The day started with a text.

Thank you, it said. Ya know, for being there for me last night.

Cyrus had been smiling ever since he read it.

I've never really talked about that stuff before. It helped.

You can talk to me about anything, Cyrus had responded. Besides, it was only fair that you had your emotional breakdown moment after I had mine.

Haha definitely. Hey, I'm totally excited for tonight!

He and Jonah we're going to dinner again and Cyrus would be lying if he weren't excited, too. And a little more excited to find out Jonah was excited.

We gotta make sure tonight is nothing but fun! Just us bros having a good time!

Despite trying very hard, Cyrus was not a 'bro' but it made him a bit more confident to hear Jonah include him.

You got it, bro! Just fun!

All Cyrus had to do was figure out what being a "bro" meant.

•••••••••

The day had gone by pretty fast. Cyrus spent most of it daydreaming about what he and Jonah were going to talk about at dinner. Were they going to talk about their confessions? That didn't strike Cyrus as very fun so he discarded the possibility- which gave him a bit of relief. What about sports? He might be able make it through the briefest conversation about ultimate frisbee but beyond that he was lost in the weeds. Maybe he could get Jonah talking. He liked it when Jonah talked about things he liked. He lights up and gets happy in a way that's contagious.

When Cyrus walked into The Spoon, Jonah was already seated. He was all the way in the back in the booth they had sat in the night before. Jonah smiled wide when he noticed Cyrus and waved him over excitedly.

"Hi!" Jonah said as Cyrus sat down.

"Hi!" Cyrus responded.

"Round two." Jonah pulled out his phone and laid it on the table. "I even turned my phone off."

"You did?" Cyrus asked. Jonah nodded, grinning wide. Cyrus could help but smile too. Those dimples of his had that affect. Cyrus reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone as well. He pressed the power button and watched as the screen went black. "Boom. Off the grid."

Jonah laughed.

After their dinner Jonah suggested the go for a walk through the park since neither one of them wanted to go home yet. The sun had disappeared from the sky and a bright moon surrounded by a sea of stars took it's place. The park was nearly abandoned except for a few couples here and there who had had the same idea they did.

The air was cool in the way only an autumn night could be. They started down a path lit on either side by tall, old looking lamps. Cyrus never really noticed them except, at night, the light they gave of seemed to make the entire park glow.

"So," Jonah began. "Who is Cyrus?"

Cyrus was confused by the question. "Who am I?"

"Yeah. I feel like I don't really know you even though we hang out all the time."

Cyrus thought for a moment. "Hmm. I guess you're right. I don't really talk about myself, do I?"

Jonah just looked at him, waiting. For a moment Cyrus got lost in his gaze. " You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I was just curious."

Cyrus snapped back to reality. "No, sorry of course I'll talk about... me. I'm not very good at it but I'll try." That made Jonah smile. Cyrus felt his face heat up. "Where do I even start?"

"Cat person or dog person?"

"Definitely dog person. Dogs are so wholesome and beautiful and great and I want them all. What about you?"

"I like both. But I lean a little more towards dogs. How about superpower?"

"Like what one would I have?" Jonah nodded. "I've never thought about that before. Probably to turn invisible. I can think of many times in my life where I could've avoided some embarrassing moments."

Jonah laughed. "Yeah, like when you threw up on that ride at the fair? That was gnarly."

He nudged Jonah. "Thanks for bringing it up!"

"How about your favorite color?"

Cyrus looked at him. "Easy! Green."

Jonah nodded. "Ok, ok. I see you, green."

"What's your's?"

"Blue. But like dark blue. Like navy."

Cyrus nodded. He didn't know what to say next. He was terrible at this.

After a moment Jonah asked, "Why green?"

"I don't know," Cyrus responded. "I kind of started liking it recently. I don't really have an explanation. Why blue?"

"It reminds me of the ocean."

"The ocean gives me anxiety. All that openness." Cyrus shuddered.

Jonah laughed. "I used to go to the beach all the time with my mom." His face lost a little of it's light. "It's been a while since we did that. I kind of miss it."

"I'll take you." Cyrus declared. "It'll be great. You can see the ocean again and I'll stand as far away as possible and wave."

He smiled. "I'd love that. You better follow through."

"Oh, I will. My word is my bond." Cyrus put two thumbs up and smiled real big. That made Jonah laugh and he felt like he was walking on air. "How's Andi doing? She won't talk to me about Amber."

"She's still angry." Jonah said, a little somber. "She won't really talk to me either."

"Things aren't getting much better, huh?"

"Not really." Jonah suddenly smiled, like he flipped a switch. "I'm sure she just needs time to be upset."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's it. Things will be back to normal in no time."

They made it to the other side of the park and it was time for Cyrus to head home as it was getting late and his curfew was fast approaching.

"I had a really good time tonight. I'm glad we did this."

Cyrus said.

"Me too." Jonah smiled again. Except something seemed... off. "Hey, I'll see you tomorrow. Ok?"

"Yeah, definitely."

"Cool." Jonah said. Then he hugged him. This time a flutter in his stomach accompanied the heat on Cyrus's face. When they parted Jonah said, "I really did have a good time. Thanks, Cyrus."

"We should do it again sometime." Cyrus made finger-guns at him and he laughed again. "You ok going home? We're pretty far from your house aren't we?"

"Oh, I have to do one other thing before I go home. I'll be fine. Thanks for the concern, though. You're awesome, Cyrus."

"You're awesome, too, Jonah."

For a moment they just looked at each other. Cyrus kind of didn't want it to end.

"Ok, see you later!" With that he turned and went.

When Cyrus got home, he found his mom in the Kitchen. She was sitting at the table working on her laptop. When she heard him enter she turned and greeted him with a smile. "Hey, honey. How'd your date go?"

Cyrus blushed. Hard. "Mom, it wasn't a date! It was just dinner with a friend."

"Sorry! Sorry. How'd your dinner go?"

Cyrus took a seat next to his mom. "It was great. We had a good time."

A big smile slowly spread across her face. "You went with Jonah, right?"

Cyrus nodded.

"He's a cutie!"

"Mom!" Cyrus was blushing even harder now.

"What? He is! My son has great taste, what can I say?" She laughed as she returned to her work. "You get it from me, ya know?"

Cyrus put his head on the table and groaned.

"Honey, lift your head up. We eat on this table. Up, up, up."

Cyrus lifted his head. "I told him how I felt."

The clacking of his mom's keyboard stopped. She was staring at him now, disbelief all over her face. "No you didn't."

"I did." Her mouth opened into a half smile, half gasp. Her face froze like that for a good few moments before Cyrus said, "Mom?"

She quickly covered her mouth with both of her hands. "My boy!" She muffled through her hands. She stood up and hugged him tight. "My boy is so brave!" She sat back down. "Tell me! Tell me everything! How'd it go? What'd he say? When did this happen?"

"Not how you think. And it was yesterday."

"And you're only telling me this now?" She snapped, angrily. "I'm your mother!"

"I'm telling you now, aren't I?"

She pointed a finger at him, " Don't you get smart with me!" Just then a knock came at the door. "We're not done, young man." She got up and left the room to answer the door. Cyrus heard her open the door and what followed could only be described as a 'squee'.

When she returned to the kitchen she had a big smile on her face. Cyrus was confused until, behind her, he saw him.

Jonah.

His mom winked and said, "I'll be upstairs." She left them alone together.

Cyrus stood up. "Jonah? Is everything ok?"

Jonah walked over to where Cyrus was standing by the table. "Yeah. Everything's great actually!"

"Then what's up?" Cyrus asked, still very confused.

"I, uh… I broke up with Andi tonight."

Cryus was shocked. "What? Why? What happened?"

"Things just didn't feel right. I wasn't as… happy… as I thought I should be, Tonight…" He struggled with the words. It was almost as though he was nervous. "Spending time with you tonight- it felt… good. Like, really good." He looked down at his shoes. "Like how I was supposed to feel with Andi or even Amber. Being with them felt like something I was supposed to do, you know? It didn't feel… genuine." Cyrus could feel a stirring deep in his stomach. It was building with each word. "When I'm with you, I feel like I'm really myself. That I can be myself."

"What are you saying, Jonah?"

Jonah took his hand and then he kissed him. It was small and light. "I want to be with someone who gets me. I want to be with you."