TW: anxiety attack, mention of bullying.

Also thank you so much to ForIAmASinner for being my beta reader and correcting my mistakes.

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Brendon's room in the apartment was very similar to Dallon's. There was a king-sized bed with white sheets and soft pillows. Three walls were painted grey and the last one was integrally made in huge windows. Behind the curtains, there was a beautiful view of the city. Next to the room, there was a private bathroom with the biggest shower that the younger had ever seen.

Honestly, Brendon was so thankful for Dallon. He didn't have to let him stay here, but he did! That guy really was kindhearted...

Dallon said he could stay here as long as he needed, but Brendon didn't plan to stay here for too long anyway, because he didn't want to abuse the bassist's generosity. And because he still barely knew him. It was too great to be true... Being here, in this beautiful place, for free, able to make himself at home... What if Dallon was hiding his bad intentions?

Brendon was trying not to think about it too much, he knew it was only his anxiety, Dallon was probably just a nice guy and expected nothing from Brendon.

Right?

Brendon arranged the collar of his white shirt, looking in the huge mirror of the bathroom. He had to work at the bar tonight.

He had found this job so fast because the schedules were pretty inconvenient. He had to go to work from 6 pm until 2 am.

Brendon was about to leave the apartment, grabbing the key that Dallon had given him yesterday, when suddenly something, or more precisely someone, pushed him again the wall.

A high-pitched noise passed through the young man's lips as his left cheek met the cold wall roughly and a strong grip was pressing his whole body against it, maintaining his hands behind his back so he couldn't escape. He wouldn't move anyway, fear was running through his veins, paralyzing him. He wanted to scream his flatmate's name but he couldn't even talk anymore.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Said the person behind him with a masculine voice.

Brendon tried to respond but the words were stuck in his throat. Only a little whimper of pain escaped him when he felt the grip around his wrists tightening, his assailant losing patience because of his silence.

Then the pressure was gone for a few seconds, the man removing something he noticed around Brendon's left wrist.

"So, you're a little thief, huh?" The man said, almost amused, bringing the object at Brendon's eye level.

It was one of Dallon's watch. The singer gave it to him because Brendon had left his at his parents' house and will probably never get it back, like a lot of other stuff.

In the beginning, Brendon had refused to take Dallon's watch, because it seemed really expensive and he was afraid to break or lose it, but the tall man assured him that he had a few others and that he never really liked this one.

Now he regretted having accepted this gift because the man assaulting him thought Brendon had stolen it.

"I should call the cops..."

"No..." Brendon's voice was trembling and weak. "Don't- I'm not-"

He got interrupted by Dallon's surprised voice.

"Luke? What is it happeni- Hey! Let Brendon go! Oh my god..."

He said when he saw that Luke was maintaining Brendon against the wall.

As soon as the man stepped away from him, Brendon felt his body trembling uncontrollably in relief. Dallon put an arm around him and lead him to the couch, a worried look on his face.

"Shit! You know him?" Luke asked and watched them, realizing his mistake.

"Yeah, he's my flatmate...kinda forgot to tell you..." Dallon said, feeling visibly guilty for what Luke did to Brendon.

The young man was shivering like a leaf in the wind, high-school memories running through his mind. He was having flashbacks of when bullies were pushing him violently against the lockers and calling him awful names.

He had always walked through the high-school's corridors in fear because of them.

Luke waited for Brendon to stop shaking and sat next to him.

"Sorry kid, I was only doing my job, I thought you were a housebreaker or a crazy fan... I'm Luke." He said, giving his hand.

Brendon shook it weakly and Dallon explained.

"Luke is my friend and bodyguard. He has a key to the apartment so don't be surprised if he's here sometimes... I'm sorry I forgot to tell him about you."

"It's okay, he just scared me..." Brendon replied, smiling slightly.

They talked a little bit more and Brendon left because he really had to go.

He arrived late at work and his boss shouted at him but it wasn't as scary as Luke pushing him against a wall with a tight grip.

When he got back to Dallon's apartment it was around 2:30 am and the place was quiet. Luke was probably gone and the famous singer asleep.

Brendon went straight to his room, taking a quick shower and falling asleep, feeling exhausted.

-----

Dallon was still feeling pretty guilty for what Luke had done to Brendon yesterday. Well, Luke didn't hurt him, but being pushed against a wall isn't the most pleasant thing and Brendon seemed to be pretty shocked after that.

So Dallon was making breakfast. Or at least, he was trying.
He made some waffles. They weren't perfect, some of them were overcooked, almost burned, and the others had holes in it. But they were still edible so hopefully, Brendon would appreciate the gesture anyway.

It was 10 am when Brendon made his way into the kitchen, a little smile on his face when he saw that Dallon was here.

"Good morning Dallon," he said.

"Good morning! Please take a seat, I'm making waffles, it's almost done."

Brendon nodded and sit at the kitchen table. Soon, Dallon put a plate of waffles in front of him.

"Thank you, that's really nice..."

"You're welcome!" Dallon replied. "I'm still really sorry that I forgot to tell Luke about you being my flatmate..."

"It's nothing." Brendon shrugged before taking a bite of a waffle covered in chocolate.

They talked a bit while eating the waffles and then Dallon proposed:

"Maybe we should go out for lunch? I know a really good pizzeria down the streets. And then we could go shopping since you don't have a lot of clothes anymore... I'll pay for everything obviously."

"I don't know... I mean- You don't have to waste money on me, you do enough already." Brendon glanced at him hesitantly.

"I'm not wasting money on you, Brendon..." Dallon rolled his eyes. "Please, it will make me happy."

"Okay." Brendon finished saying.

-----

"You have a big appetite for someone so small." Dallon joked as Brendon was finishing the last slide of his pizza.

"I'm not that small!" Brendon protested with a mouth full of food, rolling his eyes. "It's you who's too tall, you look like a tall glass of water."

"If you say so..." Dallon laughed lightly.

Usually, people were calling him a tree or giraffe while making fun of his size. So a glass of water was something new and Dallon found that amusing for once.

"You're not finishing your pizza?" Brendon asked, frowning when he saw that Dallon stopped eating.

"I'm not really hungry... You want some?" He proposed.

"Yes, thanks." The younger said, taking a slice of Dallon's pizza.

Once they've finished eating, they went to the mall. Brendon tried several basic t-shirts and skinny jeans and Dallon bought him some of them. He also tried some clothes, buying several flowers shirts.

"After that can we go to Hot Topic?" Brendon asked while he was trying a dress shirt in the fitting room of a shop that Dallon had chosen.

"Not really my type of clothes but yes, if you want we can go there," Dallon replied from the other side of the curtain.

Brendon opened the curtain, wincing a little bit.

"This shirt is really nice but... Don't you think it looks weird on me?" He asked.

Dallon looked at him, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

Brendon was looking incredibly good in this shirt, fitting him perfectly and totally matching with the tight black pants he was wearing.

"I... I think you look really good in it." Dallon replied honestly, a little bit disconcerted by his own reaction.

He never thought a man was looking that nice in a shirt before...

"Really? Then maybe we should buy it... I really like it." Brendon suggested.

"Of course." Dallon agreed. "What's the prize?"

Brendon looked at it and his eyes went wide.

"Oh my God, $400 for a single shirt? It's way too expensive..." He said, a little disappointed.

"Brendon... I'm rich." Dallon reminded him.

"I know but you're not going to buy me a $400 shirt..." The shorter man explained, before frowning at the bassist's smile. "Oh no, Dallon, I tell you, you are not going to buy me this shirt."

"Yes, I am." Dallon insisted. "And hurry up, take it off so I can buy it quickly and we have some time left to go to Hot Topic."

He added before closing the curtain of the fitting room.

Seriously, Brendon didn't realize it would be a crime to not buy this shirt with how good it looks on him.

"I'm not sure I will be able to repay you before a long time..." Brendon mumbled as they were walking to Hot Topic.

"Brendon, theses clothes are gifts, you don't need to repay me for them..." Dallon sighed, saying it for the third time.

"Okay... Thank you." The young man said, blushing a bit.

Finally, they were in the shop that Brendon liked and he started to look at the t-shirts. Dallon followed him, feeling a little bit lost. The store was pretty small but there were so many things, he didn't know where to land his eyes.

"Hey look, there are some IDKHOW shirts!" Brendon giggled.

"Oh yes, it's the new collection, I have this one at home," Dallon said, showing the t-shirt.

"You buy your own band merch?" The younger asked, smirking.

"I didn't buy this t-shirt, the brand sent it to me, probably hoping I would wear it. It would make them some publicity." The famous singer said.

While Brendon was looking for a Fall Out Boy sweater in his size a teenager came to talk to Dallon.

"Excuse me but are you Dallon Weekes?" She asked with a smile, almost shyly.

"Yes," Dallon replied, knowing that this will bring attention to him. But he couldn't just lie to a fan.

"Ooh, I love your songs! I saw IDKHOW in concert twice! Can I have a picture with you, please?" She asked, excitedly.

"Of course."

He takes a picture with her and five more people while Brendon was looking for more clothes.

When they left Hot Topic Dallon let out a little sigh of relief. It's not that he didn't like his fans, of course, he loved them, but it's just that besides on stage, he didn't like to have attention on him. He wasn't really good with people in general and he was afraid that his fans realize that he was just an uninteresting human and got disappointed.

He never really understood why he had so many fans... He could see why people liked IDKHOW, it was because the songs he and Ryan wrote were good and because his friend was an excellent drummer and an interesting person...

But why some people loved him that much? He could sing but there were so many better singers than him... And the same with playing the bass.

Sometimes, he felt like everyone was better than him.

So really, he couldn't understand why people were standing him.

-----

When Dallon got home the next day after a full afternoon of work in the studio he was pretty surprised to find Brendon curled up on the couch.

Wasn't he working tonight?

He frowned when he heard a sniffling sound and noticed that Brendon was crying, his face hidden in his hands.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Dallon asked softly, sitting next to him and smoothly passing a hand behind the younger's back in an attempt to comfort him, drawing a small circle.

"I... got fired..." Brendon replied, struggling to speak, panting. He looked up at Dallon with watery eyes. "My chest...hurt... can't breathe... feel...like I'm...gonna die..."

"Are you having an anxiety attack?" Dallon recognized, removing his hand to give space to Brendon.

The younger just nodded, sobbing.

"You need to calm your breathing, try to take a deep inspiration and expire the air slowly," Dallon explained.

"I can't!" Brendon panicked, out of breath.

"Yes you can, it's not hard, look." He carefully takes one of Brendon's hands and places it on his own chest. "Follow my breathing."

He started to take deep breaths and after some time Brendon seemed to calm down, along with his respiration and heart rate.

"Feeling better?" Dallon asked.

"Yes... But what am I gonna do now?" Brendon said sadly.

"Don't worry, you will find another job." The taller man says softly.

"But what if I don't find one soon? I am such a failure, I can't even keep a job, my parents hate me and I'm the reason why my band isn't working out... And I'm not good enough to make a career in the music industry anyway." Brendon cried, tears rolling down his red cheeks.

He probably has been crying for a while, he looked exhausted and the sleeves of his shirt were covered in tears.

"You're not a failure Brendon, don't say that..." Dallon replied, not really knowing what to say to make him feel better.

So he opened his arms and Brendon didn't hesitate to snuggle again him, crying against his shoulder.

Dallon put his arms around him and started to rub his back again.

They stayed like this for a little moment, quiet, until Brendon mumbled something, words muffled by Dallon's sweater.

"Thank you so much, Dal... For everything you do for me... I don't deserve it..."

"Shhh... Of course, you deserve it." Dallon hushed him.

Brendon lifted his head, looking at him closely. Dallon felt his cheeks burning up because of their proximity. Then Brendon's gaze fell on Dallon's mouth and the latter didn't have time to understand what is happening before feeling Brendon's lips against his.

The kiss was really soft, almost hesitant, shy. It lasted only a few seconds and left a weird salty taste on his lips because of Brendon's tears.

It's when the younger man tried to kiss him again that Dallon realized what was happening and stopped him.

"No... Brendon, I'm straight." Dallon said, trying to sound as soft as possible as he was rejecting him.

"Oh." Brendon's eyes widen and tears filled them again, threatening to fall. "I-I'm sorry... I thought that was what you wanted, why you were being so kind to me from the beginning..."

He looked down, sniffling quietly, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"Hey, it's nothing, really. Sorry, our relationship wasn't clear to you." Dallon said, feeling bad for his flatmate.

"I even messed up our friendship..." Brendon sobbed.

"No, you didn't. We can survive a little kiss, can we? Plus, I actually enjoyed it, you're a great kisser." The famous singer replied, smiling a little bit.

"Really?"

Dallon nodded when Brendon looked up at him again.

"I still feel a little bad for kissing you though, 'cause I have a girlfriend," Brendon mumbled.

"Oh that's true, you have a girlfriend. How is she?" Dallon asked, happy to have something to change the subject of the conversation and distract Brendon.

"She is the most beautiful person I have ever seen," Brendon replied with a smile, probably thinking about her. "Her name is Olivia, she is twenty-two, has long black hair, green eyes, lots of tattoos and she works in a music store, that's where we met... Also, my parents hate her, so of course it makes me love her even more."

Brendon's eyes were literally shining with joy while he was talking about her, Dallon could see how much he was in love with this woman.

And he really wished he had someone to talk about with so much passion and love too.