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The happy endings were something Betty had always looked forward to. She would watch the stupid Netflix movies just for that happy ending. She'd fall in love with the character's love. She truly wanted something like the movies.
But sometimes the ending you want isn't the ending you end up getting.
Gavin didn't believe in happy endings. There were no good endings to his story, he thought. Loving someone you aren't supposed to is a clear sign that you won't have a fairy-tale ending. Especially when that person wasn't into the same sex.
Betty understood that all too well. She, too, suffered from a love unrequited.
Gavin had known Charlie since the seventh grade. He's been in love with Charlie since eighth grade. Charlie met Jasmine freshman year of high school.
Gavin knew from the start that Charlie was smitten. How could he not when all Charlie could do was stare at her.
"God she's so pretty." He would say, looking like a love-sick puppy. And he was.
"Yeah. Really pretty." Gavin would agree, smiling tightly. His heart would scrunch up in the realization that he would never compare to someone who was female. He was never in the competition.
The three became best friends quite quickly.
Three months later.
"Okay. How do I look?"
"Good."
"Good? Not great? Should I change?" Charlie looked at himself in the mirror, fixing his collared shirt and touching his hair, frantically. "Shit, G, what's wrong? Is it the pants? Or may-maybe it's the shirt? Oh my god, is it the shirt? I should've gone with the black one, huh? Okay, that's it, I'm changin-"
"Charlie!" Gavin stood up, grabbing Charlie's shoulders to force him to face him. "You look great. Don't sweat it. Jasmine is going to get swept off her feet. Okay?" It hurt to say.
Charlie took a deep breath, relaxing his shoulders as he nodded. "Yeah. Sorry. I'm just so nervous. It's our first date, you know? I've liked her for so long. I..I just want tonight to be perfect."
"And it will be. You got this dude."
And then five minutes later, Jasmine was at their door. Charlie ran to the door, stopping in front of it to take a breath. When he opened the door, Gavin had a perfect view of Jasmine. She looked stunning. She had done her hair up like Belle from Beauty and the Beast. She looked like a Disney princess, even Gavin had to admit that.
"Hey." She smiled the same way she always did: perfectly. She glanced at Gavin, waving shyly before looking back at Charlie, who was staring. Just staring.
After a few more silent seconds, Charlie shook himself out of the trance and cleared his throat, " Sorry. Uh hey. You...you look great. Really great."
"Thanks. You too."
The date was really something out of a movie.
At least that's what Charlie told Gavin. He'd said that they went to this fair. They rode so many rides together and ain't expensive cotton candy. They spent so much money on those stupid games. And Charlie won her one of those gigantic stuffed animals. They had to carry it the rest of the day.
They went to this 24-hour diner at midnight and ate waffles. Jasmine, apparently, loved to make little waffle houses like that one chick from 50 First Dates.
The date didn't end until 6.a.m. They kissed on her front porch.
The gang met Betty their second year of college. Jasmine and Charlie going strong for about 5 1/2 years then. High school sweethearts to college lovers.
Betty and Jasmine met first. Jasmine was the one who kind of integrated Betty with the rest of us. Betty was cool. She was feisty and didn't take anybody's shit. She was really pretty awesome.
Betty fell for Jasmine at first sight. Just like Charlie, she admired Jasmine's beauty from the start. She couldn't help herself and immediately made friends with her. Jasmine was absolutely ecstatic to bring another girl to the group.
"So, you're gay, right?" Gavin didn't hide behind the bush. They'd been drinking all night that night. But he wasn't drunk. He knew what he was saying. He also knew the way Betty looked at Jasmine. He saw how she would blush whenever Jasmine would get too close. He knew because he was the same with Charlie.
Betty had almost choked on her beer when he asked that. Coughing, she tried to answer. "Wha-what makes you think that?" She tried to play it cool. But she wasn't as cool as she came off to be.
Gavin didn't say anything. He just glanced at the lovebirds that were flirting inside the kitchen. Gavin and Betty had come out to the backyard for a smoke. He looked at Jasmine and Charlie giggling at each other, in their own little world. He looked at Betty and waited.
Betty followed his gave and sighed. "It's that obvious?"
"No. It's only obvious to me. To anyone else, you're just the friends who don't know what personal space is."
"...You're in love with Charlie." She didn't ask it. She said it.
Gavin only nodded.
"You're my best friend." Charlie was with Gavin, drinking after work.
"And you're mind." Gavin smiled, ignoring whatever he was feeling.
"I love you, dude. You've been by my side forever. I want us to always be friends."
".."
"You know? Like when we're old and with grandchildren. When we get married. When we have kids. I want you to be there for all of it."
Gavin was scared. "What're you going on about, Charlie?"
"I want you to be my best man."
"...What?"
"I proposed." Charlie grinned. His eyes were practically sparkling. "She said yes."
Gavin wanted to cry right then and there. He knew this would happen eventually. Of course it would. They;d been together for almost 7 years now. "C-congrats. I'm so happy for you." Gavin pulled Charlie in a hug. It was hard for him not to cry. He felt like there was a frog in his throat.
"I wanted you to be the first person I told." Charlie had a smile on his face that screamed happiness. It made Gavin hate himself. "So...will you? Be my best man, that is?"
'No! Fuck no.'
"Of course. I wouldn't have it any other way."
"They're getting married, B."
"Yeah...I know."
The wedding went by without a problem. Betty was the maid of honor and Gavin, the best man. People cried. People cheered.
Gavin woke up in a hotel. Betty lay beside him. He knew they didn't. But he wished they did. He wished he could've had drunk sex with any girl.
"You're moving?"
"Tomorrow morning."
"What the fuck?" Gavin was pissed. "I-I thought we were supposed to be best friends? Why did you wait so long to tell me?!"
"I don't know. I couldn't. Gavin, Jasmine's pregnant. She wants to be closer to her family."
"Fuck this, man!" He could feel the walls closing in on him. He couldn't breathe.
"Gavin, come on. We're still fr-"
"No. I can't do this anymore. You know what this is good. This is a good thing. Finally, you'll be out of my life." Gavin was pushing him away. Charlie knew Gavin was being a jerk on purpose. "Maybe this way, I'll finally stop loving you."
There was this thick silence after that. Gavin didn't mean to say it. He just wanted Charlie to feel bad. He wanted to hurt him. He didn't want to hurt himself.
"Stop...stop loving me? You love me?"
"Yeah. But what does it matter? You're straight. You're married. You're about to have a fucking kid and you're leaving. I hope you get that dream life you wanted. But i don't think I can be in it. Not anymore." Gavin didn't give Charlie time to say anything. He left without a word. It was the hardest thing he ever did.
"I heard you were moving..." Betty spoke through the phone, holding back the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes.
"Yeah. I'm pregnant."
"Oh. Congrats."
".."
"I was in love with you."
"I knew."
"Oh."
"Marry me."
Betty looked at her best friend. She looked at Gavin and searched his face for any sign that this was a joke. It wasn't.
"Ok."
Charlie never failed to send a postcard. He sent a postcard for every birthday and every Christmas since his kid was born. They had two kids now.
Gavin never sent one back. Not until he had his first kid. 'Guess we got the life you always wanted us to have. Meet Charlotte-Jay."
Betty and Gavin got married and had a kid by the age of 35. They were happy together. They knew each other. They got each other.
One night, drunk and sad, after the baby was put to bed, Gavin said something. The sentence made Betty cry so hard that night.
"I wish I could've fallen in love with you, B."
"Yeah."
"Mom, are we ever gonna meet them?"
"Who, CJ?"
"The people in these pictures. The ones who sent letters to Dad."
"Oh...no, I don't think so."
"Ok."
Gavin's vows were quite romantic for a gay man marrying a lesbian woman.
"From the moment I met you, I thought you were cool. You had this energy that drew people to you. I got you. I related to you in ways that no one else in the room has. And it goes the same for me. You know me probably better than anyone else. You've seen me cry and no one sees me cry. I hate feeling vulnerable. It's a sucky feeling. But I know I can be vulnerable around you. You make it okay to put my walls down. You're my soulmate, Betty Parker. I'm so glad to have met you. And I know that this probably isn't the wedding you always imagined but I don't want to cry anymore. I was us to be happy. Together."
When everyone was asleep, Charlie found himself looking through a photo album. The photos were mostly of Gavin and himself. Charlie cried that night. "I could've loved you. In another life, I could've loved you."
"Mom, this is my girlfriend, Penelope."
"Girlfriend. That's great. Nice to meet you, Penelope."
"Our daughter is bolder than us. Can you believe it? She didn't even come out."
"That's a good thing, isn't it? She trusts us, Betty."
"Yeah."
"Dad, this is my boyfriend, Luca."
"Cool."
"She's full of love."
"She loves people for who they are. We taught her that."
"Yeah."
"Hey Betty?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
"Hey Gavin?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you."