Icy Inferno (Troyler AU)

⋙ Chapter Thirty-Seven

And just one mistake
Is all it will take
We'll go down in history
Remember me for centuries
Centuries ~ Fall Out Boy

Troye

"You've changed."

"Ever since we had sex you've been saying that."

"But you have!"

"Well, nothing changes you quite like the idea of being dead by tomorrow."

"We're not gonna die."

"Sadly you don't have the power of foresight so you don't know that."

"Okay, we might. But if we're going down-"

"I'm not yelling timber."

"No, I was going to say we'll be going down together."

"You had the perfect opportunity to sing Sugar We're Going Down but you didn't. I'm mildly disappointed."

Tyler went up on his tiptoes, lips grazing my cheek. "You still love me though."

I struggled to bite down my smile. "Unfortunately."

With fingers interlaced, we looked out at the deserted road, whilst sitting underneath the bus shelter. In five minutes we would be met by a van to take us to the docks. And then we would go to the island with the most heinous of confinements. But for now we we were alone, nerves shimmering in the pit of my stomach as tension began to boil.

Although my hopes were high I knew I must keep them small. I had to stay level headed until this was over. I thought it would be best to distract myself from it all. And although there was a beautiful boy besides me who could easily be the perfect distraction, every time I looked at him I was reminded of everything that was at stake.

So I had to look up. Take in the good around me. A mockingbird sang a tune of faith from a nearby tree. Flowers were unfurling their petals for the first time that year. The grey skies were slashed with ribbons of orange and blue. Two contrasts that were in harmony that day - almost as if it knew Elementals and Powerless were joining hands today, to hopefully end the division between us once and for all.

The van pulled sooner than I'd anticipated. We got in straight away, saying our hellos to the others inside. Hannah gave a misguided wave, but they were all in the midst of an intense word association game, and no one wanted to lose. After Grace messed up the round they stuck tape on her face, pulling it into a rather unsightly position we couldn't help but laugh at. We were joined in moments later, which neither of us complained about. All we wanted to do was forget.

After too many rounds had been played everyone was plastered in tape, and the laughter fizzled out into anxious murmurs. Tyler fidgeted with his hair whilst I messed around with my walkie-talkie, rendering it useless by the time we arrived. We needed a little heart hope, but all we did was lie in wait for what was to come.

No one else seemed as worried as Tyler and I though. Hannah traced patterns onto Grace's hand, making her giggle when bursts of water danced over her palm for a second. People who'd once taught us sang terrible sing-along car journey songs as if they were kids. Or drunk. Or both.

That part of the journey ended when we reached the docks. The resistance had decided to group in a café by the harbour. It was an antiquated place, with little space for the large number of us inside. There was just enough room to walk around the place, as long as you breathed right in when you tried to fit through gaps between tables and people. But there was warm atmosphere, taking me back to the simple life I'd lived long ago.