Back Again//// Ryden **Completed**

I'll Be There

Brendon's POV. 

"Yes. He was raped multiple times by Samuel Knight. Not to mention physical and emotional abuse." I tell the officer. 

"Alright, I need to see Mr. Ross." He says. I see Ryan wipe a tear from his face before walking over to me. 
"I-If it's okay, I-I want Brendon to be with me." He chokes out. The officer looks between Ryan and me before nodding. 

The officers ask him multiple questions, leaving him in tears. I gently wrap my arms around his frail body, noting the bruising under his shirt. 

~~~

"So, do you want to stay at my place? Until you find a place to live, I mean." 
"I-If it's okay with you." He mumbles. 
"Of course." 

"I need to g-get my stuff, I'll be back in like 30 minutes?" 

"Only 30?"
"I have a lot of things already in boxes. I never really settled in." He says. I nod. 

"I'll go with you if you want." 
"No, it's alright, Sam should be at the Police Station anyway." 

~~~

"Yeah, I was wondering if we could like have a party, to cheer him up, maybe even a get-together." 

"Brendon, you and I both know how uncomfortable he was." 

"It'll be different." 

"No, it won't, nothing will fix what happened 9 years ago," Spencer says. "But it seems obvious that he's comfortable around you. How about you spend some time with him?" 

"I guess," I say. We spend another 10 minutes talking before I hear the doorbell ring. "I got to go, I'll see ya later." 

"Ryan, hey," I say. He has four boxes and a guitar. "That's it? Is there more in the car?" 

"No, when I moved here, I only brought some clothes and a few personal items. These boxes aren't even that small anyway." He says. 
"Alright, then." I shrug. I help carry the boxes. We put them in the guest bedroom. 
"Okay, so I'll help you put some stuff away?" I ask. He nods. I open one box, full of clothes. I put them in the closet. 

Then I open another box. "Ryan?" I look at him. It has a bunch of stuff from Panic! I see notebooks that he wrote lyrics in. I see the hat. And some picture. There are a lot of items from the Panic! days. Then I find it. I find the rose vest. (Yes, I know he lost it, I wanted it in the fic, get over it).

"Oh, uh, yeah I kept them." He says. His cheeks turn red. I let out a laugh. 

"Hey, I remember this. Is this the guitar strap I gave you?" I smile holding up the strap. 
"Yeah." He smiles back. 

"Hey, why do you only have one guitar? I thought you have like 20." 

"Most of them are in the small studio. S-Sam destroyed some." 

"Ryan, I still don't understand. We never talked or anything, why would you still protect me?" 

"I couldn't be the reason you got unhappy. You are doing so well and I couldn't take that from you."

"But it would have been Sam, not you."

"No, once people found out Sam and I were 'dating' everyone would think it was real because it is." 

After about 2 hours unpacking and talking we finally finish. "How about some music?" I smile. 
"I'll make dinner?" He asks.

"No, Ryan you will sit down, I will order pizza or something."

"B-But you helped me so much."

"You are also still in a lot of pain. And you went through 2 years of pain for me. I still owe you!" 
"Bren, you don't owe me anything." He says. 

~~~

"Remember the time we watched this movie 20 times?"

"Yeah, and now the movie is boring as fuck." I grin. 

"Hey uh, Bren? Why did you open the door again? That night, I mean."

"Well, something inside me was telling me to open the door, so I did," I say. I look at Ryan, he still has bruises and cuts on his face. Marks covering his neck. But he still looks like that innocent boy I met all those years ago. The one I fell for. "Ryan, I want you to know, that, no matter what, I'll be here."