The Good Life ~ Troyler AU

seventeen - tyler

vote and comment please! 15 votes 5 comments if that's okay ty

The days dragged like treacle. Every time I was woken up in the morning - apart from all the times I jolted restlessly awake in the middle of the night, reaching out blearily for something that wasn't there - it would be by Troye gently prying me off of him and by the sight of Caspar in the doorway. When Troye disappeared onto errands unknown, Caspar would stay outside the door nearly all day, only leaving to bring me back food. 

Troye would never talk about what he did when he was gone, and I was losing my mind.

Being stuck in the room that was only marginally bigger than the little cell I'd escaped all day left a lot to the imagination; Caspar barely spoke to me and Troye only came back in the evenings. I slept far too much, groggy and disorientated, watching the digital clock on the chest of drawers count down the hours. My body was healing, but my mind was falling apart.

Everything was culminating, and I knew the flag was about to drop.

I was sitting on the floor counting the floorboards, the room still and dead and silent around me, when suddenly the door was flung open and bounced off of the wall and far too many people came storming in, yelling and volatile and jerking me to my feet. I couldn't make our their shouts and or  hear my own voice over theirs, but in all the confusion I saw Troye writhing in a stranger's bruising grasp, his lip bleeding, and lunged towards him.

There were people all over me, tugging at my wrists and shaking my shoulders and pulling on my hair, my clothes, my hands.They were all a hundred times stronger and broader and taller than me. I felt like a child surrounded by towering adults.

It was hot and noisy and loud and chaotic, and I didn't fully understand what was happening until someone's fist smashed into my chin.

I bit my tongue hard and tasted blood, unable to move my head and absorb the blow as it was being held from behind. It was still incredibly loud, so much so that if Troye was saying anything I didn't know.

" - we told you, Troye, you -"

"- fucking idiot, you know you've -"

" - lucky it isn't worse than this -"

" - we'll try not to kill him, but I can't promise anything  -"

 They were rough and deafening and excited in the way dogs are excited to fight each other in a ring. Another punch went to my face - I screamed this time, more out of fear than pain, and I heard Troye's roar over all the others.

"LET GO!" 

Silence. It was so out of place in the room full of little more than animals that I shrank to the floor unnoticed, the root-wrenching pull of my hair releasing. I didn't know whether to go to Troye, who had also been released, or try to run out the open door all-together, so I stayed frozen and crouched.

"Leave it, Troye," one of the men snarled. "Don't you get that this sap isn't yours anymore?"

"And what the hell do you mean by that?"

"He's property of the Family. Property of us." 

Troye snapped. He flung himself at the speaker, a growl building in his throat and all the men surged forwards again, and I wanted to throw up. Troye was holding his own, but there were far too many people for him to fight alone. I was going to offer what limited help I could when someone's fingers curled around my neck, pulling me sharply backwards towards them.

My windpipe closed up. I felt their thumb rest on my hammering pulse and they laughed lightly in my ear. Enjoying my panic and Troye's pain.

I couldn't stay here. I couldn't.

So when Logan came in the door with two other people and started furiously asking what was going on, I disregarded everything Troye had told me and slipped past them out the door unnoticed and ran, all alone.

oooh cliffhanger waddup