Let Me Help | Tyrus (complete!)

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I'm afraid of losing you. 

Cyrus had found the note on top of his history book on Wednesday, it was Friday now and he still didn't know who wrote it. Was it Jonah? Andi? Buffy? I couldn't be, he knew their handwriting. He frowned at the note as he put it inside his folder, he had too many things to worry about today. He had a biology test next period, felt incredibly tired for no reason, and in addition to that, he had accidentally invited TJ to his sleepover tonight. 

He had even gone to TJ's basketball game yesterday. He didn't quite understand what was happening, but whenever TJ scored, Cyrus smiled widely and waved at TJ, who waved back just as enthusiastically. 

He spent the entire day chewing on his lip thinking about the sleepover tonight. He knew there was no reason to be nervous, it was just TJ, right? But, Cyrus still knew that there was something there that was different from his friendship with Andi and Buffy, even different than his friendship with Jonah. Cyrus didn't speak to anyone the entire school day, not even Buffy and Andi. He knew they'd notice his nervousness and force him to spill his guts. Because of his solitude, Cyrus spent the day thinking of everything that could go wrong tonight. What if something happens that makes TJ hate him? What if something happens that makes TJ think he's lame? What if his parents embarrass him in front of TJ? What if he scares TJ away because he's so weird?

After classes were over, he opened his locker and another note fell out. This time it said, 

Your smile is sunshine 

Cyrus instinctively looked around, only to find kids laughing and smiling with their friends. He saw people hugging and holding hands. Most importantly, he saw friendship, love, joy, normal people who didn't feel like the world was too hard for them. 

Cyrus just wanted things to go perfectly. He walked home alone. 

"Cyrus! How was school?" said Cyrus' dad surrounded by grocery bags, his other parents were at a psychology convention for the weekend, so naturally, Todd had been left out. Being a life coach came with some downsides. 

Cyrus had a habit of turning up his happiness meter when around his parents, he knew they wanted to help, but he also didn't always want to be in therapy. He knew why he was acting differently, but he didn't want to talk about it with his parents. He hoped that at least one of his parents would notice, but so far none have. He felt a strange sense of satisfaction and disappointment. 

"It was great! I think I did really good on my bio test" He really didn't. He cried after the third question.

"That's great Cy, you're friends are coming over right? I bought some snacks for them, feel free to order pizza. I'll be out late tonight so I'm trusting you to not burn the house down" Todd let out a soft chuckle, and continued unpacking the groceries. Cyrus thought of helping, but he just couldn't seem to move at the moment.  

"Thanks, dad. I won't" Cyrus gave a small smile and headed towards his room.

"Hey Cy, is everything okay? You've been a bit spacey lately. I know it's almost fall break and everything, but just try to finish one day at a time. And you know you can talk to me or any of us when you feel a bit-" he paused "different from yourself." Todd, now finished with the groceries, stood with a cup of coffee in his hand. 

Cyrus' heart lifted a bit, maybe they did notice? "Thanks, dad," he said before going into his room. His German shepherd was laying in front of his door, he said, "Hey Nala, good to see you," before giving her a quick head pat and kiss on the nose. The dog followed him into his room and sat at the foot of his bed. Cyrus immediately began to clean his room, he knew it was clean, but he wanted it to be perfect. He needed something to be perfect. He rearranged his bookshelf, vacuumed, and made his bed. Andi and Buffy would be over in any second and he didn't want them to see him fussing over his room. They all knew the sleepover would be in the living room.