Well, I May Have Faked It

Chapter 19

Ryan's POV
Christmas had come and gone in the months following the Disneyland trip. Ryan was the only one to ever see Brendon and Dallon together. Though the two remained in a relationship, it seemed they had grown apart. When this news touched Ryan's ears, he still refused to reach out and take Brendon for his own no matter how badly he wanted to. It just wasn't in his interest to become the thing that finally broke Dallon and Brendon's already thin relationship.

No matter how much Ryan told them this, Pete and Jon continued to pester him saying things along the lines of, "Come on! He's practically screaming at you to do it." But Ryan was determined to defy their wishes even though it was hard to ignore how his heart fluttered whenever his gaze couldn't help but revert back in Brendon's direction. Or dismiss the fact that Brendon constantly occupied his thoughts.

For these reasons, Ryan tried to avoid Brendon but it seemed fate took this as a challenge to bring him closer to Brendon. Even though there was a new seating chart in all his classes now, Brendon sat next to him in every class they shared. Apparently he had been in the same history class with Ryan the whole time.

Pete and Jon weren't helping Ryan's case either. They took every chance possible to invite Brendon. And the worst part was he took the invitation every time. Today was no different.

"So Ryan, I'm having a New Year's Eve party at my place. Do you think you can come," Jon asked, focusing more on Ryan now, eager to hear his answer.

"You're invited too of course," he added in response to Pete's hurt look.

"And yes you can bring Patrick."

Pete shut his halfway open mouth, replacing it with a full on grin. Ryan assumed Pete was already imagining his midnight kiss with Patrick. Hopefully somewhere in the corner of the room, just in case it became a full on make out session. Sure the couple were cute together but when things started to heat up, Ryan wanted to stay as far away as possible.

Ryan wondered who he'd end up kissing. Knowing his friends, they'd get Brendon to kiss him but Ryan didn't think that was the best idea. The midnight kiss was meant to be shared between cute couples and single friends just for the fun of it. If anything, he hoped Sarah wasn't the one to kiss him since things were still awkward. Ryan felt guilty for breaking it off with her because she'd seemed so sad afterwards. However, they both agreed it was probably best for them.

Jon and Spencer seemed pretty close recently but they hadn't announced any romantic relationship between them yet. Ryan suspected they were dating in secret and the party was just an excuse for Jon to kiss Spencer in front of Pete and him. Either way, Ryan still had to give Jon an answer.

"Yeah, I can come. It's not like I'm invited to any other parties."

Jon beamed and his next sentence caused Ryan to frown even though he felt overjoyed inside.

"Brendon said he's coming, too. And I've only invited a small amount of people so don't think you can hide from him during the party."

• • •

Jon was right when he said a small amount. The only people there were Spencer (who Ryan noticed showed up early), Pete and Patrick (who came together obviously), Sarah, Brendon, Ryan and a few other people Ryan didn't know. And Jon was also right about no hiding. Ryan couldn't hide even if he wanted to. Brendon had already spotted him, beaming from ear to ear. Ryan became slightly unnerved when he saw Brendon approaching.

"Hey! How's it going," Brendon asked. Then he looked around the room before asking another question. "Where's Sarah? I heard you two were together."

His eyes seemed to hold a little sadness that immediately disappeared after I answered him.

"We didn't think it was working out so we broke up. How about you and Dallon? I haven't spotted him here yet."

It was true, Ryan hadn't seen Dallon. Where was he? The bathroom? Brendon looked away causing Ryan to frown. Then Brendon opened his mouth.

"I, uh, caught him cheating again. We got into an argument and I ended it. Dallon and I are no longer together and we never will be ever again."

Ryan's eyes widened and he couldn't find any words to say. He just stood there. Brendon glanced at him and then began to smirk.

"Looks like things didn't turn out the way we thought they would. I blame all of this on you."

"What? So you came up to me just to say your life sucks because of me? Wow you've got some nerve. You're the one who dragged me into your plans."

Ryan was upset. He thought Brendon was better than that but apparently he had been mistaken. Brendon looked surprised and quickly clarified what he meant.

"No no no! I meant if it wasn't for you, I would've been devastated over my first break up with Dallon. I wouldn't have gotten to know or become friends with you. I realized how much more I care about you than Dallon after we parted ways. That's also one of the reasons I broke up with Dallon. He wasn't the person I really wanted to be with. I wanted to be with you."

Ryan's anger vanished immediately and was replaced with shock. Did that mean Brendon liked him in the same way? Ryan wasn't ready to ask that yet but he did want to say something.

"Good. You finally came to your senses and realized Dallon was just a lying cheater," Ryan joked. "But seriously, I missed you, too."

Suddenly, Jon came up to them, dragging Spencer along with him. Ryan could tell Jon had seen them talking and was eager to know if they'd made up.

"Have you guys finally confessed your undying love for each other," Jon teased.

Ryan glared at him while Brendon just laughed.

"No, but we were just getting to that."

Ryan looked back at Brendon, raising one eyebrow. Brendon only returned a smirk.

"Well then I'll just leave you two to that," Jon said before he left.

"You didn't have to buy into Jon's teasing. He took what you said seriously and is probably going to come back to ask the same question," Ryan said.

"But I did mean what I said."

"What?"

"When I'd said I realized I wanted to be with you, I meant I wanted to be more than friends. I love you. Will you be my boyfriend for real this time," Brendon nervously asked.

"Really?"
Brendon's smile faltered so Ryan spoke up again.

"I mean, yes. Of course I'll be your boyfriend. I just didn't think you liked me the same way. The real reason I broke up with Sarah was she wasn't you. I guess we both loved each other but it took being separated to realize that."

"I guess so."

Their moment was cut short by Pete yelling it was almost midnight and starting a countdown. At zero, Ryan and Brendon leaned in and kissed. They finally separated and just stood there beaming.

"I love you," Ryan whispered.

"I love you, too," Brendon whispered back.

The end.