Gold And Coal (Ryden AU)

2.5 ◇ Stay Awake (Dreams Only Last For A Night)

A cold whiff of wind swept me out of my soft sleep, making my body shiver and curl up into itself in a desperate attempt to prevent the warmth from leaving it.

I didn't quite understand why it did that anyways; shiver. Sure, movement keeps you warm, but wasn't the amount of energy lost by the effort greater than the amount won by it?

I guess I'd never find out, like a lot of other things, but I'd rather not think about that; all the things out there that I would never know.

Jon grabbed my shoulder gently and I jumped, startled by the hand suddenly appearing out of the dark.

"Other room," he whispered quietly, and I heard him shuffling across the room, leaving me in the freezing wind blowing in through the space in the wall. I didn't hesitate to follow him, and longed for nothing more than to curl up next to Brendon and having his arms wrapped around me, pulling me closer as his warmth seeped into my body.

Another violent shiver annihilated the small voice of protest in the back of my brain and I proceeded to lie down beside the spot where I assumed the younger boy was sleeping.

I heard Jon settling down near my left and I crawled underneath the blanket I felt beneath my fingers. A small sigh erupted from the being next to me and I felt myself crawling closer to the source, until my head made contact with something I assumed was his upper chest.

That small contact felt like an explosion, and I immediately yearned for more of it. Shuffling closer, his body twitched in discomfort as my stone cold hands made contact with his unprotected skin but I selfishly left them there, clawing into the fabric of his shirt.

Finally, he shifted to his side, swinging one arm over my waist and closing the distance between our bodies, his other hand softly stroking my hair at the back of my head as I rested it on his arm.

It didn't take long for me to fall asleep, not with the comforting touch of the other boy lulling me into unconsciousness.

A light, warm breeze ruffled through my hair, pushing the loose strands out of my face and gently caressing my cheeks.

I was standing on top of a cliff, the sea stretched out bellow me, the wind carrying the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks up to my ears.

A voice rang out clearly through the dominant sound of nature, seemingly cutting through it in order to reach my ears.

"Ryan!"

I turned around in response to the call, my eyes drifting over the calm landscape and stopping as they focused on a figure walking towards me, waving at me.

My hand moved by itself, returning the greeting and my feet carried me towards the origin of the call.

Upon walking closer, I realized it was Brendon, in loosely fitting clothes and a top hat, a wide grin plastered on his youthful face.

He looked amazing. At peace with himself and the world. Like he didn't have a care in the world.

Seeing him like that conjured a small smile on my own face, and a sparkle of happiness trickled down my soul.

"Ryan, it's time to head back," he smiled, laying a hand on my shoulder and letting it slip downwards until it reached my hand, where it stopped to intertwine our fingers.

I nodded and let him lead me further away from the cliff, our hands softly holding the others as a comfort that we were there for each other, that we wouldn't dissapear.

My heart fluttered as Brendon begann humming a tune, his amazing voice perfectly joining together with the gentle breeze and creeping through my ears and straight to my heart, attaching itself to it.

"I'm happy," he smiled softly, giving my hand a small squeeze, and leaning over to place a gentle kiss to the side of my head.

My lips curved upwards to mirror his smile and I nodded in agreement. "Me too."

He laughed and we reached the top of the hill, revealing the small town behind it, the cute little houses standing a respectable distance away from each other. The flock of sheep grazing happily from the fresh green grass.

It was truly idyllic.

"This is perfect," I laughed and looked over to the smaller boy, seeing my happiness reflected in his deep brown eyes.

"You're perfect," he answered, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear and softly attaching his lips to my own.

I was snapped out of this perfect fantasy by a loud bang, and my eyes widened in the dark.

It was followed by a groan and a mutter of 'sorry'.

"Where are you going?" I croaked sleepily, sitting up and rubbing my eyes.

"I don't know," came Brendon's defeated answer.

Sighing, I scrambled out from under the blankets and towards the direction I had heard his voice from.

I bumped into him after a couple of steps causing him to let out a surprised squeak. Taking a hold of his wrist, I pulled him towards the door and out into the other room to ensure we wouldn't disturb Jon in his sleep, assuming he had slept through this commotion.

"What's wrong?" I asked, lighting a candle and wrapping one of Jon's blankets around my shoulders.

The wind was still blowing inside, even bringing several snowflakes with it which lay in a thin layer around the crack.

"I overheard your conversation yesterday," he admitted, taking a blanket of his own to prevent the wind from piercing at his skin.

"Oh," I answered, stoically.

"I'm sorry if I caused you any inconvenience. I'll be gone by tommorow morning."

His dead sounding voice made my heart twist guiltily. "You don't have to. I need time to figure this out. But you're still my friend, and I want to help you. As a friend."

There was a long silence after that, before I felt his head rest on my shoulder.

"Please don't leave me. I don't have anyone left. I need you, Ryan," he whispered, sounding so utterly broken.

I thought back to the dream I had had earler this night, the way his eyes shown and his body emitted waves of happiness and confidence.

Oh how I longed for it to be that way. How I longed to trade my life for the perfect one in my dreams. Run away from reality.

But that's not how life works.

So I had to deal with it, under the risk of my actions carving hellish consequences, but also under the possibility of good ones. Maybe even similar ones to the ones in my dream.

It wasn't wrong to pursue that dream, was it?

Men were allowed to dream as long as they didn't loose sight of reality, right?

~

I'll be fine even though I'm not always right
I can count on the sun to shine
Dedication takes a lifetime
But dreams only last for a night

~

Sorry for the long wait guys, but I've been very busy with school, so I won't be updating as frequently, but I'm alive and doing my best :) <3