Case Closed (Ryden)

Chapter 4

The week flew by quickly, faster than Ryan wanted. He took the few days leading up to his flight off to get ready for the case. Now, he was standing outside the gate waiting for his partner to show up. He was scrolling through his phone muttering to himself about not wanting a partner.

As they announced for his flight to begin boarding, he noticed someone approaching him. He peaked up and saw a weary looking Brendon. The man was breathing heavy as he stopped in front of Ryan. He must've ran here.

"You're late, Urie." He picked his bag up off the floor, showing his obvious displeasure over the entire situation. Brendon let out a tired sigh and shook his head.

"I-I know. I-I was just."

"Doesn't matter. It's done. We need to board now." Brendon nodded and pulled his bag further up onto his shoulder. As they began walking, Ryan noticed how underdressed Brendon was compared to his office attire. His hair was untamed, sticking out in every direction possible. He was wearing tight jeans and Ryan was sure that his lavender sweater was inside out. Ryan was surprised the boy managed to put his shoes on the right foot.

Wait.

Ryan peaked down. Yeah, they were on correctly. Ryan gave a subtle nod of approval at the black converse. When they got on the plane, they put their bags into the overhead bin.

Ryan sat by the window and stared out. When Brendon sat, he pulled out the file to the case. Ryan turned when he heard the shuffling of papers. He noticed that Brendon had added extra notes to the file. He looked up to question the notes when everything seemed to stop.

Ryan was stuck staring at Brendon's concentrated face. His eyebrows were pushed together. He pushed the frame of his glasses up his nose. His lips moved while he read to himself. A few strands of his hair moved over the front of his face, but Brendon didn't seem to be bothered by it.

Ryan had known Brendon for years, but only ever saw him in the office. The man almost looked like an entirely different person and Ryan could not tear his eyes away. Brendon must've felt the other's gaze as he hesitantly looked over.

"What?" Ryan pointed at the glasses he was certain he'd never seen the other wear before.

"You wear glasses?" Brendon reached up and tore the glasses off his face and pocketed them. He dropped his head to hide a blush.

"I didn't have t-time to put on m-my contacts." He ran a hand through his hair. Ryan found himself smiling at the suddenly nervous boy. "I packed an extra set in my bag last night. I was gonna put them on when we got to the hotel and forget about these." Ryan nodded, still smiling.

"Why would you do that?" He saw Brendon's face grow redder.

"Cause they're dorky," he mumbled. "I'm just glad I don't have my red ones anymore." An image of Brendon with red glasses on flashed his mind. He shook the picture away quickly. He shrugged and turned to look out the window.

"I don't think so. They make you look young."

"Look young?" Ryan turned back and hummed in response. "I'm not even thirty yet. How old do you think I am?" Ryan shrugged again.

"How old?"

"I just turned twenty-five a couple months ago," Brendon finished with an amused laugh. Ryan took his time to study Brendon again. He looked so different from the office.

Normally, Brendon's hair was neatly styled and he was well dressed. Now, he looked like he was going for a casual stroll. He looked more like a twenty-five year old. It was a very charming look.

Ryan could see it possible for Brendon to have left a few girls heartbroken in the past and he doubted the boy was single now. He frowned at the thought, though not entirely sure why he felt disappointed.

"Ryan?" Ryan snapped himself out of his thoughts to see Brendon smirking at him.

"Yeah?"

"I asked how old you were."

"Oh. I'm turning twenty-six in a few months." He suddenly felt self conscious under Brendon's eyes. "Why? Do I look older?" Brendon quickly shook his head and turned down to the file.

"No, but you act older."

"Act older? Elaborate." Brendon let out a soft chuckle.

"For starters, who says 'elaborate'?"

"Plenty of people actually," Ryan defended.

"Well, I haven't met someone who does." Brendon shot Ryan a side smile. "Second, all you do is work. You're so serious about it and don't take advantage of being in your 20's," he finished with a shrug, keeping his eyes down.

"My job is very important to me." Ryan was frowning. Why couldn't people see how important his work was?

"I understand. It's important to me too. I just think you should... do more," Brendon's voice trailed off, but Ryan could hear clearly.

"What more could I be doing? Do you not see how many monsters we've stopped, how many people we've helped to finally feel safe again and put their mind's at ease? Is that not enough?" If Ryan was being honest, he didn't really feel like it was enough, but he was trying his best.

"I do see that. I just."

"You just what?" Ryan felt himself growing angry. "Just think that I shouldn't give my cases so much attention? That I should go out drinking with strangers instead while I let a child murderer loose?"

"No! T-that's not w-what I meant," Brendon began to stutter. He stopped when he saw Ryan glaring at him. "N-nevermind." He shook his head.

Ryan scoffed and snatched the file from Brendon. He took deep breaths to calm himself. He only needed to make it a couple hours with Brendon before he could go into his separate hotel room.

The two didn't share a word for the remainder of the flight. When they finally landed, Brendon tapped the older on the shoulder.

"What?" Ryan asked, not bothering to hide his irritation. Brendon was looking around at the other passengers exiting. He mumbled something that Ryan couldn't hear over the noise around them. "What?" He asked again with more aggression.

"I'm s-sorry." Brendon kept his head down as he spoke, only raising his voice enough for Ryan to hear. "I didn't mean to upset you. I shouldn't have said anything. It's your business what you choose to do in your spare time, not mine. I'm sorry."

Ryan looked up at him in surprise, not expecting the apology. Before he could even response, Brendon had gotten his bag and moved with the crowd to the exit. Ryan watched him leave before eventually following.

All the anger from earlier was gone and he was left slightly confused over... well he wasn't sure over what exactly. but he knew he was confused. When he was off the plane, he saw Brendon sitting in a chair, knee bouncing rapidly. He let out a sigh. Things would be so much easier if he didn't get assigned a partner.

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A/N:

Not gonna lie. I've seen the MCR concert several times already and still get equally excited each time. Anyone else see it live or maybe went??

Also, what do you think of the story? Got any guess on what's going to happen? Comment and let me know how I'm doing so far. I already have the whole story planned out, just need to write it all.