Not-So-Scary Basketball Boyfriend | Tyrus

9

Cyrus had his sweatshirt. Cyrus had his sweatshirt. Cyrus had TJ's sweatshirt and he was absolutely freaking out.

"I'm confused," said Reed leaning back in his desk chair, trying to balance it on just two legs. "I thought you wanted to give Cyrus your sweatshirt for the game? Thought you wanted everyone to know you guys were official or whatever."

"Yeah, but that was before I knew my mom was coming."

"So?"

"So!?" TJ said incredulously."So she's going to see Cyrus in my sweatshirt and she's going to either think he forgot to give it back to me and mention how I wanted to give it to my nonexistent girlfriend—"

"Or?"

"—or she's going to assume that we're dating."

"Which you are."

"But she doesn't know that!"

"So she'll find out..?"

"But I don't want her to find out like this ."

"Tee, I know you're kind of high strung or whatever right now, but listen to yourself, man," Reed said slamming down onto all four chair legs earning a glare from the teacher which he ignores. "Aunt Gwen loves you. Nothing is going to stop her from loving you."

"You don't know that."

"I do. And you do too."

"What if she thinks it's his fault? What if she hates him?"

"It may be actually impossible for anyone to hate Cyrus. Especially parents."

"Well—"

"You're going to be okay, TJ. And I mean, you could always just tell her before the game. Get it off your chest."

"You're right." TJ nodded, steeling his resolve. They still had a few more minutes before class started. He pulled his phone out, walking into the hallway, and calling his mom without giving himself a chance to back down.

Hello? Thel? Aren't you at school right now? Is something wrong? Are you okay?

"Hey, mom. Yeah, I'm at school. I'm fine. Everything's fine. I just..." He sucked in a breath and looked over through the classroom door at Reed who nodded at him in support, holding up both of his thumbs. "There's something I uh...something I wanted to tell you before you came out to my game tonight."

Yeah, Bubba, what's going on? Are you sure you're okay?

"Yeah. I'm good I uh...actually, mom, I'm uh..." he cleared his throat and stood up a little more confidently in the emptying hallway. "I'm gay."

Oh, responded his mother and he didn't think it sounded like she'd decided to disown him on the sheer principle alone. Well, that's—

"And uh...Cyrus is my boyfriend. I mean, I'm his boyfriend too. We're uh...we're dating."

Oh, she said again as if she was still searching for something to say that could express how she actually felt. TJ hung up the phone before he could hear anything else from her and rushed back into the classroom, the door slamming shut behind him just as the bell rings. He stuffed his phone into his pocket and sat in his seat looking anywhere but Reed's surprised yet expectant face.

Class seemed to move both too fast and much too slow after that. He felt his phone buzz a couple of times in his pocket and it only calmed him down a small amount. It was clear his mom wasn't going to call him back and force him to talk to her, even though there was more that she wanted to say.

"Alright, that's all I have for you all today," said the English teacher, Mr. Collins through what sounds like cotton stuffed in TJ's ears. "Remember your essays are due next week! How has Grant met your expectations of high school so far? No less than a thousand words."

The sound of the bell ringing pierces through the room, yanking TJ from his daze. There are only a couple of hours left between him and the basketball game from Hell. Reed is at his side as they make their way down the halls, but he can't stop his thoughts from spiraling until he runs into someone, knocking the books out of both of their hands.

"Dude, I am so sorry. I wasn't even looking where I was—" He's scrambling to pick up books, paper, notebooks, and pencils without even looking for a name to separate the papers correctly.

"TJ?"

TJ had been so worried about what he would do if his mom saw Cyrus in his sweatshirt that he hadn't taken the time to figure out what he'd do seeing Cyrus in his sweatshirt now that they're actually officially dating.

So of course that is what's happening.

Cyrus is wearing TJ's basketball sweatshirt and TJ can't keep his eyes off of him even as the equivalent of a frenzied field of fireflies feels to be fluttering away in his stomach.

"Underdog!"

"The one and only. At least I think I am..." When TJ doesn't reply or laugh or move beyond staring in awe at how cute his boyfriend looks in his hoodie, he can feel Cyrus start to look a bit more concerned. "Uh, Teej? Is everything okay? You looked like you were in a rush."

"You're wearing my sweatshirt," TJ says because he has to say something and that's still the only thought running through his head.

"Yeah, your mom gave it to me the last time I stayed over. Is that okay?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" The inside of TJ's head is screaming a million and one reasons why Cyrus should take the sweatshirt off right now and never touch it again within a million miles of the school, but all of those reasons sound like the dumb guys back at the park teasing them. Sounds like Kira plucking at his feelings for Cyrus and not letting up. Sounds like self-hatred he hasn't felt since he first realized he might be gay or when he found out he had dyscalculia or the gun incident or any of the times he let Cyrus walk away from him.

He opens his mouth to try and put any of those thoughts into words, but Cyrus speaks and makes it easier than he ever thought it could be.

"I know we're in high school now and there are a lot of unspoken rules, but between just me and you, is this okay? Me wearing this to the game?"

"It's better than okay."

"Then I will." Cyrus shrugs as if it's just that easy and grabs TJ's hand to walk with him.

"Cyrus," TJ says through an awed breath. "You don't have to do this."

"But I want to."

TJ squeezes his boyfriend's hand a little tighter and together they head down the hall.

-&-

hey futher muckers

per usual, not beta read. any mistakes are mine

sooo can't say i'm going to come back super soon...summer school and work and moving and then regular school

*sigh* issa whole thing i gots going on

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

-- angel janeé xoxo 💋