Valentine (troyler AU)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Tyler's pov

"Troye?" Dan asked as I stared at him with wide eyes, trying to think of an excuse for Troye and I hiding in the bathroom together. Troye's body went limp, his legs ceasing to swing violently in the air.

There was a pause. "Yes?" Troye eventually said. I felt the odd urge to laugh, looking at Troye's lower half dangling from the ceiling and Dan's incredulous face, listening as Troye's muffled voice echoed from the ceiling. I could tell how badly Troye wanted to keep our relationship a secret, if only for the time being. There was obviously something holding him back, be it fear or judgement or something else entirely.

"What are you doing in the ceiling?" Dan proceeded to say, and Troye stalled before answering. Troye had many cute habits, one of them being that he rubbed his toes together when he was embarrassed or flustered. If dangling out of a hole in the ceiling were to make anything more obvious, it would be his toes rubbing together.

"I. . . lost my car keys?" Troye answered, and Dan shot me an skeptical look. He obviously wasn't an idiot, though Troye probably was.

"You lost your car keys," Dan stated blandly.  "In the vent." I heard an agitated huff from above me. I stayed helpfully silent, though I'd be better at making a reasonable excuse than Troye. It just seemed easier to me to let things be, maybe even have Dan question why Troye and I were sneaking around together. It wouldn't be the end of the world if he found out we were dating, would it? 

"I lost my car keys and then I couldn't find them so I came to the bathroom because maybe I left them in here or something and Tyler came to help me look-" Troye was rambling on without taking a single breath, it seemed, and I cleared my throat loudly, making him fall silent. The room was quiet for a second, Dan sending me a look and myself shrugging back. Troye spoke up again.

"I'm just looking for my keys." Troye said quietly, and Dan rolled his eyes.

"Want me to help you look?" he said in an helpful tone, though it sounded over exaggerated to me.

"Oh-uh, n-no!" Troye stuttered out, suddenly understanding the significance of his lie, and the consequences of it. It Dan helped us look, though I was almost positive that Dan knew Troye was lying, he would know for sure. There would be no keys to find, and therefore we'd find no keys.

"Are you sure?" Dan asked sweetly. "I'd hate for you two to be stranded here! We could give you a ride if you want?"

The offer was kind, but the sharp look in Dan's eye was not. It was clear that Dan planned to pry until someone spilled the beans, be it because Troye wanted to or because the lies got so twisted that he tripped over them and knocked over the pot.

"No, really-" Troye began, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. He fell immediately silent.

"Dan?" Phil's voice, concerned, asked from outside the bathroom.

Dan, realizing that it probably wasn't normal to hang out in a single person bathroom with two other men, stuttered a reply. "Uh, yes?"

"Are you okay in there?" He asked, and Dan blushed lightly. I thought it was cute, though I didn't tease him on it. Troye stayed silent, his toes were bouncing slightly in the air, possibly because all the blood was rushing to them. 

"Yeah. Fine," Dan replied, and I smirked at him. He glared back.

"Are you sure? Do you want me to get the indigestion tablets from the car?" Phil questioned, and Dan's

cheeks blazed even brighter. Troye let out a tiny giggle, but as he was currently stuck in an air vent, it echoed quite loudly.

"Dan?" Phil said. "Is someone in there with you?" He doesn't sound worried, like most probably would if they heard another person in the bathroom with their boyfriend. He simply sounded concerned.