Lights

Once Spencer had made dinner (and Brendon watched him the entire time with wide eyes), the four of them settled down on the various couch and chairs in the living room to watch television as they ate. It was kind of like what used to happen back at Ryan's, but upgraded. A better television that barely ever became a victim to fuzziness, better food, and more places to sit. Brendon practically inhaled his lasagne and rested his plate on his stomach afterwards, looked almost dazedly at the television as he did so.

“I've never quite felt better about my cooking than right now,” Spencer said, glancing at Brendon with an amused look on his face.

“I haven't eaten like that since I lived with my parents,” Brendon replied.

“That's a compliment, right?” Spencer raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, of course. Everyone knows that moms make the best food ever.”

“You're going to inflate his ego so much he'll float away,” Kayla commented. “I'd prefer him on the ground, Brendon.”

“I'll stop when his food stops being so damn delicious,” Brendon replied, making a face. “Ry, you wanna treat them to those fantastic hot chocolates?”

Ryan shrugged. “If anyone wants one, I don't mind making them.”

“I'd love one,” Kayla said after swallowing a mouthful.

“I wouldn't mind trying one,” Spencer said. “Especially if Brendon is going to rant about them all day long as well.”

“I am,” Brendon said, with a nod. “I'll help if you want, Ry.”

“Nah, it's okay.” Ryan quickly finished off his lasagne before standing up and heading into the kitchen. There was a jug sitting on the counter, and he glanced at the stove for a moment before filling the jug with water and putting it on. It was just so... convenient. Maybe he should have invested in one again, after the first one broke so long ago. He couldn't even remember how long he had been using a pot to boil water.

He started sorting through the cupboards in search of some coffee mugs, and had to look past piles of plates and things before he found them. He got out four and started looking around for the hot chocolate next.

A few minutes later, the jug boiled and Ryan started preparing the drinks. Once done, he carried two over to Spencer and Kayla, then went back for his and Brendon's.

Kayla placed her knife and fork down on the plate resting on her knees so she could take a sip of the hot chocolate. “That's not damn bad,” she commented with an approving nod. “I think we know who is going to be the hot chocolate champion – sorry, Spence.”

Spencer just shrugged, taking a few gulps of his drink. “I agree, actually.”

Brendon grinned proudly at Ryan, who just smiled hesitantly back at him.

This was almost odd, he realised. He was going to be doing this every night, with four people instead of two. Twice the amount of social contact, and he could barely look Kayla in the face, let alone talk with her like a normal human being – like Brendon.

Grinning, happy, slightly scarred in more ways than one Brendon.

Ryan had no excuse for his lack of social abilities, so he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. He couldn't pass it off as some sort of result of an event that happened when he was younger. It was just what he was like.

Insanely awkward, and he probably always would be.

*

A few hours later, Ryan and Brendon were directed to the room in which they would be staying. It wasn't very big, but neither of them minded. There was a little space around the double bed placed up against the opposite corner, and a closet for them to dump their stuff in.
“Homey, isn't it?” Spencer said with a grin.

“Reminds me of Ryan's apartment,” Brendon agreed, elbowing Ryan in the ribs, who rubbed the painful spot but smiled back at Brendon anyway.

Brendon opened the closet and chucked his camping back in there, then leapt onto the bed and lay spread-eagled over it. Ryan and Spencer exchanged glances before shrugging.

“Well, goodnight,” Spencer said, closing the door behind him.

“Goodnight? I'm not even tired,” Brendon sighed.

“That's because you just jumped on a bed and got your adrenaline pumping. Good move, right there.”

Brendon grinned. “Thank you.”

Ryan sat down beside Brendon and stretched.

“You tired?” Brendon asked.

Ryan shrugged. “Kind of. It's been a long day, you know? And... you know, a long night. Didn't exactly get the most sleep last night.”

Brendon bowed his head and didn't reply.

“Oh come on, don't be like that,” Ryan said.

“It's my fault your in this mess in the first place. I don't know why you won't let me leave.”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “We're going to sleep, okay? Don't talk about it.”

The pair of them changed and settled beneath the covers on either side of the bed.

“Everything will look better in the morning,” Ryan said, before turning off the lamp on the table beside his head.

“I guess,” Brendon sighed.

*

“Are you sure I can't come with you?” Brendon asked from his place on the couch.

Spencer and Ryan merely exchanged silent glances before both shaking their heads at him.

“You guys are so unfair.”

“Sorry, Bren,” Ryan said. “You'll frighten the customers away.”

Kayla tried not to laugh from where she was sitting, and Brendon just turned to glare at her icily. She just put her hands up in the air in her defense and shook her head.

“I'm going too,” she said. “You'll only be stuck with me for another half hour, I promise.”

“Thank God,” Brendon said, sticking his nose in the air. “I couldn't stand having to stay here for a whole... however many hours until those two get home with you.”

“We know,” Kayla stated, raising an eyebrow. “You've said it numerous times, I think we get the idea that you don't want me invading on your home alone territory.”

“I'm glad we've come to an agreement then,” Brendon said.

“Okay, okay,” Spencer interrupted. “As much as I'd love to listen to you two snap at each other all day, we've got to go, and we'd both like you to be alive and in relatively good condition when we return. Isn't that right, Ryan?”

Ryan nodded.

“See?” Spencer said. “Gotta trust the strong, silent type. Now, au revoir to you both.”

“Au revoir, my very non-French friend,” Kayla said, adding a wave.

“Seeya,” Brendon grumbled.

“Chin up, Bren,” Ryan said, before turning and walking out the door.

Spencer followed him out, closing the door behind him. Once in the hallway, he glanced at Ryan sceptically. “Do you think it's safe to leave them in an apartment on their own?”

“I guess we'll find out when we come back,” Ryan said, grinning.

*

When Ryan and Spencer walked back into the apartment some nine hours later, it didn't surprise them too much to see Brendon leap up from the couch and bound over to them, bouncing on the balls of his feet in front of them. Ryan swatted him out of the way so he could walk past.

“Everything still looks in working order,” Spencer said, scanning the apartment quickly. “It looks like they survived for today.”

“Food soon?” Brendon piped up as he continued to bop in front of Spencer.

“Food soon,” Spencer confirmed. “Go sit down. You too, Ry.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

Ryan followed Brendon to the couch and glanced at Kayla, who was once again in the armchair with her legs pulled up over its thick, dark arm. She offered him a slight smile before her eyes focused back on the television.

“Guess what, Ryan,” Brendon said, in an almost smug tone.

“What?”

“Kayla took me into work today.” He grinned widely as he pointed to Kayla with his thumb. “Because she is nicer than you and doesn't lock people in their apartments for days at a time.”
Ryan glanced over to her, and she shrugged.

“You can deal with his complaining,” she said. “I can't. He wouldn't stop ranting at me when I was trying to leave, he even clung to my leg and made me drag him across the floor until I gave in. How the fuck do you put up with him?”

“I have no idea,” Ryan sighed.

“You may be quiet, but I have to give you your credit for dealing with him,” she went on. “And fucking taking him in. God, I bet you didn't know it was gonna be like that at the start, did you?”

“Can't say I did.” Ryan shrugged and leaned back. “I think he just enjoys annoying you particularly.”

“Lucky me,” Kayla said, her voice dripping with sarcasm and she glared at a smirking Brendon. “Jackpot.”

*

“Didn't you think it was dangerous?” Ryan asked Brendon, when they were both lying in bed later that night. All the lights had been turned off and the room was cast in shadow. Ryan could only make out a vague outline of Brendon's frame, but couldn't see his face properly.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, when you went to work with Kayla today. You didn't know where she worked, did you? I don't know where she works.”

“She works in a tiny stationary store at a mall,” Brendon replied. “Does that make it less dangerous?”

“No,” Ryan snapped. “Your little stalkers could be out there anyway, doesn't that bother you at all? What if you walked right into them with Kayla? She doesn't know what's going on. She just wanted to get to work on time. What the fuck would you do then, Bren? What would she do?”

He felt Brendon shrug as the covers shifted slightly. “I don't plan these things ahead, obviously. Things just seem to happen. Like you.”

“If you stay here, it's safer,” Ryan murmured, turning his head slightly to face Brendon. “Don't you want to be safe?”

“I don't want to be stuck here forever.”

Ryan didn't reply, but just pulled the covers closer to his body and stayed silent.

“Do you like Kayla?” Brendon asked, suddenly.

“What?”

“Do you like her? You don't talk to her properly. Will you?” Brendon asked.

“She's fine,” Ryan reassured.

“She's nice,” Brendon said. “I know I talk shit to her and all, but you know it's not serious. We do the same. You know what it is, it's just fun and games. She's good. She and Spencer are good.”

“Okay, Brendon.”

“So you don't like her?”

“I like her fine,” Ryan said, with a sigh. “What has that got to do with anything anyway?”

“I don't know,” Brendon replied. “Just, we're living with her, and you're not taking to her that well.”

“First, it's been two days. Second, you know what I'm like, you said it yourself. And third, she's fine, okay, Brendon?”

“Okay, okay,” Brendon sighed. “Goodnight, Ry.”

“Brendon, I think you missed the point of this.”

“Don't you want to sleep?” Brendon asked.

Ryan rolled his eyes. “Please, don't go with her again tomorrow. Now, goodnight.”

*

Ryan had to eye Brendon up suspiciously each morning as the younger boy looked back at him cautiously. It seemed to work on some level. Brendon didn't approach the subject again and obediently stayed home. He was there when Ryan left and when he returned, regardless of his shift. He realised this wasn't the way Brendon was made to live, but he couldn't bear to lose him after having come so close twice already. Third time would be unlucky. The charm of Gabe, he assumed, rather than their own.

And he hoped that when he left, his meaningful look would resound in Brendon's mind and keep him from doing something completely out there and stupid – the kind of thing that he was rather prone to.

Spencer would always look at Ryan oddly when they stepped into the hallway, but he wouldn't ask, and would immediately shrug it off.

And so, the next month passed without trouble and they fell into December. The city was suddenly covered in good cheer as the fairy lights in Lights were entwined with tinsel and had mistletoe hanging from various places. Stores had dancing Santas standing just outside their welcoming doors, and Christmas trees were placed in practically every corner, glistening with decorations.

“I think it's about time we got ourselves a tree,” Spencer said one day as they started down the apartment steps at Ryan's request.

“A Christmas tree?” Ryan asked.

Spencer nodded. “Just a little one, maybe plastic. Not totally traditional, but it'll have to do. I'm pretty sure I saw Kayla sneak in a box of Christmas decorations when she moved in, so I'm sure she'll have some shit to put on it.”

“You reckon we should buy one before we get home?”

“Yeah, I reckon we should,” Spencer replied. “Surprise them.”

So after work, Spencer and Ryan walked across the city to the mall that contained the stationary shop Kayla worked in. Spencer pointed to it as they walked past, then mentioned she'd be at home by now, because her shift ended a good hour and a half ago.

Spencer had trouble deciding whether he wanted a normal dark green one or one of the more exciting silver ones sitting next to it. In the end, he and Ryan played rock paper scissors for it, deciding that if Ryan won, they'd get the green, and if Spencer won, they'd get the silver.
Ryan won, so Spencer kept to the more traditional colour.

It was small enough that it barely reached Ryan's hip, so they walked home, Spencer carrying it under his arm.

“I feel really awesome right now,” Spencer said, just before they entered the apartment building. “Like a lumberjack or something.”

“It's not a real tree,” Ryan pointed out.

“You're ruining the magic.”

They climbed up the stairs, Spencer growing tired halfway up, before they were able to heroically burst into the apartment.

They didn't quite receive the reaction they were looking for, as both Kayla and Brendon were facing away from them.

“It's not straight,” Brendon complained, as Kayla wound tinsel across some picture frames on the walls. “Who the fuck hung these up, anyway?”

“Shut up,” Kayla snapped back at him, turning around to face him. She noticed Spencer and Ryan then, and let out a high-pitched squeal. She leapt over to them, inspecting the Christmas tree closely, an excited Brendon following in her wake.

“You got a Christmas tree!” Brendon stated, pointing at it. “Read our minds, why don't you!”

Ryan couldn't help but grin proudly.

“Right, let's put this thing up,” Spencer said. He set it down in the middle of the living room, and Kayla darted off to retrieve the treasure chest of Christmas decorations she had already opened. She returned and set the box down.

“Let there be Christmas!” she announced, hanging the first bauble off one of the branches on the tree.

They spent the next hour decorating as Brendon tried to start a bauble war, but even Kayla wouldn't buy into it. In the end, Brendon settled down and started assisting rather than slowing progress. He even completely forgot about dinner until they all stepped back to admire their handiwork.

“Best Christmas tree in the history of Christmas trees,” Brendon announced, proudly.

“Not that you really helped all that much or anything,” Kayla commented. “Mr. Let's Start A Bauble Fight.”

“It's not my fault that none of you have any proper Christmas spirit,” Brendon replied, sticking his nose in the air as he seemed to do so often when he was talking to Kayla. “But fine. If you want to be a Grinch, then so be it. To be honest, I saw it all along.”

“Yeah, my green and hairy complexion kind of gave it away, didn't it?”

“Play nicely,” Spencer said, rolling his eyes and exchanging a grin with Ryan. “There's enough Christmas spirit for everyone without unnecessarily bringing a Grinch comment into it.” He looked pointedly at Brendon.

“She is!” Brendon whined. “I mean, she didn't even throw it back. What's with her? Does she go crazy around Christmas or something?”

“The scary thing is, I wouldn't know,” Spencer said, looking at Kayla suspiciously. “Do you go crazy around Christmas? I mean, he's right. Usually you would have smashed one of those decorations over his head.”

“Yeah, I would have,” Kayla said with a simple shrug. “So I don't really get why he's complaining. And jeez, sorry Brendon, I didn't realise that decorating a Christmas tree without getting into some sort of throwing things fight would make me into Christmas's public enemy number one.”

“Well, maybe you should remember it for next time.”

“It looks kind of lonely,” Ryan commented, motioning to the tree with a nod. “I mean, look at it. No presents. We need some presents.”

“I have fake presents!” Kayla announced, leaping to her feet and out of the room. She returned a few moments later with some small, wrapped boxes with ribbons tied around them and placed them below the tree proudly.

“That's not cool,” Brendon said. “I mean, look at them. They're tiny. We need big presents. You do realise this house is three quarters man, right?”

Kayla just stared at him.

“Right,” Brendon confirmed for her, instead. “And men like big presents, like an X-Box or a bike or something. Not whatever would fit in there. Jewellery? For god's sake...”

Kayla arched an eyebrow and glanced at Spencer and Ryan. “Well, maybe these are just all my presents.”

“Good, you can get all the empty ones. Does this mean I don't have to get you anything?” Brendon said, hopefully.

“You can't really get anyone anything,” Ryan cut in. “You don't have any money.”

Brendon frowned. “Thanks for that, Ry. I like to be reminded that I can't go to work.”

“Sorry, it's just the truth,” Ryan replied, rolling his eyes.

Brendon recovered quite easily from the lack of large presents and the fact that he wouldn't be able to buy anyone anything. His mind suddenly jumped tracks and the train continued on, as he glanced back at Ryan with a grin. “You know what would be perfect right now?” he said.

“What?” Ryan asked in an almost suspicious tone.

“Hot chocolate. Christmas is not complete without hot chocolate. Everyone knows that.”

“It's only the fifth of December,” Spencer commented, but Brendon just waved an apathetic hand at him and brushed his comment off completely.

“That's irrelevant. Now, Ryan, would you please?”

Ryan shrugged and climbed to his feet. “Who wants one?”

Both Spencer and Kayla piped up, as Spencer's stomach rumbled at the mention of some sort of food.

So Ryan made everyone some hot chocolate, and they all sat surrounding the Christmas tree, not even watching television. They just admired their work continuously as Brendon tried to start up another argument with Kayla over nothing and everything.

“You're going to get old really quick,” Kayla sighed, as Brendon leaned over slightly to glare at her.

“Not as old as Ryan, though,” he said, with a hearty grin. “Eh, Ry? That's what you said. I'm always younger than you, you point it out all the time. And now I get my revenge! You'll get older faster than me.”

“Well, I think we get older at a pretty similar rate,” Ryan said. “But yeah, I'm older and wiser. That's how it works.”

“Not wiser,” Brendon said.

“So wiser,” Ryan countered.

“'So wiser' is not an incredibly wise phrase,” Brendon commented.

“Or is it?”

Brendon raised an eyebrow. “Neither was that.”

“Whatever, young'un. You can think whatever you want.”

“Did you just call me young'un? What are you, a hundred?”

Spencer and Kayla tried to stifle their laughter by taking large gulps of their hot chocolate and trying not to choke.

“Ah, Brendon,” Ryan said in an appropriately condescending tone. “One day, you'll learn the delights of being elderly --”

Brendon couldn't resist snorting.

“-- but for now, you'll have to stay a child forever. Where my decisions will always trump yours.”

“Because that's smart,” Brendon said. “We'll never leave the house, and we'll be forced into watching Disney movies all day.”

“You like the Disney movies,” Ryan replied.

“Except for the fact I've watched them all repeatedly. Do you know how boring it gets around this place?” Brendon turned to Spencer. “You really need to start accommodating for people who want some fun. You know, get some board games, maybe some arts and crafts. Some good picture books. A race car track. Hell, even invest in a mini-ferris wheel, I don't really mind. Point is, I'm fucking bored and it's driving me crazy.”

“Sorry I don't provide for your surprisingly childish needs,” Spencer apologised.

“It's okay, I think I can forgive you.”