Good to be Back
Phillip tried to keep a straight face at the thought of Colton coming into the room any minute. He was just so excited. He really missed the skinny blonde. Ever since Heejun left, Colton and Phillip have been inseparable. They spent almost all their time together. And with Colton gone, Phillip was forced to try and be friends with Joshua. But Joshua tries so hard to hide his sexuality that he can't be friends with Phillip. Phillip's a very flirty guy. Even with girls or guys that he's not even in love with.
And yes, he does like guys. Phillip Phillips is gay. That sort of explains why Phil's so excited for Colton to come back.
Well, what the fans saw on TV is just little friendship moments. Like a bromance. But behind the scenes, Colton and Phillip are actually in a secret relationship. One that only they know about.
And when Jessica came back into the living room to tell Joshua and Phillip that their friends and former fellow contestants were coming, Phillip's stomach churned.
Why you ask? Well, he had a very important question he needed to ask Colton when they were back together.
Then, he heard the door to the mansion open. He saw the old friends start to make their way into the living room. He scanned the bunch, and finally found that boy with the spiky blonde hair.
Colton finally spotted Phillip and their eyes locked. Although they weren't in private, Colton still ran past everyone and right into Phillip's open arms.
"I missed you so much." He said as his boyfriend squeezed him tight.
"Same." Phillip said and looked at Colton. "You haven't changed a bit."
"Neither have you." Colton said with a smile. Phillip blushed. "Wait a sec." Colton wrapped his arms around Phillip's waist, but he wasn't hugging him this time. He was feeling around for something, and he finally felt some object in Phillip's back pocket. "Phil, what's in there? What did you do?" He gave his boyfriend and playful punch in the shoulder.
"Shh, it's a surprise." Phillip said. "I'll give it to you later. In front of everyone."
"Why?"
"It's special, Colton. It's very special."
Colton smiled and blushed. Phillip put an arm around his shoulder.
Later, after the group had had dinner, Phillip was ready to give Colton his gift. But he changed his mind about giving it to him in front of everyone. So, he decided to go to a more private place.
"Hey, Colt, can you come with me for a sec?" He asked his boyfriend. Colton smiled and nodded. Then Phillip stood up from the table and began to walk upstairs while Colton followed him. They walked into Phillip's room, and out onto the balcony that was just off of his room.
"What are we doing out here?" Colton asked. Phillip smiled.
"I just picked out somewhere romantic."
"Why?"
Phillip ignored Colton's question and continued to talk. "Look, Colton, you know I love you right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I know we haven't been together that long, but I really love you, Colt, a lot. More than I've ever loved anyone before. Even more than I loved my previous girlfriend." Colton smirked at this. "Okay, I may just be babbling now but there is one thing I need to ask you." Colton nodded. Phillip smiled as he reached into his back pocket and took out a small black box. He got down on one knee, opened the box, and held it up in front of him. He looked up into his boyfriend's eyes, that were now filling up with tears. "Colton Dixon, will you marry me?" Colton smiled and nodded.
"Yes." He said. Phillip smiled, slipped the ring on Colton's finger, and stood up. Colton wrapped his arms around him. "I love you. So much, Phil, so so much."
"I know." Phillip said. "I love you too." Then Colton looked at him and smiled. He looked down at the ring.
"It's beautiful, Phil." He said. "And it looks perfect on my finger, right?"
"Yeah, it does." Phillip said. "So, when's the wedding?" Colton laughed.
"You're so funny." He said. "Wedding's just don't happen that fast. They take a lot of planning. But, I'm ready. I'm more ready to spend the rest of my life with the man I love."
"And who is that?" Phillip asked teasingly. Colton placed a small kiss on his lips.
"You." He replied.
"Well, lucky me." Phillip said with a smile, causing Colton to start laughing again. "I love making you laugh."
"And I love laughing." Colton said. Phillip smiled and Colton kissed him again, but longer this time.
After they were done upstairs, they went back downstairs to see what their friends were doing. Skylar ran over to them and asked them if they wanted to watch a movie with the rest of the top thirteen.
"Uh, sure." Colton said. Then Skylar went back to the group. "Wow. She never noticed us holding hands." Phillip shrugged.
"She wasn't always the smartest person ever." He said. "She probably just didn't look at our hands." Colton smiled. Then he and Phillip walked over to the couch and found a spot for the two of them to sit together. And still, no one noticed them holding hands. Or the ring on Colton's finger.
But later into the movie, Colton fell asleep on Phillip's shoulder. Phillip smiled. He's so cute when he's asleep, he thought. Then, since she tends to get distracted a lot, Jessica happened to look down at Colton's hand, since he was sitting right next to her. She looked away, but had to glance back to see if she was just imagining the ring on his finger. She wasn't imagining it. She touched it to make sure it was real.
"What are you doing?" Phillip whispered.
"Colton has a ring on his finger." Jessica whispered back. "I wanted to make sure it was real and I wasn't imagining it." Phillip nodded but didn't say anything back. "What do you know about it?"
"Uh . . ." Phillip said. He wasn't ready to tell anyone yet about what he did.
"Phillip?"
"I can't tell you right now!"
"Why not?"
"I just can't!"
Then Colton began to wake up. "Phil, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, go back to sleep." Phillip said, running his hand through Colton's hair. Jessica looked at them with a curious look in her eye. Phillip saw that, cleared his throat, and moved his hand away from his boyfriend's head. Jessica just nodded suspiciously and turned her focus back to the movie.
As soon as the movie was done, Colton was asleep again. The top thirteen was going up to their rooms, leaving Phillip and Colton alone in the living room. Colton snored quietly, with his arms wrapped around his boyfriend. Phillip just smiled and watched him for a few minutes. He did eventually try to wake him up.
"Colton, wake up." He whispered. "Come on, let's go to your room."
"No," Colton whined. "I don't want to. I'm comfy here."
"Okay then," Phillip said. "Suit yourself. You can stay here alone."
"No!" Colton said, grabbing Phillip's hand and now sitting up straighter. "Just, can you please carry me?" Phillip sighed but smiled.
"Fine." He said. Colton smiled. Then Phillip picked up his boyfriend bridal style and tried to carry him up the stairs. "Boy, you're heavier than I thought. What have you been eating since you left?"
"More home-cooked meals." Colton said. "That my mom makes."
"I figured." Phillip said. "No wonder you're gaining so much weight." Colton punched him in the shoulder. "Ow! Wow, for a blonde, you're pretty strong."
"And you must believe a lot of stereotypes, huh?" Colton said. Phillip sighed.
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't." He said as they finally made it onto the second floor. He put Colton down on the floor, leaving him standing up and able to walk to his room himself. "So, you know how to get to your room from here. Goodnight."
"No, wait," Colton said, grabbing Phillip's hand. "Stay with me." Phillip sighed as Colton gave him a puppy-dog face.
"Fine." He said. "Come with me."
"Oh, we're going to your room?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Nothing."
A few minutes later, both boys were in their boxers and lying down on Phillip's bed. They were facing each other, and Phillip had his hand on Colton's waist.
"I've missed this." Colton said.
"Missed what?" Phillip asked.
"Being here. With you. I've missed seeing your face every night before I fall asleep. And hearing your voice when I wake up."
"Well, you'll get to hear my voice every day from now on for the rest of our lives."
Colton smiled. "I love you."
"I love you too."
Then Phillip leaned forward and placed a small kiss on his boyfriend's lips.
"Goodnight Phillip."
"Sweet dreams, Colton."
"Did y'all see the ring on Colton's finger?"
"Yes! Where do you think he got it from?"
"Phillip probably gave it to him."
"You think he proposed?"
"Yeah. They've been dating for weeks."
"Really?"
"Yup."
"Wow, Elise, you seem to know everything."
"That's because I do."
Hollie giggled.
"So, how do we get the two of them to tell us the truth?"
"I don't know. Maybe we should trick them?"
"Or we could split up into two teams and try to get each of them to admit it, but not together."
Elise, Skylar, and Jessica looked at Hollie.
"What? It's not weird for me to come up with good plans!"
"It sort of is."
"Well."
"Anyway, how should we split up?"
"I'll go with Hollie. After all, she did come up with this plan."
"Aw, thanks Elise."
"So I guess Skylar and I are partners."
"Yup."
The two girls high-fived.
"Can we go to sleep now? That movie made me really tired."
"Sure."
In the morning, Hollie woke up to find Elise's sleeping bag empty. Uh oh, she thought. Where is she now?
What she didn't know was, Elise was right downstairs, trying to get the truth out of Colton.
"Weren't you wearing a ring last night?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!"
"Really?"
"Elise, will you stop?"
"How are things with you and Phillip?"
"We're fine."
"So you're a couple?"
"Elise! Stop."
"Fine. Later."
Then she tried to run away, but she ran into Hollie at the staircase.
"What did you find out?" Hollie asked.
"He barely answered my questions, but he's not wearing his ring." Elise replied. "Do you know what that means?"
"Something happened between them." Hollie said. Elise smiled and nodded. "Is that supposed to be a good thing?"
"I don't know. But we have to find out what happened." . . .
Phillip woke up and saw that Colton wasn't there. He probably got hungry and ate his breakfast without me, he thought. Then he noticed Colton's ring sitting on the nightstand. He sat up. Why isn't he wearing it?
"Colton?" He asked.
"Yeah?"
Phillip looked up to see Colton standing in the doorway.
"W-why aren't you wearing your ring?"
Colton sighed and sat down on the bed. "I didn't want anyone asking me about it. I know you're not yet ready to tell anyone about us yet, and I respect that. But in order to really keep it a secret, I have to hide the ring."
"But, you still love me, right?"
"Yes Phillip, I still love you."
"Perfect."
Colton laughed and kissed his boyfriend.
"Wow. You guys really need to learn how to close doors."
Colton pulled away from Phillip and looked in the doorway. There stood Elise and Hollie, both with their arms crossed.
"This isn't what it looks like." Phillip said.
"Then what is it?" Elise asked. Phillip looked at Colton, who sighed.
"Why can't we just tell them?" He asked.
"You know I'm not ready." Phillip replied.
"It's just them." Colton said. "They can keep secrets."
"Hollie can." Phillip said. "Not so sure about Elise."
"We can hear you!" Elise said. Phillip sighed.
"Tell them." He said. Colton nodded and turned back to the girls.
"We're dating." He said, holding Phillip's hand and showing the girls.
"Wow, big shocker." Elise said sarcastically.
"You knew?" Colton asked.
"We figured." Elise said.
"Yeah." Hollie added. Phillip rolled his eyes.
"Thanks for finally telling us." Elise said and walked away.
"Why are you working with her?" Phillip asked when Elise was gone.
"You know why." Hollie replied. "I . . . like her." Then she left too. Phillip sighed.
"I cannot believe we just did that." He said.
"You could have said no." Colton said. "I didn't have to tell them."
"Well, they saw us kiss." Phillip said. "We had to tell them. Now they're going to tell Jessica and Skylar, who will tell everyone else."
"What's so bad about it?" Colton asked. "It'll be better that way. They'll know the truth. We won't have to hide."
"I guess." Phillip replied. Colton held his hands and gave both of them a squeeze.
"Don't worry about it, 'kay?" He said. Phillip nodded.
"Okay." He said. Colton leaned down and placed a kiss on his lips.
"So, it's official?"
"Yup."
"Awesome!"
"I can't believe they finally admitted it."
"Well, team Lainchez is going to tell everyone about Colton and Phillip. See you later."
"Lainchez?"
"It combines our last names. Go make up a cool team name for you two."
Then Jess and Skylar were gone. Hollie sighed. Helise? Cavnone? Those would work. They also make great ship names. Sigh. Then, out of nowhere, Elise sighed.
"What's wrong?" Hollie asked.
"Nothing." Elise replied and shook her head.
"What were you thinking about?"
"Nothing."
"Really?"
"Ugh, fine, I may have been thinking about you."
"And how beautiful I am?"
Elise smiled. "Maybe."
"Well, I was thinking the same thing last night."
"Really?"
"Mmhmm."
"Well, you know what I have to say to that?"
"What?"
"This."
Then Elise leaned over and kissed Hollie on the lips. It was short, since she pulled away fast, but Hollie still loved it. When Elise eventually opened her eyes again, she looked away with a blush on her face. Hollie smiled and interlaced their fingers. Elise looked down at their hands and smiled.
"I like you." Hollie said.
"I like you too." Elise said.
That night at dinner, Phillip had had enough. He looked over at Colton, who nodded, already knowing what Phillip was going to do next.
"I have an announcement that I really, really need to make." Phillip said, standing up from the table.
"What is it?" Shannon asked curiously. Colton smiled and stood up.
"We're a couple." He said and held his hand up. "And we're getting married." Their friends all exchanged glances. Colton walked over to his boyfriend. Phillip put a reassuring arm around his waist. Then, the unexpected happened. The rest of the top thirteen actually began to applaud. They were all happy for the happy couple. Colton began to blush and Phillip just smiled.
"Thank you." He said. "Thank you all." Colton giggled.
"Congrats." Hollie said.
"You two make a great couple." Elise said. Colton smiled and turned to Phillip.
"Well?" He asked. Phillip sighed.
"You were right." He replied. "We should've done this sooner." Colton smiled and kissed Phillip.
"It feels so good to be back!" He said. Phillip smiled and kissed his fiance again.
Epilogue
When Phillip and Colton got back to Phillip's bedroom, they both shared the same happy smile.
"We did it." Phillip said. "We told them. And they were happy about it."
"I know." Colton said. "So, what do we do now?"
"Well, I guess since we told our friends about it," Phillip said. "We can now let our families know."
"So, you'll call your parents and I'll call mine?" Colton suggested.
"I was actually thinking we take a picture of ourselves together, and post it on Facebook." Phillip said. Colton nodded.
"How should we pose?" He asked. Phillip smiled.
"I think we should kiss, and you have the hand with the ring on it touching my cheek." He replied. Colton nodded again.
"Okay." He said. "Let's do this." Phillip nodded and held his iPhone up. Colton stepped forward, bringing his hands up to Phillip's cheeks, and kissed his fiance. Then Phillip snapped the picture, and the two of them pulled away. Well, Colton stuck his tongue in there, licked Phillip's bottom lip, then pulled away.
"That was, wet." Phillip said, wiping his bottom lip before posting the picture to Facebook.
"But you enjoyed it, right?" Colton asked. Phillip smiled.
"I enjoy every one of your kisses, Colt." He replied. "Especially the wet ones." Colton smiled and blushed. He walked over and looked over Phillip's shoulder.
"Almost done?" He asked.
"Just one more second." Phillip replied. "And done."
"Now what?"
"Well, it is getting sort of late."
"Bedtime?"
"Yes."
"Okay."
Then the two of them stripped down into their boxers and crawled into bed together. Colton rested his hand on Phillip's waist, while Phillip softly stroked Colton's cheek.
"Are you sure you're going to win?" Colton asked worriedly.
"Yes, I'm sure, Colton." Phillip replied. "I know my fans. They'll vote for me. I promise you I'm going to win." Colton sighed.
"Okay." He said. "I believe you. And I promise that I'll be voting for you like crazy. But let's just worry about you being safe this week, okay?"
"Yup." Phillip said with a smile. Then Colton leaned over and placed a soft kiss on his fiance's lips.
"I love you." He said. "Always."
"I love you too." Phillip said. "Forever."
A/N: I apologize if the scenes with just dialogue were a little confusing. I know I didn't put who said what, so I'm sorry.