The Calendar

Neither made a move to get out of the water, Brendon leaning back into Ryan's hug.

"Okay. Five minutes. Right." Brendon wriggled from his friend's fragile grasp and climbed out of the water, Ry quickly following, shyly taking the towel offered to him.

Ryan looked down at himself. "I have to run back over to Spencer's."

"Why?"

"Because my shirt is soaking. I need new clothes!"

Brendon rolled his eyes and continued back up to the house. "Just wear the same jeans. And you can just borrow a shirt. It's not a big deal, Ryro."

A few minutes later, Ry was kneeling in front of the DVD player, putting in The Corpse Bride. Behind him, Brendon was lounging on the couch, soda and popcorn on the side table, thinking about a certain pretty boy in his favorite shirt.

"What?" Ry asked, suddenly conscious of his friend's eyes on him.

"Nothing."

"You're staring."

"Hard not to. You aren't wearing any makeup for once." Lame excuse, Brendon thought to himself. Really, really lame.

"Oh…" Ry shrugged and jumped onto the couch, snuggling close to Brendon. Suddenly, though, he got up, and the taller watched Brendon flip the light switch before returning to the couch to watch the movie. "Thanks."

Three Tim Burton animations later, the front door opened, letting enough light in to make Ryan hiss and bury his face in Brendon's slowly moving chest.

"Anybody home?" Jon hollered, making Brendon crack his eyes open and glance down at Ry. Suddenly the blinding living room lights were flipped back on, making Ryan press his face harder into Brendon's shirt. "Oh, there you guys are!"

"Why are the lights on?"

“Well, since I don’t have night vision I had to turn them on to, I dunno, see?” He snickered at his joke as he left the room to take his guitar back to his room. He was still laughing when he came back and sat on the couch next to the two cuddlers. “So like, are you two? Or?” He raised his eyebrows at Bren because Ryan’s face was still buried in the now blushing boy’s chest. "Because, like, I haven't seen Ashly around l-"

"I have a girlfriend. I love my girlfriend. Go away, Walker." Both Brendon and Ryan sighed, for different reasons.

"My house! I'll go where I want!"

"So go fuck Spencer," Ry mumbled.

Jon started at him, jaw slack. “You’re funny.”

“Why do you think he dresses up when you’re gonna be around?”

“He doesn’t!”

“He does!” Brendon threw in.

"You don't just-" Ry was interrupted by his own yawn, heavy and forceful enough to shake his skinny body. "Nevermind," he mumbled, cuddling closer to Brendon. "Sleep."

Soon enough, his breathing shallowed, watched carefully by Jon and Brendon. After he'd been asleep for a few minutes, Jon whispered, "Have you looked for him yet? In the calendar?"

Brendon shook his head, the motion making him nuzzle the top of Ryan's head. "No."

Of course Jon knew. Brendon lived with him since he started the boarding school in second grade.

"I looked for Ian, though."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I fixed some things."

"How?!"

Bren shot him a look, silently telling him to keep his voice down because Ry was still draped over him. "He was gonna," he started, "gonna do something… regrettable. But friends are good. Friends make you happy. Ian is happy now."

Jon nodded and smiled tiredly, turning towards the stairs. "That's awesome, B. Goodnight."

"Night."