lemon boy

i used to

summary: in which a one question sends marty into deep thought

quote: someone asked me if i knew you, a thousand memories flashed through my mind but all i said was 'i used to'

"YOU KNOW TJ, right?" buffy asked, sliding into the booth next to marty at the spoon.

flashback

"i'm marty." he said, extending his hand out. "tj."

"we should hang out sometime." marty looked up at tj, a small smile forming on his face. "yea, yea we should."

marty woke up, immediately feeling the small amount of pressure on his lap. he looked down to see tj's head resting with a pillow underneath him. he smiled to himself, laying his head back down on his own pillow.

tj and marty walked side by side down the street, tj on the left and marty on the right. their hands brushed against each other's, making marty's cheeks turn a light shade of pink.

it was almost two am, tj and marty both laid in the grass facing each other. "you know when we first met i hated you." marty whispered. "when i first met you, i wanted to kiss you."

marty laid on tj's bed, tj's head on his chest and his fingers running through his hair. slowly tj sat up and faced marty, "friends don't do things like this, do they?" marty sat up, so they were now across from each other. "friends don't tell each other they want to kiss them either."

tj and marty sat in the back of marty's parents car, they were on their way to the grocery store. tj slowly slid his hand over to marty's, interlocking them. his eyes snapped over to tj, giving him a small squeeze.

tj walked into his room, ready to say something to marty when he noticed that he was already sleeping. he slowly walked over to his bed and slid in next to him, turning on his side so they were face to face. tj gently placed his hand on marty's cheek and kissed his forehead. "goodnight." he whispered, but martys eyes opened, a smile stretching across his face. tj took his hand off his cheek and flushed a light shade of pink. marty moves a bit closer, ran his finger down tj's cheek and slowly planted his lips firmly on his. pulling away a few seconds later, he whispered, "goodnight."

marty walked into the spoon, immediately spotting tj standing by a table with amber and iris sitting there. he excitedly ran over and jumped on his back, causing him to let a small yelp. amber and iris laughed, making tj laugh as well. "good to see you too."

tj sat down beside marty on the floor of his bedroom and scooted closer, practically looking over his shoulder at his phone. "is there something you want to see?" marty asked, laughing as he looked up from his phone at tj. "no, i just like being close."

tj and marty both sat on marty's couch watching tv and making jokes. marty burst into a fit of laughter when tj told a joke that wasn't even relatively funny, which made it sort of funny. tj watched, admiration filling his eyes as the boy laughed. once it died down marty finally met tj's gaze. "what?" and without replying, he leaned in and stole a kiss.

flashback over

"i used to." he answered, looking down at his hands, shifting uncomfortably in the booth. buffy has never brought up tj before, so she didn't know their past. no one really did, but it also wasn't a secret. it was just something they preferred to do alone.