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tj had smiled down at his phone. cyrus was the one thing assuring him he hadn't been alone. he knew about cyrus, he knew he was gay, and now he just wanted a friend who understood. at the very least, someone who accepted him.

he didn't exactly know how to start the conversation. would it be awkward? did cyrus want to be tj's friend? tj had a reputation, and it didn't exactly align with the crazy, sporadic, unexpected being that was cyrus goodman.

he had a few classes with goodman, maybe that was his chance. it had been all he could think about when he was getting ready for school. he wanted cyrus to be his friend, and to allow him to be himself. maybe if someone knew and accepted it, rachel telling everyone else would't hold as much weight.

"tj! time to leave!", his mom yelled up the stairs. he looked into his mirror, taking a deep breath. cyrus was his chance to feel safe.

tj grabbed his bag off of his bed, throwing it over his shoulder. walking out of his room and heading downstairs.

"morning, mom.", he said, smiling as he laced up his shoes.

"mornin'.", she laughed. "someones in a good mood today, i usually have to drag you out of that damn bed."

she didn't know exactly how scared tj had been for today. it wasn't her fault, because she didn't know either. she wasn't who tj was worried about telling. his mother was 30, she had tj very young at just 15. she was bery accepting about a lot of things, tj just didn't want to only be out to her, he was waiting until the fear that coated every inch of his body in several layers disappeared.

"yeah, something like that.", he lied.

"ok, i'll see you later.", she ran over to give him a hug. then, kissing his forehead as he began his walk to school.

"bye, love you.", he said, exiting the house.

the walk was quite boring, he lived in suburbian hell. there were no scenic trees, or blooming flowers, it had been bland, with identical houses lining the street for miles.

he kept his headphones in, and looked twice before crossing the roads. he had always played it as safe as possible. usually, he wouldn't be able to fathom the risk he was taking.

as he walked through the front doors of the school, it had been just as any other day. the popular kids sat at the lunch tables before class, with scattered kids walking through the lunch room to find their first hour classes.

tj had wanted to catch cyrus before class, to pitch an introduction. however, cyrus was probably off in an open classroom doing extra credit papers as he had in middle school. when tj was younger, he envied cyrus' ability to do all of it, but now, it was cool. someone so young caring about school and taking pride in their work seemed so far gone at this school, but not for cyrus.

tj and cyrus had both had first period english, so tj had fully intended to talk to him then if he was in class.

at the sight of tj's locker, he could see rachel leaning against it waiting for him. tj had an attitude sometimes, and generally would be annoyed. this time, he was scared. nothing had scared him more than this did, but hopefully he would have a reason not to be by the end of today.

"hey, rachel.", he said, trying to let his disinterest be known.

her face changed, "tj, i meant it when i said i'd tell them.", she said looking over at my team mates, "they wouldn't want to share a locker room with you anymore, and that'd just be the beginning."

"i know. i'll fake date you and you can have the title, but i'm not going to pretend i'm in love with you rachel.", tj said in a stern tone.

"whatever, but you know the conditions. don't mess it up, kippen.", she said as she got off of the locker and started walking away. tj sighed, it broke his heart, what she was doing, but if she didn't want to, she wasn't going to.

he sorted through his locker grabbing what he had needed for english. textbook? check. folder? check. pencil? check. he closed his locker, turning around and walking to english. it was just the next hall over, but walking through the kids to get there was essentially a war zone. kids flooded the hallways, ramming into one another without a word of an apology, because they didn't really care.

tj quickly made his was to room 603, noticing the near empty room. the teacher wasn't there, probably because there was a lot of time before the bell rang. but cyrus was there.

cyrus had his face in his arms, lying on the desk. even with his face hidden, the button down tshirt and brown hair gave him away.

cyrus had a rough night, only sleeping when it was induced by hours of crying. waking up this morning to being exhausted, and seeing the purple bruise that sat on his cheekbone beneath his left eye. he didn't cover it, he just prayed no one would notice it. since that's not what he wanted, obviously someone was going to notice.

"hey.", tj said, kindly. he wanted to do his best to seem level with cyrus. being popular made a lot of kids think you're mean, dumb, or strong. tj needed cyrus to not think any of that.

cyrus looked up, not sure if he had heard the right voice. looking back at him was a timid looking tj kippen.

"hey.", cyrus said softly.

"could i sit here?", tj asked, patting the top of the desk beside cyrus.

"i won't stop you.", cyrus laughed. usually, cyrus would be thrilled. this cute boy wanted to sit by him, in a classroom filled with open desks. now, though, cyrus' wish wasn't a boyfriend anymore, it was being something other than gay.

tj took his seat, placing his things inside the desk. "what happened?", tj asked, gesturing to cyrus' cheek.

"oh, just,", cyrus was thinking of something realistic, ", ran into my door.", maybe not that.

"are you sure? looks like the door won.", tj said, with a confused look on his face.

"yeah, i'm sure.", cyrus sighed.

"sorry if that was invasive.", tj said, hesitantly. "i didn't mean to say something too personal."

"it's okay, but since we are on the topic of invasive questions, why are you sitting here?", cyrus asked, cocking his eyebrow.

tj sighed, "looking for a new friend, i guess." that was loosely the truth. tj just had to become his friend, and then let him know.

"why me, though?", cyrus laughed, "you have so many friends already why would you want to be mine?"

"different kind of friend.", tj shook his head, "my friends are all the same, i needed some diversity."

"oh, okay.", cyrus said, putting his head back down onto his desk, still looking at ti.

"do you want to maybe, come over after school?", tj asked, with his tone shy, "then we can get to actually know eachother.

"yeah, that sounds good.", cyrus responded, smiling a little bit.

the five minute bell rang. tj had let on a side smile. he already felt comfortable with cyrus, and that's what he wanted.