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Troye adjusted his tie for what seemed like the millionth time, scanning over his reflection in the mirror. His sister’s wedding was in just a few short hours, and he was wearing a brand new classic tuxedo, with a navy blue vest underneath his jacket and a matching skinny tie. He could admit that he looked great, but that didn't stop him from being a nervous wreck.
He wasn’t worried about the wedding itself, he had attended the rehearsal even if he didn't play an important role during the ceremony, so he knew what was supposed to happen and what to expect. What he was worried about, however, was his plus-one.
Being 22 years old and single, he had planned on going to the wedding by himself. However, his younger brother Tyde had promised to find Troye a cute guy to accompany him through the night, no matter how much Troye protested and expressed his disagreement with the idea of a blind date. Especially a blind date during his sister’s wedding.
With a quick glance at his wristwatch he headed towards his garage, but not without scanning himself in the mirror once again. There's no such thing as being too sure that you're ready, Troye thought.
He was supposed to meet his date –Connor, he believed- at the doors of the church where the ceremony was to be held. Sage’s fiancé was Catholic, and as Sage wasn’t very religious herself, they had chosen a Catholic Church over a synagogue, but agreed to have the reception according to Jewish traditions.
As Troye drove there, he couldn’t help thinking about everything that could go wrong. What if the guy wasn't his type? Would he be able to ditch him during the reception? What if this Connor guy hated Troye? So many things could go wrong, and he cursed at his brother under his breath while he parked his car on his designated spot.
He couldn't stall for much longer, but he still checked himself once (or twice) in his rear view mirror before getting out of his car. He slowly walked towards the church’s doors, unsure and more than a bit worried about who he would meet there.
Knowing Tyde, he expected someone that looked just like him, tall, tan, probably really buff and muscular. What he didn't expect was the man he saw standing there, waiting for him. He was standing by the column and was wearing a grey suit, as they had agreed. He wasn't tall at all, from a distance Troye guessed that he was a few centimetres shorter than himself. He had light brown hair that lay flat yet stylish against his forehead, and damn he looked amazing in a tuxedo.
The guy seemed to be taking a picture of the small flower garden in front of him, scrunching his face up in concentration and moving his phone around to get the perfect angle. In some way Troye was disappointed that his date wasn't a tall and muscular man, but he knew that, if that were to be the case, Troye would be too nervous to even be near the guy, so he was glad to see the polar opposite of his initial image.
Troye cautiously approached him, being careful not to startle him. He wouldn’t want to ruin the perfect photograph, after all. Once the man was satisfied and put his phone down, Troye finally spoke up. “Those flowers are truly beautiful, aren't they?”
He didn't even glance at Troye, before replying “Yeah, daisies are my favourite flowers. Especially yellow ones.”
“You’re Connor, right? I’m Troye” he introduced himself, watching as Connor turned to look at him and his face morphed into an expression of pure shock.
“Wow,” he said, raking his eyes over Troye's figure.
Troye just stood there, not really knowing what to say or do. Did Connor not like his suit? He probably should have gone with the dark purple one. Damn the convincing sales assistant.
After a few seconds he couldn't resist just standing there, and anxiously asked “Is something wrong?”
Connor slowly shook his head, his expression unwavering from his shock, before replying “It’s just that Tyde told me you were attractive, but I didn't think- wow, you're stunning”
Troye covered his face with his hands, smiling madly and giggling like a schoolgirl. If someone as attractive as Connor thought that he was stunning, then the sales assistant had done a good job, after all.
“You’re really cute too, you know?” Troye confessed, watching as Connor blushed and giggled too, seemingly more embarrassed than Troye had been.
Still softly giggling, Connor extended his arm for Troye to hook his own arm around. With a happy “Let’s go, shall we?” and a hum of agreement from Troye, they slowly made their way up the staircase leading to the church.
The whole place was decorated beautifully; the benches at each side of the aisle were decorated with white ribbons and yellow daisies, relatives and friends sitting down and greeting each other enthusiastically. The aisle was a pastel yellow colour, leading up to a few steps where the bridesmaids and groomsmen were to stand. At the very end there was an archway, also decorated with white ribbon and yellow daisies, somehow completing the room and making it look straight out of a wedding-planning magazine.
“This place looks gorgeous, I love weddings,” gushed Connor, smiling like a little kid. Troye smiled softly, admiring the man’s soft features. He really was beautiful, unlike anyone he had ever seen before.
“Just wait until you see my sister,” Troye said, pride leaking into his words, “the dress she picked outruns everything, it’s amazing.” He had gone dress shopping with Sage, and had helped her make the final decision. If Connor had reacted that way to the church, he couldn't wait to see his reaction to his sister.
The pair headed for one of the benches in the middle of the room, Troye purposefully avoiding his relatives so that he wouldn't have to introduce Connor to them. What would he say, anyway? This is Connor, I don't know his last name or how old he is and I met him ten minutes ago. Definitely not, he would wait until everyone was a bit drunk at the reception to start with introductions.
He felt Connor’s presence flush against his side as the man looked around him, admiring the flowers that decorated the room. Troye felt strangely at ease; he was usually the shy one when in a relationship, but for some reason it was different with Connor. Did that mean anything? Was it a good sing or a bad one?
Before he could seriously worry himself, he heard the soft piano music playing, and stood up along with everyone else. The flower girl, bridesmaids and groomsmen started walking down the aisle at a slow pace. The bridesmaids were wearing simple, pastel yellow dresses, while the groomsmen wore classic black tuxes with a small yellow daisy on their buttonholes.
As soon as Troye saw his sister, he forgot all about Connor’s effect on him.
Sage was practically glowing, the mermaid-style dress fit her better than Troye remebered and the small yellow daisies decorating her brought the whole thing together. She walked slowly and as if she was floating, holding on to her father’s arm and smiling nervously yet with excitement clear on her face.
Everybody sat back down when she reached the archway, and Troye was reminded of Connor’s presence next to him. Throughout the ceremony he was unable to concentrate, too focused on Connor’s leg against his own and Connor’s cologne invading his senses and Connor’s soft laugh at something said during the vows. The man that made Troye feel so at ease also captivated him and required the entirety of his attention, and Troye wanted nothing more than to get to know him better.
He tuned back in to the situation happening in front of him just as he heard “You may kiss your bride,” and he saw his little sister kissing the man she loved. The room erupted in cheers, even Connor was cheering loudly and clapping with a huge smile on his face. The newlywed couple walked back down the aisle holding hands, and everybody started leaving the church and head to the place where the reception was being held.
Troye led Connor outside and to his car, after finding out that Connor had gotten to the church by bus. He felt a bit bad, knowing that Connor had probably felt really awkward sitting in a bus while wearing a suit, but the man didn’t seem to mind, saying he was used to travelling by bus everywhere he went.
Once both men were sat in the car, Troye started driving them towards the reception venue while they talked and got to know each other better. Connor turned out to be older than Troye, as he was 25, and he worked as a waiter to help pay for his college classes.
Troye found talking to Connor extremely easy and natural, as if they had known each other for years and not for an hour. They discovered that they shared their music interests, which led up to an Oh Wonder dance-off at every stoplight they reached.
“What do you do for a living?” Connor asked the younger man.
“I’m a model,” Troye started, “but I haven't been hired in months, I should probably get a better manager.”
“No wonder you're a model, with a face as gorgeous as yours,” Connor mumbled, making Troye giggle. As he snuck a glance at the older man sitting next to him, he found him already staring back, before he turned to look out the passenger window with a smile.
The rest of the drive was filled with comfortable small talk, Troye warning Connor about which relatives he should avoid and which uncles were more likely to get drunk during the first half hour.
“Also,” Troye said, “my aunt Claudia is the only homophobic person in my family, so if we walk by her-“
“We act as a lovesick flamboyant couple, right?” Connor cut him off with a laugh.
Troye laughed softly, turning the car into the venue’s car park. “It wasn’t what I had in mind, but that would be hilarious”
He rushed to get out of the car, going around to the passenger side and opening Connor's door for him. He extended his hand for Connor to take, admiring the smile on the man’s face. Only then did he realise, Connor's eyes were unlike anything he had ever seen. They were a deep forest green, with darker speckles of colour in the middle. He wanted to get a closer look, the colours luring him in.
He was quickly pulled out of his thoughts when a hand grasped his, Connor lifting himself off the car. “You're such a gentleman, how charming,” he teased. He started walking towards the venue, without letting go of Troye's hand. Troye's heart sped up and he smiled, Tyde had definitely chosen the right guy for him.
Once inside, Troye started the excruciating process of greeting everybody and introducing Connor to them, whispering little facts about the person in Connor's ear. For example, “This is my cousin Leah, she stole Sage’s boyfriend once,” or “my grandfather Robert, he always gets drunk during family reunions.”
They finally found their designated seats and sat down, Troye pulling Connor's chair back for the man to sit comfortably before sitting himself down next to him. On that same table sat Tyde, Steele and their girlfriends, Tyde giving Troye smug looks every few minutes and silently boasting about his great match-making skills while they mindlessly chatted.
Sage and her now husband arrived at the venue, the DJ announcing that it was time for their first dance as husband and wife. After watching the couple spin around and step on each other’s feet a couple of times, everybody sat back down and waited for the food to be brought to their tables.
Connor teased and flirted with Troye throughout the meal, making it extremely difficult for Troye to control his madly blushing cheeks. He was glad that the lights were dim, otherwise he was sure the whole venue would notice his embarrassment.
After everyone had finished eating, the DJ started playing loud music, inviting all guests to the dance floor.
Troye excitedly stood up from his chair, taking the hand of a very reluctant Connor and guiding him towards the middle of the dance floor. He started dancing to the rythm of the music, purposely exaggerating his movements to make Connor laugh and relax. After a few minutes he managed to make Connor dance, both of them inventing ridiculous dance moves and giggling like crazy.
As part of the Jewish tradition, after a while of dancing randomly everyone prepared for the traditional Jewish dances. Connor had never experienced a Jewish wedding, so he stood to one side, expecting slow music and awkward dancing.
What he wasn’t expecting, however, was for insanely upbeat music to start playing and for all the guests to gather in a huge circle, leaving only the newlywed couple in the middle and jumping up and down.
Before he could react, he was pulled into the circle by Troye and he joined all the guests in the dance, spinning around in circles.
The whole experience lasted about half an hour, and by the end of it both Troye and Connor were exhausted. They went back to their designated table and sat there for the rest of the party, talking and getting to know each other a bit more. They didn’t even stand up when it was time for the cakes and desserts, too caught up in their conversation to care about anything around them.
After a while the crowd started thinning out, and that was when they decided it was time to go home.
None of the remaining guests approached them or mentioned their lack of participation in the reception, just as Connor didn’t say anything when Troye intertwined his hand with his own, or as Troye didn’t mention the smile that Connor was trying to supress.
Neither Troye nor Connor mentioned the prolonged stares during the car ride to Connor’s house, both men giving up on trying to be discreet.
Connor’s roommate didn’t mention the huge smile and flaming red blush on the green-eyed boy’s face the next day, caused by a simple text that was lighting up his screen.
From: Troye <3
Got any plans tomorrow?