Brian was ecstatic.

This was probably the happiest he'd felt in a long time. The last few months had only consisted out of dark holes and scary thoughts, this felt like he finally reached the light at the end of the tunnel.

To simply put it, Brian was in love.

Yes, it was probably ridiculous and childish and whatever words you can think of, but for Brian it meant just a little extra energy to get out of bed each morning. It felt so right, and lately nothing had felt alright or okay to him. This was a really nice change, and Brian welcomed it with open arms.

His best friend Eric wasn't as happy as Brian was about it though. Of course, the blond was glad that Brian was feeling better again, it hurt to see Brian close in on himself once again and neglect his hygiene for months on end. There was just something about the situation that felt off to Eric. Maybe it was the guy that Brian was crushing on, maybe it was the way they seemed to meet up and afterwards Brian wouldn't hear from him for days.

Eric had tried explaining gently to him that he was a walking red flag, but even though Brian usually hated the color red, it seemed to be his favorite color at the moment. Brian didn't listen to him, and even though Eric desperately wanted him to, he couldn't blame the brunet for it. This was the happiest he'd been in weeks, and for Eric to just try to kill it off was ridiculous. But Eric never stopped trying, even if it ended in a fight.

This went on for weeks. Brian was completely on cloud nine, and Eric still didn't trust the guy for one bit. So when Brian called Eric late at night, the first thought that entered his mind was that something horrible had happened.

Well, you could say something like that.

Turned out, Brian wasn't a virgin no longer.

Like any other person would be, Brian was over the moon. Eric, however, wasn't. This was foolish and ridiculous in his opinion, but Eric kept his mouth shut. He plastered on a smile and like a true best friend kept asking for more details until it got nauseating. When Eric asked him what this meant for Brian and his 'dream guy', the brunet suddenly got all vague and said that it meant nothing much and they'd agreed to just stay friends with occasional benefits.

Eric was livid.

How could this beautiful soul and the kindest man on earth agree to that? To basically being used? Especially when he confessed to Eric that he did have feelings? Brian explained it didn't really matter to him that much even if he was putting his own feelings on the line, he was just glad for the opportunity to be close to him. Eric knew him better than that though. He knew that this would mean nothing more than heartbreak in the end, even if Brian didn't want to believe it yet. Friends with benefits never worked. But he couldn't do anything, he could only stand back and watch the car crash happen. Of course, he tried to warn Brian about it, but he simply didn't want to listen. Eric sighed and ended the phone called after telling Brian to get home safe and discovering 'Mr. Dream Guy' was giving him a ride home, actually.

As the weeks passed by, Brian and Mr. Dream Guy got closer, while Eric and Brian drifted more and more apart. For some reason, Eric had a hard time being there for Brian while also knowing what the brunet was doing to himself. When Brian tried to call him out for it, it caused a fight between the pair. It was pretty rough on them to simply not be attached to the hip anymore, but both were too proud to admit their mistakes.

Eric watched as Mr. Dream Guy and Brian got even closer after their fight. Once Katherin told him how she heard from Eve that Brian trusted the guy enough to open up about his mental health issues, Eric was fuming. It seemed like even though Brian had a hard time opening up to his best friend, as a matter of fact, he was perfectly fine with giving his heart to a playboy. This hurt the blond, of course it did. Suddenly there's this perfect new guy in Brian's life that he confides in with his problems and Eric is basically shoved away and no longer any good? This was getting ridiculous. Brian clearly wasn't seeing the real Mr. Dream Guy, the red flags eric did see.

Exactly one month passed by, and everyone around the pair was starting to get nervous. Would they ever be able to make up? Would they stay friends? Despite the desperate tries of Eric's family and their mutual friends, the two friends wouldn't even look each other in the eye.

That was, however, until Brian showed up on Eric's doorstep, tears streaming down his face.

"What the fuck happened?" Eric said, as he ushered Brian inside. The other boy could barely take any breaths between his cries.

"He, he, he-, Eric." Brian stuttered, having trouble keeping all of his bottled up feelings inside. He didn't expect it to hurt this much, and absolutely hated himself for not seeing this coming. He could have, he was just blinded by what he thought was love. Of course he saw the red flags, couldn't look around them actually, but he chose to actively ignore them. God, he'd been so stupid. Losing his best friend over some stupid boy that he knew would only break his heart in the end? Brian felt miserable and ashamed of his actions.

"Deep breaths, B, take deep breaths for me." They were still standing in the hallway, but it didn't bother them. They seemed to fall back into their old habits as if nothing ever changed. Eric wouldn't let him move until Brian got some grip again. Although, it was very clear that he wouldn't get any anytime soon.

After following Eric's instructions and attempting to calm down a bit, Brian tried again. "He fucking used me." was the only thing he could get out before cries overtook his voice once again.

Eric felt his heart break in a million pieces for the boy in front of him. He quickly pulled him into a tight hug, promising to himself and his best friend that he would never let go again, no matter how hard Brian tried to push him away. "I'm so sorry, B."

"He fucking used me, and he wasn't even sorry about it. I told him I had feelings for him despite knowing we didn't stand a chance, even acknowledging that. But suddenly I was the villain and he went on and on about how I wasn't even his type. How he used me for 'both' of our pleasures. That I shouldn't bother him anymore as that's all i did apparently and especially to tell my friends what an asshole he was, because I was telling them so much already. He's such a fucking asshole but I'm still trying to see the good in him. What's wrong with me, Eric? He broke my heart and I'm still trying to justify his idiotic behavior and actions. Doesn't that make me stupid?" Brian poured out everything he hadn't said in fear people would judge him into Eric's shoulder. The only place where he felt more comfortable than anywhere else.

Eric didn't say anything, just rubbed his back and kept soothing him with little kisses onto his hair. He kept quiet because he wasn't sure what would come out of his mouth. He knew words wouldn't comfort Brian right now, but also desperately wanted to ask for an address of this stupid guy. Eric was sure he would go all kind of crazy on this guy if he found him.

He would probably still do that, but maybe a few days later, when it wasn't so fresh for Brian. When he would, Eric knew he could count on Katherin for backup, if needed that is.

"And do you want to know the most fucked up thing? It's that I felt at ease around him. I felt comfortable in a way I've never felt before. Last time when i was over at his house and we were lying in bed I told him about my problems. About the voice in my head constantly telling me I'm not good enough, that everybody wishes I wouldn't be like this, that my friends secretly hate me and are just acting nice out of misery. You know what he did? He took my hands, looked me straight in the eye, and told me that I was good enough. For some strange reason I wanted to believe him, I wanted to believe him so badly, Eric. I've never listened to anybody when they say that, because it feels like they're feeding me lies, but when he said those exact same words it felt so true to me. I was so close to finally feeling like I indeed was good enough the last few weeks, ever since our talk. And right when I'm almost there, he breaks all we had and stumps all over my heart too."

Eric decided he would definitely need backup.

He couldn't believe how much this guy fucked up so badly it hurt Brian this much. Eric had been so proud to see Brian get a little better day by day, even if they weren't on speaking terms. For this guy to just crash into their lives and run over every bit of progress they'd made the past few months was ridiculous. He had no right to do so. Eric was absolutely fuming.

"I hate myself so much for trusting him, for believing him when I know I shouldn't have. Because to be honest, I saw every red flag u tried to whip in front of me miles away, but I simply ignored them. Why? I don't know, because it felt nice to have something like this, I guess. I hate how I still want his arms around me right now, to give me the comfort that I felt around him. And it's so stupid, I know, but I still don't understand how this could have happened. He was always so nice and kind and gentle to me, and never made me feel like I was a burden. I still remember when I told him that I felt like he was using me for sex and you want to know what he said? He answered, and i quote, 'I'd never throw you away like trash, Brian'. Except he quite literally did."

"Brian, listen to me very carefully, okay? This man had no right to do what he did, to just use you and disregard you like this is not okay. You are worth far more than that, hell you're worth more than a million bucks could pay for. You're worth the world, and so much more. I will not say 'I told you so', because I know that's not what you need right now. I want you to know, however, that I'm always here for you, especially now and on bad days. I don't care if it's 3 am in the morning, or I'm in this important class, or I'm at ballet or whatever I could be doing in that moment. You're far more important than any of those things. Nothing and no one could ever replace you. I know it's going to take a while to get over this stupid guy, but you got to let this motherfucker go and live your best life. Even if it's just to make him jealous of how you're on top of the world, because, Brian, you are most definitely good enough. Hell, you're better than any person on this planet. You're my best friend, and I, for one, love you just the way you are."

Brian sniffed as he squeezed Eric even tighter so he couldn't possibly breathe, but the blond didn't seem to mind. A soft "I love you too." was muttered into Eric's ear, before Brian stared crying again.

Eric held him close the entire night. Let the brunet fall asleep in his arms after he confessed the crying had exhausted him to the point where he could barely keep his eyes open. He promised he'd be there when Brian would wake up, and it seemed to give him the piece of comfort he needed to fall asleep. Eric had known this would happen, but still didn't prevent this even if he could have. He blamed himself for letting it get this far, but was far too angry on Mr not so dream guy after all. Brian wasn't a fool for wanting this little silly fling, for believing in it. Brian believed in the old fairytale love, and was hoping this could have been his happy ending. For someone to just love him the way he was, to love him in a romantic way, was something the brunet had been wanting for a while now. It pained Eric to see that Brian would throw himself onto this road where a car crash would clearly happen instead of just opening his eyes and giving the blond a chance. Because gods would be damned, but Eric loved Brian more than he could possibly imagine. Eric wanted to be that guy for him. Because if Eric was being honest, being able to call Brian his boyfriend instead of his best friend sounded like a dream. One he desperately wanted to come true.

But not now. Not when Brian just got his heart broken by some stupid guy that wasn't even worth it in the first place. Brian was like a beautiful work of art that needed to be handled with care, admired for its beauty. Eric would wait until it was the right moment to confess his feelings, one where he felt like both of them were ready to take this next step into their relationship. Eric would wait forever if that meant he would be together with his one true love in the end. He would wait until Brian was ready, and if that meant forever, then so be it.

Because in the end, Brian was the one he wanted the most, and there was a slight chance he could possibly get him if he waited long enough.