Blind side (Tronnor AU)

13. Close

Connor's text caught Troye off guard.

May I come over?

Not a 'hello', not a 'sorry', just a blunt question, straight to the point. Troye's answer was just as curt and efficient.

Ok

A few seconds later, he heard a tentative knock on the door. Scrambling out of the bed in a hurry and throwing on hastily the closest pair of pants, he rushed to answer the door, only to be greeted with a sight of Connor.

"Oh, you are here already, I thought you meant..." Troye trailed off, not sure of what to say.

Connor rubbed his neck uncomfortably, as he answered, "Yeah, I kinda drove to your place, and then it occurred to me that you may be out, or not alone." He averted his gaze, saying that, which made Troye shudder.

"I'm alone," he stepped aside to let the boy in. He led him to the small kitchen area and, as he poured water into the kettle, asked, "So, how was home?"

"Fine, I guess. Mom got another cat," there was a ghost of smile on Connor's face, "He's quite a character but when you get to know him, he's a little sweetheart."

Troye pretended to search for coffee, rummaging through the cupboard, in order to avoid facing the boy, "Cool. You know what? Alfie is having a party next week, and, of course, he invited Zoe, because they've been flirting like crazy lately, and Caspar and I are also gonna come, and you should go as well. He has the most insane parties always. Last year before the spring break," Troye rambled on, grabbing a coffee pack, "he got everyone to jump into the pool from the roof of his house. It sounds like not a big deal, but..."

"Troye."

"...he has a goddamn 3-storey mansion, and the roof is steep as hell, and Caspar is already pretty clumsy as it is but Marcus kinda..." Troye himself wasn't really sure what he was talking about and where he was going with the story, but he felt the need to fill the silence with useless noises.

He pushed the button, switching on the kettle, before he turned to face Connor and inhaling deeply in order to continue the story no one in the room was paying attention to.

Connor was leaning back on one of the counters, as he studied Troye with a mixture of bewilderment and sadness, "I didn't come here to you straight from the airport to talk about Alfie's party."

"You certainly have no problem not talking to me at all, so why does it matter anyway?" Troye spat bitterly, as he picked up the coffee again, causing the other boy to purse his lips.

Connor closed his eyes in frustration, breathing audibly, before he opened them and looked at Troye, all traces of rising anger gone completely. "I'm sorry."

Troye stared at him silently, fingers still wrapped tightly around the coffee beans, the faint sound of heating water in the background.

"I'm sorry," Connor repeated, fumbling with his hands nervously, going to bite a nail but deciding against it, as he kept on. "First of all, I'm sorry for being the way I was when we met. The fact that you are..." he struggled for a proper choice of wording, "...affectionate doesn't mean that you are an inferior person. You are a good friend to Tyler and Zoe. You are my best friend."

Troye raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Con," but he was stopped by a gesture from the other boy.

"I also want to apologize for not speaking up when Kian tried to kick you out. You did nothing to deserve that treatment. I already got an earful from Caspar for that. And I explained everything to the guys."

Troye nodded, "They talked to me last week. We are cool."

Connor seemed to be caught off guard by that but still answered solemnly, "Good. What else," he muttered to himself.