High school is like a big game of would you rather, Brendon Urie has come to realize. It's one thing or the other and most of the time your options are so shitty you could rip your hair out. So when Brendon comes to terms with his inevitable popular...
"I can't believe you're making me do this." I groan as Ryan drags me to the entrance of the roller rink, where apparently Eden and Alex planned to meet us. I don't really know and I don't particularly care. All I know is I want nothing to do with any of this.
I tried roller skating once and you know what happened? I fell on my ass once and quit. A threatening guy like myself can't make an ass out of myself. It just wouldn't be right. I'm a man of pure elegance in its own way. Getting bruised knees isn't very elegant.
"It's going to be fun, B. I promise." Ryan smiles at me and kisses my cheek.
"Eh, don't make empty promises, Baby." I whine, more so to myself, as we approach the desk to check out skates. Far too quickly for my liking, Ryan and have our skates laced up and are heading out on the floor where Eden is already gracing everyone with her presence. Honestly, if I was straight, Eden would be the first girl I'd go for.
The brown haired girl spins elegantly in the center of the rink by herself, eyes closed in concentration. After I get past the initial newborn deer legs, I hold on tightly to Ryan's hand and pull him to Eden.
If I go down, he's going down with me.
She sees us approaching and let's out a loud squeal at the sight of our laced fingers. Skating to us with ease, she throws her arms around both of us, nearly knocking us on our asses.
"Edes!" I yelp in surprise. She giggles and kisses Ryan's cheek. "Where's Alex?"
"My babies!" She whines. "Alex had band practice. Mandatory or whatever. Oh B, red alert, Mr. James Douglas is here with a lady. Bad news for us." Ryan's hand quickly stiffens and I feel sick to my stomach. Why is he here?
My eyes quickly scan the room to find James and it takes no time at all to see him with a small red headed woman on his arm. The same woman who walked in on us those 6 months ago.
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"I think I'm going to be sick." I whisper, my stomach churning painfully.
"C'mon, lets go." Ryan holds onto me so tightly, but yet so gently. Like I could break any minute. Eden follows behind us, 'What's wrong?' repeating over and over. Luckily the girl can't follow us to the bathroom Ryan takes me into.
Sitting me down on the tile floor, Ryan gets a wet paper towel and dabs it on my red cheeks. "Everything is gonna be alright, Bren. We won't let him effect you like this."
"Ryan that's her. That's the girl." I breath, head light and dizzy. "I can't go back out there."
Suddenly Eden is busting through the door, sinful hips moving with rage. "Brendon, what the fuck is going on?!" She hisses, green eyes bright. "What aren't you telling me?"
She can't know.
"Bren had some weird fish last night for dinner. I tried to talk him out of it but you know how he is." Ryan lies smoothly and rubs my shoulder lovingly. I look up at him and smile gratefully.
"Well shit.. And I can imagine looking at Mr. Douglas and his bitch didn't help."
"Excuse me?" The voice that rings in my ears makes my mouth go dry, as it usually does, but this time the strong offense makes me lean to the side and let out a nice portion of my stomach contents. "Jesus Christ, Brendon." James gasps, nearly throwing Eden into sinks in order to get to my side.
But Ryan glares daggers into the man's very soul and he backs off immediately. "This is your fucking fault." Ryan growls, soft hands protecting me from my past. He's a saint for sure.
"What the fuck?!" Eden whines, stomping a roller skate clad foot on the floor. "What the fuck am missing right now?!"
"I fucked your friend." James says, rolling his eyes and Eden gasps as a sharp pang stings my chest. I was a fuck. And that's all.
A loud smack calls me out of my nightmare and my eyes just barely catch Mr. James Dougls reeling backwards and into a stall wall. Ryan was at his feet, chest heaving in what seemed to be rage.
"Don't you ever fucking talk about Brendon like that again. Just because you lost your chance doesn't mean you can undermine him like that!" Ryan yells, honey eyes burning. "He's a good person... and you took advantage of that. And now that you realize you've lost something significant, you regret it, yeah? Well too goddamn bad."
"You're going to wish you hadn't said that." James growls, regaining his posture. "Just you fucking wait.." And with that, the former tutor storms out of the room leaving all of us reeling in his wake.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Eden asks softly, eyes pleading to me for a reasonable answer. My lip trembles, looking for a good excuse, but nothing comes. "I'm just..." She sighs and looks down at her feet. Disappointment taking over her presence. "I'm gonna go."
"Eden-"
"See you guys later." She whispers, her usual aura completely deflated, before leaving just Ryan and I. The hurricane couple.
"I'm so sorry, B-"
"Please just... let's go. I need some time to myself." I whisper, my stomach in the tightest knots possible. Ryan nods slowly, face still flush. I swallow hard and pick myself up from the ground, eyes glued to the linoleum.
Ryan grabs my hand as we walk to the car and squeezes tightly. "Hey, look at me." He quietly asks. I lift my eyes to his and a soft, reassuring smile plays at his lips. "It's gonna be okay. I promise."
I scoff and shake my head. "But how do you know that?"
"I just do. Now c'mere." Ryan pulls me close to him and wraps an arm around my shoulder. "How about this, if everything doesn't work out... Then I place my bets high; I'll go back to France and you'll never have to see my ugly mug again."
"I would never ask for that."
"Well good, then you've got a damn good reason to believe in me." The boy gives me a charming grin before kissing me quickly. "Now let me drive and I'll get us some ice cream, yeah?"
