For you, i will

chapter II

the night was cold and hard to sleep through. more times than was safe, shane rolled too close to the edges of the circle, the pain waking him from his already light sleep. when the first rays of sun began to appear through the broken windows of the building, shane gave up on sleep and reached for his phone to call ryan. his phone was dead, and in reaction he gave out a loud grunt of defeat and stared at the ceiling. ryan wouldn't really abandoned him here, would he?
no, he wouldn't.
about 20 minutes had gone by since shane had woken up when a small man appeared at the entrance of the building.
"ryan.."
ryan didn't say hello to shane, or even really acknowledge him. he simply made his way over the the taller man and sat down several feet away from the salt circle. he carried another bag with him, inside which he had holy water and a book.
"i don't know what's happened to you shane, but father thomas said this would help you. i'm going to save you shane."
"wait ryan.." shane tried to argue, to no effect.
ryan pulled out the small book and began saying the words on the pages out loud, taking quick glances up at shane to see how he was doing. not well.
"ryan ryan please stop.. ry..."
shane seemed to be disappear right in front of ryan's eyes, which brought tears to his eyes. father thomas didn't say this would happen. and perhaps it was that uncertainty, or perhaps it was seeing his best friend dying in front of him, but ryan found he could no longer say the verses.
"shane are you okay? oh my god i'm so sorry." ryan didn't care if this was the ruthless trick of some demon, and if what he was about to do would get him killed. he needed to help shane. so he, hesitant for only a fraction of a second, destroyed the circle entrapping the man and held his hand.
"shane.. shane i'm so sorry. please be okay please wake up.."
shane began to regain consciousness, and seeing his hand within ryan's, their faces so close together, shane's usual self began to return to him.
"don't get too close bergara, i'm gonna think you wanna kiss."
ryan let out a sigh of relief as he let go of shane's hand. but the moment was short lived, as in a matter of seconds ryan's panic returned back to him.
"shane you're. not human."
"hah you got it, no i'm.. not." shane said in a slur.
ryan was startled. his theory had basically been proven already, but the words hit him like a shockwave, and he froze again, staring at shane's body, who was not yet strong enough to stand. with his friend's life no longer in danger, he decided to protect his own. reaching inside his bag ryan pulled out a pair of handcuffs.
shane was still regaining full consciousness, and when he saw ryan walking towards him with the restraints he didn't try to fight him off.
"lets take this back to your room ry.." he said sleepily, ending with a yawn.
ryan wasn't sure if shane was trying to be funny, or if almost being exorcised from existence made you drunk, but he wouldn't allow himself to laugh, lest it be a sign of weakness.
"shane i'm taking you back to my house. i just need to make sure i'm safe while i do it." ryan clarified as he cuffed shane's hands behind his back.
"woah daddy, that's a bit too tight." shane winked at ryan. "do i have a safe word?"
"shane. get up." ryan guided shane's body back to his car, which proved a rather difficult task, since the man couldn't walk anywhere close to a straight line, and guiding a human and a half in that condition required more skill than ryan had. for a brief moment ryan wondered if he had messed up shane's brain; he wasn't necessarily a professional on demons and that sorts, just a ghost hunter.
•••
back in ryan's apartment, shane had become more or less himself again, which ryan wasn't sure if he was thankful for. flirty shane was definitely annoying, but he lightened the mood of the situation... and made ryan's heart rush. now it was time to figure out what was going on.
shane leaned back on ryan's couch. he could easily remove the cuffs restraining him (finally, a try guys video came in handy) but he decided—for ryan's sake and his own—to keep them on.
"shane. who are you."
"i'm shane madej. i've been shane madej this whole time."
"no shane. ugh okay, what are you, then?"
"i am.. well i'm a demon"
"holy hell" ryan spun around himself, placing his hand on his forehead as he stared at the blank television screen. he saw both their reflections in it, which pulled his heart strings. as much as he wanted to believe the man was lying to him, he'd experienced too much for that to be possible.
"ryan. i'm not evil. i swear to you i'm not. i've been alive for 3300 years, and never once have i hurt a soul."
ryan's eyes widened at the number, mouthing it silently. so many questions buzzed through his head, and yet he found himself speechless, so he let shane continue.
"i refused to be evil, so lucifer told me to leave and be who i am. so i came here, an electric city full of opportunity, and got a job at BuzzFeed. and then i met you, ryan steven bergara. and you became my friend. not my first one, of course, but my closest. my favourite. you became my favourite friend ryan. and when you told me about unsolved, of course i agreed. and since then, i've been protecting you. every place we go to, i protect you from the creatures looking to harm you. when the camera's off.. when your back is turned..i make sure you never see those terrifying things." 
"shane..." ryan began. he had nothing to say. this... demon had been protecting him. no, he wasn't a demon. well he was, yes. but he was shane. ryan's best friend, shane. in that moment ryan felt himself snapping back into his own head again.
"shane i'm so sorry", ryan said, rushing to remove shane's handcuffs.
"don't worry about it bergara, i'm the one who should be apologizing. i lied to you about my identity for so long..."
ryan didn't even consider being mad at the taller man, he just smiled to himself as he remembered all the fun times the two had had together, and that one night a year ago. it might be true that shane was secretly evil, lying to ryan to steal his soul. and if that were the case, ryan was still willing to risk it. he didn't want to see his best friend weak like this, he trusted him far too much.
"shane." he said, suddenly serious.
shane looked up from rubbing the bruises on his wrists, concern filling inside him.
"i have to ask.."
"what is it?"
"YOU KNEW GHOSTS WERE REAL THIS ENTIRE TIME AND YOU STILL SAID IT WAS THE DAMN WIND?!" ryan was laughing as he said this, and shane joined in too.
"hey, the look of annoyed defeat on your face was pretty cute."
the two continued to laugh as they recalled aspects of their friendship that were made clearer now that shane's real identity was out.
it felt like a warm bubble had formed around the two, closing in all the goodness of being alive, side by side, a protection against the reality of what it all meant. and ryan let his concerns fade from his mind.
•••
shane spent that night night at ryan's house, sleeping in the living room. ryan laid on his bed, staring at the slow moving blades of the fan above him. he couldn't help but smile as shane's words replayed over and over in his head.
~the look of annoyed defeat on your face was pretty cute~
"he thinks i'm cute" ryan whispered to himself. then he rolled over in his spot and felt himself falling deeper and deeper into sweet dream.