Here: A Tronnor Short Story

Part 2 - Brazil

The "read me to sleep" plan wasn't well thought over and neither was it fool proof because eventually Troye did fall asleep, in Connor's bed (again). Connor sat next to him taking in each one of Troye's tranquil inhales and exhales, every single invisible freckle and that birthmark. And for a while that was okay, Connor was convinced he could watch this boy sleep for hours! Yep. Definitely not creepy. That was until his eyelids started to get heavier and heavier by the second and he, too, needed to sleep.

Seeing Troye so peaceful, Connor didn't have the heart to wake him up. There was no way he could sleep through the night while sitting up like this either and sleeping next to Troye was definitely out of the question; his bed was too small for the both of them. But we could just really make ourselves small enough to fi- No! Connor shook his thoughts awake. That would be spooning and that would be weird and inappropriate and oh my gosh! Think again!

He considered sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag but that required for him to go to the garage and search for it, which required way too much effort from someone who was practically half asleep. He felt he had no choice really, and as he was standing up to embark on this late-night mission to the garage, he heard it. He heard a car pulling up in the driveway that could only have been Nicola and Steele. Connor made it a point to check the time, probably just like their dad was, trying to find some fault with the boy who stole their sister and daughter's heart. Curfew is at 11:30pm and it was 11:17pm.

Okay, Steele wins this round.

Steele was also the answer to all of Connor's problems at the moment. Okay, maybe not all of them and maybe not him precisely, but Connor was just going to sleep in Dustin's room. Duh! Getting changed into his pyjamas was the easy part, explaining to Steele why exactly his brother was sleeping in his bed is what Connor was dreading.

He left his room after making sure Troye was completely tucked in, turning the light off at the switch which was next to the door, and walked down the hall to Dustin's empty room. He couldn't figure out which bed Troye had slept in (or attempted to) the previous night which really didn't make the situation any better; he just stood in the middle of the room looking rather awkward.

After hushed 'good nights' and even quieter and softer kisses, Steele opened the door with a smile on his face which quickly turned to a frown. "Hey..." Connor said. Steele looked around the room at the empty beds.

"Hi... Uh where's Troye?"

"He's uhm, in my room. We were just uh, talking-" at least I was "- and he fell asleep and I just figured I could just sleep in here." The slight worried look on Steele's face disappeared.

"Oh, okay. Yeah, that's his bed," Steele pointed to the bed next to the window. Connor walked towards it as Steele opened one of his bags to get his pyjamas out.

"So, how was the date?" Connor tried to make small talk as Steele took off his jacket.

"It was... amazing, she's amazing. You cannot believe how much I missed her," he said, shaking his head with a smile on his face and then excused himself to the bathroom to go and change. While he was away, Connor got into the relatively unused bed. Dustin always slept on the other bed; no one knows why.

Connor imagined Troye tossing and turning the previous night. He was secretly hoping that the bedding would smell like him but it smelled just like the fabric softener he was by now already accustomed to.

Steele came back into the room and slipped into his own bed. After a few minutes he spoke up. "Connor, are you still awake?" Connor had his eyes closed, of course, but sleep was yet to take over.