The Selection (Troyler AU)

♔Part XVII♔

Whoever can count the amount of times I wrote the phrase,"After all," in here gets a reward.

Connor POV (( I know I said I'd do Troye but I couldn't resist ))

3:00 That Same Morning

For the first time in ages, I beat my alarm clock today, despite the fact that I set it for three o'clock.

Blinking dazedly, a rubbed a palm across my eyelids, my mind stuck in a drowsy haze that struggled to form a clear thought due to lack of sleep. Through a tight squint, I could make out the dark shadows of my room, the decor reminding me of my higher up status in the palace, even if I am a Six like everyone else under my watch. Through the closed curtain of my room, one of the few on the palace's edge, I could tell that it was still either late night or early morning from the dim lighting outside. I groaned in aggravation at myself, for waking up the one morning that we get off-

The one morning we get off.

Suddenly, I wasn't so tired anymore.

I threw the covers off of my bed, shooting a quick glance at the clock on my bedside table - 3:07 - and dismantled the alarm that I had set for 4:15 long ago, that woke me up on a daily basis to get my mandatory tasks done on time. After all, people might question why there was an obnoxiously loud alarm clock blaring throughout the corridors of the palace, with no one in the room to turn it off in the first place. It was a highly inflammatory risk that would be idiotic for anyone in my position to take.

But then again, who else is actually in my position?

After a couple quick button presses, the deed was done. I scrambled across my room with as light of footsteps as I could manage in my hasty rush, throwing open my wardrobe with little consideration for how the doors usually slammed loudly into the wall on impact. I couldn't say I particularly cared at the moment, however, as I chided myself again and again,It doesn't matter, Connor, just hurry.

Still, I stopped the doors from making their trademark resounding boom with the edges of my finger tips, pulling them away just when I was sure they wouldn't crash into the wall.

I made that mistake once, in my rush to meet up with him late at night after we agreed through a coded letter passed on by one of the Maids - Hannah, I think her name was - since we weren't sure if our letters were being read without our knowledge. Of course, the envelopes we all received were always sealed to perfection, but he always says that we can never be too careful, especially when it comes to who we are and what we've been doing. I didn't dare argue, knowing our predicament. The tiniest slip up could have our fuck us over completely.

It was a chance I was not willing to take.

It wasn't too big of a deal, though; coming up with a code wasn't that hard. We just wrote a word or phrase that would tip each other off for when we wanted to meet, or when we were busy, or when we had to be careful for a little while. For instance, if he were to write,"The closet is needs to be cleaned," he would mean that he'll be in our special closet, waiting for me that night. Not the one that Troye found us in once by accident - we'd never try going there again - but another one, the one that we lost our virginity to each other in.

I shrugged on a dark blue coat, fighting an idiotic smile at the memory. I remember every detail of that night, from the way he said my name in hushed whispers to the way his hands ran along my body to the way his lips felt on mine. It was an impromptu moment, not planned beforehand in the slightest ( and very illegal ) but I felt no ounce of regret once it was finished. It was too perfect, too precious, and too meaningful for the both of us to ever feel that what we did was wrong.