Mediocrity 50% [Brallon: Deja Vu, Book 1]

9.5

Thanksgiving was quite the affair for all of them. There was no way in hell that Brendon was going back to his family in Alabama, so his side of the friend group usually all dined together on Thanksgiving. Jon saw his family for a couple hours in the day though, because his family had an early dinner. Spencer, with Ry's help, had forced Dallon out of his and Ry's apartment for the occasion, bracing himself for any fallout that might occur. He knew that it wouldn't though; both Dallon and Brendon were way too non confrontational to start anything, especially on a holiday. Especially not in front of all of their friends. Spencer was probably the one most equipped to deal with confrontation out of the friend group. It was just what came with constantly talking to people, and constantly standing up for his friends that weren't confident to do it themselves.

Dallon had told Awsten what had happened between him and Brendon two days after the whole affair. Awsten was still, quite weirdly, the best at relationship advice. But in this situation, he hadn't really known what to say. It felt like something out of a rom-com, with the whole miscommunication trope and all that. He hadn't talked to Brendon in about two weeks now. This was the first time he would see him since that night. Neither of them had reached out after the incident, Brendon believing he had made things awkward, Dallon assuming that he'd been rejected. He needed to get over this whole thing. This is why Dallon hated dating so much.

"Here's to hoping this isn't awkward." Dallon pronounced, putting his arms through a coat. They were about to go over to Spencer's for Thanksgiving dinner, and the fourth Thursday of November was freezing that year. At least, according to Dallon's cold blooded reptile body. Now, there was an inside joke that hadn't been referenced since high school. Back when Ry was on the swim team, Dallon had used to lay on the chairs outside the pool and nap. Spencer had compared him to a lizard and that joke had evolved into him being some sort of cold blooded creature.

"When was the last time you slept?" Ry asked, ever the good best friend who was constantly checking up on him. Dallon knew that he needed that extra reassurance that someone cared, without it, he would be lost.

"I've been sleeping all day, what do you mean?" Dallon said, squinting slightly.

"Slept well, then." Ry said, raising his eyebrows in a critical fashion. Dallon shrugged, making a noncommittal noise.

"I'm fine. A minor heartbreak isn't that big of a deal."

"Brendon rejecting you in the most callous way possible and being on probation at work is a big deal, Dallon." Ah, that was right. Ry wasn't exactly... the happiest with Brendon at this point in time. That was sugarcoating it, to be honest. Ry had always been fiercely loyal and defensive of Dallon, so this was crossing the line in more ways than one. He was pissed, that was safe to say.

Just to add to Dallon's stress, he was on probation at work now for missing too many days without calling in sick, even though he could easily just do the work at home. It wasn't even from hanging out with his friends so often; Dallon had planned it meticulously so they always met up on weekends, on his days off, lunch breaks, or after work. He just tended to shut down during his bouts of bad mental health, and that little warning had done nothing to make his depressive episode any better. He felt pathetic about a simple rejection sending him spiraling. It shouldn't be like that. He should be stronger, shouldn't be such a burden.

"Can we pretend like nothing's going on today? I don't want to cause a fuss around our other friends who probably don't know because Brendon didn't realize that I thought it was a date."

"Whatever makes you comfortable, but you do need to have a conversation about this eventually." Ry said. Any conversation that he and Dallon had was Dallon telling the general outline and information of the evening, but not any inside look as to Dallon's actual emotions. Ry could tell it was affecting him, he lived with the man after all, but Dallon was too locked up in his own head to vent. He had always been like this when things got bad. It was a sort of domino effect; sometimes there was no cause, sometimes there was a drastic change to Dallon's life.