Masterpiece (Tronnor)

Chapter 1

Troye knocked quickly before letting himself into Connor's unlocked house.  He found Connor on his couch reading a book, which, to Troye's amusement, looked much like his own.

"Hey." Troye said suddenly as he came into the room. Connor looked up, startled, and placed the book (which Troye was now certain was A Work In Progress) down next to him.

"Shit. You could've knocked AND waited for an answer" said the older boy with a huge smile. He put his arms around Troye, staying in that position for a couple of seconds. They let go of each other and Connor motioned for Troye to follow him into the kitchen.

Troye had spent an incredible amount of time in this apartment before. Connor's flat wasn't particularly big, but comfortable for one person, as he lived alone. The living room and kitchen weren't separated, and the bedroom, small office and bathroom were all easily accessible to their right. Through the years Connor was able to transform this place from a house to a home. That's exactly what it felt like- home. The smell, the rich but minimalistic decorations, everything.

"May seventeenth." Troye declared once they had made their way into the small kitchen and Connor had begun making coffee for both of them.

"Excuse me?" Connor replied, not taking his eyes off the boiling water he was now pouring expertly. "They want the album by May seventeenth or not at all." Troye explained, now helping Connor spoon the powder into the steaming plunger. "That's in two months." Connor said calmly.

"No kidding it is. Eight weeks. Only fifty six days." The pair was silent for a minute or two while the coffee was poured and they re-entered the living room. They didn't say a word, Connor noticeably trying to process the information.

"That was pretty good maths for a high school dropout." Connor observed jokingly of Troye's earlier comment. Troye just rolled his eyes and continued to explain to Connor how the CEO of EMI Australia had told him he would be dropped should he not become more efficient.

"Calm down, you can do this." Connor reassured him after ten minutes of panicked ranting. "How many songs are done?" Troye looked at him knowingly as if to say 'you don't want to know' but continued anyway.

"Well, Only Fools is recorded and finalised, HLP version two is recorded but needs a bit more editing, Blue Neighbourhood is partly recorded, and Wild is written but not recorded. That's about it." He finished with a sigh and his head dropped.

"This is fucking pointless, Connor. I cant do it!" Connor moved closer to him and began awkwardly patting his friend on the shoulder.

"How many songs do they want?" He asked. "Thirteen. At least." Troye replied, then began counting backwards on his fingers. "That's minimum nine songs to go."

Troye and Connor spent the rest of the afternoon brainstorming possible song ideas and jokingly plotting schemes to get the CEO of EMI fired. In no time, the sun was beginning to set and they had given up on the pages of messy scribbling that were sitting on the coffee table.

"Are you busy tonight?" Connor asked Troye as they were clearing away the chaos of pens and pencils in front of them. "Don't think so, why?" Troye replied.

"Ricky and Alexa invited us for dinner, but it's cool if you're too stressed and want to stay home and chill or whatever." Connor mumbled. "Sounds great. Lets do it. Where?" Troye asked eagerly.

The next hour was spent planning over the phone with Alexa and getting ready to go out. "I'll just get an Uber home and meet you guys at Earth Cafe. I need to get changed - I've been wearing these clothes for like three days." Troye had said twenty minutes beforehand.

"Don't be stupid. You're not paying for an Uber when I can drive you." In the end they decided that Troye would borrow some of Connor's clothes and they would go together, and by seven thirty they were climbing into Connor's car and driving to the café.

Ricky and Alexa stood out like a sore thumb. Ricky, tall and lanky (and at the moment with bright blue hair), paired with the shorter, long-haired brunette girl (who today was wearing four inch stilettos and eyeliner to be envied).  They excitedly waved their friends over and exchanged hello's, before entering the familiar building and placing themselves in their favourite seats by the window.

Alexa launched straight into telling Troye and Connor all about Ricky's upcoming EP and how incredible it was, much to Ricky's embarrassment, and none of them could get a word in edgeways until nearly twenty minutes later when the first of the food arrived. Alexa finally concluded her monologue and asked, "So, how have you guys been?"

"Pretty shit, to be honest." Troye replied, looking at his feet to try to deter her attention. "Aw, babe, what's wrong?" She asked, a look of concern covering her face. "Music stuff. Let's not talk about it. I don't want to ruin the mood." He mumbled through a sip of the beer they had discreetly bought for him.

"What about you, Con?" Ricky asked after a few moments of awkward silence.

"I've been good. I've been working on Common Culture for the last few weeks and that record label idea Andrew had is starting to come together a bit -  Anthony and Mandy agreed to make compilations too, I'm just trying to persuade JC now."

When Connor's meal arrived (a potato and salmon salad that was presented incredibly), he looked around to check that no one was watching, although he tried not to care if they were, before pulling out his phone and leaning forwards in an attempt to get the perfect photo. Troye suppressed a laugh, but helped Connor anyway by moving his plate out of the frame.

After about two minutes, Connor sighed and put the phone away. "About time." Troye said in mock annoyance,  and they were finally able to eat.

The rest of the evening went by quickly, filled with stories, laughter, plans for the future. Finally, Troye was able to take his mind off any negativity. Until Connor's phone started to sound.

"Who's calling?" Ricky asked, slightly annoyed as the loud noise cut him off half way through his story. Connor checked his phone, and his expression revealed that something was wrong.

"It's a reminder." Connor declared. "I have a meeting about the music thingy in an hour. I completely forgot, I'm so sorry!" he apologized.

"It's okay." the group said, almost in chorus. Connor glanced over at Troye, who looked slightly uncomfortable. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Uh, Yeah I was just wondering if you could give me a ride home?" the younger one asked looking down at his hands. "Yeah of course, no problem."

After paying for their food, the four of them said their goodbyes and Connor and Troye got into the car. They had been driving for a while when Troye noticed that they were going in the complete opposite direction.

"Con, This isn't the way to my Airbnb." Troye advised, with a confused expression.

"I know." Connor explained, "You didn't think that I will let you spend the night in that house. It's barely furnished and smells like microwave food. You need to relax. I drop you off at my house, I get done with that meeting quickly, I come home and we can watch a movie. Deal?" he suggested, smiling at the boy beside him.

"Deal". Troye said returning the smile. "What's with the late meeting?" he inquired.

"I don't even know." Connor said in a tired tone, "Wasn't my idea." he said as he stopped the vehicle in front of his house. He looked over at Troye, who seemingly didn't know what to do.

"Hey." Connor said, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Go in, relax, do anything you want to, I'll be back soon."

"Thanks." Troye said looking gratefully at Connor. "Really."

"No problem." Connor said, as the other boy got out of the car. "But if you light a candle while I'm not here I'm gonna burn all your album notes while you're watching." Connor threatend with a cheeky smile on his face.

"Don't worry about your fancy American candles. I won't hurt them." Troye said. raising his voice as the older one drove off. He stood there for a while, watching as Connor's car disappeared around the corner. "Not without you."

A/N
Hey guys! We hope you enjoyed the first chapter! This one was written by Indi and Adam. We would love any feedback you have (comment or message us on tumblr). Thanks!!