A/N: inspired by the songs 'happier' by ed sheeran and 'let her go' by the passenger
Brandon stared at them across the table, a fixed grin on his face. His brother and his ex girlfriend arrived today for dinner and although his brother and father have already told him about her arrival, it still didn't prepare him to see Cateln again. Ned had organized this dinner so they can see Catelyn.
She looked beautiful, radiant even. And it didn't escape his notice that she was wearing a ring on her left hand. He knew that Catelyn is not a girl who is a big fan of jewelry so it was actually a surprise for him to see her wearing a ring and he suddenly had a hunch on what brings on this dinner.
He stared at them across the table. He notices the way she looked at his brother (it was how she used to stare at him), the way his brother would smile at her (a smile that he never uses to anybody else), how, when his brother whispers something in her ear, she would lean and whisper something back (it was something that they used to do). He notice every smile, every caress, every stolen kisses on the cheek; what used to be his was now his brother's
He deserves this, he supposes. He had hurt her way more than any man could, hurt her so much that it left her so broken. And when she saw him with another girl, it had been the last straw that she finally broke up with him.
"Father, brothers, sister," Ned said in a loud voice, standing up, breaking Brandon out of his reverie, "I would like to announce something."
This is it, Brandon thought to himself. Ned pulled Catelyn up from her seat and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "Family, I am happy to announce that Catelyn has agreed to be my wife," he said with a huge grin. Lyanna squealed and and jumped from her seat to Catelyn, his sister quickly grasping Cat's hand to look at her engagement ring. Catelyn laughed at her and readily showed her the ring.
Their father stood up, clapping Ned's shoulder and giving his future daughter-in-law a brief hug. Benjen stood up too, and gave Ned a hug. Ben approached Catelyn and gave her a side hug. Brandon stood up slowly from his seat and walked over to them.
"Congrats, bro," he said with a grin and hugged his brother. When he pulled back, Ned looked a little surprised but recovered quickly.
"Thanks, Brandon," he said with a smile. Brandon turned to Catelyn, who was still chatting with his sister.
"Hey, Cat," he said. Catelyn turned and looked at him curiously. There's no more hint of anger in her eyes when she looked at him, no more hatred in them.
Brandon held up his arms in an awkward way and smiled, "Congrats, future sis-in-law," he said.
Catelyn smiled and wrapped her arms around his torso loosely and he wrapped his own around her shoulders, "Thank you, Brandon," she said. He wants to wrap his arms around her tightly the way he used to. He wants to carry her off to his room and beg her forgiveness and to show her that it's still her, he still wants her. But she was already pulling back and staring at his brother with the smile that she used to flash him when she was about to kiss him, with the twinkle in her eyes when she looks at his brother. Ned walked around him to get to her and he wrapped his arms around her waist to kiss her lightly.
Brandon stared at them and notice everything: the way his brother smiled at her, how Catelyn's arms goes around his brother's neck, almost of their own accord to talk softly to him, how they fit perfectly with each other.
His heart seems to break at the thought of someone who once loved him with all her heart, who he hurt on more than a handful of occassion, now being over the top happy and is now a bride to be of his brother; those are some of the things that never crossed Brandon's mind to do when they were still together.
He took one last look at the happy couple and left the dining room, unnoticed for once.