Family Friends: A Tyrus High School AU

6

The next day at school, the boys had deep dark eye bags and crinkled clothes. Miraculously, they had managed to produce a somewhat decent History project in the end. If Cyrus was able to stay awake until his dance class, then he felt more confident to perform his routine. 

As they waved goodbye to go to their separate maths classes, a familiar poison-laced voice caught Cyrus off-guard. "Cyrus!" Kira exclaimed. "Let's chat, I'm pretty sure we're in the same maths class," She said, her dark eyes gleaming as she gave Cyrus a tight-lipped smile.

"What do you want to talk about?" Cyrus asked, his voice uncharacteristically small, once again.

"I had no idea that you and TJ were childhood friends, because, you know, Jonah was your only guy friend in middle school. I remember how you'd always accompany him and Andi on dates and help him with Ultimate frisbee. You must be an incredible friend!" She began, observing how Cyrus became increasingly flustered as she spoke. "But you know, I'm a girlfriend. I still want TJ to spend some alone time with me. I don't think I'm as patient as Andi." She concluded, nodding her head slowly in an almost mesmerising fashion. 

"See you around!" She waved, injecting as much fake chirpiness into her voice as humanly possible.

After Maths, Cyrus was a shell of himself, he decided - completely of his own accord - to hang out with Andi and Buffy that lunch. Mid-rant, Andi saw the dejected look on Cyrus' face but resolved that he wouldn't want to talk about it.

So the table fell silent.

Just before the bell rang, Cyrus felt a pair of hands over his eyes. They were exceptionally larger than his small face and were a little chapped with a faint scent of lemon wipes.

"You really need to moisturise your hands, Teej," Cyrus laughed.

"Spoon later? I want to hang out with you and Kira," TJ said, grinning.

"Are you sure? I mean, you guys are a couple, why would you want me bringing down the mood and interrupting your alone time and-" Cyrus stuttered, his brown eyes were inflated with fear.

"Cy, you worry too much, she's my girlfriend - not a police officer! I want my two most important people to hang out with me," He said, inching closer to Cyrus' now crimson face. "Please," he whispered. TJ's freckles were now more prominent and Cyrus could see the little golden flecks in TJ's green eyes. He registered how TJ's face now had a more defined shape to it than when they were younger.

"Cyrus?" He asked after a while.

"Sounds like fun, sure," Cyrus said in an almost hypnotic state.

As he realised what had just come out of his mouth, he knew he was in for trouble.