Throughout the Years (Tronnor AU)

Chapter 18

" I think we are doing archery and throwing knife things." Troye said, shaking his head to get the water out of his hair. He looked amazing. I couldn't help but stare a bit. It was like his hair moved in slow motion when he shook it.

"Earth to Joel Franta." I was brought back into reality at the sound of my middle name. "Why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer." He said with a grimace. I blushed at his reaction. I quickly tried to change the subject.

"Have you seen Marcus and Joe?" I said, looking around at the empty cabin. I've seen Marcus around, but not Joe. I think he's been with Caspar more than anyone.

"Marcus is out there already shooting and throwing, but I don't know about Joe."

"Speaking of Joe, how is Caspar? Better? Worse?" I asked. I am genuinely concerned for him. I've known him for less than a week and I feel like he's another one of my best friends. I guess I kinda know what he's going through, too. So it's nice to talk and sympathize with him.

"Honestly, I think he is getting worse. He hasn't lightened up or anything. I'm still with him and so is Joe. So hopefully, he can pull through this predicament." He said, messing with his hair into a messy, but cute quiff.

And with that, he motioned me to follow him to the open area where the activities were taking place. In the middle field, there were seven or eight red targets set a certain distance away from a corresponding table with either a holster for throwing knives or a bow and a quiver. The sun was hidden behind the clouds, along with a comforting breeze making it a slight bit chilly.

At the station was Marcus and Joe, with witty and childish banter being swapped between the two. It seems like Joe has lighten up a bit. Tyler moved away from his throwing knife station and moved towards us.

"Finally you guys decide to join us! Just choose a station and have at it!" He said with his usual enthusiasm and bubbliness. I looked at Troye who moved forward and chose a throwing knife station. Naturally, I chose the archery station next to him.

"Have you ever shot archery?" Troye asks as he grabs the knives off the table. I grab the bow off of the table.

"No. Have you?" I asked, grabbing an arrow from the quiver on the table.

"Yeah. Steele taught me when I was younger." He said. He threw the knife and bounced off the Styrofoam block at the other end. I scoffed at him.

"Nice one, you assassin." I said. He looked at me as he rolled his eyes.

"Okay, let's see if you can shoot the target, Everdeen." He said with apparent sarcasm. I stuck my tongue out at him as I slotted the arrow on the string. I looked at my red target before drawing the bow back, cocking my head and shutting my eye to have more precision. Once I was happy with my aim, I release the arrow. The arrow flew towards its intended target...only it was a shit ton to the left.

"Damnit." I said out loud.

"Here. Let me help you out." He moved from hi station over to mine. He stood behind me. "Go ahead and draw your arrow." He said.

I followed his instructions and slotted another arrow. I looked at my target before I drew the bow back. I heard Troye from behind me.

"Okay, take a deep breath." I did what I was told. I filled my lungs with air. When doing so, I felt Troye behind me. He moved forward close to my back, parallel with my body. I felt one of his hands on my back as he moved his right hand over my diaphragm. My heart jumped and my inhale shook because of his actions. I felt his voice vibrate in my ears.

"Keep your chest up and your core tightened. This will help you aim." He then moved his hand from my back to my outward hand that held the bow. He cupped my wrist and tilted it upward.

"There. Now take your shot." He said, moving away. I focused back into my target and calmed my heart rate down. Once doing so, I released my arrow. It flew straight into the center of my target. I looked over at Troye who was smirking.

"See? That was good!" He said, smiling. I gave him an eye roll.

"No, I think I just have a really good teacher." I said, playfully winking at him. His cheeks turned a shade of crimson as he released another knife into his target. God, I love him so much.

-

"Have either one of you seen Caspar?" Joe asked as he sat down at the table for supper. It was the usual crowd at the table. Troye shook his head and I spoke.

"No I haven't. I haven't seen him since this afternoon. He seemed sad." I said. That was true. Caspar was walking into his cabin when I was him. He was slouched over and had his hands in his pockets.

"Damnit. He's been so closed off lately." Joe said with a sunken face. He moved towards his food. I heard Marcus clear his throat.

"So are you guys coming to that huge camp bonfire later?" I heard Marcus ask. Everybody made a general consensus and said yes. I looked over at Joe who didn't say anything. I mean, I know he is an asshole, but he still has feelings. I felt really bad for him.

"Joe, is everything alright?" I asked him. I saw his Adam's apple bob up and down as he swallowed hard. I looked up to se him shedding a single tear. He then moved up from the table with quite velocity and storm away. Troye nudged me, probably wondering what happened. I just shrugged and went to eating.

Lunch after that was quiet. Everybody made small talk, but nothing noteworthy. I got up from the table, as did Troye. He followed me out as I went towards the cabin. Once we made it there, we just hung out until it was time to go to that bonfire. Marcus entered the cabin about an hour later.

"You guys coming?" He asked us. I looked over at Troye who looked at me.

"You ready?" He asked. I simply nodded. I then followed Troye out of the cabin and towards the giant fireball in the distance.

______________________________

A/N: Hey guys.
I missed all of you so much.

I'm not dead, I promise. I just needed some time to sort out issues of mine. Things have been hard, but most of them are behind me. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things and start posting again. I'm sorry that this took forever. And I'm also sorry because this has filler written all over it. The next one will hopefully be posted sometime next week.

Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes.

Happy birthday America!! We are really young compared to England and China.

I was thinking of starting a book and just writing about things in my life. Kinda like a viewable diary. Because sometimes, I wanna say certain things in these Author's Notes, but I forget them. What do you think? I can call it, "A Day in the Life of Dil Pickle".

For those of you who didn't see the answer, I was on the left in the game we played.

I think that is all I have so...

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-Dyl ❤️