A/N: Hey guys! It's been a little while! Sorry about that- Life! haha Enjoy this chapter! Hopefully you enjoy this...something very unexpected is about to happen, so stay tuned. Nothing can be THAT easy for these two...Not on my watch that is... Enjoy!

Simon vs. The Future

Chapter 3

When I woke up, Bram was rolled onto his side facing away from me. I turned onto my back and looked up at the ceiling. I forced myself to get up, and managed a slow trudge to the bathroom. The water for my shower took a few minutes to heat up, but once it did- it was glorious. I stood with my face under the warm water, feeling the comforting pressure of the stream. It felt like the water was washing away all the stress from the week I had bottled up. The proposal wasn't what caused the stress- if anything that was the major highlight of my week. It was what came after the proposal that freaked me out. My mother went into full 'wedding' mode in a matter of two days, and so did Bram's Mom. I love… LOVE that the two of them are such good friends now, but together- they could burn down cities.

The sound of feet shuffling rose from behind the shower curtain, and the toilet lid clinked against the tank, alerting me that Bram was awake.

I wanted to speak up, but I had zoned out completely. I was dead- it seemed. If there was a seat in this shower you bet my ass would be on it. The toilet flushed, and it surprisingly didn't effect the water temperature like usual. The shower curtain rustled back, and Bram slipped in behind me. I faced him to see his lackadaisical sleepy Bram smile. It brought instant joy to me, and I stepped out of the water to wrap my arms around his neck. I clung onto him, hoping he'd hold me up. He did, and we stood happily in each other's embrace. He moved us into the water and we stood in the battering stream as it cascaded down our sides. My head lain against his shoulder for a while, and his cheek pressed up against the back of my head. We swayed, and I wish we could have stayed like this forever.

"How'd you sleep?" he broke the silence. I pushed off of him, and dipped my head back into the water. He slicked back my hair with a gentle brush of his hands. He looked into my eyes, and smiled before placing a chaste kiss to my lips.

"Good, you knocked me out cold," I smirked, thinking about the amazing finish to our night.

"Yeah? I could tell you needed it," he sighed, lathering up a washcloth he spread open in his hand.

"Oh?" I raised my brows. I was that obvious?

"Yeah, you seemed like you'd had enough at dinner. I know you too well, Simon…I mean…I knew getting engaged was going to be stressful for us, but I didn't think it would stress you out this quickly," he frowned, rubbing the cloth to create suds.

"It's not! I promise!" I protested, placing my hands on his chest. He bunched his lips to the corner of his mouth, unimpressed by my words.

"Sure," he spoke in a flat tone. I knew he didn't believe me for a second. I honestly couldn't believe myself if I tried. He took his hand and pinched my shoulder to spin me around. He ran the cloth down my back, using slow strokes to wash me.

"You know, I'm an adult- I can bathe myself?" I teased, looking over my shoulder at him. I turned back to face the water and brought my hands up. The water pooled, and I repeatedly filled my palms and let it flow out.

"I like bathing you, It makes me feel closer to you," I didn't have to peak to know he was smiling.

"Sure it does," I joked. He stepped closer and placed a kiss to my neck.

"It does," he spoke with his lips hovering over the skin. He kissed my neck again before continuing to wash me. I would have eventually taken over, but I didn't feel like it. All power to him- it's less work for me!

"Thank you, that was wonderful," I cooed, wrapping my arms around his neck. I pulled myself closer to him- pressing my chest into his. He held me around my waist, and gazed into my eyes. "Tonight, I'm going to return the favor- so be ready," I tapped his nose before pressing my lips against his. I excited him, but my job was done…until tonight. I left him to finish his shower, so I could start getting ready for the day.

"You know, I can always speak to my mom about toning down the wedding talk?" Bram asked, meeting me in the bedroom. He gripped the towel around his waist, running a hand through his damp hair. I pulled a shirt over my head, and ran some hair product through my mop, or perpetual bedhead, as Bram would say.

"It's really fine, hon. I'm not as worried about it as you think I am. It's going to be fine, and we're going to have a fun time planning this thing- okay?" I assured him. He still didn't seem convinced, but he caved.

"Fine, but if you just so much as come close to a melt down, I'm calling it and we're eloping." Bram shrugged, picking out a pair of underwear from the clean laundry basket by the closet. I meant to fold those clothes and put them away upon Bram's request…oops-I got side tracked...When I say side tracked, I mean I turned on the TV and sat down with a package of Oreo's.

"It's not going to get that way, I promise," I rolled my eyes. He shrugged before heading back into the bathroom. I hesitated to speak, thinking about what I wanted to say next.

"Have you told your dad yet?" I asked finally, and cringed when there was no response. The cabinet door under the sink gave an audible 'thwack' as it shut, and Bram approached the doorframe. He leaned his body out, and sighed.

"I have," he said, "why?"

I fidgeted in place, looking at my sweaty hands. "Um…well, what did he say?"

"He didn't really say much, other than he was happy for us, and that he's looking forward to the wedding." Bram explained before ducking back into the bathroom.

"That's it?" I raised my eyebrows at him.

"You know how my stepmom has gotten with him, Si. He's been weird ever since we started living together."

"I know, but maybe things chan-" I flinched when a loud thud came through the wall and the lights flicked off. Bram shuffled out of the bathroom with his head down, and threw his wet towel in the hamper by the closet door.

"Things did not change, Simon. Okay?" he nearly growled.

"Okay," my voice was soft, and I wanted to punch myself for even bringing it up. It's not like Bram's dad is homophobic, or his stepmom for that matter- it's just simply not something that comes easily for them. Caleb loves me, and couldn't care less that his brother is gay, but Bram worries that he may start to feel the same once he gets older. When we started living together, Bram's dad said it probably was a bad idea and that we would regret it so early in our relationship. We don't regret it, and I can't remember what life was like without Bram in it. I'd be nothing without him, and I just can't see what his dad see's. At first I thought it was because he hated me, but over time I realized he'd get weird when we held hands, or even mentioned something about our relationship- so it was both of us.

Bram approached him about his behavior, sometime after the first thanksgiving when we had just moved in. They had all come over to my parents house, and Bram's mom and Ted included. It was huge for both our families to be under the same roof like that. His stepmom was nice to me at first, but I think it was around the time she walked into the kitchen and caught Bram and I sharing a kiss, did she start ignoring me. Soon after, his dad also gave me the cold shoulder, which really bothered me. I shouldn't have to feel like I'm hiding in my own home.

"B, I'm sorry I brought it up. Let's forget I even mentioned it," I said, facing him. He was standing at the dresser, pulling on a pair of jeans. He did a little hop to pull them over his hips and my heart skipped a beat. Bram exhaled deeply and walked over to his side of the closet to find a shirt. Even on a Saturday, he dressed nicely. He pulled a red polo off a hanger, and tugged it over his head. He pressed out any wrinkles and turned back to look me in the eye. It was short lived when he brushed past me and grabbed his wallet off the dresser. His hand shoved it deep into his back pocket, patting it softly to make sure it was secure.

"Bram," I spoke up. He looked over his shoulder and waited for me to continue. "I'm sorry that he's like this… I wish I could fix it," I admitted.

"…I wish I could too," he frowned. He walked out of our bedroom and I could hear him starting up the coffee pot in the kitchen. The only sound being heard was the perking of the coffee. I wanted to stop him from moving about the kitchen to wrap my arms around him and make the pain go away, but I knew him too well to know that isn't what he wants. He rather sulk in silence for a little bit- reverting back to his quiet Bram days. I let him have his moment, and when he was finally ready to talk he found me in the living room on the couch. He filled in beside me with his coffee, bringing me a cup as well. I offered him a smile, and he gave me one back- not very Bram like, but it was a smile.

"Do you want to-"

"I don't want to talk about it right now, Si. Okay?" he warned.

"I was going to ask, 'do you want to watch something'? I know we'll talk about it when you're ready," I clarified.

"Oh…well, then sure," he nodded, sipping away at the steaming beverage. We sat for a while scanning through the channels, and eventually he started up talking.

"You know what's stupid?" he began. I smiled, knowingly. I muted the TV and turned to him on the couch.

"Tell it to me," I encouraged.

"He's a hypocrite! He was so about me being gay when I first came out! He was fine! You know? But now I'm finally happy in a relationship, and he can't even look at me without feeling grossed out."

"I don't think he's grossed out, Bram. I just think it's one thing to know your son is gay, and another actually seeing it," I offered up. He glared at me, leaning up to place his mug on the table.

Bram narrowed his eyes at me with a scoff, "are you for real taking his side right now?"

"Of course I'm not! I'm on your side- always, but you have to think about it. Elsa isn't exactly the biggest gay advocate, and they both probably feel a type of way about us- no, scratch that- I know they feel a type of way about us."

"Ugh, I somehow always forget your specialty is family and LGBTQ problems," he sighed, placing his head in his hands. I rubbed a hand over his back and deflated into the couch.

"It's never going to be easy for us, and this is just another hurdle. I swear once we're married, and see them more often they might come around. You just have to give them a little time."

"I hope you're right," he sighed, leaning back into me. His head rested on my chest, and his breathing slowed. I laced my fingers through his curls, tenderly pulling at them. I kissed the top of his head before resting my cheek against his head.

"Me too," I whispered. He hugged tight around my waist, relaxing into my side. I smiled at the gesture and wrapped my arms around him. We sat for a while holding each other, eventually refilling our coffee and turning on a movie. Sometime in the afternoon he got a call to show a house, so I made plans with Leah to grab some lunch. I hadn't seen her since we got engaged, so she was pretty excited to talk about it.

The last thing I wanted was to talk about the wedding, but I had to- I can't- not tell Leah details. She'd hold it over my head that I didn't include her.

"So are you going to buy Bram a ring?" she asked, examining the band on my finger.

"I'm thinking about it…I think he might want to pick it out with me though. So I think I'm going to wait. That is of course…could you check with Garrett to see if maybe he already has one picked out?" I asked, with a cheeky grin.

Leah grimaced at me, throwing my hand away from her. "Why would I ask him? It's not like we talk," she rolled her eyes. She dipped her head down, and I could have sworn in that moment she was hiding something.

"Is there something going on?" I ask.

"What? No!" she snaps her head up, and looks as if I just asked her to streak through the restaurant.

"Okay, gosh- only a question. You seem mighty defensive over there!" I raised my hands in defense.

"I'm not," she sighed. "Hey, how did your parents react?" she changed subjects abruptly, fixing the club sandwich on her plate. I ignored her strange behavior- for now, and answered her.

"Great, they were super excited," I explained.

"Obvi, I mean come on. Your parents have been waiting for this day your whole life."

"I wonder how they imagined this day when I was younger," I contemplated, resting my cheek into my fist.

"Probably you marrying me," Leah snorted, dropping a pickle round into her mouth.

"Probably," I said with a laugh back. I shook off the idea of marrying Leah- or even my parents imagining me marrying Leah, and shoved a fry in my mouth.

"Are you okay? For someone who just got engaged, you seem to be lacking that sort of 'glow' everyone gets." Leah questioned, fanning her hands out by her face.

"It's actually a little more stressful than I had anticipated. Like…I'm so excited to be doing this, but my brain won't stop going over everything. My mom doesn't help either- she's planning this thing like it's a straight wedding. Like it's going to be so easy to get everything to work out without a problem," I groaned, resting my fists on the table.

"What exactly is she doing?" she asked.

"First of all, she's talking about making it a beach wedding- so, no. You know I hate the beach. Second of all, she's pretending like everyone is totally on board with us getting married. I know it's been years since gay marriage was made legal, but there are still plenty of people not willing to participate in marrying two guys."

"I think you're thinking too hard into this, Si. This is supposed to be about you marrying the love of your life- it doesn't matter what the day consists of, as long as you're with Bram." Leah shrugs, taking a bite of her sandwich.

"Wow…when did the cynic become the romantic?" I cock my head in her direction, completely floored by the response I never thought I'd get from her.

"I've had time to grow a little bit of a heart. Anyway, just take a breath and relax. It will work out fine- don't worry," Leah assured me.

"You sure?" I ask. I don't sound even the least bit confident.

"Absolutely, and I'm going to make sure of it."

"I'm holding you to that," I warn, wagging my finger at her. She rolls her eyes and we finish lunch. We decide to walk around and shop for a bit, and even peaked into a jewelry store just for fun. It was a bit overwhelming, so I decided to abandon the idea for a while. I have plenty of time to find a ring for him.

"Call me if you feel like you're going off the deep end, okay?" Leah joked, hugging me. I chuckled, and parted our hug wit a nod.

"I'll be sure to do that." We said our goodbyes and parted ways. I drove around for a bit, knowing Bram wouldn't be home for a little while longer. I didn't want to be home alone, so I grabbed an iced coffee and drove around some neighborhoods. Bram has been showing a lot of old houses in this area, and he's been telling me all about them. They are beautiful inside, and sometimes Bram tells me how he can't wait till we can afford to buy our first house. I'm right there with him. Our apartment can feel so small at times, and not that I need a huge house- but I'd like to get out of our hole. Especially if in the future we want to expand our little family.

I turned onto a road that would lead me up to a house so beautiful it takes my breath away. We pass it a lot actually, and it's one of my favorites. Bram said he's shown it a few times, and there is always a bite- but then they pull back for some reason. It's a shame that there are so many things wrong with it cause I'd love to live there. I wouldn't mind fixing it up if that was the case.

It was definitely one of the older houses on the street, which honestly added to its beauty. It was three floors of pale oak hardwood, and white carpets with elegant trim work. The beige siding brought out the sharpness of the white shutters against the front of the house. What brought it all together was the red door that made me fall in love with it in the first place. I don't know why, but it was just… perfect. I could see Bram and I raising a family there, making memories and loving every moment of it…yeah- perfect is exactly what it would be.

I drove a little ways up the road, and looked at a few more houses. Nothing sparked my interest as much as the red door house, so I started off towards home. I was tired of driving around, and Bram was bound to be home by now.

Turning onto the main road was easy today. There was hardly any traffic, which was shocking. The drive was peaceful until my phone began ringing so I answered it through the car.

"Hey, Mom. What's up?" I smiled through my fake happiness.

"Hi, honey. What are you doing?" She asked, sounding exceptionally cheery.

"Oh you know, driving around. I'm headed home from lunch with Leah," I said.

"Nice that sounds fun. Hey listen kiddo, I was just talking to Bram's Mom, and we were thinking that maybe it'd be nice to have the wedding in fall? You know, pumpkin season?"

I instantly rolled my eyes at the words 'wedding', and 'Bram's mom'. I didn't want to talk about this again. I want to go one day wedding free.

"Mom listen, I'm really busy. Let me call you back," I sighed, not even giving her a minute to answer. I hung up the call and sighed heavily. I gripped the steering wheel, and refrained from screaming. The frustration was building, but I couldn't let it get me this upset. She means well, and she's just excited as Leah explained when I went off about her. I happened to glance up in my rear-view mirror to see a cop coming up behind me. I looked down at my speedometer and felt the knot balling in my stomach. Shit. My lead foot was bound to get me in trouble one of these days. His lights went on, and he bleeped his siren to alert me of his presence.

I pulled off and got everything ready for him. Shit. Shit. Shit. I watched from my mirror as he got out of his car and approached my driver's side window.

"Good afternoon, Officer," I greeted him happily. I tried to turn on as much charm as possible.

"Do you have any idea how fast you were going?" he asked, looking in at me. "License and registration, please," he asked finally, extending his hand. I lowered my gaze, and handed over the papers.

"I know, Officer. I'm so sorry. Sometimes I'm not aware of how heavy my foot can get," I admit. He looked at my paperwork, and then at me.

"Where are you headed…Simon?" he asked, looking at my license.

"Home- I was headed home," I sigh, looking up at him.

"You only live around the corner?" he asked, still reading my license.

"Yeah, I do. I was-"

"Wait…Simon Spier? Did you go to Creekwood?" he asked. He lifted his mirrored sunglasses, and placed them atop his baldhead.

"Uh…yeah?" I answered with a questioning tone to my voice.

"Do you remember graduating with a Tonya Loletta?"

"Oh, yeah. She was in my class." I nodded intrigued by the name. I leaned against the windowsill to get a better view of him.

"Yeah, that's my wife. Now she goes by Mrs. Flaggerty, but yeah I was actually a senior when you were a junior. I thought I recognized you. We were at the reunion a few years back," he smiled. I was ready to melt into my seat and disappear.

"Oh? Is that so?" my voice went up a pitch.

He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck nervously, "Yeah…I, uh…really hope you aren't still with that guy that embarrassed you. That was…damn, that was something," he drew in a sharp breath before nodding awkwardly. Oh it was something all right…

"Uh, no. Actually, I'm engaged to Abraham Greenfeld," I said, raising my hand for him to see the ring. It felt weird using his full name, but oddly satisfying.

"Oh shit, no way. That's awesome! So that night actually worked out for you then," he laughed, handing back my registration and ID.

"I'd say," I agreed. "So, Flaggerty…like Paul Flaggerty?" I asked. I remembered only a few football players from high school, and they happened to be the nice guys who never made fun of me.

"Yeah, exactly," he smiled. "That's me," he nodded. I smiled at him, and placed my information in my lap. "It's hard to recognize me with out any hair," he joked, running a hand over his head.

"Ah, nah. You look great, really. I just suck with faces," I chuckled. He waved his hand dismissively, and looked back towards his squad car.

"Hey listen, I have to make it seem like I'm giving you something since you were definitely way over the speed limit, but I'm gonna let you go with a warning."

"Oh, wow. Thanks, Paul, that's so nice of you."

"Yeah, no problem," he smirked, "so what was with the lead foot? You distracted?" Paul asked.

"A little actually…stress," I grinned, raising the ring again.

"Ah, say no more. I totally get that. When Tonya and I got engaged a year ago it was pretty much non-stop wedding crap for months. I thought I was gonna kill her and her mom."

"Yes! That's exactly what it's like, and we've only been engaged for literally not even four days."

"Oh…no, no, no. You need to do what we ended up doing in the end. We should have got him months before, but we didn't realize wedding planners still existed. Actually, it's Tonya's cousin who we had no idea was even in the business."

"Wedding planner?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, he was amazing. He handled everything, and we didn't have to do a thing. I had no idea what the difference between 'egg shell' and 'crème' was until he came into the picture. Our stress levels went way down once he took over."

"Shit, I think I need to take you up on that," I scrambled for paper and a pen. "Do you have the name, or a number?" I asked, getting ready to write it down.

"Uh, yeah. I don't have his number on me, but I can tell you his name is Francis Perla."

"Great! Thank you so much, you don't know how much I'm ready to run away from this whole thing."

"Oh, yeah, dude. Your wedding should be enjoyable. It shouldn't be a constant headache," he shook his head, tapping at the paper I just wrote the guys name down on. "This is how you stay stress free. Fran will take care of you, don't worry. Say you know me. He specializes in gay weddings too, so honestly you can't go wrong."

"That sounds so great, Paul. Thanks a lot," I shook hands with him. He gave me my verbal 'warning' about speeding and let me on my way.

When I got home, I quickly pulled him up on my laptop and started gathering all the information I needed. He owns a place in town amongst some small businesses. I got the location, and wrote the number down, so I could call him Monday during my break to set up an appointment. Bram came home shortly after, and I filled him in about everything. He was shocked to see me even remotely happy about something wedding related. We discussed most of it over dinner, and by time I was done talking about it, we were getting ready for bed.

"I think it sounds like a great idea, babe. Definitely call Monday, and see when he can meet with us," Bram said, walking over to his side of the bed. He was rubbing lotion over his arms, watching me from the bedside. I was stuck on my computer looking at pictures from the past wedding's he has done. They were beautiful, and I honestly couldn't believe the amount of detail he's able to cover. I feel so good about this already.

"I will! I'm excited!" I exclaimed, pushing my glasses up to their rightful spot on my nose. Bram climbed into bed, and pulled the covers over his lap.

"Babe," Bram spoke up. I kept my eyes on the screen, scrolling down the page.

"What?" I asked.

"Babe…" Bram chuckled softly. He reached across the pillows, and removed my glasses slowly. It broke me from my trance and I turned to see him biting the lower left corner of his lip. He folded up my glasses, and placed them on his nightstand. He closed my laptop, and pushed it to the end of the bed.

"Did you forget something?" he bounced his eyebrows. Oh this boy and his beautiful face. I can't get over how handsome he is sometimes, and how lucky I am to have him for myself.

"Oh…right," I blushed, remembering my promise I made him this morning. I was to return the favor tonight.

"Oh, you forgot- did you?" Bram playfully scoffed.

"No, no…I just was waiting for the best time," I joked, slinking down in my place on the bed. Bram lifted the sheet to cover both of us, and moved to be on top of me. He covered my face with kisses, smothering me slowly with his body weight.

"Bram!" I squealed, trying to get away from his kisses. He giggled at my reaction, and kissed me more. I eventually pushed him off and took my place on top of him.

"Oh you're going to get it," I warned.

"Good," Bram teased, biting back at me.

Oh this beautiful boy.

A/N: Hmm...Let's see where this goes, shall we? haha please let me know what you think!