timeless | sequel | d.w

18

   And that was it. We didn't see each other after that. Dallon went off on tour with Brendon and the rest of the band, while me and Raúl were busy planning for our future wedding.

It felt surreal saying it - I was actually getting married.

I felt as if I was dancing on clouds. Everything seemed to be going my way in life, even if things had turned out to be different than I once thought they would be. But that was okay. Change was okay, and it was first now that I had learned to accept that.

The weeks went on, me and Dallon texted back and forth almost every day. I sent him pictures of dresses that I thought looked nice, or asked his opinion on certain colors or flowers. In return, he sent me pictures of their shows, the venues and of course, snippets of him playing a little song. He told me he was writing a song to play at me and Raúl's wedding, because "being the best man I have to something big", he had told me with a grin one day on the phone. It was sweet, and I missed him dearly. But I held onto the thought that he would he here on my wedding day, and that was enough to bring a smile to my lips.

While being busy with work, and at the same time planning a wedding in any free time that I got, the days became nights in a heartbeat. Ten days felt like one and suddenly, it was only a month left until my wedding day. The dress was bought, the venue set and everything was in its order. I could finally breathe out and focus on my fiancée and my work- that's what I needed to focus on.

Me and Dallon hadn't talked in forever- I hadn't talked to any of the boys in a long time actually, but I guessed they were wrapping up their tour and wanted to go out with a bang. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary. But when I woke up to a call at three in the morning from the lead singer himself, something just felt off. I wiggled out of a sleeping Raúl's grip, sitting up and answering my phone.

"Brendon?" I said sleepily and rubbed my eyes. "What's going on?"

"G-Gabrielle." His voice was shaking-- not just shaking, he was crying.

"Brendon, what's wrong?" Now being wide awake, I demanded answers. Something was terribly wrong. I could just feel it.

He inhaled a deep breath, "There's been an accident." He sniffled, before continuing. "Dallon's in the hospital. Oh, god..."

My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach. This had to be a joke. A sick, cruel joke. I shook my head, feeling lightheaded as I stood up. "What? No, no, he's not. He can't... what?"

"We were driving, on our way from the venue back to our hotel. We went in separate cars... god, I should've stopped him! Why didn't I?" He was rambling and all I could think about was getting to the hospital.

"Send me the address. Brendon, send me the address. I'm coming."

---

The drive that normally would've taken three hours was done in an hour and a half. After waking Raúl up and explaining the situation, we had gotten dressed and sped off. With barely any traffic, we could've cared less about safety. My best friend was in the hospital. I couldn't wrap my head around it. This had to be a bad dream, a horrible nightmare that seemed far too real. But the closer we got to our destination, the more I realized that it couldn't be. No, no, no. This was reality.

Running into the entrance of the hospital, I saw Gabe sitting on the couch, head in his hands. I yelled out his name, feeling like I was going to pass out at any second. I couldn't think, I could barely walk. Everything was a blur. What I remember the clearest is demanding an answer to where Dallon was, only to find that he was in surgery and had been for the last two hours.

I didn't remember how I ended up in Brendon's arms-- it didn't really matter. We just hugged and he continuously apologized, and I told him it wasn't his fault. Never his fault.

I couldn't comprehend for how long we waited. It seemed like an eternity. I remember hearing the birds chirp from an open window somewhere when one of the surgeons finally came out. He explained what had happened, using words I barely understood and bringing up things that didn't seem to matter. I didn't understand. But then it came;

Dallon had been pronounced dead at 9:32 am due to blood loss and brain trauma.