Atlas: FTWD (Nick/Troy) Fanfiction

02 // woodwork

"it's a cruel, cruel trick how we find ourselves when we lose everything else"

woodwork, sleeping at last

woodwork - to appear or materialize suddenly and unexpectedly

Troy

"I can't believe you actually did that, Cal. You know how much she likes you, bro, that's so shitty," Seth notes as we throw a basketball around our dorm room instead of starting the journal that my American Lit. class professor assigned. I'm honestly not even sure what we're supposed to write about. That pretentious, way-too-young, confusing Mr. Mather gave us an insanely vague prompt.

"What is something great that's happened to you lately that was completely unexpected? How greatly has it affected your life?"

I don't even know where to begin on this. Absolutely nothing has gone right in my life for the past 22 years of it, so how am I supposed to imagine one good thing out of the jumbled mess that is my life and write a whole page on how it's changed my life?

"Shit, I don't know what to tell you, man. She's hot but she's psychotic. Last night, she checked my phone and the second she saw a text from Catherine, the bitch freaked the fuck out and started throwing shit around my room...I don't fuck with that," Cal chuckles as chucks the basketball in my direction but it ends up slamming into the lamp next to me and knocking it off the table.

"Troy, what the hell man! Look alive!" Seth laughs and I quickly shake my head, re-joining the conversation as I mumble an apology and pick up the flickering lamp.

"Whatever, things a piece of shit, anyway. You wanna just smash it?" Devon questions from where he's perched on the top of their bunk bed. I'm taken off guard by his suggestion and the others are too before quickly smiling devilishly and standing up to grab a weapon of their choice. Just then, my phone starts obnoxiously ringing and I drop the lamp back down on the floor, maneuvering out of the dorm room as the three of them surround it like a pack of starving hyenas.

As I shut the door on my pack of rabid friends, I hastily pull my phone out of my pocket and instinctively roll my eyes as my big brother's name illuminates itself on my screen. Sighing, I hesitantly pick up, knowing only bad news greets my ears on these calls.

"Troy." Jake immediately breathes, his tone already making me slightly nervous. I dread getting calls from my brother for this reason exactly, I already have too much damn stress in my life.

"Jakie," I smirk, trying to prepare myself for whatever bad news he has for me today.

"It's dad. He's in the hospital." He immediately cuts right to the point and I find my fingers instinctively running through my hair, tangling themselves in it.

"What...I mean what the hell am I supposed to say to that? You want me to come and see him that piece of shit or something?" I snap at Jake and I can hear him hesitate on the other end of the line.

"Come on, you know he loves you, you just need to-"

"Need to what? Get over the fact that he's been abusing us our entire fucking lives? Get over the fact that mom is dead because of that sack of shit you wanna call our dad? Nah, I'm good, Jakie. You've always been the forgiving type, I'll let you handle that part, big brother," I try to rant as quietly as possible, knowing my dickheads disguised as friends are just on the other side of this thin wall. To be fair, they are all currently smashing an innocent, flickering lamp to bits at the moment, so I'd say they're too preoccupied to be concerned with my heated debate.

"I...I know he hasn't always been the best, but in these last few years we have to be-"

"'The best'?! He hasn't even passed as non-abusive and you want me to come visit him because he can't get over the fact that he's responsible for his life being the shit-hole that it currently is so he has to lose himself in-"