Boys Will Be Boys *Ryden*

All Apologies

The cab ride back to the hotel was significantly quieter than the ride to the laser tag place. Zack sat in the passenger seat, and Matt sat between Brendon and Ryan in the back. Spencer and Jon had taken another taxi to go see Walk the Line at a local movie theater.

Brendon was fidgeting, his right leg bouncing nervously. Matt could sense the tension in the car, but had no idea what the cause of it was. He attempted to make conversation but nobody participated. Zack turned the volume up on the radio.

When they got to the hotel, Matt said a quick, "Later, dudes, that was a good time," and beat a hasty retreat to his room. Ryan tried to make a beeline for his room as well, but he knew luck wasn't going to be on his side. Brendon just stood there, indecisively. Were the three of them going to talk about this? Zack made the decision for him. "Come on, Brendon," he said and rushed after Ryan, not even looking back to see if Brendon was following. Dragging his feet, Brendon muttered, "fuck," under his breath and followed.

When the three of them were safely behind closed doors (and after Ryan had breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that housekeeping had already cleaned the room, saving him from having to explain why his bed sheet was hanging from the shower rod), Zack said, "I'm only going to ask this once. What did I just witness, and how long has it been going on?"

Brendon looked to Ryan, not wanting to say a word. He knew this was all his fault, and he was perfectly aware that anything he said at this critical moment could and would be used against him in an imaginary court of law where Ryan was the Presiding Judge.

Keeping his mouth shut was never his strong point, however. Raising his hand like a little kid in a classroom, he said, "Do I have the right to an attorney?"

Nobody laughed. Zack and Ryan just stared at him. Ryan shook his head as if to say you are SUCH an idiot.

Zack broke the silence with, "I'm waiting. I've got time. I can wait all day if I have to."

Ryan turned to him, furious. "You know what, Zack? I'm sorry you had to see that, but to be honest, it's not really any of your business."

Brendon's eyes widened in surprise. The last thing he'd expected was for Ryan to defend their situation. Instead, he'd been waiting for Ryan to throw him under the bus and blame it all on Brendon's "curiosity".

Now he steeled himself in anticipation of an angry outburst from Zack in reaction to being told to mind his own business, but was once again surprised when the older man's shoulders slumped as though he were conceding defeat. "Look," Zack said, in a kinder tone. "It's not my business. I wish like hell that I could unsee what I saw, but I can't. If Pete finds out about this...if the other guys find out..." he shook his head.

"They don't need to find out." Ryan stated firmly. "Brendon was just joking around. Nothing's going on."

Brendon's eyes flew to Ryan's, and Ryan caught the brief flicker of hurt in them. He looked away.

"It really didn't look like a joke," Zack said.

Brendon cleared his throat. He'd gotten them into this predicament, so it was up to him to get them out of it. "It was just a joke. After the onstage kiss the other day, Ryan bet me I didn't have the balls to ever really kiss a dude. I took it as a dare. I just waited for what I thought was the best time to catch him completely off guard." The lie rolled off his tongue easily. Ryan shot him a look of surprise mixed with gratitude.

Zack considered this for a minute. Finally, he said, "I'm not convinced. I think there's more to it than that. If there is, I don't need to know, but I don't want anyone else to find out about it. I'll never say a word about what I saw. You guys feel like making out, keep it behind closed doors and keep it out of the media."

He waited until Brendon and Ryan had both nodded in agreement, then walked out of the room and closed the door behind him, leaving them alone in silence that felt deafening.

Brendon sank down on the edge of one of the beds. Avoiding looking at Ryan, he said softly, "I'm sorry."

Ryan didn't speak right away. He started to pace back and forth like a caged animal. Finally he began to rant, "Okay, Brendon, I know you're impulsive. You can be reckless. What you did was impulsive and reckless. It was crazy and stupid and what were you thinking?"

"I know it was stupid, that's why I --" but Brendon's words were cut off when Ryan crossed the room to him in two quick strides and shoved him, hard, back onto the bed. In a heated rush, Ryan leapt on top of him, straddling his thighs and pressing their upper bodies tightly together, covering Brendon's lips with his own, his hand immediately going for Brendon's belt buckle. Against Brendon's mouth, he gasped, "Don't ever apologize for doing something so fucking hot."

Brendon moaned as he felt Ryan succeed at undoing his belt. He was already hard as Ryan slid down his body to unbutton and unzip his dark jeans, yanking them down roughly like he couldn't get Brendon's dick out fast enough. Within seconds he was sliding his mouth down Brendon's shaft, thrusting his own clothed erection against the mattress. He took his mouth away long enough to say, "I wanted to go down on you right there in the laser tag room."

Brendon arched upward, his head thrown back against the mattress, fisting the bed covers so tightly his knuckles were white. It was all happening so fast and he already felt himself losing his grip on control. Ryan obviously felt the same way. Desperate to get off, he shoved his left hand into his own jeans. They were too tight for him to fist his cock, so he settled for thrusting against his open palm. With his other hand, he began jerking Brendon off as he deep-throated him at the same time.

The entire experience lasted under two minutes. Ryan came first in hot gushes into his own hand and jeans, and Brendon followed immediately after, choking out a slutty sounding groan. Ryan took his mouth away so he could watch Brendon's cum explode from the swollen, glistening head of his cock. When his orgasm finally subsided, Ryan slid his tongue out to lick some from his hand.

As they came back down to Earth together, both entirely unable to move, Brendon murmured, "So...I take it I'm forgiven?"