love letters ; tyrus

.8

cyrus opened his locker at the end of the day and grabbed his belongings out of it as fast as he could. although he was texting his secret admirer, he still missed seeing the small notes in their everyday. there was just something about things being written down on paper than over text that was way more romantic to him personally, but he respected why his secret admirer didn't leave them anymore.

he was in a rush because he was meeting tj after school, which everytime he thought about it, his stomach felt all bubbly like it was infested with butterflies.

"little man! over here." cyrus heard someone call out, which made him stop in his tracks. he looked around and soon enough he saw a smiling tj leaning against the side of the school building.

"hi teej!" cyrus exclaimed, his smile growing on his face as he raced over to him. all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around tj's body and squeeze him tightly, but he knew tj would get mad at him. he has a reputation.

"teej? that's a new one." tj chuckled admiring the smaller boy's face. he noticed how cyrus' cheeks grew crimson, but he didn't think too much of it. if he did, his hopes would grow so high, that he would never be able to come back down.

"sorry, it just slipped out." cyrus bowed his head in embarrassment, causing tj to laugh in response.

"i like it, little man."

cyrus didn't respond, he only smiled and followed the bigger boy outside of the school, trying to keep up with his long strides.

"does buffy know you're hanging out with me?" tj scoffed and dragged his feet against the sidewalk.

"i just told her i'm helping you with chemistry." cyrus replied, which wasn't necessarily a lie, because he did tell her that, he just mentioned it in a different way.

"great, now she's going to think i'm stupid at everything." tj rolled his eyes and looked down at the ground, kicking the rocks that were in his way.

"i'm sorry, tj. i can tell her you didn't need help anymore. she probably didn't think anything of it anyways. i'm sorry."

"it's ok, cyrus. you don't have to tell her we stopped. it just gives us an excuse to hang out more." tj smirked to himself.

'there goes the butterflies again.' cyrus thought to himself as he fiddled with the straps on this backpack.

"yeah, i guess it would."

tj didn't have time to respond because soon enough, they were at the front steps to his house. "my parents aren't home yet, is that ok?"

"ok for me, but for my parents on the other hand, not so much. they would have a cow if they knew i was here without adult supervision." cyrus laughed at his parents immature rule. he would understand if he was 7, but he was 13. he was able to be on his own.

"looks like they will never have to know then." tj smiled as he opened the door, gesturing for cyrus to go in first. "ladies first." he joked, but for some reason cyrus didn't find it funny.

for his whole life people have made comments about his appearance and how he acted. they would call him girly or feminine. he knew tj didn't mean it like that, but he couldn't help and take it that way.

he let out a small fake laugh in response and slipped his shoes off, placing them carefully next to what he assumed were tjs small pile of sneakers.

"wow, i didn't think you would let that one slide." tj chuckled as he brushed past cyrus, closing the door behind them. he made his way over to the couch, plopping himself on it, already making himself comfortable. cyrus stood there dumbfounded.

"wow tj, i didn't think you would be the kind of person that everybody makes you out to be, but i guess we are both wrong." cyrus snapped, taking tj's words negatively.

tj was completely taken aback by cyrus' harsh words. he could feel his heart splitting into two as the life drained out of him. "what?" tj spoke softly, his voice shaking with pain.

cyrus felt guilty, but he was also very annoyed at tj. he made him believe he was a good person.

"i'm taking it that everything you said on the swings was a lie then?" cyrus blurted out, speaking his mind. he was furious.

"what do you mean cy—" tj stopped mid sentence, choking on a cry that wanted to escape his throat. he was confused and hurt. he had no idea why cyrus was acting this way. "cyrus. i meant all of it. where are you getting this?"

"from you! you made fun of me just to pick something out of me! im not a little punching bag! im a human being!" cyrus screamed slipping his shoes back on. he wanted to leave. he wanted to be as far away from tj as possible.

"i never made fun of you what are you talking about?"

"you literally just did! does 'ladies first' ring a bell? how about 'wow, i didn't think you would let that one slide.' you were trying to push a reaction out of me. how could you." cyrus squinted at him, tears threatening to pour out. he told this boy secrets he wouldn't dare to share with anyone else, but he faked the whole thing.

a feeling of relief ran through tj's body as his body relaxed. he almost wanted to laugh at the situation, that's how scared cyrus made him feel.

"cy, i wasn't making fun of you! i was surprised that you let it slide because i was waiting for one of your adorable, witty remarks telling me how stupid i was. i didn't mean it in a bad way. it was a joke, i promise, little man. i'm sorry it all got twisted."

as tj finished his words, cyrus' eyes went wide in embarrassment. 'how stupid can i be?' cyrus wondered, mentally face palming himself.

"oh." cyrus squeaked out, his face turning bright red.

tj chuckled at how flustered he became and patted the spot next to him. "now take your shoes back off and come on over here. i miss you already, little man." tj smiled as he held out his arms to cyrus.

cyrus struggled at taking off his shoes as he felt dizzy and still very flustered. tj watched him, laughing to himself at how cute cyrus was being. i mean, he was always cute to tj, but right now his heart couldn't take it.

cyrus made his way over to the couch as he fell into tj's arms, nuzzling his head into the crook of his neck to hide his red cheeks. "i'm sorry teej. i'm so sorry."

"hey, it's ok little man." tj chuckled, drawing small circles on the small boys back to calm him down.

cyrus' mind was still racing, but then something dawned on him that completely went over his head a couple minutes ago.

'wait a minute. did tj just call me adorable?'