Ryden Oneshots 【2】

Full Circle

.:. Rating : R .:.

Summary: Two boys, a boat and the North Sea at night.

Well, its a marvelous night for a moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes
A fantabulous night to make romance
'neath the cover of October skies
-- Lyambiko - Moondance (Van Morrison cover) --

They return to the hotel exhilarated, high on the adrenaline of a really good show. It’s nearly midnight and the sun is only now giving in to the night, throwing a golden glow over the sea just outside the hotel. Norway, they all have learned within just a day, has hardly any places where you can’t see water – the sea, a river, a lake – or at least hear the soft murmuring of a brook.

Ryan squeezes into the elevator last, hugging his guitar close to his body so the neck won’t poke Spencer in the chest. Spencer is somewhat anal about these things. It’s probably because he’s not used to carrying his drums around, so he doesn’t know the logistics involved in not accidentally hurting people with music instruments.

Jon is leaning against the mirrored wall with a huge grin, eyes sleepy as he turns his head to look at each of them. It’s Jon’s way to suggest that they all smoke up somewhere, and yeah, actually, that sounds like a good idea to Ryan. 

“Not tonight, no,” Brendon says from behind him. “Ross and I have other plans.”

Ryan twists his upper body around enough to look at Brendon, the guitar hindering his movement somewhat. He lifts one brow at the way Brendon reclines against the wall, wearing a stupid green hoodie with flowers scattered all over it, a fan gift that passed Zack’s tests (meaning that the chemical tests revealed no results, most likely). Brendon’s hips are tilted forward in a way that could be called suggestive. Ryan remembers a time when that kind of thing was an invitation. 

“Plans?” he repeats, slightly delayed. The elevator stops with a stomach-churning lurch.

“Yeah,” Brendon says. His grin is wide, beautiful. “I’ll come to your room in about half an hour. Wear warm clothes, okay?”

“You suck at being mysterious,” Ryan tells him. Even without turning his head, he can feel Spencer’s smirk directed at his cheek, and he’s pretty sure Jon is giving off ways of amusement as well. Seriously, this band.

“If I really did suck, you’d know where we’re going,” Brendon says, still grinning that same beautiful grin. 

Ryan should be over this. Is over this for the most part, but there are times when Brendon is practically glowing with joy and unrestrained optimism, a certainty that they can take on the world, and those times, Ryan finds his breath catch in his throat. He’d like to blame it on memories, but there wasn’t a lot of happiness involved back then. Just heat and want and more emotions than they could handle at the time. 

All things considered, it’s probably not that much of a surprise that Brent left when he did. Maybe the surprise is that Spencer stayed, and that Jon was there to help them pick up the pieces.

“Maybe I do know,” Ryan says, just to be difficult.

“Yeah?” Brendon steps out of the elevator first, but he waits in the hallway. “Tell me, then.”

Ryan hitches his guitar higher in his arms and gives Brendon his most charming smile. “I would, but then I’d have to kill you.”