*Tyler's POV*

Two week time skip

"Troye, that looks like crap." I groaned, reaching around him to rearrange the cans he'd set up. I appreciated that he wanted to help me out, but there were some things he just totally sucked at. One of them, was making cool window displays. You'd think he'd be better at it than me, considering how creative he was in every other aspect, but I guess not. He let out a heavy sigh, turning around to glare at me.

"Well, it's not like I'm getting paid to do it." He huffed, disappearing out of the display case and leaving me to do it myself. I mean, he did have a point, he was only doing any of this to help me out. I'd mentioned him getting a job with me a couple times, but he'd simply brushed me off saying he wasn't into the whole 'working' or 'interacting with strangers on a regular basis' thing. I'd tried to correct him and say that he already did those things while he helped me out, and that the only thing that'd be different was he'd get a paycheck, but he wasn't hearing it. I guess he was intimidated by the idea of getting his first job or something, who knows.

I jumped, hearing the bell ring and alerting me there was a customer. I scrambled to finish the set-up, knowing they'd need some time to shop anyway. I scrambled out a minute later, just in time to watch the person leave.

"Troye, did you get them?" I called, walking toward the front as I spoke. I rolled my eyes dramatically when I caught sight of him, his feet propped up on the counter and a jar of Nutella in his hands. "I hope you paid for that."

"Of course I did, I'm not a criminal... Though I might be if I had no other means of getting Nutella." I sighed at this, knowing he was probably telling the truth. If I'd learnt one important fact about Troye in the past two weeks, it was that absolutely nothing meant more to him than the chocolate breakfast spread. It was actually concerning, the fact he could sit there and eat an entire jar, but I didn't voice my concerns out loud. I mean, it probably wasn't any less unhealthy than his binge junk food eating.

"Did you serve that customer?" I asked, deciding to veer the conversation away from Nutella for a change. I slid into my seat beside him, scowling when I realized he'd swapped the uncomfortable wooden one for my cushioned spinning chair yet again.

"Yeah, he was just getting a pack of gum."

"Did you have your feet on the counter when he was here?" I asked, glaring at his feet. He sighed heavily, slowly removing them and giving me a guilty little smile. I groaned, sinking down further in my seat. "Troye!"

"He didn't seem to mind."

"If anyone ever complains about it you realize Bruce is going to think they're talking about me. Believe it or not, I don't do this job for fun like you, I genuinely need the paychecks." I snapped, crossing my arms and giving an exasperated huff. I was still glaring in the general direction of absolutely nothing when I felt something brush against my lips. I furrowed my brows, backing up a bit to see what it was. I rolled my eyes when I recognized the plastic spoon, a mouthful of Nutella on it.

"Cheer up, grumpypants. I'm sorry." He whispered, making any shred of anger I'd had a second ago dissipate. I wasn't even all that into Nutella, but I wasn't about to shrug his offering off either. Troye offering to share his favorite food was not something to be taken lightly. I opened my mouth, surprised when he actually fed me gently instead of doing something annoying like smearing it all over my face. He must actually be worried about me being mad. "Is it delicious?"

"Mmmm." I hummed, nodding my head as I swallowed. He smiled contently in reaction, obviously considering the subject resolved. Apparently Nutella was a peace offering you just couldn't reject or something. I decided to go along with it, considering I wasn't all that into the idea of fighting with him anyway. I settled back in my chair, watching him scrape the last of the remnant's out of the bottom of the jar.

"What are you doing tomorrow? After school?" He asked suddenly, his eyes flickering up to meet mine. I might have been a bit more bashful about being caught staring, but his big smile seemed to say it was more than okay with him.

"I have a game, last one of the season actually, unless we move on to provincials."

"Boring." He sighed, tossing the empty jar and spoon into his personal garbage bin. He sunk down in his chair then, until he was more laying in it than sitting.

"You're boring. What were you going to suggest?"

"We're putting the hot tub away for the winter any day now, I was gonna suggest we use it one last time." He said, wiggling his eyebrows like he could convince me to give up my football game if he tried hard enough. In truth, the idea of hanging out with shirtless Troye for a few hours did sound a lot better, but the team would kill me if I didn't show up to this game. It was the most important one of the season, whether or not we moved on depended on whether we won or lost this game. I sighed loudly, wishing I could just merge the two lives together and have both Troye and the game. As soon as I thought it my lips turned up into a sly smile.

"Why don't you come to my game?" I asked, flickering my eyes to his hopefully. His nose was already crinkled up in distaste, his head shaking slightly.

"Ty, you know I don't like sports."

"So? You wouldn't be going for the game, you'd be going for me. You like me, don't you?" I pleaded, batting my eyelashes at him. He gave a sympathetic smile, making it clear his answer was still no.

"Tyler, you're going to be on the field the entire time, when are we even going to get a chance to interact?" He sighed, his voice level but strict. I pouted my bottom lip out, knowing already I'd lost the argument.

"You can watch me from afar and cheer my name, it'll be a bonding experience!" I begged, keeping my eyes locked with his. He didn't hesitate a second before shaking his head.

"No. It's not happening."

"Please, I want to show off my manly prowess." I said in a last hope, wondering if flirting could convince him. I sat up to emphasize my point, holding an arm out and flexing. His eyes followed the movement, but the second it finished he was back to shaking his head, pretending to look annoyed with me now.

"Definitely not happening."

"Ugh, you are so mean." I whined, getting to my feet and sulking off toward the display cabinet. 

"Hey, you're not going to give me the silent treatment, are you?" Troye called after me, sounding genuinely concerned. I debated it for a second, considering I actually was pretty irked with him, before realizing there was absolutely no chance of me pulling that off. I'd come crawling back ten minutes later, trying to strike up a conversation and then he'd be the one to reject me, teasing me for being so pathetic. I'll just skip the patheticness and not even try.

"No, I'm just going to finish the display. I'm not mad at you." I assured him, slipping back into the small window space. I managed to set up a single can before I felt a hand on my arm, making me jump. Thankfully I didn't knock anything over, but that didn't stop me from glaring at Troye for what he almost caused.

"The fact you have to reassure me you're not mad, leads me to believe you are mad." He said, keeping his hand on my arm. I shrugged my shoulder noncommittally, refusing to meet his gaze.

"I'm not mad, just a little upset that you won't even consider coming." I mumbled, surprised by how needy my voice was.

"Ty, I've told you about how much I hate both crowds and sports, and you expect me to come to the biggest game of the season? Crowds of people, obsessed with sports?"

"Yeah, I get it. It's fine." I said, giving him a weak smile before turning back to my work. He stayed a while longer, watching me to make sure everything was okay I guess, before wandering back to his usual perch. I wasn't sure what I'd expected him to say, considering he had two very reasonable points as to why he'd say no. He didn't like sports or crowds, why on Earth would he go to a place that was filled with both? 

For me, I guess.

I groaned, angry at myself for getting so upset over this. It was just a stupid game, I didn't even like football that much anyway. I was just being a whiny little brat. Troye didn't have to go if he didn't want to, simple, no further argument needed.

I finished the display up quickly, wanting to get back to Troye's side and make sure everything was still good between us. He wasn't behind the counter though, making me automatically assume the worst, that he might have gone home. I wandered the aisles for a few minutes and came back disappointed, deciding he really was gone this time. My decision was only backed up when I looked out the door and noticed his car wasn't in the parking lot. I trailed back to the counter, repeatedly telling myself not to get any more disappointed. There were tons of reasons he could have left, why did I always find myself assuming the worst? That I'd done something wrong that sent him running. 

Ten minutes later I was distractedly fumbling with my phone when the bell went off, and I snapped my head up. I was hit with a wave of relief upon seeing the backside of a familiar mop of chocolate hair. He was backing into the store, which meant his hands were occupied with something else. I jumped up, eager to go hold the door for him. It proved useless though, considering he walked inside the second I reached his side. I was about to greet him happily and ask where he'd gone, when my eyes fell on the drink tray in his hands.

"Caffeine!" He squealed suddenly, shimmying his shoulders excitedly. I smiled, happily reaching out and grabbing my drink of choice. This was definitely a much better peace offering than a spoonful of Nutella. We both settled into our seats behind the counter then, and I willingly let him have the comfier one for buying the drinks.

"Thank-you, I needed this." I hummed contently, sipping more of the cold beverage. He just nodded knowingly, drinking his own as he settled back in his chair.

"I could tell, you're a lot more irritable when you don't have caffeine in your system."

"Hey! Are you calling me grumpy?" I gasped, kicking his foot. He kicked mine back, a teasing light in his eyes. Before I even knew what was happening we'd fallen into a full-on game of footsies, giggling like idiots when I accidentally pulled his shoe off. After a while of this we settled down, both trying to catch our breath after giggling so much.

"I really am sorry, Tyler, about the game." He mumbled suddenly, staring down at the cracks in the floor. I felt a pang of sadness, knowing he felt that bad about it. Ugh, why did I have to be so whiny? I didn't mean to upset him.

"Hey, it's fine, there'll be lots of other chances for us to hang-out, it was a stupid suggestion anyway. I mean, you were right, we can't even talk while I'm out on the field." I laughed, reaching over to squeeze his shoulder reassuringly. He nodded quickly, looking up at me with a relieved smile.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right." He mumbled, snaking his foot around mine again. I rolled my eyes, but didn't even hesitate to strike up our game of footsies all over again.

A/n: Another short filleryyy, kind of showing how their friendship is progressing and the likes. Sorry, it'll pick up pace again soon. Hmm, IM NOT GOING TO RAMBLE TODAY. COMMENT AND VOTE, LOOK AT THIS GIF OF ADORABLE TYLER
Dedication this chapter is to one of the goddesses of the Troyler fandom, @AriellaHunter! I'm genuinely shocked I haven't dedicated anything to her yet because she is literal perfection. Plus, I figure, I've already dedicated to 2/3 of the Thursty Threesome in a row, and Ariella definitely deserves it as much as the next so uh, yeah. First of all, her comments are absolutely amazing and if you've had the most imponderable joy of having her as a reader, you'd understand. She picks up on everything and says exactly what you need to hear and just, ughhh. Now, that's not even starting on the absolute masterpiece her writing is. Honestly, I strive to write as good as she does because it's spectacular in every way. Her smut rivals Friends with Benefits, possibly even beating it but shh, let's not play favorites, I worship all the smut goddesses equally ;) But yeah, if you haven't read 'You Make me Ache' and you enjoy both fluffy and smutty combined into one fic, you are going to need to clear you schedule for a while and get the fuck on that.