mystery boy • a tronnor au ✔️

"last one"

Slight trigger warning; mention of suicide (I'll put a * next to the line that mentions it)

June 18th 2010

Troye began putting pieces of the puzzle together. Already he had made more progress than the county police officers, and that was saying something.

He quickly grabbed his phone off the charger and dialed the number of Caspar Lee, the only person in the entire county who actually somewhat understands what Troye is trying to accomplish.

After a few short rings the familiar South African accent spoke though the phone, greeting Troye with a "Hello?"

"Listen, Casp, can you come over real quick? I think I'm really getting somewhere with this and I need to talk it through with someone other than myself." Troye asked, hoping that Caspar would agree.

After a few short seconds of silence Caspar agreed and told Troye he'd be over in a few. Troye let out a sigh of relief and sat down as he awaited Caspars arrival.

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Once Caspar arrived, Troye hurried him into Troye's room. Caspar sat down on the bed and Troye sat at the desk.

"So..." Caspar started out, bouncing his legs up and down "What have you figured out?"

"What if..." Troye spoke to Caspar, looking down at his notebook. "What if he ran away?" It made sense, right? Everything Troye has found so far implies this theory to be correct.

Caspar raised an eyebrow at Troye, silently telling him to continue. "The-The Instagram post." Troye began. "You said yourself that the police only look at the surface, they don't look deep into the meaning" Troye began to explain. "I mean, look at the caption on the Instagram photo"

"Last One" Caspar spoke out loud. "I don't get it. Isn't it just implying that it's his last coffee for the night?"

"Did he really mean his last Coffee? Or is there more? " Troye asked, trying to hint at Caspar. "Look at the photo more carefully."

Caspar studied the photo intently, then he mentally slapped himself for not seeing the reflection on the wall behind the coffee cup. It was a shadow, created by the sun casting through the blinds in Connors room. If Connor took the picture at midnight, then there would be no sun. It didn't make sense.

"When did they say Connor posted the photo?" Caspar asked, looking up at Troye.

"Around midnight" Troye replied.

"And that- that's a reflection of th-"

"The sun, yeah" Troye finished Caspar's sentence

So did he truly mean last coffee of the night? Or was it something more to it?

"Troye, as much as this hurts to say, it sounds more like he meant just his last coffee in general."

"What are you implying, Caspar?"

** "maybe he tried to, " Caspar began speaking. "What I'm implying is that, yeah, maybe he wasn't taken, but maybe he didn't run away. Maybe he died." The last part almost came out as a whisper, but Troye could hear. And Troye knew what Caspar was implying.

"No, Caspar, Connor wouldn't do that. And besides, there's more" Troye reassured, more so him than Caspar.

"What else did you find?" Caspar asked, hoping that what Troye had would somewhat lighten the mood.

"Remember how he'd always take pictures? And he'd put them in a box?" Troye asked.

"Yeah! His memory box or something. An, he cherished that." Caspar slightly laughed. "What about it?"

"It's gone" Troye began. "Like it's nowhere to be found."

Maybe Connor did run away and he just took the box with him, for memory sake. But why would he take that and nothing else? He didn't even take clothes, so why would he take the box?

Not to mention the paper. "I'm O-"

What does it even mean? Is there more paper? Troye decided to leave this part out and not tell Caspar about it. It could mean anything.

"Okay" Caspar started. "I'm going to be honest, Troye." He took a deep breath. "What you found is amazing. And yes, Connor probably did run away, but all of these things that you've found won't help us. It doesn't tell us where he is or why he left. It's useless"

Just as Troye thought he was getting somewhere, he realized that he was, in fact, getting nowhere. So what if Connor ran away? Caspar was right. He still doesn't have a single clue as to where to find the boy.

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That night at dinner, after Caspar had left, Laurelle had asked how Troye was doing with Connor's case. This, of course, took Troye by surprise.

He considered lying, saying that it was going great, but he needed to be truthful. "Not too well, if I'm honest" Troye sighed, pushing around the mashed potatoes with his fork. Laurelle raised her eyebrow in question and pressed him further for answers.

"Like, I found a couple of things that implies that Connor ran away, but It doesn't get me anywhere close to where he could be" Troye explained. "Like, his memory box is gone and the Instagram picture was taken during the day time rather than at night, but that really doesn't prove anything."

"Is that all you have to prove he ran away?" Laurelle asked, everyone else just sat there quietly and listened. Troye almost felt ashamed as he nodded his head yes. "Did he take any clothes? Shoes?"

"Not that I know of" Troye sighed. "It's just, everyone thinks Connor's dead, and I'm trying so hard not to believe that, but it's just so difficult when everybody is wearing you down and being negative." Troye explained out, earning a sigh from his mother.

"Perhaps, we were a bit harsh on you, T." Laurelle stated, earning nods form the rest of the family.

"You aren't going to say 'I told you so' or rub it in my face?" Troye asked, looking up from his potatoes.

"No no" Laurelle smiled. "But tro, promise me you won't just give up."

"What do you mean?" He questioned, suddenly very curious for what his mom has to say.

"I'm saying, you've found more evidence than the shitty police officers have, you might as well continue looking until you find something." Everybody at the table agreed earning a smile from Troye.

"Thank you, Mum" Troye smiled. "I'll go back tomorrow."

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A/N 

these keep getting shorter and shorter ew why