Tyrus || Afterparty (Completed)

"Dad, im....."

TJ POV

Time for a weekend with no phone, no friends, and parents who won't stop arguing.

I spent Saturday just sleeping. My mom came in a couple times to check on me. Amber went to her job at the Spoon which left me to sit in my room and find something to entertain myself. I can't sleep all day. I cleaned my room, organized my closet and even looked through the bins under my bed. I ended up finding things like a Rubik's cube, a few Uno cards, some old CDs, and monopoly. I tried to teach myself how to solve the cube but I gave up after 10 minutes. I didn't have a CD player in my room so I just put the CDs on my shelf as decoration. I pulled out my old sketch pad and started drawing some things. After I got frustrated trying to draw the second eye to look just like the first one, I decided to exercise. We do some strength training for basketball so did those for a few minutes.

"I can't take this" I said to myself, "what time is it anywa- are you serious?" I checked the clock but it was only 1:30 pm. "Ugh". I cracked my door open a little to peak out. I didn't see or hear anyone so I went downstairs to the kitchen to get something to eat.

"Hey buddy, where have you been all day?" I turned around to see my dad standing there.
"In my room", I said, "where's mom?"
"She went to get groceries", he said. I nodded and went back to look in the pantry for food.
"TJ", he said, "can you come sit down here", he gestured to the table.
"Ok?" I waked over there and sat down. My muscles tensed up as my dad sat down across from me.
"I know you aren't telling me everything", he looked directly in my eyes, "what is it?"
I felt like throwing up.
"I'm your dad, you can tell me anything", he was trying to sound comforting but it wasn't working.
"I-". Should I tell him? Should I come out? Was now really the best time? I figured that he is already mad at me so I might as well.
I looked down.
"What is it, son?" He almost sounded like he cared.
"Dad", I took a dead breath, "I'm gay"
"What?" That was clearly not what he was expecting to hear.
"I'm gay", I repeated. He thought about what I said for a second.
"Ah it all makes sense now", he finally said, "All the trouble you've been getting into. The fights and the ditching class. It's all the hormones"
Now I was confused.
"What does that have anything to do with what I just said?" I asked, my voice was still a bit shaky.
"It's just a phase. It's just your teenage hormones acting up". I cannot believe he just said that. 'Just a phase'. That boiled my blood.
"It's not just a phase, dad"
"Yes it is"
"No it's not. I have a boyfriend". I blurted out. He went silent for a few seconds.
"You what?"
"I have a boyfriend"
"Who is- wait. Is it that Cyrus kid? The one who you skipped school with?" I nodded.
"I always knew something was off about him", he said, waving his finger around.
"What do you mean?" I was not a fan of my dad speaking about Cyrus like that.
"That little gay boy is manipulating you. He's a bad influence"
"What!? No! He's not manipulating me. I really like him". I could feel my muscles tense up even more. My face starting to get red.
"No you don't. Stay away from him" my eyes started to water.
"Dad please no", I pleaded. This went way worse than I thought it would.
"I want you to go break up with your boyfriend", he said 'boyfriend' in air quotes, "the next time you see him".

In that moment I started to cry.

"Suck it up", dad said, "see? Look what's he's done to you. You've gone soft. What happened to my big tough basketball captain?"
Half of my tears were sadness but the other half were rage. My anger reminded me of how I felt when Grant dumped sloppy joe over Cyrus. All those feeling were coming back.
"No! Don't talk about him like that!" I was almost screaming, "he's a great person who I really like. Why can't you just accept me?"
"You don't know what you are talking about"
"You don't know what you're talking about" I stomped up to my room and slammed the door. A few books fell off my shelf from the force of the door.
"Yeah, why don't you stay in there. You'll come to realize that he is just a little f** who is manipulating you!" He yelled from downstairs.

I couldn't stand it. I could not be in this house anymore. So I opened my window and climbed out. I climbed down the side of the house. Once my feet touched the ground, I ran. I tried to remember which way was Cyrus' house. I had so much built up that I managed to run the whole mile from my house to his. I ignored the sharp pain in my side and just kept running. My head was throbbing. I legs wanted to give up but I kept pushing. I eventually made it.
I stopped in front of his house and looked at it. Then a car pulled into the driveway and I saw Cyrus' mom come out.

"TJ? What are you doing here?" She asked. Her expression soon changed when she saw how much pain I was in.
"Are you alright?" She asked as she rushed over to me.
"I'm-" but I couldn't answer. I was so out of breath. I held onto my side and she noticed.
"Come here darling, come inside" she said. She left her bags in her car. I put my arm around her as she helped me through the door.
"Hey mom, did you get my- TJ?" Cyrus said as he walked down the stairs.
"Go get him some water", she told Cyrus. He went to the fridge and pulled out a water bottle. He handed it to me and asked "what is going on?" I tried to catch my breath.
"Are you hurt?" She asked. I vaguely pointed to my side/rib area.
"I'll go get the Ibuprofen" she ran upstairs.
"TJ, What happened?" Cyrus looked really concerned.
"I came out to my dad", I managed to say, "let's just say he didn't take it well"
"Did he hurt you?"
"Not... physically". Cyrus' mom came back with a bottle of ibuprofen.
"Did you run all the way here?" Cyrus asked. I nodded.
"That's like a whole mile", he said.
"Yep", I groaned in pain.
"Here", his mom moved the pills and water closer to me.
"Should I call your parents?" She asked.
"No", I said as I took the ibuprofen. She seemed to get the reason why I was here.
"Do you want to stay here tonight?" She rubbed my arm.
"My dad will be looking for me", I said.
"Tell me what happened"

I told them the story. I even included the part about my dad calling Cyrus 'manipulative' and how he said 'it's just a phase'. Cyrus and his mom both looked super offended and hurt.

"What do we do?" I asked, "should we tell my mom?"
"What if we get charged for kidnapping a child", said Cyrus. I looked at him confused and then I realized: could they actually get in trouble for keeping me here?"
"Not if his household is considered abusive", she said. That was so weird to hear. I never really thought of my house being an abusive one.
"What about Amber?" Cyrus realized.
"Don't worry guys", she reassured us, "I will take care of everything. If Amber needs to stay here than she is very welcome to"

Cyrus grabbed my hand. I could tell from his face that he could feel my hand shaking. I was still shaking with rage, but I was also worried. What if my dad came to find me? What would he do if he did? What if he took it out on my mom? So many things were going through my head.

"TJ, why don't you go up to Cyrus' room and settle in" she said. Cyrus helped me up the stairs and into his room.

"I wish I was strong enough to carry you", he joked as he put me on the bed, "why do you have to be so tall"
I laid down on his bed and looked up at the ceiling.
"Does your dad know you ran away?" He asked.
"I snuck out my window"
"Did you parkour your way down?"
"Absolutely" we laughed.
"How's your side?", he asked. He moved onto the bed. His bed was a queen so there was room for both of us.
"It really hurts. The pain killers haven't kicked in yet", I said.
"Can I...?", he got a little uncomfortable. I could tell what he was asking though.
"Yeah", I said. I lifted up my sweatshirt so he could see my ribs. He got closer to look.
"They look bruised", he said. I took off my sweatshirt so he could get a better look. I looked down and he was right. My rib area was a bit purple.
"Maybe I shouldn't have lied when I said I was fine", he said.
"None of this is your fault, you know", he said. Maybe amber was right: I think I loved him.
"Cyrus?" I looked at him.
"Yeah?"
I grabbed his chin and leaned in for a kiss. He put his hand on the side of my face and kissed me back. This wasn't 'just a phase'. Cyrus is not 'manipulating' me. All I could hear was Amber in the back of my mind going 'it's true love'.