falling; a tronnor au

Octahate; Ryn Weaver

"I can't take it; from the day I saw my heart start breaking, no one saved me."

--

The tension in the room was beyond awkward.

"Hi," Connor started, sipping on his cup of coffee.

"Hey," Ben replied, taking a seat across from Connor. "So..."

"Okay, enough games," the man shook his head. "Let's get straight to the point. Who made you edit the video?"

"I..."

"Seriously. This person can't hurt you."

"Yeah, he kind of can."

"Who is he?"

Ben bit his lip, shaking his head. "I can't say."

Connor groaned. "Well, what are we going to do?"

"You have to tell Troye that it's not you. You should've told him right when you found out."

"Ha! Now?" Connor let out a dry laugh. "You won't even tell me who the person is. Besides, he wouldn't believe me. I was going to tell him, but he never answered my calls."

"Seriously?" Connor gave no reply, choosing to turn his head away instead. "Listen, Connor," Ben gave Connor a serious look. "Do you really love Troye?"

"Is that even a question?"

"Yeah, of course it is. I want to know."

"No, I don't love him. I fell for him, Ben. I really did, and I honestly can't consider these feelings using a small word such as love."

"Do you think he feels the same way?"

"After this? I'm not sure." Connor grumbled.

"Well, I think he does." Ben crossed his arms. "Tyde was telling me about Troye's 'state.' He thinks about you a lot, y'know?"

"I figured. But I don't think it's in a good way now."

"Stop being so pessimistic! You two were meant for each other! God, I was so stupid for listening to Blessing--"

"What?"

"I--um, nothing."

"Blessing? What happened?" Connor raised his voice slightly, just enough to give the teen a scare.

"I--Ugh! He made a deal with me; if I made Troye break up with you so that he could get with him, he would help me get in touch with some record dealers and stuff."

"Are you serious?" The man gaped. "I though it was Tyler this entire time. And for a record deal?"

"I'm sorry. It was wrong, I know, but... I never thought I'd have the chance to record with a big company or anything."

"Oh. I understand where you're going with the record deal, but you could've earned it. If you're good, others will notice," Connor sighed.

"I know." Ben looked down, embarrassed. "I know Troye will understand. If he loves you, he will."

"But he's hurting."

There was a pause, then Ben spoke up again. "Do you think Troye recognizes the video? After all, it was an edit from a real video between you and him."

"The video? Oh, right!" Connor smacked his forehead. "I'll tell him now."

-

"Troye, you have a call from Connor."

"What?" Troye stopped washing his face and stepped out of the bathroom. "Who was it, Ty?"

"Here, just take the phone," Tyler handed Troye his phone and continued scrolling through his indirects on Twitter.

Once back into the safety of his bathroom, Troye checked his call logs. There was one missed call from Connor. Connor? He pressed the redial button and anxiously waited for the other man to pick up.

"Troye?"

"Connor?"

"Troye, please don't hang up. I need to tell you something important."

"Is it about the boyfriend thing? 'Cause I'm honestly just done with that. I don't need any more bullshit." Troye lashed out, but instantly regretted it. "Sorry, I--"

"It's okay. I'm with Ben now."

"Oh," was all Troye could mutter. Ben J. Pierce? The one who was in the video?

"No, not like that. I found out who made the video."

"Ben?"

"Yeah, me," another voice chimed. "Connor and I are not together. And Blessing made a deal with me to edit that video."

"What? No. Bless wouldn't do that."

"Yeah? Do you not recognize those clips? They were from our Skype call when I first got back to America."

"Oh, I... I didn't realize." Troye looked around, then said in a low voice, "Tyler might be listening."

"What?! Why is he at your house?" Connor almost screamed.

"I.. I think that he thinks we're dating. But I don't feel anything. God, Connor, I still love you."

"So do I." Connor gushed.

"Okay, okay!" Ben cut in, ruining the moment. "Love-fest can happen later. You need to talk to Blessing right now."

"Wait," Connor spoke, making everyone stop in their tracks. "What about your record deal?"

"You're right," Ben smiled. "I have to earn it. Go, Troye; we have no time to waste."

--