|| ᴍᴜʟᴛɪ-ꜰᴀɴᴅᴏᴍ ᴏɴᴇ-ꜱʜᴏᴛꜱ ||

|| ᴛʀᴏʙᴇᴅ // ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ ||

If you aren't worth somebody's time, then they aren't worth your attention. That's what Abed has always believed, and that's what he's always told anyone who'd asked. But, what if you are worth somebody's time, and you want them to have all of your attention? That's something he wasn't sure of the answer to. Which .. really bothered him when he realized the situation he was in with Troy.

As each day passed, Abed found himself wanting to hang out with Troy more and more. Which was normal for best-friends, sure, but not in the way Abed was experiencing. It started out as a mere thought, simply an idea that had crossed his mind one late night in September, but it hadn't left him alone since. "What if he and Troy were more than friends?"  That's what he'd asked himself every single day since then. Because, truth be told, he yearned for it. It started out as wondering what the label would feel like, and then evolved into what Troy's fingers would feel like if they were to be interlaced with Abed's. And then after months, Abed was imagining what Troy's lips would feel like to kiss, and how much he'd enjoy that, until leaving the thought unspoken about was too irritating to live with. So one morning when he and Troy'd gotten ready, and Annie wasn't in the room, of course, he decided he'd bring it up. 

"Morning Abed!" Troy greeted him with a smile when Abed, fully dressed and ready for school, walked into the kitchen. It always confused Abed, Troy's morning process, that is. Because the first thing that Troy would do was wake up and make a bowl of cereal, and then everything else came after. He'd assumed it was some routine thing, but it appeared now that he did it simply just to do it. "Morning Troy," He replied, with less enthusiasm, but that was to be expected from him early in the morning. See, Abed had one of those morning voices that girls often liked to swoon over. Or, not necessarily even limited to girls, in Troy's case. "Can I ask you something?" Abed proposed, prompting Troy to full-on drop his fork into the half-full cereal bowl. That was usually the first phrase that led to horrible news. But .. he decided, it's Abed! What's the worst that could happen?  "Uh .. sure buddy, what's up?" He accepted lightly, to signal that he was uneasy about the whole thing, but he trusted Abed. "People often call us boyfriends when we're not in the room, or even actually to our faces most of the time, and I've been wondering how you actually feel about that." Troy laughed nervously when Abed finished, "Pfft, they're just messing around. I don't mind it." Abed rose one eyebrow, eager with intrigue, he wanted to press further and ask Troy on the spot: "Hey I'm kind of in love with you, want to start dating?" But that was so straightforward, and too much to throw on someone before nine in the morning. "I don't mind either, but that's not exactly what I was trying to get at," Abed hesitated, watching and analyzing Troy's facial expressions as he spoke, trying to get the best read on him that he could. "I actually wanted to know how you .. felt about us .." Troy interrupted when he realized what Abed was getting at. "Like, be actual boyfriends?" He almost blurted it out, and in an unsuccessful attempt at hiding the excitement behind his voice, he leaned back and looked around the room to avoid any eye contact. "Yeah.." Abed replied, fidgeting with his fingers as they sat in those few seconds of uncomfortable silence.

Silence can feel like hours when you're waiting on the love of your life to determine whether you'd walk away with a boyfriend, or with a heart shattered on the floor. This was how Abed saw it, anyways. But it wasn't actually too different for Troy.. See, Troy had been attracted to Abed since their first semester at Greendale, but due to the household he grew up in and the peers he'd surrounded himself with all his life, he repressed that attraction down to its very core. As he did with every other time he was attracted to a guy. But, truth-be-told, Troy would love to go out with Abed. Even for just a night. Just a minute, even. If he was given a shot at Abed's heart, he'd cherish every breathing moment of it, from just watching T.V. in their living-room, or to the big things like kissing and dancing together on Valentine's day. It was commercial and cliche, sure, but neither of them really cared. All they wanted was to hear the other utter those three words they'd longed for so sincerely. I love you. I love you so much. So, so much. That's all they needed. 

Troy looked Abed in the eyes, and smiled. "Honestly?" He started, "I'd kinda love that." Abed made a victory fist and muttered "yea!" under his breath. Clearing his throat, Troy hesitantly awaited to ask another question. "How long have you been thinking about that?" Abed rubbed the back of his neck and smiled, "Too long, way, way too long, heh." Troy smiled, too. "Can I tell you a secret?" Abed nodded, and raised an eyebrow. "I've thought about it way more than I should've, too." They both laughed nervously, and then looked at the time. "Holy crap! I gotta get dressed!" Troy shouted, and Abed smiled as he watched him race to get ready, with barely five minutes to spare before they had to leave.