chalk ; tyrus {completed}

chapter 14 - a crush

A/N: HELLO it's officially been 2 days :0, I honestly didn't think I could last that long. Anyway - here's the chapter!

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It was a normal Sunday evening. Or - it was supposed to be, anyway. The clear sky was slowly fading to dark blue and the street was quiet apart from the soft, consistent hum of nearby crickets. The breeze was cool, but not cool enough for them to need hoodies or jackets.

Cyrus and TJ were both drawing again, except this time they were on Cyrus' driveway (after getting permission from his dad and step-mom, of course.) Apart from TJ reaching over to turn on the lanterns they set up just over an hour ago, there wasn't much movement from either of them. As the sky darkened, they relied more and more on the lanterns and their soft glow to illuminate the concrete.

Occasionally, he heard TJ humming quietly to himself as he drew, his expression relaxed as he leant over his drawing. He didn't know why  the soft sounds distracted him so much; all he knew was that he couldn't keep himself from stealing glances at the boy. These eventually turned into blatant stares, and it didn't take long for TJ to notice.

"Do you need help?"

Although Cyrus' confidence had improved when it came to using chalk, he still really wasn't great by any means, and TJ often had to help him here and there. It wasn't a new thing, so why was the idea making him so nervous right now?

"Uh. Yeah." he stammered. "If that's okay."

TJ just smiled and moved over to him, scanning over the drawing for a few moments.

"A city landscape. Nice."

All Cyrus could bring himself to do was nod.

"I'm guessing you need help with the buildings?"

Another meek nod.

As usual, the boy leant over then, his shoulder pressed to Cyrus' as he gently guided his hand. For some reason his brain short-circuited, and he completely forgot how to draw - or function normally at that. There was a swarm of nervous butterflies in his stomach, and he couldn't help but be preoccupied with things he really shouldn't have been preoccupied with.

Instead of paying attention to where TJ was guiding his hand, he couldn't stop thinking about how close they were - how comforting it felt to be pressed up against the boy and how warm and solid he was. It was a dizzying feeling that took Cyrus completely by surprise.

When he should've been listening to TJ's murmured instructions, telling him all about 'vanishing points' and tricks to draw straight lines without a ruler, he was focusing on how close their faces were at that point. That lead him down a very dangerous train of thought where he realised just how easy it would be to tilt his head slightly and - no. Absolutely not.

He spent most of TJ's explanation sneaking furtive glances at the boy, realising how cute he looked at that moment with glasses instead of contacts, how soft his hair looked without gel, how inviting those lips looked, how-

"Think you can do that?"

Cyrus hastily tore his eyes away from TJ's lips, looking back down at the drawing with a completely blank expression. "Uh...yeah?"

And honestly - he still stood by the idea that soft smiles from TJ Kippen should very much be illegal, because his heart swooped the moment one appeared on the boy's lips.

Oh god, he thought. This really wasn't sounding like 'friendly admiration.' In fact, it was sounding more like a crush. A severe crush, at that.