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Fresh snow blanketed the sidewalks and sparkled under the streetlights as Cyrus made his way over to the movie theater. Rounding the corner, TJ was halfway down the block, leaning up against the wall of the ticket booth on his phone.
Growing anxious with every step, the brunette was suddenly very grateful that the snow wasn’t frozen over yet—knowing he'd probably look like a baby giraffe trying to walk for the first time if it was.
All too soon, the snow crunching beneath his feet gave him away. His breath caught in his throat as he witnessed a pair of green eyes meet his and instantaneously light up. A smile that only seemed to grow in size took over Cyrus’ face and he felt like an idiot as he inched closer, failing to suppress it. He let his eyes fall to the sidewalk for the remainder of the walk and dug his teeth into his bottom lip, a desperate attempt to rein in his smile—feeling a little awkward with the possibility of TJ still looking at him.
Cyrus’ shoes were mere inches away from a pair of dark green converse when he knew it was probably time to meet his eyes again. He drew in a breath and forced himself to look up, exhaling through a laugh when he realized TJ was looking down at him, shamelessly sporting a smile just as wide as his own. The unforgiving wind left his green eyes glossy and his nose, ears and cheeks tinged red— Adorable, Cyrus thought to himself.
"Hi," Cyrus said, no longer trying to repress his smile.
"Good morning," TJ teased with a shit-eating grin, slipping his phone into his back pocket.
Heat rose and began to thaw Cyrus’ cheeks at the slight reminder of Friday’s events. "I'll never live that down, will I?" He chuckled.
TJ shook his head smiling. "Not unless you plan on getting rid of me after this. I’ll have an alarm set for 8pm with the label, 'Text Cyrus Good Morning'."
Cyrus laughed and briefly shifted his eyes back to the ground. "I- I can't tell if you're kidding or not," he groaned through a smile, looking back up at TJ with a tilted head—earning nothing but a playful shrug in response.
“Guess you’ll just have to wait and see.” TJ said after a moment. “And hey, you never know, I might just end up sleeping through them." They both chuckled at that and a brief but surprisingly comfortable silence fell over them.
"Uh, speaking of last week," Cyrus broke the silence, looking up at him through thick lashes—periodically blinking away the fallen snow. "I have a bone to pick with you." He feigned a serious tone and crossed his arms.
"Pick away," TJ smiled down at him.
Cyrus nodded briefly, offering a tight lipped smile. "Blue," he said, expecting TJ to understand.
Although they've texted non-stop, and even called each other since last week; this was a conversation Cyrus had saved to have face to face.
TJ's eyes twinkled. "Ah, my favorite color!" he said grinning and reached into his pocket, retrieving his keys and holding them out to Cyrus. Connected to a key ring was a container and inside was a folded navy blue silicone straw.
"Cute," Cyrus said flatly, biting back a smile in an attempt to preserve his serious facade. “But, it would've been nice to know that my teeth were blue!" he exclaimed, allowing the facade to crumble completely in surrender to his smile.
TJ tilted his head with knitted eyebrows. "I thought you knew," he voiced innocently, though his eyes displayed anything but.
Cyrus playfully rolled his eyes. "I-" He went to defend himself but TJ cut in, unleashing a smile of his own.
"Don't worry." He chuckled. "If it makes you feel any better, I walked around for a couple hours once with Oreo streaks in my front teeth.” He winced, recalling the day he had spent shoveling neighbors driveways. The moment he walked into the house, he had Amber hunched over in a laughing fit—unaware of why until she handed him a mirror. The desire to crawl into a hole only increased tenfold when Amber called him Oreolonious.
He shook his head coming back to reality. “The amount of smiles I regretted that day?” He paused, grinning as Cyrus mouthed ‘ how many’ through a smile. “ Countless ." TJ stressed, getting Cyrus to giggle.
"That definitely helps, thank you." He smiled.
8:15
“The movie starts in twenty,” Cyrus said, catching a glimpse of the clock inside the booth behind TJ. “I’ll get tickets.” He began walking towards the booth, reaching for his wallet when he felt a hand nudge his. Their hands were practically ice cold with no defense against December’s air, but as TJ’s hand slipped into his own, he felt nothing but warmth between them. TJ gave his hand a gentle tug and Cyrus turned to look at him.
"No need." TJ grinned, answering only a sliver of the questions swirling in Cyrus' eyes.
"Oh,” Cyrus faltered and took a few steps back towards TJ. “Do you want to go somewhere else?" he asked trying to get caught up to speed, a bit worried that TJ was just about to cancel the entire thing.
"Nope," he popped the p. Relief briefly washed over him but it was short lived as TJ shifted his hand to interlace their fingers and continued pulling him towards the doorway. In a daze, he complied but quickly snapped back into the reality of the situation, planting his feet firmly in the snow as TJ’s free hand pulled open the door.
"Uh," Cyrus spoke and TJ looked over his shoulder at him with a smile. "Okay, you're extremely attractive and so unbelievably sweet." The pink in TJ’s face darkened and he gave Cyrus’ hand a light squeeze. “But, I am not going to jail again— for or with you."
TJ gave him a confused look and then proceeded to chuckle. "You're not going to jail ag-, again? Did you really just use ' again' and ' jail' in the same sentence?" TJ asked with a disbelieving smile. “What’d you do, Blue?” He nudged Cyrus’ shoulder with a smirk.
"That- that’s not the point right now." He shook his head. "I am not sneaking into a movie." Cyrus whisper shouted.
At that, TJ snorted. "It's not sneaking in if you have a ticket."
Cyrus tilted his head and TJ's smile grew at the sight. "But, I- WE ,” He pointed between them. “Don't have a ticket," Cyrus said, still not getting it.
"Sure we do." He replied, letting go of Cyrus' hand to dig through his front pocket; presenting two slips of paper seconds later.
Cyrus' immediate breath of relief was visible. "I don't know if I should thank you or yell at you for nearly giving me a heart attack.” Cyrus chuckled. “Sneaking into a theater would've definitely been a deal breaker."
TJ offered him an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I was going to tell you, but the look on your face was just so cute," he cooed.
Cyrus narrowed his eyes and fought to keep a straight face as his cheeks warmed. Not knowing what to say, he reached into his back pocket and grabbed his wallet—pulling out a twenty dollar bill and four singles, offering it to TJ who looked at it as if it were a foreign object. "For the tickets." Cyrus clarified and TJ shook his head.
"No," he stated plainly and Cyrus' eyebrows furrowed. " I asked you on this date and I'm definitely not letting you pay for a movie that you've already seen."
Knowing that arguments like these were a lost cause—and that the movie was scheduled to start in fifteen minutes—Cyrus nodded and put the bills back into his wallet, offering TJ a sweet smile. "Okay, but I'm paying for the drinks and snacks, and there's nothing you can do about it," he said smugly and quickly headed towards the snack counter, leaving TJ in place, failing to process what just happened. "You coming?" Cyrus threw over his shoulder. TJ shook his head fondly to himself and walked over to join him.
"So, about that jail thing-" TJ said, grabbing a pack of strawberry twizzlers from a shelf.
_
"But they were from the dumpster!" TJ exclaimed incredulously as he pulled open the theater door for Cyrus, who walked in backwards.
"Trust me, we tried that argument. Both before, and after being put behind bars," he laughed thinking back to that day five years ago—nostalgia crashing into him. "So," he said, feeling TJ's shoulder brush his, effectively bringing him back into the present. "If you already had the tickets, why were you standing outside? It's freezing!"
TJ smiled. "Winter’s my favorite season, I like the fresh air." He shrugged. "How about you?" he asked, purposely bumping his shoulder into Cyrus'—a few pieces of popcorn falling to the floor.
"Autumn. Not too cold or too hot," Cyrus responded without a second thought as they neared the corner.
Glancing over the seating, around ten others sat in scattered rows—deep in their own phones and conversations. "Lead the way, I can never make up my mind," Cyrus said to TJ who smiled and started up the stairs.
They stopped at the top row, which was void of people. TJ walked towards the middle and took a seat. Cyrus followed, making to sit but pausing mid-action as TJ abruptly stood up and moved over three seats to the right...and then one to the left.
"What are you doing?" Cyrus asked in sheer curiosity and amusement.
"Trying to find the center seat," TJ replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world and stood up again, moving yet another seat over to the left.
"Ah.” Cyrus nodded. “Well, did you find it yet?" He chuckled.
"Mhm,” TJ looked up at him and smiled. “It's that one." He pointed proudly to the seat to the right of him—the very one he just got up from. "Have a seat."
Cyrus' face warmed. "Why, thank you," he said and moved to the seat.
They made conversation while the previews went on until TJ felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. "Sorry," he said as he pulled it out and Cyrus nodded, putting his focus into opening his box of jolly ranchers instead.
Message from: Thing 2
'He's cute!'
Confused, TJ looked up and immediately locked eyes with his sister—Amber—four rows down. ' Why ' he mouthed. She held up two thumbs and wore a proud smile. At a loss, but not surprised, he watched as her eyes shifted to the right of him, widened and immediately turned back to face the screen.
"Everything okay?" Cyrus asked popping a candy into his mouth.
"Uh huh, just my sister," he said still looking at the back of her head. Cyrus followed his line of sight to long blonde hair, smiling in realization as he watched a beaming Andi skip down the row towards her with ice creams in hand.
"Small world," Cyrus said to himself, now aware that TJ’s sister was also Andi's Amber.
Cyrus jumped in his seat when it dawned on him two minutes later. "I almost forgot!" he mumbled and turned in his seat to face TJ, tapping his shoulder.
TJ immediately turned to him, coming face to face with a smiling Cyrus, bringing out a smile of his own. "Guess what came in the mail yesterday," he whispered as the lights dimmed and the last round of previews played out.
"What?" TJ said, earning a pout from Cyrus.
"No, you gotta guess," he whined and TJ's heart swelled.
"Uh, socks?" He offered, audibly unsure of himself.
Cyrus' face scrunched up. "Socks? Why socks?"
TJ laughed. "I don't know, my mom sent me a care package the other day and there were like, five packages of socks each for my sister and I. It was the first thing that came to mind." He shrugged.
"Well, it's not socks," Cyrus smiled. "But, if I were you, I'd thank your- my," –he quickly corrected himself to avoid the awkward situation that he knew all too well–"Mom because I swear those communal dryers devour socks! Well, that, or someone is going into the dryers and stealing a single sock each. Which is pretty disturbing, so I really hope that's not the case," Cyrus went on until he looked up and noticed TJ looking at him with a soft smile. "Sorry, I'm rambling."
"Don't apologize," TJ smiled. "Actually, maybe you should apologize for putting that theory in my head. That is disturbing," he snorted. "Just a dorm room filled to the brim with sock mountains."
Cyrus shook his head and smiled; wordlessly reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a mint green silicone straw–swaying it back and forth between their faces. "This," Cyrus said and TJ broke out into a smile. Their bubble was sliced into by the opening credits before TJ could reply.
_
"You said, and I quote–'there isn't a David in this movie'– " TJ exclaimed as they made their way back to their dorms, snow meeting and immediately melting in their hair.
Cyrus threw his hands up in defense. "I thought it would keep you on your toes. Y'know, if you ever decided to watch it down the line." Cyrus smirked shamelessly and bumped his shoulder against TJ's.
At the loss of snow crunching beside him, Cyrus turned around to see TJ a few feet back, an offended look on his face but a smile ghosting his lips. "No, what you did was unacceptable. David, is a dog! Do you know how stressed I was?" TJ said, taking a few steps forward. "The possibility of David the chihuahua dropping dead at any moment never left my mind, and you wouldn't even answer my questions." He pouted.
"I know, but, my code." Cyrus sighed dramatically. "I'm afraid that it wasn't designed for alterations or exceptions–”
TJ gasped. “Not even for beautiful green eyes full of fear?" He questioned boldly, batting his eyelashes.
“ Oh , so we’re cocky are we?” Cyrus said teasingly, erupting into a bout of laughter, TJ soon joining in and closing the distance as they continued their walk. Cyrus still shook with laughter, his shoulder occasionally bumping into TJ’s as a reminder that he wasn’t done.
“No, not even for beautiful green eyes full of fear for the life of a tv dog . ” Cyrus added seconds later, smiling down at the ground as TJ let out a defeated sigh. "But seriously, David," Cyrus struggled to get out, feeling laughter bubble up again. "Was introduced, like, three minutes into the movie. You just confirmed my suspicions.” He looked up at TJ with a smile as TJ actively avoided his eyes. “‘ three fourths of the way' my ass! You didn't make it one-fourth of the way into the movie last Friday," he said knowingly and TJ stayed silent–knowing for a fact that he fell asleep during the previews last week. He continued to grin ahead, his face hurting from smiling so much.
"You're evil." TJ stated confidently, slipping his hand into Cyrus' who closed his fingers around his in turn.
"But he didn't die now, did he?" Cyrus shot back turning to face TJ as they came to a halt in front of his dorm entrance, tears glistening in his eyes from laughter. They had passed TJ's dorm five minutes ago but he insisted on walking Cyrus home–his winning excuse being, ‘ I love the cold air. I'd probably stand outside for another ten minutes anyways.' Cyrus had rolled his eyes but humored him anyways and accepted the extra company.
TJ snorted lightly, staring down at Cyrus who stood two or three inches below him. "No, no he didn't," he said softly as Cyrus smiled up at him. "Ca- can I make a confession?" TJ practically whispered, unsure of himself and audibly swallowing when Cyrus nodded in response.
"I carry a pack of silicone straws with me everywhere I go. I could've just given you one that day, but,” He trailed off, looking anywhere but at Cyrus. “I really just wanted an excuse to get your number." He chanced a glance at Cyrus who was biting back a smile.
"Well, I hope you don't regret your decision." He replied through a soft laugh–the irrational part of his brain making him slightly nervous for TJ's reply.
"I don't," TJ said immediately, smiling.
"Good," Cyrus whispered, the wind carrying his voice away as soon as it came.
The space between them was nearly non-existent and it didn’t occur to Cyrus until he watched TJ’s eyes leave his and flick down to his lips, his own following suit. His stomach joined the breath caught in his throat and he slipped into fight or flight mode. Subsequently, Cyrus backed away–quickly aware of the fact that they were still holding hands; he raised their linked hands and shook them with a smile as if they had just met at a business meeting.
"Uh, until next time," Cyrus said awkwardly, releasing TJ's hand. He turned towards the dorm entrance and after some struggle with his keys, he slipped inside, successfully ignoring the urge to look back at him. The next ten seconds or so were spent behind the door with his head in his hands, feeling as though he were on fire.
TJ stood there, dumbfounded and a bit amused as he watched the door creak back open. Cyrus’ head popped out with a sheepish smile. "I- sorry. That was probably- definitely weird, I panicked.” He stepped back outside, closing the door behind him. “That'll probably happen a lot." He searched TJ's face, nervous as if they were playing a game of Jenga and what he’d done had sent everything toppling to the floor. "Do you regret it now?" He bit nervously at the inside of his cheek.
TJ shook his head vehemently. "I'm pretty sure you couldn't pay me to regret it, Cyrus." He chuckled.
Cyrus sighed in relief and took a step closer. Snow crunched under the added pressure of him standing on his tiptoes as he placed a quick kiss to TJs cheek, feeling TJ's face stretch into a smile against his lips. He pulled away and turned back towards the door. "Text me when you're home?" Cyrus asked earning a nod in response, TJ being too flustered to form words.