To Set Aflame (Troyler AU)

To Set Aflame

This one's going to be an AU. They're both college, they're both 21, and I've never even been to high school, let alone to college, so if I use wrong terms or anything please excuse my inexperienced fourteen year old self (though it won't be focused on the university aspect so much. I just needed an AU idea, and, well, the amount of Destiel University fics I've read have influenced me).

No trigger warnings, unless you don't like angst (though it's fairly lowkey). The format of this story will be similar to Who Knew (go read if you haven't) but I promise it won't end the same, to anyone who's read it before.

Also vague descriptions of sex in the aftermath, not very explicit, and not very smutty, so I think you should be fine reading unless you're extremely sex repulsed.

And if you want to listen to a certain song while reading, I recommend Fire Meet Gasoline by Sia, Try by P!nk, or Gasoline by Troye Sivan.

Troye POV

Have you ever sat in front of a bonfire?

It could be anywhere, really. On a sandy beach, in the middle of the woods, in someone's backyard after a barbecue - and that's only to name a few possible places. The only thing that matters is that you're within proximity of the fire, with the flames licking at your skin with a sustained vehemence, boiling your blood and enveloping you in a delicious heat. Letting that cozy warmth wash over you, swathing you in the tantalizingly amiability that it offered, so inviting and so welcoming with its caress. Embracing the heat of it like an old friend, allowing it to encompass you with its offering of solace.

It's a nice feeling, right? An alleviating one, enjoyable on all accounts. It's often a contribution to some of the best memories a person can make. With just the right amount of distance, you can take comfort in its heat, sitting by just close enough that you're not left in the cold. After all, if you're too far away, you can't even feel it; you might as well have not even lit it in the first place, seeing as you were too afraid to acquaint yourself with the smoldering heat that beckoned you with every hiss and crackle it left in its wake.

So, you have to take the initiative. You have to approach it, however tentatively or brashly you choose to do so, just as long as you get close enough to familiarize yourself with its warmth. Sure, there's a chance you could get overheated, and have to force yourself to back away to prevent any damage from being done - but for the most part, reaching out and taking that one small risk will pay off in the end.

You have to take a chance.

And personally, I've always believed that life is chances that are taken.

♔∞♔∞♔∞♔∞♔∞♔∞♔∞♔∞♔∞♔∞♔∞♔∞♔∞♔∞♔

Our relationship consisted mostly of looks at first.

It's not like we had a cause for more - at least, not yet. We were strangers, having had no prior knowledge of the other's presence before the term started. After all, it was only my first semester at the University. How could I have ever met him beforehand, if I wasn't even sure he was from this country?

Still, even though our interactions were practically nonexistent, he'd managed to grasp my attention; from the looks of it, the feeling was mutual, considering the fact that it wasn't a rare thing for us to spare furtive glances and tentative smiles whenever we were in the same vicinity. Often, I'd catch him looking way when I was too busy focusing on my work, only to look up and see his attentive eyes and cordial smile resting solely on me. Whenever this happened, I'd always quirk my lips slightly, reciprocating the gesture. As a result, he'd beam, his mouth forming a full-blown grin, before regarding his work once again, leaving me wondering if one of my most stable friendships would involve nothing but the reoccurring looks exchanged between a stranger and I.