The Best Christmas Ever | G | Rywalk drabble
The Best Christmas Ever | G | Ryan/Jon
One day in October, while sitting in a library he sees a note on the notice board asking for someone who’s willing to share a journal.
A/n: This just sort of happened, haha. 1k bit of christmas fic, more in drabble form then in actual fic form. Completely un-beta'd so be wary of my grammar. This started out as a plot bunnie explanation than grew out of proportion. So, enjoy some sappy Rywalk fluff. And Merry Christmas!
Ryan Ross a college freshman who’s far away from home and lonely. One day in October, while sitting in the library he sees a note on the notice board asking for someone who’s willing to share a journal. The note says that the idea of the thing is for each of them to keep the journal for a week then swap it off. He doesn’t know what compels him to do it, but he puts another note with the first giving his name and saying that he’d like to try. The next day he comes back to the library and finds a blank journal there.
So he takes the journal and writes in it for a week, talks about his classes and the people he’s sort of friends with. Then, feeling silly, he returns the journal and spends a week hoping he isn’t going to be murdered in his sleep.
But when the journal comes back, he reads the entries. The first is a response to the stuff he wrote about, and the rest just talking about the life of a normal dude in his twenties. Ryan’s mystery corespondent has two cats and a dog, he loves coffee, and has a mildly odd affection for all things regarding the holidays, which are fast approaching, only a couple months away.
Time goes on, and Ryan finds himself becoming fond of this boy named Jon. They both talk back and forth about music, Jon recommending bands to Ryan, and Ryan talking about his guitars. Ryan will find himself going about his every day life and suddenly finding something he thinks Jon would like, or making notes to himself of ideas he wants to share with the other. He rambles on for an entire entry about philosophy one night when he’s feeling especially lonely, and when he gets the journal back from Jon a week later, he finds that Jon’s done an entire entry responding to Ryan’s ideas.
As the holiday’s approach though, Jon gets more excited and Ryan just starts feeling worse. Jon writes about decorating his tree and buying his pets christmas presents. Ryan responds by talking about his roommate going home and not wanting to go back to Vegas himself. Ryan surprises himself then, by opening up to someone he’s never met. He talks about his father, about growing up feeling hated, and all the reasons he left home never to go back. Maybe he cries a little, but he hopes Jon will think he just spilled a couple drops of water on the page.
When he gets the journal back, a week before christmas, he’s surprised by it’s contents. Mainly, he’s surprised that Jon doesn’t seem to pity him. He says something briefly about how strong he thinks Ryan must be, to come out of that and keep his sanity, but then he moves on and elaborates about all the ways he wishes he could make Christmas great for Ryan. Ryan finds himself laughing, amused by the utter ridiculousness of Jon but at the same time touched, because no one’s really cared before.
Then, tucked into the last entry, Ryan finds a photograph. It’s of a man in his early twenties, with long brown hair and a beard, crouched on the floor with two cats and a dog, and beaming at the camera with a smile that could light up a whole room. Jon doesn’t say anything about the photograph in the picture except “including picture of my cats and dog, so you can see why i ramble on about how precious they are.” Ryan barely sees the pets though, can’t take his eyes off the man who couldn’t be anyone but Jon.
Ryan tucks the picture carefully into his wallet, and feels like there is a warm glow following him the entire day. That night he writes about friendship, about what it’s always meant to him. He writes about having to leave his best friend behind, because Spencer was already putting down roots in Nevada, falling for a disowned Mormon boy who just didn’t have the money to get himself out. Spencer had to stay with Brendon and Ryan writes about how he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. He knew that if Spencer left Brendon to come with him, they’d both regret it in the end. Ryan admits then, to the journal and to Jon by extension, that his closest friend right now is someone he’s only ever talked to through the blank pages of a book.
The next time Ryan goes to swap the journal, two days before christmas, he finds a card with his name written in a familiar scrawl tucked in the place the usually leave the journal. He replaces their journal and pulls the card out, tucking it into his bag to read later. That night, when he opens it, he finds a simple message:
Christmas is a time to be with family
I know you haven’t got any given family here, but what the family you make?
You can meet me at the park on the 24th if you want. You don’t have to, I won’t be offended if you don’t show up. But I’ll be there.
It’s only two days away. Ryan spends the first day trying to decide if he should go, and the second day freaking out about what might happen if he does. But really, it’s Christmas, and he’s lonely, and he’s self aware enough to know that he’s falling for Jon on just the basis of the contents of his journal. It could be a horrible mistake, Ryan ventures, but worth the risk. Definitely worth the risk.
That’s how he finds himself sitting on a bench in the park on Christmas eve, wrapped up in snow gear and freezing, but still sweating from nerves. All the things that could go wrong flash through his mind, everything from broken hearts to murder and body concealment. He’s just about talked himself out of it when he hears a bark and looks up to see a vaguely familiar figure walking towards him, being pulled forward by a black dog.
The dog, Marley Ryan knows, stops at his bench to sniff him, tail wagging, and Ryan reaches out to pet the dog, smiling up at the man, at Jon. “Hey,” He says quietly, almost soft enough to be completely muffled by the snow.
Jon just smiles at him though, and Ryan can’t see anything but him. “Hey Ryan Ross.”
Then Jon’s guiding Ryan to his feet, and pulling him into a warm hug. Ryan melts to it, breathing in the smell of soap and coffee and all the other things Ryan didn’t know Jon would smell like but make perfect sense some how. He never wants to let go, but then, Jon doesn’t seem to want to either.
“Happy Christmas,” Jon whispers into Ryan’s hair, and Ryan smiles into his shirt, liking the gently easiness of Jon’s voice, finally after all these months.
“Happy Christmas, Jon.” It was. It was the best Christmas ever.
One day in October, while sitting in a library he sees a note on the notice board asking for someone who’s willing to share a journal.
A/n: This just sort of happened, haha. 1k bit of christmas fic, more in drabble form then in actual fic form. Completely un-beta'd so be wary of my grammar. This started out as a plot bunnie explanation than grew out of proportion. So, enjoy some sappy Rywalk fluff. And Merry Christmas!
Ryan Ross a college freshman who’s far away from home and lonely. One day in October, while sitting in the library he sees a note on the notice board asking for someone who’s willing to share a journal. The note says that the idea of the thing is for each of them to keep the journal for a week then swap it off. He doesn’t know what compels him to do it, but he puts another note with the first giving his name and saying that he’d like to try. The next day he comes back to the library and finds a blank journal there.
So he takes the journal and writes in it for a week, talks about his classes and the people he’s sort of friends with. Then, feeling silly, he returns the journal and spends a week hoping he isn’t going to be murdered in his sleep.
But when the journal comes back, he reads the entries. The first is a response to the stuff he wrote about, and the rest just talking about the life of a normal dude in his twenties. Ryan’s mystery corespondent has two cats and a dog, he loves coffee, and has a mildly odd affection for all things regarding the holidays, which are fast approaching, only a couple months away.
Time goes on, and Ryan finds himself becoming fond of this boy named Jon. They both talk back and forth about music, Jon recommending bands to Ryan, and Ryan talking about his guitars. Ryan will find himself going about his every day life and suddenly finding something he thinks Jon would like, or making notes to himself of ideas he wants to share with the other. He rambles on for an entire entry about philosophy one night when he’s feeling especially lonely, and when he gets the journal back from Jon a week later, he finds that Jon’s done an entire entry responding to Ryan’s ideas.
As the holiday’s approach though, Jon gets more excited and Ryan just starts feeling worse. Jon writes about decorating his tree and buying his pets christmas presents. Ryan responds by talking about his roommate going home and not wanting to go back to Vegas himself. Ryan surprises himself then, by opening up to someone he’s never met. He talks about his father, about growing up feeling hated, and all the reasons he left home never to go back. Maybe he cries a little, but he hopes Jon will think he just spilled a couple drops of water on the page.
When he gets the journal back, a week before christmas, he’s surprised by it’s contents. Mainly, he’s surprised that Jon doesn’t seem to pity him. He says something briefly about how strong he thinks Ryan must be, to come out of that and keep his sanity, but then he moves on and elaborates about all the ways he wishes he could make Christmas great for Ryan. Ryan finds himself laughing, amused by the utter ridiculousness of Jon but at the same time touched, because no one’s really cared before.
Then, tucked into the last entry, Ryan finds a photograph. It’s of a man in his early twenties, with long brown hair and a beard, crouched on the floor with two cats and a dog, and beaming at the camera with a smile that could light up a whole room. Jon doesn’t say anything about the photograph in the picture except “including picture of my cats and dog, so you can see why i ramble on about how precious they are.” Ryan barely sees the pets though, can’t take his eyes off the man who couldn’t be anyone but Jon.
Ryan tucks the picture carefully into his wallet, and feels like there is a warm glow following him the entire day. That night he writes about friendship, about what it’s always meant to him. He writes about having to leave his best friend behind, because Spencer was already putting down roots in Nevada, falling for a disowned Mormon boy who just didn’t have the money to get himself out. Spencer had to stay with Brendon and Ryan writes about how he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. He knew that if Spencer left Brendon to come with him, they’d both regret it in the end. Ryan admits then, to the journal and to Jon by extension, that his closest friend right now is someone he’s only ever talked to through the blank pages of a book.
The next time Ryan goes to swap the journal, two days before christmas, he finds a card with his name written in a familiar scrawl tucked in the place the usually leave the journal. He replaces their journal and pulls the card out, tucking it into his bag to read later. That night, when he opens it, he finds a simple message:
Christmas is a time to be with family
I know you haven’t got any given family here, but what the family you make?
You can meet me at the park on the 24th if you want. You don’t have to, I won’t be offended if you don’t show up. But I’ll be there.
It’s only two days away. Ryan spends the first day trying to decide if he should go, and the second day freaking out about what might happen if he does. But really, it’s Christmas, and he’s lonely, and he’s self aware enough to know that he’s falling for Jon on just the basis of the contents of his journal. It could be a horrible mistake, Ryan ventures, but worth the risk. Definitely worth the risk.
That’s how he finds himself sitting on a bench in the park on Christmas eve, wrapped up in snow gear and freezing, but still sweating from nerves. All the things that could go wrong flash through his mind, everything from broken hearts to murder and body concealment. He’s just about talked himself out of it when he hears a bark and looks up to see a vaguely familiar figure walking towards him, being pulled forward by a black dog.
The dog, Marley Ryan knows, stops at his bench to sniff him, tail wagging, and Ryan reaches out to pet the dog, smiling up at the man, at Jon. “Hey,” He says quietly, almost soft enough to be completely muffled by the snow.
Jon just smiles at him though, and Ryan can’t see anything but him. “Hey Ryan Ross.”
Then Jon’s guiding Ryan to his feet, and pulling him into a warm hug. Ryan melts to it, breathing in the smell of soap and coffee and all the other things Ryan didn’t know Jon would smell like but make perfect sense some how. He never wants to let go, but then, Jon doesn’t seem to want to either.
“Happy Christmas,” Jon whispers into Ryan’s hair, and Ryan smiles into his shirt, liking the gently easiness of Jon’s voice, finally after all these months.
“Happy Christmas, Jon.” It was. It was the best Christmas ever.