I Loved This 😭😭😭, If Y’all Excuse Me, I’m Gonna Go Spam Disney And Hulu Social Media Once

I loved this 😭😭😭, if y’all excuse me, I’m gonna go spam Disney and Hulu social media once again with more #DisneySaveAndiMack

T.J. and Cyrus hold hands in the lunchroom underneath the tables, and he finally learns who Marty is

nice, open ended prompt! :) thank you!

Marty’s nerves run wild as he walks with Buffy into the lunchroom. Earlier, Marty was trying to work up the courage to grab her hand by brushing them together as they walked. Before he could think about reaching for her hand, though, Buffy assertively intertwined their fingers in a total “Buffy move”. Marty smiles, and out of the corner of his eye he sees a smile pop up on Buffy’s face, too.

Now that the two of them are officially dating, Buffy insisted that he sit with them at lunch to get to know her friends better. Of course, he already knows them somewhat, but within the time that he was gone, a lot changed. A lot more than he expected.

The biggest surprise is TJ Kippen. After all, the last time Marty interacted with him, he was a colossal jerk and bully. Yet now, Buffy tolerates him enough to sit together at lunch. And honestly, to Marty, TJ doesn’t appear nearly as intimidating as he did before. His previously guarded and sharp facial expressions have mellowed and morphed into something softer and friendlier. His usually composed, pristine hair flops around his forehead. As Andi talks to him, he laughs and grins, two things that would have been foreign from the old TJ. Sure, he laughed and smiled before, but now Marty realizes those sounded more fake, like a cool guy persona.

“Hey!” Buffy greets, practically pulling Marty along.

They plop down by Andi, who scoots over to make room. TJ, Cyrus, and Jonah sit across from them. As they sit, Marty feels TJ inspecting him closely. He tries everything he can not to meet TJ’s eyes.

“Welcome to our humble, lunchtime abode,” Cyrus greets.

TJ snorts, which startles Marty. He finds himself locking eyes with him on accident. He expects intimidating glares, but what he gets is a curious glint from his eyes.

“Wait, I know you!” TJ suddenly exclaims. “You’re Marty!”

“From the party!” Cyrus choruses with Andi.

Buffy rolls her eyes, “Took you long enough, Kippen!”

TJ responds to Buffy by sticking his tongue out and throwing a crumpled-up napkin at her.

“Will I ever lose the ‘from the party’ part?” Marty asks with a sigh.

“Nope!” Buffy grins, jostling his shoulder.

The group dynamic is different than Marty remembers it. Before, it was really just Buffy, Andi, and Cyrus (with Jonah occasionally), but now, even though the group hasn’t expanded much, they all seem closer and happier than before. It makes Marty wonder just how much he missed during his time apart from Buffy and how things could have been different if they remained in contact.

“Teej!” Cyrus suddenly whines, trailing off into giggles.

“I’m sorry!” TJ apologizes with a laugh. “I can’t help it. It’s just funny how ticklish you are.”

“It’s not funny!”

Then, Cyrus buries his head into the crook of TJ’s neck, and TJ just lets him. Never has Marty seen TJ acting so soft. But he appears more content than ever before.

From his side, Buffy sighs, “Just ignore them. They’re always this gross when they’re together.”

“You’re just jealous, Driscoll!” TJ replies teasingly.

Cyrus lifts his head up from his position against TJ, “Are you two ever going to call each other by first names instead of last? It sounds like you still hate each other.”

“Don’t worry, underdog,” TJ promises, “I just like to get under Buffy’s skin, but I don’t hate her.”

“First name! I win!” Buffy beams.

“Wait—what? It wasn’t a competition!”

“Everything’s a competition if you try hard enough, Kippen.”

Marty can’t get past how friendly things seem between TJ and Buffy now. He’s used to her complaining about the other boy endlessly, not teasing him and actually enjoying his company.

The rest of the lunch period is loaded with talking and playful bickering between them all. By the end of lunch, Marty finds himself even more included in the group than before. It’s one of the best lunch periods he’s ever had, especially since the entire time, Buffy is pressed up against him. Their relationship is still new, still growing, but Marty has a feeling that it will last.

“I gotta head to math early for help,” TJ explains near the end of lunchtime.

Jonah reaches out to fist bump him, “You got this, man!”

“Bye TJ, bye Cyrus!” Andi waves.

Marty notices that although Cyrus never said anything about leaving early, Andi says goodbye to both of them. No one else seems to find it strange besides himself. Buffy picks up on his confusion, of course, and goes to explain.

“They go everywhere together now,” she hints.

Marty doesn’t understand the odd insinuation in her voice until he sees TJ and Cyrus get up. Their hands are intertwined and obviously have been the entire time during lunch. Marty realizes that he never saw either of them use more than one hand. Suddenly, as they walk away, it all starts to click. TJ and Cyrus. He would have never expected that.

“Now you’re getting it,” Buffy chuckles.

He frowns in confusion, “I still don’t really understand. I mean, how? When? Since when is TJ even a nice guy?”

“Well, let me tell you a story…” Buffy trails off, smiling to herself. “It all started with Cyrus.”