Stall Me [Ryden] [BOOK TWO]

four

"How about we go rollerskating?" Ian suggested, his eyes gleaming as he crawled onto the foot of the bed. Roller skating. Yes, Ian what a brilliant idea for a group of grown men. One of which, has a sprained ankle. Dallon, who was sitting on the bed beside me, gave Ian a look, that "really" look. Automatically, Ian went dark red in realization, and sat back. 

"Really? If you haven't noticed, Ian, Brendon here is a cripple." Ryan spoke up, from where he sat on the floor. I glanced down at him with a slight frown, but he only grinned up at me, that awkward smile. It reminded me of so long ago- back in high school. At that thought, I frowned. I was such an ass back then, really.

Eventually, I looked away, back at my ankle. I was still in shock from Zack literally dumping us off at the side of the road, deciding Sarah could come get me. If that ended up happening, I was gonna be in deeper shit than I already was. Sarah was easily riled up nowadays.

"Brendon?" Ryan spoke up again, raising an eyebrow. I quickly snapped my head down in his direction, pursing my lips, and dipping my head - it was a signal that he should continue talking. "Did you hear anything we just discussed?" I slowly turned my head back to the others. Ian was perched eagerly on the foot of the hotel bed, and Dallon was easily leaning down beside him. 

"No, why?" I admitted. I could feel my cheeks burning in embarrassment. Dallon sighed, situating himself on the bed beside Ian. "We're gonna play hide and seek, instead." Dallon replied. I inwardly groaned. Hide and seek? Why did we have to play a fucking game- when obviously I was crippled.

"I choose Dallon!" Ian blurt out, and launched himself off the foot of the bed. He soared through the air and clung to Dallon like a leach, his arms wrapped around the taller one's neck, and wrapped his legs around Dallon's waist as he sat back. If it weren't for my ankle throbbing and feeding me negative emotion, I'd be giggling over how cute the two of them were.

"Guess that leaves me and you, Urie." With the way my last name smoothly slid off his tongue, I got that feeling again. The nostalgia. From when Ryan would teasingly call me Urie instead of Brendon. Those late nights we'd spent curled up at each other's side. The way he'd spat it so venomously in public, to uphold his carefree attitude. 

When I glanced at Ryan, many emotions flowed through me. He reminded me of many things. Of the rain when it complimented the cement. The stars when the twinkled at night. In fact, when he looked at me, he held that gleam that he used to have in high school. And wow, just looking at him, there were quite a few qualities Ryan had that still haunted me every time I closed my eyes.

His lips. I could still remember they moved with mine. They'd fit against mine so perfectly. His hands. They fit in mine almost perfectly. His eyes, a beautiful shade of brown. His heart. Gosh, his heart. He's such a loving person, who secretly had a big, tender heart. He'd opened his heart to me, allowed me to see him, and in the end I'd handled his tender heart terribly.

"Brendon, are you okay?" When I finally snapped out of my trance, I realized Dallon was snapping his fingers in front of my face, Ian still clinging to him. I pulled my eyes away from Ryan, my mouth parted only the slightest as I answered with a little nod. I sent Ryan one more glance, and realized his cheeks were bright red. I'd been staring at him. I'd been thinking about him. I was blushing just as deeply. 

What.

But I loved Sarah. It was just nostalgia, obviously. I wasn't ready to let Sarah go, I could never imagine myself without her. Obviously, Dallon and Ian were convinced otherwise, but their opinions on Sarah didn't matter. Especially Ian's. Sarah was NOT a whore. I hoped.

"So I guess it's you and I, buddy." Ryan jumped to his feet, awkwardly lingering beside the bed for me. Dallon and Ian had already run off, according to Ryan they had chose to go easy on me and count first. I quickly slipped off the bed, applying only the smallest amount of weight to my foot so I could struggle over to Ryan. 

So hide and seek wasn't as fun as I'd planned. We played it basically all night. At least, for most of the night. Until Ryan and I ended up passed out in our hiding place, leaving Ian and Dallon to search for us for who knows how long. Basically what went down was how vulnerable Ryan realized he was with a cripple.

There was a lot of complaining coming from him, to the point where I had said I quit, and flopped down on the hotel bathroom floor, the pain in my ankle growing with each second it sat at it's awkward angle. It just wasn't working out for us. By the time it was our turn to hide again, though, I had put effort into walking on my ankle, so it wasn't as sore. 

I was letting Ryan choose all the hiding places, and this time he'd chosen this tiny cabinet in the bathroom. He let me get in first, since i was the shorter one. I found that to be bullshit. We don't see each other for a few years- and he suddenly hits puberty? I was only 5'9'', and now he was 5'11''. Not fair in my opinion.

Either way, in the end of the night I had found myself scrunched up in the small cabinet, my legs lying at an awkward angle near Ryan, who was scrunched up at the other end. He had his feet dangling awkwardly near my face. At least his feet didn't stink.

"So do you still consider yourself royalty?' I blurt out. I didn't know what I was thinking- all that was on my mind was back when I would consider him royalty, and I was the peasant. Although, the moment those words slipped from my mouth, Ryan took action.

Before I could process what was happening, Ryan had lunged across the tiny area and pushed me up against the wall, his hands tangled in the front of my shirt. Automatically, I flushed. After all, his face was just inches away from mine.

"I'd suggest you don't bring up that little section of my past." He sneered. He moved his face closer, to the point his nose was pressed up against mine. I couldn't help the whimper that escaped my lips. And once it escaped, Ryan's lips curved into a little smirk. Okay, so he was definitely different from when we were in high school. He wasn't as docile, and God, he was a lot more dominating. Controlling.

"I didn't know you could top, Ross." I teased. I used my sense of humor for defense, but he took it more seriously than I expected. He glanced down at my lips, then, slid his hands up from my chest, resting one of the side of my face, and the other on my shoulder. I didn't know what to think- was this cheating? Technically, he hadn't kissed me or anything, so it couldn't be counted as that.

What was scary was how much I enjoyed him so close to me. This was surreal, to be honest. I hadn't felt this greedy for Ryan since high school. 

This wasn't love. I wasn' tin love with this boy. I was in love with Sarah. That's all I had to tell myself. But still, I felt my hands become clammy, and I'd broken out in a subtle sweat. Although as soon as it had happened, it had ended, and Ryan was curled up at the other end of the cabinet, his head resting on my legs. I didn't mind, of course, but I still had second thoughts about delivering hospitality to the boy.

What if I fell in love?

Scratch that.

What if I was still in love-? 

But within a few minutes, I had passed out too, my head lolling onto my shoulder, and my body relaxed. The presence of another human was comforting, but God did I wish it was anybody but Ryan.

Because I wasn't in love with Ryan.

No, not at all.

...right?

-

sorry for being a pain in the ass and teasing you guys with the other "update" - i'm lonely and scared so i thought pulling a prank on yall would cheer me up but it just made me a lil sad i'm sorry yall :(( much love xx

- sattie