Entertain My Faith [Ryden]

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Smooth or Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum

Brendon walked down the empty halls of Clairemont High, his every step echoing off of the walls. He had finally finished grading a stack of tests that he had been putting off for quite a while, and was just about to leave when he heard a soft humming coming from the teachers lounge.

It couldn't hurt to step in to the room for a few minutes, just to see what was going on, then he could be on his way. Brendon walked in and saw Ryan, who had his back to the door. Ryan was humming a fast-paced song, looking around the room absentmindedly, and drumming on the table with an almost full mug of coffee directly in front of him.

Brendon eavesdropped for a few moments, listening carefully to the rhythm and realizing how catchy it was, but he couldn't seem to pinpoint the song from anywhere in particular. Ryan seemed to be lost in his own world, not noticing the other's presence in the room. It was strange for Brendon to see Ryan so carefree.

Ryan was typically stern yet detached, and didn't seem to have any interests other than biology, or at least no other interests that he shared with everyone. He was obsessively interested in biology, and Brendon learned extremely quickly just how much more knowledgeable than him Ryan was. To see him so engrossed by something other than Biology was unexpected, to say the least.

Brendon carefully entered the room and plopped himself down right across from Ryan, attempting to start a conversation as he did so, "What-"

Before Brendon could say another word, Ryan jumped in surprise, accidentally bumping his mug with his forearm, sending the warm liquid to splatter onto Brendon's white dress shirt. Brendon, who was expecting to be chastised, got a completely different reaction out of Ryan than he had expected. Ryan abruptly stood up and stumbled backwards, a look of terror flashing across his face when he saw the mess he had made.

"I'm-I'm so sorry!" He spurted out, "I- You surprised me! I didn't mean to-"

Brendon was caught off guard by the usually calm teacher's panicky reaction, "Whoa, man, calm down! It's not your fault...and it's not even hot, it's fine, seriously..."

Ryan just stood there, eyes still wide open with fear, all his muscles tensed. Brendon chuckled, "You look like you just got caught murdering someone or something," He stood up, holding out the coffee-drenched fabric, "Look, it's just a shirt, it's no big deal."

"You- You're not mad at me?" Ryan choked out.

"Of course not. There's no point in crying over spilled milk," Brendon continued as he started unbuttoning his shirt and making his way over to a small sink that accompanied the plethora of other miniaturized kitchen appliances that were dotted throughout the room. He took off his shirt and ran it under cold water.

Ryan couldn't help but look at Brendon's shirtless figure, and bit down on his lip. Shit. Ryan shouldn't be looking at him. It wasn't right. This is exactly what his parents had taught him not to do. He ran a hand through his already disheveled hair, turning his eyes away, but snuck in a glance or two every once in a while.

Ryan couldn't help but let his gaze linger on the tattoos that lined Brendon's lower left arm. A piano, some sort of colorful tropical flowers, and... was that Frank Sinatra...? The inked skin was a strange sight for Ryan, but he supposed that it was Brendon's choice and whatever he did was none of his own concern.

But of course, Ryan happened to be staring at Brendon for just a second too long. The shirtless male had stopped attempting to wash out the coffee, and looked over at Ryan. "Hey, I know I'm pretty, but you don't have to stare," Brendon snickered at Ryan's speechless expression. "Aw what happened? Cat got your tongue?" He flicked some water at Ryan, who was trying his hardest to hide his blushing by looking at his feet. Alas, it was to no avail.