Dear Mr Urie (A Brallon fic)

25. Caught Dead In This Place

Dear Brendon

I've been so caught up in your smile I've failed to notice that Christmas is speeding down the road in a gleaming Murciélago going 200 per hour, about to slam right into us and send us flying into an flurry of red, green and gold. In fact, I've only realised that yesterday, when a hint of winter licked a trail up my neck.

It doesn't look as if it would snow this year, considering the fact that it was comfortable enough for us not to catch pneumonia the other night in the clearing, but also not a clear trace of summer air and flying bugs. But hey, we'll see.

I've never really asked you this, but how are your parents doing? Do you ever talk to them? You've mentioned vaguely about a mess and a fleeing away, but what really happened?

Dallon taps his chin twice with his pen, debating internally on whether he had the rights to put his unanswered questions about his boyfriend's family in ink, contemplating whether he was allowed to wonder. But curiosity wasn't a choice, and he found his pen gliding against the smooth surface of the paper, musing out loud.

Your eyes, are they deep brown like your mom's or your dad's?

---

(Brendon's POV)

School isn't the easiest thing to get back to after a weeklong holiday that you've spent every waking (and almost every sleeping) moment with your boyfriend, but it sure does suck harder when your co-worker refuses to co-operate with you. Audrey has been interning here for about 2 weeks now, but all she's contributed in this school was a sad Dallon, a proclamation of love and roughly 35 erections. Just to be clear, those were the boys' erections and not mine. Just to be clear.

I've put all personal grudges behind me and professionalism in the front. "How are you, Audrey," I've started, "would you like to work on our next lesson?" To that I got fucking ignored and walked away gritting my teeth. I am now, however, starting to wonder if "I love you" meant more to her on that day than it did when we were 16.

But Dallon, Dal's an angel. I'm walking to the empty car park and I see him leaning against my car.

"Good afternoon, Mr Urie." He flashes a cheeky smile and I instantly feel my cheeks reddening.

"Dallon, isn't it too early to be addressing me so formally?" I shoot back a smile as innocent as his was impish, and he drops his gaze to the ground, blushing hard. "Where to, my good sir?" I ask, unlocking the door for him. 

"Well..." His hesitation piques my curiosity. I raise an eyebrow at him but he refuses to meet my eyes.

"Dallon? Anywhere in mind?" He looks conflicted, constipated with thoughts even. Finally, he bursts as though he's given up on hiding.

"Do your parents live nearby?"

A cold silence sets upon us as I watch him visibly squirm as the seconds pass. How do I even answer him?

"Dallon, please get in the car. We should get out of here first."

He stands still for another half a second, looking almost as shock as I felt when my voice rang out loud and stern, practically an order. He gets in wordlessly with confusion swirling around his features and slight hurt tugging at his eyebrows. I pull out of the parking lot and out of the school, feeling significantly less tense at once.

"...Well?" He demands, arms folded across his chest. "Dal, I don't think this is an important subject between us, especially when they've already decided I don't belong with them."

"But it IS important to me, I want to see them. Do they even know about me?" He grows quiet. "Is that why you don't ever talk about me meeting them? Is it because you're too embarrassed to tell them you're dating one of your students??"

I say nothing.

"Oooh, no mom, dad, I'm not dating anyone! Especially not that boy from my class that speaks too softly and makes a fool out of himself all the time, heck no! Everyone hates him!!" He mocks in a tone exaggeratedly high.

"Fine." I reply, short and curt.

"Fine?" He questions and I reply with a nod.

Not a word was exchanged for the next 20 minutes as he glares out of the window angrily until I hear a loud smack against the window. He's fallen asleep, and we're not even halfway there.

---

(Dallon's POV)

"Brendon..?" I mummer through the remains of my terrible nightmare. "Brendon I'm sorry."

Brendon is quiet for a few seconds before he lets go of his left hand and slips his fingers between mine. "There is no need for you to apologise." I open my mouth to protest, but he cuts me off quickly. "Look, we're almost here."

That's when I see it.

That's when I realise.

That's when every piece of the puzzle fits, illustrating such a clear, daunting picture, the kind that makes your legs feel like stone and robs you of your speech.

A gateway towers over us, with the faded words:

Sinclaire Memorial Park

I gape at the whole scene for a good two minutes, trying to process the shock of it all. What have I done?

The air stills as the keys are drawn out of the car, and an unwelcome tear falls from my eyes onto his warm hand that was still clasped in mine. 

"I am SO sorry. I just I- I didn't know. I'm sorry, that was no excuse-"

"It's quite alright." His tone is gentle and soft, and the vulnerability in his voice makes me want to punch myself in the eyeball even more.

He draws in a breath that trembled at the edges.

"Shall we go say hi to my parents?"

---

A/N: bORKBORK hello!!! Is everyone doing good? How'd you like that dark twist?? I'd like to thank @katelynparkes for the brilliant suggestion of meeting Brendo's family, just a little... well, different from what they expected, presumably. Awfully tragic, but not too shabby of a storyline, I hope.

Life update: It is currently 1:12am over here and I haven't showered so I should probably do that before looking through the comments from past chapter and replying to some of you guys!! Feel free to drop one here if you like, talk to me about anything! What's going on in your life, how's the weather, what's your favourite outfit Brendon has worn...., leave a comment, I absolutely love hearing from you guys.

Until the next chapter, my squishies.