Don't Touch Me [ryden]

(8) Overreact

"What why? Did I do something? What's happening? Is something wrong?" Brendon's words darted of his mouth like bullets. Ryan was surprised at the amount of time Brendon took to say all of those in one breath. He shook his head in response and kept walking while Brendon followed him all the way to the dorms.

Brendon was still giddy and flustered about the whole thing and he was just thankful that he was walking behind Ryan or he might have already seen the crimson glow on Brendon's cheeks. He was already having scenarios of him and Ryan in his head and while he was at it he also took the opportunity to glance at Ryan's ass from time to time while they walked. It was as if Brendon had never really had a high school crush before where he could act all excited about, he had a few crushes here and there but this was so different for Brendon. It was usually hard to make friends, he was so used to it just being him and Dallon all the time. The unusual combination of being completely unsure but still utterly hopeful heightened the feeling for some unknown reason. Above all this one thing's for sure, Brendon undoubtedly loved the sickly nostalgic feeling he had.

Brendon pursed his lips together and gathered up all his courage, inhaling deep long breaths as he mapped out what he was going to say to the taller boy walking in front of him. "So, you still play?" Brendon managed to cough out, feeling his throat itch. It was a very unusual feeling for him trying to limit himself like that. It was new, and little crazy to him being like this, being all careful and terrified to say something he would regret. Ryan raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"Baseball I mean, I saw you play before. I'm pretty sure it was you."

"Ohhh, that. Yeah I do and um, thanks I guess." Ryan says in a low but a bit hopeful tone, enough so it was just him and Brendon in their little conversation bubble despite the fact that they were hitting shoulders with random people. It wasn't even classified as rude anymore with everyone having their minds set on their own destinations as they walked through the crowded hallway.

Soon enough Ryan mind drifted back to two nights ago, their five to four win, and it was a humid game night. He was pretty certain it was Brendon, the kid who asked for his autograph. His breathing slightly became more deeper as his mind refreshed things for him, slowly in fragments leading him to one thing to the next. He glanced back at Brendon who looked deep in thought as well as he walked, but giving Ryan a small smile as soon as he noticed him stare.

I knew I noticed his forehead from somewhere

Despite this new revelation Ryan had, he couldn't care less. He knew it was better to pretend like he didn't know the whole time and make everything weird, as if Brendon asking for his autograph wasn't weird enough. It wasn't like he hated Brendon, he just knew he didn't know him enough to talk to him for more than 3 minutes. He was just doing his lost roommate a favor.

"Brendon!"

"Dallon hey!"

Ryan watched as the two boys hugged each other tightly as if they haven't seen each other for years. He thought about how unsanitary it was to just hug people like that especially since Brendon was just outside and he didn't remember him washing his hands on their way back to dorms. Both boys wrapped an arm around each others shoulders as they happily talked while they walked inside Dallon and Ryan's room. Of course Ryan wasn't really comfortable with this, being with a roommate is bad enough for him. Ryan let his arms fall to his sides knowing there was nothing he could absolutely do about it and followed the boys inside their now 'cramped-up' room.

"I found your boy walking around with a bunch of troublemakers" Ryan spoke dryly to Dallon as he let his own body fall into his mattress. His light and flimsy arms barely even forming a dent because of how skinny he was. He felt like a couple of bones wrapped in skin getting tossed to a lumpy mattress, but it was good enough for Ryan.

"They weren't troublemakers, they were nice. We just came about some guys who were making fun of Tyler, my new friend. Dallon you should meet him he's cool, and Pete, and Spencer my roommate, he doesn't talk much. So yeah we were walking and then this guy show's up and was calling Tyler 'Car Radio'--" Brendon says between short breaths, pausing only when he needed air to breathe, but he finally felt good knowing Dallon was there to listen. "What does that even mean?" Dallon scrunches his nose in confusion but still shifted in his bed excitedly to hear the rest of Brendon's story. "I don't know! it was super weird, but the other guy? He was a punk, he pushed Tyler and he was going to hit me if it weren't for Ryan here."

"Yeah happy to help kid" Ryan says with a bored tone, his back still facing Brendon and Dallon. Ryan was a bit annoyed at how much Brendon could talk and it didn't seem like he was planning on stopping anytime soon. His only consolation was the fact that Brendon couldn't see him rolling his eyes right now and that he was able to mimic every word that came out Brendon's mouth silently for the rest of the time that the two boys talked.

* * *

Pointing at a small peach tart that was displayed, Ryan nodded at the canteen woman who was probably in her forties and handed him his tart with a smile. Ryan mentally thought if she was indeed happy with her job serving a bunch of college kids or if it was just some sort of facade as he gave her a small grin as he lowered the plate in front of him. He walked with his tray in his hands and maneuvered his way towards a table. He was just glad he wasn't like the confused freshmen who had their necks craned to navigate themselves through the crowded mess they call a cafeteria. Ryan spotted Jon from a distance with his hand up signaling Ryan to go sit with him and the rest of the team, but Ryan didn't exactly like the idea of him eating his lunch in front of guys who ate like pigs and had their gloves, bats and even their jerseys on the table where you eat your food. Ryan shook his head but gave Jon reassuring smile. Of course Jon understood why so Ryan was grateful for that, he thought it was nice enough for Jon to still invite him to lunch every now and then even if he never actually sits with them. It gave Ryan a sense of comfort knowing Jon still puts up with his shit no matter how many times he rejected it.

Ryan slid his tray on an empty table and sat on the chairs that made screeching noises as it rubbed against the tile floor. Ryan made sure to rub some sanitizer on his hands before digging into the tomato and cheese sandwich in front of him. Ryan was silently devouring his food and took relief in being alone in a table amidst all the people in the cafeteria, but it was cut short when he heard someone call his name from a distance. "Ryan!" He saw Dallon with Brendon walking behind him still with their trays as they headed towards him. "Hey is this seat taken? jeez louise it took us so long to find seats."

Ryan blinked his eyes at the two boys in front of him, a portion of his sandwich still in his mouth. "I uhhh--"

"Brendon over here" their heads immediately darted to where the voice was from and Brendon's grin grew as he saw Spencer and the rest of the guys. "Dallon that's Spencer. Let's go, I want you to meet the rest of them" Brendon nudged Dallon's shoulder. "Never mind Ryan, thanks though, see you around" Dallon politely says to Ryan before following Brendon who was practically sprinting towards the other table that was located two tables away from Ryan's.

Brendon sat on one of the chairs and happily introduced Dallon to his friends but was oblivious to the fact that Ryan found himself staring at him and his friends. Ryan didn't know why either but he couldn't stop looking over there, a bit guilty probably, getting that heavy feeling on his chest but he shrugged it off and finished his food. Brendon took a chance to look back at Ryan this time, feeling a little bit terrible seeing Ryan's face like that. It sure looked like he didn't want them to be there, and that made him feel uneasy and bad about himself, reminding him of how he was pretty much unwanted for the past years. Maybe he thought a little bit too high of Ryan Ross, maybe he was just like everyone else.