Our Time Together

Flowers

Bryce stared at the vase of roses sitting next to his bedside table, thoughts consumed his sleep and his heart grew cold. In his bed laid the man he thought he loved, but his heart just wasn't there, not anymore and it was the roses' fault. No. It wasn't the roses' fault that he was feeling this way. The reason his heart raced wasn't done by the simple rose, but the actual meaning behind the rose and its provider. The darn, masked gamer and best friend, Ryan Abbott.

He slowly sat up and swung his legs over the edge, careful to not wake his lover before standing up completely. Checking the clock in the corner of the room, he saw it was 3:55 am and began changing into clothes. He slid in his pants first and there was a note that fell out from Ryan, 'Meet me in the park @ 3am...I'll leave after an hour and I'll know your answer then for sure.' Bryce had completely forgotten about the note until now.

He quickly slid on his shirt and shoes on the way out. He quickly placed his phone in his back pocket and set both the note and his engagement ring on the side table. Quickly and swiftly, he put on his coat on and went out the door into the cold December wind of the Chicago city. Completely oblivious to his ex-lover sitting on the bed, Bryce didn't give a second glance as he still tried to puzzle what went through his head.

His feet had a mind of his own and it carried him closer to Ryan...

~

Upon setting feet into the park fifteen minutes later and out of breath, Bryce clutched at his navy blue coat, gasping for breath. After catching his breath, Bryce checked his phone only to see he was too late and it was over the time limit. Searching around, he was in complete awe with the lights all strung around and the different colors dancing on his skin. The sweet sound of a music box filled the air and he ran towards the center, where the fountain was.

There, sat a dejected looking Ryan, a single rose in his hand and the sweet tune suddenly turned more sour as the clock ticked by. Ryan stood up and didn't tear his eyes away from the rose, that is until he caught glimpse of a red, disheveled, and slightly tired Bryce from the corner of his eye. He quickly turned and received a heartfelt kiss from Bryce, the tears in his eyes prominent.

Ryan began wrapping his arms around Bryce until he felt a pull coming from Bryce's end and then a push. Ryan stumbled back and tripped on the fountain's edge, hitting his head on the bottom, the water looking a little redder than before. Shouting was heard through the water and he rose up to check what it was, only to see a struggling Bryce gripped and hurried away by his lover. Eventually, the lover got fed up and raised his hand to silence Bryce, the sound of a loud slap accompanied the reddening cheek.

Ryan sneered and ran towards the taller male, the rose fell from his grasp and laid forgotten on the floor. Ryan managed to make Bryce's lover let go of his grasp, but also received a slap himself, more blood coming from his wound. Bryce ran to Ryan side, as the ex-lover ran at the sight of blood. Bryce had tears in his eyes as he called the ambulance and Ryan slowly drifted into sleep.

~

Ryan woke up in the hospital around five in the morning to see a single red rose laying by the bedside and a sleeping Bryce. Ryan looked out the window as the sun started to rise through and he gently placed a kiss on Bryce's temple.The only words that he could think of in the moment were, 'Thank You.'