AN: Please enjoy the final chapter of The Story of TJ and Cyrus!

I do not own anything recognizable.

Chapter 20

A few days passed since TJ had dinner with Cyrus and his parents. They had been nothing but supportive since then, and they trusted Cyrus to set his own boundaries and be safe in whatever way he knew how. As any parent did with their child, however, Cyrus's parents had to have the patented "talk". Just because Cyrus knew most of this already through external sources as a result of being in high school didn't mean it wasn't super awkward to have to listen to his parents tell him about it.

Cyrus got a text from TJ.

Hey, we haven't had a date in a while. My parents are going to be out tonight. Do you want to come over?

Sure! Cyrus responded. He was glad to finally be able to get some alone time with his boyfriend. Since before they went to the spa with Cece, they didn't get much. They always only hung out in school, but then when the streak ended, it was dinner with Cyrus's parents. Cyrus loved the idea of having TJ all to himself for one night.

Great! TJ replied. Come over at 6. The door will be open. Knock first, but you can just walk in.

TJ was also excited about their date. They hadn't been on an actual date in so long. Besides, it was about time that TJ let his boyfriend know how much he really cared about him.

That evening, Cyrus was all smiles as he walked to his boyfriend's house wearing his macadamia cologne. He felt incredibly lucky to have someone like TJ in his life and that he could just spontaneously spend some time along eith him.

Cyrus knocked on the door, and TJ yelled, "Come in!"

Cyrus entered, and faced something that he did not at all expect. It smelled great in the house. He walked into the kitchen where TJ stood wearing an apron that said "kiss the cook." The lights were dimmed, and the room was lit by a candle in the middle of the table that was next to a lasagna.

Cyrus stood, stunned. He didn't know what to say. All he knew was that he was a sucker for cheesy romance, and TJ had suddenly turned up with it when Cyrus least expected it.

"Shall we eat?" TJ allowed Cyrus to just admire the scene.

Cyrus just nodded with a look full of joy, surprise, and admiration.

TJ removed his apron, revealing a nice button down shirt and dress pants. Cyrus felt underdressed, and it began to show in his face.

"It's fine," TJ said, "I have sweats to change into later for when we watch a movie. I surprised you, so I didn't expect you to dress up."

TJ pulled Cyrus's chair out and gestured so that he could sit down. In the manner of courtesy that TJ was so fond of showing his boyfriend, he served Cyrus first before serving himself.

"Thank you," Cyrus spoke for the first time since arriving.

"You're welcome," TJ responded, "you take the first bite, and let me know what you think."

Cyrus took a bit of TJ's homemade from scratch lasagna. "It's delicious!" he said with joy, his mouth still half full of lasagna because he couldn't wait to compliment is boyfriend. "I didn't know you could cook!"

"Yep," TJ said. "And I love to. It's one of those things that you like to do, but it's more for yourself until the right person comes around to share it with them."

"Why haven't I experienced this before then?" Cyrus exclaimed with joy.

"Well, I'm sure this won't be the last time I cook for you."

"It better not be!"

Although it wasn't something he had ever thought about before, Cyrus realized that he wanted a man who could cook. It wasn't one of his own personal strong suits, so it made his boyfriend even more attractive that he had that ability.

The two of them sat and ate for a little while. Neither of them ate a whole lot of food, but they didn't rush what they did eat. They had as much time together that night as they wanted, so they sat at the table across from each other and enjoyed each other's company. The conversed quite a bit about so many different things that had happened in their lives. They also talked about small things like their favorite books and what games they liked to play. They knew a lot about each other already, but there were still some things they didn't know. They never wanted to reveal everything at once, because they believed that they would always want to learn more about each other. There were some silences, but they weren't awkward or uncomfortable silences; they were beautiful silences. When they ran out of things to talk about, they simply sat there, admired each other, and enjoyed each other's company – as well as TJ's lasagna.

After they finished their dinner, TJ had another surprise for Cyrus. He pulled a tray of home-baked chocolate chocolate chip muffins out of the oven.

"You bake, too?" Cyrus exclaimed.

"Yep!" TJ responded with glee.

They enjoyed their muffins together, and continued to have a great time with each other.

After they were done with their dessert, TJ disappeared for a few minutes as he changed into sweatpants and a sweatshirt to match Cyrus's casual style. To Cyrus, as good as TJ looked in a suit, TJ had never looked cuter than in sweats.

They sat on TJ's couch and watched "Love, Simon." TJ picked the movie because they figured it was one to which they could both relate, and he liked the overall story arc.

The couple cuddled up to each other during the movie. Cyrus was happy to be in TJ's arms the entire time. There was a physical and emotional warmth that came from TJ that Cyrus just couldn't describe. Even when the movie ended, they laid there like that for about half an hour, both awake, not having to say a word. They just wanted to be there with each other in the moment and not let each other go.

As TJ felt himself drifting off, he reminded himself of what he wanted to do before the night ended. It's not as though he had forgotten; he just needed to make sure it happened before he fell asleep.

As he worked up the courage, he started to speak, "Cyrus," his voice indicated how tired he was.

Cyrus looked up at TJ, anticipating his next words.

More sure of himself than he had ever been about anything else in his entire life, TJ looked Cyrus straight in the eye and said, "I love you."

"I love you too," Cyrus didn't even have to question it. He knew that he loved TJ. He just didn't say it first because he never felt that he had to. He believed all of his actions would show it. He knew TJ loved him because of all of the small things TJ did for him, even when he didn't have to. Still, Cyrus was glad that TJ said that and that he said it back.

Those were the last two words either of them spoke to each other that night. Cyrus, for the first time, was finally at peace with himself, his world, and the people in his life. TJ, for once, could not have been happier with everything he had going for him.

The couple laid there for about twenty more minutes in the same cuddling position before falling asleep.

The whole group of friends met again to celebrate the New Year. The new Good Hair Crew in its entirety met at Cece's house since Bex and Bowie could no longer accommodate them with their small living room.

What a year it had been. All three of the original Good Hair Crew found boyfriends. Cyrus was with TJ, a relationship that took so long and so much to build up to what it was, but it was so worth the wait. Buffy was still together with Marty, and the two of them couldn't have been happier. Andi found Jack, and that was the newest relationship. They were so kind to each other, and it may have been the most unlikely yet most perfect pairing. It wasn't just the Good Hair Crew that had big things going on in their relationships. Bex and Bowie got married earlier in the year! The level of excitement surrounding that was incredible. Jonah and Amber were both still single. It didn't matter, though. Jonah liked it that way, and Amber had learned to be happy without a boyfriend. She had so many great friends surrounding her that she figured it was better to focus on that than to wish for her fantasy dream boy.

Since there were already eleven of them, they decided they wouldn't throw a large party like they had done in the past. It would just be the group of friends hosted by Andi's parents and Cece. That was enough, and no one there could really ask for much more.

"FIVE!"

As they all began to count down to the New Year together, everyone reflected on the year they had had. It was a great year for their relationships with significant others and with each other.

"FOUR!"

They stood with each other as a group of friends from so many different backgrounds. They didn't celebrate the same holidays as each other, and they didn't even all celebrate New Year's at the same time. Cyrus's family celebrated it at a different time than Andi's family, who celebrated it at a separate time than others. Yet still, they all celebrated together, because they had formed a family of their own.

"THREE!"

Each one of them there was grateful for every other person in the room. No one could imagine what life would be like without anybody there. Even Jack, Andi's new boyfriend, had come into the mix and been welcomed by everyone. Andi wouldn't rather have anyone else there with her in that moment, and everyone else was excited that he was there, too.

"TWO!"

Everyone was excited about the long journeys they all had ahead of them. The kids were all young; they were kids. They had their whole lives ahead of them. Anything could happen, and they knew that. Cece may have had less time, but she was happy to have the time that she did. She also had hopes and aspirations about whatever her future may bring her. She was happy, and it was the first time in a long time she truly felt so. Bex and Bowie were excited to live the rest of their lives together, in sickness and in health. As unsure Bex had been about marriage in the past, she had no doubt in her mind anymore that she had made the absolute right decision for herself. All of the kids looked up to the adults in lieu of what they might one day have. They all had crazy different lives and figured that they would be okay with whatever life threw at them.

"ONE!"

All that mattered in this moment was right now. Bex and Bowie would share a New Year's kiss, as would Andi and Jack, Buffy and Marty, and Cyrus and TJ. Cece, Jonah, and Amber would toast their sparkling apple cider to a life of prosperity and self-fulfillment. All that mattered, in this moment, was each other. They all believed that there is no greater gift than being surrounded by the people you love.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

The End