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Brian couldn’t believe how unlucky he was as he absently fiddled with his bow tie.
It all started when he bet Stewie that a dude, who was chugging beer like a pro at the time, could drink more than 15 mugs. To his disappointment the guy passed out on his 9th beer and soon after left the bar.
The penalty for not being correct ended up being something Stewie thought up. The kid wanted to see if they could pull off a whole date, him being disguised as a woman and Brian going as himself, and now here the white Labrador was, sitting at a table in an Italian restaurant for dinner feeling awkward and somewhat nervous for some bizarre reason as far as he was concerned.
It was crazy right? Being anxious for a fake date with an infant who was going to cross dress... Or at least he told himself that it was fake. It didn’t mean anything… Right? Oh god, was Stewie being serious?
Just after the thought the boy walked in and sat across from him. “How does it feel to be a loser Bri?”
Those simple words somehow relieved the dog, “hey, it’s not my fault for not being psychic.”
“Hmm, yes whatever.” Stewie started staring at a menu that practically removed him from the view of his friend or anyone else in the restaurant for that matter.
The action left Brian to his own thoughts again.
‘This seems to be innocent enough, I mean, I don’t know what his motives are or if he even has any… could be worse.’
“Want to make out after this?”
‘Spoke too soon.’
“Um no, why?”
“Talking like this is a part of the penalty,” he whispered. “Now pick something out to eat baabe,” he emphasized the last word and it sent a shiver down Brian’s spine.
“Fine,” he wanted to stop talking there but Stewie held his head at a slant, gesturing to him to continue, “umm...sweetheart?”
‘Geez, that sounded wrong... Or at least it should’ve… What? I’m not suggesting that I liked calling him that am I? As if, that wouldn’t make any sense…’
For a while they both sat together in an odd silence.
“So have you decided on anything yet?” Stewie asked nonchalantly.
“Ah yes, fettuccine alfredo,” he shook his head trying to clear his thoughts.
“Are you alright?”
“No… I mean yes, I’m just peachy.”
“Hmm,” Stewie inched his fingers closer to Brian’s paw, which was resting on the table, then took hold of it Brian’s face flushing.
“Aha, what are you so sheepish about? Technically you’re perceived by everyone in public as on a date with a woman.”
There was a pause, but then he snapped his fingers with his free hand, “I got it, the waitress there is hot isn’t she?” He pointed to a woman dressed in restaurant working attire, “It’s written all over your face.”
“W-what?”
Stewie removed his hand from Brian’s paw as a waiter got to their table and took their orders.
He felt somewhat disoriented not only by Stewie’s interpretation but also because he consciously realized that he had started seeing Stewie romantically in his thoughts… And it didn’t seem that bad.
At that moment he wanted nothing more than to not be sober but that wasn’t even a possibility.
‘What is wrong with me?’
Stewie seemed to catch onto the dog’s negative mood as he teased, “what’s wrong sweetie, darling, lovely, cutie, honey bear?”
“Could you please stop that?” Brian gritted his teeth while he felt like butterflies were eating away at his stomach.
“Alright, no need to get your tail in a twist, see what I did there?”
“Yeah, hah hah,” he replied sarcastically.
“Hey though, I was correct right? You like that waitress?” There was an excited tone in his voice.
Brian didn’t know how to respond, was he going to lie and say that he did or was he going to tell Stewie that he had been thinking about him for most of the time. He chose a half truth out of any other option.
“No actually, I didn’t notice her, I’ve been too distracted with… uh, something else,” he looked away avoiding Stewie’s gaze.
“Oh really?”
Stewie got up onto the table and started crawling on his hands and knees towards the Lab.
“Wait, what are you doing? We’re in public Stewie… Stewie?”
Stewie took a hold of Brian's wrists as his face inched closer to his, Brian gulped.
Warm baby breath blew onto his face when Stewie spoke, “am I the one that you’ve been thinking about?”
He felt his knees going weak.
Why was this happening? Why couldn’t he just move away? And more importantly, why the hell did he want this?
“Yes,” the word was barely audible.
“...Wait, yes? I was just joking.”
Stewie retracted his actions before sitting back down, Brian then noticed the pink haze on his face.
"I...um…" Brian started to say.
“...Oh. My. God. Do you actually like me back? I must be dreaming,” Stewie voiced in awe, he took the silence from the other to mean yes. “So all the times I gave hints to liking you and how hard I tried to help our relationship actually paid off?” He grinned from ear to ear.
“No, you got it wrong, I… I could never…”
Stewie’s facial expression clearly showed signs of not being convinced and it caused the Labrador to sweat nervously. Brian realized that he didn't have a rebuttal. All noise seemed to vanish from the restaurant as it really sunk in for him that he got himself stuck in this type of a situation.
He only came back to reality when the waiter walked over to their table with their Italian food and beverages. A partial weight felt like it was lifted off of his shoulders at the short-lived distraction.
As Brian got his dish he started poking at it accusingly as if it was the source of his troubles, the silence was weighing on him like a boulder.
“You should eat your food before it gets cold Bri.”
Brian groaned, “I don’t need you telling me that,” he took a bite of his pasta despite anything else, “hey, this is actually pretty good.” He started wagging his tail.
They ate their food for a while till Stewie spoke up.
“When were you going to tell me you liked me?” His voice was soft.
Brian let out a sigh and his tail stopped wagging, “I think I mostly realized it today... and I’m not even sure of it completely… Can you please drop it?”
“No… No, I won’t drop it Bri, if there is a chance for us to have more then what we have currently,” he motioned to himself and the dog, “then I would rather take that chance then live the rest of my life not knowing what could’ve happened.”
“Do I really need to attempt this… us?...You know what Stewie to be completely honest inside I’m panicking, I’m panicking because what happens if I do like you Stewie, then what? No one is going to accept us and I don’t want to drag you into something that you aren’t ready for.”
The more lively exchange of words had turned a few people’s heads and Brian noticed moving himself to a less tense position as he lowered his voice.
"I don’t want to make you regret things in life as much as I have, it’s too much just for one person to handle.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever get to a point of regretting you,” he said glumly.
“Stewie… I… You’re important to me that’s why I want to protect you from me.”
“You’re not a threat Brian! You’re my best friend and I love you and you love me so what does it matter what others think? No one even has to know!”
“Wait really? We could do that?”
“We’re basically doing it right now. We’ll just convince others that we’re just a regular couple, with our family we can use hanging out as an excuse to date. But really no one would notice an abnormality to begin with, not gonna lie this place is full of idiots.”
‘He does kind of have a point but this is insane, irrational, immoral… Ugh, but I can’t stand this, I need to at least try...’
“Fine, I'll accept having a relationship with you.”
“So we’re gonna date,” he gasped, “as boyfriends?!”
“Yes...”
After he said it there was only moments before the only sound Brian could hear was his own fast heart beat. He felt the urge to kiss Stewie, he remembered how he had in the past but he was curious on how it would feel now that he realized the deeper feelings he had brewing inside of himself.
It seemed like he didn’t have to do anything as he heard a chair slide and felt lips on his.
‘Oh my god Stewie is kissing me, this is actually really nice, why have I pushed him away all this time? He’s amazing at this,’ he pushed into the kiss with more force and if it was even possible they got closer in proximity.
Stewie giggled which had little vibrations on Brian’s lips.
Brian slightly pulled away to talk, “What’s so funny?”
It feels so good for this to be requited.
It took a moment for that to sink in for the Lab, “Oh, Stewie I'm so glad.” He leaned into the kiss once again.
This felt so right for them, they were already so close and nothing could stand in the way of two best friends being in love however odd of a couple they would be.