I Don't Do Sadness // Jyrus

mope

Cyrus was over the moon with joy as he walked away from the swing set. Andi and Buffy had been inviting him to go to The Spoon with them after school daily, and today he'd actually go. It was around 4 o'clock and Cyrus ignored his father's texts asking him where he was as he skipped down the street into the familiar blue diner.

Buffy was sitting by herself and on her phone when he walked in and her face lit up when she saw him. "Cyrus!" She exclaimed as he sat down.

He looked different to her. Lighter. Not only physically from the look of his face, but by his stance. He sat up taller and walked with his feet coming off of the ground and not dragging behind him. He smiled at her and had his hand folded in his lap.

"How are you?" She asked.

He shrugged and said, "Pretty good," unable to hide his smile.

"What?" She smirked at him. He told her about TJ. About him hugging him and holding his hands until he felt better. She frowned at the mention of TJ's name and looked down into the drink she was sipping out of.

"What?" Cyrus asked her.

"Oh, I just didn't know that TJ was gay."

Cyrus looked at the table and mumbled, "Well he might not be."

They sat in silence for a few moments until Buffy blurred out, "Si, how are things at home?"

Cyrus' head snapped up and he stared into her fiery eyes. In instinct, his hand moved over to cover his left arm. "Um," he swallowed, his mouth dry. "It's fine."

He broke eye contact but could still feel her eyes staring him down as she said, "Oh really?"

When he looked up at her, she let it all pour out. "I can see the bruises was on your legs, Cyrus." He looked down at his lap, ashamed. "And I know it's your mom."

He was silent as tears teased in his eyes. "Well-?" She asked when his head snapped up and he said, "You know, I was in a good mood until I got here." He started to get up from the booth when he felt her hand on his arm.

When he looked down at her, she said, "I'm sorry. You can tell me about TJ all you'd like."

The giddy smile returned to his face as he sat down and wiped tears from his eyes. Buffy pushed forward the basket of baby taters to him and asked if he wanted some, to which he declined.

"So, do you not like Jonah anymore?" She asked.

Cyrus shook his head. "I still like do. But he's like a dream while TJ's a reality."

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When Cyrus walked through the front door, his father was immediately in front of him, yelling, "Cyrus! Where have you been?"

Cyrus felt his shoulders creep into him and he mumbled, "I was at The Spoon with Buffy."

When he looked back up, he saw his step-mother come up from behind his father and wrapped her arm around him. His expression softened and he said, "Oh."

His step-mother smiled at Cyrus and said, "Why don't you go upstairs, dinner's almost ready." As he went up the stairs, she called, "You didn't eat, did you?"

He called back down, "No," as he slipped into his bedroom.

It was dark, but he didn't turn on the light or open the curtains. Instead, he sat at his desk and turned on the lamp on top of it. He pulled the homework that he had out of his bag, his eyes falling onto his math homework. The sight of it made Cyrus' mouth taste bad and he completely ignored it and moved onto another subject.

When his step-mother called him down for dinner, Cyrus felt himself in a great mood. He didn't have a resting frown on his face and sleepy eyes as he went downstairs. He sat down at the table and found a bit of hunger inside of him. He hadn't been eating much for a few days and his step-mother was happy to see him eating something, even if it wasn't a lot.

They sat in silence, his father staring into his plate, Cyrus lost in his thought, and his step-mother glancing in between them, yearning for something other than quiet. She finally cleared her throat, catching Cyrus' attention by saying, "So, Cyrus, how has school been?"

Cyrus shrugged and said, "Alright," before returning to his plate.

His step-mother went to shoot his father a look, but he was still staring at the table. "Anything exciting happening?" She asked.

Cyrus looked up from his plate to his father at the other end of the table, who wasn't looking back. "Um," He said before turning back to his step-mother and shrugging.

She took a bite of her dinner after saying, "Any boys?"

He broke into a smile. "Well, there is this one boy," He giggled.

Cyrus' father then stood from the table with his plate and said, "I have some work to finish up," before leaving the room.

Cyrus was turned and watching him leave until his step-mother caught his attention by saying, "Tell me about it."

Cyrus had completely forgotten about the food in front of him and enveloped himself into telling his story. He started with, "Well, okay, so the boy that I like is Jonah."

"The frisbee one?" She asked.

"Yeah. But, he likes Andi."

His step-mother put her hand over her mouth and gasped, saying, "Oh no."

"Yeah, I know!" He yelled. "And so I've been talking to this other boy, TJ, he's on Buffy's basketball team."

His step-mother nodded along to every word, clearly listening and invested in his story. It could be because it's her job to listen to people's stories, or the fact that he's her step-son, and she cares about him and he doesn't ever share the drama with her. Not at dinner, or in their therapy sessions.

They had never talked about girls before, and now she knew why, but she didn't want him to miss out on a vital part of a teenagers life, crushing on someone, just because he's different from everyone else.

And she really soaked in every word he said.