GROUP CHAT ; RYDEN

epilogue

unedited, but enjoy, friends

-

today was the day.

it was a proud and exciting moment for brendon and ryan, and their families as well. they had made it this far, and it surprised so many people that they did.

they were dressed in blue gowns and graduation caps, hands clasped together. today was their four month anniversary, as well as graduation day. brendon's chest swelled with pride, because he made it. and he had his boyfriend by his side, experiencing it with them.

thankfully, their first date didn't flop, and it was only after six other dates and countless kisses that the two became official, set with brendon knocking on ryan's door at 3am, drenched in rain, pleading ryan to be his boyfriend once he'd gotten past dallon. they've been a couple since ryan rolled his eyes and kissed brendon on his doorstep.

brendon and ryan were sat beside each other, their families behind them- ryan's mother and two sisters, and brendon's father, brother and his nephew.

further along the line of graduates, incredibly, pete was waving wildly at them, trying to get their attention until mikey way pulled him back down into his seat. behind them sat frank and gerard. luke and michael sat beside them, luke elbowing michael as the other boy snickered. a few seats away, jack and alex smiled sheepishly at each other, ashley and jenna grinning mischievously. of course, there were all the heterosexual couples as well, that outnumbered the gays, but brendon ignored them. they weren't as cute as brendon and his friends were.

ah, brendon thought gleefully. school of gays.

he held his and ryan's linked hands up to his lips, kissing ryan's knuckles cutely, and smiling at him. "i love you," he murmured. "so damn much."

ryan leaned forward and pressed his lips to brendon's. "i love you just as much, if not more."

"gaaaay," tyler giggled from beside them, josh's hand on his thigh. the gold metal band on his index finger shone just as bright as his smile. "you guys are so cute."

"wife him." josh mouthed, and ryan blushed bright red whilst brendon shot him a wink, not being able to retaliate because the principal of their school was standing at the podium, and began to speak.

+

brendon had waited through a too-long line of graduates, until finally there were a handful left, him included. he was ready to leave; the ceremonial music was too loud, his stomach was empty, and his palms were slick with perspiration as he waited for his principle to call his name, so that he could receive his diploma and officially be done with school.

he looked over at ryan, who was sitting on the edge of his seat, and winked at him. he looked back at his father, who was wearing a proud smile, then back at his brother, who had his son on his lap and a camera to his eye.

but somehow, like it frequently did, brendon's attention went back to ryan. today, his usual long rumpled mess of brown hair was trimmed, and combed neatly to the side. his smile was wide, his bottom teeth only slightly crooked. his face was clean of stubble, giving him a much younger look. brendon payed careful attention to the dimple in his chin, and the beauty mark on his lip. and for paying so much attention to his mouth, he didn't realize that ryan was mouthing words at him. brendon squinted, trying to decipher what ryan was saying, until-

"um, mr. urie, for the second time."

brendon's eyes widened, and he hurriedly rushed to his principle, to receive his diploma, nearly tripping over his robes in the process.

he cleared his throat, keeping his cool as chuckles arose from the crowd, shaking the older man's hand, and quickly pecking his cheek before grabbing his diploma and bolting it off stage.

gasps and laughs arose from the crowd as brendon sauntered off stage, his father's head in his hands, shoulders shaking with laughter at the gobsmacked look on the principle's face as he grumbled out the next name. his brother shrieked with laughter, having caught that on tape, ryan nearly toppling out of his seat from laughing so hard.

brendon took his seat, punching josh's shoulder, who had his head in tyler's lap, concealing his laughter. they could hear pete whooping from a few places down, and brendon glanced over, immediately giggling at mikey, who's face was burning at all the attention.

"ladies and gentlemen, please congratulate the 2015-2016 class of graduates!"

cheers erupted from the graduates and their families, because finally, they were done. brendon glanced over at his father, and his brother, who were all waving at him and smiling, pride evident in their eyes. brendon turned back to ryan, shocked to see his eyes glistening with tears. "baby?" brendon whispered, thumbs catching the tears before they could fall. "why're you crying?"

"because," ryan said with a watery chuckle, intertwining his arms around brendon's neck. "you're not a dropout. you made it."

and that sentence, coming out of ryan's mouth, lit brendon's heart on fire. "because of you," brendon said, cradling ryan's face in his hands. "we made it."

ryan leaned up, kissing brendon finally, pure love and adoration in his lips, and it was in that absolute moment, that they both knew; this was not the end of ryan and brendon.

-

FINALLY HOKY SHITSYSJ

OK SO i guess the only people i really have to thank is anyone reading this write now. i kinda went through this writing journey alone, and the only real people who deserve any kind of thanks are you guys; who vote, and comment, and read, and pm nice things, and compliment me on my message board. it means the world, and thank you if you're still reading from when i uploaded chapter one, even if my writing was trash and i took 87 years to upload. i love u rats.

<3

OH YEAH

and i'm working out the sequel & shit & it's probably gonna take a while whoops lol

until next time, friends

(maddie)