The One: Scandalous Redemption (The One Series-Book10) (ORIGINAL DRAFT)

Chapter19: The Ring

Chapter19-The Ring

September 27th, 2012

 It’s now late September. 7th Anthem had been busy with their promotions for their international hit single, Reckless’N’Wild. Now they’re about to release their much-anticipated third 7A album, titled, ForeverZero5. The title is a reference to their album having influences from their early UTurn days, with a 2012 sound.

 At the same time, they’re about to premiere the final season of their TV series, The Delinquents. In this new season, Ethan and his band, The OutLaws, were not featured. Neither were former UTurn members, Riley and Stacie. Both women were busy with their very successful solo careers. 

 Now 7A were having a day off from their heavy promos, and were in London. Andrew had been meaning to do engagement ring shopping, but he hadn’t gotten the opportunity. Now he does. The girls were out shopping, so he took advantage of this by bringing the guys along for opinions.

 Andrew brought along Trevor, Justin and his boyfriend Ty, and Brandon and his boyfriend Jesse. They arrived at a jewelry store. All the men wore sunglasses to try to ward off any paparazzi that might be chasing them. Usually, it hardly works, but they did it anyway. 

 Andrew told the guys, “Hey, thanks for coming with me, and supporting me with this.”

 Justin said, “It’s cool, Andrew. We knew you and Aly are meant to be.”

 Andrew gave a small smile. By now, the two guys made some amends. Their friendship was being repaired, but of course, there was still some distrust on Andrew’ part. But other than that, the two were becoming friends again.

 Then Brandon said, “Andrew, can I talk to you? Alone?”

 Andrew nodded his head. They went outside the store. He asked Brandon, “So, what is it?”

 Brandon gave a long sigh, and said, “I know you never loved me the same way I did, but a part of me still does. Jesse is great, but there was no other guy like you.”

 Andrew looked on the ground, and bit his lip. He still felt bad for not being able to love Brandon, but at this point, his heart belonged to Alyson. He then looked up, and said, “Brandon, you’ll always have place in me. You were my first and only boyfriend I ever had. But…it’s Alyson who I live. I thought this was established already.”

 “It is. I guess I still miss you. You were a sweet man underneath all that arrogance. You still are, but you seemed to have humbled a bit.”

 Andrew gave a small smile, and said, “Yeah, well, you know how that happened.”

 Brandon knew that Andrew meant his Natalie situation and his coming clean about his bullying past. (By now, Natalie has been caught, and in jail at Hartford, Connecticut.) So he said, “As bad as those days were, you’ve matured. And that’s a good thing.”

 Andrew slightly blushed, and said, “Thanks, but let me ask you this: Do you support me marrying Aly?”

 Brandon smiled, and said, “Of course. Ever since I met you two, I saw how much you and Aly loved each other. I still remember the day when I met you at a clothing store. You were starstrucked and blushing really hard. You could’ve hit on me, but instead you led me to Alyson. That was sweet of you.”

 Andrew laughed, and said, “I can’t believe you remember that. That feels so long ago. I was just a kid then.”

 Brandon also laughed, and said, “How could I? You told me to never forget your name. You actually said, ‘Andrew Hawthorne.’”