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fandomweekly2020-11-13 02:39 pm
badly_knitted) wrote in fandomweekly2020-11-13 02:39 pm
Entry tags:
[#073] Dreams Don't Last (FAKE)
Theme Prompt: #073 – Burning Bridges
Title: Dreams Don't Last
Fandom: FAKE
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: No
Word Count: 1000
Summary: Thanks to the man he met on arrival, Ryo has just enjoyed the most amazing vacation ever, but summer flings can’t work in real life so why even try?
This had been the best vacation ever, the most amazing three weeks of Ryo’s entire life; even better than one of his sell-out tours, which were a rush he didn’t think he’d ever get used to. Hawaii was incredible, the scenery breathtaking and the weather perfect, but it had be the company that had made the whole experience so unforgettable.
Dee Laytner, New York cop and fellow tourist; from the moment they’d met at the airport they’d spent practically every moment together, to the point where after the second night Dee had given up his hotel room in favour of moving in with Ryo. Despite having known each other barely forty-eight hours, there’d been no awkwardness. Nothing could have felt more natural; it was as if they’d known each other forever.
But now their three weeks in paradise were up and they were packing to head home, Dee returning to New York while Ryo headed down south of the Mason-Dixon line. If it had been possible he might have said to hell with it and traded his ticket for one to the Big Apple; New York was where he’d been born although his life had taken a lot of unexpected turns since then. But that was just a pipe dream. He had obligations, a big tour coming up, Europe and then back to the States; he couldn’t drop out.
“We’ll keep in touch, right?” Dee asked, throwing the last few items haphazardly into his suitcase and trying to force the lid closed, finally resorting to sitting on it in order to get the latches fastened and locked.
Ryo kept his head down, folding clothes carefully, packing far more neatly than his lover; he didn’t want Dee to see his face.
“What would be the point, Dee? We live practically at opposite ends on the country; we’d never get to see each other. It would just be occasional phone calls reminiscing over the great time we had until we finally realised there was nothing there, that we’d left everything we’d had here on the island. It’s been amazing, I wouldn’t trade a second of the last three weeks for anything, but summer flings don’t translate into real life relationships. We’re not a couple of lovesick teenagers; we have to be realistic and move on with our lives.”
Dee sighed heavily. “Yeah, I guess you’re right; tryin’ to have a long-distance relationship would just end up tarnishin’ the memories we’ve made.”
“Exactly. You’ll soon forget about me once you’re back home, investigating crimes and catching the bad guys.”
“And will you forget about me?” Dee sat on the edge of the bed beside Ryo’s suitcase.
“Not completely, but memories fade, even the best ones. You were my first, Dee; you know that, and you’ll always have a special place in my heart, but…” Ryo trailed off, smiling wistfully. “This has been a beautiful dream, but dreams don’t last.”
“I guess. I’m gonna miss ya though.”
“That won’t last either. Come on, we’d better get going or we’ll miss our flights.” Closing and locking his suitcase, Ryo slung a bag over his shoulder and headed for the door, suitcase in tow.
Dee followed. “Yeah, that wouldn’t do; we could wind up stuck in paradise forever.”
Saying their goodbyes at the airport was hard. Dee’s flight was first and it was all Ryo could do not to cling to the other man and beg him not to go. Instead they kissed, hugged, and then Dee was heading for the gate without a backward glance.
‘I’m doing the right thing,’ Ryo told himself as he sat down to wait for his flight to be called. ‘We both are.’
He hadn’t even told Dee everything; when they’d met he’d said he was between gigs, which was true, he had some downtime before the tour started so he’d decided to take a vacation, but Dee had taken it to mean he didn’t have a job at present and Ryo had never corrected him. Unlike Dee, he was still in the closet and if it got out that he was gay the press would have a field day. What would that do to his music career? Nashville was ridiculously conservative and chances were his fans would move on to some new singer soon enough anyway; why hurry their desertion along? For most singers, regardless of genre, fame was a fleeting thing; one minute you were riding high and the next you were yesterday’s news.
By the time he boarded his flight a couple of hours later Ryo was starting to have second thoughts. He should have told Dee the truth, should have agreed to stay in touch at least for a while, should have suggested they meet up when the tour was over… What had he done? For the first time in his life he’d met someone who accepted him, liked him for the person he was and not because he was rich and famous. He’d chosen to put his career ahead of his happiness.
Closing his eyes he slumped in his seat. ‘I’m an idiot. Who says it couldn’t have worked out, or even that it had to be a long-distance relationship? I could’ve moved to New York; I don’t have to be based in Nashville, I could fly back and forth as necessary. Not like I couldn’t afford the fare.’
But it was already way too late; there was no way to cross a bridge that had already been burned. They’d never exchanged phone numbers because they’d hardly been out of each other’s sight. All he had were a few snapshots.
He could try to get in touch through the NYPD, call and ask someone to forward his number to Detective Dee Laytner, but if he did that and Dee didn’t call him, that would be worse than not trying at all.
‘Face it, you just made the biggest mistake of your life, but there’s no going back now. You’ll just have to live with it.’
The End
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It's here if you want to read it: https://fandomweekly.dreamwidth.org/325832.html
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https://fandomweekly.dreamwidth.org/325832.html