Chapter19-The Ring

September 27th, 2012

 It’s now late September. 7th Anthem had been busy with their promotions for their international hit single, Reckless’N’Wild. Now they’re about to release their much-anticipated third 7A album, titled, ForeverZero5. The title is a reference to their album having influences from their early UTurn days, with a 2012 sound.

 At the same time, they’re about to premiere the final season of their TV series, The Delinquents. In this new season, Ethan and his band, The OutLaws, were not featured. Neither were former UTurn members, Riley and Stacie. Both women were busy with their very successful solo careers. 

 Now 7A were having a day off from their heavy promos, and were in London. Andrew had been meaning to do engagement ring shopping, but he hadn’t gotten the opportunity. Now he does. The girls were out shopping, so he took advantage of this by bringing the guys along for opinions.

 Andrew brought along Trevor, Justin and his boyfriend Ty, and Brandon and his boyfriend Jesse. They arrived at a jewelry store. All the men wore sunglasses to try to ward off any paparazzi that might be chasing them. Usually, it hardly works, but they did it anyway. 

 Andrew told the guys, “Hey, thanks for coming with me, and supporting me with this.”

 Justin said, “It’s cool, Andrew. We knew you and Aly are meant to be.”

 Andrew gave a small smile. By now, the two guys made some amends. Their friendship was being repaired, but of course, there was still some distrust on Andrew’ part. But other than that, the two were becoming friends again.

 Then Brandon said, “Andrew, can I talk to you? Alone?”

 Andrew nodded his head. They went outside the store. He asked Brandon, “So, what is it?”

 Brandon gave a long sigh, and said, “I know you never loved me the same way I did, but a part of me still does. Jesse is great, but there was no other guy like you.”

 Andrew looked on the ground, and bit his lip. He still felt bad for not being able to love Brandon, but at this point, his heart belonged to Alyson. He then looked up, and said, “Brandon, you’ll always have place in me. You were my first and only boyfriend I ever had. But…it’s Alyson who I live. I thought this was established already.”

 “It is. I guess I still miss you. You were a sweet man underneath all that arrogance. You still are, but you seemed to have humbled a bit.”

 Andrew gave a small smile, and said, “Yeah, well, you know how that happened.”

 Brandon knew that Andrew meant his Natalie situation and his coming clean about his bullying past. (By now, Natalie has been caught, and in jail at Hartford, Connecticut.) So he said, “As bad as those days were, you’ve matured. And that’s a good thing.”

 Andrew slightly blushed, and said, “Thanks, but let me ask you this: Do you support me marrying Aly?”

 Brandon smiled, and said, “Of course. Ever since I met you two, I saw how much you and Aly loved each other. I still remember the day when I met you at a clothing store. You were starstrucked and blushing really hard. You could’ve hit on me, but instead you led me to Alyson. That was sweet of you.”

 Andrew laughed, and said, “I can’t believe you remember that. That feels so long ago. I was just a kid then.”

 Brandon also laughed, and said, “How could I? You told me to never forget your name. You actually said, ‘Andrew Hawthorne.’”

 Andrew smirked, “Well, I am the Andrew Hawthorne. No one should forget my name.”

 “Wow, glad to see you haven’t changed much.”

 “I’m just kidding.”

 The two guys shared a laugh. Then Andrew asked, “So, we cool?”

 Brandon smiled, and said, “Yeah, we cool.”

 With that, the two men went back inside. But no sooner when he entered, Justin took him outside. Andrew said with a laugh, “Everyone wants to talk to me before I pick the ring.”

 Justin said, “I guess. Andrew…”

 Then he said in a serious tone, “If you’re going to say you miss having me as your boyfriend, let’s get this cleared out: You don’t remember fucking me, and I never wanted to be with you. So Justdrew never really happened.”

 Justin blinked, and said, “What? No, that has nothing to do with that.”

 “Then what is it?”

 Justin looked through the store window, and looked at Ty, and then back at Andrew. He sighed, and said, “It’s Bailey.”

 “What about Bailey?”

 “I…I still love her. I don’t mean fancy her or something. I mean, I actually love her. I want to be back with her.”

 Andrew was actually surprised by this. He thought Justin had moved on from Bailey. He got himself a boyfriend, and they seemed very loving towards each other. Now he’s having second thoughts?

 So Andrew said, “I thought you love your boyfriend, or went gay by now.”

 Justin said, “I don’t know. I guess I’m bi. Anyway, I don’t love him as much as I love Bailey.”

 “But she also has a boyfriend.”

 “I know.”

 Andrew thought for a moment, and then asked, “What made you regain your feelings for Bailey?”

 Justin replied, “After you told the guys about your plans to propose to Alyson, I started thinking about Bailey and I. I remembered the years when we were in love. When the band shot up to fame, we became just as popular as Andyson. But I fucked things up with her. I let my anger take control of my life. Now I realize I’m paying for that. Ty is cool and all, but he’s no Bailey.”

 There was silence for a moment, and then Andrew asked, “Why don’t you tell Bailey you still love her?”

 Justin sighed, and said, “Like I said, I fucked things up with her. I never opened up about my upbringing. I let anger and bitterness take over my life. Things got so bad that I severed the relationship. She would never take me back. She finally saw me as a stranger.”

 “But it’s not too late. It’s not like she’s married to the dude. You got time.”

 Justin gave a disbelieving laugh, and said, “You don’t get it, Andrew. It IS too late. What part of ‘I fucked things up’ don’t you get? Are you really still an airhead?”

 Andrew raised an eyebrow, and asked, “You really think I’m the dumbest guy in the world?”

 With that, Justin sank back. He said, “No. I’m sorry. I…I’m just mad at myself.”

 Andrew then sighed, and said, “Justin…there are things in my life that I’m not proud of, such as being a grade school bully, or being a bisexual man-whore. A part of me wishes that if I were to go back in time, I would stop myself from doing these things. But at the same time, I grew from those experiences. 

 “From my experience as a school bully, I grew to become a fighter for what’s right. It’s like I became a lawyer without actually becoming a lawyer. From my experience with dating a bunch of girls and fucking two dudes, I realized that I do find guys attractive, but my heart will always belong to Alyson. She’s my one true love. Not the other girls, not Brandon, and definitely not you.”

 Justin gave a small laugh, and asked, “How was I in the bedroom?”

 Andrew laughed, and said, “Experienced, like you did dudes before…which turned out you did. You weren’t bad, though, but it was just too weird. I mean, come on. A guy fucking his best friend who happened to be his bandmate? It was too clichéd and really weird.”

 Justin said, “It was like those gay fanfics about us came true.”

 “Yeah, but I was coming onto you in the fanfics. You came onto me in real life.”

 The two guys shared a laugh. Then Justin said, “Let’s go help you find a ring for Aly.”

 Andrew nodded his head. Then they went inside. Then Andrew looked at women’s rings until he found one that caught his eye. He asked the jeweler, “Can see this ring?”

 She took out the ring, and gave it to him. The ring had a pink diamond. He smiled in awe. Then he told the jeweler, “I want this ring. And can you put an infinity sign on it?”

 She nodded her head, and went to the back to the ring engraved. Justin asked, “Why did you pick that ring?”

 Andrew replied, “Pink is Aly’s favorite color. When I saw the ring, it reminded me of her. I just know she would love this particular ring.”

 Trevor asked, “But why did you ask for an infinity sign to be engraved?”

 With that, Andrew gave the most genuine smile he ever had, and said, “Infinity means forever. Aly and I have eternal love. We were soulmates the moment we met. We didn’t know it back then, but that’s what happened. Now we’re adults, and I know we’ll always be together. Always and forever.”

 The guys were impressed by this. They also could tell Andrew can’t stop smiling. In fact, his smile was real. It was like he never smiled like that before. It wasn’t his famous big-and-toothy grin; it wasn’t his usual smug smirk. Instead, it was real and in love.

 So Brandon asked, “You really love her, don’t you?”

 Andrew looked away shyly, and nodded his head. Then he looked up, and said, “I really do love her. She’s my everything. My life-saver. My anchor. My first in almost everything. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

 Just then, the jeweler came out with the engraved ring. Then Andrew made the purchase, along with a box. Now he was ready to make the proposal. He just needed the right moment.