Icy Inferno (Troyler AU)

⋙ Chapter Seventeen

And it's too late
I believe in fate
I'm absolutely smitten
And I'll never let you go

Absolutely Smitten ~ Dodie Clark

Tyler

I spent most of Saturday wandering round the house aimlessly. I waited for the clock to strike four, so I could go and pick up Troye for our first date. I'd been texting him details throughout the day, as well as having random conversations concerning marker pens.

I was feeling a mixture of nervousness and excitement all at once. I’d had this idea for a while, soon after I'd moved to the town. I'd always thought it would a good plan for a date, but figured I'd end up giving the idea to someone who was likely to get in a relationship.

I knew it could go disastrously wrong. Maybe Troye would get bored and make an excuse to leave early. Maybe it’d start raining and we’d get drenched, and then be miserable for the rest of the evening. Maybe a giant squid would suddenly rise out the river and steal my wallet.

The last idea was a bit if a stretch, but possible all the same.

As clock neared four, I sprung up from the couch. I looked into the mirror above the fireplace, and fixed my hair once again. Mom told me I looked fine, but I still wasn’t happy with it. I knew Troye wouldn’t care though, seeing as he never had before.

Mom appeared behind me in the mirror, with a straight face.“Tyler, before you go, I think we need to talk.”

I nodded, looking at her reflection rather than her face.

“You’ve heard about the confinement situation. You know as well as I do that if they come here, we’ll have to-”

I spun round and held out my hand. “I know you're looking out for me, but I don’t want to have this conversation right now.”

“Alright alright. So," she smiled merrily "do you think you have everything? Money? Keys? Condoms?”

“Mom!”

“Hey, I’m just making sure. I’m not having you catching some STD.”

“Mom, there won’t be any sex.”

“Maybe not yet, but when you do-”

“I’ll be sure to avoid having this conversation with you. I’ve had enough sex-ed talks at school. I think I’ll be fine.”

“I’m just saying if you catch a viral infection-”

“Bye mom!” I said, swinging open the door and getting out the house as fast as I could. I hurriedly walked to the car. Checking that the car was half clean, I made my way to Troye’s house. During the drive I hummed along to the radio. I kept glancing at my phone, waiting for the inevitable phone call saying Troye couldn't go in the date.

It never came though. When I arrived at his house, I couldn’t help but gasp. It was one of the biggest houses in the area, the complete opposite to my terest house. I double checked the address, but it was right. With shaky legs I got out the car.

I made my way towards the house, walking under the archway along a pebble pathway. Even though everything was lit up, looking homey enough, I couldn’t help but feel out of place. While my house was made of dark grey bricks, this house was painted in a luminous white. Flowers grew up the walls, giving it a human feel. Fountains and statues lay before me, as well as pool and two hammocks. Judging by the wet footprints on the tiles, someone had recently got out of the pool. The walk seemed to take an eternity, and at one point I almost fell into the swimming pool beside the walkway. Eventually the glossy black door was in front of my face. Gingerly I tapped on the door, nervous that I would be knocking on the wrong house, or that someone other than Troye would answer.