Lights

Ryan seemed to do things with a renewed vigour, but he hated having Brendon away from him. The next morning, he treated Brendon to his usual breakfast, along with a hot chocolate with a marshmallow that Ryan had been keeping a stash of in the cupboard for a special occasion. Brendon had looked at him strangely, like he knew what brought this on (and he did), but he took it with thanks anyway and enjoyed it greatly, laughing as he tried to coax the marshmallow into his mouth with his tongue while Ryan watched him curiously.

Ryan went to work and discussed Spencer's girlfriend with him every day, while Spencer made sure that Brendon was all right. He hated to leave Brendon at home, but he knew it was better than aggravating his injuries and causing him to be bed-ridden even longer. He checked the bruises on Brendon's ribs each day and clucked his tongue when they didn't seem to improve (or, as they had at first, grown even darker and more angry), but eventually they started to heal and fade away into Brendon's pale complexion.
As soon as he dubbed Brendon fit to walk around by himself again with Ryan tugging him at the elbow, he let Brendon go to Lights along with him, but told him not to go back to work yet. Brendon argued that he needed to go back to work to pay for all the food that he was eating when he was staying at home watching endless Disney movies, but Ryan merely ignored him in favour of rushing off to serve a sudden customer that had conveniently appeared out of nowhere.

It went back to Brendon practically never leaving Ryan's side – mostly by Ryan's choice. He even agreed to Brendon's endless complaints that they didn't go out enough, and he let Brendon drag him to various cafes to sit with Spencer and Kayla and observe their relationship critically so he could decide whether or not they matched. Brendon even pulled Ryan to a bar once, but they both agreed that it was too smoky for them to enjoy themselves, and Ryan didn't want to drink anyway, so they left.

They went out walking every day after work so Brendon could enjoy the outdoors, but Ryan peered at all passers-by suspiciously, terrified that any one of them would suddenly tackle Brendon to the ground and steal him away. Apparently it was possible – Brendon had been beaten up and chased before, it could surely happen again. And the culprits – this Gabe, who was supposedly trying to protect his own friends from someone they didn't need to be protected from – were definitely in Manhattan somewhere. This thought chilled Ryan to his bones and made him extra careful to mind where Brendon was at all times. He subconsciously stood between him and any of the other walkers that strolled past them.

Of course, Brendon noticed, and got annoyed by it.

“Ryan!” he cried out in exasperation one day when Ryan stared down a man in a suit walking past them quickly and nervously.

“What?” Ryan replied, trying to sound as innocent as possible. “Isn't it a nice enough day for you?”

“Would you please quit doing that?” Brendon sighed, shaking his head. “Seriously, I know what these people look like. You don't need to be all... creepy protective. If I see them, I'll run. And you won't.”

“I won't?” Ryan repeated, sounding extremely doubtful.

“You won't, Brendon repeated. “That way, you won't be associated with me and they won't have anything to do with you. I don't want them after you too.”

“You can't expect me to just watch if they go after you,” Ryan said with a frown.

“No, I can't,” Brendon agreed, “which is why I'm telling you to now. No acts of heroism, Ryan, or you will sorely regret it.”

“What are you going to do to me? Whack me with a shopping bag you can barely lift?” Ryan smirked.

“It's not about what I would do to you,” Brendon mumbled. “It's about what they would do. I don't think they'd appreciate you trying to rescue someone like me. I mean... I'm essentially a traitor.”

“They're the traitors,” Ryan corrected.

Brendon just rolled his eyes in disbelief and refused to reply until Ryan had completely shifted subjects to something that had nothing to do with the community that Brendon had come from.

“So,” Ryan sighed, finally. “How are you finding Kayla?”

“Spencer seems to really like her,” Brendon said. “And she doesn't seem to be sucking the life out of him, so she seems all right so far. But who knows, that could all change. Girls are weird, you know. They suddenly turn around and turn into leeches in the blink of an eye.”

“I haven't observed that, personally,” Ryan stated.

“You haven't been around many girls,” Brendon responded with a smirk. “Thus, your observation is invalid.”

“I have so.”

“Oh, please. The only person you knew before me was Spencer. Spencer is not a girl, Ryan.”

“I had a life before I came to New York, Brendon.”

“Pfft, back when you lived with your mother and went to high school? Barely! They get worse as they get older.”

“How would you know? You're a year younger than I am, you know nothing.”

“Quit doing that!” Brendon scowled at him. “You are no longer allowed to pull the age thing, I can't control that. I was totally winning up until now!”

“Not my fault I'm older than you,” Ryan said with a shrug. “So I'll keep on using it, thank you very much.”

“That's really not cool. We're just going in here, by the way,” Brendon said, pointing to a cafe nestled on the corner of the street, looking warm and inviting. “So turn, turn!”

“We're not driving a car, turning's not that difficult on a pavement,” Ryan said, looking at Brendon through suspiciously narrowed eyes, trying to assess his behaviour.

The pair wandered into the coffee shop, and it held just the atmosphere that Ryan imagined. Something small and quaint, just how he liked it. There was a fire burning in a fireplace opposite them, the dancing yellow flames giving off much-needed warmth that almost made Ryan shiver from the temperature shift – the wind had been bitingly cold outside, even through the thick material of his jacket. Being inside was like breathing a sigh of relief that warmed him to his bones and made him want to stay in there forever.

“There they are,” Brendon said, pointing at a table near the corner, where Spencer and Kayla sat. He wandered over to them, and pulled up a seat from a nearby table with Ryan following behind him.

“Hola, amigos,” Brendon greeted heartily. He paused as he lowered himself into his seat. “That's hello, friends in Spanish by the way. Or Espagnol.”

Kayla arched an eyebrow inquisitively. “Wow.”

“He's practically bilingual,” Ryan added, with a decisive nod. “We're proud of him.”

“It's true,” Spencer said, for good measure.

“By the way, Kayla,” Ryan added. “Brendon was telling me that girls can suddenly turn into blood-sucking leeches. True?”

“I didn't say blood-sucking,” Brendon mumbled under his breath.

“Oh, it's totally true,” Kayla replied, making Brendon look up from the table with a grin. “It's one of our many talents. I know that I'm personally an expert at it.”

“Told you,” Brendon whispered to Ryan.

“Shut up,” Ryan whispered back, loudly.

“I like her a lot more,” Brendon added. Then he turned to face her. “Once again, I approve.”

“I didn't know guys had to approve,” Kayla commented, glancing at Spencer. “You have interesting friends.”

“Oh, I'm fully aware of that,” Spencer said with a grin on his face. “You have to get used to it. Brendon doesn't know when to shut up and Ryan doesn't know when to start talking. They're quite the pair.”

Brendon glared at him. “I do so know when to shut up, thank you very much. You don't know when to stop growing a beard. That thing was done a month ago.”

Spencer looked at him in confusion, running his fingers across his beard thoughtfully. “I didn't have this a month ago.”

Brendon rolled his eyes as Kayla muttered, “I think that was his point...”

Spencer shrugged. “That just prove my point, doesn't it?”

Kayla looked at Brendon with her head tilted sympathetically. “He's right, Bren. I think he wins.”

Brendon scowled. “Foiled again.”

“Tough break,” Ryan shrugged. “Now, I'm thirsty. Wanna go halves on one of their shakes, Bren?”

“Fuck yes!” Brendon responded, enthusiastically. “Can we get the banana kind? Please? You'd only get the chocolate kind last time, the banana kind looks so good!”

“Fine, fine, calm down. I'll get the banana kind.”

Kayla inspected the pair of them curiously, before shrugging.

Ryan approached the counter and ordered a banana shake. He poured the contents of his wallet out onto the counter and started to count out coins until he reached the amount needed. He pushed the spare few coins back into his wallet, then took the banana shake back to the table after grabbing a second straw.

“Happy?”

“Extremely,” Brendon answered, curtly, as he pulled the black straw over to his mouth. “Mm, I told you this would taste delicious. See, Ry? I make the most amazing food choices.

Ryan took a sip and reluctantly sighed. “Fine, it is pretty good.”

“Better than chocolate,” Brendon added.

“Better than chocolate,” Ryan agreed. “I think we should try the strawberry next time.”

“Ew, no.” Brendon wrinkled his nose. “Everyone knows that strawberry is for losers – Oh. Sorry.”

Ryan threw a glare at him. “Ha ha, very funny,” he said, sarcastically.

“I thought it was.” Brendon beamed at him and took a large gulp of the shake.

“Leave me some! You pig, you're inhaling it all.”

“Children, children!” Spencer interrupted, waving his hands between them. “Don't bicker! We're in a public place.”

“He's being a pig,” Ryan mumbled.

“He's being a spoil-sport,” Brendon replied, raising his eyebrows. “I win.”

“You do not win!” Ryan opened his mouth, then turned to Spencer, gaping. “Tell him he doesn't win!”

Spencer blinked and quickly leaned back. “Look, I have nothing to do with this.”

“Then don't interrupt,” Brendon said.

“Yeah!” Ryan agreed.

“Holy crap,” Spencer whispered to Kayla, whose eyes widened at having been pulled into the conversation. “They've banded together against me.”

“Damn straight we have,” Brendon grinned. “Eh, Ryan?”

Ryan just shrugged as he quickly slurped up a few gulps of the milkshake and wiped his mouth.

“We still have,” Brendon added, quickly. “Two of us against one of you. I dare-say that we win this round.”

“Remind me to never come to a coffee shop with you and your friends again,” Kayla mumbled.

“I heard that!” Brendon accused. “Your likability points just went down by five.”

“I think I can handle that.”

“That's not how it works! You're supposed to beg me for forgiveness!” Brendon crossed his arms grumpily. “Ryan, this is so not going how I wanted it to.”

“Do you want the last mouthful?” Ryan said, instead.

“Fuck yes, get your straw away from my mouthful.”

After Brendon had finished off their banana milkshake, Ryan leaned back in his chair and watched as Brendon tried to convince Kayla to beg him for forgiveness, observing as it became more and more unlikely. Eventually, Brendon threw himself to the floor and kissed the leg of Kayla's jeans as she kicked him off.

“I didn't know I could get your friends to grovel so easily,” Kayla pointed out.

“Neither did I, actually,” Spencer said. “I've never gotten him to grovel. This is so unfair.”

“It's a women thing,” Kayla said, smiling.

“Are they about to have a romantic moment?” Brendon whispered loudly to Ryan, from his place on the floor. “Maybe we should go?”

“I don't think they were, but maybe we should go away,” Ryan said. “The chick behind the counter is starting to look at you funny.”

Brendon glanced at the counter, then poked out his tongue. “Fine, fine. We'll go then. So be it.”

“Up you get.” Ryan pulled Brendon to his feet.

“Seeya Spencer!” Brendon said. He then turned to glare icily at Kayla. “Goodbye, person who doesn't care about me liking her.”

“Goodbye,” Kayla responded, pleasantly.

Ryan waved as they exited the shop.

“I think I'm fitting in pretty well here,” Brendon said. “I've been here like... what? A few months now? And you finally let me back to work, so I can start earning us some money again. Then you can't eat our whole milkshake.”

“You drink milkshakes, not eat. And you drank most of it.”

“That's some lie you're telling me to try and make me feel bad,” Brendon said, sticking his nose up in the air. “Well, I'm not falling for it. I know what you did!”

“Maybe we shouldn't give you sugar any more,” Ryan mused. “You know... Ever again. Ever.”

“What'd I do?”

“Well, I started to wonder if it was good for you after you started kneeling on the floor and kissing Kayla's feet. But now you're just kind of proving the point that it's really not in the cards for you any longer.”

“But... How will I enjoy your amazing hot chocolate, Saint Ryan?”

“Those will be the exception, of course,” Ryan said with a grin.

Brendon beamed. “I beat the system!”

“This wasn't a system, but nice try anyway.”

“You're so mean to me,” Brendon sighed.

“Only in the nicest way.”