simply sincere • a tronnor au ✔️

chapter five

After Troye had gotten his nose piercing, Connor couldn't help but admire Troye with the piece of metal in his nose. It was weird how one thing could change someones appearance.

"did it hurt?" Connor asked, letting go of Troye's hand as he sat up.

"No, not really. Just the though of a needle poking a hole in my nose made me nervous." He admitted, cracking his fingers. "Sorry for breaking your hand" He giggled, causing Connor to smile. 

"Nah, you only caused me to loose feeling in my hand for the next hour or so," Troye chuckled at that, reaching into his back pocket for his phone. His face soon lit up as he read, what Connor assumed to be, a text message- most likely from Joey. "What is it?"

"Joey says he feels bad for ditching, so he's inviting us to lunch - on him,' Troye explains, never looking up at Connor as he typed back a message. 

Maybe Connor was wrong about this Joey kid, maybe he was actually nice. 

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After finding Beth sitting in Starbucks, all three of them made their way to the restaurant Joey had told them to meet at. Connor approved of the small Thai restaurant that Joey had picked out, however, he doesn't think Troye does, considering the look on his face.  

However, Troye mans up and walks into the restaurant. They were greeted by the hostess, who had brought them to the table Joey was sitting at. As soon as the two boyfriends locked eyes, Joey stood up with a giant smile plastered on his face, greeting Troye with the hug and kiss he never gave him earlier. 

The bad vibes Joey had given Connor were wearing off as the afternoon progressed, or so he thought. 

Once Joey had noticed how Troye couldn't find anything on the menu, he spoke up. 

"Babe, what wrong?"

"I hate Thai food, Joey, you know this." Troye admitted with a sigh, setting down the menu as he looked at Joey. "You're the one who likes Thai food, I liked Indian." 

"Nonsense, we get Thai food all the time, you love it!" Joey tried to convince Troye, but both Bethany and Connor could see how it wasn't working out for him. 

"No I don't, Joey. we never get Thai food, remember? I guess you were too much in a hurry to even fucking remember." Troye mumbled the last part, however, everybody had heard it. Connor just assumed that Joey had ignored it. 

"I'm sorry, babe" Joey apologized, grabbing Troye's hand and placing a gentle kiss on the knuckles of it. Troye finally let a smile form on his face as he leaned over and kissed Joey's cheek. "We can go somewhere else," he offered.

"No, you like Thai food so lets ju-" Troye started, but Joey cut him off. Connor expected something like 'no, i insist,' or even a 'are you sure? I'll be happy to go somewhere else," but instead Joey replied with something that surprised, not only him, but Troye and Bethany as well. 

"okay, cool."  Troye was taken aback by Joeys answer, but his quick frown was replaced with a smile as he turned to Joey. 

"as long as you're happy, I'm happy." 

Throughout lunch, Connor couldn't help but feel awkward, It's not like he wasn't comfortable around his company, he just felt like something was out of place. 

The thing that was out of place was Joey. Connor noticed how invested Troye was compared to Joey. Troye would throw himself in front of a bus to make sure Joey stayed happy, but Connor knew Joey wouldn't do the same, just by having simple conversations with him. 

Joey seemed like a player - he didn't seem like one to stick around long in a relationship. Joey probably expected this thing between him and Troye to last a couple of days, but it's been going on for months. 

-

After the meal, the waitress came with two separate checks. Confused, Connor looked over at Joey, giving him a look.

"I said lunch was on me to Troye, not to you guys," he explained, causing Connor to look highly offended. 'and since Troye didn't eat, I'll pay for my own meal and you pay for yours." 

Connor definitely didn't like Joey, he decided. 

--

Joey had decided he'd walk Troye to Connor's car, trying to make up for the fact that he ditched Troye. However, Bethany and Connor were still digging through their pockets so they could gather up enough money to give the waitress a tip, considering Joey had left that job for them. 

"I hate Joey," Connor spoke, making sure Joey and Troye were already outside. 

"You and me both," Bethany placed $2.36 on top of Connor's $3.28 for the waitress. "Joey is such a ass."

"And is it just me, or is Troye way more into the relationship than Joey?" The boy inquired, standing up from his chair, pushing it in. 

"Oh trust me, people from miles away can fucking see it, Bethany admitted, following Connor actions as they made their way to the door. "Whenever I try and tell Troye, he just ignores me." Connor nodded his head as they opened the restaurant door, immediately walking into the summer air.

--

The ride back was awkward to say the least, but Connor had to break the silence, it was driving him crazy. 

"So, Joey" was the only thing he said, but it managed to catch Troye's attention. 

"Yeah, I'm sorry by the way, I don't know why he did that." Connor just pressed his lips into a straight line as he nodded his head. "What did you think of him, though?"

"Honestly?" Troye nodded. "I feel like you're more invested into the relationship, but I don't know, that might just be me."

Troye rolled his eyes and groaned. "He's just as invested as me."

"You sure?"

"You're just jealous that he's dating me," Troye stated, pretending to flip his hair. Connor giggled, but not because he thought it was funny, but because he was nervous. 

Connor knew that Troye had said that in a joking manner, but Connor couldn't help but think that maybe Troye's right. Maybe he is jealous. 

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A/N 

happy new year!!! its 2AM so here's a lil chapter for you all

love you lovies, thank you for an amazing year.