Rumored Nights

One ring.

Ryan breathed an impatient sigh.

Two rings.

Ryan impatiently tapped his foot.

Three rings.

If William hadn't answered at that last shrill Ryan wasn't sure what would've become of his temper.

"Hello?" Bill asked, a lingering laugh in his voice.

"Hey man, it's me."

The change in his demeanor was obvious in his reply.

"Oh, hey Ryan, uh, wha- what's up?" His best friend stuttered, clearly nervous about this out of the blue phone call.

"I think you know." Ryan replied, using great restraint to keep the bitterness from seeping into his words for fear of letting his emotions take over his actions.

There was no room for him to lose his grip on the situation, especially now with his sister in the equation, Alice taking lead over everyone else in his present life.

She tried to hide it whenever she was sad, never wanting anyone to pity her or take on the responsibility of her guilt.

Perhaps it was all the years of him and Caroline sacrificing normal childhood things like play dates and sleepovers to make sure little Alice was alright, that their little sister didn't get lost in the sorrow of death or loneliness.

It was something their father had taught them when they were little, during the times when they did do normal child things, when on weekends he would keep them from their friends, just so there could be family time.

The only guilt Ryan had that seeped into everything else was that he had taken those happy times for granted, complaining about mandatory trips with his annoying little sisters and overenthusiastic parents.

And after those trips came to an abrupt halt Ryan made a promise to himself he'd take his father's place, protecting his sisters and mother, and trying to bring the happiness back to their house.

Which was precisely why Ryan was willing to jeopardize his friendship with William for the sake of his sister.

"Uh, Ryan... listen I didn't mean for this to happen. You know I'd never want to hurt Alice... I j-just really fucked up." Bill nervously replied.

Ryan sighed, running a hand through his dark hair.

"Right now I don't care what you wanted, because what you want I'm sure is an emotional wreck right now." He said irritably.

And in truth Ryan didn't know if he was right with his assumption, but it was an easy guess that he was right about Alice's current state of mind.

"I know... I know... it's just, she started questioning me and I said too much... I didn't mean for it to get so far. One minute we're standing there and the next I-I, I kissed her."

There was silence.

William realized in the absence of words that he had said far too much and unknowingly dug his grave deeper.

"You kissed her?"

Ryan's hushed reply sent chills through William as he tried in vain to find a hint of emotion in his words.

"I-I, you know I di-didn't mean it!" Bill stuttered, the words his so often lived by evading him.

And suddenly those emotions he tried to find earlier he wished had stayed lost as they came back in full force through Ryan's reply.

"You know damn well you meant it!" He growled in anger. "You meant every word you told her, every look, every hug, so don't try to deny it now!"

Fury laced each word as it left Ryan's lips and went on a collision course toward William.

Neither of them said anything for a while after that, one wounded while the other simmered.

"I won't deny it then." Bill finally spoke.

Ryan, finding composure in Wiliam's resolute words, found the words to continue.

Just hearing he had kissed his sister brought out his brother instincts, along with the desire to let out his anger on him with his fist.

But seeing that William was at least taking responisibilty for his stupidity was a step in the right direction and gave him the chance he needed to say what he had to say.

"You know you're an idiot right?" He muttered through his teeth. "I know you've liked Alice since last year when you turned down a date with Sarah Jenkins. Let me guess, after you kissed her you ran away?"

He knew it was hard to keep anything from Ryan with his natural ability to put the pieces together but it didn't mean he wasn't shaken by it.

"Y-yeah... but wait, you've known and been fine with it this whole time?" William asked, not quite sure of his inference.

Ryan was nonchalant. "Yeah, of course. I mean you're my best friend, if Alice were to ever go out with anyone I'd prefer it to be you than some perverted high school kid looking for a fuck.
It bothered me at first, I'm not gonna lie, but then I saw how happy Alice was around you.
Now I want to know why you fucked all of that up."

This was the conversation William knew had to happen if he had a chance of making things right with Alice.

If Ryan were on his side William knew it wouldn't take long to get to Alice.

"I chickened out. I mean I was trying to tell Alice and I think she was more insecure than me and couldn't believe I was talking about her. Then I just k-kissed her and she was kind of looking at me like I was crazy and I felt crazy, not to mention stupid. So I ran cause I figured she'd hate me for it o-or not want to talk to me for a long time. And then I..."

William stopped himself from mentioning Avery, but that didn't mean Ryan didn't catch on.

"William? Bill... what did you do?" Ryan asked, his voice with an edge of impatience and scolding, clearly aware he had topped himself in his earlier stupidity.

But William didn't get a chance to answer as someone unknowingly answered for him.

"Will? Why'd you leave? Things were just getting interesting!" An obviously feminine voice giggled in the distant silence.

Ryan didn't recognize her, nor did he want to, as he felt his finger instinctively hit the end call button.

And that left William with a dial tone and the wrong girl at his side, with no hope of convincing Ryan and feeling his chances of being with the right girl dwindle into nothingness.