AN: I do not own anything recognizable
Chapter 17
"We need to go on a date."
Cyrus had missed TJ for the time that they had their feud. They hadn't been on a date in forever, and he wanted to correct that. It was kind of a spur of the moment comment that came from the realization that they were just sitting and eating lunch together like any other day.
"What do you want to do?" TJ asked in response.
"What about something more traditional? Like a movie?"
"That sounds like it could be fun."
The two of them went through a list of movies to see if there was one in which they would be interested. Once they decided on one, they agreed on a time and Cyrus said he would buy the tickets later. There was just one problem – Cyrus didn't really have money for movie tickets. He would have to ask his parents.
When Cyrus got home from school that day, he didn't hesitate.
"Hey dad," he said as he walked in the door, waiting for a response.
"Yeah?" called Norman from the other room.
"I was wondering if I could go see a movie tomorrow with a friend. Would you be willing to pay for the tickets?" Cyrus wasn't used to referring to TJ as his boyfriend in front of his parents yet, so the word 'friend' just kind of naturally slipped out.
Cyrus didn't ask for much, so his parents weren't really very frugal when it came to spending on him. Plus, he was an only child being raised on income from two households, each with two parents. They figured that if he asked for two movie tickets once in a blue moon that they wouldn't deny the request.
"Sure, how much? And what movie?" Norman had emerged from the other room, and now stood in the same area as Cyrus.
"It's this movie called 'I Can't Get No Satisfaction'," Cyrus responded. "It's a movie about the Rolling Stones' rise to fame." With so many movies coming out about rock stars' origin stories, Cyrus and TJ felt like this was the best one for them to see. Cyrus didn't say it, though, because still no one else knew TJ's full name. "I'm going to see it with TJ."
As Norman listened intently and heard that last bit, his expression dropped. "You're going to the movie with TJ?" he asked with a surprising look of concern.
"Yeah…," Cyrus tried to figure out why his dad had hesitations.
"What's going on over here?" Sharon came into the room, only noticing the last awkward little bit of their exchange.
"Our son wants to go to a movie with his boyfriend," Norman told her. After a moment of hesitation from both of them, he asked Sharon a question that shocked Cyrus, "How do you feel about that?"
Cyrus was taken aback as Sharon took a moment to think about it. He had just come out to them, and they acted supportive, but now they seemed hesitant to let him spend time with his boyfriend. His dad was willing to pay for the movie tickets, but as soon as he mentioned TJ, there was a different mood in the room, a negative one. Why would the two of them all of a sudden have a problem?
After thinking about it for a little bit, Sharon finally agreed to pay for the tickets. "I guess. Just be careful, and don't get yourself in trouble."
"I'll be fine," Cyrus replied, kind of rattled by the situation in which he found himself at that moment.
The movie was the next afternoon, and the two of them met after school to go see it. Cyrus decided not to tell TJ about the odd encounter with his parents the previous night; he instead wanted them both to have a good time.
When the two were in the theatre, a moment passed between them where they didn't even pay attention to what was happening on screen. They became so wrapped up in each other's presence that nothing else outside of them existed for a couple of minutes. They moved their hands toward each other's slowly, similar to how they did at the party. They knew they wanted to hold hands, but they had never showed affection in a public place that crowded before. The one exception was in The Spoon, where they had kissed and held hands, but it was less intimidating to do so because they were surrounded by their friends who they trusted; it also wasn't very busy that day. This was quite a bit more intense. Finally, Cyrus grabbed TJ's hand; he couldn't stand not holding it anymore. When he did this, they both smiled at each other.
A little while later, in a moment where he decided that he didn't care who could see, Cyrus put his armrest up and leaned on TJ, more focused on his touch than on the movie or his surroundings. TJ, noticing Cyrus getting comfortable, wrapped his arms around his boyfriend. The two of them stayed that way for the duration of the movie, during which they shared a couple of kisses at random times that just felt right. Each of them initiated one of their two kisses.
When the movie ended, the two boyfriends leaned on each other when the lights went up. It stunned them, as they hadn't thought about who could see them when it was dark; everything just melted away, and they didn't really care. Now, everyone could see them. They did receive a couple of stares, but they ignored them. They were still too wrapped up in each other to care what other people thought or saw. They didn't pull away from each other when people looked over; they just naturally let each other go.
"I don't want this night to end," Cyrus sighed.
"Who said it has to?" TJ replied.
Cyrus smiled at the comment, "I like the way you think."
The two of them went to the park and sat together for a while. They didn't talk much. They hadn't even turned their phones back on after leaving the theatre. They just stargazed and enjoyed each other's company.
It got to be around ten o'clock at night when Cyrus realized that he needed to get home. He kissed his boyfriend goodbye, and made his way home. Nothing could ruin his good mood – or so he thought.
When he got home, he entered the living room to find his tired dad and step-mom with agitated looks on their faces.
"Where have you been?" Norman asked, instantly revealing his slightly more than moderate irritation.
"At the movie with TJ," Cyrus quickly got defensive, "I told you I was going."
"The movie started at 4:00," Sharon showed just as much anger as Norman. "It's now 10:30. Do you mean to tell me that it was a six hour movie?"
"No," Cyrus responded, "we went to the park afterwards. What's the big deal?"
"It's past curfew," Norman replied harshly.
"But," Cyrus paused, confused, "I don't have a curfew." It was true. Cyrus was never out late, so his parents never felt the need to give him one. It was a rare occurrence for Cyrus not to be home before 9pm.
"Well maybe it's time we set one," Norman pointed to his watch in frustration. "From now on, you need to be home by eight!"
"Eight?" Cyrus asked, perplexed. "Why is this coming up now?"
"You're spending a lot of time with TJ, and we need to set some boundaries," Sharon replied.
Cyrus was stunned. Why was this happening now? Why would they have acted supportive before if they were just going to shut him down afterwards? This was a big blow to Cyrus's confidence in his relationship. He didn't want to deal with it, and it was at that moment that he decided that he couldn't tell his parents anything else about his relationship with his boyfriend.
"Fine," he said, angrily pretending to surrender, "but can we please talk about it later? I have school in the morning."
Norman and Sharon hesitantly agreed, and he went to bed quite frustrated.
The next day, Cyrus brushed off the unfortunate interaction at home, deciding that he just wanted to live his life and think about the positive things.
During lunch, Cyrus, TJ, Buffy, Marty, Jonah, and Amber all sat together. The group had absorbed Amber at this point, too, because she continually realized that the people with whom she used to spend the most time were never really there for her in the way that she needed them to be; these friends were.
"Hey, I just got a text from Andi," Buffy said, looking up from her phone. "She said that because the weather is going to be nice on Saturday, we should all get together and have a picnic."
"That sounds fun!" TJ said.
"I'm down!" Marty exclaimed.
"That sounds docious magociuous!" said Cyrus out of nowhere, as everyone stopped and stared.
"Did you have to do that?" Jonah asked, mildly irritated, as he knew Cyrus was making fun of his old catchphrase.
"I was just waiting for the right opportunity, and it finally came," Cyrus said smugly while shrugging his shoulders. They all laughed.
"I'll let Andi know," Buffy said.
After she texted Andi, she got a response and read it aloud.
"Oh my god, guys!" Buffy prefaced the reading of Andi's text. "Andi just said, 'it will be a great opportunity for you all to get to meet Jack!' We're going to meet Andi's boyfriend!"
"Ooh," Amber chimed in suggestively, "Andi has a boyfriend? Okay, I have to meet him. Am I invited?"
The rest of them remembered that Amber wasn't there when Andi made the announcement.
"I'm sure you are," Cyrus assured her. "You're one of us now. Good hair crew member number seven!"
Amber laughed somewhat uncomfortably, as she thought that was an odd designation.
"I'll ask, just to make sure," Buffy said as a polite gesture. Andi did confirm that Amber would be invited.
"So we'll have a big crowd, then?" Jonah asked.
"Even bigger than just the eight of us," Buffy replied. "Cece, Bex, and Bowie will be there too."
"So that's eleven," Cyrus counted up in his head. "I hope she brings enough food." He said it with his typical oddness that no one even commented; TJ just found it cute. He was happy that he finally got to reconnect with his boyfriend and that everything seemed like it was back to normal. He had no idea about the struggle Cyrus currently had with his parents.
The week passed by, and the group was excited for the picnic on Saturday. It was a rare warm and sunny day in late November where they lived.
Cyrus's parents had set a curfew of 8:00 p.m. They were unwilling to budge on the issue. The picnic was at noon, so it wasn't a big deal. He just told them that he was going to hang out with Andi and Buffy, and he didn't mention that TJ would be there.
They met on the hill in the park where Bex first met Jonah. It was, in fact, a large crowd.
Cece laid out a blanket, and upon the arrival of more people than she expected, was frustrated that she was not prepared. Bex and Bowie prepared picnic foods like sandwiches, crackers, fruit, and bottled water; they brought enough for everyone, prompting to Cece to accuse them of trying to one-up her.
Andi, Jonah, Buffy, Marty, TJ, Cyrus, and Amber all showed up together.
"Why is he here?" Cece scoffed in a whisper to Bex, relating to TJ.
"Mom, you need to get over whatever this is," Bex was quick to shut her down.
"I just don't want him corrupting my kid," Cece retorted.
"First of all, she's my kid – your grandkid; I thought we resolved that a long time ago. Second, they're not going to 'corrupt' anyone. That's not how it works."
Cece rolled her eyes the whole time Bex was talking. "Well then how does it work?" she asked, hoping to stump her daughter.
"It works like this," Bex started to state and shrugged, "You just leave them be so that we can have a nice picnic."
"Fine," Cece emphasized, "But I'm your mother, not the other way around. You don't get to boss me around."
"When are we going to meet Jack?" Buffy asked Andi excitedly.
"When he gets here!" Andi laughed. "And please don't embarrass me!"
"No promises," said Cyrus suggestively.
A few minutes later, a boy walked over the hill, looking around as if he was lost. He was on the short side, and he was a bit overweight. His hair was short, but it was long enough to be a bit of a mess. He had some naturally occurring acne on his face that didn't seem out of control, but one could tell he had a hard time getting rid of it.
"Jack!" Andi yelled for him, excited to see him.
"Hey! Are these your friends?" Jack rang out in a surprising voice, catching everyone's attention.
Jonah was the first to introduce himself, "Hi, I'm Andi's friend, Jonah."
"Nice to meet you," Jack responded.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Cyrus interrupted, "Make why for the original Good Hair Crew. I think we should meet him first." Everyone laughed at this remark.
"So much for not being embarrassed," Andi rolled her eyes.
"Good Hair Crew?" Jack turned to Andi, confused.
"It's what Cyrus, Buffy, and I used to call ourselves," Andi clarified.
"Speaking of which," Buffy said suddenly with a far more serious demeanor than anybody expected, "I'm Buffy. And if you hurt her, you're going to have to answer to me."
"Okay!" Andi yelled hastily. Trying to ease the tension, she said, "Isn't Buffy just the greatest? Very protective of her friends." Andi emphasized the last word, while frowning at Buffy.
"Well, I guess Buffy has done my job," Bowie stepped in, "I'm Bowie; I'm Andi's dad. It's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, too," Jack responded, reaching out and firmly shaking Bowie's hand.
"Nice handshake. That'll get you far," Bowie said, impressed.
"I'm Bex," she said after Bowie was done greeting her. "I'm Andi's mom-"
"And I'm Cece," she interrupted with a sort of menacing smile. "This is a crazy bunch. Good luck."
Jack was made a bit uncomfortable by that last bit.
"We're just as crazy as your typical group of friends in high school," Andi assured him.
Marty, Amber, and TJ made their introductions as well. Overall, they all liked Jack. He was kind to all of them, and everyone could see why Andi liked him so much.
"Shall we eat?" Cece always seemed to be the one to try and get things going.
They took the food out from their coolers and picnic baskets and had a nice lunch.
"So," Bex started, "Andi, I'm excited for my daughter's first art show tomorrow!"
"What?" Cyrus asked immediately. "You didn't tell us it was happening?!"
Andi stayed relaxed even after the intensity of Cyrus's question. "It's not a big deal. I have one drawing on display. I'll let you guys know when something important happens."
"This is important!" Bex exclaimed. "My daughter is going to have her work displayed!"
"I'm going to wear my favorite dress!" Cece chimed in.
"It's not a formal event!" Andi laughed.
"What?" said Cece, scathingly. "I can't look nice for the gallery?"
"I mean, you can do whatever you want, but you'll look very out of place," Andi replied.
"Well, I'm willing to take that chance."
"I am sorry we can't go," Buffy said. "I have a basketball game tomorrow."
"And the three of us were going to go watch," TJ said, indicating himself, Cyrus, and Marty. "Cyrus and I haven't gotten to see Buffy play yet this year."
"It's fine. Really," Andi assured. "Good luck, and have fun!"
"We will! I'm bringing snacks!" Cyrus burst out.
Cyrus's sudden outburst caused TJ to laugh, and they leaned on one another and held hands. Cece was visibly disturbed by this. When the others were in conversation, Bex gave Cece a bit more than gentle nudge.
"What?" Cece said through her teeth.
"What happened to leaving them be?" Bex returned through hers.
"I didn't say anything," Cece mumbled.
"Yeah, but if looks could kill," Bex wasn't having any of it.
The rest of the picnic went on, and everyone got to know Jack. There were a few more moments when Cece was made visibly uncomfortable by TJ's and Cyrus's relationship and Bex had to knock her out of it. Bex couldn't tell whether they all went unnoticed or if TJ and Cyrus just decided to ignore it. Everyone ended up going home happy, so at the end of the day, that's what mattered.
Later that day, Bex's phone rang. It was a call from Cece. Bex was in the middle of something when she initially got the call, so she didn't pick up. It rang again – another call from Cece. She thought her mom was just being obsessive, so she ignored it a second time. Then, after she let it go to voicemail, Cece called a third time. Thinking it might be an emergency, Bex picked up.
"DON'T YOU EVER ANSWER YOUR MOTHER'S CALLS?" Cece yelled from the other side of the line.
"I was busy, Mom! What is it?"
"I CAN'T FIND MY DRESS!"
Just as Bex suspected, her mother was being obsessive and overdramatic.
"Well, then, wear a different one," Bex said as if it was an obvious solution.
"I need to wear this one tomorrow! I always wear it for special occasions like this!" Cece now sounded like she was breaking down.
As annoying as Bex found her mother's attitude about this dress to be, she still loved her and couldn't stand to see her this upset about anything. "Alright, I'll be over to help you find it."
"Hurry!" Cece said and then hung up.
"You're welcome," Bex said sarcastically to no one, staring at the phone in amazement that her mother just hung up on her. She then made her way over to her mom's house.
When she got there, Cece opened the door before she even knocked. "Okay, you look around, and I'll check the security cameras."
"Security cameras?" Bex asked, confused.
"I had security cameras installed about a year ago because I was afraid of a break-in," Cece said matter-of-factly, "someone could have stolen the dress."
"Wait, Mom, slow down. When was the last time you wore this dress?"
"Before the party!" Cece referred to the most recent party thrown at their house, as there had only really ever been two. "Someone at the party could have stolen it!"
"Mom, you think that a bunch of middle school students were interested in stealing an adult woman's dress?" Bex asked, trying to bring Cece to her senses.
"Yes. Now go look," Cece didn't stutter.
Bex sighed, rolled her eyes, and then looked around.
Cece went into her home office and opened the software on the computer that allowed her to see the security camera footage. There was no sound, so she fast forwarded through footage from different rooms throughout the house, seeing if she could spot the dress anywhere. She started with the living room, and checked from the beginning to the end of the party. Then, she looked at footage from the staircase near the door. She didn't find anything in either. She even checked footage from the kitchen, despite the fact that no one went in there all night.
The next place she checked was the patio outside the back door, where there were a couple of benches set up. As Cece fast forwarded through that footage, she stopped to view it when she saw Cyrus sit down on the bench next to TJ. To her, it was a sight she just had to see. She scoffed at it.
Well, this should be interesting, she had the scathing thought.
She couldn't hear what they said, but she could see what they were doing. Fortunately for TJ, Cece couldn't read lips, so she wasn't able to decipher his real name.
Cece continued to watch, and as she saw them laughing together, she started to feel something other than discomfort. It was a positive feeling that she then tried to push away to convince herself that their relationship was wrong. She continued to grimace to confirm her pre-existing beliefs to herself.
Suddenly, as they stopped laughing, and their hands moved closer to each other, Cece's attention was captured. She felt the tension that they felt that night. She felt how nervous they both were. She was right there with them. When they smiled and grabbed each other's hands, the weight was taken off of her shoulders just like it was taken off of the boys' shoulders when they confessed to each other that night. That moment melted her heart.
Without warning, Bex came into the home office with the dress for which Cece had been looking. "I found your dress, Mom. It was in your closet."
Bex's sarcastic tone went unnoticed, as Cece simply looked over at Bex and then back at her computer screen.
"Mom?" Bex noticed tears in her mother's eyes, a sight she didn't see often.
"Can I have a tissue?" Cece asked, sniffling.
"Sure," Bex seemed confused. She brought a tissue box over to her mom, and looked at the computer screen to see the security camera footage of TJ and Cyrus leaning against each other the night that they officially became boyfriends.
"It's beautiful," Cece admitted.
Bex put her hand on her mom's shoulder. "I'm glad you came around."
Cece smiled, and was overcome with mixed feelings of joy at the sight of the beginning of something wonderful and right.