Tj and Cyrus have a blooming friendship and their feeling start to evolve, but it seems like the world wants to tear them apart. No one understands how much they care for each other.So they find places to be alone, together.
Both Tj and Cyrus stumbled through the first part of the school day, trying their hardest to avoid each other so that Reed wouldn't see them talk. When lunch finally came, they both rushed to the library, ready to see the other.
Tj was the second to arrive. Once the door was closed he turned around to see Cyrus. They smiled and immediately went in for a kiss.
"I'm so sorry," Tj said once they pulled apart, "You don't deserve to be in this situation right now. Coming out should be on your terms, always."
Tj saying those words made Cyrus flinch. The guilt of what Andi and Buffy did was eating him from the inside out. Tj didn't deserve to be in the dark on that, he should have the right to know when other people find out he's not straight.
"I need to tell you something," Cyrus said, with a tone that worried Tj.
"Is something wrong?"
"Andi and Buffy know about us." Tj took a step back and disconnected their arms. "I didn't tell them, they spied on us. When I confronted them about it they told me they heard everything. I'm so sorry. They won't tell anyone else though, I made them promise."
"Okay. Cool." Tj was backing towards the door.
"Where are you going?"
"I just need a minute, I'll text you later." He left the room and closed the door behind him, not realizing that he left his phone in there. Cyrus picked it up from the floor and slid it into his pocket, unsure of how he'd get it back to him. It's not like he could just call him.
Cyrus slumped down on the floor and sat in silence for the rest of the lunch hour.
~
As the final bell rang, signaling the end of the day Cyrus left the school alone, headphones in his ears. He knew he had to get Tj's phone to him without actually seeing him... but how. He decided to just leave it at his door step, ring the door bell, and leave. No interaction, no conversation.
He made his way down the street, Tj's house was just a few streets over from Cyrus' so it wasn't too far out of the way. Just as planned, he rang the door bell and left. As he walked down the stairs a bike pulled up to the house. On it, was a familiar blond boy.
Shit.
"Goodman. What in the world are you doing here?" There was no answer to that. If he said he was giving Tj's phone back then Reed would know that Cyrus was with him. He couldn't say he just wanted to come over because that would look even worse.
"I uh-"
"You know what, it doesn't matter. Because we had a deal. A deal that you broke. So, that nice picture I took of your little f*g flag is gonna be on everyone's InstaPic feed by tomorrow. Now get out of here."
Cyrus ran away from Tj's house. He ran as far as he could before he had to stop. His mind was buzzing, the world swayed at his feet, and he didn't feel like he could stand anymore. There was a bench nearby that Cyrus was able to stumble to before his legs gave out. There was barely enough room in his lungs to take in air.
Cyrus sat there for a minute, unable to breathe or get a grasp on his surroundings. Just as he thought there was nothing he could do but wait, he saw Jonah running towards him.
"Wha- How- Why are you here?" Cyrus managed to get out between breaths.
"Hey, hey. Just take deep breaths Cy. You know what this is. You know you can get through it. Just take deep breaths." Jonah continued to coach him until he seemed better. "You all good? Yeah? It's kind of ironic how I'm the one helping you. I can't tell you how much you've helped me so I'm glad I could help you."
"Thank you Jonah. I feel a lot better." Cyrus was finally able to say.
"Do you wanna talk about it? It's totally fine if you don't."
"I don't. Maybe another time." Cyrus knew that to explain why he just had that panic attack then he'd have to tell Jonah the whole story of him and Tj. He couldn't tell another person about them without Tj's permission, that would destroy him.
"Yeah, let me walk you home okay?"
~
~Tj's pov~
The day was slow. After I talked with Cyrus I couldn't get what he said out of my head. I knew that I couldn't be mad at him, and I also knew that his friends wouldn't tell anyone, I was just still scared. I had to go to work after school so there was even more time to just think about what happened. On my way home I really wanted to call Cyrus and talk about it, but somehow I lost my phone. Great, the only way to contact the only person I wanted to talk to was gone. I thought of going to his house until I saw it sitting on my front step when I got home. There was a text from Cyrus on it.
From Muffin💕: You left your phone in the library. I dropped it off after school.
To Muffin💕: thanks, everything okay?
Cyrus' text seemed really dry. Hopefully nothing bad happened.
While waiting for a reply, I went into my house and flopped onto my bed. Like normal, I opened InstaPic to start mindlessly scrolling. The first pic I saw immediately caught my attention:
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I should've been concerned for Cyrus, i should've immediately called him to see if he was okay. I didn't. I got scared. The comments on that picture were terrible, saying awful things about Cyrus. It shook me to my core, something must have gotten knocked loose because what I did next was terrible.
To Kira: Hey, wanna split a milk shake at the spoon?
From Kira: Yeah!!!! That sounds sick!!!! See you there!!!!
I don't even like Kira, not even as a friend, but somehow this was my brain's most logical solution to a problem that didn't even involve me. I knew I wasn't doing something good, but my brain just kept coming up with justifications to satisfy the part of me that needed help.
~Cyrus' pov~
From Buff: im coming over. i have ice cream, popcorn, and all three high school musical movies. im calling andi and we're going to be there for you cyrus.
From Andi: cy i just saw on instapic. buffy called me and we're coming over right away
From JB: cyrus if this is what your panic attack was about then i am so sorry, just checking in to make sure youre not having any more. i can come over if you want
To JB: andi and buffy are coming over already, you can if youd like. the more the merrier ig
From JB: im there. i bet the girls are in cheer up mode so im expecting snacks
