Hallucinogens (Ryden)

XVI

Ryan had been lying in bed since Brendon left for his part-time job. He had no idea what to do with himself. To be quite honest, he wasn't feeling up to do anything in particular.

About an hour before Brendon got off his shift, Ryan got a text from him.

Get dressed. We're going out when I come back x

Ryan would be lying if he said that it didn't make his heart flutter. He took his time getting ready and by the time he checked his phone again, he had roughly five minutes until Brendon returned.

Ryan was wearing black skinny jeans and a grey shirt with a black print on the front. He sat down on the couch and waited for Brendon to get back.

When he did, Ryan had completely zoned out. Brendon knew better than to creep up on him so he made sure to say his name softly.

Ryan still acted startled and put a hand to his heart, "jesus, I didn't even notice you come in."

Brendon chuckled and walked over to him, stretching his arms out for Ryan to take. He pulled him up and gently pulled him closer, taking in the scent of his own shampoo and body wash that Ryan now used. It was a soft mix of lavender and vanilla.

"I missed you," Brendon muffled into Ryans hair.

Ryan pulled back slightly, letting a smile adorn his lips, "it's only been a couple hours."

"A couple hours too long." Brendon let his gaze flicker to Ryans lips and slowly leaned in to give him a gentle kiss.

They pulled apart and Brendon spoke, "ready to go?"

Ryan nodded, "where are we going?"

A flirtatious smile appeared on Brendons face, "it's a suprise."

Ryan pouted but put his shoes on nevertheless. The two of them made their way out of the apartment, not holding hands, but walking so close their bodies would brush against one another every so often.

When Brendon stopped at a pretty fancy restaurant and held the door open for Ryan to enter, Ryan hesitated, it had been a while since someone had taken him anywhere nice. He was shocked Brendon would even spend the money on him.

After a couple seconds of hesitation, Ryan walked in, Brendon following close behind.

Ryan was in awe and by the time they were seated at the table Ryan had still not uttered a word. Brendon had even reserved a table by the window for the two of them.

Brendon chuckled at his awe, "you alright there, Ry?"

Ryan moved his eyes away from the fancy decor and looked at Brendon. He nodded. "Yeah.. Just, wow."

Brendon smiled, "you deserve to be spoilt, you know that right?"

At that moment the waiter walked over to them. She had long brown hair that was neatly put into a high ponytail. "What drinks will you be having? We have a wine menu if you would like to see it."

"We'll just have a bottle of white wine, thank you," Brendon replied and flashed her a friendly smile.

"Okay and here are the menus," she passed the menus over to them and walked away.

Ryan was sure he was dreaming. This was perfect. A handsome guy, taking him out to dinner at a fancy restaurant.

"What are you thinking of having?"

Ryan paused to take another look at the menu, "I'm not sure but the fish looks pretty good, what about you?"

"I'll probably have the Ribeye steak."

Ryan hummed in agreement. The waiter came back and they ordered the food. She took the menus back with her.

The restaurant was fairly empty for a Saturday afternoon but it had a nice atmosphere. The entire place had a white theme, with hints of golden decorations. It had large plants in a few of the corners that made it seem more alive.

"So," Brendon reached over to put his hand over Ryans, "I took you here firstly, because I wanted to take you to a nice place and secondly, because I thought it would be a nice way for us to get to know each other. Properly. No messed up college party," Ryan smiled at how sweet Brendon was being,"so, I heard you used to go to my university?"

Ryan sipped on his wine, "yeah, yeah I did. I was studying architecture at the time."

Brendon ran a finger comfortingly over Ryans hand, noticing the way he tensed slightly, his voice becoming softer than before "did you ever finish?"

Ryan shook his head and averted his gaze, "I dropped out pretty early on. Anyway how are your classes going?" Ryan distracted.

Brendon got the hint and went along with it, he wouldn't want to risk upsetting Ryan on their date. He wanted it to go smoothly.

Brendon was glad to say that the date had worked out the way he wanted it to. He had gotten to know such trivial things about Ryan that he would soon learn to adore. The both of them were glad for the date. It had gotten dark now, the only visible lights were those of street lamps and shops.

Ryan was walking next to Brendon, impossibly close. He took Brendon's hand and intertwined their fingers. The air between the two of them was comfortable, almost familiar.

Ryan breathed out, "thank you for taking me B."

"So you liked it then?" Brendon cracked a smile.

Ryan's grip on Brendon's hand tightened. He smiled, "I loved it."

Brendon ran his thumb across the back of Ryan's hand in a comforting manor. No words were spoken between them until they got home. The silence was far too comfortable to break.

Not until Brendon asked what he had wanted to since Ryan had said it, "Ryan, I understand if you don't want to tell me but, why don't you think your worth being spoiled? Or treated well?"

Brendon reckoned his heart had just collapsed in on itself. Along with his lungs. He felt like he couldn't breathe, he knew he had to tell Brendon at some point. Even though he never wanted to.

Brendon hugged himself close to Ryan as they were sitting on the bed, "it's fine, you don't have to explain it to me now."

Ryan shook his head, "no, no, I want to tell you."

A/N: The reason I put waiter even though it technically should be waitress is because I prefer to not gender jobs- I see waiter as a neutral term.