Chapter Text
It all started with a stupid dare. TJ was at a party. He wasn’t even sure whose party it was, just that it was someone on his basketball team. And someone had mentioned ‘gay chicken.’ And now, he and Marty, both equally stubborn and competitive, were kissing at some random person’s house at some random party on a Saturday night. But whatever, it was just a dare. It’s not like it meant anything. It’s not like either of them were actually gay. It’s not like anyone would remember or care by Monday morning. Right?
As soon as he walked into school on Monday, Marty appeared right by his side. And started holding his hand? “Hi, honey.”
TJ gave him a confused look. “What are doing?”
Marty grinned mischievously at him. “I don’t remember you ever chickening out on Saturday. And I know I certainly didn’t.”
TJ thought back to the party. Marty was right. They may have eventually gone home, but the game had never technically actually ended. “So, we’re still doing this?”
“Until you give up.” Marty nodded.
TJ smirked. “Well, that’s not gonna happen.”
So, they walked to both of their lockers together, only letting go of each other’s hand when they had to. And they walked to class together. Marty even kissed TJ on the cheek when they said goodbye outside of TJ’s classroom. TJ wasn’t sure why that startled him so much or why he felt his face heat up slightly. He decided to ignore that in favor of planning how he’d get Marty back.
The rest of the day went on like that. They didn’t have many classes together, but anytime they saw each other in the halls, they would blow kisses and flirt (badly) with each other. At lunch, Marty practically sat in TJ’s lap.
After school, Marty appeared by TJ’s locker. “So, what are we doing after school?”
TJ rolled his eyes as he closed his locker. “Well, I’m going to work.”
Marty fell in to step beside him as he started walking out of the school. “I didn’t know you had a job. Where do you work?”
“At a gym.”
Marty’s face lit up, but in a way that made TJ slightly nervous. “That’s awesome. Can I come with you? You could watch me work out.” He winked at TJ. Like, actually winked.
TJ laughed and rolled his eyes. He decided not to correct Marty on exactly what kind of gym he worked at. He’d figure it out when they got there.
They walked through the doors of the gym. “Wait. You work at a gym for kids?” TJ just nodded. “That’s amazing. I can’t believe ‘Toxic’ TJ Kippen works with kids.” TJ winced slightly at the old nickname. He hadn’t heard that one in a while.
A few of the kids ran up to them and asked who Marty was. Marty, of course, introduced himself as TJ’s boyfriend. The kids seemed fascinated. “Guys can have boyfriends?” one of them asked.
Marty looked like he was about to say something, but one of the other kids beat him to it. “Well duh. My dad has a boyfriend.”
“Woah.”
TJ smiled at the kids. “I’m gonna go clock in and change. I’ll be right back.” He looked at Marty. “Don’t burn the place down while I’m gone.” He stopped and talked to one of his coworkers on his way to the back office to make sure that it was ok that Marty was there.
Marty ended up staying for TJ’s whole shift. He was actually really good with kids. And they seemed to adore him.
After work, Marty, ever the gentleman, offered to walk him home. They walked in silence for a while. “You know, there’s no one here. Why are we doing this?” TJ held up their joined hands. “It’s not like anyone would know.”
“You would know. And more importantly, I would know. It’s a matter of principle. I never back down from a challenge. But, you know, if you’re too scared…”
“Never.”
“Ok then.”
“How long do you think you can keep this going?”
“As long as it takes.”
TJ nodded and they continued in silence for a while longer. The stopped at a corner. “This is as far as I go.”
Marty raised an eyebrow. “This isn’t your house.”
“I know. My house is down there.” He gestured down the block a few houses. “But I don’t really want my parents to see you.” He held up their hands.
“Oh. Are your parents…”
“Honestly, I don’t know, but it doesn’t really seem worth it to find out right now, especially since I’m not really, you know.”
Marty nodded. “Got it. Well, I’ll see you at school tomorrow then.”
TJ nodded. And then Marty leaned over and kissed him. And TJ really should stop being surprised by that by now. It’s not like it was their first kiss. But it was softer? Maybe? His breath caught in his throat slightly, and he really hoped Marty didn’t notice. Marty turned to walk away. TJ just stood there and watched him. After a few seconds (Minutes? Hours?), Marty turned to look back at him and waved. TJ waved back before turning to head to his own house.
After dinner that night, Amber came into his room while he was trying to do his homework. “Ok, what’s up with you and Marty?”
“What are you talking about?”
She rolled her eyes. “We go to the same school, dumbass. Are you two dating? Why didn’t you tell me? Or even tell me that you’re gay.” She seemed slightly hurt.
“I’m not gay.” She didn’t seem to believe him, which, honestly, was fair. He explained the situation to her.
She rolled her eyes again. “Wow, you’re an idiot.”
“Shut up.”
“This is such a bad idea for so many reasons. How long do you plan on keeping this going?”
He shrugged. “Until he gives up.”
She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Wow. Ok. I knew you were stubborn, but damn. I keep telling you, one of these days, your inability to back down from a dare is gonna bite you in the ass.”
“I’ll be fine. Now, if you’re done, get out of my room. Please. I have homework.”
“Fine. Whatever.” She turned to walk away.
“And close my door,” He yelled after her as she left, but of course she didn’t listen. She never did. He just sighed and went back to his homework.
The next day at school went pretty similarly to the first except they both cranked it up a notch. After lunch, they got called to the principal’s office for “too much pda.” TJ just sat there in shock. He had never been in a relationship before, and he had never even heard of anyone getting in trouble for pda before.
Marty, though, was livid. He glanced at the student handbook that the principal had given them and threw it back on the desk. “This is ridiculous! We haven’t done anything more than any of the straight couples in this school do every day. We could sue you for discrimination!” TJ kind of tuned out the rest of Marty’s rant. At one point, he heard Marty mention that his mom was a lawyer, which TJ thought was weird because he was pretty sure that Marty had mentioned before that his mom was a nurse, but maybe he was thinking of someone else? He tuned back in though when he heard the principal mention calling their parents. He felt himself start to panic. God, was this really worth it for some dumb dare? Maybe Amber was right. He noticed Marty look at him and then look back at the principal with a determined look on his face. “You can call my parents, but don’t call TJ’s. Please.”
The principal reluctantly agreed and sent the two of them out to the hallway to wait. They sat there in silence. TJ had no idea how much time had passed before an angry-looking woman in a pantsuit walked into the building. Marty immediately jumped up, and her face softened a bit when she saw him. They hugged, and when they pulled away, she looked serious again.
“Ok, so what happened? I got a call saying you were in trouble for pda and then you yelled at the principal?”
“What happened is this school is homophobic.”
She scoffed. “Not too surprising, considering…” She shook her head. She seemed to notice TJ. “Is this…”
Marty nodded. “TJ. My uh… boyfriend.”
She nodded. “TJ Kippen? The basketball captain?” Marty nodded. TJ was surprised that she knew who he was. She took a step toward him and held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, TJ. I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances. I’m Audra.” TJ shook her hand, but he didn’t really know what to say. She looked between the two boys. “Don’t worry. I’ll deal with this.” She patted Marty’s cheek, nodded at TJ, and walked into the principal’s office.
Marty sat back down on the bench next to TJ.
“So that was your mom.”
“Yep.”
“What’s she gonna do?”
Marty shrugged. “Yell at him? Say the same things I said but in her kick-ass lawyer voice, so it’s actually effective.”
TJ nodded. There was more silence. And then, “she knows who I am?”
Marty nodded. “I talk about you.”
TJ looked at him. “You do?”
“Well, not just you, the whole team.” He seemed a bit nervous. “Also, there was that whole thing with Buffy last year. And Buffy was at my house a lot, so…”
TJ winced slightly. Great, his fake boyfriend’s parents had already gotten the worst first impression of him ever because he used to be a jerk to his ex-girlfriend. He sighed. “Whatever happened with you and Buffy, anyway?” To be honest, TJ had never really paid much attention to his teammates’ personal lives. He only even knew about Marty and Buffy because he literally didn’t shut up about her for like a year, and then suddenly, he did. It was weird, but he hadn’t questioned it because it’s not like they were friends or anything. But now maybe they were?
Marty shrugged. “She dumped me.”
“Oh. I’m sorry. Why?”
He shrugged again. “I guess she just didn’t like me as much as I liked her.” TJ sensed that there was more to the story than that, but he decided not to press further. “But it’s whatever. It’s been like a month. I’m fine.”
TJ nodded even though he didn’t quite believe him.
The door opened, and Marty’s mom came out. She smiled at them. “I worked everything out. You two can get back to class, and I can get back to work.”
They both stood up, and Marty hugged his mom again. “Thanks, mom.”
“Yeah, thanks.” TJ awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.
“It’s no problem.” She turned to Marty. “I’ll see you at home.” Marty nodded, and she turned to TJ. “And you should come over for dinner sometime, so we can meet you properly.” TJ just nodded. She turned and left the building.
They both sighed. “Well, that was wild,” Marty said.
TJ snorted. “Yeah, glad that’s over.”
“Sure you don’t wanna give up yet? Cause meeting the parents is about as gay as it gets.”
TJ smirked. “What’s the matter, Marty? Are you scared? Trying to get me to give up, so you don’t have to?”
“Nope. Never. I told you, I can keep this going as long as I have to.”
“Good. Cause so can I. Now, come on, we should get to class.” He put his arm around Marty, and the two of them started walking to their lockers.
After basketball practice that day, Marty stayed behind to help TJ pick everything up. One would think that having two people help would speed up the process, but the two of them kept messing around, and it ended up taking even longer than it usually did when TJ was alone. By the time they were done, the rest of the team had finished changing and left.
They went into the empty locker room. TJ noticed that even when it was just the two of them, Marty used the private shower and changing room. Did he always do that? Wow, TJ really didn’t pay enough attention to his teammates. He decided not to question it. Marty probably had a reason, and it definitely wasn’t any of TJ’s business.
He threw his arm around Marty as they walked out of the gym. They joked around as they walked. TJ decided that he really liked hanging out with Marty. Why hadn’t they become friends sooner? Oh yeah, because TJ didn’t really have friends. And Marty had been with Buffy, who hated him. For good reason, but still. He had apologized, but that didn’t suddenly make them friends. Oh well. He had Marty now. Well, did he though? Would Marty still be his friend when this whole stupid game ended? He shook that thought out of his head.
TJ looked around and realized that they had been walking for a while, and he didn’t really recognize where they were. He stopped. “Uh. Where are we?”
Marty looked around. “Oh. I guess I just started walking to my house automatically. Sorry.”
“It’s fine. I guess it’s fair. You walked me home yesterday, so I can walk you home today.” They started walking again.
“So romantic,” Marty joked. “But you know, you could come inside if you want. We could hang out?”
“I can’t tonight, but maybe some other time?”
Marty nodded. TJ could’ve sworn he looked disappointed, but he dismissed that thought immediately. Soon, they stopped in front of Marty’s house. “Well, this is me. I’ll see you at school tomorrow?” TJ nodded and pulled him in for a kiss. He ignored the way his heart sped up. None of this was real. It was all an act. (But for who?) When they pulled away, Marty had a goofy grin on his face. “Text me when you get home?”
TJ smirked as he took a step back. “Careful, Marty, I might start to think you care about me.”
Marty laughed. “In your dreams, Kippen.”
TJ started to walk away. When he was a few houses down, he turned and looked back, but Marty was already inside his house.
The rest of the week passed similarly. They’d act all coupley at school and practice (or work). TJ would walk Marty home. Marty would invite him inside, and TJ would come up with an excuse to decline. They’d kiss goodbye, and TJ would ignore how that made him feel. Then, he’d go home and work on homework, and Amber would tease him for texting Marty and making “that face,” whatever the fuck that meant. Then, he’d go to bed, and it would start all over the next day. At least it was better than his previous routine of ‘being alone all the time.’
On Saturday, when he got off work, he checked his phone and saw that he had a text from Marty asking him if he wanted to hang out. He sent a quick reply and then set his phone down to change out of his work uniform. Marty responded instantly, saying that he’d be there in five minutes, despite the fact that TJ hadn’t actually agreed to hanging out.
TJ rolled his eyes. He grabbed his stuff, clocked out, and went outside, locking the door as he did. He waited for a few minutes until a beat-up, old pickup pulled into the parking spot in front of him. The passenger window was rolled down, and he saw Marty lean over. “Get in loser, we’re going shopping.”
TJ laughed and got in, buckling his seatbelt. “Since when do you have a pickup?”
Marty started backing out of the parking spot. “It’s my mom’s. She’s letting me borrow it because I guess the fact that I got my driver’s license means she never has to go grocery shopping again.” Honestly, TJ was a little surprised that this was Marty’s mom’s car; somehow he couldn’t quite picture the woman he had met the other day driving a beat-up, old pickup. But something else surprised him even more.
“I’m shocked that you have a driver’s license.” TJ didn’t have his yet. He had his permit, but his parents never had time to take him driving, and they couldn’t afford driver’s ed, so…
Marty made an offended noise and put his hand on his chest. “I am offended that you have so little faith in your boyfriend. I’ll have you know, I passed the test on the first try.”
“Yeah, ok. Both hands on the wheel, Mr. Expert Driver,” TJ said sarcastically. But Marty listened and put his hand back on the steering wheel as he drove them to the grocery store. “You know, when you asked to hang out, I was expecting some kind of romantic date, not running errands for your parents.”
Marty smirked. “I’m about to make this the most romantic-ass grocery shopping trip of your life.”
TJ snorted. To be fair, it’s not like the bar for that was very high. TJ had only ever been shopping with his parents and his sister before.
So, ‘romantic’ might not be the best word, but it was probably the most fun TJ had ever had grocery shopping. They ran up and down every single aisle, grabbing everything on Marty’s list (and a few things not on the list). They took turns pushing each other on the cart. They made dumb jokes about random shit they saw. (Mostly a lot of 69 and 420 jokes, because they’re teenage boys, and what else can you expect?)
When they got to the ice cream aisle, Marty grabbed a tub of mint chocolate chip automatically, and then turned to TJ. “Ok, what kind do you want?”
“I thought this was for your parents?”
“That one’s for my parents.” He pointed at the ice cream already in the cart. “What should we get for us?”
“Oh. Um. I’m lactose intolerant.”
Marty nodded. “Ok.” He looked around the aisle for a second, and then, apparently finding what he was looking for, stepped a few feet to the right. He gestured to the various dairy-free ice creams in front of them, the ice creams TJ always wanted but almost never got because they were so much more expensive. “So, what kind do you want?”
“I’m not gonna make you buy me ice cream.”
“What? Is letting your boyfriend buy you ice cream too gay for you?”
TJ knew exactly what Marty was doing, and he hated that it worked. He rolled his eyes. “Fine.” He looked at the flavors and pointed at one that looked good. “I want that one.”
Marty smiled and grabbed it, also grabbing a pint of a different dairy-free flavor at the same time. He put them both in the cart and started pushing it toward the checkout lines.
When they made it to Marty’s house, they barely managed to carry everything inside in one trip between the two of them. As they walked inside, Marty said, “Hi, mom,” in the direction of the living room as he led the way into the kitchen. A woman, who was not the same woman TJ had met on Tuesday, got up from the couch and followed them. They set all the stuff on the floor.
She held her hand out to TJ. “Hi, you must be TJ. I’m Jessie, Marty’s mom.” TJ felt his brain short-circuit. He absentmindedly shook her hand. “Are you going to be staying for dinner?”
He started to say no, but Marty answered for him, saying, “Yeah, if that’s ok.”
“Of course that’s ok.” She turned to help put the groceries away. He just kind of stood there. Marty asked him to hand him something, so he shook himself out of it and started helping with the groceries. He didn’t really know where things went, but he handed them things, and they put them away..
When they got done, he offered to help make dinner because if Marty was going to insist that he stay, he might as well make himself useful, but she insisted that she didn’t need any help, but “thank you so much for offering, dear.”
Marty dragged him into the living room. “Do you wanna play Mario Kart?”
TJ absentmindedly agreed while he texted his mom to let her know that he was staying at a friend’s house for dinner. Marty handed him a controller. “How come you never told me you have two moms?”
Marty shrugged. “It never came up.” TJ was pretty sure there had been plenty of opportunities for Marty to have told him, but he decided not to press any further. After all, it’d be a bit hypocritical, seeing as he didn’t exactly talk about his own family very much. He was pretty sure most people at school didn’t even know that Amber was his sister.
He looked around the room while Marty set up the game. He noticed a banner on the wall that said, ‘son boy allowed.’ He pointed at it. “What’s that?”
Marty looked at where he was pointing and snorted. “One of my moms’ friends got them that forever ago. It used to say ‘no boys allowed,’ but they rearranged it when uh… when I came out.” Marty seemed very concentrated on the screen in front of him.
TJ had been half-expecting that sentence to end with ‘when I was born,’ so he was confused. “Came out?”
“As trans.” Oh.
TJ was surprised, and he had a lot of questions, but Marty seemed like he didn’t real want this to be a Big Thing, so TJ tried to be as nonchalant about it as possible. He nodded. “Oh. Ok.” He could always just google his questions later. He decided to try to release some tension in the room by joking, “so wait. If you’re the only boy allowed, am I allowed to be here?”
Marty smiled and exhaled in relief. “Yeah, you’re good. They let that asshole cat stay here, so I think you should be fine.”
TJ perked up. “You have a cat?”
Marty looked at him. “Yeah, who do you think we bought all that cat food for just now.”
TJ smirked. “I just assumed it was for you.”
Marty hit him. “Shut up, dude.”
TJ just laughed and turned to the tv, which was now showing the character select menu. He picked Princess Peach, and Marty picked Baby Toad. TJ was pretty good at Mario Kart, if he did say so himself. Which he did. A lot. He got first place in the first four races, with Marty just barely behind him in second. But then the last race was Rainbow Road. Oh no . Marty had a smug look on his face. Oh hell no .
TJ managed to start out ok. And then he fell off. Several times. Meanwhile, Marty didn’t seem to fall off a single time. How the fuck is that even possible? Marty ended up in first place, with TJ just barely behind enough to drop his overall score to second place.
TJ sat back in defeat. “Fuck.” Marty just grinned at him. TJ gave him a look. “Fuck you.”
Marty did finger guns at him. “Jokes on you, I’m asexual.”
TJ was torn between rolling his eyes and looking confused. Before he could say anything though, Jessie, came in and told them that dinner was ready. Marty turned off the tv, and they walked into the living room.
Dinner with his fake boyfriend’s moms wasn’t as awkward as TJ would have expected it to be. They were both really nice. And TJ found that he didn’t even really have to lie to them at all to make them believe he and Marty were in a real relationship. Which was probably a little bit concerning, but he tried not to think about that too much.
After dinner, Marty gave him a ride home. During the drive, he asked, “hey, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, anything.”
“What does TJ stand for?”
“Anything except for that.”
Marty laughed until he realized TJ was being serious. “Wait, seriously, dude? You won’t tell me your name ?”
“Ok, only like five people know, and they’re all Kippens.”
Marty shrugged. “Guess I’ll just have to become a Kippen then.”
TJ ignored the way his face heat up and just scoffed. “Yeah, right. Good luck with that.”
He had just gotten home and was laying on his bed texting Marty when Amber came into his room and flopped onto his bed next to him. He just rolled his eyes. “If you’re here to lecture me or tease me again, please don’t. I’m tired.”
She rolled over onto her back. “Not everything’s about you. Maybe I wanna talk about my own stuff.”
He put his phone away. “Ok… So what’s up?”
“I think I might be gay.”
“Oh… I think I might be gay, too.” It was the first time he had said it out loud. He hadn’t even really admitted it to himself yet.
“Yeah, no shit. You literally have a boyfriend.”
He blushed. “That’s not real.”
“But you want it to be.”
He didn’t know how to respond to that. He had been trying to deny that to himself all week, but he couldn’t deny it to his sister. He shook his head. “I thought you wanted to talk about your stuff.”
She sighed. “Right. So there’s this girl.” He nodded. “And I think I really like her. Like more than I liked Jonah or any other guy I’ve dated.”
“Woah.” That was saying a lot. He remembered when she had thought she was in love with Jonah Beck. “So, you’re gay.” She nodded. “Are you gonna tell her you like her?”
“Are you gonna tell Marty you like him?”
“Ok. That’s fair. Are you gonna tell her you’re gay at least?”
“I don’t know. Maybe one day. Like, I know one of her best friends is gay, so I know she’d be cool with it, but it’s still hard, you know?” He nodded. “So you can’t tell anyone. Got it?”
“Yeah, of course. You won’t tell anyone about me, right?”
“Of course not.” She squeezed his hand. “Do you think we should tell mom and dad?”
He thought about it. He figured their mom would probably be cool with it, but he honestly had no idea about their dad. “Maybe one day. But not today.”
She nodded and held up her pinky. “Together?”
“Yeah.” He wrapped his pinky around hers. “Together.”
They laid there in silence for a few moments. “So, tell me about this girl.”
She blushed and then started rambling about her. Apparently, she didn’t go to their school, but most of her friends did, and she came into The Spoon all the time. And she was really creative and pretty and… Amber never told him her name, but that was okay. She’d tell him when she was ready.
The next week was a lot harder than the first. Now that he had realized that he actually liked Marty, it was a lot harder to pretend that he liked Marty. He kept having to remind himself why he was doing this, and every time, the reason seemed even more stupid. But he couldn’t just stop without explaining to Marty why he wasn’t comfortable with it. And he wasn’t uncomfortable exactly, but it felt weird, wrong maybe, to be doing all these coupley things with Marty, pretending like he didn’t feel anything when he did. And for what? A stupid dare?
On Friday, he had tutoring after school, so he and Marty didn’t walk home together, and it was honestly kind of a relief to get to walk home alone. He decided to stop at the park and shoot some hoops at the basketball court. He wasn’t counting on someone already being there.
He watched Buffy make a basket and then set down his backpack and walked up to her. “Mind if I join you?”
She raised an eyebrow at him but passed him the ball. He threw it into the hoop. The two of them went back and forth shooting hoops without talking for a while. Eventually they stopped to get some water.
“So what brings you here?”
She shrugged. “Just clearing my head I guess. You?”
“Same, I guess.”
She nodded and sat on the bench. “Wanna talk about it?”
“Why would you wanna talk to me about my problems?”
She shrugged. “It’s better than thinking about my own problems.”
“Fair enough. But what makes you think I wanna talk to you about my problems?”
She shrugged again. “You look like you need to talk to someone. And I don’t see anyone else around.”
He sighed. “Fair enough.” He sat down. “But you go first.”
“What do you mean?”
“You said you were trying to clear your head. So, what’s up?”
She sighed and looked away from him. “My mom’s getting deployed again.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
She shrugged. “Nothing you can do about it.”
“I know, but I’m sorry.”
She nodded. “Thanks. It’s just, she’s been home for two years now, so it was only a matter of time, but I was just starting to feel like maybe this was our new normal, like maybe I didn’t have to worry about that anymore, but now…” She took a shaky breath. “It’s just hard, never knowing how long she’ll be home, when I’ll get to see her again… if I’ll see her again.” He didn’t really know what to say. ‘I’m sorry’ didn’t seem to cut it. She took a deep breath and shook her head. “I’m sorry, for just unloading all that on you. We aren’t even like friends or anything.”
He shook his head. “Hey, it’s fine. I asked. I just wish I knew how to make you feel better.”
“Well, thanks for listening.” She smiled at him. “It helped. A bit.”
“Anytime.” He smiled, surprised that he actually meant it. “And maybe one day we could be friends?”
“Maybe. But now it’s your turn. What’s up with you?”
He sighed and shook his head. “Well, now it seems dumb in comparison.”
She nudged him with her shoulder. “Oh come on, don’t do that to yourself. Besides, maybe helping you will make me feel better?”
He nodded. “Ok.” But he didn’t say anything.
“So, are you going to tell me, or…”
He nodded again. “Yeah, it’s just. The only other person I’ve admitted this to is my sister, so…”
“I didn’t even know you had a sister.”
“Yeah, we don’t really interact much at school. Doesn’t really matter. Anyway,” He took a deep breath, “I’m gay.”
She just stared at him. He looked at her when she didn’t respond. “Am I supposed to be surprised by that? You’re literally dating my ex-boyfriend.”
He shook his head and looked down at the ground. “Not really. It’s not real. It was just a stupid dare. A game of chicken that went too far. And now I actually like him, but he doesn’t like me, and I don’t know what to do.”
She put her hand on his knee. He looked up at her. “You are so stupid.” He was almost insulted, but the way she said it didn’t feel like an insult. “Look, I might be the only person other than his moms who can tell the difference between when Marty is acting and when he’s being honest. And I can tell you, without a doubt, that right now, Marty is acting like he’s acting.”
“What do you mean?”
“He likes you, dumbass.”
“Are you sure?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m sure. I dated the guy for almost a year. And he’s not really that subtle. Now, go tell him how you feel.”
He nodded and stood up. “Ok.” He was about to leave, but he stopped. “Wait, why are you helping me?”
“I’m not helping you. I’m helping Marty. We may have broken up, but I still love him, just not in That way. So if you hurt him…”
He got the message. He nodded and started to turn away. “Wait. Are you sure?”
She rolled her eyes and stood up, too. “Yes, I’m sure.” She grabbed his backpack and shoved it in his arms. “Now, go get your man.”
He smiled and put the backpack on as he started to run toward Marty’s house. He decided that, whatever happened with Marty, he really wanted to be Buffy’s Driscoll’s friend.
He stopped right outside Marty’s house to catch his breath. His heart was beating really fast, and it wasn’t just because he had run there. The confidence Buffy had given him was fading fast. What if she was wrong? What if Marty didn’t like him? What if he didn’t even want to be his friend? Ok, no. Buffy was hardly ever wrong. And Marty had always been the one to initiate things between them. That had to mean something, right? He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
Jessie answered the door. “Oh hi, TJ. I didn’t know you were coming over.”
He smiled nervously at her. “Is Marty here?”
“Yeah, he’s in his room.” She opened the door to let him in. He thanked her and started walking toward Marty’s room.
The door was open, so he just walked in. Marty was on his bed doing homework. He took off his headphones when he noticed TJ standing there. “TJ? What are you doing here?”
“I need to tell you something.”
Marty nodded. “Ok.” He put all his homework stuff in a pile and move it to his bedside table. TJ sat on the bed next to him. “So, tell me.”
TJ looked around the room. He hadn’t actually been in here before. He noticed three pride flags on one of the walls. The trans and ace ones he recognized from googling them after their conversation the other day. The other one he was pretty sure was the bi flag. He tried to remind himself that even if Marty didn’t like him back, there was no way he’d hate him for being gay. He took a deep breath. “I like you.”
Marty smiled. “That’s pretty gay, dude.”
“I’m serious.”
He nodded. “Ok. I like you, too.”
TJ exhaled in relief. He couldn’t believe it. “Really?”
“Yes, really. why do you think I did all this?”
“Because you’re really stubborn?”
“Ok yeah, but also because I like you.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because I’m dumb and didn’t even know I was gay until like three days ago.”
Marty laughed. “See, that’s why I didn’t tell you. How was I supposed to know you were gay if you didn’t even know you were gay?”
TJ laughed. “Ok. Fair enough. So, what now?”
Marty held his hand. “Now, we get to do this.”
TJ rolled his eyes. “We were already doing that.”
“Yeah, but it’s better now, right?” TJ couldn’t argue with that. “And you know what else is better now?”
“What?”
“This.” Marty leaned forward and kissed him. And he was right; it was so much better than before. When they separated, they leaned their foreheads together and smiled at each other.
“That was pretty gay.”
Marty laughed and leaned back a bit. “Yeah, that was kinda the point.”
TJ laughed. “So, who wins? Cause I’m definitely not chickening out any time soon.”
“Well, neither am I.”
“So… a tie then?”
“I guess I can live with that.”