Saving Panic's! Ryan

Chapter 2

As I spoke to Ryan on the way home, I realized how truly in over my head I was. How was I going to keep this a secret from my dad in our little two bedroom, one bathroom house? We didn't even have a basement for Ryan to stay. He was going to literally be stuck with me in my little room for an entire weekend. As if things weren't bad enough, my dad was going to be home with me the entire time. Why did I have to agree to a movie marathon this weekend? I was so, so, so in over my head. Of course, I didn't let Ryan know any of this.

"So here's the thing," I started to explain my situation. "I'm a college student, and this is my first year. For that reason, my dad's a little... overprotective. You may have been expecting a college student like myself to be off in a dorm at this point in her life, but no. My dad insisted that I stay with him this year and-"

Ryan excitedly cut me off. "Nice! This would be my first year of college too, but to my dad's dismay, I went off and joined a band."

I felt a little bit better knowing that we were around the same age. That made things a little less weird, right? No, this was definitely still weird, yet I wouldn't change anything. Why was I glad that this was happening? I continued my little speech. "I'm on spring break this week, so I'll have the house to myself, but... my dad will be there for the whole weekend leading up to my spring break. I'm not going to lie, it's going to make things a little tricky. I told him that we could watch movies all weekend, and now he's going to be expecting to spend this time with me." I looked at Ryan sheepishly. "Here's what I'm thinking, I'll tell him that I was assigned a book report at the last minute and that I wanted to get it out of the way during the weekend so I could enjoy my week off. How does that sound?"

"I think that will work," Ryan agreed. He was quiet. He feels awkward about this too, but how could he not? He probably feels like he's an intruder right now. I should assure him that he's not imposing at all.

"Don't worry though, Ryan. I will make sure he doesn't find out. My dad is very respectful of my schoolwork and he treats it with great importance." I held my finger up in the air, putting on a fake accent to lighten the mood. Luckily Ryan laughed at me, so I continued. "Having you stay with us shouldn't be any trouble at all! Once I tell my dad about my fake book report, he'll leave me to it!"

Ryan nodded. "Alright. I still feel bad about this though, you know? I swear I wouldn't have imposed like this if Brendon and the other guys hadn't left me without a ride and a place to stay. I mean, this has to be weird for you, right?"

Oh no. He does think this is weird. I guess he's right. It's weird now, but we can get to know each other and then it won't be so weird anymore, right? "I'm sure this is a little strange for you, and yeah, it is for me too, but it couldn't be helped, Ryan. I couldn't have just left you there without a place to stay."

He shrugged. "I just can't thank you enough though."

"I've heard of other bands crashing on strangers' couches because they don't have anywhere else to go for the night. It sounds like it's all part of the band life." I smiled.

"I do feel official now," he laughed.

Before I knew it, we were at my doorstep. "So this is the place," I state obviously. "I should mention one more thing though... This is kind of a small house. You're going to have to stay in my room. We only have two bedrooms and one bathroom, so once we're both in for the night, try to make sure you don't have to leave for anything else until morning. My dad's room is right down the hall from me. He gets up every now and then. I wouldn't want him to catch you. I don't know how I'd explain myself. I bet he'd think you were an intruder." I laughed.

"It's alright," he said hesitantly. I can't imagine how awkward this must be for him. I let myself in and Ryan followed behind me. I walked through the family room and down the short hallway until I reached my bedroom. Realizing what a complete mess my room currently was, I stopped at the door. I quickly spun around, facing Ryan.