AN: I do not own anything recognizable.

Chapter 10

The Saturday afternoon after TJ had spent some time with Cyrus and Jonah, he decided that he wanted to treat himself to lunch at The Spoon. It was an emotionally taxing time for TJ. He felt like he deserved something nice for himself.

On his walk over to The Spoon, TJ was deep in thought. He still wasn't sure how to handle the fact that his boyfriend didn't want to come out at a time when he wanted to free himself and become an open book. Cyrus brought out the best in TJ, and in a way, their relationship was some of the best of TJ. TJ had such a reputation of being the mean kid that he wanted more than anything else in the world to have a chance to publicly show his compassionate nature that was hidden deep inside him for so long. He didn't know how to do that if not for Cyrus.

As TJ opened the door and walked into The Spoon, he was stunned at what he heard.

"WHAT?!" he shouted.

He overheard Cyrus saying something about having a crush on Jonah. He couldn't make out the exact words that were said, but this was something he never expected to hear.

TJ stood motionless as he stared at the Good Hair Crew and Cyrus, whose face showed nothing but fear. Hidden beneath his hard outer shell of rage and fury, TJ was an emotional wreck.

This is about the last thing I need right now, he thought to himself. Did Cyrus actually not like him? Was he part of Cyrus's plan to make Jonah jealous? Was he being used? Is that why Cyrus didn't want to come out?

Of course, none of that was even remotely true. But TJ was already so frustrated. The timing of everything and the fact that he misheard Cyrus was enough to make him jump to totally irrational conclusions.

"Cyrus," TJ muttered through a seething breath, "can I talk to you outside for a minute?"

Cyrus looked at Andi and Buffy with fear spread across his entire expression. They looked back at him, a bit concerned for his safety at this point. They didn't want to see either of them get hurt, but they knew that TJ and Cyrus needed to talk to each other to clear things up. Andi and Buffy nodded at Cyrus as a sort of reassuring move to let him know that they would be keeping an eye on the situation from inside. Hesitantly, Cyrus got up and walked towards the door where TJ was standing. The two of them walked outside, out of earshot from their friends and the rest of the people in the restaurant.

"I can explain-" Cyrus frantically began as soon as they got outside.

"You like Jonah?" TJ angrily interrupted.

At this point it was clear to Cyrus that TJ had misheard.

"What? No!" Cyrus clarified, "I used to, but now I like you!"

Unfortunately for both of them, TJ was now in an emotional state where logic and reasoning wasn't going to get to him. He had convinced himself of the thing that he feared.

"I guess it makes sense now," TJ thought he realized, "that game of ultimate was because you still have feelings for him. You wanted to hang out with both of us yesterday because you can't choose between us."

Cyrus just stood there in shock at the fact that this was happening. He didn't know that TJ could get so jealous, but what perturbed him even more was the fact that he just flat out wouldn't listen. How could TJ even begin to think something like that?

"Is that why you didn't want to come out?" TJ suddenly asked accusingly, "In case things didn't work out with me and you ended up with Jonah so that you could come out then?"

"TJ-" Cyrus began to plead through what was on the verge of becoming a steady stream of tears.

TJ interrupted, "Have you thought about how I feel right now? I can't tell anyone who I am! You know, if you're not going to be considerate enough to acknowledge the fact that we're together, maybe you could at least be considerate enough not to bring up your apparent other crushes!"

"TJ, I-" was all Cyrus could get out. At this point, he was full on crying. He didn't know what to say. TJ wasn't thinking rationally. There was nothing that Cyrus could say in this moment to resolve the conflict. He didn't know what to do. His boyfriend for whom he cared so much and never wanted to lose was somehow convinced that Cyrus didn't like him in the same way anymore. Rational thought flew out the window because of how frustrated TJ was about multiple things, and there was no possible way to have a productive conversation. Cyrus hadn't even done anything. This was one of the most painful things he had felt in his life.

TJ was angry, and he had made up his mind that he was going to stay that way. "You know what? I can't do this," he said, "I just need to get away right now." Without so much as a cordial goodbye, TJ walked away, leaving Cyrus with wet, red eyes and a fracturing heart.

Cyrus just stood there. He couldn't believe what had just happened. He wasn't even sure what just happened. They hadn't technically broken up; TJ just left without any sort of closure. What was he supposed to make of that?

When Cyrus found himself able to move again after being paralyzed with emotional shock for a few moments, he wiped his tears and very slowly walked back into The Spoon to sit at the table with Andi and Buffy who had been watching but not listening to the whole thing. Even though they couldn't hear what was going on, they could see TJ yelling and Cyrus tearing up. Cyrus sat down and didn't say a word; he just kind of stared into space with wide eyes.

"Are you okay?" Buffy asked cautiously.

Cyrus, without breaking his gaze at whatever object at which he was staring from across the room, shook his head slowly. Andi and Buffy looked at each other. They each took one of Cyrus's hands from across the table. At that moment, Cyrus completely broke down. Waterfalls came out of his eyes, and his sobs were uncomfortably and overwhelmingly depressing. His head hung over the table. Andi and Buffy just sat there trying to comfort him, pretty much to no avail.

When Cyrus's sobbing died down and he pretty much cried himself out, Andi gently asked "What happened?"

The only response Cyrus could give to that question was, "I don't know."

Andi being back at this point was inconsequential. This was not a catching up anymore. Priority number one was caring for Cyrus. She and Buffy knew that Cyrus needed to go home, lie down, rest, and feel whatever he was feeling. They walked him home together, up to his front door.

"Text me if you need to talk, okay?" Buffy said.

Cyrus nodded.

After Andi and Buffy left, Cyrus went straight up to his room, away from his parents, and let everything out once again. There was already so much pressure for him to come out that it stressed him out tremendously. Having an irrational feud with his boyfriend was detrimental to Cyrus's mental state at this point in time. He slept the rest of the day, and he didn't wake up until the next morning.

When Cyrus woke up on Sunday morning, he didn't really feel any better than he did when he laid down in bed the night before. He was upset that he and TJ had a huge fight. Because it was a new day, he decided to try and reach out to TJ. He thought that maybe since TJ had a chance to sleep on it, he could think a little bit more clearly and maybe they could have a productive conversation. He decided to text TJ:

Hey, can we talk please?

He didn't get a response right away; he didn't know if TJ was asleep, so he tried to get it off of his mind.

Cyrus did the things that he needed to do that day. He did his chores, and he completed all of his homework. He didn't have plans to hang out with any of his friends, so he watched some TV, played some video games, and read a little bit after he got done with all of his work.

By the end of the day, TJ still hadn't gotten back to Cyrus. Cyrus decided to text him again:

Please don't be mad. I really want to talk to you.

At this time, Cyrus didn't really have anything that he could do to get TJ off his mind. It was around 9:00 p.m., and all of Cyrus's work was done. This was the time he always used to wind down before going to sleep. It was hard for Cyrus to fall asleep, though. He stayed up, waiting for TJ's response. After about three hours, around midnight, Cyrus fell asleep on his own just out of pure exhaustion. He stayed up awaiting a potential response from TJ that never came.

A few minutes after Cyrus woke up Monday morning to get ready for school, he got a text notification. He was hopeful. It was from Buffy.

How are you holding up? It read.

Cyrus didn't respond. He was too disappointed that he still hadn't heard anything from TJ. He was terrified that TJ could still be mad.

Cyrus knew that he would get to see TJ in his English class, but at this point, he wasn't quite sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, it meant that he would at least get to see his boyfriend, who he adored and missed after just a couple of days following a fallout. On the other hand, Cyrus was dreading an interaction with TJ that day; based on the fact that TJ hadn't answered any of his texts in the past 24 hours, he didn't know if TJ would even want to talk to him.

With an apprehensive attitude going into the day, Cyrus got ready for school, ate breakfast, and left his house.

Before lunch, Cyrus couldn't focus on any of his class material. He was too busy worrying about how his encounter with TJ would go later on that day. He wondered if there was a possibility that TJ would text him during classes, but that didn't happen. He knew it was a longshot.

At lunch, Cyrus didn't bother to find any of his friends. Buffy, however, did manage to find him.

"Hey," she said with a pitied tone from the outset, "What's going on? I tried to text you this morning, and the fact that you didn't reply worried me."

Cyrus gratefully took up the opportunity to talk to someone, since he hadn't spoken to anyone since Saturday. He didn't even really talk to his parents over the weekend unless they asked him to do something. He was just too emotionally drained.

"TJ won't answer any of my texts," he said hopelessly.

Buffy nodded to show that she was listening.

"I don't get it," Cyrus continued, sounding frustrated, "what did I do wrong?"

"You didn't do anything wrong," Buffy assured him. "He's just upset for some reason."

"He thinks that I still have feelings for Jonah, and he's jealous," Cyrus remembered that Buffy couldn't hear their conversation.

"Wow," Buffy said, kind of taken aback, "I'm not really sure what to say to that."

"What do I do?" Cyrus pleaded.

"I think you're just going to have to see what happens," Buffy conceded to the situation. Seeing Cyrus on the verge of tears again, she continued, "I hate to say it because I hate seeing you like this, but I'm not really sure there's much you can do right now."

Cyrus wanted to break down again, but he was better at keeping himself together this time. He was about to walk into a class that he shared with TJ, and he couldn't let TJ see him like that. He needed to stay strong and hold himself up through this.

When he went to English, Cyrus hoped that TJ would approach him and talk to him. He thought for sure that there was no way TJ could be in the same room as him and not talk to him, whether it was good or bad. Cyrus just wanted TJ to say anything to him. On the contrary, TJ made the conscious decision to sit on the opposite side of the room as Cyrus. The two of them did not communicate in any way throughout the whole period from beginning to end; they didn't even make eye contact. Cyrus just kept looking over and longing to be able to talk to his boyfriend.

The rest of the week went the same way. TJ still didn't answer any of Cyrus's texts, and he didn't even acknowledge Cyrus's existence that week. Buffy kept asking Cyrus for updates, and every time, Cyrus was disappointed to say that there were none. Nothing changed. TJ was still giving him the silent treatment. And it hurt. A lot. The whole week was Cyrus trying to keep it together. He was also avoiding Jonah, so as not to upset TJ even more. Poor Jonah had no idea what was going on, as Cyrus just seemed so distant. He had asked Buffy what was going on, but Buffy didn't say anything because she was unsure if telling Jonah the details had the potential to make things even worse.

Cyrus also didn't really have a chance to talk to Andi. She was at a different school all week, and she was super busy. Over the weekend, her class was going to an art gallery as a method to learn more about certain artistic styles. Cyrus just didn't want to bother her with what was going on in his life.

It was clear that Buffy didn't know what to do, and Cyrus felt like he had run out of people to talk to. It's not like he could just talk to his parents about the whole situation; they were therapists and he confided in them for a lot, but he still wasn't ready to come out to them.

On Saturday afternoon while Andi was away, Cyrus decided to visit Bex and Bowie. He knocked on their door. When Bowie answered, he saw Cyrus standing there with tears in his eyes, speechless. Without hesitation, Bowie invited Cyrus inside. Cyrus took a seat on the couch, still without saying anything, and Bowie went to get Bex, who was in the other room.

"What's going on?" Bex asked perplexed and worried as she walked into the living room. She saw Cyrus on the couch and sat down next to him. "What's wrong?"

He explained the whole situation to them. He told them about how he had a crush on Jonah while he and Andi were kind of a thing. He talked about Iris. He gave them the backstory on how he came out to all of his friends and what made it so nerve-wracking at some points. He told them what was going on with TJ and said that it really hurt him that he was unable to have a productive conversation to try to resolve the conflict. He poured his heart out to them. He could no longer hold back his tears when he said that they were the only people he felt like he could talk to at this point. He didn't want to get Jonah involved in this situation that wasn't his fault; he obviously couldn't rely on TJ to give him advice; Buffy didn't know what to do; and he wouldn't be able to tell his parents what was going on without coming out to them, which he wasn't ready to do yet.

Unfortunately for Cyrus, Bex and Bowie were also stumped. They didn't know what to tell him. They saw how he was feeling and really wanted to make him feel better somehow, but they had no earthly idea how to do that. They couldn't just magically get TJ to talk to him again. Naturally, Bex and Bowie gave the parental speech.

"Cyrus," Bex started, "you are a wonderful kid. TJ is very lucky to have you. I don't think he's just going to ditch you. You two are going through a rough patch. That kind of thing happens all the time in relationships. I can't tell you for sure whether it's going to work out in the end. Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn't. Either way, I need you to know that you're going to be okay."

This sort of made Cyrus feel better, but it also sort of didn't. He was glad that someone told him he was going to be okay. He certainly didn't feel okay all week. But he also knew that Bex was getting around saying "I just don't know what advice to give you." Nobody seemed to know what to do in his situation. He wanted more than anything just to figure it out.

"What should I do?" Cyrus asked, hoping that there might still be a chance that one of them could actually give him concrete advice.

"Wait it out, man," Bowie said sympathetically, "I think this might be out of your control at the moment."

Cyrus was upset by this take, but it is the same one Buffy had already given him, so it didn't hit quite as hard. Cyrus knew that that is what he had to do. He needed to let TJ take the space that he needed, however long that took. And he knew that that sure wasn't going to be easy.

Chapter 11 Coming Soon!

AN: I think that this is a good time to say that I am definitely going somewhere. I have a plan for this story, so please keep reading to see where it goes. I know that this was a heavy one, but I think all good stories have conflict. This is not the end!