Author Comment: I agree with Exluke that last chapter was kind of rough for the characters, and that's going to be true of the next 2 chapters, but I promise we're coming to their happy ending. Just hang in there <3
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The next morning was tense while everyone was eating breakfast. It was clear that something had happened, but no one else knew what. When Daniel's brothers inevitably took him into his room to talk to him, Zach turned to Zayne with a questioning look. Zayne explained what happened the night before and their decision to keep a little space between them and Daniel for now.
"If we need to change our flights..." Zach started, but Zayne's head shake stopped him.
"No, Daniel was drunk and being an ass, but I want to see this through," Zayne replied. "Brinxton and I are going to go on an adrenaline side trip today, give everyone some space, and then we'll meet up tonight for dinner. Sound okay?"
"Yeah, we'll try and get Daniel to stop being aggressive," Elias said and clapped Zayne on the shoulder.
With that agreed on, Zayne and Brinxton retreated to their room to get dressed for their adventure. When they came out into the living room to get Zayne's wheelchair, the others were off getting dressed as well so they had time to get settled and leave before anyone else came out.
They started by going to an arcade, because they needed to wait until the rides were open. Even in the chair, Zayne was a beast at skeeball. He was also great at shooting down zombies with Brinxton, and fighting games. It was clear that he had played video games through his childhood, and he explained to Brinxton that he and Zach used to play against or with each other all the time. It was a way they could still have fun today despite Zayne's limitations.
After the arcade, they went to try out some of the roller coasters and other rides they could find around Las Vegas. It had been a while since Zayne had gotten to ride a rollercoaster, and he was having a blast. They spent time holding hands and kissing as they waited in line or walked around the strip to find something else to do. It felt nice, like dating openly. It made Zayne's heart yearn for this back home; going on adventures together while being romantic and sweet with each other.
There were a million little moments through this day that Zayne realized he could easily and wanted to say "I love you" to Brinxton. Now that Daniel's voice had gotten into his head, he couldn't fool himself anymore. He was desperately in love with Brinxton, and wanted nothing more than to yell it from the rooftops, but then the rest of what Daniel said was sneaking in. He'd have to talk to Brinxton, but he didn't want to interrupt their fun for that. He would wait until they were in the post-bliss haze after sex when they talked openly.
Right now, he focused on Brinxton and the fun they were having. They didn't meet up with the others until it was dinner time. Tonight they were going to a great steakhouse, which Zayne was excited about. The others were already there when they arrived and were shown to the table. Zayne and Brinxton found two seats open between Elias and Zach, which was perfect for them.
"Welcome back, you two," James said. "Before we go on, I believe my brother has something to say."
Daniel looked tense, but then his other brother, Garrett, nudged him and he let out the breath he was holding. "I'm sorry for last night. I was drunk and upset, but that's not an excuse. I was rude to both of you and I hope we can put it behind us and enjoy the rest of our time here."
They were quiet for a beat or two, both staring at Daniel like they were trying to decide if he was sincere. Zayne broke first, of course, and nodded his head. "I'm happy to move past it so long as you stay respectful. Brinxton?"
Brinxton broke eye contact with Daniel and looked at Zayne. "Yeah," he said, "I guess the same goes for me, too."
Zayne gave Brinxton a smile at that. Brinxton knew that Zayne didn't want to cause problems at any of the events for the wedding, even if he might have good reason to, like right then. It tied into Zayne's need to not be a burden to anyone, and he was grateful that Brinxton would let it lie for right now.
With that out of the way, the waitress came to take their orders, and dinner moved forward as it had before Daniel showed his drunk ass. The brothers had a surprise back at the suite for the night, and Zayne was a little worried it would be strippers, but didn't say anything.
They went back to the hotel and came in to find the bar area fully stocked as well as a karaoke machine set up to the TV. Zach gave a laugh while Zayne looked surprised and Daniel shook his head.
"Danny won't admit it now, but back in high school, those four used to spend hours on the karaoke game trying to get the best scores," James said to Brinxton. "So don't let any apprehension from them fool you. Also, expect Zayne to kick all of their asses at this."
"No, no," Zayne said with a shake of his head. "I haven't even practiced in years. I'm sure I'm rusty."
"I've seen you naked, your voice isn't the part of you that's 'rusty.'" Brinxton said to Zayne with a smirk.
Everyone laughed at that while Zayne gave a look of mock outrage. "If you are talking about my back, then that is the finest titanium medicine could find. If you're talking about my crotch, though, then guilty as charged, but that's only because I'm a redhead."
Brinxton shook his head at the first part of that but grinned at the second part. "I was definitely referring to your 'firestick'."
That gained him a smirk from Zayne and a snort of laughter from Zach. Daniel just rolled his eyes and shook his head before leading them towards the seating.
They all found seats around the living room area while Elias worked on making drinks. He brought over a glass for Zayne and told him to let loose with just one drink. When Zayne took a sip, it tasted just like an alcoholic caramel apple. He let Brinxton take a sip before he told Elias what he wanted to drink.
Brinxton learned that with things like theater and singing, Zayne had been right about calling him and Zach flamboyant where Elias had just called them loud. They gave their all to songs, and Zayne was particularly good at singing. He had an amazing tenor voice that would grab the attention of everyone in the room when he was the one performing.
Elias was fairly good, and Daniel was passable, though his brothers were awful and not afraid of showing that, much to the laughter and delight of everyone there because they were hilarious when they were up.
Brinxton decided to sing "Tequila" on his turn. Zayne cried foul and demanded he choose a second song immediately, despite everyone rolling on the floor laughing at the choice. Brinxton chose "Ghostbusters" for his second song, sticking his tongue out at Zayne when it started. Zayne just grinned back at him and sat back to enjoy the show.
They were a good hour into playing with the karaoke machine when Garrett brought up a musical that Zayne and Zach had loved in high school. They had adored the music and had done performances of various songs even into college.
"Do you guys remember that performance you three did for one of the songs?" Garrett asked.
Zayne and Zach immediately started chuckling while Elias grinned. "Zayne has us practice so often I'm pretty sure we could do it in our sleep still," Elias said.
"Can you guys still do it?" James asked, and then looked mostly at Zayne. "I mean...are you..."
"I can do it," Zayne replied, deciding not to let James flounder on asking the question he actually meant to ask, which happened to be was Zayne physically capable of it? "I may need to alter some of the dance moves, but that one wasn't as dance heavy as many of the other ones we did."
Zach used his phone to find a good karaoke version of the song, which was "Sincerely Me" from Dear Evan Hansen. Zayne got out of his seat to stand off to one side while Zach and Elias pulled up a dining room chair for their part. Zayne had always played the part of Connor, while Zach played Evan Hansen and Elias played Jared.
They did a fantastic job, playing off of each other and getting into character. The song had plenty of comedy, which they all did well, and even when they could tell that Zayne altered a dance move, like not going all the way down into the crouch and then right back up the way Zach did, it still flowed effortlessly.
When they finished, the three of them dissolved into laughter while everyone else gave them a cheer for the performance. Zayne came over to sit down next to Brinxton, his cheeks a little red from exertion and embarrassment. Brinxton put an arm around his shoulder and pulled him in for a sideways hug. Zayne smiled at that and looked at Brinxton happily. Only when he caught the look on Daniel's face, forcing Zayne to remember their talk, did the smile drop a little bit.
Brinxton noticed the quick change in mood and frowned in an unspoken question at Zayne. Zayne couldn't bring himself to answer though, so he just shook his head and asked who was going next.
They went back to drinking and singing, until it was getting late and everyone was tired enough that it was time for bed. Zayne and Brinxton were, as usual, the least drunk of the bunch. They got into the room and shut the door behind them. Brinxton asked Zayne if they could just cuddle tonight, citing the excitement of the day as the reason for his tiredness.
Zayne had a brief panicked thought that that was just an excuse, but he nodded his head to show that was fine, deciding now wasn't the time to start freaking out about the idea of what might be the end of their situationship. Brinxton stripped down to his boxer briefs and climbed into bed, making himself comfortable in the spot next to Zayne's nest, waiting for Zayne to join him.
Zayne followed suit, stripping down until he was just in his boxer briefs and climbed into the bed and under the covers. He got close to Brinxton, but tried not to crowd him and immediately hated Daniel for putting all of these doubts and questions into his head like this. He had the brief thought that he should just go out there and beat his ass, but he also knew he wouldn't do nearly as much damage as he would hope to.
