Status: Finished.

Give Me Envy, Give Me Malice, Give Me Your Attention

Chapter Twenty

William Beckett looked up as he heard the thick wooden door to his chamber be pushed open, and he saw the small form of his girlfriend enter the room slowly, almost carefully. He automatically leaped to his feet and was beside her in an instant.

“Bella, I'm so sorry,” he apologized sincerely.

Bella looked into his eyes and saw them their normal brown color. He was so human right now. So normal. She wished that he wasn't a vampire, and that he would be this way all the time. Just another guy, but the guy she'd fallen in love with.

“It's okay, William,” she sighed, walking into him as his arms wrapped securely around her.

He could feel that she was a little tense, although she was hugging him back. It was times like these that he wished he could read her mind and know exactly what to do.

“Just,” Bella started. “Can you just let it go? All this about Anna and Ryan... Can't you just try to forget about it? I know she has feelings for you, but there's nothing you can do about that. She seems relatively happy with Ryan, why don't you just let them be?”

“It's not just that,” William sighed in annoyance, running a hand through his long brown hair as he sat back on their bed. “She's a sign of my weakness. Being constantly faced with that isn't easy for me. And as for Ryan, he betrayed me. He's not supposed to be in love with her. He's part of my clan, and he's coveting my property.”

“Don't call her your property.”

“But in all vampiric aspects, that's what she is! Everyone I've ever bitten is technically my property. He's challenging my authority. And as for her, she's not supposed to be here at all.”

“Were you really going to just take me away from my best friends without glancing back?” Bella whispered after a pause.

“For you to be mine I would do anything,” William spoke in a smooth, sincere voice, leaning forwards.

Bella sighed and gave in to his tempting lips. There really was no way of arguing with him, especially when they were both already lying on their bed and hadn't had sex in days.

***

Brendon Urie was waiting for the exact right moment to appear in front of Ryan. Ryan's thoughts couldn't have any time to re-arrange themselves. He needed to do it right the first time or Ryan would be suspicious. Brendon felt horrible about doing this. He was practically spying on his best friend, waiting in the corridor for him to get back from wherever he had been. He also had one of the less experienced and less inquisitive Dandies on the lookout in the corridor of Ryan's room, but he was almost positive that he'd be staying with Anna anyway. What was he, her bodyguard?

Brendon had been waiting for hours before he finally caught a glimpse of his best friend. Ryan's hand was entwined with Anna's as they emerged into the corridor, and he was smiling like he'd just learned how to fly. He was dressed in simple tight black jeans and a yellow t-shirt, not at all regular Dandy attire. Brendon's eyes flicked to the girl next to him. She was also wearing tight black jeans and a white tank top, with bright red pumps on her feet and a silver heart necklace at her throat. Way too modern to be considered Dandy-worthy.

The two stopped outside Anna's room, but Brendon couldn't be bothered to listen in on their conversation. He rolled his eyes as they started to make out. He honestly didn't know what was up with Ryan. Sure, Anna was decent-looking and seemed like a nice person, from what he'd heard, but was she really worth all this trouble? Was she so special that Ryan was willing to risk getting himself killed (by his old friend, no less) just to be with her? Surely there were other girls like her out there, other girls that weren't so dangerous to be associated with?

After what seemed like hours, the two broke apart and with a final peck, Ryan began walking away as Anna went into her room. Brendon's eyes followed Ryan, and when Ryan got to the staircase Brendon took it as his opportunity.

“Hey Ry.”

Brendon seemed to have materialized out of nowhere, and Ryan's eyes widened in shock as he fought to think of anything but 'Fall Out Boy' and their mission.

“Bren.”

“Where have you been?” Brendon jumped right into the heart of the situation and put all his effort into concentrating on the voice of Ryan's mind. He felt horrible about this all, and just wanted to get it over with. It couldn't be that big of a deal, right? They probably just went somewhere private to get it on.

He got glimpses of a place, but he couldn't tell where. Strange fluids were scattered in vials across a desk, and there was some sort of stationary gurney. Syringes and matches littered the desk, and there were plenty of books and loose documents viewable in the adjoining room. Brendon tried to focus on the faceless blurs that were supposed to resemble people. The only thing he could make of the first face was glasses... and maybe it was a bit of a chubby face? The second had curly hair, but nothing else was visible. But the next one stood out crystal clear. Definitely a vampire, and definitely an ex-friend.

“Shit, Ryan...” Brendon shook his head sadly and Ryan gave up fighting the images.

“Brendon...”

“What are you doing? Do you have a death wish?”

“They were once your friends too,” Ryan said quietly.

“But we had to make a choice, and we chose William. You can't just turn back now.”

“Brendon, listen to me. Please don't tell Beckett. This is important. I need to do this. For Anna,” Ryan pleaded.

“Everything you do is for Anna!” Brendon threw up his hands, exasperated. “You need to accept that she's never going to feel for you the way you want her to. Are you willing to die for a hopeless cause?”

“It's not hopeless, though, Bren!” Ryan said, eyes wide with trust that he was trying to convey to his friend. “They can do it. They'll get there. You know how smart Patrick is.”

“But are you really willing to die for her? She would leave you for William in a dead heartbeat, if she got the chance. Can't you date someone who won't lead you to the gallows?”

“Brendon, I love her,” Ryan whispered. “When you love someone, you'll do anything for them. If there's a chance that we can reverse this, then everything will be alright. There won't be any need for a division of the Dandies. All we want is to be able to love each other.”

“But why her?” Brendon groaned. “She's pretty and all, but we've seen prettier. I'm sure she's nice, but there will always be other nice girls. Ones that won't need so much from you...”

“I can't explain it,” Ryan cut him off. “I'm in love with her. To me, there'll never be anyone more beautiful than she is. There'll never be anyone that completes me the way she does. That's just what love is. I never understood the concept until I met her.”

“You mean until she became off-limits?”

“No! I knew Anna before William even knew Bella. I'm not just in this for the thrill. I love her. And if we're going to live forever, I want her to be able to love me too. Do you know how much she hates herself for wanting Beckett? Obviously not, because you've never even spoken to her.”

“No, I haven't spoken to her, I'm just looking out for my best friend. I don't want you to be killed all because of a girl who would gladly run off with your executioner!”

“Well if you don't tell William or let Spencer find out then there's nothing to worry about!”

“Ryan, even if I don't tell him someone else is bound to find out eventually. And most vampires here are more loyal to William than they are to you.”

“What do you mean 'even if'? Do you intend on telling him?”

“I don't know, Ryan,” Brendon sighed, sitting down on the step and running a hand through his hair; an anxious habit that he shared with his leader.

“Brendon,” Ryan started worriedly, crouching in front of the other man. “We've known each other since high school. Would you really spill to Beckett when you know he'll probably kill me?”

Brendon Urie didn't answer. Ryan squeezed his eyes shut and let out a shaky breath.

“Well that's that then,” Ryan stated solemnly. “If I don't know how much longer I have, I'm going to spend what may be our last night of existence with the girl I love.”

With that he turned on his heel and made his way back to Anna's room. Brendon was left alone, stressed and unsure.