Secrets and Lies || Ryan x Dylan (radioheads)

Two

     "I can't believe you don't like ice cream. You're missing out, man." Dylan spoke incredulously as he and Ryan split from Laura and Max outside, walking towards his car. They had a good time talking about school and whatnot while they ate, but now it was past two in the morning, and they were all pretty exhausted. Dylan had suggested Ryan crash at his place since he lived more than an hour away and didn't have a car regardless. Laura and Max had picked him up on the way, which is the only reason he came.

     Ryan waited for Dylan to unlock the car and then got inside, shutting the door afterwards. He waited for the other man to be situated to respond to his comment. "It's not really that I don't like ice cream. I just-" he cut himself off to think, motioning with his hands to help the words flow out. "Some textures just trigger me. I don't like the feel of it in my mouth. Does that...make sense?"

     Dylan froze after hearing Ryan's phrasing, his mind suddenly full of dirty thoughts despite the clearly serious response. "Yeah- no, totally. That totally makes sense." He nodded as he frantically answered Ryan, unable to make eye contact for a few seconds; he didn't even have to see the other man's face to know he was suspicious of his behavior.

      Eventually, Ryan caught on and rolled his eyes, annoyed at Dylan's immaturity but also amused by his reaction. "You're trying not to make a dick joke, aren't you?" He exposed Dylan with an unamused expression, though he soon ended up smiling slightly anyway, because of the other man's shock.

     "Is it really that obvious? What gave it away?" Although Dylan was curious how Ryan could read him so well, he suddenly felt a buzz in his pocket, so he took his phone out and saw a text from his sister. She was checking on him, and he let her know he was about to leave. After she acknowledged his text back, Dylan put his phone in the median and turned the engine on, buckling up as well. "You're sure you don't want me to take you home? I really don't mind, like, at all." He broke the silence yet again, watching Ryan's face become dismissive.

"Nah, I mean... I kinda thought it would be cool to spend the night at your place, since I haven't seen you in a while." Ryan sheepishly admitted the truth, causing Dylan to swallow nervously and nod anxiously, averting his gaze in the process. "Did you...not want me to?" The shorter man questioned Dylan, having gotten worried by the way the man was acting.

Dylan was quick to stare at Ryan with slightly widened eyes and shake his head. "Yes! I mean—no. I don't want you to not come. Uh." He facepalmed after flubbing his response, extremely embarrassed by the previous turn of events. "I'm sorry."

Ryan chortled slightly at Dylan's frantic answer, but seeing the man stressed out made him concerned, especially since he had already been acting a little edgy. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, you know, just...losing my mind. No big deal." He took a deep breath and let it out after replying, trying to conceal the blatant gay panic he was having. Did Ryan honestly expect him to be calm? Since when was he calm about anything?
     Instead of elaborating, Dylan just shifted into reverse to get out of the parking lot, shifted into the highest gear and started driving home, still unable to even glance at Ryan. "So, um, how have you been doing? Didn't really get to ask." He managed to change the subject, though he was less than confident about it.

"I've been...about what you'd expect." Ryan let an airy chuckle out after his response, even though it wasn't really funny. "What about you? Laura told me a little, like that you were having trouble sleeping because of what happened."

"Uh, still am, actually..." Dylan paused after replying to gather his thoughts, suddenly feeling more comfortable and glancing at Ryan as he drove. "It's like, I know I probably should go to therapy, and my mom's told me to, but I dunno, I'd just rather deal with it in my own way. I tried it out when I first started having problems and they were like, 'you have severe anxiety and schizophrenia' and I was like, no shit?" When he was finished talking, he honestly was tempted to keep going, but he cooled it because he didn't want to weird Ryan out by talking so much. "Sorry, oversharing." He cleared his throat, putting his full focus back on the road.