A Second Chance?

Chapter 1

Brendon was dead asleep...or he was, before his phone so rudely woke him up. He lifted his bleary head and groped his bedside table for his glasses. Once he got them on, he took in the time on his digital clock: 4:01 AM. What the...?

Next, he lifted his phone from his table, and checked to see who was calling him. Ryan Ross? Enter WTF Moment #2. Ryan ended it. Said he couldn't do a relationship, so why the hell was he calling before even the ass-crack of dawn? Brendon contemplated letting the call just go to voice mail, but decided not to in case it truly was an emergency. He'd have felt too guilty if it was one and he didn't answer, especially given Ryan's history with emergencies.

"Hello?" Brendon answered, confused and wary.

"Brendon...hi," Ryan breathed, sounding relieved.

"Ryan...are you ok? You're not hurt or in trouble, are you?" Brendon asked, just like he would for any friend.

"Oh, no, no. Nothing like that," Ryan rushed to reassure him.

"Ok...," Brendon trailed off. "You do realize it's 4 AM, don't you? I was sleeping."

Ryan could definitely tell there was none of the lightness or fun in Brendon's tone that he was accustomed to. In fact, Brendon sounded irritated, angry even. This was not off to a good start. "Yes...yes, I do. I'm sorry for that. I missed you, and I just needed to talk to you."

Brendon laughed, but it had a sad, bitter edge to it. "Okay, well, I'd rather not do it right now if you don't mind. I have plans early tomorrow and I'm still really tired."

Ryan was taken aback: this Brendon was so different from the one he stopped hanging out with two months ago. He either really hurt Brendon more than he thought, or Brendon just didn't feel the need to put himself out there for Ryan again. Ryan wouldn't necessarily blame him for that.

"Ok...I'm...I'm sorry Brendon. Could we maybe meet sometime soon, you know, to catch up?"

Brendon heaved a long sigh, and a prolonged quiet settled over the line. Finally, he answered.. "Okay, Ryan. I guess we can do that. Do you want to have coffee at the coffee shop tonight at 7?"

"Well," Ryan began, "I was actually hoping I could come over there or you come over here?"

Brendon's answer was instant. "No, Ryan. No...we can't do that. That won't work. I'd prefer for it to be a public place."

That really startled Ryan. Brendon would have never done that before, but Ryan was eager to take what he could get. "O-Okay, Bren, that's fine."

Brendon sighed again. "Ryan...please, just...call me Brendon." He sounded so frustrated.

Ryan swallowed a huge lump in his throat. "Sure, Brendon, of course. So I'll see you at 7 tonight at the coffee shop?"

Brendon answered, tone clipped, "Yeah, I'll see you then."

As Ryan went to make his goodbyes, the line was dead: Brendon had already ended the call. Ryan leaned back against his headboard, feeling sick and sad. He wasn't sure what he expected after ending things with Brendon and not calling for 2 months, but it definitely wasn't that. The behavior was so out of character from what he knew of Brendon, that he was actually kind of scared now.

Ryan set his phone aside and laid back down on his bed, but he knew he wouldn't be sleeping any more tonight. All he could think about was, now that he's finally gotten his thoughts together and decided to move on with his life, Brendon might not be there doing it with him. He might have really thrown it away when he walked away, or he waited to long too figure it out, or even both.