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Cyrus blinked once. Twice. Thrice.
“I’m sorry, what?”
In front of him, Andi had her hands clasped together in a plea. “Please come double date with me and Jonah tomorrow! You can bring anyone! Just… please!”
“But… why? Wouldn’t you two rather be alone?”
Andi made a face. “There’s something he wants to do and it requires another couple. Or, at least two more people.”
“Okay, then I’ll ask Buffy.”
But, Andi shook her head. “I already asked her. She said she has something else going on. So, feel free to bring someone else! Oh, why not TJ? You two are friends, right?”
At the sound of the blonde-haired, green-eyed boy’s name, Cyrus felt his lips quirk into a smile.
“I guess I can ask if he’s free…”
Andi clapped and squealed. “Thank you! Thank you!”
“But there’s no guarantee he’ll come,” he pointed out.
The pixie-head girl snorted. “Oh, please. It’s you. TJ will drop whatever he’s doing if it means hanging out with you.”
Brows furrowing in confusion, Cyrus asked, “What do you mean by that?”
“It means what it means,” his friend replied, mysteriously before walking ahead, a skip in her steps.
Cyrus stared after her, still confused.
The next day, he met Andi outside the Red Rooster for their “double-date”. He mentally used air quotes because it wasn’t like he and TJ were dating in the way Jonah and Andi were. They were just really close friends who hung out a lot.
Andi looked him up and down before nodding in approval. “Good, you followed my instructions.”
She had told him to wear a comfortable t-shirt, pants that were not skinny jeans, and sneakers. So, he had done as she asked and worn regular jeans, his favorite blue and white striped shirt, and comfortable sneakers.
“I still don’t know where we’re going or what we’re doing,” said Cyrus.
“We’ll tell you when we’re all here.”
They didn’t have to wait long. Jonah showed up soon after, carrying a large bag on his shoulder.
“Hey, Andi-man. Cy-Guy,” greeted the Frisbee player, accompanied with a dimpled smile as he wrapped an arm over Andi’s shoulder.
His friend blushed at the action.
In the past, Cyrus would be squealing in fake excitement for them when on the inside, he was breaking. But, right now, as he watched them together, he felt nothing but genuine elation.
As long as both his friends were happy, he was happy.
“So, we’re just waiting on one person, right?” Jonah asked.
“Yep! Cyrus’ date!”
The Jewish boy immediately got defensive. “He’s not my date!”
“I’m not? I’m hurt, Underdog.”
At the sound of the new but familiar voice, Cyrus turned around, feeling like a deer-caught-in-headlights.
TJ was behind him, having just arrived to meet them. He looked at Cyrus with a raised eyebrow.
“T-TJ! Hi!” Cyrus squeaked, his voice breaking.
“You made it!” Andi piped, clapping her hands. “Now, we’re good to go!”
Meanwhile, beside her, Jonah had tilted his head to the side, looking confused. “So, you are friends. Huh. I guess I missed a lot while I was at Frisbee camp.”
Andi stared at him in disbelief and Cyrus just chuckled because typical Jonah didn’t even notice that Cyrus had been hanging out with someone new.
Meanwhile, TJ sidled up to Cyrus. “You should have told me this was a date, I would have dressed better.”
He gestured to his outfit which consisted of jeans, a plain light blue v-neck shirt, and basketball sneakers.
“Nope, what you’re wearing is exactly according to Andi’s specifications,” Cyrus replied, smiling at the taller boy before turning to his friend. “Now, will you tell us where we’re going?”
Jonah beamed whereas Andi looked down at the ground, lips pursed.
“We’re playing Ultimate!” Jonah piped.
Cyrus blinked once. Twice. Thrice.
“We’re doing what now?”
“So… this is their idea of a date,” TJ stated.
He and Cyrus were standing on the grass on a field, watching as Jonah and Andi set up the Ultimate equipment, which wasn’t much really. Just some cones to mark where each team’s end zone goal was. Apparently, they were going to bend a few rules and allow some running because there was literally only four of them. And only Andi and Jonah had played on an actual Ultimate Frisbee game.
Cyrus didn’t really understand it and apparently, neither did TJ.
“I don’t get it, why Ultimate?!” Cyrus whined. “They could go to the movies, have lunch at The Spoon, go to the amusement park, go on another jumping marathon at the trampoline building, they can literally do anything!”
TJ laughed. “I don’t know, Underdog. Maybe this is their thing. Besides, if you’re with someone you really like, you can literally do anything and it would still be fun.”
Cyrus stared at him for a moment, surprised at how… sweet he was being.
“Oohh, listen to you Mr. Confident,” he teased, grinning at the older boy. “So how many girls have you taken out on a date?”
A faint blush appeared on TJ’s cheeks. “One or two,” he replied simply before looking pointedly at Cyrus. “You?”
Okay, he walked right into that one.
“Just one girl. My ex. Then again, she planned most of the dates and I usually just went along.”
TJ’s eyes widened in surprise. “You have an ex-girlfriend?”
Cyrus let out a chuckle. “Is it really that hard to believe? I know I’m not exactly men’s magazine cover material, but give me some credit!”
“No, it’s not that. It’s just… never mind.” TJ turned away from him, his expression unreadable.
“What’s wrong?” Cyrus felt like he had said the wrong thing.
But, TJ just flashed him a small smile. “It’s nothing, Underdog. Don’t worry about it.”
Before Cyrus could continue hounding for answers (because he knew that it was definitely something for him to worry about; TJ looked so sad), Jonah and Andi called them over.
Cyrus dreaded it but nonetheless, walked forward, TJ right beside him. He was somewhat glad that it was TJ with him and not Buffy. He loved his best friend, but sometimes, her competitiveness frightened him. TJ was competitive too but he always let Cyrus go at his own pace when it came to physical activity.
“You two ready to go up against Team Jandi?” Andi asked, excitedly.
Almost in sync, Cyrus and TJ tilted their head to the side and repeated, “Jandi?”
“It’s Jonah and Andi. Jandi. Isn’t it cute?”
Beside her, Jonah just shook his head and shrugged but looked resigned.
“No fair. If you and Jonah get a team name, TJ and I should too!” Cyrus huffed before turning to the taller boy beside him. “Right?”
TJ nodded. “Definitely.” He pursed his lips to the side, thinking. “TJ and Cyrus… TJ and Cyrus…”
And just like that, a bulb flickered on in Cyrus’ head. “Tyrus! We’re team Tyrus!”
“Then, let the Ultimate Frisbee game between Team Jandi and Team Tyrus commence!” Jandi announced like a commentator.
As the couple walked a few feet away to strategize, Cyrus turned to TJ, feeling even more nervous than before.
“We’re going to lose,” he stated. “I just know it. I have no athletic bone in my body. We might as well forfeit now.”
“What? No way! We’re going to play this game until the end, Underdog, and we will blow them out of the water! Or, grass.”
At that, Cyrus felt himself laugh a little. TJ’s attempts at funny jokes were adorable.
Meanwhile, the taller boy had turned his attention towards “Jandi”.
“Yo, Jonah! Throw me a disk, real quick!”
Jonah picked up one of the 3 disks he brought along and threw it at TJ.
Cyrus watched in disbelief as TJ “Confident Athlete” Kippen jumped into the air and caught it, not even breaking a sweat.
“H-How…”
TJ just grinned at him. “I’ve seen a few of their games and picked up a trick or two.” He walked behind Cyrus and placed the Frisbee in his hand. “All you really have to do is throw or catch then run.”
“We both know I’ll trip on my own feet,” mumbled Cyrus, miserably.
“Then I’ll catch you.”
Those four words made Cyrus’ mind go blank all of a sudden.
But, before he could ponder more, TJ had wrapped a hand around his wrist and began to demonstrate how to effectively throw without the disk immediately dropping to the ground.
“You just have to catch it then throw it far enough for me to catch so I can throw it at their end zone.”
“This is going to be a weird game,” Cyrus stated, trying out the technique TJ just showed him.
The Frisbee flew a few feet away before landing on the grass with a soft ‘thump’.
Meanwhile, the basketball player just shrugged and grinned. “It could be interesting.”
Well, in a way, TJ was sort of right. The game of Ultimate Frisbee with only four people was interesting… and a mess.
Cyrus was huffing and puffing as he tried to keep up with the power Jandi couple and their Ultimate Frisbee skills. However, it turned out TJ was decent at Frisbee. He had already scored them a few points. Then, again, he did play a sport that involved a lot of throwing, catching, and running.
Ahead of him, TJ managed to intercept the disk and ran towards Cyrus and throwing the disk at him. Cyrus ran forward and celebrated in his head when he caught it.
“Run, Cy!” TJ yelled as Jonah ran past him to intercept.
Cyrus forced his legs to move and run, counting down to 10 in his head and throwing the disk at Jandi’s end zone. Jonah tried to jump in its path but miscalculated. The disk flew past the cone and landed on the grass.
Cyrus scored a point.
“YOU DID IT, UNDERDOG!”
Mouth open in shock, Cyrus froze in place, staring at the discarded disk. “I did it?!” he shouted in disbelief. “I did it!”
He turned around to see TJ running up to him with a giant grin on his face. And then, the smaller boy found himself off the ground as TJ’s arms wrapped around his waist and lifted him into the air, spinning around in celebration.
Laughing in glee, Cyrus raised his arms to the sky, yelling, “I scored!”
Looking down at TJ and holding on to the taller boys’ shoulders, Cyrus was struck by the proud and pleased expression on his friend’s face. He realized that this was one of his favorite faces of TJ, a happy and smiling guy, not the mean and angst-y jock with the perpetual frown.
“Okay, you two, stop staring at each other’s eyes, we still have a game to play!”
Andi’s voice broke Cyrus out of his reverie and it appeared that TJ too lost his concentration for a few moments there. He was still holding up Cyrus and ever-so-gently set him back down on the ground. Cyrus was reluctant to release his hold on TJ’s shoulder but did so anyway, only to turn and see Andi’s teasing grin.
He flashed her a look as if to say, “What?”
She just shrugged and jogged back to her place. Jonah grinned and sent Cyrus two thumbs up with a “Great job, Cy-guy!” before following after his girlfriend.
Confused but deciding to let it go, Cyrus turned back to TJ. “What do we do now?” he asked, a little worriedly. “I’m pretty sure that that was a fluke and I won’t be able to do it again.”
“Fluke or not, you still scored us a point and I know you can do it again,” replied TJ and his belief warmed Cyrus’ heart.
They continued to play, Cyrus with an extra boost of motivation. This time, he was trying to intercept the disk while TJ was behind him, ready to receive.
Jonah threw the disk and ran. Andi missed and it went flying towards Cyrus but it looked to be much too high. Cyrus calculated that it would fly over his head unless he moved backward and jumped.
So, he did just that.
Running backward, eye on the disk and determined to catch it, he jumped back, hand in the air, and caught the disk…before bumping into another body behind him.
Caught off-balance, it was like slow motion when Cyrus felt himself fall back but the other body prevented him from making contact with the grass
“Oof!” cried out the body behind him.
Panicked, Cyrus rolled over. “TJ! Oh my god! Are you okay?”
The athlete was on his back, a pained expression on his face as he breathed in gulps.
Andi and Jonah had run over and fell on their knees beside the fallen boy.
“Are you okay?”
“Dude, that was one dosh of a fall!”
“TJ, how many fingers am I holding up?” Cyrus held up two fingers.
Still breathing fast, TJ grinned. “Three.”
Now, Cyrus’s heart almost stopped and he was in full panic-mode as he and Jonah helped the other boy sit up. He would never forgive himself if anything happened to TJ.
“Is your back okay? Do we need to take you to the hospital? Hold on, I’m calling 911!”
“Underdog, chill! I’m fine!”
“TJ, you fell on your back catching me! What if you broke something?!”
“I’ve broken a rib before, trust me, I’m fine.”
“When did you break a rib?!”
“Okay, I think we should take a break,” Andi interrupted. “TJ, you sure you’re okay?”
The boy nodded. “Just give me a minute to catch my breath.”
“Then, Jonah and I will go get snacks.”
Jonah turned to her, confused. “We will?”
Grinning through her teeth, Andi flashed him a look. “Yes, we will. Cy, stay with TJ, okay?”
“Okay,” Cyrus replied with no hesitation as he fussed over TJ like a mother hen.
He checked the boy’s back, chest, and stomach for any sign of injury, putting his basic first-aid knowledge to use.
“Underdog, I’m fine,” TJ said again.
“Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure? You know, some injuries are hidden and we wouldn’t know it’s there unless you’ve been examined by a doctor and-.”
“Cyrus.” TJ gently grabbed his hand that had been feeling the older boy’s side. “I’m fine. Really.”
Cyrus looked up at him to see if he was lying but TJ was smiling, though red in the face. Probably from all the exertion. When Cyrus’ brown orbs met his green ones, the athlete suddenly looked shy and turned his head away.
It took Cyrus but a moment to realize what he had done just now. He had touched TJ. All over his body. Granted, it was for the sole purpose of checking for injuries and yet…
He turned red with embarrassment.
“Oh my god, TJ, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have touched… I… I mean, I was checking for injuries but I should have asked and...”
At his fumbling, TJ laughed. “Don’t worry about it.”
Then, he laid back on the grass and patted the spot next to him. An invitation for Cyrus.
Though, still embarrassed, Cyrus laid down next to him.
For a minute, they were silent, just watching the clear blue afternoon sky.
“Ever played that game when you were younger where you use your imagination to figure out what shapes are in the sky?” TJ randomly asked.
It put a smile on Cyrus’ face. “Of course. You?”
“My sister and I did it a lot.” TJ turned his head to him. “Wanna play while we’re waiting for the lovebirds?”
For the next couple of minutes, the two young teens scanned the clouds for shapes.
“A basketball.”
“That one’s a rabbit.”
“That one…looks like a guy in a bathtub.”
Cyrus burst out laughing. “How did you get that from a blob?”
“Use your imagination, Underdog.”
“If anything, I see a banana split.”
“Are you hungry?”
“Maybe a little.”
TJ laughed out loud, a tinkling sound that Cyrus loved to hear. “That one’s a cupcake.”
“Nuh-uh! That’s a muffin.”
“What? No way! That’s totally a cupcake!”
“Cupcakes are more dome-shaped, that one has a more puffy top! That’s a muffin!”
“Not all muffins have puffy tops.”
“Well, the ones in my imagination do, so there.”
TJ laughed again. “Fine, I’ll give you this one, Underdog.”
Cyrus turned his head to him, smiling softly. “Don’t worry. Next time, I’ll let you win.”
TJ met his gaze and rolled onto his side. “Thank you.”
Cyrus rolled over too. “For what?”
“Inviting me to this double date.”
Cyrus felt himself blush and shyly dipped his head. “Well, you were a pretty great date. You did catch me, after all.” He lifted his head. “Thank you for that, by the way.”
“Any time.”
TJ continued to look at him, as if contemplating. Cyrus wondered what was going on in his head because he had never looked at him that way before. His stomach was doing its own somersaults, and not just because he was hungry.
“So… I was wondering…” TJ looked meek and soft all of a sudden.
“Yes?” Cyrus couldn’t help but ask.
The older boy looked hopeful. “Do you think… we can go on a date? Just the two of us?”
Cyrus’s breath caught in his throat and he left his body off the grass a little. “A… A date?”
TJ tilted his head.
“J-Just the two of us? L-Like… an actual date? A date, date?”
He couldn’t grasp the reason why this confident athlete who could have any pick of a partner would want to ask him out. But, Cyrus would be lying if he said that TJ asking him out didn’t make him happy and excited. After all, he had been crushing on the older boy for some time now, he just never had the guts to take it any step further. He figured that he would just crush on him from afar until his feelings faded.
At his hesitation, TJ’s face fell a little. “W-Well, it doesn’t have to be a date if you don’t want it to be.”
“I do!” Cyrus said, quickly as he tried to contain his sudden excitement. “I want to! Go on a date with you, I mean.”
The other boy’s face lit up and he lifted his body slightly off the ground. “Really?”
Cyrus nodded, eagerly. A date. He was going on a date! With TJ!
“Great! What do you want to do?” The athlete was practically buzzing with excitement now. “Movies? Lunch at the Spoon? How about the amusement park? Or that trampoline building-?”
“TJ,” Cyrus interrupted, gently. “We can do anything together… because anything with you will be fun.”
TJ practically melted right in front of Cyrus and the Jewish boy mentally gave himself a pat on the back. It was usually the other way around.
The other boy scooted closer to him, gaze locked on his eyes. And Cyrus’ heart did that fast “baboombaboombaboom” in his chest.
“I’m glad I came today,” TJ said, softly.
“I’m glad I asked you,” Cyrus replied.
TJ’s eyes flickered to Cyrus’ lips, prompting the younger boy to bite them. Like slow motion, the older boy leaned in and Cyrus felt his eyes flutter close. His heart was hammering hard and fast against his chest. He could feel TJ’s breath close to his face.
“JONAH! NO!”
“Hey, guys!”
Cyrus’ eyes snapped open right on time to see TJ fall back, letting out a frustrated groan.
Up ahead, Jonah was jogging towards them, smiling his normal smile while Andi was right at his heels, looking guilty when she caught Cyrus’ gaze.
“Sorry,” she mouthed.
Cyrus sighed and mouthed back, “It’s okay.”
“Sorry we took so long,” was the first thing Jonah said as he plopped on the grass next to Cyrus and laid out the bag of snacks he had been holding. “Andi couldn’t decide what she wanted.”
“I wanted something specific,” Andi said through her teeth.
Oblivious to his girlfriend’s annoyed tone, Jonah laid out the snacks on the grass. He picked up a box of Andi’s favorite animal crackers and handed it to her. Andi’s gaze softened as she received it.
“So, what did we miss?” Jonah asked.
Cyrus looked at TJ who looked back at him. He knew Andi would make a big deal out of it (it was obvious that she and probably Buffy already had their suspicions about Cyrus’ crush). And Jonah would probably be confused. They would ask too many questions. He wasn’t quite sure if he was ready for that yet. So, he subtly shook his head at TJ who nodded.
“We looked at some clouds,” TJ replied to Jonah, grabbing a bag of mini muffins and tossing it to Cyrus who caught it. “Talked about a few things. Made plans.”
“Cool.”
The conversation then moved elsewhere, as Jonah began to talk about one thing or another.
Meanwhile, Cyrus and TJ continued to exchange soft looks, like they were sharing a secret.
A secret that was just their own. For now.