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“Mario Kart!” Jonah announced, throwing himself down on the couch. Buffy joined him, forcing him over slightly with her body.
“What, you ready to lose again?” She questioned, picking up one of the remotes on the table.
“In your dreams,” Jonah shot back, grabbing the other remote. TJ shook his head and dropped into the chair on the right side of the room while Andi took the one spot left on the couch.
Cyrus crouched by the TV and shuffled through the discs by the system. He slid one in, craning his neck to see it had been registered as he did so. He nodded as the screen flashed and then pulled two more remotes out of the drawer below the TV
“Okay which one of you is going first round and who’s playing loser?” Cyrus asked, holding up the last remote and waving it between TJ and Andi. “I respond well to compliments,” he added.
“I don’t think I’ve told you how attractive you look today,” TJ pandered.
“Well you told me he was cute,” Jonah chimed in.
“No I didn’t,” TJ hissed at him.
“Yeah you did,” he insisted. “I remember because you told me not to tell him and then you said—Ouch!” Buffy had hit him in the chest.
“Can we just pick someone to start?” Buffy asked.
TJ nodded and cleared his throat, “Uh, let Andi go.”
Cyrus held eye contact for a moment too long and TJ had to look away, feigning interest at the starting screen. He saw Andi grab the remote from Cyrus and assumed Cyrus had taken the chair on the other side of the couch. They pressed through the loading screen and then to character selection.
“Wait, where am I?” Andi asked, spinning her cursor around. “Oh I’m blue, let me switch with someone.” She tried to lean across the couch and grab Buffy’s remote, but she pulled it back from her.
“No way, I always use this one!” She argued.
“Okay, then switch seats with me, I need to be on the right side.”
“I’m right top though,” Buffy pointed out. “Switch with TJ.” Andi got up and walked over to his chair, so he took it as a sign he was supposed to move. He pulled himself up and then dropped back down into Andi’s spot on the couch.
“Can we start?” Jonah asked.
“Okay, Yoshi,” Buffy responded.
TJ watched as they played a Grand Prix, he would have to sit through the four races and then get to take the remote of the loser, which would likely be Cyrus. It was his game, but he was still the worst. Granted, he probably never played if Jonah and Buffy weren’t over. TJ secretly loved watching him play, his facial expressions made the bickering from Jonah and Buffy worth sitting through. TJ watched as he forced his remote as right-angled as it could possibly be, biting his lip and frowning at the screen.
“No fair! I’m stuck against a wall!” TJ chuckled and then stood up, moving over to Cyrus’ chair and leaning across it. Cyrus recognised his attempt to help and let him take the remote out of his hands. TJ sat down on the armrest, straightened the remote and then nudged it slowly to the right, hitting the button to reverse. He drove Cyrus’ character to the track and then handed him the remote back. Cyrus turned around fully and smiled at him. They were so close, TJ still perched right on his side and they smiled at each other until Buffy completely lapped Cyrus, which she announced.
Cyrus turned around at that and got himself back into the game. He leaned forward in his seat, determined to not let Buffy finish with over a lap on him. To the left of him, Buffy and Jonah were in their own world. They were first and second, respectively, and Jonah was doing everything he could to change that. His eyes were darting between the top two character screens and he was ‘accidentally’ bumping into her every time she started to drift around a turn. Buffy had begun anticipating this however, and was forcing him right back, causing him to fall even farther behind. TJ looked to Andi, who was having her own battle for 4th place against the CPUs.
“I’m back!” Cyrus announced, passing Buffy on his 2nd, and her 3rd, lap. He managed to get a bullet and speed through to 10th place, grinning as wide as ever. A door slammed and TJ looked over his shoulder to the stairs. Amber came down and he nodded in greeting as she announced herself. Cyrus said hello but the rest of them mumbled a vague greeting, too into the final few seconds of the race. TJ watched Buffy pass the finish line and cheer for herself, turning toward Jonah and gloating in her victory.
Although there was now space of the couch, Amber walked over to the chair Andi was sitting on and squeezed herself on to the armrest as TJ had done with Cyrus. “You’re playing Mario Kart?” She commented.
“Playing? More like cheating,” Jonah replied, sticking out his tongue.
Buffy rolled her eyes, “You can’t cheat at Mario Kart, unless you attempt to pull whatever you were doing last round.” Amber gave Andi a look, which TJ caught, and Andi shrugged.
“Oh yeah?” Jonah tested. He grabbed Buffy’s remote and slipped it out from her hand, jumping up from the couch and darting across the room. “How will you play now?” Buffy chased after him, catching him in a corner.
“You think I can’t take you down?” TJ looked from the scene in the corner to Cyrus, who was watching with concern. TJ knocked his leg to get the boy’s attention and rose an eyebrow, then looked to Amber and Andi, who all shared a look.
Jonah faked around her right side and then slipped around the left, sprinting away and jumping up the landing of the stairs, “I know you can’t,” he called. Buffy took off after him again and Jonah disappeared up the stairs with her on his tail.
The four kids left in the basement all let out a laugh, unsure of what really was going on between them. “We should probably go stop whatever is about to happen,” Andi pointed out.
“I don’t think those two should be left alone together,” Amber agreed. She dropped off the armrest and pulled Andi up from her seat, leading her up the stairs.
TJ watched them disappear up the stairs and then looked down at his best friend next to him. He knocked his leg against Cyrus’. “You know my sister says we shouldn’t be left alone together,” he commented.
Cyrus rose an eyebrow, “Yeah? Well, we’re alone now,” he pointed out.
TJ looked around and nodded, “We are,” he agreed. They smiled at each other for a moment, neither of them knowing really what to say. TJ dropped his arm down between them resting it on the Cyrus’ leg, his palm face up. Cyrus’ eyes flickered down to it, and then back up to TJ’s face. TJ wasn’t meeting his eyes though, more like his lips. He looked back down to TJ’s hand and scooted his hand across his lap, moving a slow as possible. He inched his fingers closer to his left leg, reaching out and brushing the tips of TJ’s. The feeling was always electrifying, even though he had touched TJ a million times before, when it was like this, slow and purposeful with feelings behind it, it made it a million times more intense.
“Cyrus!” His hand shot back, as if having been zapped. He jumped up with the movement, TJ following him almost as quickly. Cyrus went red almost immediately and TJ could feel his cheeks getting warm. “You guys coming up?” He heard Andi call.
“Y—” His voice cracked, “Yeah!” He yelled back. He gave TJ a weak smile, who returned it, and ran up the stairs.
~~~~~
They were sitting alone together later that evening, out on Cyrus’ porch after Amber had gone in to get her jacket. They were always the last ones at Cyrus house at the end of the night, they lived right next door. Cyrus looked at the door Amber had gone through moments earlier, thinking about the moment—almost moment—he and TJ had shared a few hours earlier. “Why do you think she said that?” Cyrus asked, hoping to bring up a conversation about their—whatever it was.
“Said what?” TJ replied, obviously not up-to-date with Cyrus’ thoughts.
“That we probably shouldn’t be left alone together,” he clarified.
“Oh,” TJ shrugged, “Amber has a lot of weird theories.”
“Like her one about Buffy?” Cyrus joked. “Do you think she doesn’t want us, alone?” He asked, hoping for some kind of deeper explanation. It was dark outside and hard for him to really make out TJ’s features, but he could tell the boy was unsure of what to say. He shrugged and Cyrus looked back over to the door. “But then she left as alone,” He pointed out.
TJ nodded. “Hm, she did do that.”
“Did she even bring a jacket?” Cyrus wondered.
“I think she doesn’t want us to ruin our friendship,” TJ said softly. Oh, he was actually thinking this whole time, Cyrus realised.
“Do you think we would?” Cyrus asked, his tone matching TJ’s. TJ was closer to him again, moving forward so silently Cyrus had barely noticed. He could hear his breathing hitch slightly.
“No,” he admitted. “I don’t think we could ruin anything. We’re already...” he stopped, unsure of how to finish that sentence.
“Pretty close?” Cyrus attempted.
“Yeah,” TJ agreed, dropping his hand back down between them again, “Close.” Cyrus looked down at his hand and felt his breathing hitch. He looked back toward the door, Amber had been gone a while, and then looked back to TJ’s hand. He hesitated, a moment too long he assumed, and TJ stood up. “I should probably get going,” he said.
Cyrus stood up as well. “Okay,” he said, nodding a little too quickly. “Should we go get Amber?”
TJ shrugged, “She knows how to get home.” Cyrus nodded, but didn’t say anything. TJ was looking at him, his eyes moving between Cyrus’ and his lips. Cyrus had to remind himself how to breathe. Neither of them said anything, standing there in the dark, obviously just waiting for the other to make a move. Cyrus wasn’t going to make a move, he couldn’t. He still couldn’t gage where they were exactly, how they felt about each other. It was weird, after knowing TJ for so long; Even if they had just agreed it wouldn’t ruin anything, he was still wary of finally crossing that line.
Luckily, TJ stepped in, planting a kiss on Cyrus’ lips and then immediately stepping back, his eyes tracking the boy’s face.
“W-what was that for?” Cyrus stuttered, in slight shock.
“I wanted to see what it was like,” TJ admitted, looking down at the floor. Cyrus was sure both of them were bright red, he silently thanked his mom for forgetting to replace the porch light.
“Oh,” was all Cyrus could say.
“Was that okay?” He sounded worried.
Cyrus nodded. Yes, yes, of course it was fine. It was more than fine it was all he had wanted for months. It was what he had been dreaming about, yet he couldn’t say anything. Why couldn’t he say anything? He was just standing there, nodding like an idiot.
“I don’t want to overwhelm you,” TJ said. He got it, he knew why Cyrus was speechless. Of course he got it. “But maybe we could try again later?” He added. Cyrus nodded, kept on nodding. Yes, trying again later was good! Again being the keyword, mainly, but later was good too.
He smiled. At least Cyrus could see that smile through the dim lighting, that smile that meant they were definitely okay. “Goodnight, Cyrus,” he said, finally turning away and stepping off the porch.
He watched TJ walk away, disappearing around the side of the house. The door creaked as it was angled open, and Cyrus met Amber’s eyes. She shook her head, “Really?”
“I wasn’t expecting that!” Cyrus said, his hand ghosting over his lips.
“Neither was I,” Amber admitted. “Was it good?”
“It was phenomenal,” Cyrus breathed. “I just, wish I had kissed him back. That’s a thing people do, right?”
Amber laughed. “Yes, that’s a thing. You’ll have time,” she promised.
“Should I apologise?” He asked, looking back over to the Kippen’s house.
“He knows you, Cyrus. He’s known you since you were five, I’m sure he knew how you were going to react.”
“I didn’t know how I was going to react!” Cyrus pushed. “I thought I would be ready, I thought I could at least hold a conversation after!”
“Didn’t you fall over after he hugged you two weeks ago?” She asked.
“I did not,” Cyrus argued, “I just tripped when he let go.” Amber rolled her eyes and Cyrus sighed. “What am I going to do?”
“Don’t overthink it,” she said.
“But overthinking is my specialty!”
“So trust TJ knows that, dummy. He knows you better than anyone else in this world, that’s what makes this perfect.”
“And scary,” Cyrus added.
“Scary is fun,” Amber countered. “I’ll text you,” she promised, stepping down off the porch. “But he won’t want me too involved.” Cyrus nodded in thanks and turned back inside as she walked off toward her house. He wasn’t going to be sleeping tonight.