A.N.: Happy New Year everyone! This is the part one of the final chapter of The Kippens, and it takes place during junior year prom. The second part skips forward to graduation.
It was really interesting to write a future Tyrus story. I really love the trope of fighting then reconciling years later, it seems.
I hope to have wrapped up everyone's story here. Without further ado, here's the last chapter!
A whirlwind of a year it's been. Transferring schools, reuniting with old friends, making new friends, and dating the guy I've loved for years... I wouldn't give any of it up.
I worked my way to co-captaincy near the end of the season, when we were undefeated. We kicked some serious ass in championships. Now that my co-captain's graduating, I get to take over as the only captain next year.
Andrew and Andi started dating a few months ago. I was always curious as to who my brother liked, because he never talked about it. But they met after Walker and Jonah got together, and they seriously clicked. She still feels like she has to justify that even though she's only dated guys, she's still pansexual.
I remember that day when she came out to Iris, Amber, Marty, Cyrus, and Buffy:
We're all hanging out at the Quinn's home for a party. After Mrs. Quinn and Mr. Quinn started doing better financially, they decided to get a house. Andi's grandfather, Ham, passed away of a heart attack a few months after I left Shadyside, and the Quinn's didn't want to leave Andi's grandmother alone at the Mack residence. They decided to buy the house right next door, with a connecting backyard.
As usual, there's a game of Never Have I Ever. Those are pretty funny.
"Never have I ever... kissed a girl," Buffy says.
Iris, Amber, Marty, Cyrus, AJ, DJ, and I knock back a shot of ginger ale (the Quinn's are cool, but not that cool). They look at me and I shrug, "Sarah Campbell in 10th grade. It was a dare."
DJ gets the next look, and she laughs, "I'm bi. I've made out with a bunch of guys and girls."
AJ receives the final look and he gasps in mock exasperation, "I'm very much straight, thank you very much."
They laugh and turn back to the rest of the group. Unfortunately, we see Andi conflicted over taking a shot herself. She isn't paying attention when she finally does and looks up to see us all looking at her.
"Andi?" Cyrus, Iris, and Buffy ask.
"You don't have to explain if you don't want to," Amber says, trying to reassure Andi.
Andi shakes her head, "I'm okay, Amber."
Buffy and Cyrus take her hands in support. I can see Amber fighting off the urge to support her. Andi takes a deep breath, "In 8th grade, Amber and I kissed."
Everyone looks at Amber, but don't say anything. Andi looks relieved and continues, "She thought there was potentially something that could happen between us and she kissed me. I told her it didn't feel like there was anything, and we moved on."
The others accept the explanation, but I know better. Buffy and Cyrus start to say something, but she stops them, "But I lied. It was the best kiss I ever had. It made me realize something that I tried to fight myself from understanding before, that I was pansexual."
The first thing that happens is the sound of guttural sobs. We look over to see Amber sobbing hard. Andi starts to talk, "Amber, I'm sorry-"
She says shakily, "No. I get you have an explanation, but I really liked you then, Andi. And even though I acted like I was okay, I went home and cried. I thought I had a chance with you until then, and it hurts to know when someone who you just shared an amazing kiss with thinks that it meant nothing. Congrats on coming out, but it's too early to ask for forgiveness."
Amber darts out the door, Iris on her tail. Cyrus stands up, "Sorry guys, but I really should go with her. I'm proud of you for coming out, though."
"Yeah, we'll get going too," Buffy and Marty say. They both hug her to show support and leave.
"You know, Never Have I Ever shouldn't ever have such a weird question. It forces people to come out before they want to," Danielle says and Andi smiles weakly.
"Yeah, I would be really embarrassed if they asked if anyone's ever kissed a guy. I know I'm very straight, but there was a guy in Germany who was just too attractive. But then we kissed and you can guess what happened next. All I can say was that I felt like Blaine after kissing Rachel, but like the opposite type of attraction," AJ says, trying to lighten the mood.
Andi starts to laugh, "Thanks for making me feel better."
"It's what we do best," we say in synch.
Eventually, Amber and Andi fixed things. But they were never meant to be, because Amber truly loved Iris. But that was okay. Now my brother and Andi are having a great time at prom.
Sloane surprised Danielle by coming to the prom. It was strange seeing her in something other than her hip hop outfits, but she cleaned up niely. Danielle seemed almost wistful when she saw her.
"Hey Teej, let's dance?"
I'm snapped out of my thoughts through the sound of Cyrus' voice. I nod and get up, "Let's do this."
He slips his hand in mine and we make it to the floor, just as a slow song starts. Cyrus looks at me sheepishly, "I have to admit something. I can't slow dance."
"That's okay. Just follow my lead, okay?" I say.
I put my hand on his waist and put his on my shoulder. I reach the hands we've intertwined out, and lead him through the simple box step. As we do it, Cyrus relaxes, and we have fun. It's truly the most fun I've ever had at a dance.
We dance to a whole bunch of songs, basking in each other's presence. Finally, Cyrus pulls away, "I'm going to take a breather. I'll bring you a coke?"
"Yes, thank you," I say.
I start to head off to our table but have my hand grabbed before I can go more than a few steps. I turn to see Sloane, "Hey Tommy, let's go put on a show for the others, for old time's sake."
"I don't know..."
She reaches up to whisper in my ear, "Danielle's been having a rough time lately. If we dance for the whole crowd, maybe she'll want to open up about what's wrong."
"If you're sure," I decide.
We grab a few of the Grant Jetés and go into a huddle to figure out what we're going to perform. After several moments of deliberation, we decide on performing Fresh, a song Sloane choreographed for the Strimas to perform at our talent show but which Danielle also used for Regionals this year.
The crowd appears to love it, except Danielle. She runs off to some secluded corner. I catch Andrew's eye and motion with my eyes to go to Danielle. Sloane and I follow.
Danielle refuses to meet her eyes when she tells her reason why she's down, "I want to go back home. To Pasadena."
"Deej?" Andrew asks.
"I didn't grow up here. Andrew, you only went to Germany in 7th grade. Before we moved this year, I had no memory of this place. You both think of this as home, but I don't. I tried so hard to find reasons to stay, but I just can't. Nationals are coming up, and we're facing the Strimas. Sloane coming tonight and you dancing to the song that was originally the Strimas' song cemented the fact that I don't want to compete against them, I want to dance with them as a Strima again. I'm sorry," she says, and I understand her.
"How can you be so selfish, Danielle Jane! We stayed in Pasadena originally for you. We helped you with dance choreography and your dance auditions. The one time we ask you for something, you decide to leave us?" Andrew erupts.
"Andy..." she pleads.
He shakes his head, "Fine, do what you want. But don't expect me to be there for anything you do in Pasadena."
With those words, he practically runs away to Andi. I turn to Danielle, who looks as if her heart's broken, "Deej, if you want to go back, I don't blame you. I don't know what's gotten into Andrew."
"I should've expected it," she says. She leans against the wall, "Thomas, Andrew and I haven't gotten along for a long time. We fight a lot. I don't think he ever got used to the idea of having a sister because he grew up with you. You are literally the only thing that keeps us together sometimes. I know you want us to be the perfect Kippen Trio like we were in Pasadena, but I don't think that's going to happen. I'm sorry."
"I guess I've just been really blind to everything that's happened in the last few years, then," I say, trying to process.
"When mom and dad decided to move us all back to Shadyside halfway through the year, Andrew and I reached a new low in our relationship. The first few months, we only associated to make you happy. We bounced back eventually, but I don't know if we can come back from it. I don't think he wants to pretend to be okay anymore."
I'm saved from responding with Cyrus' arrival, "You guys put on an awesome performance!"
"Thanks," we say, but neither of us have any heart in it.
"Is it okay if I steal TJ away?" he asks.
"Please," I say and I go with him.
He leads me to our table, "Is everything okay?"
I sigh, "Danielle wants to move back to Pasadena and apparently she and Andrew have never been close. So now Andrew's so pissed at her that they might just disown each other as siblings."
His first reaction is to pull me into a hug. I clutch him tightly, having not realized how much I needed it. He says soothingly, "I've got you."
"They were trying to keep it together for me. I wanted normalcy so badly that I forced my siblings to interact when they didn't want to. And now this family won't be the Kippens as they were before."
"TJ, it's not your fault. I hurt you, remember? I abandoned you when you needed be the most, and you didn't have your siblings as emotional support. So when you got to be with all of them again, you let out the need for emotional support on the two of them. It's natural. And siblings aren't always going to be close. It happens, it's natural."
"You always know what to say to make me feel better," I say.
"It's what happens when you have four parents who are all therapists," he says.
"You sound like you have experience with the sibling thing," I ask after I start to feel better.
"I...do," he says and sits down, facing me, "I have twin sisters, Courtney and Candace. They're 21. We were close until the divorce. At first, the arrangement was that Mom got full custody of Courtney and Candace and Dad got me. Courtney, Candace, and mom moved to Utah, so I didn't see my sisters until I started middle school, when my parents changed their arrangement to shared custody. By then, Courtney and Candace basically thought of themselves as the only siblings. We had become nothing more than distant relatives, even though we were so close as kids. It's why I started to spend more time with Amber. She essentially took the place of my sisters."
A.N:
Courtney Goodman:
Candace Goodman:
They're identical twins, so they have the same actress.
"Oh, Cyrus, I'm so sorry."
He accepts the hug I give him, takes a sip of his punch, then talks again, "I wish things were different. But I've learned to accept that that close sibling bond I now have with Amber is not something I could have with them. Maybe one day we'll meet at one of our houses and celebrate Hanukkah together, but that's likely the closest we'll ever get."
"You know, people used to think I was Amber's brother?"
"Really?" he snorts.
"Yeah. I would go to see games at Grant and people would ask me 'are you Amber's brother'? It was funny. I think it was because of the hair."
"And her last name used to be Kipnis, which I guess is similar to Kippen. Does she know?"
"Yeah, I told her that at the party we had at Andi's. She laughed with me for like ten minutes."
He laughs again, "You're trying to brighten the mood, aren't you? You're the one who was about to cry like five minutes ago and now you're trying to cheer me up."
"I would do anything to make you happy, muffin."
"You called me muffin," he says, a blush tinting his cheeks.
"It's how we met, isn't it?"
"That's true. Wait, was that story about people thinking you two were siblings true?"
"No, but Danielle has commented that she could easily pass off as a Kippen sibling before to us."
"Eh, I think your version of the story's cooler. Also, there's fondue, and there's no one at the refreshments area. Want to get something?"
"Hell yeah, let's do it."
We "delicately" gouge ourselves on chocolate fondue, sliders, chips, and other such delicious nonsense. I'm done with basketball for the season, and there's really no reason to stay on the dance team if Danielle's not going to be on it (since I joined for her), so for once I'm not worrying too much about the amount I'll need to work out to burn these calories.
While heading back to our table, the DJ speaks, "Okay, the last two songs of the night are about to play. Grab that special someone and get back on the dance floor."
I turn to Cyrus, "Can I have this dance, muffin?"
"I'd be honored, Teej."
We dance the fast song and the final song, a slow song, together. As the last song nears its end, I press my forehead against his and I say the words I've known for years, "I love you, Cyrus Josiah Goodman."
"I love you too, Thomas Jacob Kippen," he says back, and we kiss, giddy from admitting our love for each other.
Prom ends soon after. Andrew, Andi, Marty, Buffy, Danielle, Sloane, Cyrus, and I pile into the limo we took to prom. Andrew and Danielle sit as far away from each other as possible. I'm sure that if they had another way to get home, they would have used it. But it doesn't matter to me tonight.
Cyrus loves me.