Perfect
For Trobed week, organised by @trobedzone!
Day 2 prompt: "I'm cold."
I would put this under a read more so it wasn't clogging up people's dash but idk how to do that on mobile so I've tagged it #long post. Feel free to block the tag if you don't want to see this.
It had been three years, six months and thirteen days since Troy left on his trip around the world.
Abed didn't want to move out of their apartment at first, the one that had originally been casa Trobed, then casa Trobedison. It was Annie who convinced him he couldn't stay there waiting and hoping for Troy to suddenly turn up at their door again.
It had been three years, two months and eight days since he and Annie handed in their keys and climbed into Jeff's car to be taken to the airport.
LA was great. There was so much to do, so much to see, and so many opportunities that he never would have gotten in Colorado.
It had been one year, one month and two weeks since his screenplay got approved. Since then there had been a few scenes that were reworked, a few details changed slightly, but it was still close enough to the original product that Abed was happy with it.
But the best thing that had happened to him recently happened two months ago. He had been in a casting meeting, being asked to choose between three white actors for a character he had written as Indigenous American. The producers had argues that two were tan enough to 'pass as Indigenous'. They were missing the point. At that point it hadn't been a good day, but things drastically changed when he checked his phone under the table during a particularly bad video audition he was being forced to watch just to 'hear them out'.
The text was a photo from an unknown number. He would have deleted it right away without downloading the image, but Britta had mentioned recently that she was having trouble with her phone and may be getting a new one, and she wasn't great at telling people when she'd changed numbers. She would just text as normal and only explain that it was a new number if someone asked who it was that was texting them.
He downloaded the image, expecting to see one of Britta's cats in some ridiculous outfit that Abed would only admit to himself was pretty cute, but instead he saw a picture of the Port of LA. And the Childish Tycoon docked in it. He finally understood what people meant when they say their heart stopped.
A message came through a second later. "Hey Abed, it's Troy! Annie gave me your number. Hope that's okay. She said you're in LA now and so am I! Do you want to meet up?"
Before he could respond, another one came through. "I totally get it if you don't want to. I know me leaving hurt you. But I really miss you."
Abed was pretty sure everyone in the room now knew he was on his phone but he didn't care.
"Hey Troy! Of course I want to see you! I'm free tonight, and at the weekend if that's too short notice. How was your trip??"
They met up that night at a bar close to Abed's apartment. Troy looked older, more mature. He had grown his hair out more than Abed had ever seen before, parted on one side, and he had more stubble than Abed ever remembered him having. He seemed more.... comfortable too. Troy hadn't really lacked confidence when they first met, but as their friendship developed and Troy moved away from the person he had been in high school and started seeing the world for what it really was, his insecurities had grown. He remembered how concerned Troy had been about trying to figure out who he was and what he wanted to do with his life.
All of those worries seemed to have eased from his shoulders now though. He ordered for them after asking what Abed wanted. They talked about his trip, and Abed smiled as Troy gushed about all the incredible things he had seen and done. There was a part of him that had been worried they would be too different now, that had grown into new people and they weren't as perfectly compatible as they had been in college.
He had been proven wrong within five minutes of them being back in the same room again. Troy was different, as was Abed, but they still fit so well together, even finishing each other's sentences and saying the same thing at the same time. Just like old times. Troy walked him home in the early hours of the morning after the bars had closed and Troy had paid their tab. He completed the trip, submitted the evidence along with LeVar Burton's, and despite what they had all been a little worried about, it hadn't been a trick. There was no final fuck you from Pierce in the form of a hidden clause disqualifying him from his promised prize at the end. Jeff didn't get the call for legal help they had all kind of expected, even if no one wanted to voice it.
So he could afford to pay their tab. And to stay in a great hotel a few blocks from Abed's apartment for the time being. He was already looking at houses on the west coast.
"Are you planning on keeping the boat?" Abed asked as they walked the dingy hallway to his apartment. It wasn't the best, but it was LA. In LA you live where you can.
"Yeah..." Troy answered almost immediately, shoving his hands into the deep pockets of his jacket. "You'd think I'd be sick of it by now, after spending the majority of the past three years on it. But, I don't know... kinda feels homey."
They stopped outside Abed's door. He invited him in for another drink, but Troy declined. He had things to do in the morning, and it was already late.
They said goodnight, and Abed put his key in his door as Troy turned to leave. He wasn't quite ready to let him walk away yet though, a small voice in his head telling him that this could be the last time they see each other, for real this time. Like maybe this was a closure thing; Troy wanted to meet up one more time to make sure they were both good and to wrap things up. He felt like he was back at Greendale watching Troy board that boat, trying to memorise everything about him in case he never got to look at him again.
"So you must be a good sailor by now, right?" He called out after him, probably a little too loud for how late it was and how close Troy still was, but Abed couldn't bring himself to care.
Troy stopped and turned back to him, eyebrows raised a little before he nodded and looked down with a bashful smile. "Yeah, I'm pretty good. I manned the boat through a few storms and we made it out alive, so." He shrugged.
"Can we go out on the boat one day?" Abed asked, mostly just grasping for a reason to make plans to see each other again.
Troy looked up at him and smiled again, his expression excited now. "Yeah! That sounds great."
"Great." Abed nodded with a smile.
"Cool." Troy nodded back.
"Cool, cool, cool."
They met up a few more times, usually so that Abed could show Troy around LA. He went with Troy to a few house viewings too. All of the houses were big and Abed mostly just marvelled at the incredible architecture while Troy spoke to the realtor.
Then one day Troy texted him asking if he had plans after work. He finished at 6pm, so they organised for Troy to pick him up from work in the car he had bought last week. Abed didn't know what the plan was, Troy was dodging the question, but he didn't really care as long as they were together.
There was a time a few months ago when Abed would have said he wasn't in love with Troy anymore, a realisation he had initially come to as he watched him leave. So, too late. But he'd be lying if he said the feeling hadn't come back as soon as he had laid eyes on him again.
He was pointedly not acknowledging it, though.
The day crawled by, and finally 6pm came along. Abed was usually last out of the door, so he didn't miss the surprised looks some colleagues shot him as he hurried out a lot faster than usual.
As promised, Troy's car was parked outside Abed's building, and Troy was leaning back against it with his legs crossed at his ankles. He was wearing a loose flowy shirt over a tank top with shorts that stopped just above his knees. And he was wearing sunglasses. It was a hot day, Abed would give him that, but still the ensemble felt unfair.
He was also holding two iced coffees and smiling wide. Abed almost felt like he had to look away as he uttered a thanks when Troy handed him the order Abed always got.
"You got anything more comfy on you?" Troy asked, gesturing to Abed's dress pants and shirt.
"No. Is that a problem?"
"Nah, it'll be fine. I'm sure there'll be somethin'." Troy answered cryptically before opening the passenger side door for Abed to get into the car.
They drove for a long time, but Abed was too wrapped up in their conversation about the director that he was having trouble with to notice until Troy stopped the car and he looked out to see the Port of LA.
They got to the Childish Tycoon and Abed felt a strange pang in his chest as he looked around. Troy had spread out a blanket on the deck and set a picnic out for them.
"I thought we could go out on the water and eat out here? The sun'll be going down soon, the view's great from out there." Troy explained, gesturing vaguely to where the water met the horizon.
Abed smiled as he nodded, and Troy grinned as he went to unanchor the boat and start sailing it out. It was mesmerising to watch him as he worked on getting them out, every action looking as though it was second nature to him now, muscle memory he could perform in his sleep. He was a natural, and Abed was almost floored by the pride he felt watching the person Troy had become.
He went bellow deck to the chest Troy directed him to, full of clothes that he said he could choose from to change into. He picked a soft t-shirt with some writing on it that Abed thought may have been Italian but he couldn't be sure about, and a pair of blue shorts that just passed his knees.
They anchored far enough out that the port was just lights dancing on the water in the distance. There were a few other boats out in the distance, but they looked more like small toys than vessels carrying other people.
They ate and talked. Abed had explained his screenplay in detail to Troy already, given him a copy to read and gotten a rave review in response the next morning. Troy stayed up all night reading it, and had done a few more times since. So it was easy to talk to him about what was going on with it, because Troy knew it almost as well as he did by now.
The sun started going down after they packed away the empty food containers, and Troy disappeared bellow deck again briefly to retrieve some pillows to set out on the little bench on deck, facing the sea. They sat together in silence for a while, just watching the sea as they sipped their drinks.
"So..." Troy spoke up quietly beside him, his hands fidgeting in his lap. "Do you like it?"
Abed tore his eyes from the horizon, the last bits of pink and yellow fading into darkness. It wasn't a hardship. The most beautiful sunsets in the world couldn't compare to Troy.
"I do. Its almost perfect." He answered with a smile. He hadn't even noticed he said almost, just so used to being completely honest with Troy.
And it was almost perfect. There was only one thing that would make it more perfect, but he knew it was something he would probably never have.
"Almost?" Troy prompted, sitting up a little like he was prepared to jump up and do whatever it was Abed said would make it perfect.
But Abed couldn't ask for that. He had only just got Troy back, he couldn't stand scaring him away and losing him again.
Instead, he just shrugged. "I'm cold."
He wasn't exactly lying, now that the sun was gone it was getting a little chilly.
Troy let out a surprised huff of a laugh, then leant closer conspiringly. Abed was pretty sure he stopped breathing.
"Well, good thing I already thought of that." He smiled bright as he reached behind the bench and pulled forward a thick fluffy blanket, wrapping it around both their shoulders and shifting closer to Abed.
It was big enough to wrap around them both and Troy leant a little closer as he wrapped his end around Abed's front. They made eye contact, and Abed knew his own eyes were wide. Looking at Troy's beautiful dark eyes so close up felt like torture, so Abed looked away. Unfortunately his eyes were immediately drawn to Troy's full lips so close to his own and that felt worse. And Troy noticed too. He could tell by the way Troy's lips parted, and his eyes widened a little when Abed looked back up at them to distract himself from his mouth and the overwhelming urge to kiss him.
Abed braced himself, waiting for Troy to pull back and shift away uncomfortably. For him to make an excuse about it being late, and take them back to the port, then drive Abed home and block his number before he got back to his car. Or just make him take a cab home.
Instead, Abed's eyes were drawn down again when he saw movement in his peripheral vision, just in time to catch the sight of Troy's tongue peeking out slightly to dampen his lips. The gap between them was almost non existent now, and Abed wasn't sure which one of them was leaning forward. It might have been both of them, and the thought made him feel dizzy.
Finally, it was definitely Troy who leant forward the last inch needed to press their lips together, and it was better than anything he had ever imagined. Abed breathed shakily through his nose when he realised he had been holding his breath for too long, and his hand moved up to cup Troy's cheek almost of its own accord, this thumb swiping over his cheekbone as Troy seemed to melt into the kiss, the tension disappearing from both of them.
It felt right, like the whole time they had known each other was building up to this moment, this thing they should have been doing the whole time.
Their lips moved together as Abed shifted to face Troy more, so Troy wasn't twisted around as much, deepening the kiss. Eventually they separated, and Abed only noticed that there were fairylights set up around the railing of the boat because of the way the lights reflected in Troy's eyes. Their foreheads automatically fell against each other as they both took a moment to catch their breath, one of Abed's hands still entwined with one of Troy's while the other stroked Troy's cheek tenderly. Troy tilted his head a little to lean into the touch, his eyes closed like he was savouring the feeling.
"Im not cold anymore..." Abed practically whispered into the space between them, feeling a warm flush in his own cheeks.
Troy chuckled almost breathlessly and pulled back just a little so they could look each other in the eyes without going cross-eyed, his free hand resting against Abed's chest where he was sure he would be able to feel his heart pounding.
"So... does that mean it's perfect now?" Troy asked with a playful grin, and Abed felt himself fall in love with him all over again at the sight.
"Yeah, Troy... Its perfect now." He announced in the space between them before leaning forward to kiss him again, something in his heart feeling as though it had settled into its rightful place when Troy kissed him back without hesitation.
