"Hannah, I'm home!" Tyler calls out as he luges in his briefcase.
"That's nice, dear." Hannah replies in return, watching the finally five minutes of her soap opera on the Opera Network.
"Hey boo, what's for dinner?" Tyler asks as he comes up behind the coach and tries to hug his girlfriend.
"Tyler, don't touch me. Selena is about to tell Robert that she can't marry him because they're siblings." Hannah states in hushed tones as a woman begins to cry when a man bents to his knee.
"Boo, how many times have you watched this episode?" Tyler wonders cautiously.
"Three or four, I can't remember." Hannah answers hypnotized by the man's confused look as the woman rejects the ring.
"Hannah, it's time for a change of pace." Tyler announces as he turns off the TV. Hannah is about to protest when Tyler mentions "We're going out tonight."
"Let me guess, Chipotle or Taco Bell?" Hannah thinks out loud, unamused as she rises from her spot on the coach where she has curled up for the last forty-five minutes.
"No, someplace a little fancier." Tyler smiles as he points her towards the bedroom as she walks towards him.
"I have to get dressed?" Hannah whines as Tyler opens her side of their giant, shared closet.
"Not just dressed." Tyler corrects her, pulling out a fancy blue dress that he loves to see Hannah in.
"Dressed up?" Hannah questions as he lays the dress on the bed and goes to his side of the closet to find something to match her dress. "I don't know Tyler, do I have to?" She protests as she slides into the strapless dress which makes herself conscious of her (at least she thinks) slightly flabby arms.
"Come on Boo, it'll be fun!" Tyler tries to excite her as he finishes buttoning his buttons on his shirt.
"I don't know…" Hannah grimaces again, but still applying a thin layer of make-up nonetheless.
"Please Boo." Tyler requests resting his blonde head on her shoulder and begging her with his blue, puppy dog eyes.
"Oh fine." She concedes defeat as her blue eyes meet his. "But I'm not pulling on a bra." She points at his reflection.
"Thank you, Boo Bear!" He smiles and hugs her.
"Better be fricken' amazing." She grumbles, applying the last of her eyeshadow.
"It will be, don't worry." Tyler promises as he holds out his hand for her. She takes it and rises to her feet swiftly.
"And no heels either." She decides and pulls on a pair on white Converse.
"At least it matches." Tyler sighs, smiling to himself as he slips his hand into his pocket. "No turning back now." He thinks out loud, speaking softly; feeling the small box in his pocket. Knowing that at least a year of blood, sweat, and tears at the office has gone into the engagement ring held inside.
"Tyler Bear, you coming?" Hannah questioned, placing a hand on his upper arm softly.
"Yeah, coming!" Tyler smiled brightly and turns to follow her out the door, down the stairs, out the front door, holds open the car door for Hannah, shuts it, gets in himself and drives off.
They arrive at 'ma cuisine ivre' a little before seven. Tyler holds the doors open for Hannah as she gases in awe at the French restaurant of fancy before her. She makes sure her skirt is over her shoes as the greeter looks for their reservation.
"It's under Oakley." Tyler smiles and waits.
"I'm sorry sir, the only reservation tonight is for Oak-Tree." The snooty greeter informs him.
"What? No, Oakley. It must be some sort of misunderstanding, please sir, I'm Oak-Tree." Tyler seems desperate as the greeter raises an eyebrow at this display of human emotion.
"Tyler, it's no big deal," Hannah informs him softly, placing her hand over his. "We'll just go to a more welcoming restaurant." She glares at the greeter before pulling Tyler away.
"This isn't how it was supposed to go!" Tyler panics outside the restaurant.
"Tyler, don't worry. Calm down, please?" Hannah requests, placing both hands on the side of his face. Tyler looks at her with tears in his eyes, and knows he's overreacting and isn't sure why.
"Okay, I'm calm, I'm calm." Tyler reports to Hannah as they hug and relax. "I love you, boo." Tyler whispers.
"I love you too, Boo Boop." Hannah tells Tyler, as she kisses the non-snotty part of his nose. "Why don't we go to the fanciest joint in town?" Hannah suggests, bending her elbow so Tyler can talk it. He does and tosses her the keys as he gets in the passenger side and she slips into the driver's seat. They drive until Hannah spots the Taco Bell sign glowing brightly in the city sky.
"No way." Tyler grins as Hannah turns abruptly, spotting the sign almost too late. "We can't be seriously going to Taco Bell in our finest!" Tyler laughed outrageously as Hannah whipped the car into a spot and parked.
"Why not? No dress code here." Hannah reminded him before getting out of the car.
"Welcome to Taco- Whoa are you two like, from the prom?" A very stoned cashier asked as he focused on Tyler and Hannah's outfits.
"No, but thank you." Hannah smiled flattered as Tyler put a hand to his chest, equally as flattered. "We just wanted to go out on the town tonight." Hannah explained then looked at the menu.
"Narley." The man replies as Tyler is trying to figure out the now altered perfect way to purpose to Hannah.
"Tyler?" Hannah asks as Tyler was scheming.
"Huh?" Tyler questions.
"I ordered, it's your turn." Hannah prompts him, grabbing her plastic cup and going to fill it.
"Okay, I'll have…" Tyler finishes his order in a daze and pays with his card.
"I'll bring it out to you when it's up." The toasty fellow informs Tyler, handing him back his card.
"Great, thanks." Tyler smiles and nods. He thinks for a brief second of giving him the ring to put with the food. But then decides the man is most likely to forget by the time the food was up or worse, would pocket the ring and spend it on pot.
Tyler picks out his Baha Blast and goes to find Hannah sitting in a tall chair with a table in matching height by the window just as it starts to rain. To him, she is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, no comparison. Her golden, short styled hair matching her attitude and spunk. Her dark blue eyes hinting at her glimmering, pun infested, jokes that would manifest behind those amazing eyes in her never ending witty brain. Even her plucky eyebrows were always arched in humor hinting way.
But her looks are nothing, nothing, compared to her personality and spirit; they are brighter than a thousand suns and, if he could, he would love her for every one of those sunrises and sunsets until those bright stars burned out; unlike hers because her suns never would. She would forever be the brightest, precious thing he would ever love.
"Hey," He smiled sitting down at the table. Hannah was still gazing out the window, at nothing in particular; completely distracted. "Hey." He whispered again, touching her hand gently but still making her jump.
"Huh, what?" Hannah asked, drawing her hand away; which was unlike her.
"Is everything alright?" Tyler questioned, concern etched out on his young face.
"Um, no." Hannah finally admitted. "There's something I have to tell you." She went from thoughtful to terrified. "T-Tyler, I-I'm so s-so scared." She gasped while crying; she seemed to be falling apart all at once.
"Honey, honey, boo, you can tell me anything!" Tyler reassured her, rubbing her arms and face to calm her down. She finally did and looked at Tyler with uncertainty in her eyes.
"Really?" She questioned, wiping away the rest of her tears.
"Really." Tyler affirmed, fingering the ring box in his pocket as the stoned cashier set down the trays in front of the starving couple. "Thank you." Tyler exclaimed gratefully as the cashier tootled off in his hazy stupor. Tyler wanted more than anything to rip into his off-Mexican feast with his, he hoped, bride-to-be, but he knew Hannah had something very important to tell him so he waited.
"Okay," She took a deep breath, "Tyler," they both looked at each other, dark blue eyes boring into light blue eyes. "I think I might be gay." Tyler didn't have time to process but he felt his heart sink as Hannah went into a high paced furry of explanation. "I mean, I still love you very deeply, by you're the only man I'm attracted to and we haven't really had sex in months because lately all I can seem to think about is women and how beautiful they are. I mean, have you SEEN Jennifer Lawrence lately? But not the point, the point is Tyler, I love you, but I don't think we would be truly happy together if we stayed together…" Hannah finally finished, out of breath and out of thought then looked to Tyler for a reaction. It was silent as the fast food began to slowly cool; the smell still delicious, but hard shells turning soft with chips losing their crunch in the heated, moist environment of their individual packaging. "Tyler?" Hannah asked, seeing the emotions befall Tyler in a never ending wave that crashed over and over again. Panic, confusion, hurt, loss, anguish, distress, sadness, depression, repeat.
"What?" He finally asked pulling himself out of his emotional typhoon.
"Are you okay?" She wondered, unsure to comfort or let him go off on a rant.
"Me? Oh, I'm fine, peachy, even." He stood up and began to pace. "How did you not know this when we began dating? I mean, you could have shot me a text saying "Oh, and by the way, I maybe or may not be gay, but that shouldn't hurt our chances, right?" Then I could have ended it before it came to this!"
"Before it came to what?" Hannah yelled back in question
"Before I fell so deeply, madly, heartbreakingly in love with you!" Tyler squealed before pulling the ring box from out of his pocket and smacking it onto a tray, sending salsa and nacho cheese splattering across the small table. "I'll see you later, I have to think." He stormed out the door before turning back around and grabbing the tray but leaving the ring box in front of her.
Hannah stared at the box before reaching over the debris field of sauces and opening it. She gasped and cried as she saw it was the ring had a beautiful moon shaped diamond at its center with the engraving on the inside reading "To the moon of my life". It was the ring of her dreams. She knew she shouldn't, but she just wanted to see it on her finger… She held her hand at arm's length then at eye level then just stared at it with her hand resting on the table. She slowly, reluctantly, took it off and placed it back in the box. She knew, in her heart of hearts, it would be wrong to marry Tyler. Not because she didn't love him, which wasn't true, she most certainly did love him, but because she knew that if she did marry him, somewhere down the road, it would end in divorce, and but then she didn't know if they would have kids to scar or not but she didn't want to take that very plausible risk.
She found Tyler back at the house later that evening with Taco Bell wrappers scattered around himself in the living room as he was watching West Side Story. Even though his favorite part was on (Maria explaining how she loves that Jet no matter what), he was frowning with red eyes and dried tears on his taco sauce stained face. She sat down next to him and they watched the movie in silence until the final show down past and Maria was left heartbroken and alone.
"Tyler." Hannah began, turning off the TV as the credits began to roll. But the second the screen went black, Tyler got up and left. She followed him and talked to him even though he was obviously ignoring her. "Tyler, it's not your fault. It's no one's fault. I just feel like this is something I need to figure out on my own. You didn't lead me to this revelation, I found out on my own. Tyler you can't not talk to me forever; we live together for Pete's sake!" Tyler went into their shared bathroom attached to their bedroom and slammed the door, locking it for good measure. She knocked on the door but knew her efforts were in vain and she finally ended up sliding down the wood of the door and sitting outside the door. She felt something in her pocket and pulled out the ring box. She wanted, in that intense moment, to run to the window and throw it into the night, hoping it would hit a bird or, more likely, a bat on the way down; but she didn't.
Instead, she went to her closet and packed a duffel bag of whatever she could fit into it but it was mostly clothes and a few memories. Once she had finished, she looked back at the still closed bathroom door, said dejectedly "I'm sorry, Tyler." Then walked down the stairs and out the door. When Tyler heard the front door shut, he opened his sanctuary's door, and peered out. He saw the bedroom in its mess of half ransacked state and felt his heart drop even lower; if that was possible. But what really broke him was when his eyes caught a glimpse of glimmer on Hannah's pillow.
He turned and saw the ring sitting there watching him sadly. The ring box was opened so he could see it properly in the moonlight. It was really over, he realized dejectedly, really and truly over. "No woman will ever hurt me again!" He promised the moon as he fell onto her side of the bed and wept himself to sleep.
Many months, possible even a year, later, he saw Hannah again. But this time, it was on the internet. Apparently, she had started a small series called 'My Drunk Kitchen' and everyone loved it. He wasn't bitter when he watched her first episode. In fact, it was quite the opposite. By the end of the first video, he was laughing in a way he hadn't had a reason to in months. Hannah was once again, bringing a joy to his life that he had missed and now craved. He subscribed to her channel and send her a brief direct message saying how good she was and how happy he was for her. He didn't receive a reply and didn't expect to.
Hannah spotted her ex-boyfriend's name as she was scrolling through her obscenely long list of direct message fan mail and read with aggression. She smiled at the end of it and subscribed to Tyler's growing channel of where he sat down and just talked to people with the greatest of ease. No nervousness, no hate, nothing but love and honestly. Hannah admired and loved that about her ex. Which made it easier to invite him to come on her show one of these days. He accepted that same day.
The fans went nuts for Hanler and demanded more. They quickly grew to popularity and did a video collaboration every blue moon or so. They began to re-enjoy each other's company and the awkward grew less and less. They finally got their emails from YouTube to be hired full time. They both accepted and quit their jobs for something they truly loved.
Tyler eventually became a father to three kids and husband to a man that adored him more than he had loved Hannah. Hannah found the woman of her dreams and married her within a year of meeting her. They had one beautiful adopted daughter together and all of the gays watched their children grow up, fall in love, and reproduce as they had. The years rolled by until the day where Hannah arrived at the retirement home.
"Now Mom, please understand this isn't our first decision." Her daughter tried to explain as she rolled her into the lobby. "But we figured you'd like it here a lot more than at your place all alone."
"How do you know what I want? You don't even ask me anymore!" Hannah snapped heatedly. Her daughter took in a breath before going on.
"There is someone here who we know you'd rather spend your time with than alone." Her daughter smiled weakly as a decrepit old man wheeled himself out of a side room. His body had been worn in with the years, but his eyes sparkled as clearly as ever.
"Tyler?" Hannah asked, now smiling because she couldn't believe her luck.
"I think so." Tyler joked back, checking the name tag he was wearing just for the occasion. Hannah laughed and laughed.
"Are you going to be okay, Mom?" Her daughter asked uncertainly as they were getting ready to leave.
"Are you kidding?" Hannah replied, reaching over and grabbing Tyler's hand. "I've got my gayest best friend here, what more could a girl want?" Her daughter smiled and knew she was leaving her mother in capable hands; even if they were wrinkled.
They say you live longer if you're in good company. Which was truest for Hannah and Tyler. Hannah lived to be 104. Tyler lived another two weeks after Hannah, leaving him to grow to the ripe old age of 102; he was two weeks shy of his 103rd birthday. He couldn't go on much longer though, not without his best friend.
Even though they were gay, it was true to those who saw them in their final years together: they loved each other deeply, not romantically; but deeply nonetheless.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I'm sorry this isn't more upbeat. But I needed to do this piece; needed to get it out of my system. If you liked it, by all means let me know and I might do more! If you didn't, that's okay too; I don't blame you. But leaving reviews is the best way to let me know your thoughts and feels, either good or bad. I just needed to write something sad for once. For once, I didn't want to give everyone a happy ending; I wanted an ending that just… Fit. And this one seemed to fit like a glove. Sorry if it was too sad… Life hasn't been very happy lately. Yours, Jenna.