Work Text:
Abed had begun a new life. He had only been in LA for a few weeks, but it was long enough to make him feel brand new. He had a little studio apartment of his own, a brand new job, and had even managed to find a few new friends at work. Everything was different now. He only had to handle his own smells, he could watch whatever he wanted on television, and he was almost able to fall asleep without needing to wear Troy’s old tee shirts anymore. LA was a fresh page, and the pen was just above it, waiting to begin writing the next chapter.
Or so he thought.
Until one rainy Sunday, when Abed was headed to the matinee showing of the newest Star Wars movie, wondering how he would be disappointed this time. He was rounding the corner, only a block away from the movie theater, when he stopped dead in his tracks, staring straight ahead at the bus stop across the street.
There he was, sat right on the bench, staring up at the sky, looking the same as he had the last time Abed had seen him.
“Troy…” he breathed, his eyes widening hopefully. Before he could think to look both ways, Abed stepped out to cross the road, still staring at Troy, a hypnotized smile plastered to his face. So hypnotized in fact, that if the bus coming his way hadn’t slammed on its brakes, he would’ve been a pavement pancake only seconds later. The horn blaring finally got his attention as he froze and turned to stare at the bus, shocked and terrified. The driver was shouting profanities at him, but Abed couldn’t hear him over the sound of blood rushing in his ears.
“Sorry…” He mumbled softly, lifting his hand to wave and jogging the rest of the way across the road. He turned back to the bus stop, ready to run over and wrap his old friend in the type of bone crushing hug that he’d normally never condone, but when he turned he found himself staring at a plain old bench. Empty as can be. Abed spun around, his eyes searching the sidewalks wildly for any sign of Troy, but he was nowhere to be seen.
“Fuck.” he mumbled to himself, rubbing a hand over his face. “I thought we were done with this.”
He hadn’t seen Troy, or evil Abed, in months, and he had been naive enough to believe that they were gone forever. His good mood spoiled, Abed stared at the movie ticket in his hand and debated just turning around and going home and working on that old script again. He had struggled with it for a year now, trying to put his and Troy’s relationship onto paper. It just didn’t work. It didn’t feel the same. And frankly, he was beginning to feel territorial over the story, and he didn’t want to share it with anyone. Even if it did have the potential to be one of the greatest love stories of all time, it was his and Troy’s story. Sharing it with the world meant opening it up to criticism and recognizing the harsh lack of a happy ending.
Abed squeezed his eyes shut, taking a deep breath. “Fresh start. Clone Abed. Do not think about Troy.” When he opened his eyes again, he felt clone Abed take the wheel once more, pushing the past back into the dark corner of Abed’s brain that it belonged in, and he continued on his way.
At that very moment, Troy was sitting on a bench. But not in LA. He and Levar had docked in France, and they had found their way to the city of love. He was staring at a fountain that he could’ve sworn he’d seen in a movie, but he couldn’t remember which one. Abed would know. He wished he could just call him up and ask him, but he had lost his phone overboard about two weeks into the trip, and his stupid idiot brain didn’t have a single one of his friends phone numbers memorized.
He’d been dreaming of Abed almost every night since he had left, and it was becoming a serious concern to him as to why Abed was still consuming his mind, even when he was half a world away and living a completely different life than Troy. He was worried sick about how Abed was coping without him. He wanted to know that Abed was okay, that he wasn’t wasting away by himself in their old apartment, rewatching inspector spacetime and eating the same meal three times a day.
No, he reminded himself. Abed is a grown man, and he is okay without me. He’s probably got an awesome new life and a girlfriend, or a new best friend. He wanted to believe that so badly.
He stared at the coin in the palm of his hand. He only had one, so he couldn’t waste his wish. It had to be a good one. He closed his eyes and held the penny up to his lips, kissing it for good luck. “I wish for Abed to be happy.” He whispered to himself, flicking the penny into the shimmering water, lost forever among the thousands of others. The thousands of other wishes that probably never came true, because they didn’t have Abed’s magic touch to nudge them forward into reality.
Back in Greendale, Troy had made thousands of wishes with Abed over the years, but never once did he have the courage to speak the one wish that itched and burned under his skin. He had tried a few times, slipping a penny into his pocket and returning to the fountain alone later, standing there with sweaty palms, too afraid to ask the universe for Abed to feel the same way about him. But that didn’t matter anymore. It was too late. All that mattered was that Abed was happy even if he was happy without Troy beside him.
“Just write him a letter.” A voice came from behind Troy, startling him. Levar.
“I can’t.” Troy said, staring at his feet. “I can’t talk to him again until I’m ready to tell him and I- I’m just not yet. I can barely even say it out loud when I’m alone without feeling like.. A creep or a liar or something.”
Levar pressed his lips together into a tight smile, clapping Troy on the shoulder. “Abed is okay. I promise you. You’re not a creep, or a liar. But take all the time you need. That’s what this trip is for. Find yourself first, kid, and true love will find you.”
Three years later
Abed stared solemnly at the brass 303 on the apartment door in front of him, his eyebrows furrowed deep in thought. It had been a long time since he’d seen his friends, and a part of him was worried that maybe they had all changed too much. That they wouldn’t like him anymore, or something like that. But Annie had insisted that was irrational , he reminded himself. He took a deep breath before raising his fist to the door and knocking.
The door flew open instantly and Britta’s grinning face appeared around the corner. “ABED!” She exclaimed. “You’re here!!!” She took him by the hand, pulling him into the living room where Jeff, Annie and Shirley were waiting for them.
“Sit, sit, sit!” Britta exclaimed, gesturing to the red couch in the middle of the room. “Can I make you a drink or anything?” She asked. Abed shook his head. “Nah, I’m good.”
Something was weird. Everyone was staring at him, like they expected something, and he didn’t like it. Annie was squirming in her seat, and Jeff and Shirley were just grinning at him like scarecrows. Britta’s eyes kept darting to the hallway.
Abed frowned. “What’s going on? Why are you guys being weird?”
Annie scoffed. “Guys, can we just tell him already?”
“Tell me what?”
Everyone’s eyes were still glued to him, and he felt like his skin was on fire under their stares.
“Okay, fine. I can’t wait either, it’s too much!!” Britta said. “ You can come out now!!!!!” She yelled through the house, doing a weird little dance that made Abed feel even more uncomfortable than he already had.
But then he heard those footsteps down the hallway, the same footsteps he’d heard so many times before, and he felt himself being catapulted forward as he jumped out of his seat in shock just before Troy turned the corner and appeared in the living room. Abed felt his jaw drop and his breath catch in his throat.
“Hey Buddy…” Troy smiled shyly. “I missed you.”
Abed looked around the room at the rest of their friends. “You can all see him, right?” He asked, pointing at Troy.
The group was silent.
“I’m real.” Troy confirmed. “Can I hug you?” He stepped forward slowly, stretching his arms out for Abed.
Abed didn’t waste time with an answer. He flung himself into Troy’s arms, knocking the wind out of his chest, but he didn’t let go. Not for a whole minute, afraid that if he did, Troy might disappear again.
When they finally separated, the group dissolved into each other, and they all found themselves sat around the dining room table, just like old times. They stayed up until 3AM, talking and laughing and drinking, and Abed felt the hole in his heart that he'd grown so used to, finally growing closed.
When everyone was finally so drunk that they couldn’t keep their eyes open, they all decided to stay at Britta’s apartment for the night. Jeff and Britta had stumbled over each other, giggling all the way to her bedroom, and Annie and Shirley made themselves a bed on the pullout couch. But Troy wasn’t ready to sleep, and Abed had agreed, so they both crept into the room that was once their dreamatorium and shut the door, breathing sighs of relief to finally have a moment to themselves.
The room was different now. It had a small twin bed, and it smelled a lot like weed, but the bones were the same. The memories were still there, living within the four walls that Troy had fallin in love between.
“You didn’t call. You didn’t write.” Abed said sadly, looking Troy in the eye. “Why?”
“Uh.. Yeah.. About that.” Troy swallowed hard. This was it. The reason he’d come home in the first place. He had to come clean. “I have to tell you something. Can we, uh, sit down or something?”
Abed sat down on the bed, patting the spot beside him for Troy to join. He did.
“First off, I lost my phone. Otherwise I would’ve called. But it’s more than that. I think I was scared to talk to you, because I was trying to deal with some… feelings that I had, that I didn’t really understand.” Troy said, trying not to look at Abed. Looking into his eyes was going to make him chicken out, and he’d come too far to give up. “The truth is, Abed, that I…. I’m in love with you. And I think I always have been. And I’m sorry if that messes everything up, and if you think I’m weird, but I couldn’t just not-”
Before he could finish, Abed was kissing him. Everything slowed down, and the only thing in the world was Abed’s soft, thin lips moving gently against his own. He felt himself reach up and wrap his fingers in Abed’s hair, and he felt Abed clutching at his sweater with both fists. They went on like that for a while, until they were eventually lying together, their legs tangled up and their arms wrapped around each other, rolling around on this small bed. When they finally pulled apart, they were wild eyed and flushed pink, gasping for air.
“Took you long enough.” Abed said, completely straight faced. “It only took me about 500 pennies.”