All Because of You

Chapter 4

Sleep didn't come easy for me that night. It took me forever to pass out, and then once I had, I kept waking up in the middle of loud coughing fits. For the first time in a while, I was feeling cold even though it was the middle of summer. By the time I managed to fall asleep and stay that way, it was early in the morning.

I woke up well after my usual time, groggy and overly sore. Groaning, I propped myself up, giving my head a chance to quit spinning before dragging myself up completely. Troye, you're getting sick.

"No 'm not," I said to myself, my voice slightly scratchier than usual. I groaned again. Sure, being sick was horrid, but loosing my voice was completely not an option. Losing my voice would mean no income and no way to get it back. As far as I was concerned, it was completely out of the question.

Spinning by Starbucks, I risked a couple of dollars on tea with honey, hoping to maybe soothe my throat a little bit and keep my voice healthy.

It seemed to work well enough, and for the most part I was fully functional. Sure, I couldn't necessarily hit all the notes that I usually did, and maybe I had to pause every now and again to cough, but overall I sounded fine, and that was what really mattered.

All day, I couldn't help but keep an eye out for Connor. Part of me really wanted him to show up again, really wanted to see his face, really wanted to talk to him and have a good time and feel like a normal person again. But at the same time, I was hoping he wouldn't show up again, that i could prove to myself (in a way) that he didn't really care, that I wouldn't fall further down this rabbit hole I had made for myself when it comes to him. But time moved on and I didn't see him walk by. 12 o'clock passed, then 1, and 2. Finally, at 3 I stopped searching the crowd for his soft brown hair and sparkling green eyes. I felt my heart drop in my chest; it was almost like betrayal, in a way. Or at least, that's how it felt. Silently, I reminded myself that he never promised to show up, and that it probably was better that he hadn't. Still, my mood was sorely affected, and as the sun sank lower on the horizon, my temper shortened and my good mood all but vanished. The fact that my cough was becoming more distinct and that I was beginning to feel even more ill as the day went on didn't help my day any, but still I pushed on.

Finally, the sun set completely, and I decided to pack up and find somewhere to crash early, hoping that if I got more sleep, I'd wake up well in the morning. Zipping up my guitar case, I swung it over my shoulder and started down the road.

"Troye!" I heard someone call out from behind me. Surprised, I turned around, catching a glimpse of Connor running through the small crowd as he tried to catch up with me. Quickly, I turned back around, trying to keep my face neutral as both excitement and dread coursed through my veins. Not wanting to be rude, I turned back around and forced a smile.

"Hey," I said as soon as he caught up with me, trying to catch a cough in my throat.

"Hey," he said, panting. "I was trying to catch up with you earlier, but work was being difficult today."

"It's fine," I said, waving my hand dismissively. "I wasn't expecting you anyways. You don't have to, you know."

"I know," Connor said slowly, looking shy for once. "But I want to." I felt my heart ping at that, and I tried to hold back a growing smile. No! I said to myself sternly, slapping myself mentally. You don't like him.

"Yeah?" I said anyways, letting a genuine smile take over my face.

"Yeah," Connor replied, giving me a shy smile in response. "Well, since I was late today, may I buy you dinner?"

"No, you've done enough for me," I said, but he grabbed my arm and started dragging me to a restaurant anyways. "Connor, nooooo, I refuse!" I let out a soft cough, trying t dull my need t go into another coughing fit.