skirts // ryden

thirty five

ryro ❤️ : hey babe, can we talk

beebo 💙 : sure, but make it quick, i need to get ready for school still

ryro ❤️ : oh right, it's fine then, just meet me at my locker, k?

beebo 💙 : ok baby, see ya

ryro ❤️: bye

Ryan sighed, slipping his phone into the pocket of his sky blue hoodie. The bottoms of his shoes thudded gently as he began to wander the empty halls of the building. Ryan was always the first student to arrive at the school, the music teacher always allowing him in every morning. The music room was always at Ryan's disposal if he wished to play guitar alone. However, despite the fact that he was stressed and the music room was his salvation, Ryan pushed his thoughts away from wanting to enter the room.

He walked past silently, noting the music teacher curiously raise an eyebrow as she was not expecting him to avoid the room. The lonely hallways felt odd today. Rather than bringing any sort of comfort, the atmosphere seemed to send a surge of panic and discomfort through Ryan's body while the smooth fabric of his skirt brushed against his bare legs with each step. His legs picking up their pace, the boy began to quicken his movements, now stumbling clumsily to the other end of the first floor. With a sharp inhale and widened eyes, Ryan came face to face with the wall. He hastily turned around, seeing the entrance at the far end of the hall, becoming fuzzy as Ryan continued to stare, distorting the view. Unbeknownst to him, Ryan began to walk again, his footsteps far clumsier than before.

About halfway down the hallway, Ryan began to hear his heartbeat. It was an unsettling feeling. Although he was out of it, the sound still made him uncomfortable, the dull thump of his heart ringing in his ears. The noise was not where it belonged and Ryan wished it would retreat back to his chest, locked behind his rib cage. However, the sound simply grew louder and louder, now pounding in his head painfully. He began to hyperventilate, a numb feeling washing over the teenager's body. His breaths became ragged and shallow and his body ached, head screaming at him to let out some sort of emotion. Ryan so desperately wished to cry, trying to muster up his worst fears, nightmares, memories. This was to no avail, as the clear glistening drops of liquid remained plastered to the corner's of Ryan's eyes.

He wanted to scream until-

"Babe!"

Brendon tightly gripped Ryan's shoulders, violently shaking him. Ryan blinked quickly, tears now running down his flushed red cheeks. His eyes darted over Brendon's face, scanning every feature as if trying to preserve a mental image of his features. His furrowed brows, worried eyes, and slightly-parted frowning lips. When his senses began to flood back, Ryan threw his arms around Brendon, breaking down and crying into his shoulder, and thus soaking his grey t-shirt. Brendon made quiet shushing noises in his boyfriend's ear, gently rubbing circles on his back as the poor boy's body shook with broken sobs.

Ryan murmured that he was sorry countless times, leaving Brendon to pull a confused facial expression.

"Sorry for what, babe?"

"For not telling you the truth...the whole truth."