tyrus oneshots

#21: maybe i should stop (and start confessing)

A/N: Sarah?? Updating her oneshot book??? Gasp!! (I have nothing to say for myself 😌)

[Loosely based on the 'There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back' music video + its lyrics]

~

Summer in Amsterdam was a lot of things. It was bright blue skies, it was drifting clouds, it was narrow buildings painted golden by sunlight, it was bikes of various colours zooming by, it was bright green tree leaves and bustling farmer's markets. For Cyrus, summer in Amsterdam also happened to be small hotel rooms and late nights, green eyes and soft laughter, sugary coffees that were sweet, but not nearly as sweet as the boy who sat opposite him in the cafés they went to.

Summer in Amsterdam was TJ. TJ who had the brightest smiles imaginable, TJ who's words went from playful to soft within seconds whenever his gaze met Cyrus', TJ who, despite seeming so confident all the time, blushed crimson whenever he received a compliment of any kind.

Looking across at the boy now, Cyrus found himself feeling grateful that he'd agreed to come on this trip. Then again, how could he possibly have refused the wide-eyed look TJ had given him?

"Bonjour mon amour," TJ's voice piped up suddenly, and a smile came to Cyrus' lips.

"Wrong language again, Teej. That's French, not Dutch."

The train they were on rumbled, shaking their carriage slightly as they rushed by various grassy fields. The sky outside was a pure blue, scattered by fluffy white clouds, and despite the movement, a relative stillness had settled around them.

"Damn," TJ sighed, but he was smiling too now, "I'll get there."

Cyrus' eyes lingered on him for a moment, before lowering to where his phone sat in front of him. He unlocked it, feeling TJ's gaze on him as he began to type.

"What are you doing?" asked TJ, a small pout forming on his face, and Cyrus let out a soft laugh.

"I'm looking up what you just said."

Those words seemed to spark something in TJ, because suddenly he was leaning over the table that separated them and gently taking Cyrus' phone off him. Before Cyrus could protest, TJ was placing the phone down and taking his hands instead, lips curving up into a smile that seemed to suggest he knew exactly what he was doing. Cyrus' heart fluttered, and he refrained from saying anything as TJ intertwined their fingers.

"Why would you do that when you could be paying attention to me?" he asked quietly, and Cyrus felt breathless all of a sudden.

Lately, they'd really been blurring the lines between friends, which is what they were supposed to be, and something more. Like - really blurring them, to the point where if Cyrus tried hard enough, he was able to convince himself for a moment that they really  were something more. Of course, a certain tension had existed between them in Shadyside, but something about going on this holiday together seemed to have their inhibitions burning right down to the ground. Cyrus wasn't complaining, although he did wish sometimes he could put some kind of label on it.

"You have a point," he murmured back, and TJ's smile brightened. "Have we decided where we're gonna go today?"

The boy leaned in, elbows rested on the table as his gaze met Cyrus'.

"That's probably a good idea," he nodded, and Cyrus was honestly struggling to pay attention to anything that wasn't TJ's lips, "so far we've been to the Anne Frank House, the Van Gogh museum, the Royal Palace, the Old Church..."

"Plus every café in Amsterdam, probably."

"And every flower shop," TJ added, raising his eyebrows, and Cyrus laughed.