Epilogue - The End of a Chapter

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Brendon couldn't stop himself from looking at his boyfriend in the row ahead of him. Even from behind, Brendon could tell how much Ryan was smiling. Every now and then, it was confirmed when the boy would look over his shoulder and shoot Brendon a smile and an occasional wink.

Not paying attention to what was going on, Brendon flinched as the people around him stood. He quickly copied the action and tuned in the speaker.

"Now please move your tassels from right to left." Brendon reached up, fingers gripping the thread. Like flipping a page, Brendon moved his tassel, finishing a chapter in his life.

Ryan looked back him again, waving his diploma for Brendon to see. The excitement was buzzing through the graduates. Cheers and applause sounded around them as caps were tossed into the air. The ceremony came to a close, the school lawn soon crowded with families taking pictures.

Brendon looked through the sea of bodies, struggling to find either his family, boyfriend, or friends. He let out a scream when a pair of arms wrapped around him, quickly lifting him into the air.

A familiar chuckle sounded beside his ear as he was set back down. Brendon whipped around smacking Ryan with his knewly received diploma. Ryan let out a playful laugh and gave Brendon a quick peck on the cheek.

"We did it," he whispered. Brendon giggled and hugged his boyfriend close.

"Yes we did." Their little moment was cut short to new arms pulling them into new hugs. By the amount of arms wrapping around them, Brendon concluded that his family had found him.

"Alright get off them. I wanna take a picture of them together," Brendon's mom shouted happily, ordering Brendon's siblings out of the way.

Ryan was more than happy to pose, grabbing Brendon's waist and holding up his own diploma. Brendon struggled to hold back laughs as his family made faces at him from behind his mother. He bit his lip when his mother lowered the phone and frowned at the boys.

"Ryan could you stop staring at Brendon for a second and look at the camera?" Brendon looked up to see Ryan's eyes glued on him, pupils dilated and a lazy smile.

"Sorry Grace," Ryan spoke quietly, no real remorse in his voice. Brendon was sure his mom didn't hear but couldn't focus too much on it. Ryan sealed their lips in a soft, long kiss. Butterflies were flapping wildly inside Brendon, giving him nothing but love. Even after all the times Ryan displayed his affection, Brendon would always feel the same happy tingle whenever he was around the other boy.

"No PDA!" A set of hands came up to whack the sides of the couple's heads, breaking their kiss. Looking over, the pair saw Pete standing beside them, wide smile on.

"Thank you," one of Brendon's siblings called out.

"Pete, Patrick! You're here! Now get beside the other two so I can get a picture of you four," Grace called out. The friends lined up, posing for the phones that were pointed at them. The four families were gleefully chatting and praising their son's between picture.

"That's my future son in law," Brendon heard Mr. Ross say to his own father. He blushed and looked over at Ryan who was thankfully distracted by a conversation with Patrick.

"So," Pete said and threw his arm over his shoulder. The other two turned to join the conversation. "What's gonna happen now?" They all exchanged looks, their smiles not faltering a fraction. Ryan reached over, taking Brendon's hand.

"I don't care. As long as you're by my side, I know everything will be alright." Brendon's cheeks warmed but he refused to look away from Ryan's loving gaze.

"You know Ryan, I always liked you," Pete nodded happily. Patrick rolled his eyes and smacked Pete's arm.

"Shut up. We all know you still have a place picked out to bury him." Brendon's eyes widened in shock.

"Pete!" The boy rose his hands in surrender.

"What? I wasn't gonna do anything... as long as he always treats you right." Ryan stood behind Brendon, wrapping his arms around him.

"You don't have to worry about that. I could never do anything bad to this dork." Brendon rolled his eyes with his boyish smile.

"Yeah cause you know I'd kick your ass," Brendon responded.

"Pfft. As if. Your arms are as thin a noodles."

"I didn't hear you complaining about my noodle arms when you wanted me to hold you when you cried while watching A Walk to Remember." Ryan gave a pout.

"You promised you wouldn't talk about that again," he whined.

"Right sorry. He totally didn't bawl like a baby at the ending and almost threw a fit when I wouldn't let him be the little spoon while we were cuddling." Pete let out a loud laugh as Patrick covered his mouth to hide his humor.

"Brendon," Ryan pouted some more. The boy rested his head on the taller's chest, grinning to his chest.

"Sorry, love. I'm just teasing. Forgive me?" Ryan kissed the top of his head and held him close.

"As long as you promise to never leave me." Brendon bit his lip when he heard how much quicker Ryan's heart was beating. Even after always being with each other, Brendon loved how nervous Ryan still got with him.

He thought to Mr. Ross talking about Brendon being future skn in law. It seems like a pleasant idea to entertain. A life with the Ryan Ross by his side? Yeah that was something Brendon could enjoy.

"Yeah, I promise."

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A/N:

This is the end of Dare. Thank you for reading! This is the longest I've worked on a story so I appreciate everyone for sticking around supporting me ❤ Take care vros and..

𝐽𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑦 ❤
~𝐽𝑎𝑦

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