TREVOR #2
Trevor smiles at that, because of course it’s true.
All the guys from the band are family. And they’re lucky to have each other.
Meeting Skyler was obviously the best thing that came from Trevor reluctantly dragging his nineteen-year-old ass to that audition all those years ago, but growing so close with the rest of the guys was a blessing too.
He’s sure not all bands are as close. Especially ones that got put together by a label the way Boys Will Be Boys did.
It was almost like fate—how the five of them were each selected separately but came together and bonded so naturally.
Or maybe it’s just natural to form a bond with people when you’re thrown together into a wild, and not exactly healthy, situation.
But still, he’s grateful for the relationships that came out of all the chaos.
Noah sighs, setting his fork down on the edge of his plate.
“Right. So the thing is...” He trails off, and Trevor fights the urge to tell him to spit it out already, but then Noah focuses on him.
“I know you keep telling me I’m working too much, but I don’t exactly have anything going on for me outside of work. ”
“That can’t be true,” Skyler interjects.
Noah shrugs uncomfortably. “It is, though. I’ve got essentially no family, no girlfriend.
No hobbies. I asked Trevor for the job because I was burnt out with making my own music and performing.
It had stopped being fun for me, and for a while, changing things up felt good.
But really, I just swapped one job for another, and now I’m burning myself out on this one too. ”
Trevor’s stomach twists. This is exactly what he was afraid of. He knows he can find someone to replace Noah if he has to. But he enjoys being able to work with his friend. It’s hard finding people in this industry you can trust implicitly.
“You can ease up on your workload if you need to,” he suggests. “I can pick up more myself or hire someone else, so you can work less hours.”
But Noah shakes his head. “I still love being a part of the label. I really do. And I’m fully aware that I’m the one choosing to work so much. That’s not the issue.”
“What is it then?” Skyler pries gently.
“I guess my issue is that it’s getting harder and harder to escape the reality that my life is kind of pathetic.
” Running a hand roughly through his hair, Noah adds, “And I know this is no one’s problem but my own, but lately I feel like I’m going crazy.
Like I want to crawl out of my skin just to get away from myself. ”
Trevor reaches out, setting his palm on the table between them. “What do you need from us?”
“Well, here comes the big favor,” Noah says wryly.
“This is going to sound insane, but I need to do something. Something I enjoy, something I can be proud of. And the idea that keeps coming back to me is Boys Will Be Boys. I was so damn proud of what we accomplished there, and I want... I want to get the band back together.”
For a few seconds, no one says anything. Those words have thrown Trevor so far for a loop, he’s not sure if he’s still sitting in his seat. Is he understanding correctly?
“Not as a permanent thing,” Noah goes on. “But maybe for the summer or something. I’m asking if there’s any chance you two would be willing to do a reunion tour.”
Again, silence.
Trevor looks at Skyler, Skyler looks at him.
Trevor’s mind is spinning.
Reunion tours happen all the time. But bands who broke up in such a public, spectacularly disastrous way?
Would people even want to give them another chance?
And logistically, how they hell could they all make that work?
And legally? He’d need to find copies of their old contracts with the label.
Because fucking hell, there’s no way he wants to make those assholes any extra money if he can help it.
“Is that even possible?” Skyler asks, voicing a summary of all of Trevor’s thoughts.
Noah nods. “Yeah, I’ve looked into it. And I already talked to Oli and Jermaine. They both said they’re on board as long as the two of you are.”
Trevor narrows his eyes, because this is a lot to throw at him and Skyler, and he’s not sure he likes that the other guys were asked separately, when this is obviously a group decision. “Why are you asking us last?”
“Because I know we all went through a lot of bullshit in that band, but I think it was the worst for you guys,” Noah explains, picking up his fork just to drag it through his food.
“I didn’t even want to bring it up with you if Oli and Jermaine were gonna say no.
I would’ve just let it go. I hate that my asking this might be dredging up painful memories. ”
Yeah, painful is certainly one way to put what Trevor and Skyler went through because of that label and management.
Trevor looks over and studies Skyler, trying to gauge his reaction to all this, and ready to reach for him if he’s upset.
But Skyler’s face is hard to read. He doesn’t look upset exactly—more like he’s still trying to process this huge request, the same way Trevor is.
And then Skyler says, “Jermaine said yes? It was hard for him, too. In a way the rest of us never had to deal with. All the racism from the label, our management, the media, the public. He should’ve never been treated like that.
I know we did our best to shield him, but we didn’t have enough power. ”
Trevor knows that’s something Skyler still regrets, not sticking up for Jermaine more. But they were young, and they did feel powerless in those situations.
Trevor never intends to feel powerless like that again.
Noah sighs heavily as he spears a shrimp on the end of his fork.
Then he raises it halfway to his mouth like he’s actually going to eat something finally, but he doesn’t.
“I know. I know how awful it was for him, but most of that originated from the label. They basically set him up to be stereotyped. And we wouldn’t be letting them control us or our images anymore, so I think it could be different.
Jermaine said he’ll do it if everyone else wants to. ”
“And Oli?” Trevor asks, though it’s not as much of a surprise that Oli would be up for this. “He’s just going to leave Megan and Emma?”
“Megan said she and Emma would come with us.” Setting his fork back down, Noah gets a determined look on his face.
“Look, I’m aware that this is too much to ask all of you, but I’m feeling kind of desperate.
I would never want to put you through what you went through back then.
But we’d do it differently this time, right?
It could be like a second chance to do things our way.
We’d be doing it for the music and the fans.
And for ourselves. I think it could be nice for all of us to do this together one more time, and to do it the right way.
Without all the bullshit and pressure. Just the five of us as friends doing something we love. ”
When Trevor looks to Skyler again, Skyler takes his hand and says, “It does sound kind of cool.”
“And I’m sure it would be for the last time,” Noah adds. “Because you’ve all got your own things going on, and I know you guys want to have kids soon. So who knows if we’d ever be able to make this work again in the future.”
Skyler squeezes Trevor’s hand. “What do you think?”
“I...” Jesus, what the hell does he think?
There are so many thoughts swirling through Trevor’s brain right now that he can’t even make sense of them.
The only thing that makes sense is the feel of his husband’s hand in his.
So he tells Noah, “I think we need some time to talk about this. Alone. Is that okay if we can’t give you an answer tonight? ”
“Oh, yeah, of course,” Noah says, and now he looks more relieved than he has all night. Even though Trevor didn’t give him anything close to a yes. “Obviously, you two should discuss it and take time to consider it. Actually, I can just go and leave you alone now. Thanks for hearing me out.”
“Woah, you don’t need to leave,” Trevor hastens to say.
But Noah is already standing up from the table. “No, really, it’s okay. I don’t have much of an appetite anyway. Sorry I made you cook for nothing, Sky.”
Skyler stands too and grabs Noah’s plate. “Hey, you didn’t make me do anything. You’re our friend, and you are always welcome here for dinner, okay? But why don’t I wrap this up for you so you can take it with you?”
After a glance at the food and a moment of hesitation, Noah nods. “Yeah. Thanks.”
Trevor abandons his own plate to follow the two of them into the kitchen, where Skyler silently transfers Noah’s meal and some extra into a glass container before handing it back to him. Noah looks more than ready to get out of here, so Skyler and Trevor walk him to the door to say goodbye.
As soon as he’s gone, Trevor turns to Skyler. For a moment, neither of them speak. Then Skyler lets out an unamused laugh and says, “Well, that was sure unexpected.”
“Uh, yeah,” Trevor agrees.
With their dinners all but forgotten, they wander into the living room and sit beside each other on the couch. “We can tell him no,” Trevor assures Skyler, placing a hand on his husband’s leg.
“I know we can,” Skyler says. “But we can also say yes, can’t we?”
Trevor raises his eyebrows. “You’d really consider doing this? After everything?”
Being in that band almost destroyed Skyler. Almost destroyed them both.
Although Trevor can’t blame the label and management for everything. Plenty of the blame for the destruction of Trevor and Skyler’s relationship falls on him. He was up against a lot, and not in the best position to fight, but he still should have fought harder.
But he and Skyler agreed to stop worrying about who or what was to blame, didn’t they? Because they’re together now.
Everything between them is good. It’s fucking amazing. And Trevor would never do anything that might risk that.
Skyler shifts closer to him, running his thumb over the tattoo on Trevor’s hand.
“I remember all the bad shit from before. But I remember all the good parts, too. So much of being in the band together was incredible. And if we figure out a way to bring back all those good times without all the bad... if we could all do it one more time together? That sounds kind of perfect.”
Trevor looks into Skyler’s green eyes and sees the excitement swirling there.
He’s not totally against the idea. There’s just so much to consider.
For them, for the rest of the guys. Logistics and legal matters.
But if Skyler wants to do this, then they will.
There is nothing Trevor wouldn’t give Skyler if he has the power to.
Still, he asks, “Are you sure?”
With a smile, Skyler nods. “It’ll be like going back to our roots.
It sounds fun. And honestly, I think it might be good for me.
You know I’ve been feeling a bit lost this year.
Not as lost as Noah, clearly. But being on tour with everyone might inspire me with my own music, help me find a new direction for it.
And performing with you is my favorite thing to do. ”
“It sounds like you’ve already decided.”
“Not without you.” Skyler shakes his head violently. “It feels like it might be the right thing for me, but if it’s not right for you, then I don’t want to do it.”
Trevor considers his own feelings, his own life, though it’s difficult to separate any part of himself from Skyler.
He had the time of his life performing with the band.
When it was just about the music and performances, and they could ignore all the rest of the drama.
It never felt quite the same when he was doing it on his own for that brief period.
Last year, stepping onto the stage with Skyler each night of his tour to sing “He’s Mine” together, watching the crowd sing along, it definitely reminded Trevor how much singing with the love of his life lights him up inside.
It just might be his favorite thing in the world to do, too. After simply being with Skyler, of course.
“I think I would love the chance to perform with you again,” he realizes. “And the other guys too. But what about our plans for starting a family?”
Skyler gives him the kind of smile that could probably save the world.
“You and me are already a family. And we’re going to be together for the rest of our lives.
We have plenty of time. Like Noah said, we might not all have another chance to do this together.
The only thing I’m worried about is your label.
I don’t want you to have to put everything on hold. ”
As much as Trevor cares about the label, that didn’t even make his list of top concerns.
There’s no harm in holding off for a while on signing new artists.
And he was already planning to hire more staff, so most things could probably stay in motion in his and Noah’s absence.
A lot of his work is on a computer anyway.
He could still run things from the road if he has to.
“I’m not worried about that,” he says. “I can make it work if this is something you really want.”
“I think it is,” Skyler tells him. “Maybe going backward is what I need in order to figure out how I want to move forward.”
Trevor laces their fingers together and kisses the back of Skyler’s hand. “If this is what you want.”
“Is it what you want?” Skyler presses him again.
Trevor laughs. “Baby, you know whatever you want is what I want.”
Skyler rolls his eyes, but his smile could definitely save the world now. It’s that powerful.
And Trevor’s power lies in making this man smile.
Their friends will never stop accusing them of being codependent, but he doesn’t care. He doesn’t care that his happiness is tied to Skyler’s, and he’s not worried about Skyler’s being tied to his. Because Trevor would move a fucking mountain to make Skyler James happy.
He brings Skyler’s hand up to his mouth for another kiss, and then he lets it go so that he can hold his baby’s face with both hands. After a kiss that makes every molecule in Trevor’s body sing a love song, Trevor smiles and says, “So it looks like we’re going on tour.”