Okay This Moment Stood Out A Lot For Me Because Look At His Face– I Honestly Think This Is The Moment

Okay this moment stood out a lot for me because look at his face– I honestly think this is the moment TJ decided he was going to tell Cyrus how he felt. 

Cyrus has been patient with TJ from day 1. He has never forced him to do anything he wasn’t comfortable with. Cyrus encouraged and helped TJ to make the right decisions ON HIS OWN. And even when it was clear Cyrus was upset about Kira, he never gave an ultimatum. He simply expressed that he was feeling uncomfortable around her, leaving TJ to make his own choice on how to deal with that information. Cyrus never made him pick– Cyrus never made him do anything.

And this whole thing about “picking” is crazy for TJ! Because he didn’t see Cyrus and Kira as foils to each other! He never thought he’d have to pick one or the other because Kira was his ~new basketball pal~ whereas Cyrus was his person, whatever that might mean. 

But “picking” is often very romantically coded. So while TJ never saw Kira that way, in this scene she basically went “date me or date Cyrus” which was a more than friends thing and even oblivious TJ can pick up on that. Suddenly, Cyrus is being “offered” as a romantic option. Suddenly TJ cannot avoid that any longer. 

And Kira says “I guess that answers my question” and peaces out, but really it was TJ who had a big question answered. The question wasn’t “Kira or Cyrus,” but “Am I ready to tell Cyrus how I feel.” Because Cyrus, who knows himself to be gay and crushing on TJ, never pushed TJ to acknowledge it. Cyrus flirted and dropped hints left and right, but he never forced TJ to make an explicit move before he was ready. Cyrus was patient, the way he always was, and because of that TJ could take the time he needed to come to this monumental realization on his OWN TERMS. 

Which is why this makes the next two TJ scenes so powerful, and so different from his scene with Kira. We have TJ making all his own choices, and Cyrus supporting him. TJ chooses to start to play an LGBTQ anthem. Cyrus, supporting him, then starts to sing along with it. TJ initiates the handhold on the bench. Cyrus, who has waited so long for this, holds his hand back. 

Cyrus never made him pick. Cyrus never pushed him or forced him to change. Cyrus believed in him and supported him and gave him the time he needed to come to terms with his feelings. TJ didn’t pick Cyrus over Kira. TJ and Cyrus chose each other, a year ago on the swingset. Kira was never even an option in the first place.