"You both created a fantasy in my teen years." - Selma Blair, actress, in a comment to Shannen's 2019 Instagram post.
This chapter is inspired by a scene in my favourite movie of all-time (neither mentioned, nor referenced in the text.)
xx
They established an easy routine, welcoming each morning with an intimate wake-up call that would make the entire Vatican blush. They often started the day with a proper English breakfast, either cooked in a sad attempt by him or concocted to perfection by her. Whilst she headed off to callbacks and mini-rehearsals for the holiday performance benefitting a local children's charity held especially dear to her heart, he met with publishers to acquire an agent in London, telecommunicated with Javier to draft a policy related to ocean conservation back in the United States, researched marine organizations in which to become involved in the United Kingdom and developed an unexpected friendship with Katie Wachinski.
An avid lover of the ocean herself, primarily due to its endless possibilities for art, Katie invited the reunited couple to join herself and Shane for a weekend at her parents' holiday cottage in Cornwall. Despite her immediate inward reaction of positivity, Brenda had at first hesitated to accept. Her reunion with Dylan was still fresh and she worried over tossing him into one event after the other. Their mutual friends were all overseas, along with Dylan's few close pals outside of their circle. Though he willingly chose to move to be with her, she desired that he not feel as if he needed to form personal connections with her own friends.
He instead found out about the invitation from Levi during one of their jam sessions and insisted to Brenda that if she wanted to go, they would not decline on his behalf.
She needn't have been concerned, for Dylan not only began to build a dynamic with Shane Wachinski, but during the visit to Cornwall, Shane's wife, as well.
Boasting rooms larger in size than even the rooms at the Carson's old mansion, the cottage permitted each visitor their own space. Vee and Sophie chose an area that distanced themselves from the couples; Sophie later had the room to herself when Vee's new beau Aidan arrived and they took up a room of their own. Levi and Benji's room sat near Dylan and Brenda's, which was placed diagonally from the Wachinskis.
In Dylan's first visit to Cornwall, he had been pleasantly surprised to learn that he could enjoy the coast without contracting frostbite. Brenda knew it would take him time, perhaps years, to become assimilated to the chillier weather as he had done before, but Dylan took it in stride. Instead of complaining of the cold as Steve would, he decided to test the waters with a borrowed surfboard after seeing Cornish locals in their winter wetsuits. He'd emerged giddily from the swells, pulling Brenda over to a shop to rent a suit for her. It was her third surfing lesson - the first, in a teenage visit to Baja; the second, during her summer tour through the Mediterranan when she and Dylan were in their giddy twenties - and, like his attempts on the skates, she discovered she was especially good at falling.
She, however, remembered the lessons in her previous surfing tutorials much quicker than he had remembered skating and thus, managed to stay on the board long enough for one swell.
This had earned her an exhilarating snog from Dylan, who proudly grinned that his girlfriend could find somewhat of an interest in his own passion. If they had children, she decided, one would assuredly be a surfer and perhaps professionally compete in the sport.
As with Brenda and her lack of Olympic skating dreams, Dylan had never been fond of the idea of competing professionally himself, though the other surfers at West Beverly who did compete had readily admitted none of them could match Dylan McKay.
He told her once that he would much rather compete at the pool table than compete on the board, an activity so vital to his person that she was stunned to learn of her role as the only woman besides his sister for him to have surfed alongside.
Their stay in Cornwall brought with it both that revelation and the knowledge of Vee's new boyfriend's lifelong decision to abstain from alcohol. Aidan's admission startled the group further when Vee, who the others had watched drunkenly stumble into a statue at the Houses of Parliament, surprisingly accepted the fact without reluctance. Aidan's father had been an alcoholic, he said, and he shared that he'd rather not learn of the damage he could do to his own family if he tried the beverage. Sophie tried to convince him into at least a sip, saying that it wouldn't harm him, but Brenda felt relief that Dylan was not the only one who would remain sober whilst the others drank and drank and drank some more.
Not Brenda, mind you; she'd learnt her lesson with the fountain. Sophie, however, had always been a partier and combined with Benji and Katie, the three left the group in stitches over their drunken behavior.
On the Sunday afternoon before they returned to the city, Katie listened intently as Dylan explained to her his line of work. Fascinated, she offered to paint a special, aqueous collection with all proceeds to benefit various marine organizations throughout both her home country and the Californian coast.
The idea left Dylan frankly speechless, then grateful, and then a fan of Katie Northam Wachinski for life.
He did not, however, warm up to Vee, largely because Vee had not yet warmed up to him and to Brenda's disappointment, informed her that she would not plan to do so until life confirmed his permanent fixture.
The possibility of Dylan befriending all of Brenda's own friends had certainly been hoped for, yet even she understood the unlikelihood.
It became quite clear after the visit that her firm unwillingness to speak further on the drama at the Wachinski anniversary bothered Dylan, but he desperately tried to not let it show. Instead, he continued to prove his devotion to her, sneaking little poems into her packed lunches as he had done the slits of her locker. She couldn't decide if he was trying too hard or aiming just right.
What she did find extremely difficult was keeping their reunion a secret from Brandon. A part of her feared that once they revealed their reignited relationship, everyone would want a say, issue gleeful messages of their psychic abilities or immediately query about a wedding date. She convinced herself that the last question would particularly send an anxious Dylan running.
They would marry, someday; their various conversations didn't shy away from the idea. She just didn't think the gang bringing it up so soon after their reattachment would help matters.
Normally the first choice for both Brenda and Dylan to confide in, leaving Brandon in the dark during her communication with him was exceedingly difficult.
Maintaining the secret whilst speaking with Valerie, though; that was damn near unfathomable.
Usually, what Brenda didn't tell Brandon, she would tell Valerie and then Steve.
The latter, thankfully, had filled their recent correspondence with panicked queries about what to get Andrea for Christmas besides another book which would be added to her already overflowing bookcases and whether it would be weird to give Hannah some of his mother's old, expensive jewelry.
Brenda had responded teasingly, asking why Steve was concerned about the perfect present for their mutual friend. Her emphasis on the f-word specifically resulted in an annoyed return text, which caused her to guffaw that the matchmaker lacked appreciation when he was being matchmade.
Valerie, on the other hand, only had to ramble in their conversation to allow Brenda the omission of Dylan's renewed presence in her bed.
And what a presence it was.
"I just heard from Brandon that he and Kelly are both coming for New Year's. Bitch, tell me this isn't true. You did not invite Kelly Taylor to the one day each year when I get to go clubbing with you and those friends of yours in that fucking fantastic city you call home."
Silence.
"Brenda!"
"I mean, if it helps, everyone's coming, not just Kel."
"Everyone's coming? Are we talking Brandon, Dylan, Steve, Miss Look At Me, Can't Do Anything Wrong Ever -"
"Val, didn't you promise my brother you would try to get along with her?"
Valerie paused, the sound of a barking dog and responses demanding the owner shut the animal up heard through the thin walls of her Philly apartment.
"Well," she dragged out, "yeah, I did, and I guess I will, but babe, I don't know how you can let bygones be bygones after everything she did to you. God, Brenda. You don't have to be a saint. She stole your fucking boyfriend, broke your brother's heart and then fucked your ex again, for fuck's sake!"
"Technically, if we want to go there, Bran and Kel broke each others' hearts when they convinced themselves they were better as friends."
"Well, now, doesn't that sound familiar."
She needed to steer the conversation away from Dylan, pronto.
"Look, if everyone's coming, that's great. But I still don't understand why she of all people has to be there. You better be dying or some shit."
"Val!"
"Calm down, I didn't say I want anything like that. Of course I don't. But I also don't know why you would want to start the new year off with her around."
"You know we have a messy, complicated relationship, Val. She's marrying my brother. I don't think I'll ever be able to fully trust her like I used to, but in a weird way, she's kind of like my sister. You know? It's hard to explain."
"Excuse me. I thought I was the sister you never had."
"Right, okay, so basically, my mother feels like she has four daughters. You, me, Kelly, Donna. Maybe five; I can't ever figure out if she sees Andrea more as a daughter or a niece. Anyway. You're like the twin sister I always wanted, Donna is like my sweet little sister and then there's Kel. She's the sister who you can be on great terms with one day and want to burn all her clothes the next."
"I wish you would burn some of her clothes."
"Oh, come on. They aren't that bad."
"Whatever you say, Brenda."
A short texting exchange with David followed, regarding his own lack in finding a suitable present for Donna. Later that evening, as Brenda snuggled against Dylan's chest after a tiring day of work for the both of them, she texted with Kelly over gift ideas for Brandon.
When she told Dylan of the similar messages from their friends, he casually informed her that he'd used a journal she'd given him during their last holiday together to write the first few poems in his collection.
The confession resulted in the dual forgetfulness of their exhaustion and three rounds of practicing for conception, followed by a fourth in the shower.
Waking before he did the following morning, she smiled with a peck to his ear. He stirred and caressed her arm, but remained content in his peaceful slumber. Carefully sliding out from the comfort of his arms, she donned her silk robe in preparation of their mutual day off. A buzz on her door startled her out of a grab for the egg carton. A peek through her peephole initiated the crumbling of her New Year's surprise.
Yet, she couldn't very well keep the door shut and so, with a sinking feeling, she turned the knob.
"Mom! Dad! What are you doing here?"
"Your father still had a few days of vacation left and we thought we'd use it on a surprise visit to our favorite daughter."
"I'm your only daughter." She considered her statement, adding, "By blood."
"Exactly. Aren't you happy to see us?" Cindy handed her a container of home baked goodies that she'd managed to get through customs, pulling Brenda into an embrace.
"Of course I am. I'm just surprised. Really surprised." She confusedly returned the hug, following it up with one to her father.
"See? Surprise! Just as we wanted. We know you hate surprises, but it is the holiday season and -"
"Bren? Who was at the door?" Towel wrapped around his waist, Dylan ran a smaller, dry towel over his hair as he emerged.
"Hello, Dylan."
She giggled at his immediately reddened countenance.
"Uh, hi, Mrs. Walsh. Give me one second there." He darted into the bedroom, leaving a laughing Brenda alone with her amused parents.
She, too, quickly became embarrassed when Cindy chose to react to the incident by mouthing the word Wow and giving Brenda dual thumbs-up. She didn't know what to think of her mother blatantly checking out her half-naked boyfriend or her father's shocking calm in a situation which would have once turned him into an over-brewed coffee pot.
"It's about time," said Jim with a kiss to his daughter's cheek before he moved into the kitchen.
It certainly felt peculiar, her parents standing in her home in London. They'd visited the city only once, during her first Christmas at RADA, when on her new friend Shane's recommendation she treated them to the holiday festivities at the Dickens Museum after her father joked about a Dickensian Christmas he said Brandon insisted would be dreary. Her brother had unfortunately been correct. The entire month went on record as the coldest December since 1981; she still shivered from merely thinking about it.
She'd spent a few Christmases alone, some in Hong Kong and a handful in Melbourne. Cindy later shared with her daughter that she and Jim assumed Dylan would shortly propose after the holiday she brought him along to Hong Kong - the year before their split, when Brandon chose to spend Christmas with Kelly without knowing of Dylan's own visit, and their temporary flatmate Erica had returned to the US.
Instead, they separated and formed two different truths which now melded into one: the single truth that their being together once more brought indescribable happiness to both.
Or, in the case of her parents showing up to see herself in a robe and Dylan half-naked, mutual red faces.
He stepped back out, causing her to giggle at his appearance.
He had evidently decided to make up for his earlier lack of clothing in front of Jim and Cindy by overdressing. She stared at his waddle to the sofa, deducing he must be wearing two pairs of pants over one pair of jeans and at least one T-shirt beneath a sweatshirt which peeked through what looked suspiciously like -
"Is that my parka?"
"I think it's my color, don't you?" He swished from side to side, modeling the chosen attire.
"I know it's cold today, Dylan, but you're gonna give yourself a fever."
"I don't think you can give yourself a fever, babe."
"There's a first time for everything and I'm not overly fond of the idea of my boyfriend being the first to try it."
"It's better than walking around half-naked in front of your father, Bren." He shuddered, realizing Jim stood in the other room.
Even when her irate father had caught two sixteen-year-olds making out on his sofa in Casa Walsh, it never involved a shirtless Dylan or a robed Brenda.
"You're ridiculous," she laughed with a shake of her head.
"Hey, I've had more than my share of problems with Jimbo. The last thing I want when you and I are in this great place is to mess things up with him." Hands curled against the collar of her shirt, he leant forward and kissed her softly.
"You know, it's really such a hoot that you're here, Dylan. I'd brought this to show Brenda. I take it you two are finally back together, so it's perfect timing."
Slowly withdrawing his face from Brenda's, he stared at Cindy and shyly brought his girlfriend into his side.
She squinted at the book her mother held out, a shiny gold leather bound journal with the swirly handwriting of a nine-year-old.
"Oh my God. Is that -"
Cindy nodded, smiling brightly.
"Bren? What is it?" Sketching his fingers over their interlocked wrists, Dylan peeked over her shoulder.
Blushing furiously, she explained that before hitting the double digits, she began a journal of plans for her future wedding after watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers attend the Royal Wedding in the 1951 black-and-white film. Cindy explained that her own mother, Arlene, had found the journal in the floor panel of the Beevis' treehouse, which reminded Brenda after several decades where exactly she had lost it.
"Mother tried to send it directly to you, but I guess she still had your old address in her phonebook and forgot which one to use. When the mail sent it back, she shipped it to us. Might come in handy now, huh?"
"Mom," Brenda groaned.
Dylan, however, simply smirked.
"You had your heart set on getting married in the church where your grandparents did? Good to know, babe."
"I was nine, Dylan. I could get married in a courthouse, for all I care."
"Yeah right," he snorted, tickling the back of her neck.
"Seriously. I was a kid. Getting married in a Minneapolis church no longer makes sense. I don't even live there." She turned to Cindy. "Mom, look, you and Dad can't tell anyone, okay? I mean it. Especially not Brandon. We have this whole thing planned. As far as you're concerned, you two never saw Dylan."
"I can keep a secret, Brenda," Cindy replied, appearing a trifle hurt. "Did you know about the time Paula - no, wait, if I told you that, it wouldn't be a secret. See? I've been known to keep quiet on one or two in my lifetime."
"Bren wants to do this whole thing with starting the new year fresh or something." Beginning to noticeably sweat, Dylan removed the parka. Seating himself and Brenda on the sofa, he observed Cindy's facial reaction.
"I knew you saw that movie too many times." She looked at Dylan. "Brenda used to make a salad, pop in the VHS and -"
"Mom!"
Saved by the Jim. Taking his place by his wife, he handed her a glass of water whilst asking when the two kiddos had reunited and, jokingly, what Dylan's intentions were with their daughter.
"Well, sir, I plan to f -"
"Dylan!" Brenda's hands went to her face.
"- feed her fish and chips. What'd you think I was gonna say, Bren?" Lightly nudging his fist against her waist, he grinned.
Shaking her head, she locked her gaze on her father and repeated the request she had made to Cindy. He, too, seemed offended at the implication of his inability to keep his daughter's confidence, even from his son.
It was well known within their immediate family, extended family and close friends that if anyone failed to keep a secret, it was Brenda herself.
The younger Brenda, anyway, who in her childhood had informed her parents of Brandon's incident with a tennis ball and the window of Paula McCormick's garden shed after he used a tape of one of her favorite musicals to record March Madness. In another year, she and the younger Cassidy Walsh declared it their shared duty to report to their grandmother the every move of their respective brothers, until Georgette demanded that they cease.
When the young Walsh twins weren't plotting against each other, they plotted together in a battle of wits against their cousins.
Overseas, though, away from Brandon and her American relations, she'd learnt how to keep a secret and keep it rather well.
"Son, Cindy brought something to my attention that I want to be clear on with you dating my daughter again, especially if the two of you are planning to take this a step further. I will admit that I haven't always been the fairest to you and maybe I've been a little judgmental -" Cindy sputtered, looking pointedly at Jim, "- okay, more than a little. You have to understand that Brenda is my little girl and -"
"Dad, I'm not a little girl."
"Brenda, it doesn't matter how old you are. It won't matter your marriage status, the amount of kids you have yourself, or how far away you live. In the same way that your mother is still the little girl of your elderly grandfather, you will always be mine." Jim spoke firmly. "But in terms of your age, you are an adult who may do whatever she wishes. I just want the both of you to know that if this is the road you are prepared to take, I will not stand in your way. I've heard about Dylan's growth for years from Brandon and have now seen it for myself. I may not have been ready for your relationship when you were still, in my eyes, a kid. Now, I can't think of anyone I'd rather have dating my daughter."
Dylan swallowed, tucking his emotions into Brenda's hand with a brush of his fingers.
"Thank you, sir. I promise I won't let either of you or Brenda down."
"If you do hurt her in any way again, young Mr. McKay, I'm warning you right now that my brother Simon is prepared to launch the entire Walsh clan to her defense. He was none too pleased to hear from his daughter Lottie about your last breakup and even more unhappy when I told him that no, I would not give him your address for him to hunt you down."
Brenda didn't know how Lottie heard of the London relationship in the first place. She had written Brandon one flyaway comment in an email about Dylan staying at her flat while she was on tour in Scotland, suggested teasingly in penmanship that he and Kelly could join them on their honeymoon, and somehow, Lottie Walsh employed by the US embassy in Thailand found out about their breakup.
The biggest issue with Brenda pretending London never happened - though she tried incredibly hard to help them forget regardless - was that too many people had been told otherwise through the various familial grapevines, without once speaking to herself or Dylan on the matter.
She wouldn't be surprised if Brandon told Bobby, who in turn undoubtedly mentioned it to his younger sister, Lottie.
"And I'm sure Mother would initiate the same with the Beevises," Cindy warned more gently.
"Okay, no one is going to go after Dylan for any reason. I won't have anyone in either of my families intimidating the man I love. I don't care what happens or what he does." Brenda narrowed her eyes on both of her parents.
"I'm not gonna do anything, Bren," he insisted, curling his fingers around hers.
She asked where her parents were staying, trying to focus on their answer instead of Dylan's barely audible whispers of precisely what he would do when next he got her alone that certainly contradicted the concerns of the Walshes and Beevises.
Thankfully, Jim and Cindy were too distracted with their own plans to tune in on his cheeky comments.
They were to be in the country until the end of the week, whereupon they would fly out to visit Cindy's sister before returning to Melbourne. It had been a number of years since Jim chose to use his paid vacation time, they said, and they would finish out the year making good use of them by adding St. Paul to their travels after the earlier California journey. Their visit with their daughter would last only a few days, for Cindy had been told by a friend of a Christmas market in Suffolk and Jim wanted to stop into Liverpool before they flew out.
"Babe, you look nervous." Dylan tilted his head, observing Brenda hurriedly search through her wardrobe to find attire appropriate for exploring the city with her parents.
"I'm not nervous. I just wasn't ready for this. It's been nice with just the two of us."
"The two of us and at least eight of your closest British friends," he chuckled, placing a hand reassuringly on her elbow.
"You know what I mean. What if they tell Brandon? I don't keep things from Bran. Shit, why did I want to keep this from him?"
"Calm down, will ya? You heard your parents. They aren't going to tell him anything and in a couple more weeks, we can tell all of them, together, just like we've planned. Unless you've changed your mind, which is totally cool with me."
"No, I haven't. I still think the gang deserves some surprises of their own. I'm sorry Mom brought up marriage already."
"Why? I'm not." His shoulders bounced upward. "I've been upfront that I want to marry you and I know you wanna marry me. I respect that you think it's too soon right now, but we both know it's gonna happen. Let Cindy say whatever she wants to say." His hands went to her waist. "I'm surprised on Jimbo, though. I thought he was gonna tear me a new one."
"Guess Dad sees how much I love you and isn't keen on kicking off another Battle of the Walshes."
"Those were dark, dark days," he shuddered, with a painful sigh to match. "How much do you love me, exactly? I forgot." The glimmer from the ceiling light tangoed through his eyes.
"About this much." She quickly pecked his lips.
"Really? I thought it was more like this." One arm tugged her to him. His lips sucked at her neck.
"Dylan, my parents are in the other room." She giggled, trying to move him off of her.
"So we'll be quick." Sliding the neckline of her robe off of one shoulder, he leant down to kiss the bare flesh. "And what's this I hear?" He pretended to listen with a hand cupped around his ear. "Ah yeah, that's right - your parents leaving to get food at the café I oh so subtly recommended." He tugged off her robe. "Had to come off sooner or later."
"Aren't you ravenous?"
"Oh yeah, always." He grinned, shifting his fingers under the lining of her lingerie. "For you." Lifting Brenda up, he gently tossed her onto their bed.
"Oh God, why do you have to be so sexy? It isn't fair," she whined, discarding his top layer.
"Same reason you have to be so beautiful." He removed the other layers of clothing, keeping his legs between her thighs. "I've had you inside me every morning since I moved in, babe. Can't start my day without it," he lowered to capture her lips, "especially if it's gonna be a day hanging out with Jimbo."
She crumbled at his touch, sinking into an attachment so aphrodisiacal that she required a quick shower before the return of her parents.
She had expected a few scenarios when they earlier appeared at her door. She expected her father to be displeased by the appearance of Dylan. She expected her mother to admonish her for still being in her robe at eleven o'clock, even if it was a Saturday. She expected their immediate phone call to Brandon regarding the news of her relationship, who then would blab to Kelly and therefore, spread it to the other members of the octagon. Most of all, she expected Dylan to be uncomfortable when Cindy requested that they explore the city together.
What she did not expect was for Dylan and her father to synchronously laugh at a street mime running from a greedy pigeon. She did not expect to see Jim's tiny lift of a smile when he noticed her and Dylan holding hands. She did not expect to see her father hold the hand of her mother, or willingly agree to step into the pricier shops with her just so that Cindy could look around. She certainly did not expect for Dylan to take careful note of Cindy's interest in items that her mother would never purchase herself, then buy them the moment Cindy walked outside with the explanation of "well, your mom's birthday is coming up."
In reality, they still had several months until Cindy's birthday, but Brenda smiled appreciatively and lovingly squeezed his hand nonetheless.
Though she frequently visited her parents during the Christmas holiday, she had never before taken the time to individually hang out with them. There was something to be said for the relationship one could craft with their parents as an adult. Jim seemed to respect her opinion more. Cindy asked for her opinion more. Instead of scolding, there was laughter. Instead of enforced rules, Cindy attempted to snap a photo of a former queen's Westminster Abbey coffin, despite implicit instructions to not do so. Instead of a strict curfew, they stayed out in a nearby village well past midnight with non-alcoholic drinks so that Dylan could partake in the conversation.
To Brenda's surprise, she immensely enjoyed the time she spent with both he and her parents. Dylan let her and Cindy do most of the talking, disappearing off with Jim at one point whilst she and her mother browsed through the overflowing shelves in a small bookshop.
When Dylan returned, he remained mum on the subject of where he had gone or what he and Jim may have spoken about when they were there. He, too, looked through the shelves, lifting off a book that he would then quietly read to her from the first chapter in a back corner.
With all his intelligence - and he had a substantial amount of intelligence - Graham was not one to read aloud. If Stuart cracked open a book, which he rarely did around her, he requested that they both read silently without initiating literary conversation. Jim Townsend read only when an assignment called for it. She didn't even know about Rick; they had never made it that far in their conversation before he began to dive into the topics that her father discussed over dinner.
But Dylan read to her. He read poetry and prose, softly when in public, more loudly when alone. He gathered her into his arms and whispered memorized ballads from centuries of the creative masterminds. On other nights, he asked for her to read to him, which she always did as theatrically as possible.
He told her she would be a brilliant storyteller to their future children. She, however, found herself drifting at times into daydreams of him reading to them, their trilingual - if not quadrilingual - children who would all share the color of their father's hair.
Those visions both excited and pained her, lest they not come true.
In the meantime, he helped her practice various scripts for the last round of callbacks. She assisted in his search for a word during the process of writing his novel - his first novel after a lengthy collection of poetry that sat proudly displayed on her shelf.
And when neither herself nor Dylan received an upset communicative from Brandon, she knew without a doubt that her parents had kept their word. That in itself helped to grow her own trust in them and the trust an adult acquires in their parents cannot be so easily crushed.
-x
I scanned through the detailed recaps of seasons five, six, nine and ten, none of which mentioned Dylan taking Kelly, Toni, Gina, Val, etc. surfing. From memory, I only remember him doing it with Bren, Bran and (nearly) Erica. If this is wrong, I will stand corrected.
What would you, the readers, like to see happen in this story? I can't guarantee I'll write in every idea, but will certainly take them into account.
As always, thank you for the readership, reviews, favourites and follows! I recently acquired my first review on AO3 for Illumination; FFN readers have been reviewing since chapter one.