Sugarcane Chronicles Volume I: One and Lonely (ryden)

Lovebucket, Cuddlebunch, Brenny-Bear, Ry-Cakes

Mom left me in charge of dinner while she went outside and worked on her garden/waited outside for Dad so she could give him a heads up.

"You know, if I pretend hard enough," Ryan said, walking up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist, "it's almost like we're all grown up and we're in our apartment, cooking dinner together." I smiled as he rested his chin on my head. "What is that, anyway, honey?"

"I have absolutely no idea, sweetie," I said.

"How do you feel about these nicknames, baby?" he asked.

"I think they're kind of hard to keep up with, sugar," I said.

"Yeah, they almost sound like insults, honeybunch," he said.

"They kind of do, sweet pea," I said. It was getting harder to contain my giggles.

"Cutie pie."

"Honeybun."

"Sweet cheeks."

"Snugglebunny."

"Lovebucket."

"Cuddlebunch."

Ryan giggled. "Brenny-Bear."

I smiled. "Ry-Cakes."

He busted out laughing and had to step away from me from laughing too hard. I put down the spatula to join him. Every time we glanced back at each other, the giggles would start up again. We finally calmed them and he pulled me into a hug.

"You're the best," he whispered.

"You're the bestest," I whispered back.

He laughed before leaning down and kissing me.

"But seriously," he said, leaning away to look at me. "Ry-Cakes? Where did you get that?"

"I don't know," I said. "It just... came out."

We smiled at each other and Dad cleared his throat from the doorway.

We quickly stepped away from each other. I went back to the stove and Ryan stood there awkwardly.

"Hello... sir," he said. He he led his hand out for Dad to shake. "It's very nice to meet you."

"Same here," Dad said, shaking Ryan's hand. "You can call me Mr. Urie for now."

"Ok," Ryan said, then mumbled, "Mr. Urie."

I smiled at him, then asked Mom if she thought dinner was ready. She said it was, although I had almost burnt it because I was hugging Ryan.

I had set the table earlier, so we just had to get the food and eat. I sat next to Ryan and Mom.

"So," Dad said, putting his fork down and leaning his elbows on the table, "Ryan... How did you meet Brendon?"

Ryan glanced at me and I gave him a look that told him he was on his own. I couldn't answer anything for him, with him, or otherwise. That's how it always was when any of the kids brought a significant other home.

"Uh..." He looked down at his plate before saying, "He got lost over where I live, but that wasn't the first time we saw each other."

Dad motioned for Ryan to continue.

"Well, uh," Ryan said, "I had a friend that moved away that lived in this house and, uh, we had a lot of good times here so one day, after school, I was, like, looking at the house and, you know, uh, reminiscing and then this kid comes up to me and he's just like, 'why are you staring at my house?' and then I ran away screaming and have had a crush on him ever since."