the heartbreak boy - a one shot

~ Dylan ~

First off, I am so very sorry if any of this is inaccurate. It's been about two years or so since I read TBBSMB and I hurriedly skimmed through the chapter where Dylan makes his big mistake. That is kissing Riley. Please forgive any errors about what he recalls in this short(ish) chapter. I have a goldfish memory. Just saying. I also hope you don't mind the fact that I've made Dylan into a guy who occasionally likes his Ed Sheeran..? Moving rapidly on..

Coincidentally, I was listening to this song while doing whatever I did at the time (goldfish memory, remember) and I was just thinking how many people, including myself, can/could relate to the story of the song. Obviously not everything that the singer narrates in the song because that would be... awkward... but there's always that one person that hurts you when your mind accidentally-on-purpose wanders to them. You really just want to forget about them. And if the result is unsuccessful, then a distraction is better than having to think about them constantly.

And that's how I think of Dylan Merrick... I hope you like this, Lauren. I have no idea if it seems pretty rushed or sloppy, but.. yeah. I hope you all like it.

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The news doesn't really shock me.

Maybe it should, maybe it's just natural that it doesn't. All I can say is that I am selfish enough for wanting Alec and Riley's marriage not to happen. All these years, and I still feel like I've lost friends that could've been there for me for more of my life. For the rest of my life - had I not been a stupid idiot and did what I did that day on the beach.

And the worst of it? The worst of it was that I actually knew  the infamous Alec Ryder, my former good friend, was deeply in-denial-in-love with her. Like I was. Like I am. After all these fucking years, I still am. It's pathetic. And it's even more pathetic that I have to attend their wedding feeling this way. Riley is forgiving enough to actually invite me to her wedding. Or maybe she wants to get it in my head that she's with The One.. and it's not me.

I mean, why  would it be me? I scrutinise my reflection in my apartment room mirror, tugging on my dark grey tuxedo. How much was this lame piece of stitching and cloth again? Of course, with my one-track mind, I forgot, and it probably wasn't a good move to go out and buy one just to turn up in it at her wedding and do.. nothing. Apart from drown in my pointless self-pity, that is.

Okay, I have to let it go now.

Drawing a deep breath in, then another, I exhale and adjust my tie a fraction before grabbing my phone off of my beside table and text my ride, Hannah.

Ready for pickup :)

I get a quick reply, since she's a natural fast typer.

I'm actually already driving there. You better be ready.

That's Hannah for you - ever the threatening one. Brushing that fact off, I tell myself that I'm going to try with optimism. Especially with Hannah, since she's the only true friend I really have left of my high school years and I do not want to push her away with my mood. I realised a while ago that I never actually talked to her until I ran into her outside a coffee shop in our hometown. We did some catching up, talked about work, friends, family and every mundane thing we could think of. Noticing I had more in common with the petite redhead than I thought I had, I decided I wanted her to stay in my life. Because maybe she could make up for what I lost.

I hear the the honk of her car waiting outside, and I rush down the stairs, after my eyes flicked to the clock in the hallway: 2:45. Shit. I was meant to be there fifteen minutes ago. How did I lose track of time like that? I rarely do.