All Because of You

Chapter 11

*Connors P.O.V*

"Troye!" I called after him as he ran, my anger immediately evaporating away into fear. "Troye, wait!" I ran after him, trying to catch up as he fled, but he was fast and no matter how hard I tried, it wasn't long before I had lost him in the crowd.

"Fuck," I cursed quietly under my breath, panting loudly from running. Limping over to the closest bench, I sat down heavily and pulled out my phone, immediately calling Ingrid.

"How'd it go?" She asked as soon as she picked up, and I sighed heavily.

"Shittily. I need your help." I quickly explained how Troye had opened up to me, how I had gotten a little angry when Troye thought that I could never like him, how I had confessed that I liked him too, and finally how Troye had bolted.

"I don't know where he is and I don't really want to leave him alone."

"So you want to send out a search party?" She finished for me.

"Yes, please," I said, relief shining in my voice. "Can you help?"

"Of course," Ingrid said kindly. "My girlfriend and I can meet you in five minutes."

"Thank you!" I cried gratefully. "Meet by Panera Bread?"

"See you there." As soon as we hung up, I rushed to call Joey, begging him to come help. He quickly agreed, and I rushed to Panera's to meet everyone.

I ended with a fair sized group: Ingrid, Hannah, Joey, Daniel, and myself. We split off into three groups to search the city. Hannah and Ingrid went off to search the slums where I knew Troye used to sleep while Joey and Daniel searched one half of the main city and I searched the other. We only had 45 minutes until everything would be completely pitch black and the streets became generally unsafe, so everyone hurried off to find Troye, promising to keep in touch through the group chat.

I searched the crowds carefully as I rushed from one place to the next, keeping mys out for any glimpse of Troye. I couldn't find him at his normal street corner, the office building, or Starbucks, and as the sun sank even lower on the horizon, no one could find him anywhere.

Hannah and Ingrid called it a night first, with Joey and Daniel following quickly after them, leaving me as the only one still searching the streets. I searched everywhere for him, losing hope as more time passed without finding even a hint of him. Eventually Hannah and Ingrid started texting me, trying to convince me to go home and look for him in the morning when it would be safer, and at first I ignored the texts, but after a while, I began to consider that maybe they were right; maybe it would be better if I just gave up and looked in the morning or waited for Troye to come back.

Dejectedly, I turned to head home, Troye's voice echoing around my head

"...I went to the park, our park..." his ghost whispered to me, and I automatically perked up. The park! I hadn't thought to check there immediately because it was a little ways outside of town, but if I could find him, that's most likely where he would be. I broke into a run, wanting to get there as fast as humanly possible. The streets were empty, cutting my travel time in half.

Not surprisingly, the park looked empty when I got there, and I almost didn't notice Troye laying on the ground looking up at the stars. Quietly, I crept over to where he was and laid down next to him.

"I'm sorry," I finally said, breaking the serene silence that surrounded us, but Troye didn't answer. I continued on anyways, desperate to have him back home. "I shouldn't have gotten so angry, and I shouldn't have pushed you for answers at all. Forgive me?" Finally, Troye turned to me.

"If I forgive you, it means admitting that you like me, and I can't do that to you." His voice cracked, and I quickly sat up and pulled him into my arms to comfort him.

"Hey. Hey. Look at me." He finally did, his electric blue eyes filled with tears that had yet to spill. "Troye, I don't care what happened in your past. Does it make me angry that your parents were such assholes about everything, yes. Does it make me sad that you had to spend so much time on the streets, yes. But I don't blame you for what happened."

"You don't?" Troye said weakly, snuggling closer to my chest.

"Of course not," I said, kissing the top of his head lightly and running my fingers through his hair. "Why would I?" Troye shrugged, looking ashamed. "Come on; it's getting late, and I don't want to be out here for much longer, plus you still haven't eaten. We can talk back at my apartment." Helping Troye up, I wrapped his hand in mine, watching him blush out of the corner of my eye. "I still like you, okay?" I pulled our conjoined hands up to kiss the knuckles of his. "Nothing could make me change my mind on that."

"Okay," he said, clinging tightly to my hand and hugging his body close to my arm.

We stopped by Subway on our way back to my apartment to order subs for both of us. Troye didn't let go of my hand the entire time, and it made me incredibly happy.

By the time we got back to my apartment, it was getting close to 11:30. I quickly texted everyone to let them know that I had found Troye and we were safely back at my apartment. Even though we both had work tomorrow, I sat down on the couch, handing Troye his sandwich and turning so that we could talk.

"You can talk to me about anything, okay?" I said finally, looking at him worriedly. "If you have another panic attack or want to do that again," I paused, gesturing to his arm, "come talk to me. I want to be able to help."

"Okay," Troye blushed, shyly taking a bite of his sandwich. Snuggling into his side, I started on my sub. We ate in comfortable silence, enjoying each others' company and warmth. Even when both of us were done eating, neither of us wanted to move and give up the warmth and security that we had.

Once it neared 12:15, though, I finally sighed and shifted my weight away from Troye.

"We should go to sleep, Tro. We have work in the morning." He whined in protest, but rolled off the couch anyways.

"Do you have pyjamas I can borrow for a bit?" He asked shyly, and I smiled, beckoning him to follow me. Passing him a pair of sweatpants, I grabbed my air mattress.

"You can go change while I set this up for you." Troye padded away silently to the bathroom, and I watched him disappear before heading to his room. I set the mattress to inflate while I dug out sheets and a blanket for him before making the bed quickly. He was standing in the doorway when I finished, hugging a pillow he'd stolen from my bed, and I smiled at him.

"Goodnight, Troye," I said sweetly, kissing his cheek as I passed him.

"Night night," he blushed, smiling cutely at me before quietly closing the door. I smiled at it like an idiot for a few moments before shaking myself and continuing to my room with a small smile stuck on my face. Shutting my own door quietly, I changed into sweatpants, turned out the lights, and snuggled into the blankets in my bed.

I had almost drifted off to sleep when my bedroom door opened. Peeling my eyes open, i squinted against the soft light from the hallway, barely making out Troye's silhouette.

"Troye? What's wrong?" I asked, my voice deep and rumbly from tiredness.

"N-nothing," he said quietly, fidgeting with his fingers. "But... Can I sleep in here? With you? Just for the night," he added hastily. I smiled groggily, scooting over in bed and patting the space next to me.

"Always." He smiled, shutting the door quietly behind him as he stumbled through the dark to my bed. I curled up around him as soon as he was next to me, sighing contentedly as my body morphed itself to fit around his perfectly. Within minutes, I had drifted off to a contented sleep, my head pillowed on his chest and our legs tangled together innocently.

A/N- psssttt... still need quotes and things Connor and Troye have taught you. Get your friends to send them in too or something, bc I'm trying to write a song with these