swingsets and dance routines ; tyrus

chapter #10: the instagram message

A/N: i'M SORRY FOR THE LONG CHAPTER GAYS, I TRIED TO BREAK IT UP BUT COULDN'T

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The following week brought consistent days of rain and thunderstorms. Cyrus continued to attend his book club meetings, getting by on coffee and late night phone calls with TJ. It was rare that he saw him on school days, despite the café providing a convenient middle ground for them. He focused on his work, tried not to let his mind wander too much during class and tried not to think about all the butterflies that filled his stomach whenever his phone lit up with a notification from TJ. He even found himself messaging with Marty on occasion, and the boys had agreed to meet up on Friday after school at their local park.

Friday wasn't too different from the other school days, apart from his arrangement with Marty. He did have a slight spring in his step though, because it was Friday and that meant that he had a whole weekend ahead of him to do whatever he wanted.

Marty was rapidly becoming someone who Cyrus felt comfortable telling almost anything, because he wasn't involved in Cyrus' life as much as Buffy and Andi were, and it was refreshing to get another perspective. He still wasn't entirely sure what had come of Marty's outing situation though, and he was slightly afraid to bring it up over text.

There was also one thing he was afraid of telling Marty, and even he struggled to understand why.

It was overcast when the boy approached him, sitting down next to him on the wooden bench with a bright smile. He sat perfectly straight - which Cyrus had noticed the first time they met too, and it made him feel somewhat self-conscious about his own posture so he found himself straightening slightly too. There was a light breeze, and a particularly large amount of noise coming from the cars in front of them, as people rushed home from work after a busy week. There were a few smaller kids at the park with their parents, but Cyrus and Marty were a fair distance away from them all.

"Hey," Marty greeted.

Cyrus returned the smile, turning slightly to face the boy.

"Hey!"

"What's been going on with you?"

Cyrus leant back against the bench then, thinking back over the past week.

"Homework," he responded after a moment, exaggerating a shudder. "And I've been calling TJ too, but that's about it."

"Calling TJ, huh? That's nice."

Cyrus felt his face warm slightly at the clear implications, but he tried his hardest not to seem fazed. He had come to the conclusion recently that him and TJ were just flirty people - that was all.

"It is nice," he responded, giving Marty a playful swat on the shoulder. "He's a nice guy."

"A very nice, good-looking-"

"Oh god - please not the selling thing again," Cyrus said with a laugh.

Marty just smiled and shrugged, looking out at the playground for a few moments.

"Buffy tells me you've been getting distracted in class lately."

Cyrus had to take a few seconds to process the words, but when he did his eyes widened. Marty didn't really seem like the type of person Buffy would normally talk to - in fact, he seemed like the exact type of person she would normally rival with.

"You and Buffy talk now?" he demanded.

Marty nodded, and Cyrus gave him an incredulous look.

"We've been messaging a bit since the incident," he explained.