Teach Your Heart To Talk

Chapter 9

Ryan’s POV

I’m incredibly cold when I wake up and at first I’m confused.
Wait, why am I-
Oh right
I sigh and bury my face in the warm material next to me.
That would be Brendon’s shirt.
He shifts and pulls me closer by the waist. I freeze for a moment but relax quickly, melting into the touch.
We are still in the middle of a forest without any food (yes, we ate everything) or a functioning phone but I’m still kind of happy right now.
I don’t move away when Brendon groans and shifts so he makes a confused noise and looks down at me.
“Ry?” he asks sleepily.
“Huh?”
“Hm, cold”
I nod and feel him tug at the blanket to spread it over us again.
“Maybe we should get up. I want to go home.” I whisper.
He shakes his head and buries it in my hair.
“Bren, please.”
He stays like that for a few minutes before drawing back and staring right at me.
“No more mood swings?” he asks with a small smile.
“I can’t promise that.” I mumble and he shrugs and makes an attempt to get up. “Thank you”
He stops in his tracks and frowns at me.
“What for?”
I look down and think about it.
“Uhm, I don’t know.”
He just laughs and starts to gather our stuff.
“So let’s get out of here.” He says.
I nod and we start walking.
“Are we just continuing like yesterday? Just running around without a clue?” I ask and he raises an eyebrow at me.
“Do you have a better idea?”
“Uhm”
“Thought so”
So we just walk … and walk … and walk.
“Dude, I bet my mom is freaking out.” Brendon says after a while.
“At least she cares.”
He looks at me and bites his lip.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t- ”
“Don’t apologize. It’s fine.”
He sighs and remains silent for a few minutes.
“Let’s play something.” He says then.
“What?”
“I ask you something, then you ask me something. Alright?”
“Uhm, okay?”
“Good”
He looks up with a thoughtful expression before smiling at me.
“Favorite band?”
“Fall Out Boy” I say without hesitation.
“Awesome!”
He beams and I smile.
“My turn. What do you want to do when you’re older?”
He bites his lip and thinks for a moment.
“I want to be a musician.” He laughs. “That would be awesome but my mom doesn’t approve.”
“Why?”
“Because she can’t pull that stick out of her ass.”
I start to giggle and Brendon watches me with a smile.
“Hmm, first crush?” he asks with a sheepish grin.
“What? Uhm.”
“You have to answer.” He sing-songs.
“I never really had a crush.”
“I don’t believe that. Come on. I bet you had a crush once.”
I start to search through my mind but I can’t really come up with someone.
“Ryaaaaan! I’m waiting!”
“Uh, maybe … Pete Wentz? Does that count?”
He looks up thoughtfully before smiling.
“I guess. So what. You … like guys?”
“What?” I ask quickly and stop walking to stare at him.
When he notices I’m not beside him anymore he turns to look at me.
“It was just a question.” He whispers and looks down. “No need to freak out about it.”
I nod and we start walking again.
“It’s my turn again.” I say and he looks at me with a look I can’t place. “Who was your first crush?”
He blushes and fiddles with his hands awkwardly.
“Jon Walker” he mumbles then. “In middle school”
I try to catch his gaze but he refuses to look at me.
“Brendon” I say softly but he still watches the ground. “So you like guys?”
He looks up for a moment but averts his gaze again.
“It’s just- ” he tries to find the right words. “If I like someone the gender doesn’t matter. It’s not my fault girls happen to have shitty personalities. Does that make sense?”
He looks nervous and scared when he says this so I smile in a try to make him feel better.
“Actually, that makes a lot of sense.” I say and he takes a deep breath.
“Thank god. I thought you would hate me now.”
“You’re stupid.” I laugh and he chimes in.
When our laughter died down Brendon reaches out to take my hand hesitantly. I just look down at our hands and then at him again.
He smiles nervously and we start walking again.
I guess I should pull back or something but I really don’t want to.

*

“Dude! Do you see that?!” Brendon yells and I look up.
It’s getting dark again and my feet hurt like hell. I never thought we would get lost so hopelessly.
“Huh?”
“There! Don’t you see the light?” he asks.
I narrow my eyes and yes, there is light shining through the trees.
“Oh my god!” I yell and he beams at me before pulling me towards it.
At first we are walking quickly but it turns into running soon. We are laughing hysterically and try to run faster.
When we break through the last few trees I smile at the view in front of me.
The town
Finally
“Yes!” Brendon cheers and turns towards me.
We start jumping up and down like teenage girls while laughing loudly. Then Brendon’s arms are around me in a tight hug.
“I told you we would get out of there.” He whispers and I nod, a smile still covering my face.
When he draws back he stays close and watches me with a small smile. I almost don’t notice him looking down at my lips for a second.
Before I can react he leans forward and his lips cover mine.
My eyes widen in shock and I don’t know what to do. I’m about to draw back when Brendon cups my cheek and starts moving his lips against mine.
My mind screams out thousand things at once but I ignore it and let him pull me close by the waist.
My hands comb through his hair and his fingers draw pattern on my hip, our lips still attached.
When he licks over my lower lip in a try to open my mouth I push him back gently.
He stares at me with flushed cheeks, dark eyes and swollen lips.
“Sorry” he whispers.
“Don’t be.” I say. “Let’s just … take it slow, okay?”
He smiles and nods. Then he leans forward to peck me on the lips before taking my hand and leading me down to the town.

*

Brendon’s POV

This is probably the best day of my fucking life.
I can’t stop smiling the whole way home and I refuse to let go of Ryan’s hand. Every time I turn to smile at him he blushes and it’s the cutest thing ever.
When we reach my house it’s already dark outside and Ryan is shaking because of the cold. I’m about to unlock the door but it opens before I can do so.
“BRENDON BOYD URIE! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!” my mother yells with her hands on her hips.
“Uhm, we got lost in the woods?” I try but she just glares at me.
“It’s true.” Ryan says and he earns a glare too.
“Get up into your room!” she hisses and we nod, pushing past her and up the stairs.
When we reach my room and the door slams shut we start laughing loudly and fall down on the bed next to each other.
“Dude, we got lost in the fucking woods. We are retarded.” Ryan laughs and I nod wildly.
When our laughter died down I turn my head to look at him. His eyes are closed while there’s a content smile covering his face.
I think about mentioning the kiss so we can talk about it but instead I just get up and crawl on top of Ryan, crashing my lips to his again.
A surprised whimper escapes him but soon he caught himself and kisses back. I run my hands up and down his sides and he wraps his arms around my neck. I lick over his bottom lip and this time he opens his mouth and lets my tongue slip in, in a fight for dominance. Ryan giggles into the kiss and I bite his lower lip.
“Brendon!”
My eyes widen and I jump off Ryan, almost falling to the floor just when the door opens and my mother stomps in.
She eyes the scene in front of her without any emotion at all.
“Brendon, we have to talk.” She says and walks out again.
I grimace and get up to follow with one last glace over my shoulder to Ryan who is looking a bit scared.
We walk down the stairs and into the kitchen.
“Where have you been? And don’t lie to me!” she demands.
“I told you, we got lost in the woods.”
“Oh, please. Do you think I’m stupid?”
“I am not lying, mom!”
“Why would you go out into the woods anyway?”
“We made a picnic.” I whine and she raises her eyebrows.
“What?”
“A picnic!”
“In the woods.”
“Yes! Is that so hard to believe?”
“Why would you want to do that?”
“Because Ryan didn’t want to go out where people are.”
She sighs and motions for me to sit down.
“Ryan didn’t sleep in his bed last night. Mind to explain that to me?”
I freeze and stare at her.
“His door was open.” She explains.
“He was scared after watching horror movies.” I say quietly.
“Scared? How old is he?”
“Eighteen”
“He should be able to sleep on his own then.”
“Mom, seriously? Why is this even a problem?”
She sighs again and leans forward with a worried expression.
“I’m just worried, Brendon. If people saw you together they would think you’re … a couple.”
I blink at her a few times and she leans back again, crossing her arms.
“Why would that be a problem?” I ask carefully.
“Brendon, we don’t need people to think stuff like that about us.”
“You mean you don’t want people to think your son is a fag?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“But that’s what you meant.” I hiss and get up.
“Brendon, sit down again.”
“No”
“Fine then. We will talk about this when your father comes home in a week.”
“There is nothing to talk about! Damnit!” I yell and run out of the room and up the stairs.
When I enter my room again Ryan is still sitting on the bed, looking up at me with wide eyes.
I close the door loudly and lock it.
“What happened?” Ryan asks and gets off the bed to walk over to me.
“My mom is a goddamn homophobe!” I hiss and turn to face him.
“Oh”
“What am I going to do? I can’t keep it a secret forever. I never had a girlfriend, she will find out eventually.”
Ryan’s eyes show sympathy when he looks at me before wrapping his arms around me.
“It will be okay.” He mumbles into my shoulder.
I’m not too sure about that.