2

They came out to the study group a year ago, not long after they started dating. They were going to wait a little bit longer. The relationship was new. They were still figuring things out, and Abed had wanted to play out the secret relationship trope anyways. Troy changed directions, when he found Abed's notepad.

Abed had composed a list of scenarios, all of which were in reach of their friend's most pronounced character traits. Troy studied Abed's notepad with all the scenarios. It was hard to follow anything past Pierce's anticipated comments and Shirley's religious convictions. He did notice, however, how it looked kind of like a serial killer's posterboard, which detailed any certain combination of comments, reactions, and results.

There was a separate page, detailing the reactions his father would have to his son's sexuality. Troy read through it carefully.

He believes that this is "just a phase" and denies it.

He will storm out and will never talk to me again, disowning me completely.

He will understand that I am not heterosexual as he once thought but will not be completely accepting of it. He will not disown me either. We just won't talk about my sexuality and pretend it doesn't exist.

Full and immediate acceptance (Unlikely scenario)

Abed didn't mention his anxieties, but Troy knew him well enough to know he was worried about what their new relationship entailed. Abed hadn't confided this fear in Troy, but it still made sense to him. Since Abed was bisexual, he never felt the need to come out to those closest to him. He just hid the part of himself that was interested in men, and outwardly presented his attraction to women.

Now that he was with Troy, things were different.

They talked about what Troy found in the notepad. At first, Abed was a little frustrated he went through his things, but that quickly faded when Troy offered support.

"Babe, what you're going through is normal. This would make everyone scared. Hell, I'm terrified too. This is hard for me, but if you want, we can tell the group together. I care about you more than I care about my externalized homophobia."

"Internalized," Abed corrected. He stepped forward, toward Troy, "I don't want you to have to do that, unless you want to. I don't want to make things hard for you."

Troy smiled a little, taking his hands, "I want to be with you, above anything else. Yeah, it's not going to be easy, but I'd do anything for you. Plus, it would be good for me to be honest with myself."

The next study session, they came in and sat at their regular seats. It was a normal day, with Jeff on his phone, Pierce harassing Shirley, and Annie chatting to a very disinterested in Britta about how dreamy Zac Efron was.

That was a perfect time, to get their attention.

"Everyone. Ladies, gentlemen… Pierce," Troy began, rubbing his hands together, "Abed and I have an announcement we'd like to share with the group."

"You kids didn't steal anything, did you? Because statistically speaking…" Pierce began.

"Pierce, shut up," Annie hissed, giving them a knowing grin.

"Thank you, Annie," Abed said, "As you know, Troy and I have been very close for a long time, and all of you have had suspicions. We're here to tell you that…"

"I'm gay!" Troy interrupted. Abed shot him a look. He knew he had to finish it, while everyone's eyes were on him, "And we're together. Gay and together. I mean, Abed's not 100% gay but I am and…"
Abed put his hand over Troy's, giving him a nonverbal cue that he made his point, "I was about to say the same thing. Troy and I have been official for a month now, and we decided it was time to share this relationship with you. Now, we will give you an appropriate amount of time to react."

Jeff looked up from his phone briefly but broke it to compose another text message. Pierce was rummaging through his bag, cursing as he couldn't find what he was looking for. Britta smiled, predictably complacent with herself.

Annie was the first to break the silence and get up. She hugged them, jumping along as she spoke, "Aww, you guys! I'm so glad you've finally figured this out. I'm so happy for you!"

"Yeah, I was starting to think you wouldn't," Jeff said, looking up again, "I mean, no offense Troy, but with the googly eyes you've been making at Abed since last year… How long did you expect us to believe you were straight?"

Troy shrugged, growing embarrassed. Britta decided it was her turn to talk, as Pierce let out another expletive, "Well, I think this is great news. I am so happy that this group is getting more diverse. Now I'm friends with a gay couple. If you ever need help with your pride float, protest, anything, I will drop anything to help…"

"Okay, we get it," Jeff broke in, "You know, being aggressively accepting can come off as homophobic."

Like always, Jeff knew how to push Britta's buttons, "Or maybe your lack of reaction is worse. Troy and Abed came out to us, and you're acting like it's nothing!"
"Damn it!" Pierce yelled, before Jeff could reply, "I wrote my best speech yet for when this finally happened, and I can't find it anywhere."

"That's… really okay, Pierce," Annie said.

Before anyone could stop him, Pierce bolted out of his chair, "Wait, I think I left it out in my car! Today of all days."

Before anything could stop him, he was running out of the room.

"That's the fastest I've seen him run since I told him a bikini model was posing nude in Drawing 101," Jeff said, smirking a little.

That's when Britta leaned in, narrowing her eyes, "I'm worried about your lack of reaction, Shirley. You've been awfully quiet."

Shirley had been quiet the whole time, avoiding eye contact with everyone. She still was, as she looked down in her lap. She spoke quietly, like she was the vulnerable one here, "I wasn't going to say anything, but since you're asking for my opinion… I do not agree with the choices that Troy and Abed are making. I don't think that comes as a shock to anyone, but as a Christian woman I can't stand by it."

Troy sunk a little in his chair, growing upset by this reaction. Abed scooted closer, placing a hand on his back. He spoke up, "Shirley, I understand you have your opinion, but Troy's family… They believe a lot like you do. Can he at least have some escape from it, while he's in this room?"

Shirley was obviously hurt by this, "I am just expressing myself. You want me to accept it, but I just can't. I don't expect a Muslim to understand."

This, as expected, made Britta mad, "Oh yes, because Shirley's religion so much more important than love and acceptance! As an atheist, I'm showing more of Jesus than you right now."

This started a heated argument between Shirley and Britta. Annie bit her lip, and made an excuse to leave the room, leaving Abed to rub more circles into Troy's back as they started to yell. They spewed insults such as godless hippie skank and bigoted housewife complacent with the patriarchy until Jeff finally sent his text message, breaking it up as he slammed the table.

"Enough!"

The women looked at him. He continued, "Britta, as always you don't care about Troy and Abed's feelings. You just wanted a reason to fight. We all know that, because otherwise you wouldn't have asked in the first place. And Shirley…" He drawled, with a bit of venom, "You are living unmarried with your ex-husband and pregnant, possibly by that lunatic you had a one-night stand with. Which is a new sin in itself. I don't think you're in the position to judge Troy and Abed, who we have all known are clearly in love with each other for a long time. Now, this is stupid, and I'm done talking about it."

Abed mouthed a 'Thank you' at Jeff, as the women were silent. Britta looked guilty, as she mumbled "Sorry guys."

It was a minute, before Shirley spoke, "I'm not going to pretend like I understand this, but I do love both of you kids. I will hold my tongue, as long as you don't slobber all over each other like Jeff and Britta did at the beginning of the year. Gay or not, I can't stand that."

"We promise. I hate that trope," Abed said, ironically squeezing Troy's hand.

Everyone took notice, as Troy once again looked at Abed like he hung the moon and the stars. No one, not even Shirley, could say anything negative about that.

When all was quiet, Pierce barged in, papers flying everywhere.

"Now, we all knew Troy was a little fruity when we saw him at that dance recital in those tights and Abed is like an Arabic Mick Jagger…"

Abed and Troy just exchanged looks and laughed throughout the whole thing. It was his most offensive, provocative, but confusingly supportive speech yet.

The next few days passed by painfully, with Abed at Troy's side as he cycled through a broad spectrum of emotions. Annie tried to help as much as she could. She'd hug him, kiss his cheeks, and offer a certain softness that Troy needed to hear. Annie was the first person he ever came out to, way back at the end of freshman year when Annie figured out exactly why he'd been ditching her for Abed. She said a lot of the same things she told him back then, but it was still nice to hear them. It reminded him so much of that first speech she gave, which all amounted to one theme.

You're not broken, Troy. It's who you are.

Sometimes, Troy had a hard time believing that.

Shirley even came over to pray with him that his parents would change their mind about the decision they made. As refreshing as it was that Shirley had gotten over her homophobia, Troy didn't have the same kind of hope for his parents.

Abed just stood to the side and observed, not sure what more he could do for his boyfriend besides just being there. They spent the weekend having a movie marathon in the blanket fort. Troy's head would not leave Abed's shoulder, as his eyes drank up all the bright colors on the screen. Occasionally, Abed would sneak kisses in, knowing he wouldn't do this for anyone else but that it was just so easy to do with Troy.

Troy squeezed his hand, "Abed?"

"Yes, sunshine?"

"I was thinking… Maybe I should call Britta. She's getting her psych degree. Maybe she could therapize me or whatever. I think it would be better than talking to someone I don't know."

"Whatever you think would help. I'm sure Britta would bend over backwards to try to help you with this issue. It's a character flaw of hers."

"She does love to play the aggressive ally role," Troy agreed, pressing his nose into his boyfriend's shoulder, "I just… I don't want it to be how it used to be. When I was in high school. I… I don't want to hurt myself again."

Abed's stomach dropped, but his expression remained calm, "I won't let you get to that point. If you think talking to Britta will help, you should do it."

Another moment passed, as a few tears squeezed out of Troy's eyes, "I'm sorry, that I'm too much."

"Troy, I would be insane to leave you now, after all the times you've stayed with me when it was so much easier for you to leave. Yes, it's a common trope for people in TV to leave each other, especially in gay pairings, but I think we've evolved beyond that."

Somehow, this small speech was enough for him. Troy hummed for a moment, as his anxiety rested, "I love you so much."

"I love you too, sunshine."

Troy smiled a little, his fingers still interlaced in Abed's. Things were bad, but they could be so much worse. He had friends that were pretty much his family. And he had Abed.

Things had to be okay.

Meanwhile, in an apartment in Boulder, Colorado, Jasmine Barnes was on the phone with her frantic mother. She wasn't sure what her mother was going on about for the first five minutes of the conversation, because it consisted of wailing and incomprehensible phrases. Finally, she understood what she was talking about.

Her brother came out as gay.

Jasmine hadn't talked to her brother in months, maybe longer. It wasn't like they had holiday get-togethers, like most families did. He didn't come home for winter break, and the breaks before that they both made themselves scarce. Even before that, they didn't have much of a relationship. Jasmine was three years older than Troy, and they couldn't have been more different. He was a stupid football player. She was the lead in many minor theatre productions. They never overlapped in friend groups in school or at church, and at home all the attention was on Troy. It was always about his grades, his behavior, sports, whatever. Jasmine learned to find attention from the theatre, and to just avoid Troy. She got out, went to college, and recently got her degree in teaching. She liked the deal, where her family wouldn't ask her about the guys she dated, or why she wasn't at church very often.

This could change, as her mother was overwhelmed with emotion, speaking in fragments, "You need to have a talking with that boy- He gonna be damned to hell and- I can't have that, Jasmine. He needs to turn to the Lord."

She inhaled sharply, "Momma, I can't do anything about Troy. It's not like he'd listen to me, anyways."

This just made her more upset, but Jasmine bit her tongue, like she learned to do at an early age with her mother. Finally, she was able to hang up, and let out the breath she'd been holding in. Her best friend and roommate Carmen was there to silently witness all of this.

Carmen's face dropped, as Jasmine head-planted on her pillow, "Wow, that was a lot of religious talk. And I just got done with Mass with my Abuelita not too long ago."

"Yeah, that's my mother," Jasmine grumbled, "She calls devil's food cake 'chocolate angel cake' and burns copies of Harry Potter in her spare time. I've been liking the deal where I only go to church every other month, but I guess that's going to change now."

"Yeah, that's tough. And then there's your poor brother, who just got disowned by his family," Carmen pointed out.

"Yeah, I know…" Jasmine stopped, "I mean, I don't know what to feel. Obviously it's horrible, but it's not like we were ever close."

"Yeah, but he's still your little brother, Jazz. And no matter what, this has got to be very hard for him. I mean, I know it's hard for you to think about anything but yourself, but imagine."

Jasmine rolled her eyes, "Watch it. But yeah, I could see how it would be hard. As much as a straight girl could, at least."

Carmen rolled over, laying on her stomach, "So, did you have any idea… That he was a friend of Elton?"

Any other time, Jasmine would've chuckled at the reference, "Not really. He dated girls in high school, but you know he blocked us all on socials not long after he started college. I assumed he was just getting drunk all the time and didn't want our parents to see that."

Carmen raised her finger, looking through on her phone as she sat on the bed next to her, "Or he blocked y'all because he was doing gay shit and didn't want you to see that."

"Why would he block me, though?"

Carmen laughed, "Honey, you don't know how it is because you're the oldest. You're the big sister. It's almost like you're a third parent, especially when the parents are as crazy as yours." She scrolled through on her phone, "At least his Twitter accounts are open, and I majored in Internet stalking."

"You majored in Forensics."

"Same thing. Shhh…" There was a moment of silence, before Carmen spoke again, "Yep. Here it is. Troy Barnes. At Greendale Community College in Denver, Colorado. And there's a lot of photos with some guy named Abed Nadir."

This peaked Jasmine's interest, "What? Let me see this."

She sat next to Carmen, watching as she scrolled through picture after picture of her brother with this weird-looking boy, doing seemingly everything together.

"I mean, I think he's cute. You know I'm into skinny, nerdy guys," Carmen said, still scrolling.

"They live together?" Jasmine gasped. She shook her head, "Maybe they're just really good friends."

Carmen laughed, as the next post was of them kissing in the rain, with the caption My other half underneath it, "Yeah, definitely just friends."

Jasmine's eyes went wide, "You're kidding me. Why wouldn't he tell me this?"

Carmen kept scrolling, unaware of what she just said. It was a moment before she addressed her, "I'm sorry. They're just very cute together. They went to Comic-Con."

"Troy at Comic-Con?" Jasmine repeated, "No, the Troy I know shoves kids into lockers and does keg stands. What the fuck happened to him?"

"Maybe that was never really him," Carmen offered, looking at the screen still, "He seems like he's really happy."

She leaned in to see her brother and his boyfriend in some kind of geeky matching costumes, holding hands as they were propped against a Sci-Fi backdrop. She read the caption.

I love you for all time and space.

"Damn, this shit is helping me believe in love again," Carmen joked, putting her phone down, "So what are you going to do about this?"

Jasmine shrugged, "Not sure. I mean, he obviously doesn't want me a part of his life, or else he wouldn't hide this from me."

That's when Carmen looked at her, giving her a slightly patronizing smile, "Jazz, he just lost all of his family because of who he loves. I know you were never close, but I think he needs you more than you know right now. At least, to know that not all of his family hates him."

Jasmine nodded ever so slightly, "You're right. Just… How do I even go about this? I haven't talked to him in forever."

"I'm not a communications expert, but I'd think you could shoot him a text and see where it goes from there."

"Smart ass," Jasmine grumbled, but still got out her phone to compose a text.

She proofread it, sent it, and sat back, waiting for a response.

Jasmine to Troy:

I know it's been forever, but Mom told me what happened. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry, and I'm here if you need anything. No matter what, you're still my little brother.

Troy read the last sentence over again.

No matter what, you're still my little brother.

Tears came into his eyes. He was pretty sure beforehand that his sister hated him, and she'd really hate him now. Throughout their childhood, she'd always sit back and let him take the blame for everything. It was her right, as the straight, neurotypical child in the family. Still, that didn't matter to him right now. He had at least one person's acceptance. He bounced up and down despite himself, giving the text to Abed to make sure he didn't misread it.

Abed looked less enthusiastic, "So your sister's just going to reach out after years of letting you take the abuse of your family? From what you've told me, this has a real East of Eden vibe."

"East of what?"

"Or 10 Things I Hate About You. Either way, a sibling rivalry. Your sister let you be the scapegoat, so she could avoid having to deal with the weight of your parents' expectations."

Troy nodded, finally following, "At least she's talking to me. Yeah, things aren't cool with us, but I can't really be picky right now. Will you be mad if I try to reach out or something?"

"Of course not. I just don't want you getting hurt," Abed knew that he'd misread something before, so he moved in closer to Troy, "I think it would be great, if you could build a relationship with your sister."

Troy smiled at this, "Really?"

"Yes, especially since she's the only one who truly knows how crazy your parents are."

Troy laughed a little, "Yeah, I guess that's true. I just want someone to be proud of me."

Annie, who'd been eavesdropping from the kitchen this entire time, let out a little Awwww. Since they knew she was here now, she came out of her hiding to give Troy a hug.

"I'm proud of you, Troy. If that means anything."

Troy smiled a little, leaning into her, "It does. Thanks, Annie."

"So are they done with preparing or…"

"Abed!" Annie snapped, waving for him to shut up.

"What are we preparing for?"

Annie bit her lip, "We… put together a little something. While Abed was keeping you distracted with a movie marathon. Just try to act surprised. I guess we can go ahead up there, since Abed spoiled it."

Troy nodded and took Abed's hand, as they went up to the rooftop. There, he found the study group and many of his other friends at Greendale, who'd thrown a birthday party just for him.