Far Away Love ࿐ Ryden

12

okay hi hello happy april fool's day i'm also realizing this story isn't wild in terms of plot but i think it's a better sort of story than, like... eyes open bc the character development really makes me happy and ive never been so good at advancing characters and i know this story is lowkey shit but while ghost towns was advancing my writing style, this is advancing my character development. god im rambling sorry im just a little proud 

12 -- [0401]

so i just like to daydream, 'cause dreams yeah they make me happy

Ryan wears his winter coat when he walks to school. It's almost Christmas and he'd give anything to not have Christmas break this year. Watching his breath fog in front of him as he walks fast with his hands in his pockets feels lonely, and he glances forlornly at Brendon's house as he walks by it. The sunflowers are completely wilted and layered with frost.

Ryan keeps walking.

He's at school early, like usual, and so is Brendon. So is Brendon.

"Hi!" Ryan exclaims far too loudly, sitting himself down next to Brendon with a bright smile on his face, one that Brendon doesn't hasten to return. "I was worried when you weren't at detention or school, and Alex was asking about you yesterday, like, he was really worried." Ryan glances at Brendon's shoes, thrown off by the fact that he's not wearing the stained white Converse that Ryan puked on. It's nearly comical and Ryan ignores the fact. Brendon just nods while staring at the ground, his greasy hair flat on his head. Maybe there's something wrong. "Are you okay?" Ryan asks, and Brendon shrugs. Maybe Ryan shouldn't have been too friendly. Like Gerard had said, Ryan never talks that much and it's weird to hear him go on and on. And after all, him and Brendon aren't as "tight" as Alex thinks they are and maybe him and Ryan aren't the type that talk about their problems together. But it's not as though Ryan is imagining Brendon looking like absolute shit- he really does. There are heavy dark circles under his eyes, his skin almost yields a greenish shade, his usually fluffy hair is dirty and limp, and he's not even wearing his usual fuckboy attire. He seems empty.

Ryan doesn't know what to say but he doesn't want to walk away either, so he just sits next to Brendon, keeps him company. There's still twenty minutes until class starts and the buses won't show up until ten minutes before class. Ryan gets an idea.

"I'll be right back, I swear." He tells Brendon, who barely looks up as Ryan hops over the bench and leaves his bag to show that swearing means that he will be back. Ryan hightails it over to the cafeteria where he buys a little bag of cookies for Brendon because it feels so unnatural to see him without his cake. And Ryan's just desperate enough to be buying him cookies, rushing back down the hallways to be presenting him with a bag of these shitty little cookies, not even knowing what flavor they are.

"Here." Ryan says, sitting himself back down to Brendon, who barely turns his head to look at him. "You, um. You don't have any cake, so, here's a replacement. It's not the same, but still." Brendon takes the bag and looks down at it as he undoes the knot made of plastic bag. His hands are shaky.

"Thanks." He says, opening up the bag and staring inside. "Are those raisins or chocolate?" Ryan peers into the bag behind him, and he can't say that he can tell the difference at this point in time.

"Um." Brendon smiles an unconventional, out of place smile and takes a cookie out of the bag, holding it up to the light like it's paper money, or a passport. Ryan examines the cookie, really having a difficult time in figuring out if those are raisins or fucking chocolate.

Brendon leans in to smell it and keeps that ridiculous sort of smile on his face when he leans back.

"I still can't tell." Ryan just lifts his shoulders in a helpless gesture, and then Brendon bites into it, the smile still bright on his face as the cookie crumbles in his mouth. It seems that as hard as he can try to stop smiling, he can't help it in the end. Ryan isn't used to Brendon not being lively, and apparently Brendon isn't even used to himself not acting excited all the time.