Love Is Not a Flavor

Ryan always felt guilty about moving on with his life after Panic! broke up. Even with The Young Veins doing as well as they were, he knew it would never be the same as being with Brendon, his old best friend.

Ryan sighed heavily as he looked through the old photos he kept in a shoe box under his bed. He specifically lingered on a picture of Brendon giving a big, cheesy grin from the back seat of the van they used to tour in. He remembered that day clearly; he had been going a little camera crazy the whole weekend, driving everyone up the wall. Brendon had been the only one to at least appear not to mind, claiming that the camera loved him.

Ryan smiled, and felt the sudden urge to give him a call, but wasn't sure that he should. For all he knew, Brendon hated him, and never wanted to talk to him again, and there was always the chance that he had changed his number.

He ran his hand through his long, wavy hair. He hadn't washed it in a few days, and grimaced at the feel of the greasy strands.

Ryan took out his well-loved phone, sending Jon a quick message asking if he should call or not. A couple of minutes later, he received a text saying that he should go for it, and that he had nothing to lose.

He punched in the familiar number he had never forgotten, and took a deep breath before hitting send.

Brendon picked up after the fourth ring, sounding tired and confused.

Ryan hesitated before getting up the nerve to say, "Hey, how have you been?"

"Uhm, I've been okay I guess. What's up?" Brendon's voice sounded exactly as Ryan had remembered it.

"I was just looking through my old pictures from Panic! and thought that I'd give you a call; see how you've been doing," now that he had him on the phone, Ryan didn't know what to say, and was starting to regret ever calling.

"Oh, well I've been good. How 'bout yourself? I hear The Young Veins is doing well," Brendon sounded more cheerful and relaxed.

"Yeah, it's been good," Ryan paused before asking, "Listen, do you maybe want to hang out, get some food or coffee?"

Brendon laughed a little, "Yeah, sure, wanna meet up at Waffle House in half an hour?"

Ryan smiled before agreeing. He didn't bother dressing to impress, knowing Brendon wouldn't care, but took a quick shower, if only to make his hair more presentable. He was on his way to the diner 20 minutes later, and he could feel his stomach doing flips out of nervousness. He saw Brendon's car already parked in the lot, and smiled at the fact that some things never change.

He ruffled his hair one more time in his side view mirror before he finally walked in, immediately spotting Brendon in a booth off to the left. His back was turned to the door, but Ryan could tell he looked almost exactly the same.

Ryan walked up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder to announce his presence. Brendon jumped as he turned, but smiled when he saw Ryan. He stood up, giving him a hug and a cheerful greeting before they both sat down opposite of each other.

They talked for a while, not of anything specific, but just about what they've been up to as of late. Brendon didn't have much to say, and Ryan didn't want to talk much about his new band.

When they were going to leave, Ryan decided to take on more chance, and kissed Brendon beside his car. Brendon tried to pull away, but soon gave up, and just kissed Ryan back.

Ryan knew what he was getting himself into when he kissed Brendon, but they had been down this road before, countless times. So when they ended up at Brendon's apartment, nearly flinging themselves at each other once the door closed, it wasn't unknown territory.

After taking the ride to Waffle House to retrieve Brendon's car, Ryan kissed him on the forehead, and promised to keep in touch.

He couldn't keep the smile off his face as he drove away.