Cyrus' POV

With my parents in the know about mine and TJ's relationship, my house is now a safe place for us to cuddle and not worry about the wrong person seeing us. After I pop the VHS tape into the VCR, I go over to sit with TJ on the couch to watch Boy Meets World. At this point, the television has just become something to play in the background while we chat, but it also seems so be the stimulant of several conversations when certain scenes play on the screen that remind us of different stories we have yet to tell each other. As we watch the scene where Cory and Topanga play laundry basketball, I'm reminded of something gnawing at my mind. 

"Are you still planning on playing the basketball game against Buffy?" I ask. 

He takes a second to consider that. I guess he probably hasn't even thought about it much recently, but all I can think about are how bad the repercussions will be, no matter who wins. 

"I don't want either of you to have to stop playing basketball," I add. 

He props his elbow up on the back of the couch so that he can see me better, and I gaze over at him, waiting anxiously for his response. 

"I'm not going to make her get rid of her team," he states. 

"That's good," Cyrus say, "but I'm also worried about if she wins."

"Oh, so you think she's going to beat me."

"No," I quickly correct him. "It's just that she's really competitive, and you're amazing, but she's also amazing, and if she wins, she's not going to go easy on you. Also, if you do win, then she's going to follow through with the terms. She's not one to back out of things, and that makes me scared for her."

He sighs. "I'll talk to her and get her to call off the game."

"Thank you," I respond. 

I lift my chin up a little, and TJ leans in to kiss me, reminding both of us of how easily we fit together. When his eyes flutter open again, they land on something by my ear that I had forgotten about. He lifts his thumb up to touch the scrape just below my left ear, and I turn to face him. 

"When did his happen?" he wonders. 

"Some guys thought it would be funny to aim the birdie at me when we were playing badminton in P.E.," I explain. 

It seems like more people are starting to pick on me lately, so I assume those three guys from the party are no longer the only people aware of me being gay. I can tolerable it, though, because so far the bullying has been limited to just hateful comments and words, which I do my best to block out. However, I'm not always successful with that.

TJ's finger lingers over the tender mark.

"Does it hurt?" he asks. 

I shake my head slightly, keeping my eyes locked with TJ's. 

He removes his hand from the edge of my jaw and lowers his head down to gently kiss the scrape below my ear. A tingle ripples out from where his lips graze my skin, tracing a line down my neck, stopping about midway. Then he brings his lips back up to meet mine, and I feel my lungs expand to draw in my first breath all over again. 

_____________________________________

TJ's POV

I find Buffy in the exact place I would expect to find her the day before our game: the gym. She's practicing her free throws alone when I enter in, stopping to roll her eyes when she sees me. She has her hair tied back to keep it out of the beads on sweat forming on her forehead.

"Slayer!" I call. 

"You're finally calling me by my name," she says with a smirk. 

I release an exasperated sigh. She's already getting on my nerves, but I promised Cyrus I would call off the game, so I'm going to follow through with that. Besides, something about her sass actually seems familiar. I think it reminds me of me. 

"Yeah, whatever," I respond. "Look, I don't think we should play the game tomorrow. It's just going to end up with one of us not being able to play basketball anymore."

She crosses her arms over her chest as she says, "You're afraid I'll win."

I let out a chuckle at that. This girl just wants to get on my nerves. I know that—so why is it working?

"As if," I scoff. "I just don't want you moping around after losing your little girls' team."

I think this kind of back and forth is permanently cared into the way we communicate. I can't seem to help but get sucked back into an argument, even one I don't really care about. 

"Well, you won't have to worry about that," Buffy insists, "because my team in going to kick your ass."

"If you want to play, fine, but at least drop the stuff about one of us quitting basketball."

"That's so not going to happen," she says as she takes a shot for the net. "When I make a bet, I stick to it."

The ball bangs the floor, bouncing back up into Buffy's hands. She catches it and puts her free hand on her hip. 

She's got a helluva lot of spunk. She knows how much she stands to lose, but she still wants to go through with this. I don't even know how to change her mind.

"Fine," I cave. "My team will be here tomorrow."

"Good," she responds with a smirk. 

All I can do at this point is hope I win so that I can tell her she won't have to disband her team, but that's a huge if. There's still the chance that she could beat me, which I'm scared to think about. I could be off the basketball team for the rest of the year. Would Buffy agree to let me out of the terms? I doubt it. I'll just have to give it my all and pray for the best. 

I turn around and walk out of the gym to find Cyrus waiting for me in the hallway. 

"So you talked to her?" he asks. "You're not competing anymore?"

I let out a breath and reach up to put my hand on the back of my neck. 

"Actually, we still are. I couldn't manage to convince her to back out."

Cyrus' eyes grow wide in worry, and I want to hug him, but I know I can't. Not here where there are teenagers passing by who could see us. 

"Of course you couldn't," he responds with a sigh. "Once Buffy has her mind set on something, getting her to sway is almost impossible."

"So I'm just going to have to try to beat her," I say. 

"TJ, you're a great basketball player, but Buffy is too."

"Yeah, I know," I breathe as I lean back against the wall. "Why do you think I was so resistant when she wanted to join the team? She's incredible."

Cyrus leans beside me, his shoulder touching mine.

"You're incredible too," he says in an attempt to give me confidence. "I have faith in you."

"Thanks, Cy. I hope I can earn that faith tomorrow."

____________________________________

Cyrus' POV

I walk toward the gym alongside Buffy and her team. They all look a lot more confident than they were a month ago, which worries me. If Buffy beats TJ, then TJ can't play basketball anymore. That's been the foundation of his identity for so long. I'm afraid of what would happen to him if he all of a sudden didn't have that. 

"Are you ready?" I ask Buffy, internally hoping she says no. 

"Ready to crush TJ and his team," Buffy replies. 

"Great," I say, although I'm feeling anything but great. 

We enter the gym, and I catch TJ's eyes immediately, but as much as I want to run up and kiss him once more for good luck, I know I can't. Instead, I go over to take my seat on the bleachers to watch this game unfold. 

Buffy's eyes are cold as she explains the rules of the game to TJ, but he just looks ready to leave. The teams diffuse across the court, and the game begins. Thankfully, one of the girls on Buffy's team is keeping score instead of me. I would certainly fail to write down the correct amount of points each time a team makes a basket, but then again, I would be able to "accidentally" give TJ extra points. 

As the game nears its end, I glance over at the whiteboard that the girl is holding up to see who's winning. The fact that they're both tied only intensifies my nerves, causing me to watch even closer. At one point, I realize I'm sitting so far on the edge of my seat that I nearly fall off when I flinch forward at Buffy stealing the ball from one of TJ's teammates. 

"This is it," the scorekeeper says to me. "Whoever makes the next shot wins."

This is when my body goes into panic mode, and I find myself chanting, "Please, TJ, please, TJ," under my breath. 

I know it's over when Buffy tosses the ball into the air, and TJ glances over at me, his face torn in disappointment. My mouth drops into a frown as Buffy and her girls all cheer, and the scorekeeper sprints over to join the massive group hug happening. I watch TJ as him and his boys give each other pats on the back and tell each other that they did their best. But their best wasn't good enough, and now TJ has to give up his captaincy. 

My boyfriend begins to walk over to me, a pained look in his eyes, but Buffy's voice causes him to freeze and change direction, heading for the door instead. 

"Looks like he doesn't handle losing very well," Buffy remarks as she approaches me. 

My brain hurts from trying to work through what just happened. The winning shot replays in my mind, and I see my boyfriend's defeat appear on his face clear as day. It clouds any sense of pride I feel for Buffy's victory, making me unable to stop the anger bubbling up inside me. 

I stand up but can't bring myself to walk into her open arms. Her expression falls when she notices my tears, and she drops her hands back down. 

"Cyrus, what is it?" she asks.

My lip quivers as I try to hold in everything I want to say. I want to scream at her. I want to tell her that the boy she hates means the world to me. I want her to know how hard he's trying to be civil with her, but she just won't let him. I want to say all of these things so badly, but not with both basketball teams watching. 

So I take off toward the doors, hearing Buffy shout my name as she chases after me. Once in the hall, I look for TJ, but I can't find him, so instead I zip down the empty, after-school hallway to go to a place where I know nobody will enter to see me cry. 

Buffy rushes into the side stairwell after me and looks at her teary-eyed friend standing against the wall. As she steps forward, I can no longer contain my frustration. 

"Buffy, why did you have to play that game!" I lash out. 

My outburst catches her off guard, and she stares at me, quiet. 

"TJ wanted to call it off, but you were too stubborn to let him!" I go on. "Why do you always have to win everything!"

"Cyrus . . ." She pauses, clearly at a loss for words. 

"Did you ever think that maybe he's not such a horrible person? No, you didn't, because you just want to be right, no matter who you hurt!"

Now she's fired up and shouting back, "I don't need to be right! I just am!"

"Why can't you just admit when you're wrong!"

"Why do you even care?" she yells back, rendering me silent. "You never even talked to TJ before this year, and all of a sudden you're on his side instead of mine?"

I suck in a breath, trying to get enough oxygen to stop myself from crying, but it only intensifies the tears, and I let out a broken sob that echoes throughout the stairwell. 

"He's my boyfriend," I croak out in a voice so frail it would shatter under the weight of a feather. 

Buffy stares at me in disbelief.

"Yeah, I didn't expect you to have anything good to say about that," I mumble. 

Then I whip around and rush out of the stairwell, leaving my friend to stand alone in shock. 

A/N: Well, damn, Here's where we at, kidz. I'm going to try to write another chapter today, but I'm not sure if I'll finish it. We'll see. Thanks for reading! I love you all! Bye!