hey guys, this is the last chapter and is going to be it for a while (because revising is gonna be rough). the next book might be a bit in the making, but it is coming, so hold on for it (8tracks playlist is up now, so go check it out)
until then, enjoy what the story has left to offer.
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Ryan and Spencer reacted as expected but, as I further expected, they accepted Gerard. We called Patrick to let him know the news ("That jerkface is family? He always did seem to have a nicer side to him.").
Andy ran tests on the bracelet and it had something to do with blood that I didn't pay attention to (I was too distracted by the thought of the expenses of the next kitchen appliance I would buy (that shit was expensive)). I slept in Ryan's bed with him that night and wondered if routine would return.
It did and did so for quite a while. Everything had a certain rhythm that was hard to break. Even for something as simple as a date to celebrate a finished apartment.
It took forever to find a night that would work for both Ryan and me, but Mom said that was adulthood. The Friday night it did happen was a cool spring evening at a little local restaurant just two blocks down from the apartment (and one down from the tattoo shop in the other direction).
I snazzied up for the occasion and picked Ryan up by the path in the woods, seeing that he had dressed up, too. I drove us to the place, then parked and walked us in. We were led to a table and seated, where our conversation finally moved past small talk.
"So everyone's doing ok?" I asked, peering over my menu.
"Yeah," he said. "We still video chat with Patrick every Sunday morning. And you know how he used to cry every time because he missed us?"
I nodded.
"Well, he got a girlfriend and missed the last two calls," Ryan finished. "Pete was the one who cried those nights."
"Awh," I said. "Poor Pete."
"Yeah, but he found himself a girlfriend and he's ok now."
"Oh, ok," I said, lost to everything.
The waitress walked up to our table, took our drink orders, then left with them.
"So how's Spencer?" I asked.
"He's fine," Ryan answered. "A lazy little shit, but fine."
I laughed, because it was true, and said, "I heard something about him and Jon?"
"Yeah, they're back together."
"Back? I thought they never were."
He shrugged. "Potato, potahto. Do you know if this is good?" He pointed to something on the menu.
"Delicious," I said.
"Good," he said, leaning back in his chair. "Then I know what I'll have." I scanned the menu again for a moment before he added, "Did I ever tell you about the return of Vic?"
I slowly lowered the list of unpronounceable foods. "No."
He grinned. "I didn't?" He let out a laugh, leaning back towards me. "Oh, God, I can't believe myself."
"What? What happened?"
"Well, Jon was staying with Spencer that night, so he was there the next day and I was out at work. They were watching TV or something when there was a knock on the door. Spencer answered and Vic's standing there with a bouquet of flowers."
My jaw dropped. "No."
"Yeah." He nodded, still smiling. "So Vic's like, begging, pleading, crying for Spence to take him back and he just says, 'bitch I got a new man' and slams the door in his face."
"No way," I scoffed disbelievingly. "I know Spencer's rude, but..."
"I may have been paraphrasing..." He shrugged. "But that doesn't matter."
"How long ago was this?
"A month or two."
"A month?"
"Or two."
"We really needed this date, huh?"
He nodded and reached across the table to hold my hands. "I'm just so happy we finally did."
I smiled at him. "Me too."
The waitress brought our drinks and took our orders, then left again.
"So, anything happen with your family?" Ryan asked, taking a sip of his soda.
"No," I answered, "my family is probably the most boring family ever. Everyone's healthy, everyone's happy. We're a dead patch of grass compared to the botanical gardens of your family."
He laughed. "I doubt it. I'd rather have a nice, boring family than a bad, interesting one."
"Yeah, but yours is nice and interesting."
"And that's why you fit in perfectly."
I smiled at him, then held up my glass and said, "A toast."
"Yeah, that one from Hitch about stealing and cheating," he said, raising his, "but only with moments and death or something."
"To stealing death and cheating moments?"
"Why not?"
We tapped our glasses against each others and each took a sip.
I laughed out of pure happiness. He was absolutely stunning sitting there smiling back at me. I told him I loved him and he promised it back. I knew then that neither of us could've meant it more.
"So have you gotten any new tattoos?" I asked after a while. "You know, since I've missed out on pretty much everything else."
"You haven't missed out on anything," he assured. "But the only thing is I got these finished." He held his fists up to display the cartoon-style animals across his knuckles. "The only problem is I don't know what to do with for this last one." I pointed to his pinkie. "And don't say Gerard. He may be family, but these are all-time favorites."
"Mikey?" I asked.
He gave me a warning look, but got over it quickly, asking, "Did you get any new ones?"
"I told you about this one," I said, holding up my wrist, "right?" I had gotten a small heart with a 'R' in the middle of it, in reference to the Ariana Grande song I performed in England. It was on the side of my wrist, lined up to my pinkie, kind of.
"Yeah, I was there when you got it," he replied.
"Right," I said slowly, remembering the day.
"Your face was so cute," he said, smiling, then imitated the face that I definitely(probably(most likely)) didn't make. He scrunched up his nose and hummed in a cute tone.
I rolled my eyes. "And you're any better? You sound like a woman giving birth."
"To keep from screaming," he defended.
"And that's why I hum."
I smiled and laughed slightly. Even when we were arguing, we were still smiling.
"Ok, we agree, tattoos hurt." He leaned back in his chair.
"Yeah," I said, taking a sip of soda. "I want a million more."
I nodded and laughed. "Exactly."
The waitress brought our foods and we chitted and chatted here and there, but the food there was really good so coming up for air was almost a burden.
We shared a dessert and a few more drinks before finally paying and leaving (it was my treat, of course). We held hands and walked down the street, just to look("") and talk some more.
"You know," I started, stepping over a broken part of the sidewalk, "I think you're the cutest person on this street."
"Well, then you're the cutest on the block," he replied.
"You're the cutest in the state," I said.
"Cutest in the country," he said.
"Cutest on the world," I said, thinking I had won.
"No, you" he booped my nose "are the cutest in the universe."
"Even on the moon?" I asked.
He nodded.
"Damn." I tried to snap, but my fingers wouldn't cooperate. "I can't beat that."
He laughed as we crossed the street.
"Hey, look," I said, pointing to a shop.
"What?" he asked.
"It's the laundromat," I said, stopped in my tracks. "I swear, there's something here I'm supposed to remember."
"Hey, look, the tattoo place!" Ryan pointed to the shop next to the laundromat.
"Oh, hey!" That's what I was trying to remember. "We should get some tattoos."
He nodded. "Yeah."
We walked in and I asked him what he wanted to get.
"Let's get a matching one," he said excitedly.
"I wanted a Green Day lyric," I said looking down.
"Why not a matching Green Day lyric?" A woman with shoulder-length black hair and bangs said, walking up to us.
"Heeeeyy! Kitty!" Ryan exclaimed.
"Rossie!" the woman apparently named Kitty said, hugging Ryan. "You've grown up so much!"
"Yeah," Ryan said, pulling away. "And don't call me Rossie."
"Ok, fine," she said, then motioned to me. "Who's this?"
I introduced myself as Brendon, the boyfriend of Ryan and she introduced herself as Kitty, the friend of Ryan's dad, Pete.
"So what can I get you guys?" she asked. "Which lyric and where?"
"Uh..." Ryan looked at me. "What do you want?"
"Um, are there any matching lyrics?" I asked. "Like, romantic ones?"
"I dunno," he said. "I can't think of any right now." He looked at Kitty. "But you're supposed be a genius with this stuff."
She shrugged. "I'm not a genius..." she said. "I just design good stuff. Let me think about it." She grabbed a notebook off the counter and walked away.
"Believe me, she is a genius," Ryan said, looking back at me. "You know Pete's batheart tattoo?"
My jaw dropped. "She did that?"
He nodded.
"Oh, my God."
"She's also an Overcast," he said, then whispered, "She's the bat."
I laughed. "Irony at it's best." He looked at me confusedly so I said, "A bat named Kitty. It wouldn't usually add up."
"But with her it does."
Kitty walked back up to us. "Can I see your IDs before I get myself too worked up over this design?" she asked. We proved our age and she showed the design. "I just didn't want to give you this if I couldn't use it." She glanced up at us. "You understand, right?"
We nodded.
"Right, so I was sitting over there watching you two and you holding hands was just so cute, so that was the first part," she explained. "And the next part is for you to choose, um..." She gestured to the paper, where the words 'insane' and 'insecure' were written in perfect cursive. "It's pretty simple, based off of the lyric 'the space that's in between insane and insecure', from Dearly Beloved, of course. But when you hold hands, whichever one of you chooses which it'll line up like..." She grabbed our hands and interlocked our fingers. "This. On the sides of your fingers, it'll read the lyrics and be all match-y and cute."
I looked up at Ryan. "She is a genius," I said.
Ryan smiled at me and nodded before looking back at Kitty. "That sounds amazing," he said. "Thank you."
"It's absolutely my pleasure," she said. "I'll be over there working out the kinks. Come on over when you've decided." She walked over to her station.
"Which one do you want?" I asked. "And with which hand?"
"Which one do we do more often?" he asked. We turned and walked around each other, deciding and discussing.
We ultimately decided on me having 'insane' and him having 'insecure'. I had insane because I was generally crazy, believing all of this animal stuff (along with other personal reasons) and Ryan had 'insecure' because he was generally shy (and probably had personal reasons, too). He said he was insecure about how attractive I was and that I would leave him, and I said I would be insane to ever leave him. Then we kissed.
Holding hands, we walked over to Kitty's station. The tattoos would be on our middle fingers, my right and his left (put your hands together and imagine (it's really cute)). She got to tattooing and it was over before we knew it. We thanked her, paid (my treat, of course) and left.
We walked down the street, holding hands so the tattoos would line up (even though it kind of hurt) and I started up a conversation about tattoos again.
"I think this is the best tattoo I have," I said, swinging our hands.
"Yeah," he agreed, smiling.
"This makes my 'U SUK' tattoo look absolutely horrible," I said.
He laughed as we crossed the street. "Don't even get me started." He stared at the Impala as we passed it. "W-Why aren't we stopping? Isn't that your car?"
I nodded, keeping my head forward. "I have something to show you this way, though."
He looked at me suspiciously. "You're starting to scare me."
I looked up at him as we stopped at the crosswalk. "We just got matching tattoos and I've promised I love you a million times. I would never do anything to hurt you. Purposefully."
He looked away and sighed slightly. "Sorry." He glanced back at me. "But now I'm just overcome with curiosity."
"Just wait," I said. "Let's just keep talking about tattoos."
"Ok..." He thought for a moment as the crosswalk sign turned and we crossed. "All I can say is that this is the best. I'm fond of all of my tattoos."
"Even your..." I thought about all his tattoos. "...TFIOS one?"
I cringed and covered his face. "Oh, no, please don't mention that."
"What? It's a cute tattoo." I turned in front of the apartment and walked up the steps.
"No, it's not," he said, a blush starting to form on his cheeks. "It's super embarrassing and I-I-" He transformed on the top step.
I smiled and picked him up out of the clothes, then picked those up, too. I unlocked the door and let it swing open.
"You know, I had a feeling this would happen," I said, leaning against the doorframe.
He mewed and pawed at my chest angrily.
I giggled and hugged him in the best way I could. "You're so cute." I held him out so I could see him. "I love you."
"I love you, too," he said.
I smiled wider at him, then did a double take with my ears. "Did you just-" We stared at each other in shock for a moment. "I love you."
"I love you, too," he responded again.
I cheered and held him up high. I ran in and closed the door as we repeated the words. After a while of running around, he squirmed and mewed, so I put him in the bathroom with his clothes.
I paced around outside the door waiting for him to finish. He said his first cat words! I jumped around and quietly squealed of happiness. I had heard the gang talking about Ryan and his speaking in animal form, and that he had only gotten close when he was with Daniel. But ha! In Daniel's little British face, because Ryan had actually said something with me. I did a little dance in celebration.
I heard Ryan chuckle behind me. "That's a cute little dance you got there," he said.
I turned around quickly and blushed. "I-I-I was just..."
He smiled at me endearingly. "I understand," he said. "Just tell me where we are and I'll forget it."
"Oh," I said. "I, um, had a big representation thing, so if you wouldn't mind..."
"You want to go back outside...?"
I bit my lip and nodded. "Would you mind?"
He laughed and shook his head. "Anything for you."
I had him close his eyes as I walked him back to the front door.
"Ok," I said. "Keep your eyes closed. I want to say a few things."
He didn't say anything, just smiled and motioned for me to start.
"Alright, so, you know how for about since graduation I've avoided the subject of being roommates?"
He nodded.
"Well, that's because I was working on something special that I didn't want you to see until it was completely finished."
"You're being really vague with this," he butted in. "It's still making me nervous."
"Shh," I said. "You're interrupting the speech."
I saw him try and hold back laughter.
I continued on anyways. "So, tonight, I'm showing you the finished product. I am very proud of it and almost everything is paid off. Open your eyes."
He looked around when his eyes opened. "A foyer."
I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Let me give you a tour." I walked him through the 'foyer' through a little living room and into the kitchen, then up the spiral staircase. I showed him the two guest rooms, then we went up the stairs again. I showed him the music room, which by that time he was gaping at everything, and then looked like he was going to pass out on the balcony off the master bedroom.
I watched him staring out into the street in shock.
"Now I see why it's a big deal," he said eventually.
"Right?" I said. "Wait till you see what it looked like before." I pulled out my phone, then looked up at him. "Maybe we should get off the balcony first. I don't want you fainting or anything."
We walked back down to the kitchen, and by then Ryan looked exhausted, but I had been walking up and down them for the past year, so I was used to it. I got him a bottle of water and pulled up some photos. Rian and I had taken a selfie every week or milestone, with whatever thing(s) that had happened in the background.
"Those are cute," Ryan said about the photos as I put my phone away. "And this is amazing." He placed the barely-drank bottle of water down on the counter. "But I was just wondering about your mattress."
"What about it?" I asked.
"You know, if it's sturdy," he continued.
"Yeah, it should be," I answered. "It's brand-new. I've only slept on it once."
"No, I was wondering if we needed to test it out."
"I don't see why we would-oh."
He raised his eyebrows at me, asking if I had finally got it.
"Oh." I raised an eyebrow at him, semi-seductively, letting him know I had. "I see."
"So, do we need to test it out?" he asked.
"I think we indeed do," I replied, walking with him towards the stairs. "After all, it is quite new."
"Indeed," he said, then kissed me.
I pulled away from the kiss for a second. "Oh, I forgot to ask you properly," I began. "Will you be my roommate?"
He smiled and shook his head. "Of course." He kissed me quickly. "Can I start tonight?"
I nodded and giggled, then we did the lip thing again.
We giggled our way up to the second floor, then sporadically kissed to the top. Stumbling towards the bedroom door, we kissed and smiled until we got beside it, where we indulged in the moment. The world froze as I reached for the doorknob.
Ryan.
That handsome, attractive, gorgeous, beautiful, perfect thing. All of the above, everything, is what he so was. If he even felt a sliver of what I was feeling for him that moment, I had him forever.
"You are so everything," he whispered.
I laughed breathlessly. "You are, too."
I turned the doorknob and opened a new chapter of our lives.