Don't Pretend You Ever Forgot About Me [Ryden]

Chapter 2

Brendon's never been engaged before.

He can't stop staring at his ring, unable to believe that someone loves him enough to marry him. He's just so happy. He hasn't been this happy in a long, long time.

He's meant to be putting books back out onto their shelves, but he's very distracted. Mostly because his fiancé - fiancé!!! - keeps texting him to tell him how much he loves him, but also because of this shiny ring on his hand. It's nothing flashy, just a plain silver band with I am yours, forever engraved on the inside, but he adores it. Almost as much as he adores Dallon.

Things haven't been easy for them, not by a long shot; he was the man that he cheated on his ex with, after all. But they've managed to make it work between them. Sacrifices had been made. Once they'd made their relationship public, Brendon decided he should probably leave his job at the music store he was working at, instead deciding to get a job at the local library. Working with his boyfriend would've been weird, and a bit unprofessional, not to mention it would make things awkward if - god forbid - they split up.

But things have been wonderful with Dallon, much more wonderful than they had been with Ryan, and even though thinking about Ryan makes him a little breathless, Brendon knows that Dallon is much, much better for him. In every way.

Brendon finishes emptying his trolley of books, and then he checks his watch. It's 12:07pm, which not only means that it's break time, but also that he can call his fiancé. The word still feels foreign in his brain, but it's not even been twenty-four hours yet, so that might be why. He doesn't care; he's happy, he's engaged, things are looking up.

It's just that black cloud at the back of his mind making him doubt himself.

He sits in the break room and gets his sandwich out of his bag, his hand dialling Dallon's number. He answers on the third ring, his voice bright.

"Hey, baby. How's it going?"

Brendon smiles at the sound of his voice, feeling warm and fuzzy inside. "Hey, you. It's going okay, it's really quiet for some reason, which is good, 'cause I keep getting distracted."

"Distracted? By what?"

"By you! What else am I gonna be distracted by?"

Dallon chuckles. "There are plenty of things for you to get distracted by, B. Your mind always wanders."

"Hey, that's not fair. This is your fault. If you hadn't proposed -"

"Oh so you don't accept my proposal?"

"What? No, don't be stupid, I just meant -"

"I'm messing with ya, honey." He laughs again, making Brendon's stomach do flip flops. Even after two and a half years, he still gets all giddy when he's around Dallon. It's just how much he loves him, he guesses. "I love you, you know?"

"I know, Dal, I love you more."

"Nuh-uh, I love you most."

"Mm-hm, I think you're wrong, but we'll discuss it when I get home, if you'd like?"

"Sounds good to me." Dallon pauses, and Brendon can hear him shuffling. It's his day off, so he'll be at home, most likely watching Netflix with the dogs. "Hey, do you fancy going out for a couple of drinks tonight, to celebrate? Mikey messaged me, says a friend of his brother's just opened a new LGBTQ+ bar downtown, wants to know if we wanna go down there?"

"Yeah, that sounds great! I get out of here at six, but it won't take me long to get changed and stuff."

"I'll pick you up after work, we can come back here and cuddle for a bit before we have to go out, I'll just tell Mikey we'll be there just after nine."