As they crossed the street toward The Spoon, the sun was already setting. The sky many shades of amber and red and dark blue. Their favorite eating spot was busy tonight as almost every booth and table was taken by hungry customers.
"Can we even get a table?" asked Jonah, half to himself.
"I hope so," responded Cyrus feeling his stomach. "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse. Well, not an actual horse. You know what I mean."
Jonah laughed. "You're ridiculous, Cyrus."
Just then, Cyrus saw an empty booth. "There's one! Grab it!"
They both leapt into action and snagged the last one. It was far in the back, a prime spot for privacy- which was fantastic as far as Cyrus was concerned. He was still coming down from his intense bout of anxiety and wasn't ready to be surrounded by strangers quite yet.
"Hmm," said Jonah, looking around. "Amber's not here. Usually she works during this time."
"Yeah, that's weird." Cyrus agreed. Cyrus didn't really know Amber but he knew she was trouble. Or, at the very least, troubled.
A young woman stopped at their table holding two glasses of water. "Good evening, gentlemen. I'm Sarah, I'll be your helping you out tonight."
"Is Amber working tonight?" asked Jonah.
"Nope," replied the waitress. "She called in sick. Which sucks because…" She gestured to the crowded house.
"Right," said Jonah.
As she set two menus down on the table she said, "I'll give you a few moments to look things over and be right back." A smile and Sarah was gone.
Jonah picked up his menu and started looking through it. "I don't know why I'm looking at this when I get the same thing every time."
"Yeah, but you like thinking you might get something different. It makes you feel like you tried something different," laughed Cyrus.
Jonah smiled a wide smile. "You know? You're right! You should be a psychologist or a therapist or something!"
"Oh, no," Cyrus said quickly. "There are too many brain people in my house already. Waaaaay too many."
Jonah laughed.
"Thank you, by the way," said Cyrus.
Jonah looked confused. "For what?"
"Earlier. For being so cool about…everything."
Jonah smiled. "Of course. I've been where you are. I know how it feels." That's when his phone rang. He fished his phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen and his face brightened a bit. "Andi's calling. Gimme a sec." Cyrus felt a mild sting in his stomach that disappeared as quickly as it had come. Jonah held the phone up to his ear. "Hello?" The brightness disappeared as his brow furrowed. He looked at Cyrus, "I'll be right back." Jonah got up from the table and began walking toward the front door. He walked outside and lingered by the front door.
In the short time since they sat down, the sun had already gone down. Cyrus could barely see Jonah through the crowd but he knew the conversation he was having with Andi was not a cute couple-y one. Cyrus watched as he seemed to grow more and more frustrated. Jonah looked through the window at him and Cyrus quickly moved his eyes to the menu in front of him. Jonah wanted privacy and staring at him through a window was not that.
That being said, Cyrus couldn't help himself as he was growing increasingly concerned that something was wrong. He looked back up and searched for Jonah but he was no longer outside. Instead, he was quickly making his way back toward the booth. Cyrus noticed he looked…sad.
"I'm sorry, Cyrus," said Jonah as he sat back down.
"Sorry about what?" asked Cyrus, confused.
"I'm going to have to ask for a raincheck. I have things I have to do." Jonah started to get up from the booth.
"Wait, are you ok?" Cyrus asked quickly.
"Yeah. We'll talk later, ok?"
"Okay." Cyrus watched as Jonah walked away again. Something wasn't right. This wasn't Jonah. He got up and followed him out the door. By the time Cyrus reached the street, Jonah was quite a ways ahead. "Jonah!" he yelled.
Jonah turned and faced him. The look he made Cryus quicken his pace until he got close enough to see that Jonah had a few tears on his face.
"Jonah…" Cyrus didn't know what to say. He'd never seen Jonah like this. He didn't know Jonah could look like this. It was like seeing a puppy fly- it just didn't happen.
"I have to go, Cyrus." He turned and continued down the street.
"Wait! What's wrong? What happened?" Cyrus continued after him.
Jonah stopped in front of the park they just left not long before. It was relatively empty at this time but there were a few people here and there. "It's nothing. Really. Please, Cyrus."
Cyrus stood in front of him. "You're not ok. You can talk to me."
Jonah looked at him a couple seconds, conflict written on his face. Cyrus could tell he didn't want to talk about it. Finally, he said, "I keep messing things up." He looked away like he was ashamed.
"Impossible." Jonah Beck could never mess anything up. Ever. It was pretty much common knowledge that Jonah Beck could improve any situation.
"Really?!" There was an edge to Jonah's voice. "How would you know?"
The sudden outburst stunned Cyrus. "I-…"
"You wouldn't. You wanna know what this was about?" He held up his phone. "Amber wasn't at work because she and Andi got in a fight."
"A fight? Is Andi okay?!"
"Not a fist fight or anything like that. They yelled at each other," Jonah said dismissively. "Apparently, Amber told Andi that I wanted to get back together and that set Andi off."
Jonah didn't look sad any more. He looked angry. "Why would she say that?"
Jonah threw his hands up. "I have no idea! I mean, I told her I wanted to try to be friends again. Maybe she took it another way." The edge was beginning to leave his voice. He was softer now. "I really don't know, Cyrus. Every time I try to be a good person it comes back to bite me."
Cyrus was silent. How do you comfort someone you thought would never need it?
Jonah looked away. "I don't know what to do. I thought they were friends. I thought things were finally getting better."
"I thought so too." Cyrus put his hand on his shoulder. As soon as he made contact, Jonah began to cry. Cyrus pulled him in and hugged him.
"I'm sick of being Jonah Beck."
Cyrus pulled away. "What do you mean?"
Jonah turned and walked toward a nearby bench. "All of it," he said as he sat down. "Everyone expects me to be this happy-go-lucky guy twenty-four-seven. And I try to be that for them. I really do. I want to make people happy. I like making people happy. But…" He looked at him. "I'm tired, Cyrus."
Cyrus's heart broke for his friend. He walked over and took a seat next to him. "I'm sorry, Jonah. I had no idea."
"I know you didn't. That's ok." He looked out toward the passing traffic. "I wish I could just fix everything."
"You think this thing between Andi and Amber is your fault?" Cyrus asked incredulously.
"Isn't it? If I had never become friends with Andi, Amber wouldn't have gotten jealous. If I hadn't tried to be friends with Amber, Andi wouldn't be angry. I'm even hurting you."
Cyrus couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Jonah, what happened between Andi and Amber had nothing to do with you. Amber chose to say that stuff to Andi. Andi should be mad at her not you. And how are you hurting me?"
"I've seen you, Cyrus. The past couple months- you've been different." Cyrus could feel his heart rate quicken. "I didn't know why but, after today, it all makes sense. I wish you would've told me sooner. I could have helped or something."
Cyrus shook his head. "There would have been nothing you could do. In fact, I wouldn't have wanted you to do anything." Cyrus wanted to comfort his friend more than anything else in the world right now. "Look at me. You make happy just by being around. If I'm having a bad day all it takes is a moment with you and I've forgotten all about it." Jonah's eyes were fixed on Cyrus's. "I wouldn't give up a single second of the last few months. Not one. I like you the way you are, Jonah Beck."
"Even now?"
Cyrus smiled. "Especially now."
Jonah smiled back. "Thank you." He leaned in and wrapped his arms around Cyrus.
He had hugged him several times in the past but this one was different. He and Jonah were now closer than they had ever been, figuratively and literally, and Cyrus felt warm. His stomach was a flutter as the embrace continued.
They parted as Jonah said, "I'm sorry I yelled at you."
"Don't worry about it," Cyrus said with a smile. "I've been yelled at worse than that."
Jonah laughed a little. "You're a good guy, Cyrus."
"Thanks, Jonah. You too."
"Can, um…" He looked at his clock. "Can we hang out again tomorrow? I believe I owe you dinner."
"Sure! I never turn down food."
They laughed.