Chapter Text
January 18th, 2010
It was just a few days into the study group’s second term when Abed had his first late arrival. It had taken them by surprise, to be sure. Abed always got to the study room at around the same time every day, and while he could surely be unpredictable in other ways, his routines were pretty easy to guess once you’d known him for long enough.
And so, when about ten minutes had flown by with no Abed in sight, the room didn't feel complete. Troy took particular notice. It was funny, if you’d told him back in September that he’d be this alert to Abed’s absence, he’d have laughed himself silly. If you’d told him Abed would be his best friend, he’d have walked away.
A lot can change in five months.
Have you seen Abed? Troy whispered to Annie from across the table. Jeff and Britta were having another one of their squabbles - classic will-they-or-won’t-they material, in Abed’s words - while Shirley kept trying to get in a lecture to no avail. Pierce had fallen asleep.
Annie gave a quick shrug, but her eyes showed a strong uneasiness. Was it for Abed’s lateness, Troy wondered, or for the pointed jibber-jabber being passed around the table? It was probably both.
Troy glanced in the direction of the door, leaning back somewhat. Plenty of people were passing by, but unless his breakfast was messing with him, none of them were half-arabic film students with penchants for hoodies.
Troy was really starting to worry now. The idea that Abed might be in trouble kept gnawing at him. He didn’t want to be babying - Abed got enough of that from Britta already - but ever since that mustached bully felt the need to pick on Abed last December, Troy had been growing a protective streak.
Geez, if only your football buddies could see you now.
Troy reached for his phone.
Well, screw ‘em.
Troy opened the instant messenger app, found Abed’s contact - which had read “movie guy” three months ago - and started typing under the table.
To Abed:
Hey dude, where r u?
Before he could press send, a strange smell entered the study room. He looked up, and breathed a sigh of relief. Then he jolted.
Abed had arrived, and was standing just outside the doorway. And he had a dog with him.
Jeff and Britta stopped their fight just as it was reaching its apex, Shirley gave one of her “oh, that’s new!” looks, and Annie gave an unsure smile. Pierce woke up, but nobody took notice. Under different circumstances, Troy would have asked Abed why he had a golden retriever with him when the only animal companion he’d had before was a tiny (and terrifying) mouse. But he didn’t need to.
NOBLE HOUNDS SERVICE DOGS
Those four words were velcroed on the retriever’s blue back-vest, and it was enough to make it all click into place. So that’s why he was late. Troy had owned a dog when he was ten - a bearded collie that was much better for hugging than playing fetch - and he remembered how much work it could take for his mother just to tear it away from a cushion.
Troy knew it really wasn’t any of his business, but he couldn’t help but want to ask Abed what the dog was for. He could feel the question floating over everyone’s head already. He could guess that the answer would be related to Abed’s autism in some ways, but he didn’t know the best way to make an inquiry. Abed didn’t mention his autism by name that often, and Troy didn’t want to sound invasive…
As was common, Pierce was the first to open his mouth.
“So, the kid’s got his eyes wired wrong too?”
An offended groan blew out from Troy and the rest of the group, and Shirley gave Pierce a sharp smack on the shoulder. Britta got up from her seat, and started walking over to Abed. Troy stared at him with eyes that said “dude, get out while you can!” Britta turned to face the group at Abed’s side.
“Guys, let’s not be ignorant, alright?” she said, clearly proud to share what she knew over them. “My brother works with neurologically-different kids, and he says plenty of them use service dogs!”
Abed winced at “neurologically-different”, and it occurred to Troy that he was probably sick of people talking about his disability like it was an exhibit. As Britta kept talking, he sat down to the dog’s level, and started running his hand over its pale yellow coat of fur.
He was facing away from Troy, but it wasn’t hard to spot some uneasiness. Abed was humming to himself just loudly enough for Troy to hear, and it wasn’t long before he had his arms gently wrapped around the retriever. Abed’s humming got louder and louder, and it didn’t take long for Troy to rush to his side.
“Buddy, hey, are you - Britta, now isn’t the time - are you okay?”
The room’s drop into silence was almost startling. Abed turned to look at him, his eyes downcast. That wasn’t too surprising, Abed never liked eye contact anyway, but his eyes showed a shakiness from inside. Troy reached out a hand, and let Abed take hold.
“Troy, I…”
Abed chewed on his lower lip momentarily.
“Please don’t think I’m weird”.
Troy furrowed his brow.
“Why would-”
Abed’s gaze became more hardlined, and he started speaking like his words were a bunch of jacks.
“I was late today because I got a service dog on Saturday to help with my meltdowns, she’s a girl but her name is Airbud, like the Disney movie. I didn’t like the idea of bringing her into the study room, so I waited in the bathroom for a while. But then someone told me that animals aren’t allowed in the bathroom, and so I came here”.
Abed continued to pet Airbud, and Troy thought over his words.
“Why didn’t you like the idea of taking her into the study room?”
Abed raised his view somewhat, not enough to make eye contact, but enough to make a point of it.
“I already stick out enough, don’t I?”
From behind his back, Troy heard another smack, followed by a grunt from Pierce. Annie made her way over to them, but Troy held up his hand. Abed seemed to be calming down now that Troy was with him, but he didn’t seem in the mood to talk to more than one person at the moment.
“Abed, nobody is going to think you having a service dog is weird, okay?”
Troy glanced back at the study group.
“Nobody is going to make it a big deal or ask nosy questions, alright?”
When he glanced back again, he saw Britta in her chair, nodding with an apologetic look. The rest of the group (minus Pierce) seemed to heed Troy’s words. He didn’t know if he’d ever been able to do that with them before.
Abed continued to cuddle Airbud and count to himself as he stroked her fur, and Troy could sense that his usual calmness was coming back. The dog seemed to be a good helper, and more attentive than most humans.
“Can I pet her?”
Troy heard Jeff click his tongue.
“You can’t pet service dogs, it distracts them”.
Troy wanted to call Jeff a know-it-all, but he was probably right. Still, a dog in the study room was bound to be pretty awesome on principle, even if he couldn’t play fetch with her.
Gradually, Abed stood up and found his way to his seat. Airbud followed him, barely needing the tug of her leash. Abed opened his Spanish textbook, and looked at the others quizzically.
“So, we’re on chapter nine, right?”
Most of them seemed surprised that he was asking. It wasn’t that Abed didn’t care about his grades, but he wasn’t the type to initiate one of the rare times they actually used the study room for its intended purpose.
Troy was maybe the most surprised of all. Not at Abed, but at himself. The way he’d spoken to Abed away from the table had felt so new.
He didn’t know he had such tenderness.