Dancing With Danger ➵Tyrus (COMPLETE)

7

"Amber, hey, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Amber looks around nervously as I motion for her to come over. "Cyrus, what's up?" "I'm not mad at you; I just want to know why you are trying to come between your brother and I. I saw him yesterday at the swings, and Buffy had-" "I'm so sorry, Cy," Amber blurts out. "I'm Andi's girlfriend, and Buffy is Andi's best friend. I had to help her, and I'm so sorry. Please don't fire me; I really need this job. I'll do anything to-" It was my turn to cut Amber off, now. "It's alright, Amber. It is. TJ and I worked everything out. But it's not okay that Buffy is getting away with manipulating you, Andi, and probably the others. I can't believe we were ever friends." Amber seems to sigh in relief, nodding her head in agreement. "You have done so much for your friends. Perhaps it's time for your true friends to show you what you really mean to them."

TJ and I are going to hang out tonight. He's picking me up at nine, but nobody is home so I don't bother letting anyone know. I tell TJ he can even come over for a quick house tour, if he wants--he quickly texts back 'ok'. I can tell when he's arrived because I hear the loud roar of his motorcycle, causing me to perk up and run for the front door. When I open it, TJ lets a gasp escape his lips...kind of like the gasp he made when we locked eyes on his first day of school. "You look amazing, Cy. Like, wow." I roll my eyes and smile at him, avoiding the compliment as best as possible. "You look wow too, Teej. What's new? Come inside!" He steps inside and looks around, clearly taken aback by his surroundings. In a moment of boldness, I swiftly grab his hand and lead him upstairs.

"This...is exactly what I would expect your room to look like," TJ lets out with a chuckle. I look around sheepishly, taking in the surroundings of my room. The walls are bright white, and my bedspread is violet. A huge rainbow flag is pinned to one of the walls, which my parents got for me when I came out to them back in middle school. "Relax, underdog, I love it," TJ reassures me, his hand resting on my shoulder. My eyes travel to his hand and I reach for it, TJ immediately intertwining our fingers in response. He walks us over to gently touch the flag on the wall, smiling as he tells me he has the same one at his house. His sister, Amber, has the lesbian pride flag--which I personally think is a pretty one. "I'm glad your new home is accepting of who you and Amber are, Teej," I breathe out. He simply nods in response and grins, pulling me in closer so we're practically chest to chest. "Come here."

An hour later, we're sprawled across my bedroom floor and watching Hairspray. I know we were probably supposed to leave as soon as my "house tour" was over, but TJ convinced me to turn a movie on since nobody was home anyway. How could I say no to him? "Underdog," TJ begins, snapping me out of my internal performance of "Without Love". "Ah, yes, TJ?" "I really, really like being around you. Thanks for not letting my 'bad guy' reputation get in the way of our...friendship." I raised my eyebrows at him, propping myself up on my elbows to get a better look at him. "You hesitated when you said 'friendship'. Are we not friends?" TJ blushed deep red at this, shaking his head vigorously. "No, no, it's not that! Actually, Cyrus, I hesitated because I really, really need to tell you something." My eyes grow wide as I silently shout prayers, hoping that TJ's about to say the words I've been wanting to say to him since...since I met him. "Cyrus, I-"

*SLAM*

"Cyrus Goodman, what on Earth are you doing with that delinquent of a child in our household?"