Stay Gucci, Casanova (Ryden AU ✔️)

3: TV and Tim Burton

To Ryan, the evening is the best part of the day.

His nightly routine is typically this: he curls up on the couch next to Brendon as they watch TV, one of them reminds the other that they have to go to bed, and Ryan sits up reading while Brendon hogs the bathroom. Sometimes Brendon will ask him to read to him, which he happily agrees to do every single time. Sometimes Ryan's antsy and can't sleep, so Brendon plays with his hair and sings to him to lull him into a slumber. Either way, the night ends with them being together. That's all Ryan can really hope for at this point; after living a life feeling unloved, being with Brendon is like finding shelter in a hurricane.

"You know what I just realized?" Brendon asks when Ryan enters the living room, a bowl of chips in one hand and a bowl of guacamole in the other. "You can really tell what kind of a person someone is by their favorite Friends character."

"Can you really though?" Ryan asks, putting the bowls down on the coffee table and sitting down next to his boyfriend. Brendon lifts his arm and wraps it around Ryan's shoulders, getting into their usual sitting position. "Like," Ryan continues, "my favorite character is probably Ross. That doesn't say that much about me."

Brendon looks at him, feigning offence. "Um, that says you have horrible taste and that you deserve to get out of my house."

Ryan rolls his eyes, getting comfortable on the couch and leaning into the other boy's touch. "We share this house, you wart. If I leave, you leave too."

"I'm going to ignore the fact that you just called me a wart because I love you and I won't allow your horrible potty mouth to soil our relationship sanctuary," Brendon dismisses, making the brunet next to him laugh. "Just admit that Rachel is the best girl and Joey is the best guy."

"No, because that's bullshit," Ryan protests. "Everyone knows that Phoebe is the best girl and Chandler is the best guy. Forget Ross, you've ruined him for me."

Brendon looks at him as if he's just asked the stupidest question in the world. "Uh, remind me why we're dating again?"

Ryan gives him a sweet smile, bringing his hands up to cup his own face. "Because I'm cute."

Brendon rolls his eyes, a small smile gracing his lips as he turns back to the TV. "Whatever. Now shut up, I like this episode."

~~

"Painkillers and estrogen are pretty much Brandy's only two food groups, and she says, 'Gimme, gimme, gimme,'" Ryan reads, his copy of Chuck Palahniuk's Invisible Monsters resting on his thighs, his left hand turning the pages and his right hand gently carding through Brendon's hair as he intently looks up at him. "She snacks on some little pink-coated Estinyls."

Brendon watches him with soft eyes, listening to Ryan's voice travel through the room. He's not really paying attention to what's being said, and he doesn't need to; he read this book in the middle of his seemingly unrequited crush on Ryan. He saw the brunet reading Monsters in a music theory lecture in college one day a distant year ago and they talked about it, Brendon pretending to have read it so he can keep talking to the angel in front of him. The second their conversation ended he ran out of the hall and to the library, getting a copy of Monsters and reading it all in one night. But he knows how much Ryan loves the novel, so he sits and listens to him rereading it for the (literal) millionth time as they lay in bed.

At some point Brendon lets out a quiet whine, throwing an arm across Ryan's waist and nuzzling his nose against his clothed thigh. "You're so cute," he mumbles. "You and your books about transgender murderers are so fucking cute."

Ryan closes the book, putting it on their bedside table before giving his boyfriend all his attention. He lays back, turning to face Brendon, who's arm is now wrapped around his torso and is rubbing small circles onto his back with the pad of his thumb. "It's more than that, Brendon," he says. "And Evie isn't a murderer. It's only attempted, since Brandy doesn't even die."

"Oh," Brendon smirks, "like that's any better."

Ryan shrugs. "I mean, it kind of is."

"Come on, just shush your trap and cuddle me."

Despite the way they talk to each other, they really are in love; some may look at them sometimes and think they're more clingy than they should be, but that's just the way they are. People roll their eyes when Brendon takes Ryan's hand on the way home from the store, and they give them looks of disgust when they swing their arms and skip (yes, literally skip) home. You'd think that Ryan wouldn't like all the touches, but he really does. He loves them almost as much as he loves Brendon. Almost.

When Brendon first heard about how TLC-deprived Ryan's childhood was, he made it his personal mission to make up for all those years of neglect. Not that Ryan minds or anything; it was a little weird at first, but now he embraces it. Much like he's embracing Brendon now.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Brendon asks, Ryan's head now resting on his bare chest. "You seem sad. Is there someone I have to fight?"

Ryan forces out a small, weak chuckle. "No," he says, his leg in between Brendon's as he lifts his head up so he can look at him. "It's nothing. I'm just being paranoid."

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Brendon picks up Ryan's hand, kissing the back of it before kissing each individual knuckle. "I'm all ears if you do."

Ryan slowly shakes his head, holding back a sarcastic comment. "No, it's okay." He tilts his head at Brendon, his hand going up to cup his jawline. "I just..." He trails off, his thumb tracing over Brendon's lips. "I just love you, that's all."

Brendon grins, and it's the kind of grin only Ryan gets to see. It's a look that just shows how happy he is, and Ryan loves being the sole cause of it. Brendon reaches up and cups the side of his face, taking in the moment they're in. "I love you, Ryan. Very very much."

Ryan smiles at that, leaning in for a quick kiss before resting his head back onto Brendon's chest. "Can you sing tonight?"

"Sure," Brendon answers. "What do you wanna hear?"

Ryan shrugs. "I don't care. Just don't let there be silence."

That's one of the many things Ryan loves about Brendon; there's never any silence when there never needs to be. That proves true tonight, when Ryan moves his head to his pillow so Brendon can sit up. Ryan takes Brendon's hand as he begins singing, kissing the back of it before nuzzling it against his cheek, his eyes slipping shut.

"Oh, somewhere deep inside of my bones," He sings softly, moving some of Ryan's hair away from his forehead, "an emptiness began to grow."

Despite the circumstances, Ryan thinks back to the reason he feels paranoid; it's all because of his conversation with Elizabeth nearly four days ago. He knows it's stupid to be worrying about something that hasn't even been finalized yet, but he can't help it. Brendon was there for him during the aftermath of a dark part of his life, and neither of them are willing to let go of what they have.

"There's something out there, far from my home. A longing that I've never known."

Ryan tries not to snicker at the irony of his thoughts corresponding to Jack's Lament. He supposes that sometimes life truly does imitate art.

A/N: Can all negative vibes Corky B. Roll the fuck outta here

^ God I'm sorry for that

I'm making a pact with myself where I say at least one pun/horrible joke per author's note I hope that's okay