Brendon had a boyfriend. It was the last thing that most people expected- not just because he had never been one for officially labelled ‘relationships’, but because said boyfriend wasn’t Ryan Ready, the assistant everybody knew he was close to, perhaps beyond just professionalism. All of his inner circle (none of them but Gabe were to be trusted- literally the next day Brendon had mentioned it, the news had ‘somehow’ leaked that Brendon was dating Shane Valdes) was rather taken aback by the news, which was broken to them in first person. [i]This is Shane,[/i] Brendon had said, introducing the man that stood close by him with an arm wrapped almost possessively around his waist, [i]He’s my boyfriend.[/i] Everybody liked Shane, or else they were very good at pretending they did so to stay in Brendon’s good books and therefore in the warm glow of the spotlight. Everybody except Gabe- who immediately began being passive aggressive, so talented at being fake-nice that even Shane, someone Brendon would describe as a cynic at best, thought that they were being genuine. It was amusing to watch- but Brendon still kind of glared Gabe down, more out of feeling like it was his duty. Gabe [i]had[/i] been the one going off on tangents about how Brendon [i]needed [/i]somebody. If Gabe didn’t like Brendon’s choice, then they could fuck off.

Ryan was one of the last to learn, because Brendon wasn’t entirely sure how to break it to him. There was a grey area as to when he and Shane officially became a thing, because weeks into ‘dating’ him, Brendon and Ryan hadn’t exactly ended their extended fling. So, when Brendon first introduced Shane, Ryan was wary, but initially thought he was just another usual, unfavourable hookup; when Brendon saw him again, then again, Ryan started to grow uneasy. Brendon then started referring to Shane as his [i]boyfriend[/i], and their affair grinded to a halt because Brendon was a lot of things, but he wasn’t unfaithful, not in an exclusive, official relationship. And that was that. He was surprised (and even a little annoyed) that he’d evoked seemingly no reaction in Ryan, when it was kind of obvious Ryan had liked him for, like, forever. Oh well- he accepted that maybe Ryan didn’t care as much as he thought he did, and it was better this way anyway. No drama.

Shane was... Interesting, to say the least. He was insatiable and impatient, even more so than Brendon was, but once he had gotten what he wanted, he tended to be dismissive and give him the cold shoulder. Yet, he was simultaneously borderline possessive- and only tended to be sweet when he wanted something, or he was broke for a while when his parents cut off his credit card. Brendon was used to this kind of behaviour in small doses from meaningless people, so he just kind of shrugged his shoulders and went along with it- Brendon might not have been naive, per say, but he was oblivious to how much Shane was dating his bank account rather than him as an actual person. He tried not to think about- and that worked. Sometimes the less Brendon knew, the better. Or so was his philosophy. Gabe didn’t agree- in fact, Gabe was the only one with the guts to actually say something about it all (or the only one who really cared). Brendon shut them down. He’d had enough with people criticising his every decision.

Gabe was right, though, Shane did take a lot and give little in return- but when he was sweet, when he was affectionate, it was everything Brendon had been missing. It was easy to ignore the criticism or the harshness of the relentless slander of the media when he was in the arms of somebody he thought genuinely cared about him. At those moments, he could quite easily sweep all of Shane’s vices under the rug- everyone had them, didn’t they? Nobody was perfect. Gabe, he thought, was just a control freak, and liked to interfere, and actually didn’t care much about Brendon himself- always the libra. Or not. Maybe Brendon was the cynic. Either way, Gabe had never been full of support for many of Brendon’s decisions, for better or for worse; it was the fact that Ryan was unphased that truly baffled him. Well- that was, he never brought it up with Brendon. When Shane was around, however, the two of them locked horns, and Brendon always tried not to be amused- Shane constantly accused Ryan of having the hots for Brendon and getting in the way, while Ryan was mean-spirited in return, constantly apparently jumping to Brendon’s defence or just making snide, bitter comments. If Brendon wasn’t dating one and employing the other, he wouldn’t really care- but for both of their sakes, he tried not to leave them alone together for too long.

It had been a couple of months now, and Shane spent a large proportion of his and Brendon’s time round at Brendon’s apartment. Brendon was only used to seeing Ryan that often (even Gabe made themselves scarce sometimes), so it was strange at first, but now he was used to Shane being around, drinking all of his liquor, taking ridiculously long showers, and coaxing an easy Brendon into spending a lot of their time in his bedroom. It didn’t help his case that Shane was, admittedly, attractive enough to turn heads- Brendon’s head, in this case, extensively. That morning, they’d woken up together- Shane had invited himself over to stay the night and Brendon wasn’t about to argue. They’d spent most of the morning in bed, as usual, and then Shane decided they’d depart for another one of his forty-minute showers, so Brendon got half-dressed and went to make himself a drink at around half twelve. One o’clock, and Shane was still in the shower, Brendon on his second drink and just kind of lounging about waiting for him to come out of the bathroom so he could kick him out and enjoy his own company for once.

He was just sipping at his drink when the front door burst open, and in through the door came a familiar face, complete with hair that was now curly to the point that it was when he and Ryan had just met. Brendon smiled fondly. He noted that Ryan was also just wearing a slightly ratty hoodie, and admired how he just really didn’t give a shit anymore. Brendon could only dream of being so low maintenance. [i]Hey, sleeping beauty.[/i] Brendon put his drink down on the coffee table and frowned. [b]”You know, I didn’t even say ‘come in’. And you didn’t knock,”[/b] He commented, running a hand through his tousled hair and exhaling, [b]”If you don’t start, you might see something you don’t wanna.”[/b] There. Ryan couldn’t say Brendon didn’t warn him. [i]Ignore your schedule, if you remember it. I can pretty much handle everything for you remotely.[/i] Brendon nodded, half-listening, only pretending to give a shit. He knew Ryan, his constant saviour, would take care of it.

[i]How are you? What've you been up to? Haven't heard from you today.[/i] Brendon shrugged idly, then looked coyly back towards his bedroom door, biting his lip and then looking back at Ryan, hoping he got the picture. [b]”Shane is in the shower,”[/b] He reported, sitting up a little after stretching. Hopefully not for much longer- it was coming to the end of the usual amount of time it took for Shane to get out of the shower. Brendon had no idea what he did in there- he certainly didn’t sing. Music was unfortunately a talent or interest that he and Brendon shared. As if on cue, he heard the shower stop, and moments later the bedroom door opened and Shane came out with just a towel wrapped around his waist, still more or less dripping wet. Brendon let his eyes follow him, looking less than impressed. Shane zeroed in on him immediately, and moved to the back of the couch, wrapping his arms around his neck and pressing a kiss against the side of his mouth, then his neck. [i]Why’d you get dressed? Didn’t realise you’d had enough.[/i] Brendon just rose his eyebrows, having the decency to look somewhat apologetic towards Ryan. Shane seemed to notice said assistant for the first time. [i]Who let that in?[/i]

Brendon blinked. [b]”He let himself in. Assistant, remember?”[/b] He chided, finally turning around to kiss Shane, mostly just so he’d leave him alone for a second, for Ryan’s sake. [i]Well, can he go? He’s ruining my plans.[/i] Brendon laughed, more at him than with him, and shook his head, dropping his arms down to his sides and shrugging Shane’s hand from his shoulder. [b]“No. He has stuff to do.”[/b] Shane didn’t look very impressed with that response and drew back to look at Brendon, then Ryan, with suspicion, then back to Brendon. [i]Put a shirt on, then. He’s ogling you.[/i] Seriously? Brendon looked more than affronted, and just crossed his arms over his chest. [b]”No. You get dressed. You’re the one in a towel.”[/b] Poor Ryan. Brendon shot him a glance.