Child • Jøshler

chapter førty three

"I want cocoa with marshmallows" Brendon whined, walking yet another circle around the oak. Dallon was sitting on the ground and watching Brendon, wondering what they should do next and wondering why is cocoa with marshmallows a thing.

"What's the time, Dal?"

Dallon rose his hand and turned his phone on. He opened his mouth to reply to Brendon's questions, but his phone shut off before he could read out the time. Battery dead.

"My battery's dead" he informed, making Brendon groan. Silence fell over them. They could only wait for news from the other guys. It was the best to hide and stay in the safe place. So Dallon sat and Brendon paced. In silence.

But Dallon wasn't just sitting there. He was doing some hardcore thinking. And the only reason why Brendon's beauty wasn't distracting was the fact that Brendon's beauty was exactly what kept his mind busy.

Exhaling shakily, he concluded. It was now or never. There's just the two of them, the other guys might've already been caught and killed. They might just be the next victims. And Dallon wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he doesn't tell Brendon "Bren, I like you"

"What?" Brendon frowned at the words, approaching the boy that sat and crossing his arms as he awaited. He actually heard Dallon's words, but he didn't want to believe them.

"N- Nothing, forget about it" Dallon looked down at his fingers which were playing with the grass.

Brendon crouched down, rising Dallon's head up with the tips of his fingers. Their eyes locked and Brendon smiled widely, causing Dallon to blush a little "Dal, what did you say?"

"I- I- said that-"

"Did you say you liked me?" Brendon rushed him.

Dallon choked on his words, licking his lips and nodding hesitantly. He blinked twice at the pretty boy in front of him.

Brendon laughed softly, looking away and shaking his head; Dallon saw the infamous yellow color twirl in his eyes. Dallon smiled, not knowing what other to do with himself. Was the laugh a positive thing?

"Oh, Dallon" Brendon dragged the name out, still shaking his head as he relocked their stares "Yeah, I know that you like me. You're the most obvious person in the world. And I'm great at playing oblivious"

Dallon's jaw dropped in shock. Well this was hella embarrassing. Dallon opened his mouth, wanting to stutter something out, but Brendon cut him off

"A-a-ah, I'm not finished talking" Brendon held his index finger up, enough to shut Dallon's mouth "I have a" - he sighed deeply "a confession to make too"

Dallon's eyes lit up, a smile creeping on his face.

"L- Look, I feel terrible because of this" Brendon spoke, slowly making any chonce of Dallon smiling disappear. But Brendon noticed "That, o-of course, doesn't mean you should be feeling bad"

Dallon gave a small nod, causing Brendon to exhale in relief. Brendon continued "In all honesty, I like you too. I really do. You're smart, you're cute and, most importantly, you're literally - but, like, literally - always there for me"

Dallon blinked. He was happy, but he knew Brendon wasn't finished. Thus Dallon decided to help him a little bit "But?"

Brendon exhaled shakily, he tried to stop making eye contact with Dallon by looking anywhere and everywhere, but his eyes would always return to Dallon's "But... R- R- Ryan"

Dallon felt like he had just drowned. Of course it was Ryan. And he didn't blame Brendon for saying that. But he was just simply sad. Brendon was sad about his love being dead and Dallon was sad because his love loved somebody else.

Usually, Dallon would stand down at this point. But not now. Not today. Not in this situation. Not when they could both be dead by tomorrow morning.

"Brendon, I hate to break it to you, but both you and I know Ryan is dead. He is not coming back. He may have been a jealous, stubborn person. But it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if he'd want you to date other people or not. You're free now. Nobody is saying that you dating other people means your love for Ryan stops. Your love for Ryan is infinite. But you'll never see him again. You shouldn't spend your life crying over Ryan. You need to move on. And I'm ready to be here for you. Because I love you"

Dallon gulped as he let out the last word. That little speech of his made him kinda more confident.

Brendon didn't even hesitate - he moved his head toward Dallon's in a single fast motion, connecting their lips.

Brendon was truly impressed. One of the things he loved about Ryan the most was how defiant he always was. Defiant to the end. And now, Dallon just said all of this into his face, so courageously. Brendon had never seen this side of Dallon before, but it was amazing. Really amazing. And, unlike he thought, he didn't regret kissing Dallon at all.

Five seconds later, only their noses were touching. They both giggled, closing their eyes alongside lowering their head to the point where their foreheads were touching; all just to cover up the fact they were both blushing.

Brendon hadn't felt this good in ages. His heart was beating with warmth. The blood in his veins was just as hot. The feeling of love swallowed him whole. He felt like the happiest man alive.

All until he heard Dallon's gasp and felt cold chains holding his arms tight to his body.