Boulevard Dreamer (Ryden)

-thirty-

"Mail call."

Day after day, tumbleweed after tumbleweed, I get so tired of mail call.

It's nothing good. Bills. Bills. Another bill. Coupons- Actually, coupons aren't bad. Running a business, even a small one, isn't getting any cheaper.

"Y'know, it could be something good today," Hayley pipes up from behind her desk as I try to add the slightest bit of pep to my step on my way to collect the mail from her. Dallon and Z were busy with a couple people, so it's worth it to try and keep up appearances, "Maybe they've started mailing you Hot Cash because you shop there enough anyway."

"Here's hoping," I flash her a hopeful smile. Leave it to Hayley to be the one who brings me up.

Oh, thank god. Coupons and, like, two bills.

I can handle that.

It's funny. If you would've told 19-year-old Brendon that one day, he'd be excited about getting coupons in the mail, he would've laughed so hard.

And- Okay. Mystery business card from some.. person I'm not familiar with. Or company?

Huh. DCD2 sounds like a kinda cool name, though and Pete Wentz.. Wonder who he is.

That's a Google search for later.

Or.. A Google search for Hayley because she literally just sits at her desk with a computer all day.

"Hayley?" I look over at her and she's eyeing me like she knows the biggest secret there ever could be. Now I'm just curious, "Who's Pete Wentz..?"

"God, I thought you'd never ask!" She gestures for me to come next to her and look at her screen where she'd already pulled up everything Google could find on him, "Okay, so, best I can figure, Pete's this music producer guy from New York. Remember that open mic night you did last week? He was there and he was really impressed. And he couldn't find you after because you had the fastest growing fan base in Arizona, so eventually, he found me and asked me if I knew you. Of course I said yeah because I figured he just might want me to tell you that you did a fantastic job, and he did want to tell you that, but he also wanted to talk more. So I gave him the address of the salon to get in touch with you because no matter who he is, I'm not gonna give your number to some-"

"Hayley.." I was listening to her, I swear. But I was also scrolling through Pete's wikipedia page and the DCD2 website, just to clarify in my head that the music producer who thought I was worth his time actually exists. He.. Wow, he's.. A person! "I- I gotta, oh!"

I get up and walk out the door in the calmest manner I can muster up. Pfft. It was so fake, I'm a confetti cannon on the inside.

"My god, is there a fire in there that I should be concerned about?"

Ryan looks especially excited to see me today.

"Well, n-no.. But-" I watch Ryan's eyes widen to the size of saucers as he stands to look me dead in the eyes with concern written all over his face.

"Okay, are you.. Feeling okay? Like, do I need to call someone. Your-" He exhales sharply, but it comes off as a bit of a sigh, "Your boyfriend, perhaps?"

"No, no!" I chuckle lightly to get some of my nervous energy into the open air and out of my body, "Ha.. I'm sorry, I just. Okay."

Ryan cracks a smile at me and he holds his guitar by the neck in one hand and places the other hand on my shoulder as he says with a giggle in his tone, "You good?"

For all the time he's been sitting in front of my salon, I've never seen him smile. It's.. It's cute, I can't deny it. He's got these captivating laugh lines that are carved into his face by years of smiling and laughing and being.. happy. Happy.. I wonder why he doesn't seem so happy all the time.

He's a mystical music man. All three M's.

I nod with a smile never leaving my face, "Yeah.. A music producer came to that open mic night I did last week and he.. Well, he seemed to like me."

"That's great," His smile never falters and I start to wonder if he always is smiling and he turns it off around me. Except this time. He's just doing it for me this one time. So I better enjoy it. I do, "See? The universe rewarded you in due time."

"I guess so," We share in a small chuckle and I wonder how long this mutual glee will last. Probably until someone else pops in for a dye job, "Y'know, I could tell him about you. Put in a good word?"

His smile falters slightly as he silently shakes his head, "No, I would never ask you to do that."

"You don't have to ask. I'll do it," I gently place my hand on his hand that's still on my shoulder until he slowly slips it away, "Why not?"

"I-"

"Ryan, you wouldn't be selling out or-"

"It's not about selling out.." He runs his now free hand through his mop of curly brown hair with the sigh that leaks into his voice turning his words into a whisper, "I just- I don't need.. The recognition. I don't need to be someone to know that what I make is worth it, y'know? And to be honest, I don't think you need it, either."

"Yes, I do," Coupons can't buy everything..

"You are so good on your own, Brendon Urie," I am? "You could probably make it by accident with or without that producer. Because you're so good. You're a good guy, Urie. The universe likes guys like you and you get everything that's coming to you because you're good. Guys like me aren't so lucky because we aren't so good."

"I.." What do I even say to that? "What do you mean?"

"I won't lie to you, I can honestly say you are the one person I know that I've never lied to," He turns from me to set his guitar against the wall of the building and, as if by magic, once he turns back to me, a cigarette's in one hand while a lighter matches it in the other hand, "I don't believe in selling out. Everyone has their reason for making their art. Nobody ever said that everyone has to agree on the reason," The cigarette's in between his lips and lighted in seconds like it's second nature, "But I do believe that you're this.. This ball of pure goodness that's been so untouched by the world," He's careful to avoid blowing any smoke in my general direction, "And I envy it. I envy you. I envy how perfect you are, but I do believe you reap what you sow. You are good. You get good things," He casts his sight toward the nearly empty parking lot in front of us and takes a slow drag of his cigarette, "If you want to do something for me, shoot your shot with that producer. Odds are it'll do you some good. That sweet, innocence face of yours on magazine covers," He chuckles dryly but genuinely all the same, "Lucky readers. That'll be a romp."

"If you say so.." I'm not so good. I don't always get good things. I promise.. My life isn't perfect.

"Hey, look at me," I do just that and he's smiling at me. Not as much as before, but enough so that I can't help smiling back, "Shake all those doubts out of that silly head of yours, alright? You are so talented. I've seen it. You didn't get lucky by getting discovered. They were lucky to discover you. Don't forget that."

~

lol long chapter bc i just can't help it.

yes. things pick up from here on out.

and if y'all know me.. there will be drama.

~RJ😆