It's Understandable: A Tronnor AU

31. The Date

We meet our heroes again at nine in the next evening. Troye drove on the way there, but began to get queasy, and then nauseated as the night went on, and now Connor held the steering wheel with one, tight hand. It was dark, and Connor kept drifting, but he couldn't stop now.

They were almost there. Troye was crying, and Connor was grinding his teeth, trying to keep his back from touching the seat. The sear of new ink was nearly unbearable on his shoulder blade, and the sound of sobbing sandpaper to his eardrums. He gripped Troye's shirt with his free hand. "Please stop crying! I can't focus on the road!"

"But what if he dies?" Troye cried. "Stupid, fucking karma!"

Before we go any further, let's backtrack to a few hours earlier, on the outskirts of town. Their date night began on a light note, blissfully together. Or at least fabricated bliss, as they slid into a secluded booth in a quaint little Vietnamese restaurant. It wasn't the most becoming of establishments, with it's sign peeling letters and stuffing popping from the seams of the booth seats, but it was a family business. And Connor had a weakness for those.

But he also had a weakness for Troye, and for once that was making him uncomfortable. "Are you sure you don't want to go to a..." He scanned the restaurant for employees and lowered his voice, "...nicer place?"

Troye cocked his head a little to the side, and gave a smile that lifted his upper lip like a bow. "No, it's okay. This place is..." He took a quick look around, "...super soft grunge. I like it."

Connor nodded, and proceeded to nervously rip the corners off his napkin.

This was the first time Connor would be planning a date, being the giver of the romance, and he was feeling the pressure. Things were okay between them, sure, but Connor was still walking on eggshells, withholding the uncomfortable concern that he does relatively little for Troye. And Troye does too much for him.

Yes, Troye is a little suffocating sometimes, this is clear, but Connor couldn't help but blame himself in part for this. He thought that, maybe, giving back equally would balance the scales and restore the realistic space that most normal couples have. Since asking Troye out the night before, that is what this date had come to be for him; a chance to release himself, and make his boyfriend realize that he wasn't Superman, and he didn't have to be. Connor needed to prove that, because he loved Troye, but he was so afraid of fucking up.

So, as a sum of his insecurities, Connor got a little awkward. "So..." He said, incessantly flicking the edge of his newly delivered menu. His smile felt tight on his face. "How've you been?"

Troye looked confused, and Connor resisted the urge to bang his head on the table. Stupid! What is wrong with you, Connor?

"Uh, Con." Troye laughed uneasily. "Did you hit your head or something, because I'm pretty sure we haven't been more than a room apart for a week straight."

"Yeah, sorry." And just when he thought he couldn't be any weirder: "I forgot."

"You..." Leaning forwards, Troye took an interrogative stance. "You forgot? How-"

"One water and one Diet Coke?" Troye was cut short by the delivery of their drinks, and both boys had to hide their separate turmoils beneath polite smiles. Connor took his water from the waitress, and Troye his Diet Coke, and they placed their respective orders, quickly, so the waitress would leave.

Once she did, Troye leaned forwards again. "Connor, are you okay?" He asked, his voice now a weighty murmur, only meant for two. "You're acting really strange."

Connor, to stall, took a pensive sip from his straw, his eyes watching the ice lounging in the water. He took a couple beats, before quirking up the corner of his mouth. "I'm okay."