"Why did you want to come here?" Ryan asked as Brendon walked down the paint aisle at Walmart. They stopped in front of a couple rows of spray paint.
"I needed to get some stuff," Brendon answered, more focused on the paint.
"Paint?" Ryan flinched in surprised when Brendon started handing him a couple cans.
"Mmhm." Brendon squatted down and grabbed two similar color, debating on which to get. Ryan rose a confused eyebrow and looked down at the paint be was given.
"What for?" Brendon put one can down, stood up and handed Ryan his chosen can.
"A dare," he said with a smirk. "Let's go." Ryan turned, switching his gaze between Brendon and the cans. He was suddenly nervous, not knowing what to expect.
"A dare?"
~~~
"How much longer do we have to wait?" Ryan whispered. The pair had been crouched behind a dumpster in an alleyway beside some random building.
"Shh." Brendon poked his head out just enough to see the city street. With the sun now gone, he was going based more on sound than sight.
"Brendon, what about the dare?" Brendon moved back quickly, slapping his hand over Ryan's mouth. He held his finger to his lip silently shushing him. Ryan was gonna mumble through the hand until he heard some men walking by.
"-but she was apparently married and didn't want to cheat so I kicked her out," one man said.
"Sometimes Harry, you're an ass." There was a brief pause before the men bursted out laughing. "I couldn't have asked for a better person to run the store with."
"Don't get soft on me, Marv. Anyway, go home. We got another truck coming tomorrow. I don't need you slowing us down cause you're tired."
"Alright, night." The footsteps slowly quieted as the men walked away. Brendon peeked his head out, making sure there was no one there.
"Alright, let's go." Brendon got to his feet and grabbed the backpack he bought. The metal cans clanked together as he walked. Ryan followed closely behind, still oblivious to what was going on.
Brendon stood in front of the store they'd been hiding beside, smiling at the empty brick wall beside the door. He squatted down and set the bag in front of him. He took a can out and shook it, getting the marble to jump around inside.
"Brendon?" Ryan suddenly had a bad feeling. The boy just looked up at the other with a devilish smirk.
"I dare you to draw on the front of this store." Ryan's eyes just about popped out of his head.
"What? A-are you crazy? Why would you dare me to do that? What about the owners? This is illegal," Ryan was having a mini panic attack at this point. He didn't understand why Brendon would want to do this. He never seemed the type.
"Patrick was here yesterday with a friend from class. One of the owners overheard him saying he had a boyfriend and harrassed him to the point he broke down crying. When Pete heard, it took a couple guys to hold him back from fighting with the owner." Though his face was blank from emotion, Ryan could see fire angrily burning in Brendon's eyes. Ryan reached his hand out to Brendon.
"Hand me a can."
~~~
"Who knew you were this good with a spray paint," Brendon joked, smiling as Ryan packed up the cans. He threw the bag over his shoulder, taking in the drawing. "I wish I could see the expressions on their face when they see this tomorrow."
Now decorating the brick wall was a colorful rainbow. In the center in block letters read 'gay is the way'. It looked liked a middle schooler drew it, but the message was there.
"Hey, what are you two doing?" The pair turned to see a police officer flashing a light at them.
"Shit." Brendon felt the blood drain from his face.
"Run!" Ryan grabbed Brendons hand, pulling him into a quick sprint.
"Hey! Stop!" The cop yelled. Brendon was struggling to keep up the pace Ryan had set. He shouldn't be surprised that the athlete had that kind of speed, but Ryan could've shown some mercy. Brendon was not the running type.
Brendon would through a glance over his shoulder causing him to stumble more often. It relieved him though to see the cop slowly lag behind. He didn't even know where Ryan was running them to and just blindly trusted him.
Ryan had ran into an empty playground. He quickly pulled Brendon under a slide that comfortably hid them both in the shadow of the night. Ryan had his back to the slide and Brendon pressed against his chest.
They tried staying as silent as possible, only sound being low pants from running. Brendon had his ear pressed to Ryan's chest, amazed that Ryan had already managed to calm his heart. His own heart was too worked up, not used to the excercise.
The pair tensed when they heard footsteps running by them. There were low mumbles and an occasional flash of light moving near them.
"Damn kids." The footsteps walked away, leaving the two alone again. Brendon hadn't realized how tightly Ryan was holding him until the arms loosened around his body. He looked up to see Ryan staring down at him, a smile on his face.
"That was close," Ryan whispered, a small laugh in his voice. Brendon nodded before bursting out laughing. Ryan joined in, neither letting go of the other.
"I can't believe that just happened." Ryan leaned forward and kissed Brendon's forehead. They stood for a minute more before Brendon spoke up.
"We should probably head home." He moved to start walking in the direction of his house, but Ryan grabbed his hand to keep him under the slide. "What?"
Ryan reached in the bag, moving the cans around. After a couple seconds, he pulled out a paint marker, smiling up at Brendon.
"I can't be the only one doing graffiti tonight." Brendon chuckled and took the pen.
"And if I don't want to?" Ryan shrugged.
"Then I'll dare you."
"You can't dare something I already dared." Ryan thought for a second, his smile never leaving his face.
"You dared me to draw. I'm daring you to write something... here on the slide." He pointed at the already marker written slide.
Brendon uncapped the marker and took a step closer to the slide. His eyes moved over the plastic, looking for an empty spot to write. When he found it, he leaned forward.
Ryan looked over the boy's shoulder, watching the marker slide over the slide. When Brendon turned to him, he had on a shy smile, red cheeks hidden in the dark. Ryan smiled at the little 'R+B' Brendon left.
"Let's go home now," Brendon insisted. Ryan nodded and took Brendon's hand in his own.
---
A/N:
If the corona wasn't around, I'd be at a Hella Mega show right now. SIGH. I miss concerts. They were my source for serotonin.
