15. "My future has you in it. Everything else is just a bonus.“
A bunch of people requested this one :) also sorry it’s so short, I just have a lot of these to do
“Teej? Are you awake?” Cyrus whispers as he continues staring at the ceiling.
TJ makes an unintelligible noise before rolling over so his face is smushed into Cyrus’s neck. “Mmmhhh…no.”
Cyrus smiles, pressing a kiss on TJ’s crown. TJ shifts, slinging an arm across Cyrus’s waist. He lifts his head a bit, peering blearily at a wide-awake Cyrus. He rubs his eyes a few times before sitting up a bit more.
“You okay?” TJ questions, voice rough from sleep.
TJ taps the side of his head. “You need to learn how to turn off that big brain of yours sometimes, Cy.”
Cyrus swats his hand away playfully. “I know, I know. But when I’m trying to fall asleep, it’s the only time that I’m truly alone with my thoughts. They keep me up.”
“What kind of things do you think about?”
Cyrus hums, hand running through TJ’s hair. The room around them is pitch black besides for the small nightlight in the corner that Cyrus insists on having. Their door is cracked open, showing the beginnings of the long hallway in Cyrus’s house. The heater makes a dull, constant buzzing noise above them. Cyrus turns back toward the ceiling where his eyes have been fixated since attempting to sleep.
“I dunno,” Cyrus sighs. “Dreams. Worries. The future. Fun stuff.”
“Sounds like it,” TJ drawls, sounding more awake. “What are you worried about?”
“You should be asking what I’m not worried about.”
TJ reaches for his hand, intertwining their fingers. Cyrus smiles as he reminisces back to the first times they ever held hands like this. It brings back so many memories, good and bad. Since then, their relationship certainly has come really far. Now, at the end of their last summer in Shadyside, Cyrus wonders what the future has in store.
“I’m here if you want to talk about it,” TJ reminds him.
Cyrus fiddles with the strings on his quilt. “You might not always be, though.”
This catches TJ’s attention. He readjusts them both until they’re facing each other, although Cyrus is having a hard time meeting TJ’s eyes. TJ puts a finger under Cyrus’s chin, tilting it up until they meet eyes in the dark. Even though TJ can’t make out the colors in the dark, he can picture the vibrant, deep brown color of Cyrus’s eyes.
“Where is this coming from? Did I do something wrong?”
“No, not at all. You’re amazing. It’s just…we’re going to college soon, and they always say high school sweethearts don’t last.”
“Technically, we’re middle school sweethearts, so I don’t think that applies to us,” TJ corrects, smiling as he hears Cyrus giggle.
“But what if we go our separate ways in the future? What if we want different things?” Cyrus continues to worry, gnawing on his bottom lip.
TJ reaches for his hands again. He presses their foreheads together before whispering, “My future has you in it. Everything else is just a bonus.”
“My future has you in it, too,” Cyrus murmurs back, biting back a smile. They kiss, quick and gentle, like a sealed promise.
“Think you can get some sleep now? Because I don’t know how much longer I can stay awake myself.”
With that, Cyrus nuzzles closer to TJ. Soon, the sounds of their deep breaths fill the space around them. Warmth and comfort radiates off them. And finally, after hours of being awake, Cyrus is able to drift off to sleep, his mind free of stress.
