Not-So-Scary Basketball Boyfriend | Tyrus

8

"Mom!" yelled an anxious TJ down the stairs while he hopped around his room putting on one of his sneakers.

"Yes, baby?"

"Have you seen my sweatshirt?"

"It's 90 degrees out, Thel," she called back, though she sounded more than a little confused. "And I thought you were supposed to wear your jersey to school on game days anyway."

"We do. It's not for me." His mother went quiet at the admission. He hadn't wanted to mention Cyrus especially when he knew his mother would be seeing him at the game that afternoon, but he wasn't sure what else to say. When she spoke up again she was standing in his doorway, keys in hand.

"You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend," she sounded excited yet restrained as if she didn't want to push his boundaries.

"I don't," he clarified truthfully.

"It's been so obvious! I should have realized." TJ froze at her words.

"W-what's so obvious?"

"That you like someone. Now you want her to wear your hoodie to the game so you match. That's adorable, baby."

"Mom, that's not...I'm not..." It was impossible for TJ to stop the blood that rose to his cheeks even as he denied her claims. She was right. Mostly. "It's not like that."

She smiled at him like she knew he was lying even if he wasn't. Her eyes roamed around his room before something caught her attention. When TJ looked over to see what she was staring at he noticed one of the plastic dinosaurs Cyrus had given him sitting next to his alarm clock. He wanted to open his mouth and say something...anything, but he stood in frozen terror as she furrowed her brows and opened her mouth.

"I think Cyrus has your hoodie," she said finally.

"What?" TJ finally coughed out. His mom laughed at him and nodded her head as the memory came back to her.

"Yeah, the other night when you had your little movie night. I gave him the sweatshirt that was by the piano to wear home 'cause it was so cold out."

TJ was speechless for the third time in as many minutes. His mother took his silence as disapproval and walked into his room a further. She reached up to rub a thumb over his forehead while looking into his eyes with concern.

"Sorry, bubba. I didn't even think about how that would look and—"

"No, Mom, it's fine. Promise. It just took me by surprise is all"

"Well you can ask him to give it back so you can give it to the girl you like. Knowing him, he's probably already washed it and just forgotten to give it back." She ran a hand through TJ's much less slicked back hair and sent him a supportive smile. That look almost had him spilling all his secrets, but then his phone rang with a message from Cyrus and he could feel his breathing return to normal.

"He can keep it," said TJ when his mom finally kissed his forehead and moved to head back down the stairs. "I really was just wondering where I'd put it."

"You sure?"

"Yes," he smiled unconvincingly. "Positive."

He cringed inwardly when his voice cracked. She looked at him with confusion then stepped back into his room. She laid a hand against his cheek so that she could look directly into his eyes. "Are you okay, Thel?"

TJ wanted to shy away from the attention. He knew he was a terrible liar, but he wasn't sure he was ready for this. For telling her the truth. For telling his mother he'd been lying to her. That Cyrus was his boyfriend and he was ecstatic and terrified all at once. He smiled at her nervously and hoped she wouldn't ask. Not now. Not before school. Not before the first game of the season when everyone was going to be staring at him and he had nowhere to hide.

He'd never meant to make his sexuality into some kind of secret, but he figured old habits die hard. His joking confession during basketball practice weeks ago was still following him around school in the form of rumors. He ignored them usually, but something told him he wouldn't be able to today and he doesn't think he could deal with all of that on top of a worried mother.

"I'm fine, Mom," he said and meant it. She smiled at him again placing another kiss on his forehead. Then one on each cheek until he chuckled. He felt lighter and heavier all at once. She always knew how to make him smile, yet it killed him to look at her and not tell the truth. He wanted to cry. He wanted to scream. He needed to see Cyrus.

* * *

The first basketball game of the season was falling upon them without much fanfare. Or at least that's what Buffy had said. Cyrus was excited and he didn't know too much about basketball to tell whether the rest of the student body was as excited as him or not.

"What do you think?" He asked Buffy as they walked down the hallway towards their lockers together. "Sweatshirt or fan jersey?"

"Sweatshirt?"

"Yeah, I thought so too, but--"

"No, Cyrus," said Buffy, stopping him with a hand on his shoulder. "I mean what sweatshirt?"

"TJ's?"

"TJ Kippen gave you his team sweatshirt?"

"Uh...Well, his mom gave it to me before I went home. Should I not--"

"Cyrus! Do you know what this means?"

"That I should...give him his sweatshirt back?"

"No! It means he likes you."

"I'm his boyfriend," Cyrus said as if she forgot. "Of course he likes me."

"Well of course he likes you; everyone likes you. But this means he wants everyone to know he likes you! You know, that you're dating or whatever."

He looked towards his locker, where the outerwear in question hung unceremoniously, before turning back to her with an eyebrow raised. "I think it's just a sweatshirt."

"You remember when Jonah gave Amber the bracelet?"

"How could I not!?" he gasped out. "Andi was heartbroken."

"This is like that," Buffy explained, nudging him along so they're walking to their lockers again. "He wants you to wear his sweatshirt so everyone knows you're dating and he must have told his mom because he was too scared to do it himself."

"Scared? TJ?"

"I know," she laughed. "If I didn't know how he was around you I wouldn't believe it either."

"You mean like how you get with Marty?"

"I'm going to pretend I never heard that."

"Just because you can't hear it doesn't mean I didn't say it," he teased. They both laughed but once they had calmed down she raised her eyebrows at him and Cyrus looked back towards his locker. "Maybe it isn't just a sweatshirt."

"Welcome back to high school, Doctor Goodman," Buffy said jokingly, but she threw an arm over his shoulder comfortingly. The weight of it both familiar and calming as they made their way down the hall.

-&-

hey futher muckers

as always, not beta read. any mistakes are mine, so kindly lemme know if any catch your eye

i hope you're all doing well and staying safe
it's been a hell of a year

so this fic is over halfway finished now, thoughts?
questions? comments? concerns?
lemme know!

thanks so much for reading
love y'all
black lives matter ✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿

-- angel janeé xoxo 💋