Kevin Price arrived home from Uganda exactly two weeks before Connor McKinley expected him to. How Kevin had managed not to send him a text during the first layover, or the second, or the taxi ride to Connor's apartment, was a miracle. As soon as Kevin found out he could get an early flight home, he contacted a friend of Connor's.
"I want it to be a total surprise for him. I'm not supposed to be home for another two weeks, so if you could call him and tell him you're there, then I'll be outside the apartment to meet him."
The plan had worked. Connor walked down the steps of his building to find a beaming Kevin outside his door.
"But, you aren't… You're not supposed to be here!" Connor said excitedly through the door, fumbling with the handle.
"I can go back to Uganda if you want," Kevin shouted back, finally just deciding to open the door for his boyfriend.
"No! I'm just surprised to see you, I thought-" Kevin cut him off before he could finish.
"That Cameron was coming over? All part of the plan." Kevin grinned at him, obviously very proud of himself and his brilliant plan. The grin quickly turned into a sweet smile as he placed his hands on either side of his boyfriend's hips to pull him closer. "I missed you." Kevin tilted Connor's chin up and placed a soft kiss on his lips, before pulling him into a tight hug.
"I missed you too," the smaller man mumbled into his chest. Kevin finally let go and quickly grabbed Connor's hand, lacing the redhead's fingers with his own.
"Now, let's go watch a Disney movie." Connor groaned, letting Kevin drag him back towards his apartment.
"You get back, after almost three months of not seeing me, and the first thing you want to do is watch The Little Mermaid?" Kevin was standing at the shelf in Connor's living room, searching through the DVDs.
"I haven't seen it in two years, Connor. I miss Ariel. Ah, found it!" He turned around to see Connor frowning at him. "You really don't want to watch it, do you?" Kevin dropped his arms to his sides and sighed. "Fine, but we're still watching a movie. You pick." Connor's face instantly changed into a smile as he stood to find a different movie. "Faker!" Kevin shot at him from behind. Connor just shook his head. Really he had been watching the movie once a week since he had returned from his mission because it had reminded him of Kevin. He didn't want to sit through it and cry like he had every other time, but he wouldn't admit that to Kevin.
An hour later found the two boys sprawled out on the couch, Connor lying in Kevin's lap, watching Tangled. Since it had come out when the pair were still in Uganda, neither had seen it yet. Connor had dealt with Kevin's "Oohs" and "Ahs" and even the brunette's excessive foot tapping to each song, but all of that had stopped and both had gone silent during the lantern scene. Suddenly, Connor heard a sniffle.
"Are you crying?" Connor had a slight mocking tone in his voice, despite being in silent tears himself, but Kevin couldn't see that.
"M'not," Kevin sniffled again.
"Are too." Connor felt around for Kevin's hand, grabbing it and pulling it towards him to comfort the younger male. As the movie ended and the credits started to roll, Kevin shifted.
"Con, can we watch The Little Mermaid now?" When he didn't receive a response, Kevin looked down and found his boyfriend fast asleep. He looked so beautiful and peaceful that Kevin didn't have the heart to wake him so they could go to bed.
The next morning when Connor woke up, he looked up to see an uncomfortable looking, asleep, Kevin Price. The redhead shifted to lay on his back, which was enough to wake up his boyfriend, who laughed when he caught Connor staring up at him.
"Sleep well?" Kevin said, yawning.
"Best I've slept in about three months." Connor smiled up at him and Kevin leaned down for a good morning kiss. "Now hurry up and get ready, I'm skipping my Modern class to show you around."
"You are not!" Kevin tried to convince him as Connor got up to walk towards the bathroom.
"Are too!" He shouted back.
Connor tried to cram as much of the city into the day as he could. A walk in Central Park, a stop at the Zoo, the Museum of Natural History, a ride on the subway, where Kevin almost didn't get on with Connor when he was distracted by a man selling bootleg DVDs.
"Do you have any Disney?" Connor had heard from behind him as he stepped off the platform. He grabbed the brunette's hand, pulling him onto the train just before the doors closed.
"Let's try to not get you lost on your first day here."
A few hours later, Kevin was groaning about how his feet hurt from all the walking Connor had "forced" him to do.
"We've got one more stop." Connor grabbed Kevin's hand as they walked up the steps from the subway. "Times Square." Connor grinned as Kevin's face lit up at what lay in front of him, until he hear a loud,
"Look at all the Starbucks, Con!" He rolled his eyes at Kevin.
"All the magic of Times Square at night and all you can say is Starbucks."
"But just think of all the coffee!" Kevin grabbed his boyfriend's hand, leading him towards the first of many Starbucks they'd go into that night. Around the fifth, where Kevin had ordered a venti caramel macchiato, Connor finally let Kevin coax him into taking a sip. Connor decided that Kevin didn't need to know about the coffee drinking habits he'd picked up while the other was still on his mission. It sort of went hand-in-hand with his perpetual watching of The Little Mermaid. Kevin remained oblivious as Connor took a drink from the paper cup, agreeing that he had definitely been missing out.
Later that night, when they were finally getting back to the apartment, they bumped into one of Connor's neighbors. When Connor introduced Kevin as "my boyfriend", the two couldn't help but look at each other. Kevin squeezed Connor's hand just a little tighter and smiled. They had never gotten to say it out loud before.
"Nice to meet you!" Kevin called to the neighbor, walking up the last flight of stairs behind Connor. The moment they walked into the apartment, Kevin headed towards the bedroom, plopping down on the bed. "I'm exhausted. Let's go to bed."
"How on earth are you tired after ten cups of coffee?" Connor laughed, sitting down next to him and taking off his shoes.
"You gain a certain tolerance after so many cups." Kevin moved over to his side of the bed, laying down and grabbing Connor's hand. He quickly followed and lay down next to Kevin, lacing their hands together and just quietly looking at each other. After almost three months they were finally together, and neither of them needed to say a word to the other to know how happy it made them.
After a few minutes, Connor's eyes started to flutter shut and Kevin decided that they should try to sleep.
"I love you, Con." Kevin pulled the smaller man to him, kissing him on the forehead as he let himself drift off.
"I love you too." Was the last thing he heard before he finally fell asleep.