Freak (Troyler AU)

Chapter Nineteen

*Troye's POV*

I watched Tyler get out of the car with half-closed eyes, still a little drowsy from just waking up. I knew I'd been the one to hurry him out of the car, but that had been when I was half asleep and wasn't thinking straight. I kind of regretted it now, a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach nagging at me over it. I managed to fight it another three seconds before I inevitably reached over and opened the door, bounding toward him. It wasn't until I nearly tripped over his heel that I realized how fast I'd been moving. I struggled to keep myself from falling on my face, not allowing myself to hold onto him for support. That would just be clingy. He spun around just as I managed to weeble back into good footing, awkwardly darting my eyes down to the pavement when I seen his obviously strained smile. Maybe I shouldn't have came after him, maybe just this was already too clingy.

"Miss me already?" I was swamped with a wave of relief at his teasing tone, but there was something new too, something different. It felt like my stomach was doing flip-flops, and not in a necessarily bad way. I tried to shove it away into the back of my mind like any other emotion I felt, but it just didn't work, only making me get even more flustered when I finally looked up at him. He was grinning at me cockily, making it clear I was wearing my thoughts on my face. Great, he wasn't going to let me live this blush down, I can already tell. I decided to try and brush it off anyway, hurrying to come up with an excuse.

"No, I just didn't eat much at lunch and was thinking maybe-" I was cut-off suddenly, his pointer finger suddenly pressed to my lips as he shushed me loudly. The feeling from earlier returned full-force, to the point I suddenly found it difficult to even draw breaths.

"Shh, there's no need for excuses. We both know they aren't true." He winked at me then, and I'm not even going to try to explain the amount of feelings that gave me. He turned abruptly, flicking his 'hair' over his shoulder and marching into the store confidently. I was left standing there awestruck for a moment, watching as he walked away. Please tell me this isn't happening. I don't want these kind of feelings, especially not for him. He's the first friend I've made in such a long time, I don't need anything more working against us than we already have. I closed my eyes for just a second, mentally reminding myself all the reasons this was completely and utterly not okay, before hurrying into the store after him. 

I walked up beside him, following his gaze to the familiar store owner. He walked out of one of the aisles looking a little bit frazzled, his arms full of boxes. I wasn't actually that interested in their interaction, and was about to go gather my food, when I heard the man mention me.

"Look who decided to show up today! Oh, and you brought a friend?" I tensed at Tyler's side, watching as he turned to look at me painfully slow. He looked a little surprised when his eyes fell on me and for a fleeting moment I was worried he was annoyed by how closely I stuck by him. That was, until he took a step back and moved to wrap an arm around my waist. I froze, going completely rigid when I felt his thumb brush against my waist where my shirt had rode up. He probably didn't even notice, but it would have been impossible for me not to. Partly because of the natural butterflies I got, but also the electric spark that always accompanied random mind intrusions.

Aw, look at how nervous he is. I've never seen anyone's cheeks get that red before.

"This is Troye! With an e." Tyler shouted suddenly, squeezing me into his side even tighter, my knees buckling at the sudden movement just slightly, so I was standing shorter than him for once. My face collided with his chest but I wasn't really complaining, the initial pain from hitting my nose subsiding the second I smelled his cologne. 

And he had the nerve to think I smell good.

I cautiously looked up at him through my eyelashes, checking his features for any sign of uncomfortableness. When I didn't find any I didn't make any immediate move to shrug his embrace off, instead keeping my face buried in his chest for just a bit longer, deespite how much effort it took to keep my knees bent at the angle to stay that short. There was definitely no denying these foreign feelings now, I'd been coaxed into watching enough romantic comedies in my lifetime to recognize them, I just never thought I would. I got lost in the bubbly feeling for a minute, before the sound of the bell ringing as the door closed brought me back to life. I immediately shoved him off, stalking off to the back of the store.