Stronger Together (bxb) ✔

Chapter 15 - Bryan

I'm not sure if this would be confusing... so this chapter jumps back to after Jesse left Bryan's house and continues to the next day where Bryan interacts with Jesse again.

Bryan's POV

Diego smirks at me once I come back inside from sending Jesse off. "Did you lose something in Jesse's mouth?"

I groan and punch him lightly in the arm, "shut up."

I can't believe I got reunited with Jesse and he actually agreed to a date! He barely seemed to be able to keep his hands off me the whole time he was here and I'm definitely down for more of that.

"Bruh, stop smiling like that, it's creepy," Diego complains with a fake look of disgust.

I roll my eyes at him, "You're just jealous you haven't had a super hot guy that you're really into to make out with in years."

"Oof, low blow." He replies, grinning and putting his hand over his chest like he's feigning a heart attack.

That was a bit of a low blow but I knew he was over it. Diego was 28, two years older than I. He likes the shy, sweet, innocent type and his last relationship that ended just over three years ago shattered his heart.

The thing about Diego is that when he falls in love, he falls hard. He truly gives his body and soul to his love. He loves to spoil them and gives them literally anything they ask for. He loves having them completely trust him to take care of them.

I honestly think he just likes taking care of people. When he was 8 years old, his parents had another child; a beautiful baby girl. She was autistic and their parents were disgusted and never took care of her. Diego immediately took on the role of caretaker and protector until she died when he was 21.

He then had to take care of his father, who was diagnosed with cancer the year before his sister's death, and his mother who could barely keep herself together. He lost his family one after the other; his father at 22 and his mother at 23.

So when Diego met sweet, innocent Liam not long after his mother's death, he was happy he found someone he could care for again. He worshipped the ground Liam walked on and did everything in his power to make him happy until one day Liam broke it off with him. Liam claimed that Diego was too intense and smothered him and that Diego took away his independence.

I can see Diego's intensity being a bit suffocating but taking away his independence was a load of crap. Diego always let Liam do whatever he wanted from taking him or sending him clubbing regularly - Liam loved clubbing, like a lot, and Diego always paid for everything - to paying for Liam's college classes.

The timing of the breakup was sketchy too, it was just after Liam's last day of college and that made me convinced that Liam was just using him all along.

Diego had a lot of emotional baggage that he never dealt with from his family's death and that coupled with the heartbreak from Liam dumping him made him a complete mess. He started self isolating and was always drunk and angry.

However, since then he's given up drinking altogether. He'd never even had so much as had a beer since that dark time in his life and he vowed never to drink again. He even went to therapy and anger management sessions and that's also when he started hitting the gym and bulking up.

I look over at my best friend fondly; he has overcome a lot to be where he is today.

I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn around to see Shawn. "Hi Bryan, I just wanted to have a quick chat with you." He raised his voice slightly at the end as if asking if now was a good time so I nodded. What could Dean's boyfriend possibly want with me?