Furtive | Tronnor

n i n e

The only sound to be heard in the otherwise empty bathroom was the droplets of water escaping from the rusted sink tap. Connor was watching with interest as Troye managed to dampen some toilet paper, their eyes meeting nervously when Troye placed the cold material onto Connor's neck.

"Does that feel okay?" Troye asked, though the wince and discomfort on the other boys face already seemed to provide a clear answer to that question.

Despite this Connor nodded his head, his hand reaching up to hold the paper alone and brushing against Troye's skin in the process. The taller of the two immediately withdrew his hand, regaining his composure as he leaned against the bathroom wall.

"So what happened?" He asked, despite already knowing some of the answer.

Connor sighed heavily, his own body relaxing against the white sink that stood opposite Troye.

"It's a long story."

"I have time." Troye folded his arms with a slight smirk. "It's not like I'm heading back to English any time soon."

He fought off a laugh when he noticed the way Connor's eyes widened underneath his glasses.

"And there's no way you can head back to lessons when you look..." Troye trailed off, motioning towards Connor's neck in the hope that he'd understand.

Luckily, despite the fact that he didn't seem exactly happy about the situation, Connor agreed.

"You really want to know?"

"Of course." Troye's curiosity was heightened as Connor held his breath, like he was taking a moment to consider his answer.

"I was involved in something. Something really bad." Connor closed his eyes, his head dropping towards the floor.

"Define 'bad'."

"Like an illegal kind of bad." Connor's voice was cracking, his body shaking as his hand pressed harder against his neck.

Troye swallowed, his body moving forward out of instinct.

"Kian Lawley knows. He was there. He was a part of it, and he's the person who did this to me. Beat me up, that is."

Connor opened his eyes and saw Troye was standing directly over him, concern filling his features as he waited for the boy to continue.

"Mr Chapman knows. Some of Kian's friends know, but they don't know the whole story. They know Kian was there but they didn't know it was with me. They don't know what he let me do to him."

"Where? Where and what are you talking about?" Troye tried to remain calm and patient but nothing was making sense.

Connor glared at him with exhausted eyes, his hand removing the toilet paper from his neck as he continued.

"My life is a mess, Troye."

"You didn't answer the question." Troye spoke softly, attempting to coax Connor into speaking.

"I don't know how I got into all of this." Connor seemed to be ignoring Troye and was instead talking from his conscience. "I was a good person. I never, ever, put a foot out of line. I didn't take part in illegal activities for the sake of some money, I didn't isolate myself from the world, I didn't put on some cheap act and I never, ever would've got high for the sake of a..."

Wait, what?

"High?" Troye cut in, not bothered about hearing the rest of the sentence. "Did you just say high? You've been taking drugs?"

Connor didn't answer. His heart was racing at the mere thought, and Troye could almost hear the fear as much as he could see it.

"Answer me." Troye's own heart was beating at an increased speed when the words that he'd exchanged with Tyde about drugs crossed his mind.