Stall Me [Ryden] [BOOK TWO]

two

"R-Ryan? As in Ryan Ross?" I sputtered. I couldn't believe it. George Ryan Ross, was standing in front of me. And we was soaking wet. Ian slipped past Ryan, crawling up onto the bunk above mine; which was his. 

"No, you dumbass, it's Dean Winchester." He teased. I blinked a few times, before finally beckoning him in. He still wore that sly smile from the joke, as he moved to sit exactly where Dallon and Ian had sat- at the foot of my bed.

"That's not funny," I remarked, frowning. I would've taken the effort to swing my legs off the bed to properly sit beside him, but I really didn't want to put that effort in when I could barely move my ankle as it was. Seriously, I thought it was broken.

"Is too." He insisted. He took a good look at me, his eyes scanning over my body, and finally landing on my ankle. I should've seen the question coming. I my defense, I was still in awe that my first boyfriend had just shoved his way through my tour bus door. 

"What'd you do to manage that?" He asked, pointing at my ankle. I frowned at the memory, turning my head to look out the tour bus window. I bit my lip. "I fell."

"No shit." He chuckled, shaking his head. I didn't see what was so funny. God, not a thing had changed about him, other than his appearance. He still had that smart ass attitude- I couldn't believe it. 

"Er, I fell and somehow twisted- and possibly broke- my ankle. Sarah's pissed about it." I answered, praying to God my answer was clear enough for the fuckhead. Ryan's expression faltered at Sarah's name, which made me feel somewhat guilty.

"Sarah? You two are still together?" Wow, what a quick conversation switch. From my ankle, to my wife. He looked surprised, though as always, I was oblivious to why he looked surprised by my actions. 

"Actually, we're married." I corrected, holding a finger in the air. He didn't look to happy about that, but it didn't matter anyways. At that moment, Ian interrupted us, swinging his arms around rather dramatically. 

"Alright, you two, break it up. For your information, stranger, Sarah's a whore. You two appear to have history, do you think you could persuade him Sarah's no good?" Ian asked, raising an eyebrow at Ryan. Ryan looked offended. Me too, Ryan.

Although before Ryan could reply, thank the Gods, Zack lumbered back onto the bus, slamming the door behind him. He had a plastic bag in his hand, where I guessed he'd gotten the brace in. I smiled, leaning forward to tap Ryan on the shoulder- dismissing him.

He must've taken the hint, as he quickly obeyed once Zack looked at him. From first look, Zack does look big and scary, trust me, but he's really just a big teddy bear who happened to be good a doing his job. 

Zack kneeled over under the top bunk, so I quickly scooted my leg over to him, giving him access to my ankle. He pushed my pant leg up, accidentally hitting my foot in the process, I must add. 

"Who's the kid on the bus?" Zack whispered, concern filling his eyes. I shrugged, looking away again. I hated when my band mates -- or Zack -- tried to make me lock eyes with them. It was as if they were staring straight into my mind, and reading all my my deepest secrets. I hated it.

"Ryan. The kid I told you about. Back when I was a senior in high school." I hurriedly whispered back. He had the brace set around my leg, now all he needed to do was tighten it. Which he did a countdown for. By the way, don't trust Zack with the responsibility of ever counting. 

"One...THREE!" He shouted, and yanked it tight. I let out a loud yelp, as pain shot through my ankle, and up my leg. He glanced up at me once, pausing, before going back to buckling it. My heart was beating rapidly at the sudden adrenaline.

"You okay, Bren?" Dallon asked. I let myself fall back on my pillow, staring across the room at him. He had worry burning in his face -- it was easy to see. I didn't reply, but simply whimpered. 

"Oh, that kid?" Zack finally replied, straightening up. My ankle was throbbing now, but I had no reason to move, as Zack ended up scooping me into his arms while Ian volunteered to tug the blanket back, then Zack positioned me in the middle of the bed.

Ian, who appeared to be everywhere at once, had also placed a pillow at the foot of my bed, for me to elevate my ankle on. Bless my band mates souls- they were the sweetest people, really. After Zack had finished fussing over me, and had disappeared to a separate section of the tour bus, where his (and two extra) bunks were at, everyone finally settled into their bunks. 

Spencer was already passed out, which was no surprise. His snoring could be heard from where I was, with my hands folded over my stomach. A permanent frown was placed on my lips, as my ankle was still throbbing, and I had a headache from the current situation. Ryan had been pushed to the back of my mind, until Dallon spoke up.

Dallon had gripped Ryan by the back of the jacket, and began tugging him towards the door, no matter how resistant Ryan was, squirming and protesting. Great, it was left to me to speak up about it. Dallon had swung the door open, and just about tossed Ryan back out when I spoke up.

"Hey, hey, Dallon, chill out a little. This isn't high school. There's no reason to pick on Ryan anymore." I teased, a painful chuckle tagging along after my words. Dallon turned, along with Ryan's head. Ryan had currently placed both his hands on either side of the door, trying to prevent himself from being tossed back in the rain. 

Dallon had become an obstacle, preventing Ryan from getting back in. But when I spoke up, Dallon's expression changed from annoyance, to desperation. He glanced between Ryan's hopeful, relieved face, to mine, as if weighing his options. Finally, he sighed, and released Ryan, letting the boy scramble back into the safety and warmth of the tour bus.

"I thought you two were done talking?" Dallon rebuked, stalking across the bus aisle to crawl up into his bunk, above mine. I searched for something to say, but nothing came to my mind, so I sat there, stupidly staring at Dallon as he crawled up to his bunk. After a few moments, however, his breathing settled, and I assumed he was fast asleep. 

Only Ian, Ryan, and I were awake. Ian was curled up on his bunk, his eyes wide open, as he lie on his stomach and messed around on his phone. He didn't appear to give two shits about the situation at hand, luckily. Ryan finally awkwardly waddled back into the aisle, flipping his wet mop of hair to the side.

"So, uh, I'm assuming you're going to request coming along?" I assumed. Hesitantly, Ryan nodded, before sighing, his shoulders slumping down. He looked upset, really. 

"I came here with my ex girlfriend, but she kicked me out, so I have no way to get home. This was suppose to be a vacation, but, like I said...she got pissed at me and kicked me out." Ryan replied, emotionlessly tugging at his jacket. Ian looked up, and frowned.

"Ooh, that wasn't too nice. Just head back there, there's extra bunks." He automatically answered for me, pointing to the curtain that separated the first and second section of the tour bus. Ryan dipped his head in gratitude, and disappeared behind the curtain. I smiled over at Ian, giving him a two-finger salute.

He simply smiled in return. "Goodnight," He whispered, raising his eyes. I sighed, rolling over to face the wall. Eventually, Ian got up and flicked the light off, which left us alone in the dark. Occasionally, the bus would light up with a flash of light -- lightning, from the thunderstorm outside -- and I'd jump, only to be reassured by Ian, that nothing was wrong. 

Soon, I fell into a peaceful sleep, the only sounds able to be heard was the rain against the roof of the bus, Spencer's snoring, and Ian's phone clicking as he typed. It was reassuring. Although, one thought bugged me: never again had I expected to see Ryan. Was he put in my path again for a reason? I didn't believe it, maybe it was just a coincidence, certainly. 

-

i actually updated and it's 12:08 in the morning rip

thoughts on the story so far? 

- sattie