Chapter Text
Cyrus walked up to the “The Spoon” his favorite diner with a steady stride. The sparkled linoleum table tops alongside the teal and orange striped pleather booths offering him the comfort as he walked in with a peculiar look on his face.
His dark hair blew in the slight breeze as he shielded his eyes from the sun on this windy Saturday evening. It was outside the norm for him to be so serious, he was generally a happy kid but today he had something weighing on his mind, and he needed help. He noted the time was exactly 4:50 in the afternoon. 'Perfect' he thought, as he made his way to a free booth off to the side. Surprisingly or unsurprisingly he noted that it was the same two-person booth he had that important moment with one of his best friends, Buffy, not too long ago. He sat and waited. The blond girl he had anticipated came up with a confident stride.
"Hey Cyrus, what can I get for you, besides the usual I mean?" Amber's face had an honest smile and her voice held a tone that was more genuine than when dealing with the normally ill-mannered crowd of customers that walk into the establishment. She placed an ice water on the coaster in front of him
"Although just a warning; I get off of work in a few minutes."
Cyrus looked up then placed his phone face down so as to keep his attention away from the device, more specifically a text he had read for about the 13th time that day.
"I know, that's actually why I'm here right now."
Amber gave him a questioning look which was ignored.
"Two orders of the usual please, plus one Amber for company if you don't mind."
There was an air of finality in the way Cyrus spoke. Normally the blonde would rebuff any amount of control that anyone, man or woman, would try to put on her. However, this was Cyrus; meek, shy, and passive Cyrus. Although the boy that she was currently speaking to showed none of these qualities that she was accustomed to. Amber needed to satiate her own curiosity so she said, "Id love to, just let me put your order in and get changed."
Her stomach gave a small growl as she was about to turn, she flushed and gave a nervous chuckle while looking away. Cyrus showed no indication that he heard it, however, he made one last request before she put her notepad away, "Before you put in the order for the Baby Taters and milkshakes can you put in an order for Caesar salad with dried cranberries on the side?"
Ambers face morphed into an unreadable look, confusion and anticipation buried themselves into her gut. She gave a confirmation and walked away to place the orders before clocking out.
Meanwhile, Cyrus unable to resist went back to his phone then reread the text. He changed the screen to his missed calls and stared at the voicemail notification; he started to bite his lower lip as his finger hovered over it. He couldn't bring himself to listen to it just yet. Pulling back his hand he took a deep breath, exhaled slowly and his hand started to creep forward. A twitch of the finger away and-
Amber plopped down across from him startling him slightly. He looked at her and then back to his phone and decided that she took a small amount more precedence over it for the moment. he placed it facedown one more time, but not before putting it on silent. Cyrus placed his hands on his chin as he looked away for a moment.
"Sooo..." she began unsure of how to proceed.
Just then a few guys came into The Spoon and Ambers eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the small group of boys that had on the baseball uniform from her high school, 'Definitely sophomores from the reserve team.' she thought while adjusting her posture to sit up straight as she took out the pins in her hair that she normally put in for work. They passed her and Cyrus’s table and sat a few tables down from their booth. Amber couldn’t help but look them up and down noting the differences between them, deciding the boy with medium length brown hair wearing a backward green cap was the best looking from the other two. A lite tap of a plate on the table in front of her and her attention was brought back to the present, as the coworker who took over her section placed the salad Cyrus had ordered moments before in front of him. She kept her sight on the napkins in front of her cursing herself for feeling embarrassed twice in one day in front of the younger middle schooler. She glanced up to find calculating eyes filled with amusement, and a smirk that looked way too natural on a face used to honest smiles.
Cyrus slid the plate in front of him toward her and he stated, “My treat, I know it’s your favorite, and don’t worry you won’t look unladylike in front of any potential… interest, because it’s a salad and whatever-” He ended his sentence a little flippant and abrupt, normally he would continue on a small tirade of verbal vomit until someone stopped him. This stole her attention once more, being reminded of her curiosity earlier. She accepted the food and started eating. She forgot to pack a lunch today which lately have been consisting of an apple with peanut butter.
“How do you know it’s my favorite?” she said after a few mouthfuls of the tangy salad savoring the touch of sweetness the cranberries brought to the otherwise traditional dish.
She took a slight pause and in unison they said.
“Jonah.”
“Jonah.”
They both had a small smile thinking of their big mouthed friend. The name of her ex no longer brought a heavy feeling in her chest; it has been a few months after all. Cyrus then slid the untouched water toward her. Taking a few more bites she then took a sip of the water. She didn’t know where to go from here; she expected a bit more and less from the young man in front of her. Of all the things she didn't anticipate comfortable silence. She let her attention drift to the guys from earlier as a small distraction. The brown-haired boy then glanced over to her, instead of looking away at being caught like most girls her age would she looked him up and down taking her time before smirking and looking away back into her salad.
She then looked up to check on her normally awkward companion. He was looking directly at her, eyes knowing what she did and seeming to know how embarrassed she really was. 'Too comfortable!' she thought.
“What?” she challenged, she was tired of being intimidated by Cyrus of all people. She polished off the salad dropping the fork into the bowl with an audible clang and looked him in the eye. Wanting to get this interaction? Hang out? Whatever this was, she wanted it over with.
Taking his time and keeping his eyes locked with hers he tilted his head in the direction she was looking moments before. Then he broke eye contact and his eyes roamed over the small group before looking back at amber.
“I think the one in the green hat is a bit cuter than the other two don’t you think?”
Amber’s mouth opened and her eyebrows shot up, the smirk Cyrus had earlier was back as Amber's mouth hung agape. She did not want to leave anymore, she didn't know what to feel. She snapped it shut as her coworker came back with the rest of Cyrus’s order from before. He murmured a thank you, his eyes never leaving the blonde girls as he popped a Baby Tater into his mouth.
Amber was the third person Cyrus Goodman had come out to and he felt he had done a pretty good job.