Promises
Title: Promises
Rating: PG
Summary: Ian gives Anthony a gift to symbolize their everlasting friendship… or something more.
Disclaimer: Approximately one sentence in this story actually happened… sorta, kinda, maybe happened. :P
Ian skipped up to Anthony, who was sitting on a bench outside their middle school playing Pokémon Red on his Gameboy. He jumped around in front of Anthony, but his friend paid him little attention. He was too engrossed in training his Pokémon.
“Hey Anthony, guess what,” Ian said as he hopped around the bench. Anthony continued to ignore him. “Come on, guess already.”
“What is it, Ian?” asked Anthony. He looked up at Ian with glazed-over eyes and stifled a yawn.
“I got you a present,” said Ian. He plopped down beside Anthony on the bench and gave him a wide grin.
Anthony raised an eyebrow. “It’s not my birthday.”
“I know, but I got something to symbolize our friendship.” Ian’s grin was practically bursting off of his face.
“So what is it?” asked Anthony. He stifled another yawn, since he just wanted to get back to his game.
Ian squealed excitedly as he plucked a small jewellery box from his pocket and showed it to Anthony. He then opened it to reveal two silver rings.
“What the hell! Are those promise rings?” Anthony stared wide-eyed at the rings held in front of him as he shuffled away from Ian on the bench.
“What are promise rings?” asked Ian. He eyed the rings inquisitively, as though they would answer his question.
Anthony massaged his forehead before he answered, “They’re rings you give to someone when you promise to marry them in the future, dumbass. What were you thinking?”
The grin had faded from Ian’s face and was replaced by a pout. “I thought they were friendship rings.”
“Who has ever heard of friendship rings?” said Anthony, who couldn’t believe how dense his friend was at times. “I’ve heard of friendship bracelets and even those heart-shaped BFF necklaces, but never friendship rings. What a stupid idea.”
Ian was practically sulking now as he stared down at the ground, his vision focused on a piece of gum stuck to the sidewalk. “Well I thought it was a good idea.”
“Well it wasn’t,” said Anthony. He glanced over at Ian, who was pouting so heavily that his face was practically dragging on the ground. A sigh escaped his mouth as he realized that he couldn’t leave his friend in this state. “I guess I can wear your stupid friendship ring.”
Ian leapt off of the bench, his huge grin having returned in an instant. He held the jewellery box up to Anthony and waited for him to take one of the rings. As Anthony reached for one, his hand was suddenly slapped away.
“You have to promise me one thing first before you take that ring,” said Ian, his face now dead serious.
“What? Do I have to marry you now?” Anthony held back a chuckle as he eyed Ian, who seemed to be holding back some laughter of his own.
“No, you just have to promise me that we’ll be together forever, no matter what,” said Ian.
“I guess I can promise that,” said Anthony. Ian smiled at him and handed him one of the rings. Anthony examined the ring in the palm of his hand. It was a simple silver band with nothing noticeably fancy about it. On further inspection, he noticed an engraving along the inner side. “Why does it say ‘Ianthony’ on it?”
“Well I wanted to get it engraved with ‘Ian & Anthony’, but I couldn’t afford the extra letters,” explained Ian. “I was just lucky enough that our names fit together so well.”
Anthony accepted the explanation with a nod and slipped the ring onto his right ring finger. His eyes widened as he watched Ian slip his onto his left ring finger.
“What are you doing? Don’t put it on that finger!”
“Why not?” asked Ian. He held his left hand up and inspected the ring to try and spot what was wrong with it. “It seems to fit perfectly.”
Anthony took a moment to face-palm before he grabbed Ian’s left hand. “You are supposed to put an engagement or wedding ring on that finger.” He then forced Ian’s ring off of its finger and put it onto his right ring finger instead. “It should go on this finger if you don’t want people to think you’re married.”
“But we would make such a cute couple,” Ian said as he batted his eyelashes at Anthony. He was immediately pushed back across the bench by Anthony, who went back to playing Pokémon Red.
They sat in silence for a minute before Ian slid up closer to Anthony. “You know that this means you’re stuck with me forever, right?” He raised both his eyebrows suggestively and cackled madly.
Anthony couldn’t help but chuckle before he replied, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
* * *
Ian sat on his bed as he stared out the window at the pouring rain. After he quickly glanced over his shoulder to make sure that his door was shut, Ian slid his hand under his bed and pulled out a jewellery box. It was covered in dust, since it had spent over a month under his bed. It had been that long since his thoughts had focused on its contents.
The lid popped open easily to reveal one silver ring with the word “Ianthony” engraved on the inner band. Ian gently pulled it out and rolled it around in his hand. It felt smooth against his skin, even after ten years of use. Unlike a string friendship bracelet, this ring was meant to last just as long as the friendship it represented. Perhaps it would even last to represent something other than friendship.
Ian frowned slightly as he stared down at the ring in his hand. He had been a naïve boy to have even thought that the ring he gave to Anthony would just be a simple friendship ring. Of course, he felt differently about Anthony back then. In those days, it was just two friends who liked to hang out and make videos. It was probably still that to Anthony, but not Ian. Now he found that he liked Anthony more than just a friend.
It had started around the end of high school, these feelings for Anthony, with just a few looks here and there but nothing more. Ian had barely realized that he had even been checking out his best friend. When Anthony started dating girls at school, Ian had found himself annoyed with these girlfriends. At the time he had blamed this jealousy on the fact that they prevented him from spending as much time as he wanted with his best friend, but he knew better now. He had been jealous because he wanted to be them, to be the focus of Anthony’s attention and romantic desires.
The moment Ian first realized that he had had a crush on Anthony was still clear in his mind. They had both been in math class, which was as boring as hell, since they were being taught by Charlie Brown’s teacher. He had started making funny faces at Anthony, who sat at the desk beside him. Anthony returned them with one of his own. Soon they were having a contest to see who could make the funniest face and make the other person laugh first. Eventually Anthony made an amusing kissy face and a thought came unbidden to Ian’s mind: what would Anthony’s lips taste like?
Grown men, well technically young adults, did not wonder what their male best friend’s lips tasted like. The sudden thought had freaked Ian out and he had immediately looked away. Anthony had asked him after class what had happened, but Ian couldn’t answer him. He hadn’t even known himself.
Looking back at it, Ian saw how these feelings had progressed from a simple infatuation to a deep love. The fact that he continuously found himself going back to this ring told him that his feelings were serious. As he had done almost every month for the past year or so, Ian slid the ring onto his left ring finger and imagined that it was actually a promise ring.
With his hand held up to the light, Ian admired the ring. It might not have had sparkling diamonds or have been made of twenty-four carat gold, but it was his connection to Anthony. What had started out as a symbol of friendship had become the symbol of his love. Why else would he continually find himself putting this ring on and imagining that it wasn’t a friendship ring but a promise ring instead? Mere delusions, but it was comforting to imagine his relationship with Anthony as being something more than what it actually was. He just wanted to imagine that this ring actually meant that Anthony had promised to be with him forever as more than just a friend.
The sudden sound of glass breaking woke Ian from his dream-like state. The sound had come from the kitchen, so Ian jumped up off of his bed and dashed out into the hallway. He soon reached the kitchen and found Anthony picking up the broken bits of a pickle jar. Green pickle juice stained the floor and pickles were scattered across the kitchen. “What happened?” asked Ian.
Anthony glanced up at Ian and noticed him for the first time. He blushed slightly, obviously embarrassed by the mess he had made. “I knocked over the pickle jar when I was getting something out of the fridge.” After a few seconds, Anthony added, “So are you just going to just stand there or are you going to help.”
“Sure, I’ll help,” said Ian. He leaned down and began to pick up the wayward pickles. As he reached for one pickle near Anthony’s feet, the other boy suddenly grabbed his left arm.
“What the hell are you doing?” Ian tried to pull his arm out of Anthony’s grasp, but his friend was much stronger.
“Is that one of our old promise rings?” asked Anthony as he looked at Ian’s hand inquisitively. Ian’s eyes widened as he realized that he had forgotten to take off the ring before he left his room.
Finally having wrestled his arm free, Ian replied, “You mean friendship rings, and yes it is.” His face reddened as he subtly hid his left hand behind his back.
“Yeah, I meant friendship rings,” said Anthony as he looked away, his face now as red as Ian’s. Had that just been a slip of the tongue or did he actually think they were promise rings? Ian pushed that thought aside, not wanting to give himself false hope.
After several seconds of awkward silence, Anthony offered Ian a quick glance and said, “You put it on the wrong hand, nimrod.”
Ian’s face was redder than a tomato as he backed his way out of the room and fled back to his bedroom. How could he have been so stupid as to leave that ring on his finger? Now he had looked like a complete idiot in front of Anthony, not that his friend didn’t already think he was one. He wasn’t going to live this one down for awhile.
* * *
Anthony hastily cleaned up the mess, since he wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. He half-expected Ian to return, this time without the ring on. The sight of that piece of their past unsettled him, since it awakened feelings he had buried deep inside long ago. If he saw Ian right now, it would just make it even harder to bury those feeling again.
Once the mess was gone, Anthony scurried to his room. He was relieved to see that Ian’s door was shut, so he most likely would not be bothering him. After he entered his room and with the door safely shut behind him, Anthony slumped down onto his bed.
Why did Ian have to wear that stupid ring? It just reminded him of the promise he had made that they would be together forever. The very wording even suggested something more than friendship and it taunted Anthony. He had never wanted to feel this way about his best friend; it wasn’t his choice. Yet again and again he found himself drawn into those perfect blue eyes, an escapable prison that ensured he would never be free from his feelings.
Without another thought, Anthony went over to a shelf on his wall and pulled a box off of it. After he placed it on the bed, he popped off the lid and began shifting through the random mementos within. They were mostly small things from old videos, almost always connected to Ian in some way. At the very bottom he found what he was looking for.
Anthony pulled out his friendship ring and gently cradled it in his hand. He hadn’t even looked at it in years, not since he had first found out that he was attracted to his best friend. It had been a time when Ian had been really depressed. He couldn’t remember exactly why; his girlfriend might have dumped him or something like that. The cause of Ian’s sadness wasn’t important to Anthony anyway, what was important was that his friend had needed comforting. He had tried to comfort Ian by trying to make him laugh, but his humour proved ineffective at the time. It wasn’t unexpected, since it was usually Ian who made him laugh, not the other way around. Instead all he could offer was a hug.
It had been that hug, such an innocent act, which had altered his feelings forever. He had embraced his friend tightly, as he had hoped that the warm gesture would cheer him up. He had soon found himself resting his head on Ian’s shoulder and taking in the scent of Ian’s hair. His hands had even gently caressed Ian’s back. It had felt so perfect, his body nuzzled up against Ian’s, as though their bodies had fit together like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Ian had been unaware at the time, since he was too sad to notice, but Anthony had become aware of his behaviour soon after.
Now Anthony found himself returning to the moment afterwards and repeating what he had done before. He took the ring in his hand and slid it onto his left ring finger. He hadn’t worn it on that finger since the night he had realized that he loved Ian, yet it felt just as perfect as it had the first time. A smile crossed his face as admired the ring that told him that he and Ian would be together forever.
Suddenly, the door opened and Ian walked in. “Anthony, can you help me with some ed--” His words were cut short as he spotted the ring on Anthony’s finger. The two stared at each other, their mouths opening and closing like a fish as they tried to look anywhere else in the room. If Anthony had cared about anything other than the fact that Ian had just caught him wearing the ring, he probably would have noticed that the way they were acting was very similar to one of their first videos.
Ian ended the awkward moment first. “What are you doing?”
Anthony’s face went a deep crimson as he hid his left hand behind his back, even though he knew that Ian had seen the ring. He tried his best not fumble his words as he answered, “I wasn’t doing anything.”
Ian smirked at Anthony as he said, “Oh really.” He then lunged forward and grabbed Anthony’s left arm. Completely taken by surprise, Ian was able to easily pull Anthony’s arm out into the open. As he looked down at the ring with a smirk on his face, Ian said, “You put it on the wrong hand, nimrod.”
Anthony had no clue what to say. He had already told Ian that exact same thing and now he had been caught in the act. What possible reason could he give for wearing the ring? He glanced over at Ian, who had sat down on the bed beside him, and caught his eye. The sparkle in Ian’s eye and the grin on his face made Anthony’s eyes widen: he knew. Somehow, whether it had been the ring or something else entirely, Ian knew about Anthony’s feelings.
“I can explain,” Anthony blurted out.
Ian immediately grabbed Anthony’s hands and said, “There’s no reason to do so. Your actions have said enough.” With a gentle touch, Ian pulled off Anthony’s ring.
“What are you doing?” asked Anthony. He felt incredibly uncomfortable, since it seemed like Ian knew something he didn’t.
“How about we remake that promise we made so long ago.” Ian’s smile was captivating and Anthony found it hard not to sink into his eyes again. Not sure where Ian was going with this, but curious nonetheless, Anthony nodded in agreement.
Ian smiled sweetly and seemed to be shivering nervously. After he cleared his throat, he said, “Anthony, do you promise to be with me forever, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part?”
Anthony’s breath caught in his throat and he felt like he would choke on it. Did Ian just… he couldn’t have. After he smacked his chest to force his breath out, Anthony said, “That sounded an awful lot like wedding vows.”
“I would like to think that it sounded more like a marriage proposal.” Ian now smiled confidently at Anthony as he waited for his answer.
Anthony’s heart was beating incredibly fast and he swore that he was about to pass out. Ian was proposing to him! He could not believe this. He had bottled up his feelings for Ian for so long that he hadn’t even considered that Ian might have felt the same way. Now he had an important decision to make, albeit an easy one in his mind.
After he took in several deep breaths, Anthony replied, “I do.”
Ian had such a huge smile on his face that Anthony could have counted all his teeth, all the way back to his molars. He gently slid Anthony’s ring back onto his left ring finger and then handed his own ring to Anthony. “Now it’s your turn.”
Without any hesitation, Anthony said, “Ian, do you promise to be with me forever, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part?”
“I do,” Ian immediately answered.
Anthony nearly dropped the ring as he slid it onto Ian’s left ring. Tears started falling down Ian’s cheeks and Anthony wiped them away. He felt numb inside, not because he was feeling nothing but rather that he was so overwhelmed with emotion that he couldn’t even comprehend it. They had just promised to be together forever, not as friends but as lovers.
“I guess that we are now husband and wife,” Ian said with a coy wink.
Anthony couldn’t help but laugh, even though the sheer bliss of the moment hadn’t worn off yet. He then said, “You know that you’re the wife in this relationship.”
“Hell no!” said Ian. “It is definitely you.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Hey, I am the alpha male here.”
“In your dreams.”
“Just shut up and kiss me already.”
Ian smirked at Anthony as their faces moved closer to each other. To think that only an hour ago they had been best friends and now they were promised to each other in marriage. He felt glad that he hadn’t buried away his feelings again, that now he could put them out in the open once and for all.
The gap closed quickly and he felt his lips press up against Ian’s. His body was close to melting as Ian’s soft lips rubbed against his own. He responded to this sensation by embracing Ian and pulling him closer. Their bodies became entwined on the bed as Anthony continued to push his lips against Ian. Gradually, the two pulled away and Anthony’s lips tingled at the loss of contact.
“I love you,” said Ian, a loving smile on his face.
Anthony smiled back at him. “I love you too.
Rating: PG
Summary: Ian gives Anthony a gift to symbolize their everlasting friendship… or something more.
Disclaimer: Approximately one sentence in this story actually happened… sorta, kinda, maybe happened. :P
Ian skipped up to Anthony, who was sitting on a bench outside their middle school playing Pokémon Red on his Gameboy. He jumped around in front of Anthony, but his friend paid him little attention. He was too engrossed in training his Pokémon.
“Hey Anthony, guess what,” Ian said as he hopped around the bench. Anthony continued to ignore him. “Come on, guess already.”
“What is it, Ian?” asked Anthony. He looked up at Ian with glazed-over eyes and stifled a yawn.
“I got you a present,” said Ian. He plopped down beside Anthony on the bench and gave him a wide grin.
Anthony raised an eyebrow. “It’s not my birthday.”
“I know, but I got something to symbolize our friendship.” Ian’s grin was practically bursting off of his face.
“So what is it?” asked Anthony. He stifled another yawn, since he just wanted to get back to his game.
Ian squealed excitedly as he plucked a small jewellery box from his pocket and showed it to Anthony. He then opened it to reveal two silver rings.
“What the hell! Are those promise rings?” Anthony stared wide-eyed at the rings held in front of him as he shuffled away from Ian on the bench.
“What are promise rings?” asked Ian. He eyed the rings inquisitively, as though they would answer his question.
Anthony massaged his forehead before he answered, “They’re rings you give to someone when you promise to marry them in the future, dumbass. What were you thinking?”
The grin had faded from Ian’s face and was replaced by a pout. “I thought they were friendship rings.”
“Who has ever heard of friendship rings?” said Anthony, who couldn’t believe how dense his friend was at times. “I’ve heard of friendship bracelets and even those heart-shaped BFF necklaces, but never friendship rings. What a stupid idea.”
Ian was practically sulking now as he stared down at the ground, his vision focused on a piece of gum stuck to the sidewalk. “Well I thought it was a good idea.”
“Well it wasn’t,” said Anthony. He glanced over at Ian, who was pouting so heavily that his face was practically dragging on the ground. A sigh escaped his mouth as he realized that he couldn’t leave his friend in this state. “I guess I can wear your stupid friendship ring.”
Ian leapt off of the bench, his huge grin having returned in an instant. He held the jewellery box up to Anthony and waited for him to take one of the rings. As Anthony reached for one, his hand was suddenly slapped away.
“You have to promise me one thing first before you take that ring,” said Ian, his face now dead serious.
“What? Do I have to marry you now?” Anthony held back a chuckle as he eyed Ian, who seemed to be holding back some laughter of his own.
“No, you just have to promise me that we’ll be together forever, no matter what,” said Ian.
“I guess I can promise that,” said Anthony. Ian smiled at him and handed him one of the rings. Anthony examined the ring in the palm of his hand. It was a simple silver band with nothing noticeably fancy about it. On further inspection, he noticed an engraving along the inner side. “Why does it say ‘Ianthony’ on it?”
“Well I wanted to get it engraved with ‘Ian & Anthony’, but I couldn’t afford the extra letters,” explained Ian. “I was just lucky enough that our names fit together so well.”
Anthony accepted the explanation with a nod and slipped the ring onto his right ring finger. His eyes widened as he watched Ian slip his onto his left ring finger.
“What are you doing? Don’t put it on that finger!”
“Why not?” asked Ian. He held his left hand up and inspected the ring to try and spot what was wrong with it. “It seems to fit perfectly.”
Anthony took a moment to face-palm before he grabbed Ian’s left hand. “You are supposed to put an engagement or wedding ring on that finger.” He then forced Ian’s ring off of its finger and put it onto his right ring finger instead. “It should go on this finger if you don’t want people to think you’re married.”
“But we would make such a cute couple,” Ian said as he batted his eyelashes at Anthony. He was immediately pushed back across the bench by Anthony, who went back to playing Pokémon Red.
They sat in silence for a minute before Ian slid up closer to Anthony. “You know that this means you’re stuck with me forever, right?” He raised both his eyebrows suggestively and cackled madly.
Anthony couldn’t help but chuckle before he replied, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
* * *
Ian sat on his bed as he stared out the window at the pouring rain. After he quickly glanced over his shoulder to make sure that his door was shut, Ian slid his hand under his bed and pulled out a jewellery box. It was covered in dust, since it had spent over a month under his bed. It had been that long since his thoughts had focused on its contents.
The lid popped open easily to reveal one silver ring with the word “Ianthony” engraved on the inner band. Ian gently pulled it out and rolled it around in his hand. It felt smooth against his skin, even after ten years of use. Unlike a string friendship bracelet, this ring was meant to last just as long as the friendship it represented. Perhaps it would even last to represent something other than friendship.
Ian frowned slightly as he stared down at the ring in his hand. He had been a naïve boy to have even thought that the ring he gave to Anthony would just be a simple friendship ring. Of course, he felt differently about Anthony back then. In those days, it was just two friends who liked to hang out and make videos. It was probably still that to Anthony, but not Ian. Now he found that he liked Anthony more than just a friend.
It had started around the end of high school, these feelings for Anthony, with just a few looks here and there but nothing more. Ian had barely realized that he had even been checking out his best friend. When Anthony started dating girls at school, Ian had found himself annoyed with these girlfriends. At the time he had blamed this jealousy on the fact that they prevented him from spending as much time as he wanted with his best friend, but he knew better now. He had been jealous because he wanted to be them, to be the focus of Anthony’s attention and romantic desires.
The moment Ian first realized that he had had a crush on Anthony was still clear in his mind. They had both been in math class, which was as boring as hell, since they were being taught by Charlie Brown’s teacher. He had started making funny faces at Anthony, who sat at the desk beside him. Anthony returned them with one of his own. Soon they were having a contest to see who could make the funniest face and make the other person laugh first. Eventually Anthony made an amusing kissy face and a thought came unbidden to Ian’s mind: what would Anthony’s lips taste like?
Grown men, well technically young adults, did not wonder what their male best friend’s lips tasted like. The sudden thought had freaked Ian out and he had immediately looked away. Anthony had asked him after class what had happened, but Ian couldn’t answer him. He hadn’t even known himself.
Looking back at it, Ian saw how these feelings had progressed from a simple infatuation to a deep love. The fact that he continuously found himself going back to this ring told him that his feelings were serious. As he had done almost every month for the past year or so, Ian slid the ring onto his left ring finger and imagined that it was actually a promise ring.
With his hand held up to the light, Ian admired the ring. It might not have had sparkling diamonds or have been made of twenty-four carat gold, but it was his connection to Anthony. What had started out as a symbol of friendship had become the symbol of his love. Why else would he continually find himself putting this ring on and imagining that it wasn’t a friendship ring but a promise ring instead? Mere delusions, but it was comforting to imagine his relationship with Anthony as being something more than what it actually was. He just wanted to imagine that this ring actually meant that Anthony had promised to be with him forever as more than just a friend.
The sudden sound of glass breaking woke Ian from his dream-like state. The sound had come from the kitchen, so Ian jumped up off of his bed and dashed out into the hallway. He soon reached the kitchen and found Anthony picking up the broken bits of a pickle jar. Green pickle juice stained the floor and pickles were scattered across the kitchen. “What happened?” asked Ian.
Anthony glanced up at Ian and noticed him for the first time. He blushed slightly, obviously embarrassed by the mess he had made. “I knocked over the pickle jar when I was getting something out of the fridge.” After a few seconds, Anthony added, “So are you just going to just stand there or are you going to help.”
“Sure, I’ll help,” said Ian. He leaned down and began to pick up the wayward pickles. As he reached for one pickle near Anthony’s feet, the other boy suddenly grabbed his left arm.
“What the hell are you doing?” Ian tried to pull his arm out of Anthony’s grasp, but his friend was much stronger.
“Is that one of our old promise rings?” asked Anthony as he looked at Ian’s hand inquisitively. Ian’s eyes widened as he realized that he had forgotten to take off the ring before he left his room.
Finally having wrestled his arm free, Ian replied, “You mean friendship rings, and yes it is.” His face reddened as he subtly hid his left hand behind his back.
“Yeah, I meant friendship rings,” said Anthony as he looked away, his face now as red as Ian’s. Had that just been a slip of the tongue or did he actually think they were promise rings? Ian pushed that thought aside, not wanting to give himself false hope.
After several seconds of awkward silence, Anthony offered Ian a quick glance and said, “You put it on the wrong hand, nimrod.”
Ian’s face was redder than a tomato as he backed his way out of the room and fled back to his bedroom. How could he have been so stupid as to leave that ring on his finger? Now he had looked like a complete idiot in front of Anthony, not that his friend didn’t already think he was one. He wasn’t going to live this one down for awhile.
* * *
Anthony hastily cleaned up the mess, since he wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. He half-expected Ian to return, this time without the ring on. The sight of that piece of their past unsettled him, since it awakened feelings he had buried deep inside long ago. If he saw Ian right now, it would just make it even harder to bury those feeling again.
Once the mess was gone, Anthony scurried to his room. He was relieved to see that Ian’s door was shut, so he most likely would not be bothering him. After he entered his room and with the door safely shut behind him, Anthony slumped down onto his bed.
Why did Ian have to wear that stupid ring? It just reminded him of the promise he had made that they would be together forever. The very wording even suggested something more than friendship and it taunted Anthony. He had never wanted to feel this way about his best friend; it wasn’t his choice. Yet again and again he found himself drawn into those perfect blue eyes, an escapable prison that ensured he would never be free from his feelings.
Without another thought, Anthony went over to a shelf on his wall and pulled a box off of it. After he placed it on the bed, he popped off the lid and began shifting through the random mementos within. They were mostly small things from old videos, almost always connected to Ian in some way. At the very bottom he found what he was looking for.
Anthony pulled out his friendship ring and gently cradled it in his hand. He hadn’t even looked at it in years, not since he had first found out that he was attracted to his best friend. It had been a time when Ian had been really depressed. He couldn’t remember exactly why; his girlfriend might have dumped him or something like that. The cause of Ian’s sadness wasn’t important to Anthony anyway, what was important was that his friend had needed comforting. He had tried to comfort Ian by trying to make him laugh, but his humour proved ineffective at the time. It wasn’t unexpected, since it was usually Ian who made him laugh, not the other way around. Instead all he could offer was a hug.
It had been that hug, such an innocent act, which had altered his feelings forever. He had embraced his friend tightly, as he had hoped that the warm gesture would cheer him up. He had soon found himself resting his head on Ian’s shoulder and taking in the scent of Ian’s hair. His hands had even gently caressed Ian’s back. It had felt so perfect, his body nuzzled up against Ian’s, as though their bodies had fit together like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Ian had been unaware at the time, since he was too sad to notice, but Anthony had become aware of his behaviour soon after.
Now Anthony found himself returning to the moment afterwards and repeating what he had done before. He took the ring in his hand and slid it onto his left ring finger. He hadn’t worn it on that finger since the night he had realized that he loved Ian, yet it felt just as perfect as it had the first time. A smile crossed his face as admired the ring that told him that he and Ian would be together forever.
Suddenly, the door opened and Ian walked in. “Anthony, can you help me with some ed--” His words were cut short as he spotted the ring on Anthony’s finger. The two stared at each other, their mouths opening and closing like a fish as they tried to look anywhere else in the room. If Anthony had cared about anything other than the fact that Ian had just caught him wearing the ring, he probably would have noticed that the way they were acting was very similar to one of their first videos.
Ian ended the awkward moment first. “What are you doing?”
Anthony’s face went a deep crimson as he hid his left hand behind his back, even though he knew that Ian had seen the ring. He tried his best not fumble his words as he answered, “I wasn’t doing anything.”
Ian smirked at Anthony as he said, “Oh really.” He then lunged forward and grabbed Anthony’s left arm. Completely taken by surprise, Ian was able to easily pull Anthony’s arm out into the open. As he looked down at the ring with a smirk on his face, Ian said, “You put it on the wrong hand, nimrod.”
Anthony had no clue what to say. He had already told Ian that exact same thing and now he had been caught in the act. What possible reason could he give for wearing the ring? He glanced over at Ian, who had sat down on the bed beside him, and caught his eye. The sparkle in Ian’s eye and the grin on his face made Anthony’s eyes widen: he knew. Somehow, whether it had been the ring or something else entirely, Ian knew about Anthony’s feelings.
“I can explain,” Anthony blurted out.
Ian immediately grabbed Anthony’s hands and said, “There’s no reason to do so. Your actions have said enough.” With a gentle touch, Ian pulled off Anthony’s ring.
“What are you doing?” asked Anthony. He felt incredibly uncomfortable, since it seemed like Ian knew something he didn’t.
“How about we remake that promise we made so long ago.” Ian’s smile was captivating and Anthony found it hard not to sink into his eyes again. Not sure where Ian was going with this, but curious nonetheless, Anthony nodded in agreement.
Ian smiled sweetly and seemed to be shivering nervously. After he cleared his throat, he said, “Anthony, do you promise to be with me forever, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part?”
Anthony’s breath caught in his throat and he felt like he would choke on it. Did Ian just… he couldn’t have. After he smacked his chest to force his breath out, Anthony said, “That sounded an awful lot like wedding vows.”
“I would like to think that it sounded more like a marriage proposal.” Ian now smiled confidently at Anthony as he waited for his answer.
Anthony’s heart was beating incredibly fast and he swore that he was about to pass out. Ian was proposing to him! He could not believe this. He had bottled up his feelings for Ian for so long that he hadn’t even considered that Ian might have felt the same way. Now he had an important decision to make, albeit an easy one in his mind.
After he took in several deep breaths, Anthony replied, “I do.”
Ian had such a huge smile on his face that Anthony could have counted all his teeth, all the way back to his molars. He gently slid Anthony’s ring back onto his left ring finger and then handed his own ring to Anthony. “Now it’s your turn.”
Without any hesitation, Anthony said, “Ian, do you promise to be with me forever, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part?”
“I do,” Ian immediately answered.
Anthony nearly dropped the ring as he slid it onto Ian’s left ring. Tears started falling down Ian’s cheeks and Anthony wiped them away. He felt numb inside, not because he was feeling nothing but rather that he was so overwhelmed with emotion that he couldn’t even comprehend it. They had just promised to be together forever, not as friends but as lovers.
“I guess that we are now husband and wife,” Ian said with a coy wink.
Anthony couldn’t help but laugh, even though the sheer bliss of the moment hadn’t worn off yet. He then said, “You know that you’re the wife in this relationship.”
“Hell no!” said Ian. “It is definitely you.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Hey, I am the alpha male here.”
“In your dreams.”
“Just shut up and kiss me already.”
Ian smirked at Anthony as their faces moved closer to each other. To think that only an hour ago they had been best friends and now they were promised to each other in marriage. He felt glad that he hadn’t buried away his feelings again, that now he could put them out in the open once and for all.
The gap closed quickly and he felt his lips press up against Ian’s. His body was close to melting as Ian’s soft lips rubbed against his own. He responded to this sensation by embracing Ian and pulling him closer. Their bodies became entwined on the bed as Anthony continued to push his lips against Ian. Gradually, the two pulled away and Anthony’s lips tingled at the loss of contact.
“I love you,” said Ian, a loving smile on his face.
Anthony smiled back at him. “I love you too.