Sepia Makes Everybody Cry With a Dyle Fanfic

epilogue

HA jokes on you i was gonna write an epilogue anyway. enjoy.

"Dan, what are you doing?"

"It's funny; usually I'm asking you the same question."

"Okay, true. But again I ask you... What are you doing?"

"Shh... Hold on. I'm doing some more platonic stuff."

"You've been so obsessed with that since Will told us about it. It's kind of unheal—"

"Shh!!!"

"That tickles—! Jesus Christ Dan! What are you doing?"

"Shut up, will you? Hold on."

"..."

"..."

"Oh."

"There. Nice?"

"Yeah. Nice."

• Δ • Δ • Δ •

Life had gotten drastically better since that final "clearing up" and I couldn't have been more at peace. I was the most excited about my career than I had been for a long while, too. The ease around Kyle made it nearly effortless to go through our normal routines. I opened up to Kyle about the song. I'd titled it "The Driver" but I didn't tell him about it until after I'd planned a performance of it for the BBC Radio 1 Premiere.

Will had worked on it secretly with me in the studios, and we finished it within two weeks after that night. When we found out that Kyle wouldn't be around for the pre-scheduled premiere, we knew that was the perfect time to play it.

I was proud with what I'd done, and even happier that I didn't relate too much anymore. I could pass it off as another story I was telling. It felt cool to have a secret like this. A secret shared amongst the few of us.

Kyle found out soon after the video was uploaded. He knew it was the song as soon as he heard the first verse. At first, he felt bad and had pulled me into a tight, apologetic hug for about an hour when he came back. Finally I got through to him that everything was fine again, and I thanked him for giving me artistic inspiration that I'd never really had before. He hugged me just kindly after that.

• Δ • Δ • Δ •

"Kyle! Kyle, I found something!"

"Wha—Oof! Daniel get off me. You're not a small cat."

"Oh my God. We—"

"Stop tickling my beard!"

"—both have whiskers!"

"What?"

"People call beards 'whiskers' you know? We both have whiskers. We're cats."

"Shut up, you nerd. Kiss me, would you?"

"OH RIGHT!"

"What the fuck, Dan?"

"Sorry. I found some things! I researched more on those queerplatonic relationships Will told us about and... Wow, Kyle, there are so many different labels out there. Genders and sexualities and relationships... It's amazing how you can express yourself."

"Are you... questioning anything? Do you want to talk about it?"

"Nah. I think I'm fine. I think."

"Gah—Please get off my thigh. You're bony."

"Sorry."

"You're fine. C'mere, let me kiss you already."

"Mmm. I like this."

"Me too."

"Anyways... I don't know. I think I might be asexual. Or aromantic. Or both. I don't know. It's all so confusing when you try to apply it to yourself. Everybody else seems to have it all figured out."

"Oh... don't worry, Dan. You'll figure something out. I love you any way you are."

"Thank you, Kyle."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Mmmm... Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"Oh yeah! The queerplatonic thing. It's really cool. As long as we both understand how the other thinks about it all... and, you know, the kissing... it's really fine. It's just more physical affection. And a different kind of love."

"That's really nice... how many kinds of love there are..."

"Yeah... How did Janna take it?"

"Oh... It went better than I thought, actually. She's real active on social media things and she's been aware of a lot of... queer things, you know? All that stuff you mentioned earlier. She's known about a lot for a while."

"That's great."

"Mmhm. Anyways, I, uh... Well, I cried a little."

"Oh, Kyle..."

"It's fine; she realized how much I didn't want to hurt her, you know? And she understood. She even said she was glad I'd be getting some comfort like that while we were apart. She said cats needed more physical affection than they liked to admit."

"Oh my God that's brilliant. Come here."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Hey, you know something?"

"Yeah?"

"We're kind of like friends with benefits."

"Just without the sex."

"Without the sex."

"That's a different kind of physical affection."

"For another day... Ow!"

"You're such a nerd. I love you."

"I love you too, Kyle."

fin~