Among the Enemy (Ryden)

Is Brendon Alright?

Brendon was back in the room, sitting on the bed. He kept his eyes trained on the wall in front of him. Ryan and Dave had tried snapping him out of his trance for an hour now, but Brendon was too far gone to care.

"Brendon, are you alright?" Ryan scoffed when Dave asked.

"You've been asking him that for the passed half hour. If he didn't answer the first five hundred times, what makes you think he'll answer now?"

"Well, at least I'm fucking trying. All you're doing is standing there all jealous and shit."

"I'm not jealous!"

"Could've fooled me. I saw how upset you got by the way he was looking at that boy. I know you, Ry. You were so jealous."

"Was not! I was just concerned. Wouldn't you be? This guy has been through so much already. I was worried."

"Who do you think he was?" Dave's voice was calmer.

"I don't know." They both looked over at Brendon.

"A relative? Best friend maybe?"

"Why are you asking me?" Dave peaked over at Ryan from the corner of his eye.

"An ex-lover?"

"Shut up!" Ryan clenched his teeth. Dave shook his head, chuckling to himself. Ryan's breathing was heavier. His hands were fisted at his sides.

"This isn't good," Dave sighed.

"What isn't good?" Dave raised an eyebrow then motioned to Brendon so Ryan could get it. "Why? Cause they say so? Who cares what they think?"

"I do if the consequence is the same as that boy out there. I don't want you to get hurt."

"There's talk about the police getting closer to finding this place. How they haven't yet is surprising." Ryan sat on the bed beside him.

"Ryan, those rumors have been going around for weeks. If they haven't found this place yet, then no one is coming to save us." Ryan hung his head and stared at his lap. "I know this is hard on you, being forced into this lifestyle, but you know we can't go anywhere else. We have no one out there, no money, no place to live. We can't go anywhere." Ryan only shook his head.

"I promised I'd protect you." Ryan squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't want to hear Dave's reasoning. "When they came and destroyed everything, you know our best chance for survival was joining them. No one would take in two boys from some gay community." Dave paused, seeing if Ryan would respond. He glanced over at Brendon, who was still in his own world.

"I can't stop any feelings that you might have, but I can worry about you whether you want me to or not. I can't help it."

"I know," Ryan finally spoke up. "And I don't blame you for that or for anything you've done to keep us safe. I know you hate it here as much as I do. I can't be mad at you for this. I just... I don't want to feel trapped anymore, like I have to hide a part of myself all the time. It's exhausting."

"I know, Ry. I'm sorry for this."

"Stop," Ryan's voice was rough but quiet. "Stop apologizing." Dave went to apologize again, but shut his mouth. He looked over at Brendon again.

"So you like him?" Ryan played with his fingers nervously and shrugged.

"I don't know."

"Why do you say that?"

"I've never liked someone before. I don't know how I'm supposed to feel. I like spending time with him, but I don't really know him. You know?" Dave nodded in understanding.

"I can't tell you how you feel, but I can say I know you trust him more than you're letting yourself believe." Ryan looked up confused. Dave was staring at him, wearing a smirk. "You wouldn't calm down from a nightmare with just anyone." Ryan looked away with a blush on his cheeks. "If you had to choose someone, he's not the worst you could do." Ryan let out a laugh.

"Are you serious?" Dave shrugged, still smiling. "Then why did you freak out when you saw us in bed together."

"You're basically my little brother. As far as I know, you two aren't together, plus you're still very young. I didn't want to think of you two doing stuff the first night you're alone. That's... No. I don't want you doing that."

"I think I'm old enough to have sex with someone without my big brother trying to stop me." Dave shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to think of Ryan with another boy.

"Nope. Too young. Just no. I don't approve." Ryan let out a soft giggle.

"We didn't do anything though so you don't have to freak out." Dave let out a sigh. The two turned back to Brendon, wearing matching worried expressions on their faces. "You think he'll be alright?" Ryan's voice was a little unsteady.

"Only time will tell. There's only so much someone can take before they give up."

"But he's strong. I mean even with everything going on, he's still going," Ryan tried to sound hopeful.

"This could be the straw that breaks the camels back."

"So what do we do now?"

"We wait. That's all we really can do right now. Wait and hope for the best." Ryan nodded, eyes glued to Brendon's expressionless face staring at nothing. He reached over and placed his hand over Brendon's and waited.

He waited for Brendon to do something, to speak, to move, to fall asleep. He waited and hoped for something better.

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A/N:

Sorry that it's been a while since I updated. I lost motivation for this story. Don't really like how it's turning out. I'm gonna try to finish it up in a couple chapters so I don't leave it incomplete. If you actually liked the story, sorry about this. Thanks for reading though I appreciate it! :)