Content warning: the f-slur is used at the end of this chapter. Continue at your own discretion
***

The ride to Buffalo was all but exciting. Between the extreme exhaustion and the bus driver hitting every curb, pot hole, and narrowly missing every car in sight, it was not a pleasurable experience.

A few rows behind us, some of the boys were engaged in a mostly quiet game of Uno, except for when Boxy got hit with four draw fours or when Harry pulled a "switch hands" card on Yusef when Yusef only had one card and Harry, according to Yusef's angry yell, had "like two-hundred fucking cards". Across from us, Ian was on FaceTime with Lelani as he had been since she'd dropped him off for the trip. However, she'd fallen asleep nearly half an hour ago, her bright purple bonnet reflecting her phone's light in her otherwise dark room. Ian had followed suit about ten minutes ago and his light snores filled the air. Poor Zayne, who was sitting at the front of the bus with Coach, was severely motion sick, so every time the driver hit something, there was a fifty-fifty chance that Zayne would throw up or nearly pass out. He'd done both multiple times already and I felt sorry for the guy.

I was about to shift to get more comfortable when the bus driver hit yet another deep sounding pot hole. "Damn," I lowly cursed, causing Tyler to gently run his fingers through my hair.

"You okay?" he absent-mindedly asked from above me.

"No," I childishly pouted as I readjusted my head in his lap. The charter bus rows were 3 seats and since our team wasn't that big, we were all able to spread out how we wanted. So naturally Ty and I took one of the very back rows and I stretched out across two chairs, using Tyler's lap in the third one as my pillow as he reclined back. He scoffed as he pulled out a headphone that was plugged into the mini tv that protruded from the wall. "Remember The Titans" was playing and I could tell that my childish antics were getting slightly annoying, especially because it was one of his favorite movies.

"Addi..." But trailed, silently asking me not to do what he knew I was going to do. But it was no use. When the driver hit the first curb and-or pot hole (I didn't know which one), Tyler accidentally hit me in the face and, being the drama queen I was, I made the whole ordeal way more dramatic than it needed to be, resulting in Tyler getting overly concerned and kissing me until "the pain went away". Spoiler alert: there was no pain and I was just being needy. Ever since then, I'd been making Tyler give me a kiss for every bump we hit in the road in order to "soothe my pain".

I used my pointer finger to tap on my lips. He rolled his eyes, though a small grin tugged on his lips before he craned his head down and kissed me. It was nothing more than a quick peck but it was enough to satisfy me. "There. Now leave me alone," he said with faux annoyance as he plugged his earbud in once more. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. He pretended to hate it but I knew he didn't.

The rest of the trip was super boring as I cycled through laying on Tyler, reading a book I'd brought, and working on a story for class before I inevitably just laid on Tyler again. There was, however, a nice stretch of time where by some miracle, our bus driver didn't hit anything. By that time, I'd been laying in my chair in the reclined position with Tyler nestled against me rather than me laying on him. In that brief stretch of time, we both managed to fall asleep only to be awoken by one big jolt as the bus driver literally ran into the curb in front of the hotel lobby.

After a few disorienting moments, I remembered where I was and looked down at Tyler who was still somehow fast asleep.

"Alright, ladies. Hurry up and get your stuff. I don't think we'll survive another minute on this thing," Coach said, grumbling the last part under his breath. He didn't have to tell us twice.

I gently nudged Tyler, causing him to stir in his sleep. "Tyler, wake up," I quietly said as I nudged him harder.

"Addi, let me sleep," he grumbled.

I rolled my eyes before I did the only thing I could think of: I lifted my hand, spread my fingers apart, and kinda-sorta-not-so-gently hit him on the butt, causing him to wake with a start. Once he got his bearings, his eyes landed on me and narrowed. "I hate you Addison Michael."

"I'd beg to differ," I said in a sing-song voice. "But come on, we're here and I can't drag you off this bus."

Tyler made a few grumbling sounds of protest, but he got up and stretched nonetheless. I got up to grab my things from the overhead compartment. Tingles ran up and down my legs as my body slowly woke up and I had to push up the sleeves to Tyler's sweatshirt I was wearing so that I could adequately grab my bags. I knew I was a decently sized guy at 6'0, but Tyler, who stood only a few inches taller than me at about 6'3 or 6'4, somehow made me feel tiny.

One after the other, we all climbed out of the bus and into the hotel. We followed Coach in as he checked us in and within five minutes, we were all piled into the elevator riding up to our rooms. "Alright boys. Unpack and relax until six-thirty. Then it's crunch time for a few last minute brush-ups before the game tomorrow," Coach said as we all got off on the elevator on the 5th floor where virtually all of the players' rooms were. "If you are going to go off to explore, text me and let me know. You also need to go in a group of no less than two people, alright?"

We all muttered our understanding.

"Good. I'll see you all at six-thirty. Room checks will be thirty minutes after the end of practice. You all have my information so if you need me, don't hesitate to reach out. And I swear if I catch any of you with the cheerleaders– Yusef– I will castrate you with a rusty spoon, do I make myself clear?"

Yusef put his hands up in surrender. "I'll do my best, Coach. No promises though."

Coach pinched the bridge of his nose. "Lord, please keep me from turning this child's body into a speed bump on the road," he muttered to himself as he climbed back into the elevator to go up to the sixth floor where all of the Coachs' rooms were.

The boys' excited chatter filled the tiny hall, but despite the energy that buzzed in the air, I couldn't help but feel a bit down. Tyler and I would be separated and there was nothing I could do about it without being caught and likely punished by Coach.

Tyler must have seen my expression because he grabbed my hand and pulled me to the side as the boys continued on down the hall bragging about how we were the best team there, purposefully being loud enough so that the other players that were already settled in their rooms could hear them.

"This sucks," were the first words out of my mouth.

A soft chuckle escaped Tyler's lips as he grabbed my hands and put them on his cheeks. "'Sucks' is an understatement. I'm so used to cuddling you at night and I'm damn sure that Yusef wouldn't be too fond of me cuddling him at night."

"That idea doesn't sound too pleasant to me either," I lightly joked.

"But hey, what if after we get settled down, we explore the town a bit, just me and you?"

I grinned as I looked up at him. "Yeah, I would like that."

The dimple in his right cheek made an appearance as the corners of his lips turned up. He craned his neck down to kiss me. Despite the fact that we were in a very public space surrounded by rival football players that may or may not be too keen on our relationship, I didn't let that stop my lips from moving against his nor did it keep his hands from firmly placing themselves on my hips.

"I love you," he muttered into my lips, causing my smile to grow impossibly wider against his lips.

"Ti amo di più amore mio (I love you more my love)."

"You guys are literally going to see each other again in like five minutes. Seriously? Come on," Ian's voice whined from behind me, causing me to jump as I pulled away. "Oh I'm so sad I can't kiss you all the time! I wanna cuddle! Oh this sucks! Blah, blah, blah," he continued in a mocking tone causing a blush to stain my cheeks as I looked down.

"Okay, I get it," I grumbled before I turned back to Tyler. "Text me when you're ready?"

He winked at me. "You got it, Romeo." He placed one more kiss on my burning cheek before he grabbed his suitcase and walked past Ian, playfully flipping him off.

"You two are still relationship goals," Ian called after him. "Ooh, and Yusef is in room 524!"

"Thanks!" Tyler called back as he continued walking showing no signs of embarrassment whatsoever.

I wish I had his composure: the ability to go from completely embarrassed (in a cute way) of being caught kissing like how he was when Azalea had caught us, to being bold and shameless like he was just now. I knew that the "seesaw" in his head that he described might've had an effect on that, but a part of me still wished I could get that confidence.

I followed Ian into our room 519, but as soon as Ian closed the door behind us, he said, "Don't unpack yet."

My eyebrows furrowed. "Why not?"

"Dude, just trust me, okay?" He said as he glanced down at his phone, but, seemingly not seeing whatever it was he was wanting to see, he let out a sigh and turned it back off.

"Okay..." I drew out before I sat down on one of the 2 full sized beds in the room. "Anyway, how are things going with Lelani? I saw you two when she dropped you off and when y'all were FaceTiming earlier. You were both so cute falling asleep together. You're really head-over-heels for her, aren't you?"

Now it was Ian's turn to blush. "I guess you can say that. But it's hard not to be, you know? She's just...she's perfect."

I went up to him and playfully punched him. "Awe, look at my boy!"

He awkwardly chuckled as his blush deepened. "Addison, stop!"

"Okay, okay, fine," I relented, sobering up. "But can I start unpacking now or–"

I was interrupted by Ian's phone going off. He checked it and his features relaxed as he mumbled "finally". He quickly typed something back before he looked at me. "Alright lover boy. Up, up, up. Grab your stuff too. We're going on a field trip."

I raised a brow. "Ian, seriously what the hell are you doing? I just want to unpack so I can–"

"–go see Tyler and be all lovey-dovey. Yeah, yeah, I know. So shut up and follow me so you can hurry up and do that."

Though I literally had no idea what was going on, I grabbed my suitcase and did as I was told. Ian grabbed his room key before we both stepped out and travelled further down the hall until we made it to our final destination: room 524. My eyebrows furrowed. "Ian, what–"

"Addison, I love you, but you're really stupid if you don't see what's going on by now," Ian said as he knocked on the door. Almost instantly, Yusef opened the door. A smile spread across his face.

"Well if it isn't our very own Romeo. Come in, come in." A blush stained my cheeks once more as I entered. It felt weird having someone who wasn't Tyler call me that. Once Ian and I stepped in, Yusef closed the door behind us. I saw Tyler sitting on one of the beds and once our eyes locked, an excited look took over his features.

"Since the bumpy bus ride seems to have made Addison lose some of his brain cells, I guess we should spell it out," Ian lightly jabbed. "But since we knew that you two were super bummed about not being roommates, Yusef and I decided to let you two room together. Since Harry's room is one of the first rooms Coach checks, he'll text us when Coach is there which should give you guys about three to five minutes between to get back into the right rooms. Coach only cheeks one or two times so it shouldn't be too hard."

A feeling of gratitude spread across my body as I looked between Ian and Yusef. "You two orchestrated all that just for us?"

Yusef shrugged. "I mean I know you'd do the same for me. And I did also lowkey orchestra this for me because, you know, the cheerleaders are downstairs and I know what Coach said but–"

He was cut off by a pillow hitting him in the face as Tyler laughed. "Dude, we don't need to hear all of that."

Ian scoffed. "Yeah man, we did this for you two. Just don't mess around and get caught or this all would've been for nothing."

"Yeah, please. Oh, and the other boys know about the switch up so you don't have to worry about any slip ups around Coach or anything."

At that moment, I realized that despite how childish and annoying the boys on the team could be at times, they truly were my family and I was beyond lucky to have them, especially considering how my Padre's teammates had treated him after finding out about his relationship with my Papa.

I gave both Yusef and Ian a hug. "Thank you guys. Seriously, this means a lot." I felt Tyler's arms wrap around us as well.

"Yeah. Thanks forreal," Tyler added.

"It's whatever, don't mention it," Yusef shrugged off as the hug broke. "Just don't have too much fun, kids. We still have games to win."

"Shut up," I whined as Tyler laughed before we all said our goodbyes and within moments, Tyler and I were alone.

"Addison, you're so cute when you're flustered," Tyler said as he ruffled my hair then grabbed my hand before leading me to the bed with him.

"Shut up," I half-heartedly repeated as I laid down with him. I didn't know why but it felt really...different. Not only were we truly alone for the first time without having to worry about my parents or siblings interrupting us, but my whole team was working together to keep Tyler and I together. And don't get me wrong, I was beyond grateful, but I also felt kind of weird in a way that I couldn't quite put my finger on.

Regardless of the unnamed weirdness I was feeling, I laid with my head on Tyler's chest as he ran his fingers through my hair. We talked about loads of nothingness and whatever came to our minds in the moment and we shared a few tame kisses here and there. After about thirty minutes, we unpacked and started organizing our new shared space. We used the second unused bed to lay out our uniforms on and Tyler made a bunch of horribly inappropriate comments about other ways we could "put the bed to use", to which I had to bashfully remind him that we were there to destroy the other teams, not each other. He'd simply laugh in response as my blush got deeper.

I came to the conclusion that he simply did it because he enjoyed seeing me flustered.

Once we were all settled in, Tyler started searching for a place to get lunch. Before too long, he found a burger place that he wanted to try and after we gathered our things, we were off.

As we walked the streets of Buffalo, Tyler's wide eyes excitedly drank everything in and his grip on my hand constantly tightened and loosened with every new sight. He was like a kid in a candy store, despite the fact that the scenery here didn't seem too different from that of NYC. As we walked, I pulled the jacket I had on over Ty's sweatshirt a bit closer due to the slight breeze that was picking up.

"How much further? It's getting kinda chilly out here," I asked, causing Tyler to shamelessly wrap his arm around me and pull me closer.

"Not too much further," he said, though his tone was different somehow and he was kind of tense. I looked up at him and saw his attention on something behind us, though he didn't look scared or uncomfortable.

"Ty? You alright?"

His gaze remained behind me for a few moments before he looked at me and offered me a charming smile. "Yeah, of course." To top it off, he slid his hand in my back right pocket, causing me to blush. I tried to hide it, but my efforts were in vain. "Awe, look at Addison's little blush."

I lightly pushed him, but he didn't even budge. "Leave me alone, Tyler."

"Sorry, no can do, Romeo. Staying by your side and making you blush are in the boyfriend job description," he said and to top it off, he gave my rear a small discrete squeeze, causing me to yelp.

"Tyler!" I chastised as I hit him as hard as I could across the arm. Though there was surprisingly no one else on the street with us, that didn't mean it was any less flustering.

He laughed as he pulled me closer, though I no longer needed his warmth seeing that my cheeks were providing plenty of heat for the both of us.

Once he sobered up, we continued walking in a comfortable silence.

"So, what do you think of Buffalo?" I asked as we approached a crosswalk. I pushed the button and patiently waited.

"It's good," Tyler said in the same absentminded manner as before. But just as I turned to see what he was looking at, he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into him so my back was against his front. "Similar to back home but it's still...different," he said, his tone back to normal.

I hummed in response though a part of me wanted to ask why he'd become all touchy-feely all of a sudden. "Yeah this is my first time actually coming here rather than simply just driving through. It's a nice change of scenery without being too jarring."

Just then, the cross walk sign changed, indicating that we could cross. I didn't even get the chance to take a full step before Tyler whipped me around and planted a kiss on my lips. My eyes widened in surprise. "Tyler, what the fu–" I started but he cut me off by pressing his lips deeper into mine. My heart was racing as my head spun trying to grasp the situation I was in. What was going on?–Not that I was fully against it– but seriously what the hell was going on?

Despite the whirlwind of questions that were going on within my head, I relaxed and kissed him back. Tyler was one who required physical affection and affirmation when he was stressed or worried. Maybe this was one of those moments and after this, he'd tell me what was on his mind when he was ready. Or maybe he just really wanted to kiss me.

After a few moments, he pulled away, but instead of his eyes instantly meeting mine, they turned to something just over my shoulder. Unable to stand it any longer, I finally turned around but I saw nothing that caught my attention other than a small group of three girls hurriedly walking in the other direction. "The one in the red was about to come up to you and ask for your number or something," Tyler casually said, causing me to turn to him with a raised brow.

"What? How do you know that for sure?"

"They've been trailing behind us for a while and by her and her friends' body language, they seemed to be hyping her up to do it. I tried dropping subtle hints that you didn't play for that team, but they were either too subtle or she was too dumb to notice. I wanted to save her some of the embarrassment by making it obvious that not only are you taken, but that your boyfriend was standing literally right next to you. So I kissed you and that finally seemed to get the message across."

I scoffed as I started across the crosswalk with Tyler hot on my heels. "First off, I play for every team, you can't just hog me Tyler–"

"–We'll see about that.–"

"–Second off, I think she's just dumb because there was nothing subtle about anything you were doing to me. And finally, I didn't know you were the jealous type, Tyler. It's kinda cute."

He shrugged as the food place came into view. "I wouldn't necessarily call myself jealous, per say. I'm just protective over what's mine, you know?"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh how charming, being yours. My middle school fanfic reading self is