a/n :

hey look at me finishing that elusive epilogue i mentioned in the bonus chapter from a year ago! is that what we call personal growth lol probably not
this has been sitting in my drafts for over three years now, would you believe i started it in 2017 and am only just finishing it now, in the midst of a pandemic with the shitshow that was 2020 drawing to an end??? yeah me neither
it doesn't add really anything new to the story and is basically just fluff because sue me i missed my babies and missed writing about them but i hope anyone who comes across this enjoy it as much as i enjoyed writing it!
also i'm probably jinxing myself just by writing this but you might actually be getting that reed bishop spin-off i've been making valiant attempts at for so long, no promises though and certainly not any time soon, just look at how long it took me to churn out a measly bonus chapter and epilogue :') reed is so much harder to write than brooks or hale ffs why must he always be such a problem child
anyway back to the epilogue...consider it a christmas present from me to my lovely, wonderful readers xx

edit: the problem child has been tamed so let me blatantly plug just dive in, Reed bishop's spin-off which is available to read on my profile now!

e p i l o g u e ;

"UM, I DON'T KNOW. MAYBE a little more to the left?" Brooks suggested, tilting his head to the side as he squinted up at the huge banner. "It still looks a little wonky to me."

"To the left?" Will leant back to get a look at the position of the banner and almost slipped off the stepladder he was balancing precariously on. "Are you sure? It looks pretty damn straight to me. Straighter than you, anyway," he added, with a cheeky grin. "Get it? 'Cause you're gay?"

Brooks rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I got it."

He'd been subjected to Will's extensive and never-ending collection of gay jokes over the past few months to the point he'd just grown indifferent due to exposure. It didn't help that Hale encouraged it, and even joined in, the two of them finding their puns hilarious. Sometimes Brooks wondered why they didn't just start dating instead over their mutual love of lame jokes.

"Gosh, I am just such a comedic genius," Will said appreciatively, forgetting about the banner he was supposed to be helping pin up as he reached up to pat himself on the back. The banner collapsed in a heap on the floor.

"Will!" Wendy snapped, stuck clinging to the wall with the other side of the banner. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop dropping the bloody banner?"

Will looked at her with a sheepish smile. "Oops?"

"Oops?" Wendy repeated indignantly. "It's not going to stick itself up! I knew letting you do this was a bad idea. I should have just given you a ball to play with in the corner or something."

"I'm beginning to feel a little attacked here," Will informed her, bending down to snatch up the banner, which was looking a little crinkled and worse for wear at the rough handling. "I told you I was fine being on balloon duty, but did you listen? Noooo, you just had to have things your way, Wendy Chen."

"You were not fine on balloon duty." Wendy cast her gaze heavenward as if imploring God for patience to deal with her twin. "Do you want to know how I know you weren't fine on balloon duty, Will? You kept blowing up them up, only to let the air out once they inflated so you could watch them go flying around the room."

"That was hilarious, right?" Will sniggered. "Especially when they kept hitting Hassan in the face. Man, was he pissed off."

"You're just proving my point."

"Your point is redundant."

"That doesn't even make sense!"

Will stuck his tongue out. "Your face doesn't make sense."

"Will you ever stop stealing insults from five year olds?"

"Will you ever stop being a party pooper?"

"I'm not a party pooper, you dumbass," Wendy said, throwing her hands up in frustration. "In fact, I'm actually helping set this party up while you — "

"Lalala!" Will stuck his fingers in his ears and shook his head. "Can't hear you, can't hear you!"

Both Brooks and the banner had been abandoned as they continued loudly bickering with each other, if you could count bickering as Wendy yelling at Will to get his shit together while Will pretended not to hear her by covering his ears and chanting "Can't hear you, can't hear you!" at the top of his lungs. Unfortunately, it wasn't the first time the setting up of the party had been interrupted by an irrelevant argument.

Brooks glanced around to see no one else was progressing much better. He'd made the mistake of putting Calla in charge of food and drinks, only for her to stock the table with nothing but alcohol. Where she'd gotten that many cans of beer from was beyond him. Cora was already working through her fourth can and the party hadn't even started yet. Kara and Elsie had been relegated to balloon duty by Wendy after Will's failed attempts, but they couldn't tie off the ends once the balloons had been blown up, which resulted in a lot of giggling. The biggest disaster was undoubtedly Jules. Brooks had finally relented and allowed him to act as DJ, but he was arguing in the corner with Hassan over the necessity of every single song played being by Beyoncé. And by arguing, Brooks meant Jules was flailing his arms wildly and wailing that Beyoncé was Queen, all while Hassan calmly ignored him in favour of adding more songs to the playlist.

Today was Hale's seventeenth birthday (Brooks was glad he would finally stop grumbling about still being sixteen) and as celebration, he had planned a surprise party. This was no mean feat considering Brooks had the party planning skills of a bag of rocks, but luckily for him, Calla had stepped in with her organisational skills. She'd helped him put together the crew to set things up, although that was questionable now.

Brooks glanced at his phone to check the time. It was only five, meaning they still had two hours to set up before Hale would arrive, although guests would start coming earlier. Alec and Dylan were supposed to be keeping Hale distracted during the day so he wouldn't come home too early, and Brooks was hoping they remembered to text when they were ten minutes away. Hale thought he was meeting just Brooks for the evening, and assuming everyone had managed to keep their mouth shut, he would actually be surprised.

"This is kind of a disaster, huh?" Brooks looked up to see it was Luke, who'd sidled up to join him in surveying the chaos of the living room. "Trying to set the party up, I mean."

"Yeah," Brooks agreed, with a rueful smile. "Maybe getting a bunch of friends who are easily distracted was a bad idea. Wendy is the only one who's actually doing something."

They both watched as Wendy grabbed the cushion off Hale's sofa and threw it at Will's head, with a surprising amount of force. "Don't staple the banner to the wall!" Wendy yelled in exasperation. Will dropped the staple gun with a unbothered shrug. "We have sellotape for a reason!"

Luke grinned. "Oh yeah, she just saved the wallpaper."

"Maybe we should push things back to eight," Brooks said dubiously. "Although how they'll keep Hale away for that long is beyond me...Kara?"

She'd approached the two of them with a handful of deflated balloons, with Elsie trailing behind her still puffing futilely in an attempt to blow up a yellow one. "We may a slight problem," she admitted, with a sheepish grin. She didn't seem to notice the green balloon that had yet to be blown up caught in her red hair.

"Yeah?" Luke said, amused. "What's up?"

"Neither of us can blow balloons up," Kara said tragically. "Every time we get one big, it just escapes from our hands." Right on cue, the one Elsie was working on exploded from her mouth and slapped the TV screen with a wheezing splutter. Will burst out laughing across the room and Brooks couldn't help smiling at Elsie's stricken expression.

"Sorry, sorry!" Elsie looked flustered as she plucked the green balloon from Kara's hair. "Let me try again. I know I'll be able to do it this time — "

"Would you like some help?" Luke offered, in his usual friendly manner. Elsie nodded with a grateful look. "Here, I'll show you how to tie it off at the end." He took a dark blue balloon from Kara's arms and they moved to the side of the room as Luke instructed Elsie on the necessary steps needed to successfully fill up a balloon.

"He seems nice," Kara said, and Brooks remembered that this was the first time Luke and Jules were meeting everyone here. She was looking between Elsie and Luke with a thoughtful smile. "And he's totally cute, too. Maybe I should set him up with Elsie? They'd make a great couple."

Brooks bit his lip to hide a smile. "I don't know if that'll work out."

"Why not?" Kara wondered. "I'm a wonderful matchmaker."

Brooks wasn't sure how much of that he agreed with, considering she'd set herself up with Elliot, but decided to keep his mouth shut about that. "I don't doubt it," he said instead. "But that isn't exactly the problem with that set up. Luke wouldn't be interested in Elsie."

Kara looked indignant. "Why not? She's sweet, pretty and nice. I'd date her myself if I swung that way."

Before Brooks had a chance to clarify that Luke swinging that way was exactly the issue, Jules approached Luke with a pout. "I've never felt more attacked in my life," he declared, with all his usual drama as he threw his arms around Luke's shoulder. "Hassan told me my music taste is tragic."

"It is," Hassan called from the speakers.

Luke looked amused as he patted Jules sympathetically on the shoulder. "Jules, the only music you listen to is Ariana Grande and Beyoncé."

"Exactly!" He pulled away and batted long lashes at Luke. "Kiss it better?"

Brooks got to enjoy the sight of Kara's wide blue eyes suddenly increasing to the size of saucers as Luke granted Jules' request. "Oh!" The sound of surprise was followed by a laugh. "I guess you're right then. Hey, are any of the other friends you invited here gay too? Just so I can save myself from any future failed matchmaking."

"Yeah, I think you're okay. Unless Hassan decides to make a sudden coming out."

They both looked towards where Hassan was watching Will and Wendy's relentless bickering, wearing his usual contemptuous expression that reserved for pretty much everyone in the human race. Brooks doubted that would be an issue. He'd be less surprised if Hassan declared he wanted nothing more to do with the human species.

"What about Mason?" Kara said randomly. "I've always had my suspicions about him."

"Uh, Mason? Why?"

"I don't know." Kara twirled a piece of red hair thoughtfully as she studied the topic of the conversation as he chatted with Calla and Cora, two of whom had been getting along like a house on fire recently. Mason had been one of the last guests to arrive. "Just a vibe I get. What are your thoughts on the matter? Does he set the gaydar off? Set the gay..." her eyebrows furrowed, "...gayish senses tingling?"

Brooks had never really considered himself to be a reliable gaydar. Besides the obvious cases like Jules, he hadn't been able to look at someone and tell when they swung his way, with the case of Hale being more obvious. Even after they'd kissed for the first time Brooks hadn't been able to believe Hale was really gay. Maybe that was just as a result of Hale's good acting, and his own refusal to accept his own sexuality. Besides, Brooks had figured out Luke was gay even when they were eleven, right? Maybe he should give his gaydar more credit. He considered the strange turn his thoughts has taken and decided it would be best for everyone if he stopped evaluating his gaydar, period.

The sky was beginning to darken when the living room had finally finished being assembled into semblance of a party. The banner Wendy had gone to such grievous lengths to hang up declared HAPPY BIRTHDAY in bright colours, still a little lopsided despite her best effects. With Luke's help, Kara and Elsie had managed to blow up a considerable number of balloons, half taped to the walls and the rest loose in the room. The music playing in the background was still Beyoncé dominated but Brooks caught wind of the occasional song he was certain Hassan had managed to squeeze into the queue. Will had threaded Maxy's collar through with tinsel, despite the fact it was the middle of July, dismissing all confused queries with the insistence that "tinsel made everything more festive". Jules had taken upon himself to wreath what was left of the tinsel like some kind of sparkling crown atop his head because, in his own words, "a goddamn queen".

All in all, not a bad turn out. Brooks was pretty pleased with the outcome considering how chaotic things had been to start with.

"Alright, losers," Cora announced, clapping her hands to get the attention of all the people milling about the room. "Alec just texted me. They're ten minutes away."

Kara handed out party poppers to everyone and Calla assumed her role as party manager, shooing people into crouching positions and ordering for the music to be turned off. The lights were switched off and someone had to grab Maxy before he ran off and Brooks found himself next to a disgruntled Hassan, who had just been roped into wearing a party hat by Kara. He muttered something about hating parties to which Will rather cheerfully told him to stop being such a grinch. There was a lot of giggling and whispered demands to shove over and hushing when the lock in the front door turned. Everyone finally fell silent just as Hale's voice drifted through the house.

"...you guys don't have to walk me to my front door," he was saying. "I'm seventeen now, remember? I'm a big boy who's capable of making it into my own house in one piece."

"One can never be so sure of these things, Hale," was Dylan's serious reply. "Better safe than sorry."

"Safe enough that we'll walk you all the way to the living room," Alec added.

"What are you guys — "

He never got to finish his confused question because Wendy flicked the light switch the moment he stepped into the living room and there was an exclaimed chorus of, "SURPRISE!" as everyone jumped up out of their hiding spots. There were loud staccato pops as poppers were pulled and Maxy bounded forward to throw himself at Hale with excited barks. Any possibility that Hale might have known about his surprise party was wiped away at the look of genuine astonishment on his face and then his friends were there, clapping him on the back and hugging him and sprinkling the papery confetti from the poppers in his hair (that one was mostly Jules). Brooks' heart warmed at the sight; all the planning and chaos had been worth it to see Hale smile like that.

"Are you surprised?" Kara exclaimed.

"Of course! I had no idea," he said, breaking out into a grin as he gazed around the room in amazement. "You guys set this whole thing up for me?"

"Actually, if there's anyone you should thank, it should be Brooks," Cora said, with a conspiratorial look in his direction. He felt his face warm when all eyes turned to him. "It was all his idea."

Hale's gaze melted his heart to a puddle where it met his. "Really?"

"Well, it wasn't all me...Calla helped — "

"I was crucial in planning," Calla agreed solemnly, "but I'm not taking the credit for this one. It really was all Brooks."

Hale's smile could have devastated entire cities it was so beautiful and the entire force of it was directed at Brooks. They'd been dating for four months and the sight of Hale's smile still took his breath away, still reduced him to a flustered mess. "Thank you," Hale said, catching his hand to give it a tight squeeze. Despite the spectacular way Hale came out by kissing him in front of the whole school in the cafeteria, they weren't big on the whole PDA, but the way Hale looked at him said more than a thousand kisses could have. "I think you win best boyfriend for this one."

Brooks flushed, pleased. "I try."

Will stole his best friend's attention back by snapping a red party hat on top of his head and directing him to admire the masterpiece that was his happy birthday banner, ignoring Wendy's incredulous interjections that she was the only reason that thing was staying on the wall. Cora ended up by Brooks's side and he offered her a bashful smile. Considering Cora was originally one of the people who had most intimidated him the most out of all of Hale's friends, she was surprisingly nice beneath her cool exterior. He was coming to realise the same could be said about most of his friends. Even Alec and Dylan, who'd taken some time to come around to the new development in their friend's life, were perfectly friendly to him now.

The only exception, of course, was Elliott. But Hale didn't seem to have any regrets about burning the bridges to that friendship and so Brooks found that loss a hard one to care about.

"Thank you, by the way," Brooks said, and Cora glanced at him, an eyebrow raised in question. "You didn't have to give me any credit for this. I'm just happy it all worked."

Cora waved a dismissive hand. "You can thank me after you've had the best sex of your life tonight. Oh, please," she said, at Brooks's scandalised splutter of protest. "Men are so simple to please. Buy them a fancy new video game, throw them a surprise birthday party, it all equates to the same thing. I'm sure Hale is no different."

Flustered, aware that he was so bright red that Mason was shooting them curious looks, Brooks finally managed to say, "I don't know what I'm supposed to say in response to that."

"No need for a response. I'll take your stunned blushing as all the you're welcome I need."

With that, she wandered over to the drinks table to swipe up another can of beer and left Brooks to recover from whatever the hell that conversation was. The rest of the party was just as much of a success as the surprise aspect. Kara and Elsie brought out the cake, all seventeen candles, and Maxy spent the rest of the evening dancing around people's feet in hopes someone who offer him some cake. The drinks were cleared out with startling speed and when Jules regained control of the music from Hassan to blast out more Beyoncé, everyone was tipsy enough to dance and sing along. Mason and Luke went on an impromptu trip to the shops to buy more drinks to keep the alcohol flowing.

Kara and Elsie were in the middle of setting up a karaoke in the living room when Brooks slipped away to the garden with Hale. It was warm enough that neither of them needed jackets, a slight breeze lingering in the air. Hale still had confetti caught in his dark hair and his party hat had survived the festivities, although it sat a little lopsided now.

"Are you enjoying your party?" Brooks asked.

"Very much," Hale said, threading his fingers through Brooks' to tug him closer. His breath was warm against Brooks' lips. "This is going to be a hard one to top, you know. I better start planning for your eighteenth now."

"You've got seven months. I'm sure you'll think of something."

Hale smiled, slow and pleased, before kissing him. He tasted like birthday cake and desire, like Brooks could spend the rest of his life kissing him. Hale pressed Brooks up against the wall with hot hands, mouth tracing a familiar path along his jaw, leaving a blazing trail of heat in his wake. Brooks shivered, not from the cold but from Hale's touch, from the sudden realisation that this was his, that he was allowed to kiss Hale like this for as long as he wanted, whenever he wanted. The last four months had been amazing and that he could have more of it sent a rush of warmth all the way down to his fingertips. As if sensing his shift in thoughts, Hale pulled away slightly, hands cupping his face.

"Everything good?"

"Yes," Brooks said, already drawing him closer again. "Better than good. Everything is perfect."