The Polaroid's on the Wall

Chapter 6: I wanna hold your hand

'Did you want to put that one on here?' I asked, referring to the Polaroid of us holding hands.

He bit his lip, 'If that's ok?'

This time I couldn't even hold back the happiest smile I'd ever shown, 'Yes, that's 100% ok,'

This had him mirroring my wide grin, 'We'll put it last, for chronological purposes,' he nodded, picking it up, lingering on the photo for a little longer than he usually would before glueing it down in the last spot in the bottom right corner.

We glued down all the Polaroid's we could fit on the black papered cardboard until it was completely full. 'What should we do with the rest?'

TJ glanced up at me with a mischievous look in his eye, 'What ones do you want?'

I processed this question for a few seconds before replying, 'All the ones of you in there,'

He was trying to fight a smile but it wasn't working, he searched through the pictures, handing me the ones of him and one of us. After he only had ones of me and one of us, he got a few pins out of his desk drawer. He chose pin colours that kind of matched the photo and stood up on his bed. I moved to the side so he could get to the wall his bed was leaning against.

'That'll leave holes,' I stated as if he didn't know that already.

Looking back at me he shrugged, 'I'm not planning on taking them down.'

TJ pinned the Polaroid's all around the outside of his pride flag until the box was empty. After putting the box back in the drawer, he changed the record on his way to sit back opposite me. We admired the work we'd managed to complete in the almost 2 weeks we'd spent together. The best 2 weeks of my life as far as I'm concerned. He gets me, I feel like he actually understands me. But then...what does all this mean? The holding hands, the flirtatious comments. What does it mean?

'What does this mean?' I asked bluntly, feeling anxiety rise in my chest as the words escaped my tongue.

'What does what mean?'

I slowly moved my hand back to his to intertwine them again, 'This,'

'What do you want it to mean?' He grinned, squeezing my hand.

I smiled shyly, 'I-I want it to mean something,'

TJ's thumb ran across my hand, 'Me too,'

'Really?!'

'Really,'

There was a pause where there was nothing but the hum of the record until TJ finally said it, 'Would you also maybe want to be my boyfriend?'

Euphoria hit me, as I was once again smiling like a goof, 'Yes,'

He ran his free hand through his hair to get it out of his face, 'This project has been more eventful than I thought,'

'I'll say!' I laughed, swinging our hands excitedly, 'Hey ummm...I was kinda surprised when you said you wanted to put the photo on the collage,'

'Yeah?'

'Yeah...I don't know, I just thought you'd want to maintain your image for school like you usually do,' I explained.

He shook his head, 'I'm done with pretending, I just want to be myself from now on,'

I nodded, 'That's very brave Of you...and for the record, I like the real you better,'

TJ ruffled my hair, 'Thanks Cy,'

'What are you going to do about Reed?' My mind cast back to that comment on the record player picture.

He sighed, 'Well, if he doesn't like me anymore then screw him, besides, I have you now,'

I blushed, 'Yup...so now that we're done can we watch a Disney movie?'

TJ rolled his eyes, 'You and fucking Disney,'

I grinned triumphantly, 'My pyjamas are Disney too,'

'You wanna get changed?' He raised his eyebrows.

'Yes!'

                                     ****

It was well past 10 when me and TJ were sat in front of the tv watching Frozen. My all time favourite. Judge me on it but I won't care. It may have just been regular spring weather or something about how realistic the ice looked on screen but either way. I was cold. Shivering, I clutched at myself in attempt to warm up but it wasn't working. TJ was currently sat close to me, but not so close that if someone walked in they'd think we're together. Unfortunately.

It was a few minutes until he realised I was absolutely freezing, he chuckled, 'Would you like me to cuddle you?'

I gave him my best puppy dog eyes, 'If you could...'

His arms pulled me closer to him so I was nuzzled into his chest that was covered with a blue hoodie. 'I actually love your Winnie the Pooh pyjamas by the way,'

Blushing even so, I cringed at myself, 'Mmm, thanks,' The tv glowed a majority of blue as I felt myself growing extremely tired.

I let out a loud, embarrassing yawn that caused TJ to chuckle, 'Do you wanna go to bed?'

'Mmm,' was all I could reply as I was in the mist of sleep and not asleep. Feeling strong arms around me, I was being carried bridal style into his room and was put down on the bed. Without his warmth, I began shivering again, 'Cold,' I murmured. A moment later, I felt clothing being tossed at me. This woke me up a little more as I found the same hoodie I'd worn previously on my lap. Happily, I pulled the hoodie on and snuggled into it. It was so soft, big and comfy. It smelled like him.

TJ sat down beside me and lifted the covers over us both. He scooped me up so I was back in his arms providing me with ultimate heat. I love this. I felt a kiss on my head, 'Goodnight Cyrus,'

'Night Teej,' I whispered back into his hoodie as I made sure I was as close as possible. It still wasn't close enough.

As my brain was about to shut off, it whirred back up again.

Oh my god.

I'm TJ Kippen's boyfriend.