Treehouse

Chapter 2: Always

Marty was the first one awake, laying on his back and staring at the pictures on the ceiling.A small smile spread across his face as he saw one particular picture.

"You're awake." He heard TJ say.

"You remember that night when we sat here and told scary stories?" Marty asked, pointing at one of the pictures where TJ had a flashlight to his face as the sky was darkening.

TJ chuckled, remembering the day. "Yeah, dad scared us after we took that picture. Didn't he climb up here?"

"Yeah, he climbed the tree and popped his head in through the window. I remember Amber grabbed my arm all scared, and we fell on the floor." He chuckled.

Suddenly they heard Amber laugh.

"Don't you have work?" TJ asked her.

"Oh, shoot, I'm late." She quickly grabbed her phone and sped down the ladder to get ready to go to The Spoon.

Her manager already didn't like her since she wasn't the best at her job, but they needed her, or else they'd be short on people.

"I think I'm gonna do it," Marty said, sitting up in his sleeping bag. "I think I'm gonna come out to Buffy."

"Today?" TJ asked.

He nodded. "Today. I just have to ask her if she can meet me. I was thinking the basketball court you usually go to."

"Ok. Do you want me to be there with you?"

"Yes, please. I don't think I can do it alone."

"Ok, I'll be there for you, man."

Marty sighed in relief. He couldn't go through with it alone. He would chicken out last minute, or he wouldn't even show. He was grateful he had friends like the Kippens to be there for him even if Amber wasn't going to physically be there. He knew she would call in sick and go with him if she could. That's just the type of friend she was, but he didn't want to cause any trouble, and he knew TJ didn't have any plans, so this was his next best option.

"Thank you." He told him.

TJ nodded. "Any time."

"All right, she's right there," TJ said. "Everything's going to be all right. And if it doesn't, she doesn't deserve you. I'm here for you, man. Always."

She was playing basketball while she waited for him. He'd seen her shoot 5 baskets already, and he knew if he didn't do it now, then he never would.

"I can do this," he said to himself. But no matter how many times he told himself that, no matter how much TJ and Amber assured him he would be fine, no matter how many scenarios he thought of where everything went well, the fear and nervousness didn't seem to disappear.

"You can." TJ agreed. "You can, Marty. I'm here."

Marty took a deep breath and nodded. He turned to face him. "Thank you for everything, dude. You have no idea what this means to me."

TJ patted his shoulder. "What friends are for."

Marty started willing his legs to walk towards her. They almost failed him, but he made it work.

As he neared her, he could feel his heart race and started taking deep breaths.

"Ready to lose?" She asked. "I assume that's why you asked me here."

"Um, no, not really. I just needed to talk to you."

"If this is some kind of trap, you're going down, Mr. From the party," Buffy told him. She couldn't recall a moment where he told her his last name. "And why is TJ here?"

He couldn't think of anything other than to say, "He's my friend."

"Since when are you and TJ Kippen friends?" She sounded surprised.

"Since we were 6." He said.

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, him and his sister."He kept stalling.

"TJ has a sister?"

"Well, two, actually. Amber and Lilia." This was really calming his nerves, and he wondered if he was just making it seem worse than it actually would be.

She had her mouth open. "Amber?"

"Didn't Cyrus tell you any of this?" Marty asked. He had no idea that she didn't know any of this. He wondered if TJ knew she didn't.

"Cyrus knew?"

"If you didn't know any of this, you probably didn't know Metcalf is their dad."

She shook her head in shock. "I don't think I can handle any more surprises."

"Well, brace yourself." He said, looking down. He couldn't look her in the eye right now. "I'm trans."

After a few seconds of dreaded silence, he felt a hand on his cheek. He glanced up, and Buffy had a smile on her face. "Marty, you know I'll always be there for you. No matter what. Thank you for telling me."

Trying to hold back the tears that were gathering in his eyes, he breathed a shaky sigh of relief. "Yeah. I guess I was just scared you didn't want to be with me if I told you."

She frowned, feeling her own eyes prickle with tears. "That would never happen. And especially not for this. This is who you are. You can't change that.' She said. "I mean if you murdered someone or did something horrible like that, of course, but I want you to know that this doesn't change anything between us."

He chuckled at her last sentence, and the only thing he could think of doing was to kiss her, so that's what he did.

His lips were a bit salty from his tears, but Buffy didn't care. Marty didn't care either. They just kept kissing and crying, knowing that they were there for each other. Always.

As they separated, Buffy saw the biggest smile on his face, and it warmed her heart to see him so happy.

She almost forgot where they were until Marty took the ball from her hands and threw it towards the nearest basket.

He laughed. "Swish. Mr. The party scores."

Buffy shook her head with a smile on her face. "What about 'from'?"

"Oh, that's my middle name." He joked.

Buffy laughed, shaking her head. "That basket does not count, and you know it. We haven't even started the game."

"You know, this game isn't as fun with just two people." He said, grabbing his phone from his pocket.

"I still can't believe you and TJ are friends. I didn't even know you two knew each other." She said.

"Well, it wasn't exactly a secret."

"Sure seemed like it."

"You want to play basketball or not?" Marty questioned.

"Of course." Buffy took the ball and shot it at the same basket. "Get ready to lose."

"In your dreams," Marty said, putting his phone up to his ear, waiting for TJ to pick up. When he did, Marty asked, "Want to shoot some hoops?"

"I take it that it went well?" TJ asked, walking towards them.

Marty faced him and said, "It did. Thank you. For everything."

He hung up, and he could see TJ run over to them.

"I'm proud of you." He told Marty. "Now, let's play some basketball. Get ready to see me beat you, Slayer. Mr. The party."

"You're not much of a challenge," Marty said.

"Says the guy who isn't and has never been a captain of a basketball team," TJ said.

"I don't need to be captain to be better than both of you."

"Ok, Mr. Cocky. Let's see who wins." Buffy said. "Losers have to give the winner ten dollars."

Marty ended up receiving twenty dollars and a selfie with two very upset faces. This was turning out to be the best day ever.