lemon boy

broken hearts

synopsis: high school wasn't a good time for tj and cyrus, it felt as if everything had been against them. like somehow the universe didn't want them together, but maybe they just needed time. maybe fate thought that whatever they had could be healed with maturity

quote: ❛ maybe years into the future we'll see each other again, and i can tell you how in love with you i was. then we can laugh about how we broke each other's hearts ❜

          SEVEN YEARS. it had been seven
years since the last time tj kippen had seen cyrus goodman, senior year of high school. after everything went down, they went to different colleges and lost touch within the first month. it wasn't like they were friends at the time anyway, they had already broken up.

they were dating for three years before that. it hadn't even been because of college, everything just seemed to be in their way. colleges, friends, plans, jobs, families, interests. everything was changing that year. tj wanted to make things work, in some way, he guessed cyrus did too but he cared a lot about his future.

seven years ago, cyrus goodman broke his heart.

and now, here in the middle of new york city, tj sees him. he's sitting there with a black suit on, black brief case on the table, a laptop in front of him, a coffee next to it, and a pair of light grey glasses on. tj remembered the last year of high school so well that he could tell you about the time cyrus got real insecure about those very glasses and decided to wear contacts for a week before scratching his eye and going back to glasses.

tj loved his glasses.

cyrus didn't see him, he wasn't too out in the open. he had his gym clothes on, considering he was on his way there. but of course, he made a coffee stop on the way. and maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all.

slowly he walked towards him, nervous and shaky tj had been gone to years, but as soon as he seen cyrus, he was complete and utter mush again. he couldn't help it, nerdy boys were his type. well cyrus was his type.

as he approached his table, cyrus looked away from his laptop and up at him. tj saw the way his eyes changed, like something had sparked. it was a look of disbelief.

"tj?" his voice was still soft, and had a more deep ring to it. he stood up, tj's eyes widened, he had grown at least half a foot.

"c-cyrus?" he couldn't believe it. tj truly believed he would never see cyrus again. it's been so long, too long.

"wow, it's— um, it's great to see you. how have you been?" cyrus said, stuttering a bit.

tj took a step closer, a small smile forming on his face. he's been waiting for this moment since the day he drove off in his car, away from shadyside.

"i've been good— great actually. how have you been?" it felt sort of awkward, but normal at the same time. tj couldn't decide because this should be normal. at one point he thought cyrus was the love of his life, it shouldn't be awkward.

"wanna sit?" cyrus asked as he lowered himself back down to his chair, closing his laptop. tj slid in the chair across from him, fiddling with his thumbs.

"so how'd the basketball scholarship work out? i see you're still very into those baggy shorts." cyrus said, referring back to when that's all tj would practically wear. during senior year basketball became one of tj's main priorities, after cyrus of course.

"it's going great, i'm on a break. last year i pulled a muscle in my leg and it ended being a lot worse than i expected, so i took a year off to get everything together." cyrus nodded, picking up his coffee and taking a sip. "what're you doing in new york?" he added, cyrus always wanted to do work somewhere smaller, more reserved.

"my office got moved here last week, how about you? last i heard you were in california." he heard? does that mean he's asked?

"i live here. about two months ago amber convinced me to move out here to be closer to her, she said she was tired of being apart. i think she just needed help advice about andi." cyrus tensed, he must have lost touch with her through the mess of college too.

"andi's here?" his hand slowly reached up and pushed his glasses up, tj use love when he did that. said it was adorable. it still was.

"yea, her and amber are doing great. they own a small clothing store down the street, andi designs and amber sells. they're surprisingly good at." during college, him and andi had become really good friends. they apologized for any bad feelings they had for each other in the past and moved on. she was family now.

"that's great, yea, that's amazing. i always knew she'd be great."

"she is, she'd love to see you. i know she'd be really happy you're here." andi used to bring up cyrus a lot, sometimes about their relationship and something just in general about how she missed him. but she hasn't been recently, it probably hurt. they were extremely close.

"i'd love to see her too." he started, then locked eyes with tj. "but it was great running into you too." and as the words left his mouth, red creeped up the back of his neck, and his cheeks tinted a light shade of pink.

"yea, it was." he replied, not really knowing how to continue the conversation. "what happened to us?" he blurted, quickly regretting it.

cyrus looked taken back for a moment, "i- i don't know teej. i guess life happened." he said quietly.

tj cracked a smile, "you know you broke my heart, underdog." he wasn't lying, but he was joking. bringing back the nickname he used to use.

"you broke mine too." he said breathlessly, letting out a small giggle at the end, causing tj to do the same.

"you really were the love of my life, though. i thought i'd marry you, i was sure of it." tj added, if they were getting all sappy, might as well go all the way.

"yeah . . . i use to dream about the day . . . " he trailed off, his cheeks turned pink again.

"yeah, me too." he practically whispered, but cyrus heard him.

and he smiled.

authors note !
this was so long for absolutely no reason what so ever
but i kind of like it ??
also kind of wanna continue it to show him reuniting with andi
i wanna see ambi and their little clothing shop
i need to bring my girl buffy in, idk how though
kinda wanted her to be a gym teacher but like why would she be in ny?
also jonah?
idk
maybe i'll continue this as something more
or maybe i'll just make a bunch of oneshots about it
who knows
no one really reads these, but i'm posting this anyways lmao