simply sincere • a tronnor au ✔️

chapter twenty three

That night, Connor wasn't too numb to cry himself to sleep. He knew he fucked up, but not as much as Troye had. He didn't understand Troyes way of thinking, and he didn't think he ever would.

Connor had decided that Troye was one of those really complex puzzles. The ones with 1,000 fucked up pieces and no picture to go by that takes days to finish. He also decided Troye was one of those connect the dots puzzles, but this puzzle was missing a number. He thought he'd probably never finish the puzzle or connect the dots to fully understand Troye.

Troye had obviously told Bethany about the fight. Bethany had given a range of looks toward Connor. She had given him anywhere from a look of anger to a look of sorrow. Bethany knew Connor, so she knew Connor was hurting, yet she kept her distance.

Truth is, after the fight, Troye called Bethany. He was a mess, babbling incoherent sentences. Bethany didn't understand what he was saying, so she called Zoe to come pick her up and bring her to Troyes.

The only knowledge Bethany had of the situation upon entering Troyes house was that it had something to do with Connor. Bethany saw Connor come in the house with a tear stained face, but didn't question him.    Once they arrived, Zoe managed to calm Troye down a bit, even though he wasn't crying, not yet at least.

Troye had always tried his best to not cry around his friends. For the five years he's known Bethany, he has cried in front of her three times.

Troye only knew Connor for a month or so, yet he has cries in front of him twice.

He's never cried in front of Joey. He wouldn't dare to do so.

He managed to explain to Bethany and Zoe what had happened between the two boys. He explained how pissed Connor got when Troye talked about getting back together with Joey. Zoe and Beth refrained from sticking up for Connor, they knew Troye's past. Connor didn't.

Troye also told them how he shouted at Connor for having an unrealistic crush on him. Zoe squealed, excited that Connor liked Troye. Bethany had slapped Troye on the shoulder.

"What was that for?" He had asked, rubbing his shoulder.

"For being a dick to Connor. You like him too, you dumb ass. How is that unrealistic?" She was pissed at her friend, she didn't understand why he was doing this to Connor.

"Because I'm in love with Joey!" Troye yelled back, but he didn't believe a word he said, neither did Bethany nor Zoe. They all knew Troye didn't love Joey, they knew what he was trying to do. 

"No you don't, Troye." Zoe spoke up. Truth is, she was tired of this bullshit, along with everyone else. She needed Troye to admit it to himself, then maybe he could finally get his head out of his ass. "You think you do because you think you only deserve the bullshit that Joey gives you. Wake up and smell the roses, Troye." 

Troye had never seen Zoe so pissed off before. He couldn't tell if he was afraid or excited to see this change in Zoe. Needless to say, Zoe and Beth soon left after that, leaving Troye to evaluate his choices. 

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Troye came to the conclusion that he would talk to Joey over lunch, hoping that they could reach the same hypothesis about their relationship, then test it out. Yet, of course, nothing seemed to be working out for Troye. 

Joey had agreed to the date, settling upon meeting Troye at the local coffee shop - the one where Connor had originally told Troye he saw Daniel and Joey. Hesitating at first, Troye agreed to meet Joey there at 12:30 for coffee. 

Joey had gotten there first, a bright smile plastered on his face as he typed away on his phone. Troye took a deep breath before opening the coffee shop door. This meeting with Joey was so important, they were basically setting up guidelines for their relationship.