First Try

"Ryan, it hurts. Stop!"

"Bren, just hold on for a few more seconds."

"I don't have a few more seconds. Get that thing away from me!"

"It'll feel better later, I promise!"

"How would you know? You're not the one who has to get all that sticky stuff on your back!"

"Oh, stop whining! At least all you have to do is lie back and wait. I'm practically the one doing all the work!"

"OW! Ryannn!"

"Just a little more!"

"Ryan Ross, get your fucking hands off of my Brenny bear!"

Bill suddenly burst in the room, looking around with wild eyes.

"So they finally came out, huh?" Pete smirked, coming into view from behind Bill.

"What are you guys talking about?" Ryan asked, looking up at them from where he sat on Brendon's bare back.

Brendon looked up from where he lay on the bed and turned his head to the visitors. His face broke into a grin and he yelled a greeting.

"Hey Bill! Hey Pete!"

They both waved at him and went further in the room.

"So what were you two doing?"

"Yeah, from the way your conversation went, it sounded like Brendon was taking and Ryan was giving."

Ryan swiftly got off of Brendon's back and began wiping his hands on a towelette draped over a chair.

"Trust you to think that way, Pete. I was massaging his back, like the doctor said should be done. Obviously, nobody wanted to do it; we all know that Brendon's a diva when it comes to massages. We played rock-paper-scissors and I lost. So here I am, stuck with his diva ass."

"Please, you'd tap this diva ass," Brendon retorted, getting up from the bed and putting a shirt on.

"Just because Pete wants to, doesn't mean I do too."

"Hey, don't be dissing me. I own your soul, bitch."

Ryan rolled his eyes and threw the towelette in the hamper in the corner.

"What are you guys doing here, then?" Brendon asked, going over to Bill and wrapping his arms around the taller man's slim waist.

"Is it so wrong to visit my babies?" Pete asked with a pout, pulling Ryan into a bone crushing hug.

"It is when you intend to kill them," Ryan strained to say while Pete still had a tight grip on his stomach. He struggled to get away from Pete, but it only resulted to having Pete hug him tighter.

"Pete, I get it, you love me! Let me go!"

"Bill, Bren, I think you need to give Ryan and I some time alone." Pete stared at Bill in the eye. He had already spoken to him about what he was going to tell Ryan and he remembered, nodding before leading a confused Brendon, along with his crutches, out of the room.

Pete sighed and let Ryan go. He, in turn, distanced himself from the shorter man while trying to regain his breath.

"Ryan, you and Bren can't fight anymore."

Ryan stared at him for a moment before looking away, turning his gaze to the floor instead.

Pete pursed his lips before he moved towards Ryan, placing his hand on the side of his face so that he would look at him.

"Hey," he began, coaxing Ryan to look at him straight in the eye. "I know he wasn't the only one that got hurt, but you know better. I know you always end up having to take care of him, but how else would the two of you have gotten close? Think about it, Ryan, if he didn't need you to look after him all the time, do you think he would have ever gotten out of that shell he used to hide in? Knowing you were there to look after him made him see that he could trust other people and that he didn't have to be so shy and introverted all the time."

"How do you know that?" Ryan asked him, frowning - disbelieving.

"He told me. Ages ago when I first signed you. He was drunk at the time and, though it may be hard to believe, I wasn't."

"Yeah, you're right. It is hard to believe."

Pete rolled his eyes at the younger boy. "That's not the point."

"I know, Pete. Do you honestly think I would let Brendon to get hurt like that again?" Ryan asked rhetorically, a smirk gracing his features.

"Good boy. Come on, there's Taco Bell waiting downstairs for you." Pete linked his arm to Ryan's as he lead him downstairs.

"Oh, and by the way, tell Brendon what I told you and you can start calling yourself Georgina Marianne Ross."

"Got it."