Abed and Troy were studying in Abed's dorm room. It was getting late. They kept taking breaks to watch episodes of Magnum PI as there was a marathon that evening. They tried to do their homework during commercial breaks but they found it much more fun to talk about what they were watching, Troy usually had a lot of questions anyway. Abed didn't mind answering Troy's questions. He enjoyed having someone to watch episodes of eighties television shows with, and having someone who didn't care about his weird quirks that caused others to raise their eyebrows or ignore him. The television screen cast a bluish glow on Troy's face in the almost completely dark room as he turned back to the show. Abed continued to watch his friend in silence, contemplating. Of course, Troy still didn't know why they couldn't be roommates. He said he understood, but it was obvious by the way he left after their study sessions that he was a bit reluctant and bitter about leaving. But what could Abed do? Troy was cute in a puppy-dog sort of way. Completely loyal to him. Abed knew that his friend would never leave his side. That would all change if Troy knew how he felt about him.
Abed was never entirely sure about his sexuality. He'd never dated. He'd had a couple girls like him before, and he'd had a few crushes on girls before, but once they got to know each-other the girls usually lost interest. He wasn't as mysterious as they had thought or something. Just a nerd. But he'd never felt the way he felt about Troy about anyone else before. Troy was the "dumb jock" of the group, yet without being so at the same time. Abed couldn't bear to even stereotype him. The one thing Abed knew was that he couldn't bear to lose him. That's why they couldn't be friends. Abed didn't know much about his sex drive, but he figured being around Troy at night, or after Troy had a shower or some night when either of them got drunk, could make him do something that would ruin the best thing that had ever happened to him. Abed was so used to keeping his emotions in check he figured that just spending a lot of time with Troy would be good enough for his heart and soul yet wouldn't spark anything. He was beginning to wonder if that was true. His stomach twisted as he looked at Troy. Maybe they were going to have to stop having late night study sessions too…
Troy watched Magnum PI with a dying interest. Not that he didn't like the show, it was pretty cool. The stache on that guy was pretty BA. But it was hard to concentrate when out of the corner of his eye he could see his best friend watching him with his big dark eyes. Troy had always assumed he was straight. Girls were curvy and made him feel special when they talked to him and flirted with him. But Abed…that was a whole lot of complicated. They'd been best friends for a little over a year, yet it felt like more than best friends. Troy had always had friends, best buds on the football team, peeps to chill out with after school. With Abed he just connected somehow. It's not like he understood every reference Abed made, or of his love for movies he'd never heard of, but there just was something about him. When Troy thought of rooming with his best bud he got a super excited and nervous feeling in his gut. How ridiculous… There's nothing to be nervous about sleeping with-er, next to, your best friend. He thought about that for a moment. Abed with his golden skin and dark hair and big dark brown eyes, laying in bed with his thin frame curled up against…. No. That was enough. Abed was sitting right next to him. What if Abed could read minds? Nothing would surprise Troy about Abed now.
Abed sighed and got up. "I'm going to get more chips," he told Troy, looking for an excuse to leave the room. He walked into the kitchen and got a bag of potato chips, and splashed his face with cold water for good measure before returning to the living room. Abed was barefoot, as was his custom in his room after hours, and he didn't notice a broken plastic binder sticking up at an odd angle as he put his foot down upon it. It pinched a nerve and Abed found himself involuntarily dropping the chips and collapsing to the ground.
Troy was there before his head hit the carpet, he was on his knees holding Abed's upper torso on his lap. "Abed, oh my gosh, are you okay?" Troy asked, overreacting, panicking even over the idea that Abed could be that injured from a simple cut and fall. "I-I-I'm fine," Abed said, stuttering because of the way Troy was holding him and looking into his eyes.