RP: 35
Date: January 30, 2012
Characters: Brendon Collins
Location: The Hawthorne
Status: Private
Summary: He was thirty-five now and, bloody hell, how the last year had changed his life.
Completion: Complete
Birthdays.
For most people, the day signified the day of their birth, the celebration of their life, and people surrounding them with love and affection (presents if they were lucky).
That was for most people.
For the first fifteen years of Brendon's life, his birthday hadn't been much of a big deal. Not something Brendon felt that he needed to celebrate or do something on. Alex's birthday was something they celebrated and did something special for - whether it was sneaking into concerts, finding/stealing something good to eat or just hanging out together -- they always managed to do something. As with Alex's birthday, he had never known what day he was actually born on, but they had chosen a day to represent the day of his birth. Whether it was his actual birth date, he would never know but somehow, the end of January always seemed right.
When Lucas and he filed the paperwork to officially have papers, it was the date he told Lucas was his birthday. While official (if only on paper), Brendon hardly ever celebrated his birthday. Those who had been and were close to him - regulars, Courtney, Graham and Lucas had always found some way of celebrating or doing something nice for him. After Lucas passed, it had been the Courtney and the regulars who had continued with the tradition.
Things were much different this year.
This time last year, Brendon could say for certain that he hadn't been half the man that he was now. He had had a chip on his shoulder the size of the United Kingdom, had worked too much than was healthy and had used work, sex and alcohol as a means of escape (more of the first two than the latter).
Now -- now he had someone in his life that he cared about more than he'd ever cared for another person romantically. He had a family that he loved spending time with and just enjoyed life a lot more. He didn't find himself hardly sleeping anymore and when he did, it was because he was writing or doing something else that was far more enjoyable than tossing and turning.
Running into and the subsequent blow out and conclusion with Alex had been just what Brendon needed to turn his life around. It had been hard, yes but ultimately, Brendon felt it did him a lot more good than not.
It was surprising to know that in two days, it would be the year anniversary of their first run in after years of separation and in fifteen days, it'll be a year since their fight.
It had been a tough year but looking back on it - there wasn't a single thing he would have done differently. Sure, things hadn't gone exactly as he'd expect them to but...he was happy with where he was and where his relationship with Rico was going and where his relationship with Lucia and Rico's family was. Maggie had become like a surrogate mother to him over the last year and none of that could have been possible if Brendon hadn't been ready and hadn't been willing to take that step.
There was still a lot he wanted to do and accomplish this year - finish his first novel and get it published, expand and improve upon the bar and of course, travel and experience life more with Rico and Lucia.
For the first time, Brendon could say that he was looking forward to the upcoming year.
Characters: Brendon Collins
Location: The Hawthorne
Status: Private
Summary: He was thirty-five now and, bloody hell, how the last year had changed his life.
Completion: Complete
Birthdays.
For most people, the day signified the day of their birth, the celebration of their life, and people surrounding them with love and affection (presents if they were lucky).
That was for most people.
For the first fifteen years of Brendon's life, his birthday hadn't been much of a big deal. Not something Brendon felt that he needed to celebrate or do something on. Alex's birthday was something they celebrated and did something special for - whether it was sneaking into concerts, finding/stealing something good to eat or just hanging out together -- they always managed to do something. As with Alex's birthday, he had never known what day he was actually born on, but they had chosen a day to represent the day of his birth. Whether it was his actual birth date, he would never know but somehow, the end of January always seemed right.
When Lucas and he filed the paperwork to officially have papers, it was the date he told Lucas was his birthday. While official (if only on paper), Brendon hardly ever celebrated his birthday. Those who had been and were close to him - regulars, Courtney, Graham and Lucas had always found some way of celebrating or doing something nice for him. After Lucas passed, it had been the Courtney and the regulars who had continued with the tradition.
Things were much different this year.
This time last year, Brendon could say for certain that he hadn't been half the man that he was now. He had had a chip on his shoulder the size of the United Kingdom, had worked too much than was healthy and had used work, sex and alcohol as a means of escape (more of the first two than the latter).
Now -- now he had someone in his life that he cared about more than he'd ever cared for another person romantically. He had a family that he loved spending time with and just enjoyed life a lot more. He didn't find himself hardly sleeping anymore and when he did, it was because he was writing or doing something else that was far more enjoyable than tossing and turning.
Running into and the subsequent blow out and conclusion with Alex had been just what Brendon needed to turn his life around. It had been hard, yes but ultimately, Brendon felt it did him a lot more good than not.
It was surprising to know that in two days, it would be the year anniversary of their first run in after years of separation and in fifteen days, it'll be a year since their fight.
It had been a tough year but looking back on it - there wasn't a single thing he would have done differently. Sure, things hadn't gone exactly as he'd expect them to but...he was happy with where he was and where his relationship with Rico was going and where his relationship with Lucia and Rico's family was. Maggie had become like a surrogate mother to him over the last year and none of that could have been possible if Brendon hadn't been ready and hadn't been willing to take that step.
There was still a lot he wanted to do and accomplish this year - finish his first novel and get it published, expand and improve upon the bar and of course, travel and experience life more with Rico and Lucia.
For the first time, Brendon could say that he was looking forward to the upcoming year.