That One Night

“Don’t you think…you’ve had enough to drink?” Ryan laughs, holding onto Brendon’s wrist, stopping him from filling his red, plastic cup with more alcohol. Brendon giggles, shaking his head.

“No! You just think that because you haven’t had enough to drink!” he laughs, and he trips a little bit, spilling beer down the front of his shirt. He doesn’t even notice.

“That’s a lie! I’ve had a lot, okay? And I can’t hold my liquor very well!”

“You know, I never did find Jon!”

“So what? You’re having fun with me, right?”

“Yeah!”

“Hey, let’s go back outside,” Ryan says, and he leads Brendon back out onto the backyard of whatever house they’re at. It’s warm outside but the wind makes a pleasant breeze. There are several people outside, some smoking, others just sitting around.

“You’re really pretty,” Brendon says for what has to be the thousandth time that time. “And you have a really nice body, too. Like, you’re really skinny, but your hands and feet and big, but not like, in the oddly proportioned way, but in the I-Have-a-Big-Cock way, you know? Do you?”

“Do I know? Or do I have a big cock?” Ryan laughs.

“Um. …What?” Brendon says, appearing to have forgotten what he just said.

“I don’t know!” Ryan giggles, leaning over and using Brendon to support himself up, their faces only mere inches away from each other.

“Can I kiss you?” Brendon asks, and Ryan just nods.

***

It’s been several days since ‘the incident’, as Brendon prefers to call it and Jon hasn’t gotten anywhere in ‘the investigation’, as Brendon like to call that. Jon insists that it takes time, but Brendon insists that he’s just being lazy, to which Jon will reply saying that he has no idea how Brendon became his best friend.

“You’re going out. You’re leaving me. You’re leaving me alone in the apartment at night when you know that I’m paranoid about people breaking in a murdering me, aren’t you?” Brendon asks, standing in the doorway of Jon’s bedroom, watching him pull on a T-Shirt.

“Yes, Brendon, I’m going out,” he answers.

“Why do you have to be so cool and popular? Really. Why can’t you be un-cool and unpopular so you can stay at home with me all the time?”

“Why don’t you become cool and popular so you can go out, too?” Jon smirks.

“Where are you going? Are you going out with Cassie again? Didn’t you just see her? I mean, I know you’re like, in love with her and all, but--”

“Brendon, you talk too much. I’m going to Spencer’s. You can come if you’d like,” Jon offers, and Brendon frowns.

“Is Ryan going to be there?” he asks.

“No, he’s going home for the weekend,” he tells him, and suddenly Brendon’s face brightens and a huge grin spreads over his lips.

“Oh my god, this is the perfect opportunity to find out about Ryan! Oh my god, I’ll totally come with you!”

“Do not make me regret inviting you, Brendon.”

***

He’s not sure if his lips are numb because he’s way too drunk, or if they’re numb because he’s been kissing Ryan for so long. Not that he really even cares because damn, Ryan is a good kisser. And he’s making a mental note to thank Jon later for getting lost at this party, otherwise he would have never met this fine stranger.

He lets out an almost angry noise when Ryan pulls away from him, and when he opens his eyes, Ryan is smiling at him, his lips red and puffy from all of the action. He leans in towards Brendon again, but goes right past his mouth so that his lips are hovering right next to his ear.

“When I get really drunk…,” he whispers, and his hand comes to rest high up on Brendon’s thigh. “I get really, really horny.”

“Oh my god, do me now.”

***

“Spencer, hey,” Jon says, and Brendon is standing behind him, peering over his shoulder. “This is my friend, Brendon.” Jon steps aside so that Brendon is no longer hidden and he smiles at Spencer, trying to search for any trace of recognition of his name on his face, like maybe, just maybe, Ryan had mentioned him to him.

“Hey, yeah, I’ve heard a lot about you, it’s nice to finally meet you,” Spencer says.

“From Jon? You’ve heard about me from Jon?” Brendon clarifies.

“Yeah,” Spencer nods. “You guys can come on in.”

Brendon follows Jon into the apartment, and Brendon can’t help but look all around at the new surroundings until Jon leans over to him and whispers “Cut it out, you look like a freak.”

“So, you’re roommate's gone for the weekend?” Brendon asks, trying to act nonchalant and casual.

“Yeah. Family stuff,” Spencer answers.

“Ryan? Is that his name? I mean, Jon mentioned his name and uh….”

“Yeah,” Spencer nods with a laugh. “His name’s Ryan.”

“Oh. That’s cool,” Brendon nods, sitting down next to Jon on the couch in the living room while Spencer in the armchair nearby.

“So…do you know any gay guys?” Brendon asks, and Jon elbows him hard in the side.

“What?” Spencer asks, bewildered.

“Brendon…is just. Um, he’s going through a rough time. He…hasn’t…had sex in a very long time. In fact…he’s actually a virgin.”

“No I’m not!” Brendon cuts in.

“Yeah, he’s a big…virgin. He’s…never even seen a penis.”

“That’s not true! I have a penis! You’ve seen it!” Brendon says, and Spencer raises his eyebrows, looking at Jon.

“Yeah, I have, actually,” he admits. “Brendon likes to dance naked around our apartment to N*sync when no one’s home. …Or when he thinks no one is home.”

“It’s fun,” Brendon shrugs.

“So what Brendon was trying to ask when he asked if you knew any gay men, was…do you know anyone that you could hook him up with?”

“Hm…,” Spencer mumbles. “I don’t think so, I’m sorry.”

“Are you sure?” Brendon asks. “What about Ryan?”

“What about Ryan?!” Jon repeats, elbowing Brendon in the side again. “Does he know anyone?!”

“I have no idea. He might, I don’t really know.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. Because Brendon really doesn’t want to die a virgin.”

“I’m not a virgin!” Brendon says again.

“No, but you are about to die,” Jon threatens. “So, Spencer, what do you say we put that movie on that we were talking about earlier?”

“Alright, sounds good,” Spencer agrees.

“Hey,” Brendon whispers to Jon while Spencer is busy getting whatever movie they had talked about watching earlier.

“What?” Jon asks, giving Brendon his annoyed eyes.

“Which one of those rooms is Ryan’s room?”

“Brendon, no.”

“Come on! I’ll be sneaky about it. I’ll excuse myself to go to the bathroom and then--”

“What do you even plan to do in there?”

“Find out if he’s gay or not. Duh.”

“What are you going to find in his room that will tell you if he’s gay?” Jon asks.

“Uh…. Gay porn? Dildos? Something from H&M?”

“Brendon, no. That is a…horrible, horrible idea.”

“Hey, I’ll be right back,” Brendon announces so that both Jon and Spencer can hear him. “I need to use the bathroom, is that it right over there?”

“Yeah, right there,” Spencer nods, and Brendon stands up, despite Jon’s whispered yells that he’s a complete idiot. He reaches the bathroom and closes the door to it without going inside, then looks at both bedrooms -- each of them on either sides of the bathroom, facing each other.

He makes the decision to go into the bedroom whose door is fully closed, hoping that it’s Ryan’s. When he goes in, he’s not sure if he’s in the right room because…he doesn’t know Ryan. He doesn’t what Ryan is into, what his hobbies are, so he has no idea what he would expect to find in Ryan’s room. And the same applies to Spencer, so he really has no idea whose room he’s in.

That is, until he sees a wallet sitting on the nightstand next to the bed. He walks over to it, picking it up and opening it, and finding the drivers license of George Ryan Ross III. He chokes back a laugh at Ryan’s actual name and continues to look through his wallet, finding a credit card, a Blockbuster card, a library card, some cash, and…a condom. Brendon has to choke back a laugh again, until he hears a familiar voice in the living room that’s neither Jon nor Spencer.

“So I was like, halfway to my parents’ house -- which is only like fifteen minutes, but whatever -- when I realized that I left my wallet here. And that’s just not something that you can just not have for an entire weekend. So I had to turn around and waste more of my four-dollars-a-gallon gas to come back for my damn wallet.”

Brendon freezes, Ryan’s wallet in his hand. He’s very well aware of the fact that Ryan is coming to his room right now and that he is in there being a nosy creep, looking through his stuff, and he’s looking frantically around the room for a place to hide, and when he’s trying to decide between the closet or under the bed when--

Ryan opens the door to his bedroom and Brendon comes face to face with him. Ryan jumps and looks like he was about to scream, but instead he just stares at Brendon, wide-eyed.

“Um…hi,” Brendon smiles, then holds out Ryan’s wallet to him.