Beneath The Mask

Lean on Me

Cyrus was having a hard time concealing how he felt. He didn't want to tell his friends about what had happened with TJ. After everything, after how hard he'd worked to convince them to give TJ another chance, he just felt like such an idiot. He knew that his friends would never say that they told him so, but he couldn't even stand the idea of seeing it in their eyes. He just wanted everything to go away.

However, unfortunately for Cyrus, it did not take a long time for Buffy and Andi to catch on to the fact that something was wrong. After pressing him only to have Cyrus continue to assure them that everything was fine, Andi had the idea to talk to Cyrus one on one.

The two of them sat across from each other at a booth at The Spoon. Ironically, it was the same booth where Cyrus came out to Buffy, but he kept that remark to himself.

"Cyrus, as your friend, I️ can't leave you alone until I️ know what's wrong, because I️ know that something is definitely wrong," she explained.

Cyrus sighed. He had to admit that it felt pretty awful having to keep it to himself.

"Just, please don't tell Buffy. I'll tell her, I️ just can't right now," he explained.

Andi drew her eyebrows together pensively, but ultimately gave an understanding nod. She then raised a fist slightly, extending her pinky toward Cyrus.

Cyrus responded to this by extending his own pinky and wrapping it around hers, solidifying the pact of confidentiality.

After they let pinkies go, Cyrus exhaled.

"Remember costume day, how I️ bailed but then joined again at the last minute?" he asked. He figured it was the best place to start.

Andi nodded, signaling for him to continue.

"Anyway, the reason was because TJ asked me to do a costume with him. He was going to dress in board shorts and sunglasses and I️ was dressing as a salt shaker," he continued. Andi tilted her head, giving him a puzzled look. Her eyes then widened as she smiled and gasped.

"Somersault!" she concluded.

Cyrus nodded excitedly, happy that she got the pun and almost forgetting what happened afterward. Almost.

"I know, right? It was TJ's idea because he taught me how to do a somersault so it was sort of our thing," he explained.

Andi was taken aback. Her eyes widened once again as she raised her eyebrows.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. You two have a thing?" she gasped.

Cyrus sighed before looking down at his hands.

"Well, we had a thing. Past tense," he clarified. "He bailed on me the day of to do a costume with Kira. He didn't even tell me first."

Andi reached out her hands and grabbed Cyrus', causing him to look back up at her.

"I'm really sorry, Cy," she said, her words as soft as her sympathetic gaze.

Cyrus shook his head.

"That's not even the worst part," he said. "He asked me to meet him so he could apologize in person and he never showed up. He hasn't even responded to any of my texts since."

At that, Andi didn't even know what to say.

"I️ am so so sorry. You're like the last person on earth who deserves that," she said.

Cyrus shrugged. He sniffed, stopping the tears in their tracks before they could run from his eyes.

"I'm the one who convinced you and Buffy to give him a second chance. I️ just feel like such an idiot," Cyrus admitted.

Andi shook her head.

"No, you're not. You just see the good in people. That's a good thing," she said, emphasizing the last phrase.

She squeezed his hands, looking into his now tear filled eyes.

"If it's such a good thing then why does it hurt so much?" Cyrus asked.

That time, a tear fell and he couldn't stop it.

That was a question that Andi didn't quite know the answer to.

"Because bad people take advantage of good people," Andi settled on.

Cyrus shook his head.

"I️ still don't think that TJ's a bad person. Maybe I️ should hate him, but I️ don't," Cyrus confessed.

He knew it sounded pathetic. He felt pathetic, but it was the truth. Sure, TJ had done some awful things. But a bad person? Cyrus just couldn't bring himself to believe that, and maybe that was why he was hurting so much. Maybe he was the one person who would always see the good in TJ, and maybe that would only ever bring him pain.