right now, and you just met him. Just wait.”
“That’s almost scary,”
“It should be. You’ve been given a warning, use it well,” Kevin teased a little, but he was also being a little serious. If you weren’t ready for Whizzer, things might not end up well. Connor shrugged.
“How bad could he be?”
“You’d be surprised.” With that, they ordered their donuts and something to drink before going back to the table, where Whizzer’s head was in his hand and his breathing was even.
“I think he fell asleep,” Connor muttered.