Baby, We Have Eternity

I stood staring in shock, waiting for him to say something,anything, in order to confirm that he was real.

“God, you guys run fast,” he said, grinning. Brendon turned around in surprise as I snapped out of it and practically tackled Ryan in a hug. He laughed, hugging me back tightly.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded, letting go. Brendon grinned, also giving him a brief hug.

“Do you have any idea how easy it was to track you guys down?” he asked “I mean, the Dandies had no idea where to look, but I thought you might come home, Bren.” We let go and headed inside the house.

It was a nice little house; it wasn’t big or as decorated as the manor, of course, but at least it felt more like a home than the manor ever did.

Ryan walked in behind us, glancing around our modest living room thoughtfully.

I sat next to Brendon on the couch and Ryan settled into the armchair across, still looking around the room. Brendon grabbed my hand.

“So what brings you here, Ry?” Brendon asked. He sighed before starting, happiness and excitement at our reunion fading slowly from his expression.

“Things are pretty crazy right now,” he admitted. “It’s a lot worse, William’s horrible. Some of the Dandies even left to join Pete, but William’s created new vampires as well.” I bit my lip.

“How are the guys?” I asked.

“Michael, Jon, and Spence went into hiding,” he answered. “They didn’t tell me where, just to be safe. I would have gone with them, but I had to find you two first.”

“What about Mike? And Butcher, and Sisky, and Joe-”

“Mike is still with William, which is good, Mike’s trying to reason with him. Butcher and Sisky left the warehouse before I left the Dandies, they’re going to join Spencer, Michael, and Jon. Joe, Andy, and Patrick wouldn’t leave Pete.”

I sighed in relief, seeing as my friends were safe for the most part.

“And also, Gabe and his clan are helping out Patrick. He’s left his alliance with William.”

“Bet William loved that,” Brendon muttered darkly under his breath. Ryan let out a humorless laugh.

“But why did you come find us?” I asked, seeing as he didn’t technically answer Brendon’s question.

“Patrick asked me to,” he said. “I mean, I was going to anyway,” he added quickly, glancing at us. “But Patrick wanted me to ask for your help.” I froze nervously; I didn’t want to go back.

Brendon and I were happy here.

“Help?” Brendon asked, squeezing my hand lightly, an indication that he felt the same as me.

“I think if you guys came back-” he began, confirming my fears.

“No!” I exclaimed, thinking of my nightmare. They looked at me in surprise. “Sorry,” I whispered.

“I think that if you went back to William…” Ryan began after a few seconds pause, as I felt Brendon’s grip tighten on my hand. Ryan noticed and hesitated to finish his sentence. “Even just for a little while. I think it would make a huge difference, at least calm him down while we try to get organized.” I glanced at Brendon worriedly, and he looked agitated as well.

“No, Ryan,” Brendon said flatly, shaking his head before I got a chance to answer.

“Patrick and I think it was Hanna that was holding William back all this time. Now that she’s gone, he’s completely gone off the deep end,” Ryan continued. “He’s paranoid everyone’s against him.”

“And if it doesn’t work?” Brendon demanded. “Then we’re just back at square one!” I heard the fear in his voice, and I knew it wasn’t of William. I saw Ryan’s gaze go to our tightly intertwined hands again.

“Oh,” he said softly, realizing.

“Yeah,” Brendon shot back assertively, letting go of my hand only to wrap an arm around my waist protectively and pull me close, as if I would run back to William right this second if he let go.

“I’m sorry, Bren. I still think it would work,” he said, looking away nervously as Brendon’s eyes flashed scarlet and he instinctively pulled me even closer against him while I ran my hand through his hair, trying to calm him down.

“We’re fine right where we are!” Brendon exclaimed. “No one’s come for us, we’re finally safe! And you expect us to go straight back?” he demanded of Ryan incredulously.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-” Ryan began tensely. “I’ll leave, I’ll-”

“No, Ryan. Stay,” Brendon said, sighing before loosening his grip on my waist. “I’m overreacting.” His eyes faded back to their original color. “Look, we have an extra room. We can figure out things tonight.”

I led him to our “guest” room, pushing the door open.

“Look, I’m sorry about just randomly-” he began apologetically. I interrupted by wrapping my arms around his waist.

“It’s so great to see you again,” I murmured, hugging him. He smiled, hugging back before going in.