tyrus oneshots

#19: You & I

TW: slight homophobia

~

TJ's face was still tinged red from the practice he'd just had as his eyes landed on Cyrus, who stood at the end of the corridor. A smile came to his lips and he quickened his pace, planning on calling out something sappy about missing him for the hour they'd been apart, only to be cut short by the sounds of hurried footsteps approaching behind him. He let out a heavy sigh and turned around, in time to see a group of his teammates all jogging after him with grins spread across their faces.

He rolled his eyes, trying hard to radiate the energy of someone who definitely wasn't the mood to exchange friendly small talk on a Friday afternoon, but the boys were either oblivious or they didn't care. He had a sneaking suspicion that it was the latter.

"Kippen! Guess what?"

Glancing wistfully back at his boyfriend, he answered with a somewhat distracted "what?"

"We're having a party this weekend to celebrate the game!" announced John, garnering a few nods from the others, "I know it's last minute, but you have to come dude, there's no way we would've won without you.

TJ scanned over the group for a moment, narrowing his eyes, before giving a shrug. "Okay, sure."

Shock registered briefly on John's face, and TJ couldn't blame him. He loved his teammates, but he never quite felt comfortable at the events they would always plan, surrounded very obviously by all of their girlfriends while he didn't have one. Rationally, he knew they probably didn't take much notice, but his brain managed to convince him each time that they'd somehow figure out he didn't like girls.

John ran a hand through his hair then, face lit up by a smile. "Great! I'll text you the details. You can invite a partner, obviously," he said, dropping a wink, and TJ let a laugh that sounded uncomfortable even to his own ears.

He bit his lip before glancing back once more at Cyrus, who seemed to have found interest in his phone.

"Um," he hesitated, and all of their expectant gazes were suddenly on him again.

He took in a breath, trying desperately to keep his tone even. "Could I invite my boyfriend?"

The split second of silence that followed those words felt like an eternity. He was looking back at eight expressions that had twisted into shock now, and he could feel his heart thudding away rapidly as he awaited the reaction. The corridors were empty at this stage in the afternoon, which made that second all the more agonising.

A grin appeared on John's face. "Of course, dude! You didn't tell me you're finally dating someone!"

"Yeah, I was beginning to think you just didn't have any game, Kippen," Ben added, and TJ couldn't help but laugh.

"You guys are assholes, you know that?" he told them, trying to mask the relief that had crashed over him.

The only person that didn't seem to be smiling anymore was Flynn, but TJ forcibly pushed that thought to the back of his mind. They'd had a few clashes in the past after all, and he couldn't help but think that Flynn didn't exactly want him at their team party, despite trying to act like he did.

He exchanged a few more words with the group before heading over to his previous destination, where was Cyrus smiling as he leaned up against his locker.

"So you're dragging me to a party this weekend?"

TJ felt his face warm slightly. "Maybe," he returned innocently, placing a hand on the locker beside Cyrus. "If you want to, of course."