Andi Mack One Shots

Tyrus: Timeline

It was a stormy November afternoon in the small town of Shadyside, Utah. 7-year-old TJ Kippen was staring at 6 ½-year-old Cyrus Goodman, who was slowly rocking himself back and forth underneath the classroom's coloring table. His big, brown eyes were flooded with tears and soft whimpers escaped his throat.

"Are you okay?"
Cyrus looks up and sees that a blonde boy with bright, green eyes is frowning at him. TJ, Cyrus internally recalls. Cyrus shakes his head in response. "I hate thunder. It's scary."

Suddenly, small arms are wrapping around Cyrus' body and he melts into the warmth. "It's okay," TJ whispers. "I'll protect you. Do you want to play a game?"

Cyrus nods and allows a small smile to tug at his lips. "What games do you like?"

TJ thinks this over for a moment. "I mostly like basketball, but we should stay inside and play something else. I don't want you to get scared or hurt outside." Cyrus smiles gratefully in return, and his eyes meet TJ's. "Do you like 'house'?" Cyrus asks after careful thought. "How do you play that?" TJ asks, crinkling his nose.

"Well, there's two people that pretend to be married and then they work, and cook food, and go to sleep." TJ grins devilishly at this. "So, you and I are gonna be married?" Cyrus laughs in return. "Yeah! I'll make you lunch for work just like my mommy does for my daddy." "Okay," TJ responds. "Let's play! You're my husband and I'm your husband!"

The two boys run off towards the big, plastic playhouse in the corner of the classroom. Cyrus tries to tie a knot in the apron around his waist, but fails and lets it fall to the floor. He runs to the fridge to grab a plastic sandwich and hands it to TJ. "Bye-bye, honey! Here is a sandwich for lunch! Please have a good day!" TJ and Cyrus laugh at this, and a realization crosses TJ's mind.

"My mommy and daddy always kiss before my mommy leaves for work," he says with a giggle. Both boys are starting to crack up and Cyrus grabs TJ's face to plant a tiny kiss on his nose. This sends the boys into absolute hysterics. "I love you, honey!" Cyrus exclaims between laughter. TJ hands Cyrus a plastic muffin that's been lying on the plastic dining table. "Here's your lunch for the day. I love you, muffin!"

***

"Whatcha playing?" Cyrus asks, obnoxiously jutting his head over TJ's shoulder to check out what game is playing on his Nintendo 3DS. Fire Emblem. Cool. TJ jerks his console away from Cyrus' gaze and feigns annoyance. "You're so annoying, muffin. You never change, do you?" Cyrus grins wickedly and climbs up on the couch to rest his head on TJ's shoulder. "What's that supposed to mean?" Cyrus laughs. "We're fourteen, Cyrus. Surely, it's not normal for two friends-" "best friends," Cyrus interjects. "Yes, okay, best friends...to be this clingy." Cyrus shrugs and his eyebrows knit together. "So, maybe we're more than best friends!"

TJ's face turns crimson red at this. "Uh- what do you mean by that?"

"Like...we're best BEST friends!" Cyrus laughs, lightly nuzzling his head against TJ's shoulder. TJ lets out an exaggerated huff. Perhaps now would be a good time to tell Cyrus about what's been on his mind for a long time. How do you even tell someone that you're gay? How do you even open that conversation?

"So," TJ says after clearing his throat awkwardly. "Fire Emblem: Fates is pretty cool, y'know. There's, um, a gay partner option, actually. I think that's pretty, uh, great."

Cyrus practically springs up from the couch. "What? No way! That's so cool. Representation like that is so important. I love that." I love you, TJ thinks to himself. Um, whoa. Where did that come from? "Yeah, it is pretty awesome. That actually reminds me of something I needed to talk to you about..."

Cyrus' interest is piqued. "Oh? What's up, Teej?"

"Well, you know, we're talking about representation and-"

Suddenly, an obnoxious buzz fills the tension between the two. "My mom's here, I'm so sorry Teej. I have to go! I promise we'll finish this conversation. I want to hear what you have to say."

TJ nods solemnly and hugs Cyrus goodbye, who then reaches out to 'boop' TJ's nose. "Bye-bye, basketball guy!"

"Bye, muffin."

***

"I'm actually going to rip that guy's head off," TJ growls, his face red with anger. "Calm down, TJ. Cyrus is totally going to be fine," Buffy says as smoothly as she can muster. "This clown really thinks he can stand Cyrus up and break his heart like that? His face is about to meet my fist. I'm going to The Spoon to find Cyrus first."

Buffy rushes to keep pace with TJ, who's already on his way to find Cyrus at the diner. "TJ, why are you so worked up over this guy? Cyrus will find another guy; he'll be o-"

"I don't want him to find another guy! Don't you get that?" TJ bursts. "I want him to find me and realize that I love him! I'll always love him!"

Buffy suddenly stands still in smug silence. "I knew it! GO GET YOUR MAN, TJ!!!!!"

At The Spoon, Cyrus is sitting in a big red booth all alone, lazily sipping on a chocolate milkshake and scrolling through Pinterest. Look at all the couple goals, Cyrus thinks to himself. I want that...

Suddenly, a tall figure plops itself down across from him, and Cyrus is almost hopeful that it's Nick-- the guy that stood him up. It's TJ, smiling sadly and carefully holding out a chocolate muffin like it's something sacred. "Can I sit?" TJ asks softly, eyeing Cyrus with a yearning gaze. "You're already sitting," Cyrus replies, chuckling slightly. "You heard about Nick?"

TJ nods. "I swear, I'm going to punch the lights out of that-" Cyrus rests his hands on TJ's from across the table, which seems to stop TJ mid-sentence. "TJ, it's okay. I didn't really care for Nick anyway."

"You didn't?" TJ asks, voice perhaps a bit too eager...a bit too hopeful. "No," Cyrus laughs, not recognizing the eager edge to TJ's tone. "All these guys I go on silly little dates with...they don't mean anything. They're not...they're not the guy that I love. You know? They're not who I belong with."

"You love somebody?" TJ asks, his fingers unconsciously beginning to intertwine with Cyrus'. "You're my best BEST friend of 10 years, and you haven't told me about loving anybody!"

Cyrus smiles sadly up at TJ. "Because if you knew that I love you, you might never talk to me again."

***

"Do you remember the day you told me you were in love with me?" TJ asks, lazily combing his fingers through Cyrus' hair. "Of course; we were at The Spoon and I was on the verge of tears. But then you told me that you had always been in love with me," Cyrus confirms thoughtfully. "I wanted to tell you that day when we were playing video games and your head was resting on my shoulder. You left before I found the courage to tell you, but then you called me over Skype to tell me that you were gay," TJ explains. "I felt so much hope, and fear, and pride for you. I didn't want to take away from your moment by tacking my own coming out onto yours. And then we met Andi, Buffy, and Jonah. Every guy in school wanted to date you and it seemed like I could never quite reach you."

Cyrus kisses his husband's cheek and nods slowly. "I'm so happy you told me everything at The Spoon that day. Telling me that you were gay and loved me, too. I felt so much relief flooding my soul. I just knew, somehow, that we were meant to be from the beginning. It's like everything just clicked into place at that moment."

"And then our first kiss..." TJ replies, grinning devilishly. Cyrus laughs and lightly swats at TJ. "It was perfect, wasn't it?"

"Every kiss with you is perfect, muffin," TJ replies, earning a few light kisses from Cyrus in response.

So the two men lay in bed snuggled together, on a stormy November afternoon in the small town of Shadyside, Utah. 23-year-old TJ Kippen was gazing at 22 ½-year-old Cyrus Goodman, who was nuzzling his head into TJ's neck. But this time, Cyrus did not feel fear. In its place was pride, joy, warmth...

love.