Chapter Text
Troy and Abed sit on the beach in LA, Abed’s arm around Troy’s shoulder, Troy’s head resting against Abed. They’ve just finished celebrating, and now is the time for introspection. At least, that’s what Abed said, and Troy thinks he knows best about these things.
He turned 30 years old a few days ago, and it still doesn’t quite feel real, that he’s an adult person in his 30s, living with his boyfriend in California, building a life. Sometimes he still feels like the newly-21-year-old version of himself who didn’t know what drink to order at a bar, or even the 18-year-old version of himself who hurt himself on purpose just to stop the pressure from everyone around him.
He thinks he likes this version, right now, the best. And something about knowing that makes his shoulders relax, and he breathes a little slower. He feels a little more content. He feels good.
Troy closes his eyes and smiles and lets himself reflect, reminisce, thinking about him and Abed, about their journey. How they got here.
Memories start flashing before him in a steady stream. He pulls on his headphones and gives them a soundtrack.
flash!
Outside Britta’s apartment, Abed flings the door open just as Troy runs up to knock, like he’s been watching, and waiting, because he has.
They don’t pause to talk, or even really look at each other, they just snap together in an embrace, Abed’s hands shaking, Troy’s breath coming in short puffs. He feels Abed pull back after a moment, and before he can question it, Abed’s mouth is on his, all soft lips giving way to hot breath and a soft groan when Troy throws caution to the wind and slips his tongue in.
Troy has never kissed like this, he’s never been kissed like this, and it’s overwhelming, dizzying, and he never wants it to end. A few tears slide down his cheeks, surprising him, but before he can be embarrassed Abed brushes them away with his thumb and deepens the kiss even further. Troy knows that’s Abed’s way of telling him not to feel weird about it, and because it’s Abed, because he trusts Abed, Troy believes him. He lets it go, loses himself to the moment.
“I’m happy for you guys,” comes Britta’s voice from behind Abed. “But I’m gonna need you to choose inside or outside before my cats get loose.”
Almost as though they’d rehearsed it, they both take two steps away from Britta’s front door, onto the sidewalk leading to where Troy is parked. They don’t look up or pull apart. Troy hears Britta laugh.
“Goodnight,” she calls. “Congratulations.”
Troy hears the door close.
They kiss on the sidewalk until Abed starts to shake with the cold, and Troy drags him to the car. On the way home Abed infodumps about When Harry Met Sally, and when they get to the apartment, they share the bottom bunk, and it’s nearly dawn before Troy finally mumbles, “I love you,” and Abed whispers, “I know,” and they fall asleep in each others’ arms.
flash!
They tell Annie first and she’s delighted, and she tells them she’s known for ages, even if they haven’t. The dynamic in their apartment doesn’t really change -- nothing really changes, in fact, except that after a few weeks Troy and Abed make the executive decision to convert the Dreamatorium into their bedroom.
flash!
Britta tells Shirley as soon as the boys leave her apartment, which is fine, Abed pretty much expected that.
Abed tells Jeff, and thanks him for stopping by that day, for being brave, for making Abed realize he had more options than he thought. Later, Jeff hugs them both and then fakes a phone call and runs out of the room, thinking neither of them saw the tear in his eye, but Troy totally did.
No one tells Pierce, because they don’t know how he’ll react, and he’s supremely unobservant.
flash!
“Troy Barnes,” reads Mr. Stone. “Did you know that you possess the greatest gift life can give: the heart of a hero. And that it's up to you not to waste it like I did?”
“I think?” Troy says hesitantly.
“To Troy, I leave the obligatory sperm. In addition, I am prepared to leave Troy Barnes my remaining shares in the Hawthorne Wipes company, currently valued at $14.3 million.”
Everybody gasps. Troy’s head is spinning. Abed sits frozen.
“On one condition,” Mr. Stone continues. “You must first sail my boat, the Childish Tycoon, by yourself around the entire world. When I was 23, my father asked me to do the same thing to earn my adulthood and his fortune. Of course I cheated and floated off the coast of Belize for a year doing coke with John Denver. I always regretted it. I'd like to give you a chance to do what I never did: become your own man.”
“Okay, I'm a lawyer, Troy,” Jeff interjects. “It should be possible to contest these conditions as unreasonable…”
“I’m not quite finished, Mr. Winger,” Mr. Stone says, silencing Jeff and looking at Troy.
“Are you romantically involved with Abed Nadir?” he asks, which is not at all what Troy expected, and he turns to Abed, as though he’ll have the answer. As though Troy doesn’t know the answer.
Abed just smiles reassuringly, and it relaxes Troy instantly.
“Yes, I am,” he says proudly.
“That’s the truth,” Mara the Polygraph Operator confirms.
Mr. Stone nods and continues reading. “In the event that Troy Barnes and Abed Nadir are confirmed to be in a romantic relationship, I waive the condition to sail around the world. Troy and Abed will be awarded my shares on Troy’s 30th birthday, provided the two of them are still together at that time.”
Troy turns back toward Abed, mouth open wide, baffled, speechless. Abed has an identical look on his face.
It's not that Troy wishes Pierce were here, necessarily, but he's a little disappointed that he'll never get an explanation for this.
Or a chance to say thank you.
flash!
They move to LA when Annie leaves for her internship. It’s hard to say goodbye to Greendale, to Jeff and Britta and everyone else, but everyone has always known that this was where they were headed. Abed has a job as a PA on a TV show, and Troy found a job at a dance studio, teaching group classes for children, which he’s very excited about. They find a small, cheap apartment, because neither of them is making that much, and Troy doesn’t turn 30 for a few more years. They make it into a home. They build a life.
They get used to it, and they find that they kind of love it. Troy suspects he would love anywhere as long as Abed was there, but he’s surprised how much he enjoys having the ocean so close, being able to visit the beach or run on the sand, and there are so many things to see and people to meet, and sometimes he gets overcome with how beautiful it is.
They make friends, both of them, and they have dinner parties sometimes, and movie nights. It makes Troy happy to see Abed feeling comfortable with his people, his friends from the studio that are passionate about film the same way he is, and with Troy’s dance friends, too. He can feel how both of them are growing. Growing up. Becoming actual adults. It’s terrifying and thrilling at the same time.
flash!
They start house-hunting a few months before Troy’s 30th birthday, just to get an idea of what’s out there. They make ridiculous lists of what they want in a house, and they figure out a budget, and hire a realtor. She takes them out every weekend to look at properties.
When his birthday does come, they don’t quite know what to do with themselves. Suddenly nothing is different, but also everything is different, and they’re unclear how to navigate. They don’t know anyone who’s ever been in this position before.
They decided to focus on the house first, though, and they ramp up their search. They find a house that they agree is big enough for both of them but small enough that it won’t be overwhelming to clean. It ticks all their boxes, and the location is excellent. Both of them are obviously in love with it, even though neither wants to say it out loud, in fear of jinxing it.
They put in an offer.
flash!
Troy is on the bench outside Abed’s studio, waiting for him to come out. He’s only been here a few minutes, but he keeps standing up and sitting down. He’s too excited to stay still.
“Hey!” Abed exclaims when he steps out of the building, kissing Troy and taking his hand. “What are you doing here?”
“We got it!” Troy bursts out, because he can’t hold it in any longer. “We got the house!”
Abed’s face breaks out into a giant grin and he kisses Troy again, longer this time.
“I can’t believe it,” he breathes. “We got our dream house.”
Troy pulls out his headphones and he and Abed finish up their introspection at the beach.
Things are starting to get real, and they head home where they can start making actual, real plans, now that they know the house is theirs. A month later, they get the keys.
They do a walkthrough first thing, pointing out which bedroom will be theirs and which will be for guests, which closet will be used as a cozy space for Abed when he’s having sensory problems, and where Troy will put his tap dance practice pad.
“Oh,” Abed says when they get to the kitchen. “Hold on, this is important.” He pulls Troy closer and reaches into his pocket.
He pulls out a creased piece of paper and a magnet. It’s their list of things to know about each other before moving in, which Abed has held onto all these years, always giving it a prominent position on the refrigerator. They haven’t had to reference it for ages -- they know each other backwards and forwards by now. But somehow, it feels important anyway.
Abed sticks it to the fridge and then throws an arm around Troy’s shoulder, and both of them stare at it for a moment.
“Welcome home,” Abed says. “I’m not scared this time.”
“Me neither,” Troy says, and beams, and pulls Abed closer. “Welcome home.”
The end.