The last strands (#Tronnor)

Chapter 9: The rumor

-“I’m telling you, there’s something off about him.”

The rustling of the leaves, the gentle rumbling of the wind and the slight warmth from the sun nesting on his face eventually woke up Connor from his slumber. He couldn’t really tell where he was at, but it was most definitely not his house. At least not his current one. He was at the O2L house, the one to which Ricky, Jc and Kian had moved recently. He could tell that much from the room alone, because it was Kian’s bedroom. For some reason he was sleeping on Kian’s bed, apparently fully clothed from last night.

At first he was unsure on how he had gotten there, but then he remembered Ricky asked him to crash at his place for the night after spending a couple of hours at Seaside’s Den, the bar where Troye took them all to. At first the voices from beyond the room did not mean much to him, but they were there alright; and he could hear them. Knowing he didn’t have to, he paid attention.

-“… What do you mean?”

Connor was certain he knew what two people were talking. The one who had just spoken had to be Jc, he could recognize his voice from miles away. He seemed to be talking about someone. Connor’s curiosity had already gotten the best of him, so he let himself listen anyway.

-“… You know what I mean, man.”

That had to be Kian.

-“I really don’t, Ki. For as much as I know, he’s the same as always.”

-“But last night he seemed… off. He looked like… like…”

-“Like he was having fun?”

-“Well… yeah.”

Connor gulped down some saliva. Somewhere deep in his gut, he knew they were talking about him.

-“And what’s wrong with that?”

-“Well… I hadn’t seen him having so much fun in weeks. Since he left. Since long before he left!”

-“So? I still don’t see your point.”

-“My point is that something’s not normal.”

Connor raised himself from the bed immediately. He crawled on the floor towards the door, hoping he had been stealthy enough not to be heard. He missed a couple of words from Jc, but that didn’t matter; as long as he was able to get a closer point to listen to the conversation he would be doing fine.

-“… and his subscribers have noticed, too.”—Kian said.

-“I don’t see why that matters.”

-“Doesn’t it worry you? I mean they haven’t talked in ages. They’ve even unfollowed each other on Instagram!”

Connor gasped at Kian’s mention, because now he was certain they referred to him and Tyler.

-“… and they were so tight, too. He spent most of last year hanging with him and Troye instead of us.”

-“Shhhh---! Kian! I told you before…”—Jc lowered his voice to barely a whisper—“Ricky thinks it’s better if we don’t mention that. You don’t want him hearing us complaining about that.”

Every word made less and less sense to the eavesdropping lad. Complaining? Mentions? Was Ricky giving instructions to the rest of the guys about how to act around him…?

-“I know, but…”

Kian seemed to be about to do an observation, but to Connor’s confusion he didn’t end his idea.

-“… But what?”—Jc asked.

-“… You know he’s one of my best friends Jc. He’s like a brother to me—to us, and last year he’s just not been here. He’s always been away; from the house, from our parties, from our trips… even from when we’re hanging out! I swear, if it weren’t for the tour, we wouldn’t have seen him at all.”