A/N:
The new Ryden content begins (if you've read the other in my other book before). Enjoy!!
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Ryan took a deep breath as he stood in front of the wooden door. His nerves were buzzing in his body. He didn't want to do this interview. He begged and pleaded to his boss about reassigning the story to another journalist, but without a proper reason his boss forced him to do the interview anyway.
With a deep breath, he knocked on the door and waited patiently. He heard a familiar voice yell 'coming' through the wood and he felt his heart stop. He couldn't do this. He could still leave. He could just run back to his car and take off.
Before he could move, the door swung open. Ryan froze as his saw the well groomed man standing in the doorway. His hair looked wet, so Ryan assumed he just took a shower. He was wearing a tight black shirt and sweatpants. Even dressed casually, the man was beyond attractive.
"Ryan?" The welcoming smile dropped from his face as he looked at Ryan. Ryan's heart was beating out of his chest. He couldn't even think of anything to say.
'Be professional. Do your job and leave,' he said in his head. He shot his hand out for a handshake.
"Hello, Mr. Urie. I'm here from Altpress for the interview." He bit his lip as he waited for some reaction from the other.
Brendon looked at Ryan's hand with his brows furrowed in confusion. He hesitantly gave the hand one shake and moved aside to let Ryan in. Brendon shut the door and led Ryan to the living room.
"You became a journalist." It wasn't a question, but Ryan answered anyway.
"Yeah. I did. Graduated from UNLV." His eyes were wondering around the room. Everything looked so nice and clean. There was a sliding door leading to the backyard pool. Brendon really made something of himself.
"So, how've you been?" Ryan looked over at Brendon who was leaning forward, arms on his knees. He was staring intently at Ryan with a sense of longing in his eyes. He didn't think he could handle the interview let alone small talk.
Ryan quickly looked away and pulled his bag close to him. He pulled out a notebook and a voice recorder. He cleared his throat and set the recorder on the coffee table between them.
"So, um. Thank you for agreeing to this interview. Is it alright I record our conversation?" He glanced up long enough to see Brendon nod and then looked back down. He opened his notebook to a set of questions his boss had given him.
"Can I get you anything before we start? Beer? Juice? Water?" Ryan was ready to shake his head then realized how dry his throat was.
"Some water would be nice please." Brendon was up in a flash and disappeared to what Ryan could only assume was the kitchen.
He ran his hand through his hair and took a deep breath. He worked on calming the slight trembling of his hands. He picked up the recorder and started it.
He spoke the date, location, and interview before setting it back on the table. Brendon had returned and handed Ryan a bottle of water before sitting down. He took a sip from the beer he'd grabbed for himself.
Ryan drink a drink then set down the bottle as he stared down at his notes. He looked up at Brendon for a second before turning away again.
"Mr. Urie," Ryan started.
"Brendon, please Ryan. Just call me Brendon." Ryan tried to ignore how soft and almost hurt his voice sounded.
"Okay... Brendon." He squeezed his eyes shut as he spoke the name he'd somehow managed to avoid saying for years. "First, I'd like to say congratulations on the Grammy win. I could tell you worked very hard for this and deserved the award."
