Destiny

Chapter Nine

The first two days living with Troye were awkward. 

We barely said a word to each other and I avoided him as much as possible, shutting myself in Zoe's old room in the evenings, just so I didn't have to talk to him.

Well, when I say we didn't talk to each other, it was really more that I didn't talk to him. He tried to start up a conversation every chance he got, despite the fact that I shut him down quickly and busied myself with something else.

Tonight was no different than the other two nights I'd spent here. I was shut in what was now my room, tapping out an essay for school on my laptop when my phone began to ring. It was Zoe.

"Hey, Zo. How's it going, living with Tyler?" I asked, tucking the phone between my shoulder and my ear so I could continue to type.

"It would be going a lot better if I didn't keep getting messages from Troye that you won't talk to him. At all."

"You never said I had to talk to him, Zoe. In fact, I remember you saying I didn't have to if I didn't want to."

"I didn't mean you can't at least talk about trivial stuff. I just meant you didn't have to discuss the whole situation with him. Surely it's boring living in silence?"

"Kinda. But I know that if we start talking, it'll lead to talk about us. And not only do I not want to talk about it, I don't know if I can."

"Connor, I know that you're afraid of what Tyler thinks but you need to think of yourself now." I sighed.

"Fine. I'll talk to him."

"Good. Do it right now. Get off the phone with me and talk to him."

"Okay, okay. Bye Zoe." I clicked off the call and tossed my phone aside, falling back against my pillows as I mentaly prepared myself for what I was about to do.

After a moment,  I pushed myself up from the bed and crossed over to the door, pushing it open enough so that I could see Troye sitting on the sofa.

"Troye?" I asked quietly and he jumped, looking up at the sound of my voice.

"Oh." He blinked a few times and stood up to look at me. "Hey."

"Can we- I mean, do you have a minute? To talk?"

"Of course." He sat back down and patted the seat beside him, offering me to sit with him. I carefully crossed the room and sat on the sofa, being careful to keep some distance between us. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I don't know." I admitted, only now realising I had no plan. Troye just laughed.

"How about I start then? I know why you've been avoiding me and I want to say I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come between you and Tyler."

"You? Come between me and Tyler? Are you insane? Tyler and I are friends. Nothing more. If anyone came between someone, it was me, ruining your relationship with him."

"Connor, as soon as I met you, I knew I'd fallen for the wrong guy. All this is my fault. I should have broken up with Tyler back then, instead of stringing him along for two years. It wasn't fair to him or you. It was just selfish of me."

"Troye..."

"Hold on. I know Tyler is your best friend and I don't expect you to feel anything for me, especially after what I've done but I need you to know that I..." He sighed and looked away for a moment. "Connor, I think I love you."

I caught my breath.

This was what I'd dreamed of for so long and now that it was happening, I didn't know what to say.