Boys Will Be Boys *Ryden*

A Coast That's Unclear

Sleep did not come easily. Ryan had no sooner closed his eyes than the sound of Jon and Spencer clambering back onto the bus startled him awake again. After that, he couldn't seem to shut his brain off. He lay in his bunk for what felt like hours, long after the noise of the guys getting settled into their bunks turned into the sound of them snoring. Two more bus nights. His stomach fluttered with nerves when he thought of all the possibilities the next hotel night could hold.

After one last solid attempt at falling asleep failed, Ryan sighed and gave up. Grabbing his book from the foot of the bunk, he crawled out and headed for the lounge area, dragging his comforter behind him.

Early morning light was filtering in through the curtains above the table. Ryan wrapped the blanket around himself, slid into the booth, and pushed the curtain open a few inches. He opened his book and tried to focus on reading, but his mind wouldn't stop wandering. Yawning, he finally gave up on that as well, and let his head fall back against the wall so he could stare out the window. It wasn't long before his eyes finally drifted closed.

That's where Brendon found him a couple hours later. Nobody else was awake yet. Brendon smiled a little and slid into the booth beside him, resting his head on Ryan's shoulder and waiting for him to wake up.

And that's where Jon found them, both fast asleep, shortly after that. He pulled up short, causing Spencer to bump into him. "What the hell, Jon?" Spencer griped, his hangover having robbed him of patience. Jon snickered and pointed, moving aside so Spencer could see for himself. Spencer groaned, but it was more amused than anything.

"I can't say I'm really surprised," he said.

"Me either," Jon agreed. "Go get your camera."

"What?"

"Your camera - go get it."

Spencer hesitated. "Why?"

"For blackmail purposes," Jon told him, adding, "duh."

"But you're not going to post it anywhere, right?"

"Hell no. I just want it so we can hang it over their heads and threaten to post it somewhere."

Spencer smirked. "Well, in that case..."

He went to grab his camera, and they proceeded to spend the next five minutes taking turns posing in front of their sleeping, snuggling friends. Jon was just about to start drawing a penis on Brendon's hand with a Sharpie he'd found, when Ryan suddenly opened his eyes.

He was disoriented and it took him a minute to register that Jon and Spencer were standing there with a camera, Jon with Sharpie in hand. Ryan had spent enough hours traveling with them in vans and buses to know that they were up to no good, and he was instantly wide awake. It was only when he tried to leap up that he realized Brendon was leaning against him, and still very much asleep. Ryan settled back into the booth and glared at the other two. In a quiet voice, he said, "Joke's over. Delete whatever pictures you took."

Ever the wise-ass, Jon smirked and retorted, "We'll delete the pics when you finally admit that there's something going on with you and B."

Ryan reacted reflexively with a denial. Flatly, he stated, "There's nothing going on with me and Brendon. Okay? Now give me the camera."

Jon stepped back, taking he camera out of Spencer's hands and holding it above his head. "That wasn't convincing enough," he teased.

Suddenly, Brendon's right arm shot out, his fingers spread wide. He hadn't even opened his eyes yet, but he spoke in a clear voice. "Give. It."

Jon's eyes widened, and then he busted out laughing. "Why should I--"

He was interrupted by Brendon, who still hadn't opened his eyes. "Walker, if you don't give me that camera, I'll inform your girlfriend back home about everything you've been doing the past week."

Jon let out a mock, scandalized gasp. "Tour rules, man!" he protested.

"Those pictures fall under the category of tour rules, too," Brendon said. He closed his outstretched hand into a fist, then flung his fingers open again in a clear "give me it" gesture. Jon huffed and leaned forward, pressing the camera into Brendon's palm. Brendon closed his fingers around it and said succinctly, "Thank you."

He finally opened his eyes and looked at the camera, pressing the left side of the circular button to scroll through the pictures they had taken. A smile slowly formed on his lips and he said, "Awww, Ry, look at how cute we are!" He hit the button once more and the smile turned into a grimace "Eww, Jon, did you really need to moon the fucking camera? Nobody needs to see your bare ass."

"I was going to do worse but Spencer wouldn't let me," Jon complained, shoving Spencer.

"I didn't want to risk breaking my camera," Spencer deadpanned.

Brendon sat up straight, stretched, and set the camera on the table. Nobody mentioned that he hadn't deleted any of the pictures.