simply sincere • a tronnor au ✔️

chapter tweleve

Troye felt immensely bad the entire journey to Connor's house. He had shouted at and blamed Connor for something he never had time to explain, or rather he never got the chance to. He kept apologizing, but Connor just brushed if off - saying he understands why Troye would act that way.

Once they pulled into Connor's driveway, Connor noticed Kathy's car parked. Swearing under his breath, Connor reached for the volume of the radio, turning it off completely before turning to Troye.

"that's Kathy's car," Connor explained to Troye "Kathy is my step mom, and when my father isn't around, she can be a total bitch. So don't take anything she says to heart." Troye listened to Connor very carefully, feeling bad that Connor had to deal with this type of shit on a weekly basis. Luckily, Connor would be back at his moms the next day.

"Okay," Troye replied, taking a deep breath before exiting Connor's car. Kathy can't be that bad, Troye thought to himself. Oh, but he had no idea what was coming.

Connor placed his keys inside the lock, twisting them slowly to unlock the door, once he did, Kathy's voice filled his ears.

"There you are, Connor! The dishwasher needs unloading." Connor sighed in frustration, trying not to scream as he's already being told to do when he hasn't even set foot inside the household.

"Kathy, this is Troye, Troye, this is Kathy" Connor was quick to introduce, before grabbing a hold of Troye's wrist and attempting to drag him into the kitchen to avoid any further conversation with Kathy.

"Hold it, Connor." Kathy called, getting up from the couch. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm going to unload the dishwasher" Connor replied, not making eye contact with the monster in front of him.

"why do you have a boy over?" She questioned, raising her eyebrows.

Here's the thing; when Connor first came out to his father, Kathy was there, and let's just say that she wasn't the most supportive. Things like "you don't know what you're talking about' and 'this is just a phase' were spoken to Connor as soon as Peter left the room (after he gave Connor a hug and saying he still loved his kid, of course).

"yes, I do." Connor stated, point blank. Kathy looked surprised, deciding to interrogate Connor further.

"Is he your boyfriend then? I mean, you are 'gay' after all" she stated, putting air quotes around "gay."

"No, in fact he just got out of a really bad break up so we're going to get his mind off of things and watch movies," Connor replied, trying to get out of this situation as fast as possible. "after, of course, I unload the dishwasher."

Kathy just rolled her eyes, "fine," and with that, she turned around a retrieved her spot back on the couch.

Troye let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding once Kathy was out of sight. "You weren't kidding."

"God, i hate her so much," Connor chuckled silently, pulling Troye further into the kitchen. "Sorry, by the way,"

"About what?"

"Bringing up the break up, I want to stay clear of that topic for your sake."

'No it's fine, in fact it was kind of amusing to see you shoot her down like that."

--

Once they unloaded the dishwasher, they quickly made their way up into Connors room, shutting the door behind them.

As soon as they walked in, the look on Troye's face turned serious. He wanted to ask Connor something, but didn't know how to start out.

"So um," he began, trying to think of the correct wording. "Today, at the mall, you said something to Bethany,"