Chapter Text
Cyrus was nervously glancing at the door while eating his baby taters. He had asked Jonah to meet him at The Spoon after school at 5, but his friend was running late. Granted, it was only 5 minutes past the agreed upon time, but Cyrus was particularly on edge today. He had finally decided, now that his romantic feelings for Jonah were gone, that it was time for him to come out. After all, he was one of his best friends now, and Cyrus didn’t like keeping this from him anymore. He felt ready to be honest with him. But as confident as he was, he was still Cyrus Goodman, which by definition meant an anxious wreck and Jonah’s tardiness was not helping.
He took out his phone, planning to call him to check, but Jonah suddenly appeared at the door, his guitar in hand. He quickly scanned the place and when he locked eyes with Cyrus, he smiled his adorable dimpled smile that reminded Cyrus why it was so easy to fall for him. Jonah slid in the booth in front of him and grabbed a handful of taters from Cyrus’s plate.
“Hey, Cy-guy!” He greeted before shoving the food in his mouth. Cyrus didn’t know if he wanted to get mad at him for being late or greet him back with a catchy phrase sprinkled with finger guns. He decided against both and simply replied with “ Hey! Why do you have your guitar?”
“ I was thinking of passing by the record store later. “
“ Cool.” Cyrus didn’t know how to start this. He focused his attention on the nearly empty plate in front of him. He absent-mindedly asked the waiter for a refill. There was a silence for a few seconds that felt like an eternity, but Jonah broke it.
“ So...what did you wanna tell me?”
“ How do you know I have something to tell you?” Cyrus asked, surprised.
“ Lucky guess. When you asked me to meet you, it didn’t seem like a regular hang out situation. You sounded nervous.”
" How could I sound nervous, it was a text?"
" Yeah, but you didn't use your regular amount of emojis."
" You noticed that, huh."
" Are you alright?" asked Jonah, bringing them back on track.
“ Yeah, yeah I’m fine, everything is fine. It’s just, there’s something I have to tell you. “
“ Yeah, we’ve established that,” said Jonah with a little smile.
“ And,” continued Cyrus, trying not to stutter, “ it’s something about me.”
Jonah nodded, encouraging him to go on.
“ Recently, I learned something about myself. Well, more like I realized something really, something I guess I might’ve always known, but not really, I mean recent events shed a light on things and...” he started rambling nervously.
“ Cyrus, Cyrus. Deep breathes.” proposed Jonah. “ That’s right, inhale, exhale. “
“ Sorry. Hey, I see those breathing exercises I gave you are paying off.“
“ Yeah, they really come in handy. Thanks. “
“ So, what I was saying was...” he continued, “ I liked someone. Or maybe I didn’t like someone who theoretically could’ve been my perfect match, I’m not sure which came first but anyway. What I’m trying to say is, it made me realize that I don’t like girls, Jonah.”
When he said those last words, Cyrus stopped fidgeting and looked directly in his friend’s eyes. He was anxious, to not say afraid, of his reaction. Jonah was silent. He had a pensive look on his face.
After a few seconds, Cyrus was confused. He waved a hand in front of Jonah’s face. “ Hello? Did you hear what I said? I don’t like girls. Well, not like I don’t like all girls, I like girls just fine, I mean my best friends are girls and they are great, a lot of girls are, but I just don’t like them...romantically, you know. “
“ Yeah, I heard you, “ said Jonah.
“ And..?”
“ And...what?”
“ You don’t have anything to say about it?”
“ Not really. Is there anything to say?”
“ I don’t know. I’ve only done this twice, I’m not sure how it’s supposed to go.”
“ Me neither. “
Another few seconds of silence passed.
“ So, you’re okay with it?” asked Cyrus.
“ Of course! Why wouldn’t I be? I’m not really into labels, it doesn’t matter to me if you like girls or guys or whoever else. It doesn’t change who you are and what I like about you.”
Cyrus’s eyes softened. He didn’ t know how exactly this was gonna go when he planned it, but he hadn’t expected his friend to be so cool. Well, he probably should’ve guessed it, this was Jonah Beck after all. Who apparently wasn’t done talking because he continued.
“ You’re my first best friend Cyrus. You’re there for me whenever I need you, and I want you to know that I’m here too. “
" Wow. I thought you weren't one to share your feelings," said Cyrus with a smile.
" Well, people grow, I guess."
“ Thank you, Jonah. I’m really glad we became friends. “
“Yeah, me too. ”
The waiter suddenly came with another basket of baby taters, and the boys looked at each other with a smile.
“ Well, he has good timing!” laughed Cyrus while picking one up and throwing it in his mouth.
“ Hey, those are mine!” said Jonah.
“ Not really, I ordered them, and you ate half of mine, “ replied Cyrus, fiercely defending his taters.
“ So it’s only fair I get half of this too.”
“ True. “ Cyrus reluctantly admitted.
Jonah victoriously grinned and pulled the basket towards himself. He suddenly looked up at Cyrus and said, “ Well, there is one thing that changed.”
Cyrus looked up quizzically, fear creeping on him.
“ What?”
“ I don’t think I can set you up on dates anymore.”
Cyrus let out a relieved sigh and laughed.
“ Too bad, you’re good. If Iris had been a guy, I’m pretty sure it would’ve worked perfectly. “
“ That was all Amber’s doing. Maybe you could ask her for help. She’s pretty good at this sort of thing. “
“ Yeah, I don’t think dating anyone is in my list of priorities at the moment.” He said, shrugging. (AN: Lol, yeah right, Tyrus for the win!!!)
“ So after we’re done eating, will you come with me to the record store?” asked Jonah. “I need to pick up some music theory book. “
“ Sure. I might pick an album for my step-dad, he loves records and there is one he keeps going on about that I need to get him. “
“ Cool, I’ll help.”
“ Thanks.”