A/N: I wrote this a while back after the Halloween episode "Epidemiology" and…that's about it. :P

Oh yeah: I've never seen Marmaduke and own nothing I write about haha.

They sat in silence as the adorable, and slightly obnoxious, movie continued. Troy couldn't believe he had sat through a quarter of it, considering the events that had just unfolded. The epicness of the night seemed like a muddy dream rather than reality as he thought back to just a few hours ago. Was he really the only human left in a zombie infested community college that night? Did he really fall into the hands of his freshly-turned peers while trying to triumphantly fend them off? Did he really desert his best friend surrounded by zombified students to run and get help? Oh, that's right. They were just sick…or doped up….or whatever. Gripping the edge of the couch, he allowed his eyes to distractedly roam around the dimly lit dorm room. For some reason, he couldn't rightly gather his thoughts together.

"So basically the whole gist of this movie is that the dog is huge and prevents his owner from having relations." Troy snapped back into reality and peered at his companion who sat only inches away. "This is kind of disappointing. What do you think?" Abed turned from the screen to look at Troy, genuinely interested in his opinion.

"Uhh Yeah I agree. It stopped being funny like…10 minutes in." It was true, though. Troy could barely recollect what happened during the movie after Abed had started it and settled down beside him on the couch. All he could do was try to remember what had happened that night. Why was Abed acting like nothing went down? It was like they had just encountered a stain in the hallway carpet that night rather than a whole costumed, flesh-eating army of the 'undead'. "Marmaduke can kinda dance aight'" Troy offered, "…but I don't think dog's legs can actually bend that way…"

"Did you really mean it?"

Troy focused his eyes on Abed again. "What? Well, yeah. I mean, the only time I saw a dog's legs do that was when my old one fell down the stairs…. I cried for like a week."

Abed tilted his head slightly and continued to stare at Troy. "No, not that. What you said earlier tonight."

The blurred and mixed memories from earlier that day rushed through the young jock's mind. The stupid dog barking in the background from the movie wasn't helping either. "Oh! No Abed. I don't think you're a nerd. I don't know why I said that….I was being stupid and the laughing chicks and…sorry." He balled his fists and quickly looked away hoping he was forgiven.

"Not that either. You said you loved me before you left. Did you mean it?..." He thought for a moment and then cocked his head, "-Or was it the adrenaline speaking?"

Troy's eyes widen as he tried to calculate Abed's blunt question. He peered through the dim light to decipher his best friend's face, which he realized was useless. Abed watched Troy patiently; as animated as a statue. The memory of Troy's words focused clearly in his mind after a few seconds of concentration; he really did say that didn't he? He looked around with his mouth held agape, trying to escape his friend's calm, inquisitive stare. "W-well, uh, yeah Abed of course!" he cautiously watched as his friend's thin lips slightly curved into an adorable smile. Wait, did he think 'adorable'? What he meant to think was 'funny looking'.

"Just wondering." Abed's attention was already back on the television screen. "Aside from my parents occasionally, no one's ever said that to me." he gave his head an inquisitive scratch.

Troy's heart began to thump a little harder than it was suppose to; he was obviously still a little taken back. Sure he told girls he loved them all the time back in high school, but none asked him if he really...meant it, which was awesome because he never did. The scariest part about Abed's question was that...he wasn't lying: not in the slightest. He didn't have to. "And I'm pretty sure parents are required to say that to us...something in the Constitution or whatever." He offered half-heartedly and relished the sound of his best friend's laughter as Abed jokingly agreed. Troy decided it would be in both their best interests if he overtly ignored his heart at the moment. It was telling him things that he had never thought about with a girl…and truthfully it was scaring him. He usually messed up a lot of things, but the thing that he and Abed had was not going to be one of them.

"Thank you." Abed's voice was notably quieter as he monotonously muttered his gratitude. "It feels nice to be loved." Troy realized that he was still staring at Abed. The glow on the Abed's face from the television screen made him seem almost surreal; Troy's heart kicked it up a notch. Abed looked down, away from the movie and smirked to himself, "It's feels different. That's probably why romantic movies are on the bottom of my list." He lightly chuckled and took the opportunity to smile at his other half.

Instead of responding, Troy slid his arm across the space between them and precariously grabbed Abed's hand, which was limp on the couch. He held Abed's hand all the time during class; just thought it was a normal thing to do in college. Having their fingers intertwine made him feel warm and content and he never saw anything wrong with it. He wasn't even sure who had initiated the action first...he just knew that neither of them had ever objected to it. Abed sat and continued to watch the movie again, lightly motioning his finger across the back of Troy's hand: what he usually did when they held hands. Was this right? Was this love? Troy was use to not knowing the answers to questions; it was the reason he needed to be in a study group in the first place. He concluded, for the time being, those questions could suck it.

"You wanna change movies or make smores?" Troy's head shot up excitedly and his eyes glowed with happiness.

"Take a wild guess!"

Abed swiftly got up and headed toward the door pulling his shorter companion along with him. The two walked down the hall hand in hand to the kitchen area of the building.

Troy smiled to himself. If every day could be like this…he could consider being in love.