SKYLER
What a fucking rush.
The security team doesn’t leave him until he’s opened the trailer door, and as soon as he steps inside, he trades being surrounded by one group of men for being surrounded by another. Not that he’s complaining.
“You went on at night only half-dressed,” Oli argues.
“Under all those stage lights, dancing and running around. Don’t act like you don’t know how it goes.”
Despite his rightful defense of himself, Skyler lifts an arm to smell his pit, then wrinkles his nose.
Yeah, he could definitely use a shower. He only wishes he could do it in his own home, with his luxurious rainfall showerhead, rather than in the trailer’s cramped stall with the dubious water pressure.
And he also wants to spend some time with the guys before he’s ready to pass out, so the shower can wait a bit.
When Oli moves back, Jermaine steps up and slings an arm around Skyler’s shoulder, pulling Skyler briefly into his side. “Good job, man. You rocked that.”
“Thanks,” Skyler says, beaming at him.
Noah gives him a hearty slap on the back and offers his own praise.
And when Skyler spots Megan sitting at the table, she smiles and congratulates him.
Then the guys back off enough for him to see Trevor, who’s sitting casually on the couch, legs splayed slightly open, and Skyler all but forgets anyone else is here.
He beelines past Mike on his way to his husband, and when he reaches him, he doesn’t hesitate to lower himself onto Trevor’s lap, straddling him. Trevor’s hands come up to grip his waist, and the smile he’s giving Skyler is full of admiration, sunshine, and love, love, love.
“Did you like it?” Skyler asks.
“Of course, I did.” Trevor slides his palm up Skyler’s ribcage, and Skyler suddenly remembers how sweaty he is, but he’s not about to move out of Trevor’s grasp just yet. “You were incredible, baby. You always are.”
Unable to control himself, Skyler dives down for a kiss, and Trevor doesn’t hesitate in returning it with equal enthusiasm.
It only takes a few seconds for Oli to shout out, “Oh no! Can’t you guys wait ‘til you’re alone?”
Someone else—Noah, he thinks, but maybe it’s Mike—mutters an agreement.
Trevor doesn’t break the kiss, but Skyler feels his arm moving behind Skyler’s back. More than likely, he’s flipping everyone off. Skyler doesn’t want to be rude, though, so he only indulges himself in a few more moments of his husband’s lips before he pulls away and hops off Trevor’s lap.
“Who wants a drink?” he asks.
Jermaine holds up his beer. “We already started without you.”
“That’s cool. I want a drink, then.”
Trevor stands, taking Skyler’s hand and crossing with him to the small fridge. “I didn’t let them have your spiked iced teas,” he says. Then, frowning, he adds, “Well, actually, I gave Megan one, but I kept Oli away from them.”
“Which was very mean, by the way,” Oli complains.
Skyler kisses Trevor on the cheek and grabs himself a can.
When he follows Trevor back to sit on the couch, he leaves at least some semblance of space between them, still aware of his sweaty state and possible odor.
But Trevor reaches out and drags him closer, wrapping an arm around Skyler and urging him to lean against him.
“Even though I’m sweaty?” Skyler questions, though he can’t resist snuggling closer.
“Yeah, baby,” Trevor says. “I don’t mind.”
Grinning, Skyler teases him. “Ooh, you really looove me.”
But Trevor’s response doesn’t sound anything like a joke when he says, “Damn right, I do.”
Skyler’s heart does a quick little tap dance in his chest. It’s wild how Trevor can still do that to him, even after all these years.
“Oh boy, here they go again,” Oli groans as Skyler leans in for a kiss.
Skyler pouts, hesitating. He wasn’t going to make out with him.
He just wanted a kiss. And he’s allowed to kiss his husband whenever he wants, okay?
After spending five lonely years without Trevor—deprived of the best kisses and cuddles—Skyler refuses to hold himself back anymore.
Especially when they’re in a safe space like this.
It’s clear Trevor feels the same, because he cradles the back of Skyler’s head and pulls him all the way in until their lips meet. Yeah, they’re the annoying PDA couple now. But these guys should be used to this anyway.
As they exchange a few chaste kisses, Oli says, “Okay, I love you guys, and I love that you’re in love, but I’m starting to feel like chopped liver over here.”
“I’ll kiss you later, hon,” Megan says.
Someone laughs, but Oli continues to whine something about “gross lovebirds being gross.”
Skyler knows Oli’s only teasing them. Oli can never miss an opportunity to open his mouth and give someone shit. It doesn’t bother Skyler in the slightest, but he still appreciates it when he hears Noah say, “Leave them alone.”
That’s new.
Even though he and Noah made up, and Noah’s forgiven Skyler for his past fuckups, the relationship between the two of them hasn’t quite gotten back to the way it was before all the drama. And that’s fine. They can be friends without being super close. Skyler was always closer with Jermaine anyway.
But he’s glad Noah and Trevor have fully rebuilt their friendship.
He’s glad Trevor has Noah to share the stress of running his label with.
They always worked well together in the past. That is, when they weren’t at each other’s throats over something that had to do with Trevor and Skyler’s relationship, of course.
Anyway, back in the band days, Noah was usually the one making comments about the two of them. So it’s cool that he’s defending them now.
Having gotten his temporary fill of Trevor’s kisses—because he’ll never really get his fill, even if he kisses him a hundred times a day for the rest of his life—Skyler rests his head on Trevor’s shoulder and gives his attention to the group.
They all chat while everyone but Mike has a couple drinks.
Jermaine’s the only one not living in L.A.
, so Skyler’s really happy to spend some time with him and hear about the new sneaker line Jermaine designed and is getting ready to launch.
But it's not long before Skyler starts to fade.
The drive back to Malibu will take a few hours, so they were planning to leave in the morning, but suddenly, all Skyler wants is to get home to his shower and his own bed.
“What’s wrong, baby?” Trevor asks quietly, gently turning Skyler’s chin toward him. “You look ready to drop. Want me to kick everyone out?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t wanna sleep here. I wanna go home.”
“We can do that. Whatever you want,” Trevor assures him. Then he yells out to Mike, who is half-slumped over the table, scrolling on his phone. “Hey, Mike, do you think you’d be able to stay awake long enough to drive us home if we leave now?”
Sitting up straighter, Mike nods. “Find me a very large cup of coffee and I’ll be good.”
“Wait, no!” Oli protests. “We’re supposed to be partying. You can’t just cut off the fun.”
“Ignore him,” Megan says with an eye roll. “He can’t stop worrying about Emma anyway. We should get home too.”
“You guys can all stay here if you want,” Skyler offers. “I’m just exhausted, I’m sorry.”
Noah gets up, stretching his arms above his head. “No need to apologize.”
With that settled, they all say their goodbyes and get ready to head out.
Skyler changes into sweatpants and a hoodie to be more comfortable, then Mike leads him and Trevor to the Escalade. In the backseat, he angles himself sideways and leans against the window. When Trevor pulls Skyler’s legs over his lap, Skyler is sure he’ll be asleep within minutes.
“Love you,” he murmurs, closing his eyes as Trevor starts massaging his calves.
That’s the last thing he remembers until Trevor is cradling his face and gently coaxing him awake.
With an arm around Skyler’s waist, Trevor lets Skyler lean his weight sleepily against him as they go in the house and up to their bedroom. Very nice. Ten out of ten service.
Skyler heads right for the bed, but Trevor grabs him before he can get there, steering him into the ensuite bathroom instead. “Shower, remember?”
Shaking his head, Skyler whines, “Nooo, too tired. Just wanna sleep.”
“Come on. You know you’ll feel better if you go to bed clean,” Trevor tells him. Rather than push him into the shower, though, Trevor leads him over to their obscenely large, jacuzzi-style tub and sits him on the edge. “Don’t fall over.”
Skyler sticks his tongue out at him, because it feels like the right thing to do. And maybe because he gets childish when he’s exhausted. But then he realizes Trevor is filling the tub for him and pouring in his lavender bath salts, and suddenly, a bath sounds like the best idea in the world.
When the tub is full, Trevor helps Skyler get undressed and into it before quickly stripping down and climbing in behind him, urging Skyler to lean back against his chest. For a few minutes, he simply holds him like this, fingers tracing idly over Skyler’s skin.
Skyler’s so nice and relaxed that he could pass out again, but he twists his head to give Trevor a kiss instead.
Then Trevor grabs the body wash and bath sponge he left on the edge of the tub and begins washing Skyler gently.
Skyler practically purrs like a cat under the treatment.
This is even better than the rainfall showerhead.
Trevor carefully washes his hair for him too. When he’s done, he trails kisses down Skyler’s neck and along the top of his shoulder. Skyler squirms happily, unintentionally pressing his ass farther into Trevor’s lap. Or possibly not so unintentionally.
“No sex,” Trevor tells him. “You need to get some more sleep.”
Despite agreeing with him, Skyler sighs as dramatically as he can manage when he’s this tired. “You’re a mean daddy.”
Trevor pinches his side, causing him to jolt and splash a bit of water out of the tub. “Don’t make me spank you.”
“That’s not supposed to be a threat, is it?” Skyler mumbles around a long yawn. And Trevor just laughs softly, holding him a little tighter.
They don’t stay in the bath much longer, because Skyler’s really struggling to keep his eyes open. After helping him get out, Trevor wraps Skyler in a fluffy towel to dry him off, then leads him to bed. And as soon as they’re both under the covers, Trevor reaches for Skyler to draw him closer.
Snuggling up against his husband, Skyler lets a gentle wave of contentment wash over him, lulling him to a peaceful sleep.
His life is so good.
Everything he’s gone through in the past—the stress, cruel management, self-destruction, professional and personal breakups—somehow, it was all worth it.
His past made him who he is today, and he’s earned all the incredible things he has now.
His career, this house, this unbelievably wonderful man sharing his bed.
Maybe some things could’ve been easier for him, but it doesn’t matter anymore. He wouldn’t trade being married to Trevor for anything.