"Hypothetically speaking, and this is just me spitballing here," Connor said with a wry smile, "But how would you feel if I switched rooms with Arnold for a night?"

Poptarts stopped shoving his flown-from-home cereal into his mouth and stared daggers at his companion.

"I will kill you. Slowly and painfully. And then I will feed your corpse to the lions."

Connor made an Okay sign with his fingers, "Duly noted."

"Morning, guys."

"Elder Church!" Connor smiled nervously, "Just the person I wanted to see."

"I think you've mistaken me for someone else," Elder Church said scathingly.

"No I haven't," Connor ignored his biting tone, Elder Church was always a little more grumpy in the mornings, "I wanted to thank you for yesterday."

"Yesterday?" he raised his eyebrows in question, "What did I do yesterday?"

"You offered to help me search for Elder Price in the rain," Connor reminded him, "We didn't need to in the end but anyway, thanks."

"Sure?" Elder Church replied with uncertainty, "You're welcome."

"And I wanted to ask you a question," Connor looked to Poptarts for support. Poptarts gave him a look which said 'Just do it'.

"What is it?" Elder Church joined them at the table with his cup of coffee.

"How do you feel about Kevin and I?"

"What? McKinley, man, it's too early for this," Elder Church rubbed at his eyes tiredly, "What do you mean how do I feel?"

Connor chewed on his bottom lip. How should he phrase it?

"I mean, if Kevin and I are together, will you be okay with it?"

"Why are you asking me?"

Connor answered truthfully, "Because I don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable. It's always important for us to talk about things like this, be open with our feelings about one another."

Elder Church thought about it for a bit, "If I said 'No, I hate it', are you going to break up with Price?"

"What?" Connor gulped. Maybe asking for the truth was a bad idea, "I don't-"

Elder Church chuckled, "Relax, dude. You're so easy."

Poptarts piped up, "You're such a jerk."

Connor forgot how to breathe for a second. Was Elder Church messing with him?

"So?" Connor asked.

Elder Church shrugged, "It's fine by me, Elder McKinley."

"Really?" Connor was still feeling rattled by his earlier response.

"It really is none of my business who you choose to date," Elder Church stood up, "You know what? I'm going to go over there to enjoy my cuppa, so that we don't have to talk about our feelings anymore."

Elder Church quickly moved to the couch in the living room before Connor could say anything else.

"Told you, you have nothing to worry about," Poptarts put a hand on Connor's shoulder.

"Yes, that leaves Elder Davis and Elder Neely," Connor checked his watch. The pair should be coming to breakfast any minute now.

—

It was already seven-thirty and there was still only the three of them at breakfast.

"Where is everybody?"

"Oh you didn't know?" Elder Church brought his empty cup to the sink.

"Know what? Where did they go?" Connor honestly had no clue.

"To the neighbouring villages, with Gotswana. Price woke us up at like five thirty this morning, asking if we wanted to help out. Michaels said okay, I remember telling Price to piss off, and then I went back to sleep," he recounted.

Kevin never knocked on their door that morning, nor did he mention anything about the excursion last night. Why wasn't Connor informed?

It wasn't like Connor expected the Elders to tell him of their whereabouts every minute of the day. It was just basic courtesy to inform him, their district leader, if they were going to take half the gang on a trip to the outskirts, right? What if something bad happened? What if they needed help, and Connor had no idea that they were in trouble? What if they went missing and never returned?

Just because Kevin was his boyfriend, that doesn't give him the free pass to do whatever he wants.

Who was Connor kidding, Kevin Price already does whatever he wants anyway, regardless if they were together or not. He had zero respect for any kind of authority or rules. Connor reckoned that Kevin was making up for all those years of unwavering obedience to the Church and his parents.

"Did he say what time they'll be back?"

"If he did, I wasn't awake enough to pay attention. It was five-thirty in the morning, what do you expect?"

Maybe someone in the village would know.

"Does that mean I get my day off?" Elder Church asked.

Connordidn't have the time nor patience to deal with Elder Church right now, "You can help Poptarts with whatever he's doing today."

—

Connor's knee bopped up and down as he repeatedly glanced at the clock on his computer screen. Ghali had told Connor that he was meeting Gotswana at three, which meant that the group should be back by then.

The clock on his screen read 6:05.

Connor was just about to march back to the village, with the intention of assembling a search party, when he heard the front door open and the missing Elders file into the hut.

He leaped out of his chair at once and into the living room, searching for the one person responsible.

"Elder McKinley, hey," Elder Michaels greeted as he walked passed.

Connor acknowledged the Elder with a terse nod and strode over to Kevin, who was by the dining table, laughing at something Arnold said.

"Connor! Look what the villagers gave us!" Kevin beamed as he showed off the produce gifted by the villagers they had visited.

"Why didn't you tell me where you were going? Jesus, Kevin, you can't just up and disappear whenever you like," Connor snapped.

Kevin's smile faltered, "What are you talking about?"

"Yesterday, and then today? Have you forgotten what happened the last time you ran off on your own and ended up in the General's camp without any of us knowing where you were?!" Connor regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. He didn't mean to remind Kevin of the incident.

Arnold scowled at him, "Not cool, McKinley."

"Why are you bringing that up?" Kevin paled as he backed away from Connor, "I don't know why you're so upset. You knew where we were going."

"No, I didn't," Connor frowned. What was Kevin talking about?

"You were there! At the clinic! Gotswana asked me to gather the Elders to help out with the mobile clinic. You were right there!"

Connor remembered Kevin's conversation with Gotswana before they left the clinic. At the time, he was too preoccupied with fretting about Kevin being angry with him, he didn't pay much heed to what was being said. Connor recalled Kevin saying something along the lines of 'I'll let them know', but that was it.

"But why didn't you wake me up?"

"Because by the time I got to your door, there were already five of us, which was more than enough people to help," Kevin explained with a tired sigh.

Neither of them knew what to say after that.

Connor was at a loss. He had let his anxieties get to him, and now he was yelling at Kevin for no reason at all. Two days into his relationship with the boy of his dreams, and he was already royally screwing things up.

"Well!" Arnold laughed awkwardly, "Looks like it's just a simple case of misunderstanding. Shall we have a kiss and make up."

Connor and Kevin both groaned and rolled their eyes.

"I'm-," Connor was about to apologise when Kevin cut him off with a wave.

"It's fine. Won't happen again," Kevin assured with a tight smile.

Connor reached out for him, but Kevin stepped away, "I'll just go wash up."

Arnold threw a look at Connor before following Kevin back to their bedroom.

"Trouble in paradise, huh?"

"Not now, Church."

—

"What should I do, Poptarts?" Connor groaned into his pillow.

Kevin wasn't mad, he didn't think, they talked at dinner, and they still hung out in the living room for a bit, like they always do. But tonight, Kevin felt distant, and Connor had no idea what he could do to undo all the things he had said.

"Connor," Poptarts was using his serious voice, "Have you ever thought that maybe Kevin isn't really good for you?"

Connor lifted his head from the pillow at once, "What? Why are you talking about him like he's junk food? Not good for me how?"

"Well, maybe he is like junk food you know? Not in an insulting kind of way," Poptarts added quickly when Connor was about to retort, "But just in a he's detrimental to your health kinda way."

Connor just laughed. That was absurd. Kevin was the best thing that has ever happened to Connor.

"Poptarts-"

"Listen Connor, you can't tell me that you haven't been a different person of late. You didn't even used to have a temper before Kevin came along," Poptarts pointed out, "You were like the calmest person ever and now, you've yelled at Kevin how many times in the last 48 hours?"

Connor was never angry at Kevin when he yelled. He was just worried, and it was always justifiable, Kevin was always looking for trouble. And ever since Kevin fell sick, Connor had become even more stressed and anxious. Because it had finally hit home that this was not some eighth grade field trip where they have teachers taking care of their everything. They were on their own in Uganda, and things could actually go really wrong. It could have been life or death.

But to be honest, Kevin was not the only one Connor was worried about. He was worried for all of them.

"Look it's not Kevin. I just have a lot of things to deal with that's all," Connor shook his head, "I can promise you that Kevin's good for me. When I'm with him I'm really happy, and it's like all my stress just goes away."

Connor couldn't stop grinning as he reminisced about the moments when he was with Kevin, the feeling of peace and pure joy.

Poptarts put down his puzzle book and started to gather his pillow and blankets from his bed, "You owe me one, Connor."

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" Poptarts rolled his eyes as he carried all of his stuff out of their room.

Poptarts came back almost immediately after that, dragging a shirtless Kevin with him, "You get one night, Connor. I'll see you in the morning, provided I haven't committed suicide or murder yet."

Connor sat dumbfounded on the bed, as Poptarts returned after his third trip to the other room, and shoved Kevin's pillow and blankets at him.

"Thanks?" Kevin frowned, standing at the doorway with only his shorts on and his hands full of bedding.

It was a funny sight to behold, and Connor smiled fondly.

What did he ever do to deserve a friend like Poptarts?