Chapter Text
"Good morning Green River!"
Connor McKinley adjusted his headphones over his soft ginger hair and grinned as he spoke, even though his audience couldn't see him.
"Let's talk about last night's Green River PTA meeting for a moment, seriously Sharon? I mean, is it just me or has she been wearing way too much of the Jennifer Lopez Kmart collection? More on that story as it develops."
Connor shuffled his papers and leaned closer to his microphone. "In other news, the Green River city council is proud to announce the addition of a golf team to Green River High's long list of available sports. People with gasping and clapping skills are wanted to attend the matches and make them seem professional."
The small town of Green River, with their population of 900, didn't have much in the way of bragging rights. Their sports teams were average, their school grades were average, pretty much everything was average. That's why everyone loved Connor McKinley.
His signature snappy comments and perceptive personality made the Green River News the only extraordinary thing in town. Everyone listened to Connor's show, everyone talked about it. Connor was Green River's most popular resident, outside of that small town, nobody knew his name but there he could hardly go out in public without receiving some sort of recognition.
After his show, Connor flicked off the "On Air" sign and grabbed his keys on his way out of the studio. He received a few high fives from the station's interns as he walked to the parking lot.
Earlier that day Connor's carpool had cancelled on him so he began the three mile walk to his apartment building.
A car slowed down next to Connor as he walked and rolled down its window.
"Connor McKinley!" The driver shouted.
Connor turned to see James Church's jeep beside him. "Need a ride?" He asked.
Connor nodded eagerly and got into the car with James, who happened to be the owner of Green River's only coffee shop. James always smelled like coffee and his car was no different. He dropped Connor off in front of his apartment complex before speeding away down the road.
A moving truck was parked in front of the building and the "for sale" sticker that was usually plastered to the door across from Connor's apartment was gone. Someone was moving in.
As Connor was fumbling with his key ring to unlock his door, the new tenant emerged from the moving van, saddled with boxes. He held four boxes in his arms, covering his face and obstructing his view. When the man stumbled, Connor rushed over to him and relieved him of half of his load. As he pulled away the boxes the man's face became visible.
He had dark brown eyes that were bright and expressive. His hair was light brown and neat with a little swooping bit over his forehead that bounced up and down when he walked. His smile was large and shiny and his tanned skin was clear, he practically glowed. All in all, he made Connor want to die.
Too nervous to say anything to his handsome new neighbor, Connor hurried over to his door, set down the boxes, and then vanished into his own apartment. The man watched him curiously for a moment before shrugging and carrying on.
Inside his apartment, Connor took a deep breath. What was that man? That perfect creature he had just seen? Connor couldn't believe a man like that existed! If you had asked Connor yesterday, to close his eyes and picture the perfect human, they would've looked like the man across the hall.
Connor parted the blinds on his window with his fingers and watched the man unload box after box. He considered going out to help but decided it'd be best for both of them if he didn't. Connor was afraid he'd be holding something fragile and the man would speak to him, causing him to drop the box and break its contents.
Later that night, as Connor sat on his couch watching TV, someone knocked on his door. It was nine o'clock at night; nothing good ever happens when someone knocks on your door at nine.
Armed with a frying pan that he had retrieved from the kitchen, Connor opened the door. Standing in the hallway was the man from earlier that day. Connor threw the pan over his shoulder quickly, ignoring the clattering sounds it made, and opened the door all the way.
"Hi, I'm Kevin Price." The man, Kevin, said. He extended a hand which Connor shook in reply. "I'm Connor"
"I wanted to say thanks, Connor, for helping me before with those boxes. I kind of bit off more than I could chew."
Flustered, because Kevin had said his name in that perfect voice of his, Connor replied with: "Oh, I'm sure you could fit a lot in your mouth." Then Kevin raised an eyebrow at him before saying goodnight and heading back across the hall.
Connor shut his door and proceeded to bang his head against it. "I'm sure you could fit a lot in your mouth?" He groaned. "Seriously Connor?"
Thoroughly done with the day, Connor changed into his pajamas and went to bed.
The next day at the studio, Connor couldn't stop thinking about his new neighbor, and now all of Green River knew about it.
"There's a city council meeting tonight at six that will be followed by a pasta dinner. Speaking of pasta, I have a new neighbor. Maybe he likes pasta? I'm not quite sure yet. His name is Kevin and his hair is very exciting. I tried talking to him yesterday but I accidentally made a sexual innuendo instead. Hopefully he'll forget about it and come over. Maybe he'll bake something and need extra sugar? I can buy sugar just in case." On and on, Connor rambled about Kevin Price, and everyone in town heard. They all knew Connor was gay of course, but it was strange for the usually professional broadcaster to suddenly intertwine his personal and work lives on the air.
His listeners liked the change of pace, which was a good thing because Connor was certainly not done talking about Kevin.