Canoeing.
It was something that Cyrus had grown to dread over the years, and for good reason. He wasn't overly athletic, and his arms would begin burning about 2 seconds into paddling. He also had an unfortunate history of dropping the paddle into the water (he could safely place the blame on Jonah for one of those times, because the boy had made him laugh so hard he was practically wheezing.) And really - sue him for thinking that canoeing became tedious after a while.
Amber had insisted on a single-person canoe for herself (Cyrus couldn't help but think there was an ulterior motive there, but he didn't question it), which left him and TJ with a two-person canoe.
Admittedly, the lake they were at was beautiful, and the surrounding scenery was even more beautiful, but he really couldn't concentrate on that when he was currently climbing into a canoe with TJ. His crush - as his brain had reminded him multiple times already.
"You're smaller, so you should probably go in the front."
He gave a quick nod, before carefully stepping into the canoe. TJ had his arms out, seemingly ready to catch him in case he fell.
"You don't trust me?" he teased.
"Of course I do! I'm just being a good friend."
He rolled his eyes at that. Embarrassingly enough, he did end up losing his balance slightly as he went to sit down, and he ended up grabbing onto TJ's hand to steady himself.
"I did that on purpose," he insisted, quickly sitting down before he could embarrass himself further.
"Did what on purpose?" TJ smiled, climbing in after him.
Cyrus couldn't help but return the smile.
Once they were safely inside the canoe, Mr. Kippen gave him a push and they were on their way. Kind of.
"I hope you know that you're about 10 times stronger than me," He said, glancing back at the boy.
"Psh, I bet that's not true. But...I'll go lightly, okay?"
Eventually, after a few near paddle drops on Cyrus' end, they were able to make their paddling relatively synchronised. TJ managed to accommodate for his lack of strength, and they were able to pick up their speed.
"This is actually kinda fun!" he called, and it was true. As it turns out - going at a comfortable pace helped in the non-existent strength department, and the surrounding area really was beautiful now that he was paying more attention. All of the colours around them were vibrant in a way that was rare where they lived. The lake was one of the bluest lakes he had seen in a while, and the surrounding forest was a sea of dark green pine trees.
"Cyrus Goodman? Having fun while canoeing? What universe is this?"
The responding laughter brought a fond smile to TJ's lips that Cyrus missed completely.
"Do you wanna stop for a second?" the other boy asked suddenly.
Cyrus nodded, carefully lifting his paddle out of the water and manoeuvring himself so that he was faced TJ. The canoe came to a stop, rocking gently as the athlete lifted his own paddle out of the water.
"Hi."
The athlete grinned. "Hey. How's it going?"
"Not bad. Tell me - how strong are your drawing urges right now?"
"So strong." he responded, keeping his gaze firmly on Cyrus.
Cyrus' stomach swooped at that, and he ducked his head to conceal the blush he just knew was on his face. "The scenery does look pretty nice." he mumbled.
"You look pretty nice."
He couldn't help but look up then, his eyes widened in alarm.
"I mean - uh - you are pretty nice. You're a nice person." TJ stuttered.
"That's not what you meant!" Cyrus laughed.
"Hey - you know what we should do? Start canoeing again!" The boy announced, grabbing his paddle.
Cyrus gave him an incredulous look, but he turned back around with an amused smile nonetheless.
"You're a liar, TJ Kippen."
"And what about it, Cyrus Goodman?"
That earnt him another disbelieving look.
~
That afternoon found them scavenging the forest for sticks. Although - Cyrus used the term 'them' lightly, because it was really just him doing the stick collecting.
"You know, we'd probably have enough sticks by now if you weren't stopping every two seconds to take photos of the animals!" he called over his shoulder.
TJ huffed. "Oh come on, you're the photographer here, aren't you supposed to be excited about all these photo opportunities?"
"We promised your parents we'd be back soon with sticks!"
"We've only been out for 20 minutes!"
"Yeah - that definitely counts as 'soon!'"
All he heard was the sound of footsteps after that, so he turned around with an exasperated sigh. "Come on, let's - oh..."
TJ was close now. Far closer than he had sounded a few moments ago. The look he was giving him now was heart-melting to say the least, and Cyrus very nearly forgot why they were out there in the first place.
Neither of them spoke for a few long moments, and the silence seemed to make him about ten times more aware of the all the sounds coming from the forest.
"We should uh...get a few more sticks so we can head back." He murmured, not moving at all.
"Yeah." TJ agreed, and there was that damn low tone again.
They lingered for a moment longer, reluctant to tear their gazes from one another, but TJ eventually stepped back with a teasing smile.
"Let's go then, shall we?"
Cyrus looked after the boy as he walked away, his expression disbelieving.
That jerk had to know what he was doing.
~
There were a lot of things that Cyrus despised about camping. The insects, the terrifying animals, the air mattresses, the communal bathroom blocks, the total lack of privacy and the dirt, which seemed to get all over his clothes no matter how hard he tried.
However, there were also things he liked about this camping trip in particular, and they could all be traced back to a certain basketball-playing, chalk-loving boy.
As he discovered later on that night around the campfire, TJ's family were all fun people to be around. Mr. Kippen played the guitar and he had no issue with initiating sing-alongs despite his very questionable singing abilities. Mrs. Kippen had no problem with joining in on these sing-alongs, and she was nothing but kind and accommodating towards Cyrus. Amber was...well, she was Amber. Kind, funny and very sarcastic; especially when it came to her brother.
Eventually, when the sun had well and truly set, they stopped adding sticks to the fire so that it could burn out. Amber very pointedly told her parents that they should probably retire for the night, which left Cyrus and TJ alone by the dwindling fire.
The glow it was casting only served to soften TJ's features and make him look even more stunning than he was normally. Cyrus was trying very hard to concentrate on what he was saying, rather than how adorable he looked in this lighting with his soft hair and his oversized jacket and-
"Cy? Are you okay?"
He scolded himself for becoming distracted once again.
"Yeah! I'm fine. What were you saying?"
TJ smiled. "I was saying that you did well today. With the canoeing."
"You don't have to spare my feelings." Cyrus told him with a slight laugh.
"I'm not though! You really did do well. I could tell you were nervous beforehand, so...I just thought I'd let you know."
The boy just smiled, lowering his head slightly to conceal the blush he could already feel on his face.
Cyrus had no idea what possessed him to shuffle over and rest his head on TJ's shoulder, but he did, and the athlete didn't seem to object. In fact - all he did was snake an arm around Cyrus' waist.
They were both looking at the glowing remains of the fire now, too afraid to break what was seemingly a fragile moment. Even the forest seemed quieter than usual, as if it was sensing their tentativeness.
"I'm glad you moved in next to me." he said after a moment, his voice barely above a whisper.
TJ gently pulled him closer, tracing small circles on the sleeve of Cyrus' shirt. "Me too."
~
Cyrus had always appreciated nature. Although he usually showed his appreciation by scrolling through pictures of sunsets and forests for hours on end, he decided the following day that being in it - experiencing it up close - was significantly better.
They were in a grass clearing, but the whole area still seemed alive with colours and noises.
TJ was sat on the rock beside him, humming quietly to himself as he took in their surroundings. Cyrus did his very best to savour everything he could. The sounds of rushing water from the stream in front of them, the persistent chirping of nearby birds, the gentle rustling of leaves as the wind ghosted past them. Although it was a ridiculously hot day, the large tree above them made it tolerable by providing some shade.
He almost didn't hear TJ's words when the boy spoke.
"It's a nice day."
Cyrus couldn't help but think that was an unusual way for him to start a conversation, but he responded nonetheless.
"It is."
The athlete's eyebrows were furrowed now, and he was staring blankly at the rock he had been tossing from hand to hand. His humming had stopped a few minutes ago, and Cyrus was beginning to grow slightly worried.
"Is something wrong?" he asked quietly, turning to face him.
"No," TJ responded, finally looking up again. "At least...I don't think there is."
"But it's bothering you anyway?"
"Yeah," he sighed. "It is."
TJ fell silent for a moment, then to Cyrus' surprise he began to laugh.
"You've already assumed the therapist position."
"I've already assumed the what?"
"Whenever you're ready to listen to people's problems, you sit like that." he explained, gesturing to Cyrus. "Without fail."
Cyrus looked down with a slight laugh. Without realising, he had leant forward and crossed his legs, resting his elbow on his knee. Maybe he did have a therapist position.
"Okay, listen - we're talking about you here! Not me."
TJ averted his gaze with a sigh, throwing the rock he was holding into the stream. "I'm scared you'll think I'm overreacting."
Cyrus frowned slightly. "You don't have to be," he said gently. "I promise."
TJ fell silent again for a moment, his gaze still trained on the space in front of them. "Okay," he relented. "Basically...I think Isaac's trying to be nice."
Cyrus barely contained a scoff at that. Isaac? Being nice?
Despite his slight disbelief, his voice was still soft when he responded. "What makes you say that?"
"Well...for starters, he commented that he was proud on Rafael's coming out post. Then he sent all of us a message apologising for some of the things he did."
"That's...interesting."
"Yeah," TJ breathed, leaning over to pick up another rock. "He even asked me for your number."
"Whoa. What'd you say?"
"I told him to go to hell."
Cyrus couldn't help but laugh. "Thanks for that. But...is this what's bothering you?"
TJ threw another rock, clearly mulling the idea over in his head. "It's just...what if I was wrong about him? What if he's actually alright? I don't want people to think I ditched him for no reason."
"TJ," Cyrus began, standing up and moving over to him. "Do you want to be friends with Isaac? Even if it turns out he isn't so bad?"
The answer was instantaneous.
"No."
"Then that's all that matters."
He sat down next to the boy, placing a gentle hand on his arm. "Let people think what they want to - your reasons for ditching Isaac are still valid no matter what kind of person he's trying to be right now."
TJ hesitantly shifted his gaze to Cyrus again, nodding slowly. He didn't say anything for a moment.
"Has anyone ever told you that you'd make a great therapist?"
The boy laughed. "Yeah. A few people."
TJ didn't move away after that, so Cyrus didn't either. This left them pressed close together on the same rock, looking out at the scenery in comfortable silence.
Cyrus tried to ignore all of the butterflies in his stomach, and deep down he wondered if TJ was doing the same.
~
A/N: chapter nineteen up next ;-)