Freak (Troyler AU)

Chapter Twenty-Two

*Tyler's POV*

I awoke to the unmistakable feeling of drool on my pillow, my nose twitching up in distaste. Gross. I hoisted myself up into a push-up position, wincing as I listened to my bones crack. I felt like a zombie, my eyes heavy as I tried to open them. I was slightly disoriented at first, staring down at the puddle of drool with a lost expression. Then, I noticed my phone wedged half under the pillow and my explanation came to me in the form of Troye's name, still lighting up the screen. Had we both fallen asleep on the phone? Thank God I have unlimited calling or my phone bill would be through the roof by now. I grabbed the cellphone and smirked, trying to remember when exactly I'd fallen asleep. I remembered seeing 4am at one point and whining to Troye about how late it was, but he simply continued our conversation like I hadn't spoken at all. I didn't mind though, talking to Troye was definitely more important than a reasonable amount of sleep. I wasn't sure if that was so true now though, considering how my entire body was aching and I had both school and football practice today. I held the phone to my ear, not surprised to hear silence on the other end. I smiled warmly, rolling my eyes to myself as I ended the call.

I spent the majority of the time in the shower thinking back over our conversation from last night. I actually found myself cringing at a few of the particularly flirty things I'd said, wondering how he'd really reacted. I'd been thirsty as hell last night, my mind too muddled with sleep to differ between what was appropriate to say and what wasn't. He was surprisingly good about it though, definitely a lot less weirded out than he should have been. I was once again left hopefully wondering if this had something to do with his sexuality or feelings toward me, though I decided I'd worry about that later. If I got caught up in it now I'd be in the shower until I was as wrinkly as a raisin. 

I stepped out of the water stream a moment later, only managing to slip twice in the process. I draped a towel loosely around my waist in a hurry, knowing Troye was picking me up soon. I wanted to be ready when he got here. The last thing I needed was having him interact with Queen Jackie any more than he had to. I got dressed way too quickly, not even taking time to really focus on what I was throwing on before grabbing my phone and heading down the hall. I jogged around the corner into the kitchen, staring at my screen and checking for texts as I called out to my mother.

"Are there any eggs left?" I yelled, walking toward the fridge without looking up. The uncanny silence in place of the usual pop music should have been my first clue something was out of place, but I still hadn't even looked up when a bubbly pair of giggles filled the room. My head immediately snapped up, surprised to see Troye seated at the table with my mother. They each had mugs in front of them, making it clear he'd been here for a while. "Trying to steal my friends again, Mom?"

"Yeah, she's doing a pretty good job too, between the hot chocolate and hilarious childhood stories about you." Troye chirped, beaming a smile up at me. He looked so at home sat down in the single spare chair that we never used, the exact same one he'd sat in yesterday. He was absentmindedly running his fingers along the cup of hot cocoa, turning back to my mother to spark up their conversation again. It was the happiest I ever remembered seeing him, making me silently wonder how anyone could enjoy being up this early. I wouldn't dare question it though, instead deciding to just bask in it while it lasted. Besides, it was a lot better than the awkwardness I'd expected to follow-up our sappy conversation last night. 

 "We should probably get going, Troye boy." I interrupted, watching my mother shoot me a glare, obviously not impressed with me for ruining their conversation. Troye didn't seem upset though, immediately jumping up next to me with a smile. 

"See ya, Jackie!" He said, following me out of the room. I grabbed my bag on the way out of the door, not bothering to look back at Troye until we'd made it outside. He sped up then, wanting to walk beside me.