Sugarcane Chronicles Volume I: One and Lonely (ryden)

Birthday Extravaglandazandapanda

*Brendon's POV*

"So you think it would be alright if I did?"

"Tyler, I told you already; see if he's awake and ask him. You wouldn't want someone playing your ukulele without asking would you?"

"No... If I had one."

Sigh. "Just wake him up and ask him."

"But... that'd be rude."

"Fine. Wait until he wakes up and ask."

"But... I want to play it now."

Sigh. "He's probably already awake. Just poke his face or something."

"Alright."

I felt someone (or something) poke my face and I woke up and quickly swatted it away. I opened my eyes to see Josh and Tyler standing over me and looking at me intently.

"Can I play your ukulele?" Tyler asked.

Josh swatted Tyler's arm and whispered, "Dude."

Tyler shrugged and whispered back, "What?"

I sighed and rubbed my face. "Yeah, sure." I sat up in the chair in the living room that I had eventually fallen asleep in. "It's not in here, though."

"Where is it?" Tyler asked eagerly. "I can go get it."

"No, no, it's fine," I said. "It's in my bag in Ryan's room. I'll go get it."

"I don't think you're supposed to go up there," Josh said.

I shrugged and stood up. "He's probably still sleeping. I'll be in and out. He'll barely notice."

I walked upstairs to Ryan's room and quietly opened his door. To my surprise, he was already awake.

"Hey," I said softly, smiling.

He looked at me with a terrified look in his eyes. I figured he must've still been in the frame of mind of his kid self, so I decided to try to get out of there as quick as possible.

"I'm Brendon," I said. "I left my bag in here. I'll be out of your way in a second." He didn't say anything as I grabbed my bag and stepped back towards the door. "Do you like chocolate chip cookies?" I asked because I knew that was a good subject for Ryan of any age.

He nodded his head excitedly and smiled slightly.

"Ok," I said, smiling at him. "I'll be right back with those."

I walked out the door, closing it behind me. I ran down the stairs and through the living room, throwing my bag at Tyler, and to the kitchen.

"Do we have any cookies left over from last night?" I asked Pete, who was cooking breakfast.

"Yeah, of course," Pete said. "Ryan usually has them for breakfast. And lunch and dinner." He looked up at me. "Why?"

"I was just in Ryan's room and I promised him cookies," I said.

"Oh, uh, I don't think you were supposed to be up there," he said.

"Well, yeah, I figured that much," I said. "I needed to get my bag and I thought he would be sleeping."

"Ok," Pete said, flipping some pancakes over in the pan. "Uh, I'll take them up there for you. Just stay in the kitchen and make sure nothing catches on fire."

"Alright," I said, taking the spatula and flipping some pancakes onto a plate. I heard Tyler playing the ukulele from the living room. I wonder when he learned to play the ukulele, I thought, putting more butter into the skillet.