Rating:
NC-17
Word Count:
23,937
Summary:
For Ryan's 20th birthday, Pete bought him a bottle of Jack Daniels and a lap dance from a scantily clad woman in a dark club, completely disregarding the fact that Ryan was both too young to drink and also gay. So, looking back, Ryan guesses he shouldn't be surprised that Pete bought him the exact opposite of what he wanted for his 21st birthday as well.
(In which Brendon Urie is a dance instructor, Ryan Ross is one of his students, and everyone is more stubborn than should be allowed.)
~~~~~
For Ryan's 20th birthday, Pete bought him a bottle of Jack Daniels and a lap dance from a scantily clad woman in a dark club, completely disregarding the fact that Ryan was both too young to drink and also gay. So, looking back, Ryan guesses he shouldn't be surprised that Pete bought him the exact opposite of what he wanted for his 21st birthday as well.
__________________________
They're sitting together in Ryan's tiny living room, wearing the bright pink party hats that Pete had insisted they buy to add to the 'birthday experience'. Ryan had tried to argue that blue or green or even purple hats would give the same effect, but Pete would have none of it, insisting that this particular shade of pink had a festive quality that no other colors could compete with. Ryan did manage to talk him out of the matching streamers and neon balloons though, so overall, he counts it as a win.
It's a quarter past three in the morning and the rest of Ryan's friends have already left; Ryan almost wishes Pete would follow their example. Granted, Pete had been the one to pick up the phone and actually invite everyone so maybe he's earned the right to be lazy.
Not that many people had come to the party anyway. Sure, Ryan has friends. It could be argued that he has lots of friends, actually, but most of them have husbands or girlfriends or boyfriends or work. Most of them have other, more important things to occupy their time than a silly birthday party. Ryan gets that, he does. He's not envious or anything. And, you know, he has Pete.
Between his job, school and Pete (and his pets) Ryan considers his life to be pretty full of things that make him happy and people who love him. He developed a bad habit of keeping most people at a safe distance over the course of his teenage years, having grown up in a household where he had no siblings and his parents often worked late hours. He got used to being alone (and he was, alone that is, until he met Pete his senior year. But that's another story). Looking back, Ryan supposes that the reason he still has problems dealing with other people and keeping functioning relationships is directly related to those facts.
But now, it's after his big party and Ryan is still reeling from the sheer volume of people he just had milling about his apartment; for while there weren't a lot of them, Ryan's apartment is barely big enough for him most days. Pete had invited their usual group (Ryland, Shane, Alex, Patrick, Greta, Audrey and Keltie) and he had also dragged around a willowy man that Ryan didn't recognize, introducing him to various people throughout the night. It was mostly a blur for Ryan, who spent most of his party making sure nothing caught on fire like his drapes had when Pete decided to buy him a set of fire-batons for his 19th birthday.
Pete is collapsed in Ryan's huge arm-chair, staring out the window across from it as Ryan collects the last armful of empty cups and sets them on the counter in his kitchen. It's not until after Ryan gets settled back on his couch that Pete glances in Ryan's direction with a mischievous glint in his eye.
