(TW: slight mention of blood)

Dallon's POV
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I picked Brendon up bridal style, pausing so I was sure that he wouldn't slip out of my arms. He looped his arms around my neck, holding onto me tightly.

I looked over to Ryan, Tyler, and Josh. 'My room.' I mouthed out, gesturing to the door with my head, which made Brendon whimper a little since that was how he was holding onto me, his grip tightening ever so slightly.

I walked to our room, Josh's sudden yell making me turn around. "HEY! You're gonna pop those dang stitches! I don't wanna clean your blood out of the gosh dang carpet!"

I chuckled softly, shutting the bedroom door after I set Brendon on our bed. "Okay, I'm gonna go fix my nose, okay, sweetie?"

He nodded. "D-do you n-need help?" Before I could even answer, he was up, his hands on my shoulders to steady himself. He tilted my head back, trying to see where exactly I was bleeding. "Babe, it's from inside my nose." I said, my voice pitched differently since my head was back.

Brendon giggled a little, pulling my head forwards again. "I-It's not b-bleeding t-too much." He kissed me gently, trying to not hurt me.

We both got onto our bed, Brendon breaking away from our kiss. "D-Dally, w-will you h-hold me?" I nodded, wrapping my arms around him, our legs looping around each other's.

"Tell me what's the matter, Bren, I'm all ears." I said, my hand against the side of his face, my fingers touching the smaller pieces of hair that hung around his ears. I gave him a small, reassuring smile to let him know he could say anything to me.

"Wh-why did y-you j-jump on R-Ryan?" Brendon asked. His body was still shaking a little, but much less than earlier. His breathing still hitched sometimes, but it seemed to be normal.

"Because he hit you, baby, I would do the same thing to anyone who hurt you." I said, feeling anger rise in my chest as the image of Ryan hitting Brendon replayed in my mind. I bit my bottom lip, which was a bad idea since it was already bloody and trying to scab over.

"B-but you didn't h-have to." Brendon said, putting his hands on my shoulders, his light touches making me shiver. "Y-you didn't have to j-jump on h-him."

I shook my head. "Baby, he hurt you, you just expect me to stay there and do nothing?" Brendon nodded, then shook his head, looking more confused than ever. I smiled. "I love you, I'm not gonna hurt my love."

Brendon smiled a little, blushing. "Y-you h-hit him t-too." I nodded. "Y-you said y-you wouldn't h-hurt me." He stared into my eyes, and I saw fear in his.

"Baby, what're you talking about?" I asked, rubbing his sides. "Why would you say something like that?"

"R-Ryan w-was mean t-to us, a-and y-you h-hurt him." Brendon said, his body beginning to shake again. "D-does th-that m-mean you'll h-hurt me if I-I make y-you mad?"

I felt a wave of guilt pass over me. That's why he had been scared. I had scared him. He knew I could hurt someone if I wanted to, including him. "Darling, look at me." He raised his eyes, and I saw fresh tears making their way down his face. "Baby, I'd never, ever hurt you, not even in a joking way."

"L-like T-Ty a-and J-Josh?"

"Like Ty and Josh." I said, nodding. "I wouldn't hurt you for the world, baby, I love you so fucking much, okay? I'm not gonna hurt you ever, if you think I might, I need you to tell me, deal?"

Brendon nodded. "I l-love you too." He sat up a bit, then gasped. "B-baby!"

"What's the matter, sweetheart?" I asked softly, as I saw my boyfriend try to calm himself down.

"Y-your mouth! I-it's b-bleeding!" Brendon exclaimed. I ran my tongue over my lips, tasting blood. I nodded, smiling a little.

"Yeah, that's what it's doing." I said calmly, gently pulling Brendon on top of me. "Kiss?"

"W-will it h-hurt you?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. "I-I don't want it t-to hurt you."

I shrugged. "It probably won't, and if it does..." I saw Brendon's expression, and changed my mind. "It won't hurt, baby, now c'mere."

Brendon smiled a little, as we locked our lips together in a gentle kiss. I felt him lick my lips, and I smiled, my hands on his hips.

Brendon broke away, making a disgusted face. "What? What's wrong, baby?" I asked, trying to read his face the best I could. "Did I do something wrong?"

He shook his head, then pointed to his mouth. I noticed that it was bright red, and it wasn't from our kiss. "B-blood is n-nasty."

I laughed, as he coughed. "Here, baby." I said, wiping the blood off his mouth. "Do you want water or something, darling?"

He nodded. "Y-yeah. I-I love you, b-but your b-blood is g-gross."

I laughed again, as we walked out of our room.

  Tyler, Josh, and Ryan looked up. Ryan's mouth had stopped bleeding, but he did have a bruise on his jaw. "Hey, you guys good now?" Josh asked.

"Yeah, we're good." I said, putting my arm around Brendon's waist. "Ryan, can I talk to you?"

Ryan looked startled. "Uh, yeah, sure." He got up, and I saw Brendon flinch, moving closer to me. He whimpered, hiding his face behind my shoulder.

"Hey, Bren," Josh said softly, standing up. "Do you wanna come over here with me and Ty? We're talking about what tattoo we should get next, and we need your opinion." I smiled, looking over at my boyfriend.

"S-sure." Brendon said, as Josh put his arm around his shoulders, leading him back over to the couch.

Ryan and I walked to the kitchen. He jumped on top of the counter, watching me get water out of the fridge. "So?"

"I wanted to talk to you, no yelling this time." I said, tossing him a bottle of water. "Also we need to stay hydrated."

"Cheers." Ryan said in a monotone. "Is this about what I think it's about?"

I nodded. "You called my boyfriend worthless, you called him a bitch, you said that I didn't love him, what other shit did you say? Oh yeah! And you hit him!"

"Hey, no yelling, remember?" Ryan said. I didn't know if he was mocking me or not, but I wasn't sure of either answer.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." I said, rolling my eyes. "Look, Ryan, you're my friend, and I don't really appreciate you being an ass to my boyfriend."

"Yeah, I know I fucked up." Ryan said. "I guess I wanted to be the one to help you out, I don't know."

"Help me with what?" I asked, leaning against the counter where Ryan was sitting. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Lacey." He said. "She went and fucked with some over guy, and you were a wreck, remember?" I nodded. I hadn't thought of Lacey in a long time, I almost didn't remember the name. How long had it been since I got dumped?

"I wanted to help my best friend out, cause you always have to fucking help me when shit happens to me. I thought I could help you, and you get pulled out in a damn riptide! I freaked the hell out!" Ryan continued. "Then you come home, and then I find out you fell in love with a random dude who also happens to be a fucking mermaid? Merman. Whatever he's called, I don't know."

I nodded, listening to what he was saying, everything starting to make some sense.

"To me, he was helpless, needy, and kinda acted like a bitch, but after a while he kinda grew on me, ya know?" Ryan said. "I was mad, okay, Dall? I'm sorry, I just wanted to be there for you."

I hugged him, and he hugged me back. I could tell he was trying not to get emotional, I pulled away, smiling at him. "Thanks, man, I'm sorry for hitting you."

He nodded. "Eh, it was fun to see you get mad." I shook my head, laughing. "The Dallon Weekes punched his best friend Ryan Seaman, no, wait. The merman's lover and the jackass."

I laughed even harder. "That's stupid, you know that right?"

"That's the point, smartass." Ryan said, elbowing me in the ribs and winking at me.

We walked back to where Josh, Tyler, and Brendon were. "You guys, okay?"

We both nodded, as I pulled Brendon onto my lap. I wrapped my arms around him, kissing the back of his neck. He learned into me, putting his hands on my knees.

"Hey, Brendon?" Ryan said, leaning forward a little so he could look at my boyfriend. Brendon whimpered a little, holding onto me tighter. "I...I wanted to apologize to you."

"It's okay, Bren, he won't hurt you." I whispered to him, kissing him again. Brendon nodded, turning to Ryan.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean what I said, I was just upset that you took Dall from me." Ryan said, looking over at me.

"I-I took h-him away f-from you?" Brendon asked. "B-but he's m-my b-boy...boyfriend."

Ryan nodded. "We've known each other since college... um...a long time ago, Brendon, and before you two met he was upset, and I wanted to help him out, ya know. But he met you....and I guess you helped him more than I could've."

Brendon smiled a little, then frowned. "I-I helped D-Dally?"

Tyler and Josh looked over at us. "Wait what?" They were just now joining the conversation, and wanted to know the details? What's new?

"You....you didn't tell him?" Ryan asked me, his eyebrows furrowed. I shook my head, my mouth dry. "His girlfriend cheated on him."

Brendon stared at Ryan with a blank expression. "Huh?" Tyler and Josh were staring at me, both of them in shock.

"Lacey? She cheated on you?" Josh said. "Dude, I'm sorry."

"I told you so." Tyler muttered. "That girl was trouble, did he listen? Nope." Josh elbowed Tyler to shut him up, and I was thankful for that.

Ryan focused on Brendon. "Before Dall met you, he had a girlfriend. Her name was Lacey, she was kinda....crazy. Anyway, she fucked with another guy."

Tyler leaned forwards. "That means she and another guy had sex without Dallon knowing." Brendon gasped, staring at me. I didn't know all these feelings could come back, but there was a sudden tightness in my chest, and I wanted this conversation to end.

"Anyway, he came over here to forget about it, and we went swimming, and you know the rest of the story." Ryan said.

"I don't." Tyler said.

"Shut up!" Ryan called over, turning back to Brendon. "But listen, that dude that has his arms around you was an emotional wreck a while ago, he had been crying for a long time, and had his heart broken, but you, my friend, helped him out."

Brendon turned to look at me. "I-I helped y-you?" I nodded, shifting my weight to hold him in a more comfortable position.

"Yeah, you helped me big time, baby, you're amazing." I said softly, holding his hands. "See, Ryan was trying to help me, and got kinda jealous that you became my first priority."

Brendon smiled a little. "B-but, y-you had a g-girl-girlfriend? Wh-what's that? Is i-it l-like me?"

"Yeah, but she's a girl." I said. "You've seen human girls before, she's like that."

"Okay." Brendon said. "W-was she n-nice?"

"Sometimes." I said. "Most of the time we were working, but yeah, she was kinda nice. Baby, I really don't wanna talk about her."

Brendon nodded. "O-okay, Dally." He turned back to Ryan. "I-I f-forgive y-you, Ry."

Ryan grinned. "I have a nickname! And thanks, Bren. Can I call you that?" Brendon nodded, smiling back at my friend.

"I'm just glad you guys don't hate each other anymore." Josh said.

"You're telling me." I said, giving Brendon another kiss. "You guys wanna watch Back To The Future again?"

"Sure!" Ryan said, him, Josh, and Tyler moving onto the couch with us. "Bren, we'll explain during the movie."

He nodded, someone suddenly knocking on the door. We all turned to look at Tyler. "What? I got hungry and ordered pizza." He said. "We're about to watch a dang movie, it's great timing!"

"They found me!" I shouted, as Tyler walked to the door. "I don't know how but they found me!"

Ryan and Josh groaned, having heard the quote way too many times, Brendon giggling, resting his head on my shoulder. Tyler sat down with us, setting down the box of pizza, as I put on the movie. Finally, all five of us could hang out and not worry about something bad happening. I sighed happily, finally feeling calm. I had my best friends and boyfriend, no arguing, no bloody noses, just a movie playing and the faint sound of the waves crashing outside.