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aletterinthenameofsanity · 1 year

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it doesn't take a scholar to know how this one goеs (Trobed)

Let’s get one thing perfectly straight: this is a love story. Always has been, always will be. No matter how you tilt the script, no matter what genre the show drifts into, the core of the story remains the same: this is a story about love. All seven types, Abed supposes, if you want to go Greek with it, but love nonetheless. Self-love, familial love, playful love, universal love, intimate friendship love, committed love. Sure, erotic love is a bit missing in the equation, but when he has Troy and Annie and the study group, he can't begrudge himself missing passionate, romantic love that much. He's the side character, after all, the brown queer autistic man. His romantic drama could never drive a season.

And then the zombies attack. The reference here is Leia and Han. The reference here is correct.

And then Pierce tries to steal their handshake but fails. The metaphor here is Indecent Proposal. The metaphor here is correct.

And then he and Troy move in together. The new chapter is a new location. The new chapter is correct.

And then the blanket-pillow war nearly shatters their relationship to pieces. The frame here is a war tearing apart two countries that have never been separated. The frame here is correct.

And then Pierce dies, and Troy has to leave, and clone-Abed can’t handle the feelings building up in his chest, threatening to burst just as viciously as they did with regular Abed-

The trope here is the end of the world.

The trope here is correct.

***

Wait a minute. Back up. Rewind the tapes. That can’t be how the story ends. That can’t be how the metaphor disintegrates, in a ship sailing off with a Styx song playing and Abed's heart breaking.

Abed shouldn’t have to lose a part of his soul because the story demands it. He shouldn’t have to play the part of the sidekick, the quirky token side character, the man who falls into relationships with a woman because his more-than-friends buddy sails off into the sunset.

He and Troy are the emotional center of the show. The throughline. The heart of the group.

Or, at least, Troy is, and through Troy, Abed is. The director becomes a main player. The voyeur falls in love.

The fanboy gets his happy ending.

***

The story unravels one by one. A viewing of Star Wars sparks a memory. Indecent Proposal becomes more than metaphor when Troy winds an arm around Abed’s shoulders and their lips connect in the hallway after Ben is born. Troy and Abed move in together and they use the Dreamatorium for makeout sessions more often than not.

A blanket-pillow war breaks open a relationship that is more than platonic in nature and feelings of love-turned-not-quite-hatred (because Troy is furious, because Abed is pissed, but neither of them know how to hate each other because how do you hate the other half of your heart?) are spilled over through text and email.

The first “I love you” in a relationship is shouted in a broken-hearted, “I loved you, Abed, and you broke my fucking heart” during an all-out-pillow fight in Greendale's cafeteria.

The story grinds to a halt as Abed stares, wide-eyed, at his other half. At the enemy. At the hero. At-

Jeff offers to grab friendship hats, but Abed is still staring. He is still trying to understand.

“Do you mean what you said?” he asks, voice uncertain, the story unspooling in a way he never thought it could go. Love? Him? Someone loving him?

And Troy nods, voice as sure as if he’s citing a Kickpuncher fact. “Of course I do,” he says, all righteous fury, all broken-hearted love. “How could you have broken my heart if I didn’t love you?”

Characters aren’t supposed to stutter unless the narrative calls for it, but Abed is stumbling here, grasping for the dialogue. “But you said, in that text-”

Troy’s face is still gripped by fury, but his eyes soften. "I was pissed because you said all those things about me. You weren't supposed to think those things. You weren't supposed to think about me like that-"

"But those are the things I love about you," Abed says, straightforward as always as he lightly whacks Troy with the pillow.

Troy's eyes go wide. "You what?"

Abed nods. "Those things are weaknesses in war, but they're the things that made me fall for you. They're the things that make us work together as friends, as a couple, as a screen duo. Your overemotionality helps me understand you better. How much you care makes me care about you."

"I love you," Troy says, hitting Abed with a pillow for the final time.

Abed's eyes crinkle. "I know," he says, and he hit Troy with a pillow to seal the deal. Both pillows fall to the ground and the two of them step forward to complete their handshake.

Jeff smiles. Annie is crying. Shirley and Britta are cheering. Pierce's face is covered in pillows, but he doesn't quite matter to this equation, so his reaction can remain a mystery.

Abed's supporting cast supports him.

There's a feeling blooming in Abed's chest, a warmth flooding his veins with its lovely embrace as he leans in, grabs Troy's pj shirt, and pulls him into a half-hug, half-kiss. Troy's arms go to Abed's waist and Abed can feel Troy's tears on his cheeks as Troy smiles into Abed's kiss, his relief a balm to Abed's soul.

This is Abed's happy ending, his perfect rom-com ending scene. The perfect boy in his arms, their miscommunication resolved, everyone cheering.

Looks like he was able to check off two genres off his list today.

***

Fast forward. Scroll to drama with the Air Conditioning Repair School, to Troy only separating from Abed to save the Dean and to give his boyfriend the opportunity to meet a real-life cult. It breaks both of their hearts, but it's thankfully over within a month, with Troy accidentally becoming the One True Repairman and acquiring his own cult in the process.

Scroll to graduation. To L.A. and beyond. Troy and Abed move to L.A. together, Troy's incredibly stable A.C. commissions providing a steady income for the two of them as Abed works his way through the industry.

Abed's first feature film is a sci-fi romance about two boys searching for a ghost that stole their best friend's magical pen, falling in love in the process. His second film is a historical dramedy centered around a 1940s woman who disguises herself as a pilot to search for the man who killed her fiance, only to find out that the man who killed her fiance is actually another woman that she ends up falling in love with when she finds out that the woman completes her better than anyone ever has.

The movie wins three oscars: Best Leading actress for Bethany Goldstein, Best Costuming for Lucia Gonzalez, and Best Screenplay for one Abed Nadir.

Abed gets up onstage and finds his boyfriend cheering beyond the spotlights. Troy is smiling as proudly as Abed once did when Troy came back from the Repair School, the school's new messiah.

This is Abed's best moment. Not the award. Not the crowd. Not the celebrities. But Troy's eyes as he gives Abed the only standing ovation he'll ever need.

And it's cliche, it's so cliche, but Abed can't resist it. He's always been a fan of drama, of history-making moments, of creating new takes on old chiches.

So Abed looks Troy in the eye, thanks the production company, and says, "And to my boyfriend, Troy Barnes, who has been beside me every step of the way, who has built a new Dreamtorium in every apartment we've moved into, who has been the heart at every one of my stories- there is nothing I could do to surprise you, except maybe this." Abed balances the Oscar on one of his suit-clad hips. A confused hush falls over the crowd as Abed pulls a small box out of his free pocket and flips it open.

Abed leans toward the mic as Troy stands in his seat, jaw dropping, the shine in his eyes visible from this far away as some genius swings a spotlight to fall on Troy's beautiful face. "Troy Barnes, will you marry me?"

Troy takes off at a run down the aisle as a cheer goes up in the crowd. Near the front, Abed's leading actress has two fingers at her lips, whistling at the top of her lungs. Behind a tv screen, somewhere back in Colorado, in Georgia, in D.C., Troy and Abed's friends are cheering as well, he knows.

But Abed can't focus on any of those people. For once in his life, Abed can't think about an audience.

All he can focus on is the man jogging up the stairs to the stage, the man who offers out his hand, not for a ring, but for a handshake. Abed sets down the Oscar and takes up his offer, a smile on his lips as Troy says those magical words: "Of course, dude, I'll marry you. This would be a pretty stupid story if I didn't."

The flash of Troy's smile is better than any Oscar ever could be.

***

So here goes the love story: a boy falls in love with another boy. They go on adventures where one kiss another, where they fight zombies and racists and lava monsters and paintball wars and each other. They break up and make up. They enter every new chapter together, tied to each others' hearts.

The show ends on a happy note and Abed and Troy shift off into post-canon, fanfic territory, whatever the fans decide, whatever they decide.

It's the kind of ending their kind of love deserves.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/34948705