Imagine if Brandon had to sign some confidentiality form while they were dating so Richard wouldn’t be outed incase they broke up, Richard would be legally protected and could take action against him perhaps. Of course this is hypothetically speaking.
I’m surprise Brandon hasn’t confirmed they were in a relationship. He is really proud to be part of the LGBTQ community. So I can only imagine the self conflict dating Richard would have caused for Brandon.
I think it was pretty clear that Brandon and Richard were dating. I can think that the relationship was hard for both of them, Rich is in the closet and Brandon was so out and proud. After they break up Brandon went into rehab, he has a huge problem with drugs, maybe that was the reason for their end.