Troubled Thoughts and the Self-Esteem to Match

BILL

"Seriously?" I gaped, glancing at him excitedly. He nodded as he tried to hide an enthusiastic smile. He'd informed me that he and Danny stayed up for two hours after I left them last night, talking about pretty much everything possible.
"That's awesome!" I screeched, unable to contain myself. I had a good feeling about this before, and it was only getting better. His face tinted slightly at this, but he nodded nonetheless.
"Anything else embarrassing happen?" I asked teasingly as I remembered the "because they make music" incident. He'd told me about Danny teasing him for it the previous night, but I hadn't heard if anything else happened.
"Amazingly, no." He sighed in relief, swiping his orange hair from his face, only for it to fall back in the same place.
"He told me a lot more than I thought he would, too." He admitted quietly while I finished brushing my teeth.
"Like?" I cut my eyes up to the mirror, locking eyes with his reflection.
"Well, he told me about why he got in here. I mean, I already knew what he did, because of group therapy from block 10, but he told my what he felt, and all that."
He explained, and I couldn't help but be curious. What would a suave boy like Danny do to end up here?
He obviously noticed this before peeking out the door to make sure no one was coming to hear him.

"A drunk driver hit his sister's car when she was on the way home from a friend's house and killed her. Danny found the guy and stabbed him in the head."
My toothbrush slipped from my hand with a small clank against the wooden sink counter.
"You're kidding me." I gasped in utter shock.
"No." He shook his head. "It didn't kill the man, but it did cause serious brain damage, and he's like, almost a vegetable now."
I retrieved my toothbrush and washed it off, putting it in it's rightful spot before leading Travis to the living room.
"Well, don't you think the man deserved it? I mean, an innocent girl losing her life because he just had to get drunk and drive. Stupid dumbass." I grumbled as we walked the path to the liv. I never liked drunks, especially when their idiocy led to poor bystanders losing their lives.
"I know, right?" He agreed exasperatedly.
He slowed as we passed Ryan and Brendon's room.
"Um,...Can I ask you something?"
He stopped completely, staring at their door almost nervously.
"Uh, sure?"
I stopped too, taking the three steps back to his side and watching the door like him, wondering if he was seeing something I wasn't.

"Do you think Ryan ya know, dislikes me?" He inquired as he rolled his eyes to me, then back to the door.
I was a little confused by this. What gave him the idea that Ryan disliked him? I mean, Ryan was the sweetest person here.
"Of course he does.Why?"
He shrugged. "I dunno. Since I've been here, he's barely said 10 words to me."
"Well, he's really shy. It took him a bit to talk to me too, really. Just, try talking to him first I guess."
I suggested, glimpsing the clock down the hall for the time. 7:30 A.M..
"He's really a big sweetheart when you get to know him." I added with a quick smile, before opening the door as silently as possible.
"Let's wake him up and get him to come hang out with us." I whispered as I stepped into the room, he hesitantly doing the same thing.

The sight was enough to make you want to melt. The two had their twin-size beds pushed together in the middle of the room. Brendon's arms were tangled securely around Ryan's small waist, Ry's head comfortably pressed against Brendon's ribcage. I once heard somewhere that if two people slept together for a prolonged period of time, their breathing would eventually synchronize. This was most likely true,as theirs seemed to be. I felt bad to disturb such a sight and I began to leave the room, but Ryan raised his head up groggily, squinting his large eyes from the hallway light.

"May I help you?" He yawned, untwisting Brendon's arms from around him and stretching before unsteadily rising to his feet and smoothing out his flannel pajama pants.
"Uh, we were just going to see if you'd like to join us in the living room for some quality conversation, or something like that."
I answered before stepping out of the room to let him out also.
He gazed at Travis timidly, but the corners of his lips quickly turned up in his ever friendly demeanor.
"Sounds good to me."

I was very happy as the three of us sat together on the red couch in front of the small coffee table. Ryan was slowly warming up to Travis, and vice versa. I knew they would if they just had someone helping them along with the topics to talk about. They realized they were very similar, liking many of the same bands, and sharing the same views on everything they brought up. One of these was their devotion to the band Fall Out Boy.
Everyone in the group liked them, apparently. Ryan told me a week or two ago about how, when their album "Folie A Deux" was released,they made Mr.Way leave the facility on his break just to buy it, with their money of course. I found this slightly amusing.

"Umm, so Bilvy tells me you write songs?" Travis questioned, seeming more comfortable talking to Ryan now that they'd learned more about each other.
"Yeah. I've been told that they're a little weird, but I mean, I guess that's better than the same stuff you hear everywhere."
Travis nodded at this. "Definitely. I like unique songs."
The conversation was interrupted by Brendon coming into the room, rubbing his face and just barely saving himself from tripping over his own feet.
"What are the three doll-faces doing together this early?" He grinned as he plopped down on one of the orange adjacent arm chairs, instantly wide awake.
"Talking. Waiting for breakfast. The usual." Ryan answered with a fond smile to his boyfriend.
"Well, let me in on this." Brendon rubbed his messy hair down as he said this.

"No...No...No."
Danny repeated this word and slapped Gabe's hand away as he kept reaching across the table, trying to steal Danny's pudding. It was funny at first, but now it was just downright annoying.
"Dammit Gabe, Here." I practically threw mine at his face,he barely catching it.
"But Amado, you need to eat this fattening stuff. You're all skin and bones." He whined childishly.
I went through all the Spanish words I knew that started with 'A' to remember what the one he'd said meant.
"Don't call me that." I growled when it hit me. He liked this, grinning deviously.
"Then, how about I call you Mi princesa?" That shit eating grin grew even wider, if possible as I gritted my teeth and glared at him.
"Aww, Te amo, Cariño." He pooched his bottom lip out in mock apology as he sarcastically said this.
"You know what, give me back the damn pudding." I snapped as a warning that I was really getting pissed off, and that he should shut-up.
"Lo Siento." He grumbled as he pulled the top off the pudding container and dipped his spoon into it.
"Hey guys? I'm gonna go outside. I need some fresh air."
Danny stood and grabbed his tray before adding "Anyone wanna join?" He looked at each of us before Travis stood.
"Um..I'll go. I'm done eating." He grabbed his tray also and, after no one else stood up for a second or two, they walked toward the tray dump trashcans, beginning a conversation that I couldn't quite hear.

"Since when did they become such great friends?" Gabe scoffed, watching after them almost enviously.
"Why do you care? Jealous?" Brendon chortled through a mouthful of tater tots, his cheeks bulging like you would picture a squirrel.
"Yeah! He's my buddy, and he's been spending a lot of time with him the past twenty four hours."
He pouted, both because of what he said and the fact that he scraped the last bit of pudding from the plastic container and had none left.
"Well, maybe you should stop being so selfish. Danny's allowed to have other friends you know."
I secretly found a bit of pride in myself as he glared at me. "Well, maybe I want to be selfish."
I decided to ignore him as my mind wandered to wherever Danny and Travis were. I wondered what they were talking about, and what they were doing. Under our Oak tree maybe? On the bench closest to our block? Mostly what they were talking about though.
I didn't notice the content smile that shaped my lips until Ryan mirrored the action, leaning over and whispering in my ear.
"Travis and Danny.They like each other?" It was a mix between a statement and a question.
"Well, Trav likes Danny, but I'm not sure about Danny. I have a feeling that he does though."
He nodded. "I think so too."
Frank leaned forward on his elbows, observing us.
"So, what you two talking about?" He curiously inquired, his dimples lightly ghosting his features.
"Nothing." Ryan smiled politely, letting him know it was personal and that he would appreciate it if he dropped it.