Troy is not a genius. He's smarter than a lot of people think, but he's still plenty dumb.

He doesn't get a lot of the references. The banter all goes too quick; by the time he registers it, works through it, and comes up with a response, the moment is way too far gone. The arguments move so fast and so far over his head that sometimes he just wants to close his eyes, cover his ears and hum to himself. A lot of days, he just doesn't get it.

But he gets Abed. Abed likes cereal. Abed likes to sit on his couch and eat cereal. Abed likes to watch movies (on his couch, with cereal).

And Troy likes to sit on the couch with Abed. Sometimes one of them has an arm around the other. But sometimes the movie is too exciting and they're moving around too much and the popcorn gets knocked over and they spend the rest of the night picking it out of the carpet. Either way, Troy likes to share the couch with his friend.

And sometimes the movie is longer than they thought, or something slow, and Troy leans his head back on Abed's arm or squirms his way closer and leans against his shoulder. And he doesn't think anything of it. Because it's Abed.

And he gets Abed.

So when Abed leans as well, his chin resting on top of Troy's head, it's nothing weird. It's just what friends do. And when they find themselves doing it more and more often, even when it's not very late and they're not really tired, it's normal. They're friends, and the couch is comfy, and the dorm room is warm. And it becomes the default position and neither one comments, so it must be normal. Neither quite knows when the hand-holding becomes part of it, or when Troy starts bringing his legs up and practically laying across Abed. It all just blends in to the movie-watching experience, eventually becoming as natural and essential as the popcorn.

They do have to notice when the kissing becomes part of it. Even for two guys who get each other, that's going a little far. But they're watching Spiderman the first time it happens, and even though they're at an angle instead of upside down, they still get the spirit of the scene. And it just kind of feels right. It's the first time they don't really watch the movie, because (as strange as it seems) more important things are happening.

It takes the group a while to notice. The boys were always close, so what if they're a little more touchy feely now? They all come to their conclusions in their own time (Britta a few weeks in when she wheedles it out of Abed, Pierce months later when he catches them making out) and come to terms with it in their own way (Jeff ignores it, Shirley tries to sneak-attack-baptize them). It becomes one more part of the interpersonal web of the study group, part of the daily life.

Annie thinks it's adorable. She smiles and kind of squeaks when she sees them holding hands. When asked, she can't really explain it.

"Look at them. It just really seems like they get each other."

And they do. They really do.