How to (Unsuccessfully) Get Over a Guy | Tyrus

Part 11

Cyrus' POV

I haven't told my friends about it yet. I'm not sure if I should. They'd think that I haven't gotten over TJ yet and that I just want him to be the one leaving the notes, but that's not true. I'm over TJ. I was. But if TJ and Seven turn out to be the same person, then I may end up being even more head-over-heels than I ever was before.

My shoe kicks a stone as I walk down the worn dirt path, sending it rolling forward. It tumbles over an exposed tree root and drops off the sharp edge. I follow its path, carefully placing my feet on the rocks like steps to get down to the river. Seven's spot enchants me the second I see the water come into sight between the trees. I need a place to think, and my feet rightfully brought me here.

Among the sounds of the river rippling, I hear a splash, which captures my focus. Through the cattails, I see a head pop out of the water and two hands come up to wipe the droplets from the face.

"TJ?" I call.

The boy whips his head over to look at me as I approach, his hair flinging water onto the rocks.

"Cyrus? What are you doing here?"

TJ hurries back to shore, reaching for the navy T-shirt that had been left on land to stay dry. He pulls it over his head, and its bottom hem soaks the instant it touches his dripping, red swim trunks.

TJ's here too. Seven said this was his own spot. I guess anyone could know about it. But the gleam of TJ's turquoise eyes now brings back the butterflies that I thought had gotten lost somewhere in the trees. I guess they never really left. They were just dormant.

"Just wanted a place to think," I tell him. "I heard that this was a good place to do that."

"It is," TJ says. "I thought I was the only one who knew about it, though."

His smile is soft as he watches me walk up to him. Once I get close, he glances toward the river then back to me.

"You know, I like to think while in the water." TJ says.

He turns around and peels off his shirt again before leaping into the river. I grin and copy him, but kick off my shoes and socks as well, so that I'll only have to put up with soaked shorts later. Rather than jumping in like TJ, I slowly immerse myself in the cold water. It gives me goosebumps as I sink my shoulders under the surface.

TJ wades in the calm stream, barely needing to move at all to keep from being pulled away by the slow ripples.

"So what's on your mind?" I ask.

"Stuff," he replies.

"Want to tell me your stuff?"

He hesitates before explaining, "My brother wants to hang out with me tomorrow."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"I don't know," he says. "He's never wanted to spend time with me before. He hardly even knows me. What if he doesn't like me?"

"What's not to like?" I reason. "You're—" deep, kind, sensitive, strong "—you."

TJ smiles while his eyes study me, making me feel the way I imagine a cage must feel when someone finally manages to pick the lock.

"There's a lot he doesn't know about me," TJ says after a moment.

"Like what?"

TJ lets out a forced laugh. "Where do I start? He just learned where I work, even though I've had that job for over a year now. He didn't know I was allergic to dogs until he let Madison bring her's over last month, which made me sneeze all night. I'm pretty sure he thinks that I'm a math genius like him, but that's because my parents still tell people that. And he definitely doesn't know . . . um, never mind."

"No, tell me," I say. "I won't judge."

TJ looks down at the water then back up at me before taking a deep breath.

"I'm gay," he says.

I'm hardly surprised. It's only another piece to this puzzle I'm building in my head.

"Me too," I respond.

His mouth falls open a little at that, but I just smile at him.

"You are?" he says.

"I am," I confirm.

The trickling of water fills the few seconds of silence that follow, and TJ wades over a little closer to me. My body is starting to get used to the chill of the water, causing me to feel warmer than I'm sure this water actually is.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" I ask.

His eyes meet mine and stay there.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he counters.

"I asked you first."

He smiles and lets out a sigh. "I was scared," he confesses. "The only people who know are Reed, Lester, Heart, and my sister—and a few others, but not a lot."

"Well, I'm honoured to be on that list," I say.

Our eyes stay locked on each other, but my quickening heartbeat causes my eyes to flicker down to his lips after a second, and I feel myself drifting closer. Then I manage to gain enough self-control to pull myself back. I don't know yet if he's the boy I'm falling for—and I need to know if that's the case.

Suddenly, I break away from him, going over to instead sit down on the rocky shore. TJ follows, lowering down next to me, our feet still skimming the thin layer of flowing water as it washes past the stones.

"I've been talking to someone," I say. "A boy."

It's apparent by his hesitation that I caught him off guard, but after a second, he responds, "Oh, that's good. Yeah, actually, I am too."

He is too. That could be anyone, though.

"Well, I've actually been writing to him," I explain. "He's really honest with me, and he makes me feel like I can be vulnerable and still be safe. He also seems really kind."

"Yeah, I've never opened up to someone the way I open up to the guy I'm writing to too," TJ says.

I wonder if his mind is mirroring mine, because he can't seem to break his eyes away from me for a second, and the same goes for mine.

"I call him Seven," I then say.

It's so quiet that I can hear TJ's breathing amongst the sounds of the water and the breeze in the tree branches. Or maybe his breathing is just that loud.

"I call him Eleven," he says.

That's it. That's the confirmation I needed. My pulse is racing even faster as it tries to keep up with my head which tries to piece together what this means. All that I felt for Seven and TJ melts together until I can't tell the difference, and I guess there isn't a difference. It makes my stomach flutter as the emotions untangle, and I realize that I like TJ now way more than I did before when I only knew one side of him. Now I know this other half—a more vulnerable side that I had no idea was even there—and I want to keep discovering more.

"I think I'm in love with him," I utter.

The weight of those words smashes the silence, creating a tension as I wait to fall. 

"Me too," TJ whispers.

In an instant, TJ's hand takes my jaw and his lips touch mine, causing the world to kneel down around us as though we're the only thing worth anything right now. I know I'm falling, but I'm not scared of hitting the ground. TJ's kiss holds me in a trance, making me believe the universe is shielding us from any hurt that could come. Slowly, we part, and our eyes open to lock together again, but the pull back to him is too strong to ignore, and I give in again. I collide my lips back with his, and he takes in my kiss like it's the reason he's alive.

A/N: Okay, I'm happy with that. Uh, I figured we all needed some happy Tyrus moments right about now. I'm hungry now. I'll probably eat breakfast while I proofread this. Thanks for reading! I'll try to have the next chapter up soon. I love you all! Have a great day!