That caption gave Brad a nudge. He may be a little confused, but he sure wasn't going to keep Tristan confused or with the wrong impression anymore. Brad decided he was going to come out to Tris. So he did.
He got up from his couch, walked out the door, and made his way over to Tris's. And when Tristan opened the door, Brad said, "I need to tell you something." It may not have been the best word choice because now Tris was looking at him like he had killed someone. But hey, it did the job.
"Okay," Tris replied, skeptical. He let Brad in and shut the door behind him.
Brad started, "So when you came out to me—"
Tris cut him off. "Do we really need to go back to that? Brad, it happened weeks ago."
"No, Tris, I just needed to tell you that I'm not judging you or anything."
"Alright..." Tris responded.
"When you told me, I was weird because I'm gay, and I didn't know what to say, but I wasn't ready to tell anyone yet... And now I am ready to tell you, and so I want you to know so that you don't think badly of me or think I was homophobic..." Brad laughed, "...because that would be pretty hypocritical of me..."
Tris chucked nervously. "Yeah, it would."
"But...I just...I didn't know what to say," Brad struggled, "and I guess I was still confused as hell. But we can be better now, right? It's not gonna be awkward anymore...right?"
"Yeah, Brad," Tris replied. "It makes more sense now, at least."
Brad nodded.
Tris scratched his head. "I don't know where to go from this."
"Neither do I."
Tris sighed.
"Um, well..." Brad said, "I guess I'll see you later...? Yeah, we'll talk later."
"Uh yeah, bye, Brad," Tris responded.
So Brad left with a wave and a resounding string of curse words running through his head.
Shit, fuck, damn it.
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Friday night, Brad decided to go out. He hadn't in a while – a long while – and he was going to have some fun. Or at least try.
Brad dressed in skinny jeans and a patterned tee. He probably spent a full 20 minutes getting his curly hair to flip back and look the way he wanted it to.
Then, he decided to go to a gay bar. For the first time in his life.
It was very different from any other bar or club he'd been in before. There were more shirtless men in one room than Brad had ever seen before. And man, was he enjoying it.
He drank, he danced, and he flirted.
Then, a guy – who looked around 20 – came up to him.
"Hey, so you're a young one too," the guy said.
"Yeah," Brad replied, not sure what to say.
"First time here?" he asked.
"Yep, it is," Brad responded, admiring the shirtless man's body.
"Can I buy you a drink?" the guy questioned.
Brad nodded and followed him over to the bar. "I'm Brad," he said.
"Jason," he replied.
Jason handed him his drink and took a sip of his own.
Brad also drank.
They both drank and talked for a while, until Jason made a suggestion.
"Alright, Brad," Jason said. "Let's go dance."
So they danced, at first with drinks in hand. They started off not touching each other, but soon enough, the drinks were forgotten and Brad's hands were on Jason's chest as Jason put his hands under Brad's shirt and on his waist. Jason's hands climbed higher, riding his shirt up.
And then they were touching, flush up against each other. And it was hot.
Believe it, Brad was enjoying it, but his mind was wandering. He was imagining Tris touching him. He was imagining his hips up against Tris's, and his hands in Tris's hair. Stop it, Brad, he thought.
He wanted to get over Tris, at least for the time being. So when Jason suggested that they journey over to the back of the club, Brad said yes.
And when Jason's mouth was on his, Brad was compliant. And when Jason tugged on Brad's hair, Brad moaned for him. And when Jason's mouth was open, Brad explored it.
But still, in Brad's mind, the wet heat of Jason turned into Tristan. And Brad imagined Tristan sucking on his neck instead of Jason. He imagined running his hands through blonde hair instead of brown.
So when he felt a hand going into his skinny jeans, he stopped it. Because it wasn't the callused hand of a drummer. And no matter how much he tried to avoid it, he was falling for Tristan. Hard. And it might hurt, and it might only ever be one-sided, but Brad would rather have that than some guy he met in a club that he didn't feel that way about.
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[holy fuck i updated] [wow] [such unbelievable]
