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Troy couldn’t believe how lucky he was to be here, now.
He had dreamed of moments like this a lot when he was on the boat. They would talk about it on the phone sometimes, what it would be like when they finally got to live together as a couple. (Word to the wise: realizing you’re in love with your best friend the week after you leave isn’t the most convenient timing. Phone dates aren’t very romantic.) He’d picture moving to LA with Abed. Living in a penthouse apartment together (they were gonna be rich, after all); doing an April-and-Andy-buying-a-marshmallow-shooter homage while they shopped for dishes and apartment furniture; sharing lazy mornings over Special Drink and late nights snuggled up on the couch by the TV.
Having that image in his head made it easier to get through tough times. Like when he mixed up Australia and Austria and got laughed out of a bar for asking whether there were crocodiles at the beaches near Vienna. Or when he visited a coffee farm in Perú, and the nice ladies gave him some chocolate-covered espresso beans, and he didn’t know they were caffeinated, and he ate fifty and then couldn’t sleep for a week.
Or, uh. Like when he got kidnapped by pirates.
(He kept trying to push that memory into a little box, but it kept popping back out again.)
Anyway, yeah, he’d thought about this a lot.
He’d been living with Abed in LA for about a month now. Abed had been trying to finish up a new pilot, and Troy was still bogged down with paperwork from Pierce’s lawyers, not to mention the stress of moving into a new apartment. So they hadn’t really had time to adventure until now.
But today, Abed had woken him up early. Troy had been used to early mornings on the boat, but he’d quickly readjusted to his cushy life on land, especially the part where he got to pull the covers over his head and snooze without having to worry about crashing into any icebergs. But Abed insisted on kissing him awake. He wanted to film missing lover footage by the light of the sunrise, he said. Troy didn’t know what missing lover footage was, and it was way too early to learn new concepts, but apparently it was something he’d done with Annie while Troy was gone. Abed managed to coax Troy out the door by revealing his tote bag full of sandwiches for later. So they’d driven to Santa Monica, and now they were here, the scent of saltwater enveloping them.
Troy grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled it off over his head. He took a minute to revel in how it felt to be able to do that. After all these years since top surgery, he still got these waves of relief. It used to feel like his body was just some place he had to house-sit, some dusty old cabin with gross carpeting and furniture covered in doilies he wasn’t allowed to throw out. Now his body really belonged to him. He could decorate it however he wanted. It was his home.
He traced the scars on his chest. They had faded by now, blending into his chest a little more. There were some newer scars across his body, from the pirates. More jagged, more red, and certainly more traumatic. He ran his index finger down one of them and swallowed, involuntarily recalling the gash.
He noticed Abed in front of him, filming him. Troy cracked a half-smile. “What?”
“You’re the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen,” Abed said simply.
Troy ducked his head, grinning. “You wanna get changed too, babe?”
Abed shook his head. “I’m not swimming. Can’t get my camera wet. But I’ll be right behind you.”
Troy’s smile turned wicked. “Only if you can keep up.” He took off running towards the shore.
The wind whipped past his ears, buffeting Troy’s chest. He heard Abed protesting behind him, but he didn’t care. He ran as fast as he could, pumping his arms and kicking up sand.
Faster than a bullet, Abed darted past him. Then he started jogging backwards, still filming Troy as he ran.
“WHAT?! How — the hell — are you doing that?!” Troy panted.
Abed raised an eyebrow, still propelling himself backwards. “Get on my level.”
Troy slowed his sprint into a defeated jog, then stopped to put his hands on his knees. “Oh my God,” he said between labored breaths. “Oh my God, that killed me. I’m dead now. It’s been nice knowing you, but now I’m dead, and I’m a ghost.”
“Cut,” Abed said. He looked down at his camera, avoiding eye contact with Troy.
“Babe, are you okay?” Troy asked, sobering up and catching his breath.
Abed hummed noncommittally. He tucked his camera back into the pouch around his neck, fidgeting with the zipper.
“Hey, you know you’re not going to need this footage, right?” Troy asked.
Abed looked up. “What do you mean?”
“I’m not going missing. I’m not leaving again. I love you, and I’m staying here.”
Abed swallowed. “You don’t know that, though. You left twice. Then you got kidnapped. You could have died, and I wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it.”
Troy’s chest tightened at the memory. He felt phantom rope-burn on his wrists and ankles. He tried to breathe slowly.
Abed continued, “You can’t promise that’s not going to happen again.” He didn’t sound angry, just tired and small.
Troy stepped closer to his boyfriend, hooking his thumbs into Abed’s front pockets. “Babe, I know. I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen to me. And I know that’s scary when you love someone. It’s scary for me to know you’ve been so worried.” He planted a kiss on Abed’s forehead. “But I’m done leaving on purpose. And if I do have to go anywhere, I’m taking you with me.”
Abed considered that, smiled a little, and then kissed Troy deeply. Then he said, “I mean, if you think about it, I’ll be the one taking you with me. You know. Because I’m faster than you are.”
“Oh, you dick!” Troy swatted him, laughing. “You are not faster! I was going easy on you so you wouldn’t drop your camera,” Troy lied.
“Really? So you’d beat me if we did it again?” Abed said.
Troy snorted. “You bet your ass I – hey!”
Without waiting for him to finish speaking, Abed had already taken off down the beach, sprinting at a terrifying pace. And so Troy chased his boyfriend along the coast, laughing and hollering after him.