Till death did them apart
May. 21st, 2009 08:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ayascytheAuthor: ayascythe
Fandom: Original fic
Rating: PG-13
Language: English
Categories/Warnings: slash, angsty![[info]](https://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
sweetestremedy *smooches*
Summary: Some things never change.
A/N: Repost of a shortstory that I wrote ages ago. It's not very much, but it's one of my little darlings; sweet and bitter.
Till death did them apart
The first time Ryan said it, he was barely six, was lying under the old apple-tree in the Johnson's backyard and had just lost his left front tooth in a fight. Dry, high-grown summergrass tickled the bruise on his arm and golden sunlight filtering through the leaves above him made him blink. He could still taste the coppery tang of blood in his mouth, but he didn't mind so much since Jared lay beside him. Jared, who had come to help him and was still breathing a little heavily. Their grins were as broad as they could be.
“We’ll always be best friends, won’t we?”
Jared punched his fist into the air. “Best friends! Always!”
“And we’ll always be together, won’t we?”
“Always!”
“Till death do us apart!”
“Till death-“ Jared turned his head and threw him a puzzled look. “Till death-what?”
“You say it when you want to stay together for the rest your life. I’ve seen it on TV just yesterday.”
“Oh!” Jared’s face lit up. “Yeah… That’s cool. Till death do us apart… OK, we’ll do that.”
He started to grin again, his emerald eyes sparkling. Ryan grinned back and he knew just then that nothing in the world could change the way he felt.
*
The second time Ryan said it, he was sixteen, drunker than hell and sprawled out on the couch in his living room. Jared sat beside him, mumbling something about flying pigs and such, his head resting heavily on Ryan’s shoulder. Just like the entire room, his breath reeked of cheap beer and it was hot against Ryan’s neck.
“We’ll always be best friends, won’t we?”
“Always!” Jared muttered lazily, yet smiling.
“And we’ll always be together, won’t we?”
“'Course. You’re the only one I know who is able to burp the national anthem, after all.”
They both chuckled quietly. Then, silence fell over them again and nothing was heard but Jared’s quiet, regular breathing. His features were calm and relaxed, his emerald eyes hid behind closed lids.
Ryan watched him for a long time, as he suddenly remembered what they had promised to each other long ago. Of course, he knew the phrase by then, he knew its meaning and he knew it wasn’t exactly the right thing for them to say to proclaim their undying friendship.
Maybe that was why he whispered it, anyway.
“Till death do us apart…?”
He didn’t wait for an answer – didn’t expect one, actually – just brushed his mouth against Jared’s for a light kiss.
It was an innocent brushing of lips, unnoticed, sweet and oh-so soft, and it would never be remembered nor mentioned by any of them. Ryan let out a shaky breath as he backed away and he knew just then that nothing in the world could change the way he felt.
*
Ryan was twenty-six, had just been left by another girlfriend he hadn’t cared about and his tuxedo was one size too small, when he heard Jared say it. His best friend stood a few feet away from him in front of the altar, smiling broadly. Jared's emerald eyes shone with happiness, when he made his vows to a beautiful, tall blonde.
“…till death do us apart,” Ryan heard him say and was feeling like throwing up. Something about the scrambled eggs he had had that morning must have been bad.
Just as Jared put the wedding band onto his bride’s finger, Ryan turned his gaze away. His duty as witness to the marriage had ended, so there was no need to pay attention any longer. Soon enough, he spotted a dark-haired bridesmaid who flashed him a sweet smile. The corner of his mouth twitched. At least she could be an excuse for him to disappear from the festivities as early as possible.
When they left the church right behind Jared and his beautiful wife, the pretty bridesmaid smiled again and winked at him. Ryan grinned back and he knew just then that nothing in the world could ever change the way he felt.
*
Jared was thirty-six, had a lovely little daughter called Janna and his family had just moved into a new house, when he opened the letter that told him Ryan’s car had gotten off the road. The letter was from Ryan’s second ex-wife and she reassured him that his best friend hadn’t had to suffer. Jared’s emerald eyes were wet with tears nonetheless.
“I thought we’d always be together,” he muttered under his breath, silently weeping until he thought he could weep no more.
It was then that he noticed the second envelope. There was a small note by Ryan's ex-wife attached to it: Found this in Ryan’s desk underneath a stock of old pictures of you two. Thought that maybe he wanted you to have it.
Jared weighed the envelope in his hand, something shiny and silvery sliding into his palm as he opened it. It was rings – two rings. Bewildered, he took one of them and turned it in his fingers. Hadn’t they both been way too large for a woman’s finger, he had sworn they were wedding-bands.
Suddenly feeling sick, he read the words engraved on the inside and oh, he remembered – their first fight together, the drunken kiss, the looks at the wedding – and he understood …
The ring slipped out of his fingers, falling onto the floor with a clattering noise. Jared sobbed and he realized that nothing it the world could ever change the way he felt just then.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-21 11:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-22 09:20 am (UTC)