Jeff slides into the seat next to Abed, who's fiddling absently with a stress ball. "Hey, Abed," Jeff says.
"Hi Jeff. Are you ready for Phoenix?" Abed asks. "Have you ever seen Psycho? The opening scenes take place in Phoenix."
"I've seen Psycho." Abed isn't sure how to respond to this. There's something in Jeff's tone that tells him they're not having a conversation about Hitchcock movies. Although, if they ever do, Abed has some thoughts on the production design and subpar plot development of The Birds.
"So, listen, Abed..." Jeff looks over to where Troy and Britta are playing cards across the room, then looks back at Abed. "How do you feel now that Troy is back?"
"I'm happy," Abed tells him. "Troy's my best friend. It's good to see him again, in real life."
Right on cue, Troy looks up from his hand of cards and gives Abed a thumbs up. Abed waves back.
"You guys seem to really get each other."
"It's more than that," Abed explains. "Troy and I can be exactly who we are when we're around each other. We don't have to pretend to be something we're not. I never had that with anyone before I met Troy, not even my mom."
Jeff leans back, crosses his arms. "You've got a pretty special relationship," he says. "Did you ever want to be, you know, more than friends with him?"
"We were more than friends. We were best friends." Abed looks away from Jeff and over at Troy, who is on all fours picking up a dozen or so cards that have somehow fallen. "That's not just an arbitrary label, Jeff. That means something to me."
"I meant, like, romantically?"
"Oh." Abed can't answer that right away. He loves Troy, always has, but their connection is different from anyone he's dated. He asked Isla out because they could talk for hours and never get bored. He had that with Troy, of course, but he also had something else. They moved in together because they could sit in companionable silence and never say a word. Because being together was always enough.
"I guess," Abed says cautiously. "Maybe, if he had shown interest."
"You know, Abed, I've dated men before. It's not that different from dating women."
Jeff's up to something. Jeff's manipulating him, somehow. "I know." Abed says. "But I'm with someone."
"Well, maybe you have some things to think about," Jeff says, and gets up.
Maybe he's right. Maybe there are things to consider.
It's nearly four-thirty when they arrive in Phoenix, but Annie's planned out an entire itinerary of activities for the six of them. She gathers them all in the back of the RV, standing in front of them like she's giving a speech. "I made us a reservation at an Italian place at seven, and then after that we're going to this cool bar that shows old movies all night. I thought Abed might like that."
"Cool," Abed says. Annie's great at planning trips.
"We have to get going soon, though. The waterpark closes at six-thirty - "
Troy perks up. "Waterpark?" he questions, cutting Annie off.
She smiles. "Yep! I hope you all packed swimsuits!"
"Oh, lord," Jeff groans. He whispers something to Shirley, who's sitting next to him and looks equally unenthusiastic. She nods and clears her throat.
"Jeff and I will meet the rest of you at the restaurant. We're going for a walk," she explains.
Britta raises an eyebrow. "For two and a half hours?"
"I'm sure they'll find something to do," Annie says, looking nervously from Britta to Shirley. "The rest of us, grab a bag and we'll head to the park."
Twenty minutes later, Abed, Troy, Annie, and Britta are standing in their bathing suits and flip-flops. Annie's somehow convinced Britta and Troy to put on sunscreen, and the four of them are looking around the park, wondering where to go first. "We only have an hour and a half, so we have to make this count," Annie tells them.
It's a lot to take in, what with the waterslides in every direction and carts with some form of frozen or fried food, but Abed has an idea. "Come on," he whispers to Troy as he grabs his wrist and Troy dutifully follows. They'll catch up with Annie and Britta later.
He stops in front of a long row of colorful slides he'd noticed earlier. "Want to race?" Abed asks.
Troy's eyes light up. He's learned a lot since their first athletic competitions several years ago, but his competitive side is still there. "Yeah," he says before making his way over to the line. It's crowded, people in every direction, and the oily smell of sunscreen is thick in the air, but they're together and they're at a waterpark, which is more than Abed could have ever asked for last week.
A few minutes later, they each stand at the top of a slide, holding a black inner tube. Abed raises his eyebrows and silently mouths "three, two, one." They both fling themselves down the slide when he reaches one, gripping tightly to the tube as they fly down on their stomachs. Abed careens into the water and surfaces just a second before Troy.
"I think it was a tie," he says.
Troy's breathing heavily. "Wanna go again?"
They race two times more, before making their way to every slide in their vicinity. Annie and Britta find them while they're taking a break to split an ice cream sandwich and the four of them go on the water coaster and the wave pool together.
"Oh, damn," Annie says, checking her waterproof watch. "It's almost six-thirty. We have to get going if we're going to make it to the restaurant."
"Shit, I can't go to a fancy restaurant with wet hair," Britta complains.
Annie sighs, already leading the other three back towards their lockers. "Well, you have to."
The four of them meet Jeff and Shirley at the restaurant just before seven, the girls' hair unfortunately still wet. Dinner is nice but uneventful. Jeff and Shirley had found a wine tasting, and Abed thinks they're already a little drunk. It's nothing like last night, when the six of them were caught up in the spontaneity of it all, just happy to be together wherever they could. The dynamic doesn't translate to this restaurant with its fancy sconces and expensive artwork. Again, Abed feels like something's off.
When the group walks into the bar, Sixteen Candles is playing on the screen. "Go find a seat, I'll get us drinks," Troy whispers to Abed, who nods, eyes glued to the movie. He takes a seat in the second row, putting his and Troy's bags in the seat next to him so no stranger takes it. Troy joins him a couple minutes later.
Tentatively, Troy touches his arm to get his attention. "Hey, buddy, you okay? You seemed kind of off at dinner," he asks gently.
Abed looks at him. "I'm fine."
Troy nods. "F-i-n-e or f-y-n-e?" he says after a few moments.
He knows Troy's looking at him but he keeps his eyes on the screen. Something in Abed breaks when Troy asks the question. He thinks it's because no one else has given that much attention to Abed's feelings in such a long time. Because only Troy would care enough to scratch the surface of the answer he's been giving for years.
"I," Abed finally answers.
"Oh."
Neither is quite sure what to say.
Where's Jeff when you need him, Abed thinks, mouthing the words to himself in a Ferris Bueller-like aside. It seems to be a night of John Hughes movies.
"Do you wanna tell me what's wrong?"
Abed isn't sure. He supposes he should. He'd rather confide in Annie, or maybe Shirley, but they've disappeared somewhere. And besides, this has nothing to do with them. This is for him and Troy alone.
"I think I'm mad at you."
Next to him, Troy lets out a breath. "For what?"
"It's really human of you to listen to all my bullshit," Molly Ringwald says.
"I don't know." Abed finally looks at Troy, who's hopeful and heartbroken all at once. "Because you came back and you expected me to wait for you and you never considered that maybe I moved on and I changed. Because you made me fall in love with you again where it doesn't fit in with the narrative."
Troy can't meet his gaze.
"I dropped everything for you, but that's not enough for you, is it?"
"I didn't -" Troy starts.
"Yeah. I'm mad at you."
"Abed," Troy pleads.
"Let's just watch the movie."
"Okay," Troy says, and his voice sounds very, very small.