Fic: The New Normal: Put a Ring on It (Bryan/David, PG)
I wrote in a new fandom! What?
Oh, god, this wasn't what I was planning on writing this week, but last night it quite literally got me out of bed to write whole swaths of it, because Bryan wouldn't stop talking in my head. I liked this week's The New Normal so much. I'm not, you know, leaving any fandoms behind or even planning on diving into writing TNN all that much, but I have a huge soft spot for characters with strong voices and real emotional moments with an overlay of humor. And sometimes they take over a little.
Sorry about the title. I just... had to.
Special thanks to stoney321 for laughing in all of the right places.
(Are there even places to post this fic? I don't know! LOL)
Title: "Put a Ring on It" [on the AO3]
Author: flaming muse
Fandom: The New Normal
Pairings: Bryan/David
Rating: PG
Word count: 2000
Summary: There are dreams you have to give up. It’s just part of the process of growing up.
Spoilers: episode tag for 1x06 (“Bryanzilla”), no spoilers beyond
Disclaimers: The characters belong to various corporate Powers That Be. I make absolutely no profit from playing with them.
Distribution: Please ask.
Feedback is lovely!
There are dreams you have to give up. It’s just part of the process of growing up. For Bryan it meant giving up the idea of becoming Regis Philbin’s co-host (darn that Kelly Ripa for being so cute and personable and for having such good taste in shoes that it was impossible for Bryan to hate her), being secret best friends with Molly Ringwald and Debbie Gibson, and having a lavish wedding with the man of his dreams.
And that was okay, really, because he grew up into a pretty great reality of his own, and the man of his dreams turned out to be David, who was sweet and kind and smart and who had been special from nearly the first second Bryan had laid eyes on him, because dorky glasses and untamed hair could be fixed under his expert guidance but there was no plastic surgery advanced enough to give someone a good heart. Well, besides heart surgery, but you couldn’t exactly go get that done as an elective procedure, and even if you did it’s not like it would really make you a better person.
So Bryan had tucked away his dreams of a wedding alongside some of the other wishes that would never come true, because David didn’t want a ceremony without legal standing, and Bryan wanted David. And if it turned out over the past few days that David didn’t seem to want a ceremony even with legal standing and paperwork... well, Bryan still wanted David more than a lifelike cake topper and monogrammed his and his fingertip towels to put on a gift registry.
It hurt, because Bryan loved him and even more importantly loved weddings, but it was okay. He’d rather have David as he was than have a wedding but spend his life with someone else. If David didn’t want a wedding, if he didn’t see the point or if he had never pictured it as being a part of his life because for so long it just hadn’t been an option for them, well, it was okay. Bryan was a grown-up.
But then suddenly there were flowers and candles and tiny baby fingers on the monitor and David on his knee, and Bryan could hardly believe it. Except that he could, because David might not care at all about weddings, but Bryan had never doubted from the very first night that David cared about him. He was a good person, a kind person. David loved him with all of his heart, and he loved this family they were starting, too. David would do anything for what they had and were creating. It was one of the reasons Bryan had picked him in the first place.
That and his gorgeous eyes, which happened to be shining during the proposal like Bryan hung the moon and the stars in the sky. Bryan had never been able to resist his eyes, not that he’d really ever tried.
So it was easy to get overwhelmed by the magic of the moment, but it was also easy to forget about Goldie and the weird medical office disinfectant smell not quite masked by the flowers. It was easy to look into David’s warm eyes and let his own heart speak with quiet sincerity and say yes without artifice or giddy laughter. He could just say yes, person to person, man to man. Because Bryan wanted everything important David has given him so far - a partner, a life, a foundation, and a family (he could overlook the little gifts he’d gotten wrong over the years, because everyone needed to be trained and because it turned out with enough determination good taste could be taught) - and now David was giving him a wedding, too.
And even better a husband.
Bryan was pretty sure husband trumped wedding, but that might only have been because David was kissing him breathless. No, no, husband was better, because what he wanted was that big, wonderful, official forever. And anyway, he and his husband could display the cake topper in the living room long after the big, triumphant day. And maybe their incredibly chic bespoke wedding suits, too, if they could get life-sized mannequins that looked enough like them. David’s jawline might be hard to replicate.
Bryan smiled into the kiss and wrapped his arms more tightly around David. They were getting married, he thought with another burst of joy. There was a sense of rightness and permanence to it Bryan had been trying to ignore wanting for a long time, because in the grand scheme of things he could have just the same life with David without the ceremony and party, but now he didn’t have to. He got to have it all. “I love you,” he murmured, grateful beyond words, and when did that ever happen?
“I love you, too,” David said with that quiet, gravely thing his voice did when he was feeling really emotional. It always made Bryan’s stomach flip and spin.
“I know. I have the gigantic candy ring to prove it!” Bryan smiled a little more and kissed him again.
After a few more kisses, Goldie cleared her throat. “I don’t mean to interrupt,” she said hesitantly, “but, um, I kind of really have to pee. Pregnancy hormones.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, sweetie. I guess we got carried away. Here.” David pulled away, his hand drifting down Bryan’s back before he went to grab the ultrasound paddle from Goldie. Bryan watched the picture of their child disappear from the screen with a little twist of sadness, and David got a towel and wiped the gel off of Goldie’s stomach. “It’s just down the hall. Do you want me to show you?”
“I know where it is,” Goldie said, smiling at them both. She adjusted her gown and got down from the table. “I’ll just...” She gestured at the door. “I’ll let myself out. You guys have a good night.”
“Thank you for coming,” David said.
Her smile grew even wider. “I’m glad I could help. Congratulations.”
“Thanks, honey,” Bryan said, and she waved and slipped out the door.
As David cleaned off and shut down the ultrasound or whatever it was he was doing that he probably had a staff for, only he was too responsible to leave it ‘til the morning, Bryan looked at the huge ring on his finger. He twirled it a little and hoped it was sticky from the heat of his body and not because it had been Shania’s and had been sucked on. As much as he loved her, that would take away some of the glow of the moment. This was supposed to be his ring. Sort of.
“You okay?” David asked softly, and Bryan looked up to see him watching him with a sweet tenderness in his eyes.
“I’m perfect,” Bryan promised with a nod. If he sounded a little choked up or shell-shocked, well, he was allowed. He hadn’t seen this coming, and he usually had a sixth sense about anything that had to do with a fabulous party. “Absolutely perfect.”
David smiled and ducked his head with a sort of self-conscious pleasure, that adorable dork Bryan first met still in there sometimes in the best way.
That adorable dork was his fiancé. And he was going to be his husband.
Bryan was going to get that dream after all, and it was going to be with David, his best friend, the best person he knew, who somehow loved him so much he’d start a family and do all of this for him, too. He looked down at his ring again. He was so happy, and there was no way he was eating his feelings because he was going to have this thing bronzed or gilded or encased in a cube of clear acrylic to be preserved forever.
This was actually happening.
The reality of life could be harder than he’d dreamed it would be, and a lot of people still didn’t approve of or accept him - them - every single day, sometimes directly to his face. But David did. David accepted all of him, even this part of him.
And he had the ring to prove it.
“I know it’s not - I mean, I don’t expect you to wear that,” David said with a laugh.
“Don’t you dare touch my engagement ring,” Bryan insisted, clutching his hand to his chest to protect it. “There are no take-backs on proposals, mister.”
“I’m not. It’s obviously a placeholder, though.” David began to blow out a few of the candles. “I thought you might like to be a part of picking out the real one.”
“Oh, absolutely,” Bryan said, and when David held out his arms he slipped into them easily the way he’d always fit there. He admired his enormous candy ring behind David’s head, turning his hand this way and that to catch it from the best angle. It really was a showstopper, or it would have been if it weren’t made of sugar. “Can this be the actual size of the diamond? Because if we’re fulfilling lifelong dreams tonight I'd really like to give Elizabeth Taylor's accessories a run for their money.”
David laughed again and leaned in to kiss him. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Bryan said. He perked up, his hopes rising. “Is that a yes?”
“I'm saying yes to you. Not a diamond the size of a golf ball.”
Bryan pouted a little. He knew it wasn’t really fashionable for men to wear gaudy jewels, but surely Liberace would come back into fashion at some point soon. “Would it help if I got down on one knee?”
“Not really,” David told him in that adoring way that always melted Bryan’s heart. “We’re having a baby. We have to start saving for college. And all of the designer clothes you’re going to be buying for him or her for years to come.”
“Oh, fine,” Bryan said, stepping away and drifting a little around the room, looking at the flowers as visions of baby clothes began to dance in his head. “Be practical.” It was one of the things he loved about David, except for when it got in the way of his dreams.
Still, he’d had a huge dream come true tonight, one that could only be made better if it were legal in California. He could afford to be generous about the dreams that he wasn’t so lucky about getting. Sometimes you had to deal with the fact that things weren’t going to work out the way you wanted. Sometimes you just didn’t get to out-shine Elizabeth Taylor or sit beside Regis before he retired.
A thought struck. A brilliant, perfect, ratings-grabbing, dream-fulfilling thought.
“Come on. Let’s go have dinner,” David said after he blew out the last of the candles.
“One second,” Bryan said, pulling out his phone.
David stopped with his hand on the light switch. “What are you doing?”
“Calling Rocky.” Bryan pushed her name in his contacts and wasn’t all that surprised when his call went straight to her voicemail. She’d been pushing for crazy things recently like time off for doctor’s appointments and sleep.
“Right now?” David asked with a frown. “We just got engaged. And I might want to tell my mother before you announce - “
Bryan held up a finger to motion him to wait. “Rocky, hi. First thing in the morning, I want you to call Debbie Gibson’s people and see what her availability is in January and February. I have the perfect five-episode arc for her in the back half of the season. Drama, passion, and the chance for her to sing at least one of her own songs. Maybe two. As long as it isn’t ‘Shake Your Love.’ Get back to me.”
“What are you - ?” David started to ask.
Bryan slipped his hand around David’s waist and guided him toward the door. “It’s a night for making dreams come true,” he said with a smile on his lips, a lift in his step, and about ten thousand amazing plans he could start to make reality.
~end~
Oh, god, this wasn't what I was planning on writing this week, but last night it quite literally got me out of bed to write whole swaths of it, because Bryan wouldn't stop talking in my head. I liked this week's The New Normal so much. I'm not, you know, leaving any fandoms behind or even planning on diving into writing TNN all that much, but I have a huge soft spot for characters with strong voices and real emotional moments with an overlay of humor. And sometimes they take over a little.
Sorry about the title. I just... had to.
Special thanks to stoney321 for laughing in all of the right places.
(Are there even places to post this fic? I don't know! LOL)
Title: "Put a Ring on It" [on the AO3]
Author: flaming muse
Fandom: The New Normal
Pairings: Bryan/David
Rating: PG
Word count: 2000
Summary: There are dreams you have to give up. It’s just part of the process of growing up.
Spoilers: episode tag for 1x06 (“Bryanzilla”), no spoilers beyond
Disclaimers: The characters belong to various corporate Powers That Be. I make absolutely no profit from playing with them.
Distribution: Please ask.
Feedback is lovely!
There are dreams you have to give up. It’s just part of the process of growing up. For Bryan it meant giving up the idea of becoming Regis Philbin’s co-host (darn that Kelly Ripa for being so cute and personable and for having such good taste in shoes that it was impossible for Bryan to hate her), being secret best friends with Molly Ringwald and Debbie Gibson, and having a lavish wedding with the man of his dreams.
And that was okay, really, because he grew up into a pretty great reality of his own, and the man of his dreams turned out to be David, who was sweet and kind and smart and who had been special from nearly the first second Bryan had laid eyes on him, because dorky glasses and untamed hair could be fixed under his expert guidance but there was no plastic surgery advanced enough to give someone a good heart. Well, besides heart surgery, but you couldn’t exactly go get that done as an elective procedure, and even if you did it’s not like it would really make you a better person.
So Bryan had tucked away his dreams of a wedding alongside some of the other wishes that would never come true, because David didn’t want a ceremony without legal standing, and Bryan wanted David. And if it turned out over the past few days that David didn’t seem to want a ceremony even with legal standing and paperwork... well, Bryan still wanted David more than a lifelike cake topper and monogrammed his and his fingertip towels to put on a gift registry.
It hurt, because Bryan loved him and even more importantly loved weddings, but it was okay. He’d rather have David as he was than have a wedding but spend his life with someone else. If David didn’t want a wedding, if he didn’t see the point or if he had never pictured it as being a part of his life because for so long it just hadn’t been an option for them, well, it was okay. Bryan was a grown-up.
But then suddenly there were flowers and candles and tiny baby fingers on the monitor and David on his knee, and Bryan could hardly believe it. Except that he could, because David might not care at all about weddings, but Bryan had never doubted from the very first night that David cared about him. He was a good person, a kind person. David loved him with all of his heart, and he loved this family they were starting, too. David would do anything for what they had and were creating. It was one of the reasons Bryan had picked him in the first place.
That and his gorgeous eyes, which happened to be shining during the proposal like Bryan hung the moon and the stars in the sky. Bryan had never been able to resist his eyes, not that he’d really ever tried.
So it was easy to get overwhelmed by the magic of the moment, but it was also easy to forget about Goldie and the weird medical office disinfectant smell not quite masked by the flowers. It was easy to look into David’s warm eyes and let his own heart speak with quiet sincerity and say yes without artifice or giddy laughter. He could just say yes, person to person, man to man. Because Bryan wanted everything important David has given him so far - a partner, a life, a foundation, and a family (he could overlook the little gifts he’d gotten wrong over the years, because everyone needed to be trained and because it turned out with enough determination good taste could be taught) - and now David was giving him a wedding, too.
And even better a husband.
Bryan was pretty sure husband trumped wedding, but that might only have been because David was kissing him breathless. No, no, husband was better, because what he wanted was that big, wonderful, official forever. And anyway, he and his husband could display the cake topper in the living room long after the big, triumphant day. And maybe their incredibly chic bespoke wedding suits, too, if they could get life-sized mannequins that looked enough like them. David’s jawline might be hard to replicate.
Bryan smiled into the kiss and wrapped his arms more tightly around David. They were getting married, he thought with another burst of joy. There was a sense of rightness and permanence to it Bryan had been trying to ignore wanting for a long time, because in the grand scheme of things he could have just the same life with David without the ceremony and party, but now he didn’t have to. He got to have it all. “I love you,” he murmured, grateful beyond words, and when did that ever happen?
“I love you, too,” David said with that quiet, gravely thing his voice did when he was feeling really emotional. It always made Bryan’s stomach flip and spin.
“I know. I have the gigantic candy ring to prove it!” Bryan smiled a little more and kissed him again.
After a few more kisses, Goldie cleared her throat. “I don’t mean to interrupt,” she said hesitantly, “but, um, I kind of really have to pee. Pregnancy hormones.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, sweetie. I guess we got carried away. Here.” David pulled away, his hand drifting down Bryan’s back before he went to grab the ultrasound paddle from Goldie. Bryan watched the picture of their child disappear from the screen with a little twist of sadness, and David got a towel and wiped the gel off of Goldie’s stomach. “It’s just down the hall. Do you want me to show you?”
“I know where it is,” Goldie said, smiling at them both. She adjusted her gown and got down from the table. “I’ll just...” She gestured at the door. “I’ll let myself out. You guys have a good night.”
“Thank you for coming,” David said.
Her smile grew even wider. “I’m glad I could help. Congratulations.”
“Thanks, honey,” Bryan said, and she waved and slipped out the door.
As David cleaned off and shut down the ultrasound or whatever it was he was doing that he probably had a staff for, only he was too responsible to leave it ‘til the morning, Bryan looked at the huge ring on his finger. He twirled it a little and hoped it was sticky from the heat of his body and not because it had been Shania’s and had been sucked on. As much as he loved her, that would take away some of the glow of the moment. This was supposed to be his ring. Sort of.
“You okay?” David asked softly, and Bryan looked up to see him watching him with a sweet tenderness in his eyes.
“I’m perfect,” Bryan promised with a nod. If he sounded a little choked up or shell-shocked, well, he was allowed. He hadn’t seen this coming, and he usually had a sixth sense about anything that had to do with a fabulous party. “Absolutely perfect.”
David smiled and ducked his head with a sort of self-conscious pleasure, that adorable dork Bryan first met still in there sometimes in the best way.
That adorable dork was his fiancé. And he was going to be his husband.
Bryan was going to get that dream after all, and it was going to be with David, his best friend, the best person he knew, who somehow loved him so much he’d start a family and do all of this for him, too. He looked down at his ring again. He was so happy, and there was no way he was eating his feelings because he was going to have this thing bronzed or gilded or encased in a cube of clear acrylic to be preserved forever.
This was actually happening.
The reality of life could be harder than he’d dreamed it would be, and a lot of people still didn’t approve of or accept him - them - every single day, sometimes directly to his face. But David did. David accepted all of him, even this part of him.
And he had the ring to prove it.
“I know it’s not - I mean, I don’t expect you to wear that,” David said with a laugh.
“Don’t you dare touch my engagement ring,” Bryan insisted, clutching his hand to his chest to protect it. “There are no take-backs on proposals, mister.”
“I’m not. It’s obviously a placeholder, though.” David began to blow out a few of the candles. “I thought you might like to be a part of picking out the real one.”
“Oh, absolutely,” Bryan said, and when David held out his arms he slipped into them easily the way he’d always fit there. He admired his enormous candy ring behind David’s head, turning his hand this way and that to catch it from the best angle. It really was a showstopper, or it would have been if it weren’t made of sugar. “Can this be the actual size of the diamond? Because if we’re fulfilling lifelong dreams tonight I'd really like to give Elizabeth Taylor's accessories a run for their money.”
David laughed again and leaned in to kiss him. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Bryan said. He perked up, his hopes rising. “Is that a yes?”
“I'm saying yes to you. Not a diamond the size of a golf ball.”
Bryan pouted a little. He knew it wasn’t really fashionable for men to wear gaudy jewels, but surely Liberace would come back into fashion at some point soon. “Would it help if I got down on one knee?”
“Not really,” David told him in that adoring way that always melted Bryan’s heart. “We’re having a baby. We have to start saving for college. And all of the designer clothes you’re going to be buying for him or her for years to come.”
“Oh, fine,” Bryan said, stepping away and drifting a little around the room, looking at the flowers as visions of baby clothes began to dance in his head. “Be practical.” It was one of the things he loved about David, except for when it got in the way of his dreams.
Still, he’d had a huge dream come true tonight, one that could only be made better if it were legal in California. He could afford to be generous about the dreams that he wasn’t so lucky about getting. Sometimes you had to deal with the fact that things weren’t going to work out the way you wanted. Sometimes you just didn’t get to out-shine Elizabeth Taylor or sit beside Regis before he retired.
A thought struck. A brilliant, perfect, ratings-grabbing, dream-fulfilling thought.
“Come on. Let’s go have dinner,” David said after he blew out the last of the candles.
“One second,” Bryan said, pulling out his phone.
David stopped with his hand on the light switch. “What are you doing?”
“Calling Rocky.” Bryan pushed her name in his contacts and wasn’t all that surprised when his call went straight to her voicemail. She’d been pushing for crazy things recently like time off for doctor’s appointments and sleep.
“Right now?” David asked with a frown. “We just got engaged. And I might want to tell my mother before you announce - “
Bryan held up a finger to motion him to wait. “Rocky, hi. First thing in the morning, I want you to call Debbie Gibson’s people and see what her availability is in January and February. I have the perfect five-episode arc for her in the back half of the season. Drama, passion, and the chance for her to sing at least one of her own songs. Maybe two. As long as it isn’t ‘Shake Your Love.’ Get back to me.”
“What are you - ?” David started to ask.
Bryan slipped his hand around David’s waist and guided him toward the door. “It’s a night for making dreams come true,” he said with a smile on his lips, a lift in his step, and about ten thousand amazing plans he could start to make reality.
~end~