You and Me in the Old Jeep - TROYLER AU

Chapter Three

Just realised Desperate Measures by Marianas Trench is literally this story

So you should all go listen it it nowwww it's uncanny and I'll probably reference it a lot

Sixty reads btw that was fast so thank you very much x don't forget to vote and comment and recommend x

3

This kid drove like a maniac.

Or maybe it was just the way this ugly-as-fuck car had to be driven; I couldn’t tell. Either way, the Jeep would roar sickeningly, barrel forward, and then jerk to a sudden stop as Troye slammed on the brakes to keep it from smashing into walls or traffic lights.

"Fuck," I muttered as the seltbelt dug into my collarbone, "You need a new car." 

Troye shot me an apologetic glance as he turned onto the main road. "Sorry," he said distractedly. "It's pretty powerf - ah, shit!"

He hit the brakes again and I gripped onto the side of the car, knuckles white. LA was staring at us, and it was pretty damn confused as to what this monster of a Wrangler was doing driving through it, and why it wasn't on a scrap heap.

It only took a few minutes to get to this ice-cream place, but oh my God, Troye wouldn't shut up. I mean, I'm as chatty as the next person - I can go on about what I like for hours - and his little comments and observations were adorable and so funny I almost laughed a few times - but this was a hook-up. It wasn't really...appropriate. Was it?

Or...did Troye think this was an actual date?

I screwed up my mouth, feeling a bit wistful. Maybe in another time, in another place, I could go on a date with this boy. But we were in the here and now, and I was here for the hook-up. 

"Here." Troye spun the steering wheel wildly and the Jeep skidded into a little carpark. The tiny building had a massive sign with fake seagulls attached to it.

"Brighton?" I read out as we got out, and Troye nodded, grinning.

"They used to live there." he explained. "They moved here when they got enga - hey Nala!" 

A tiny black pug was suddenly whirling around our feet. I stood and studied the building while Troye greeted the dog, rolling my eyes a little; Troye was adorable as all hell, but this wasn't the right occasion. 

When we actually got into 'Brighton' it was packed. "Holy shit," I muttered, looking around. Tables were packed wall to wall, but the two people who seemed to be running the place came straight over when they saw us.

There was a tiny girl and a seriously hot guy who both seemed to know Troye. "Oh, Tyler," Troye said quickly, "This is Zoe and Alfie. Guys, this is Tyler."

I muttered a hello. What the hell? What was this, a meet and greet?

Admittedly, the ice cream was really good. Zoe and Alfie booted some people out to give us a table, and as soon as we sat down Troye put down his spoon, leaned forwards and put his chin in his hands.

"Tell me about yourself, Tyler."

I couldn't even help replying. "I told you. I'm from Michigan...umm, I'm twenty four...what else do you want to know?" What else do you need to know? 

"Your hobbies, your passions, your weird fetishes..."

I laughed. "You did not just quote The Fault in Our Stars."

"Did you see the movie?"

I rolled my eyes, but playfully this time. "I fucking bawled. Not in the least because Ansel Elgort was hot. You read the book, right?"

Troye nodded vigourously. A lock of hair fell onto his forehead and before I knew what I was doing I reached across the table and brushed away.

We both froze, me with my arm still extended, and then Troye smirked. "Can't keep your hands off me, can you?" he giggled.

I flushed bright scarlet, whipping my hand back. "Not like you want me to, Troye Sivan."

Troye raised his eyebrows - oh my fucking God, I still wasn't over his eyes - and licked ice-cream from his lips, ridiculously flirtatiously. For a fraction of a second, I seriously thought I was going to jump over the table at him; everything about him screamed sex as those incredible eyes trailed over my face, his quiff tousled from the wind, and then it was gone and he was all sweet and shit again, leaving me all flustered and, I was sure, beetroot red.

I heard a small squeak from behind me and turned to see Zoe, the tiny one, standing beside the table. Troye groaned like this was a regular thing. "Zoeeeee."

"Sorry, sorry!" She bent down and stage-whispered to me, "You know you're the first boy he's ever brought here."

"Oh, my God! Zoe! Stop acting like my mom!" Troye complained. "Go away and snog Alfie or something!"

She blushed and vanished as quickly as she'd appeared, but my mind was already whirring. If Troye really did think this was a date - and I was pretty sure he did - then why had he never brought any others here?

"Um, so..." Troye seemed a little wrongfooted to take my thoughts away from what Zoe had said. "Don't mind her, she's mad. Anyway. Passions. Hobbies. Weird fetishes. Go."

"Photography." It slipped out before I could stop it, and I didn't know why I'd said it - I never told people about it. What the fuck was going on?

"Okay. Why?"

"Why?"

"Don't parrot, that's rude." Troye winked and I fumbled for an answer, all caught up in his accent for like the fifth time in the last ten minutes.

"I just..." I shrugged, fixing my glasses. "I just like remembering things. Nothing ever lasts except in photographs." 

Troye looked troubled. He searched my face until I actually wiped it with my sleeve self-consciously. "Why is that?" he asked.

"It's your turn, Troye." I said quickly. I wasn't doing this whole touchy-feely backstory thing. 

Si I started to find him out - I noticed that he didn't smile with his teeth much, which I wished he would, and learned that he had two brothers, a sister and a dog named Jagga back in Perth, and had always loved music. He was here in LA looking for inspiration for his next album, and also to visit his best friends Zoe and Alfie, who he'd affectionately nicknamed 'Zalfie'. 

"They're getting married this summer." he said distractedly, concentrating very hard on scraping out the last of his ice cream. "They're super cute."

I looked down to my own ice cream to notice that it was completely melted, and that my watch hand had moved almost the full way round. I'd been sitting listening to him for nearly an hour - just completely enraptured in his accent and his laugh and the things he'd said.

And it fucking terrified me. If we didn't fuck tonight, then it would have been a date and not a hook-up, and I hadn't been on a date in nearly two years. It had been strictly buisness since I was twenty-two. I wasn't sure if I was ready to break that.

"Oh, shit, Tyler, I'd better go." Troye said suddenly, eyes widening. "I think I'm late for the studio - where can I drop you?"

So...this wasn't a hook up. This really was a date.

Fuck.

"Umm, I actually live really close. I can walk." I forced a smile, trying not to betray how I was holding on the the side of my chair so tightly that my fingers hurt so that I didn't try and kiss him or something. "Yeah."

"Okay, wait..." Troye grabbed a receipt out of his pocket and scrawled something down on it. When I saw that it was his number, he grinned. "For the drycleaning, right?" he said, winking.

"R-r-right." Stop stuttering, Tyler, for fuck's sake. 

After watching Troye's Jeep squeal around the corner, I pulled out my phone. I hadn't accepted Troye's offer of a lift because I couldn't stand it any longer, but in reality - 

"Hi, Korey? Could you come pick me up? I haven't got a clue where I am..."