It Was Always You pt. 1
Title: It Was Always You
Authors: jack_is_love17 (hushsoundislove.tumblr.com) and K9_Time_Puppy
Pairing: Brendon/Ryan (with mention of Brendon/Sarah and Ryan/Z)
Rating: NC-17/R/M whatever the hell you wanna rate it...this isn't for the kids.
POV: Third person
Beta: Kristen...who as soon as I have an LJ user name for her, I'm gonna put it in this little space. But she's this totally awesome person who approached me via Tumblr for the beta job.
Warnings: Uhm....well if you are a huge Jwalk fan...don't read. For one...at one point we did write him ever so slightly out of character...and well we just don't like him, so we didn't exactly portray him in good light. The other warning is of course smut...Also there is a brief moment of abuse.
Summary: Exhausted from sleep deprivation and loneliness, Ryan calls his best friend for the first time in months. He tries to pass it off as nothing, but Brendon isn't that stupid. But a hate crime brings Brendon and Ryan right back to each other, and this time they are in it for the long haul.
Disclaimer: While we both adore the idea of Rydon, we know none of this is real and we have no connections to Panic in any way shape or form. Okay? Okay!
It’s late, really late. The light coming from his nearly dead phone is starting to make Ryan’s eyes burn. He’s been staring at the display of contacts for nearly an hour. His mind raced as a sudden urge to contact someone he hadn’t really talked to in a while. However, his voice still haunts him. It seems to be everywhere now; the television, the radio, his computer. It’s following him. The phone went black, stopping his thoughts for just a moment. He hit a button to turn it back on. The contacts were still pulled up, white letters forming the name “Brendon” right in the middle.
“Fuck it,” Ryan said aloud to himself. He selected it and it instantly started to call, but then he panicked, a hundred reasons why he shouldn’t call flew through his mind. He quickly tore the phone away from his face and hung up.
---
Brendon had been sitting on the sofa of his house, savoring what time at home he had before he went on tour in two weeks. Penny and Bogart were laying on the sofa beside him, curled up close. His hand absentmindedly smoothing down Bogart's already smooth ears. The dogs were oddly calm, but given the all-day escapade at the beach, he understood it. His eyes were heavy with sleep and exhaustion, but his brain was racing as he thought. Thoughts over everything that had happened to them since Vices and Virtues had been released.
It was his phone lighting up that made him stir. He stared at the phone and the bright screen. Even the dogs seemed to know something was up as they raised their heads to look at him. "Ryan Calling" was illuminated on his screen. He stared at it, and almost instantly the screen changed to “Missed Call.” Brendon continued to stare. Why would Ryan be calling, let alone this late at night. Could there be an emergency? When they had all parted ways, they agreed that until things had blown over and time had healed their wounds, they'd only contact each other in case of an emergency. It could be something with Ryan's family...or something. As these thoughts began to race through his mind, he pulled up his missed calls, and instantly hit send, so his phone rang “Calling Ryan.”
---
Ryan jumped nearly ten feet in the air when his phone buzzed and sang a jingle loudly. The phone flew out of his hand and he stared at it with big doe eyes until the song was nearly over, he scrambled to answer it. He opened his mouth to answer it but no sound came out.
Brendon was silent, according to his phone Ryan had answered. He frowned, "Ryan? Are you okay?" The words spilled out of his mouth quickly, worry and love for his friend setting in.
Ryan hung up again, he couldn't do it. "Fuck!" he yelled. He ran a hand through his hair.
Brendon pulled his phone away and stared at it, "What the hell." He frowned and dialed the number again.
Ryan looked at the phone, his hand still tugging at his hair, he quickly grabbed the phone. "I'm sorry," he blurted out, resisting the urge to hang up again.
Brendon was silent...Ryan's voice sounded so rushed but sad. He frowned, "Ryan, are you okay?"
"I..." He wanted to say so much, "I- yeah. Yeah I'm fine. I just wanted... to um..." He couldn't form the words he wanted to so badly say. "Congratulations," he came up with.
"On...on what?" Brendon's mind wasn't working. The fact that he was having a conversation right now with Ryan was making him feel stupid and slow.
"The album." Ryan was slightly saying the truth, he had been meaning to congratulate him, but not now. "I've just been so busy, sorry for calling so late." He faked a laugh.
"Oh...right." Brendon rubbed his eyes. "Don't apologize...I wasn't doing anything important...and thanks, I guess." He was trying to not sound like an idiot...he had missed Ryan's friendship so much, that now things felt awkward and he didn't know how to respond to anything Ryan would say.
"Yeah totally, I think it sounds good." He was lying now, he couldn't bring himself to listen to it yet.
Brendon felt the corners of his face pull into a smile. "Thanks...that...that means a lot to me."
"You made Nearly Witches sound amazing, totally my favorite." Ryan couldn't help it now.
Brendon was grinning now, "Really?"
"Yeah." Ryan could hear the smile in his old friend's voice and it twisted his heart in multiple directions.
"So uhm...." Brendon looked for the right words to say, "How are you doing?"
"I'm alright," he said casually. "How ‘bout you?"
Brendon shrugged, "I'm doing alright...just enjoying home time...before uh...before touring."
"Oh well... I'll let you get back to it then." Ryan was trying to find his cue to go before he spilled his guts, and this was it.
He frowned, "Well I didn't mean it like that..." Brendon said quickly.
"Oh no, I know what you mean," he reassured. "You need all the down time you can get before launching on a nation-wide tour."
Brendon checked his watch, "Uhm...you wouldn't want to go out and maybe get something...?"
Ryan blinked, "Uh... Now?"
Brendon frowned, "Well I mean...no...of course not." He shook his head. It had never stopped them before from meeting up at some random place in LA...but that was before. It had felt so nice talking to Ryan, he had forgotten that things were different now.
Ryan couldn't help but smile. "You did though," he called him out on it.
He sighed, "Well I mean...of course if you wanted to...I mean...if not, that's fine."
"Do you want to?" Ryan asked.
"Only if you wanted to...I guess."
"Well... I'm not doing anything else."
Brendon raised an eyebrow, "Okay...great...where do you wanna meet?"
"Uhhhm..." Ryan tried to think, this was all going a bit fast for him. "There's a small twenty-four hour diner around my place."
He nodded. "Okay...I'll see you in ten minutes," Brendon answered.
"Ah... yeah okay." Ryan gave him some directions before they hung up. He looked at himself in the mirror and winced. His hair was getting to be a bit too long, his button down was wrinkled, and his pants had something mysterious on them that was now hardened and flaking off. Ten minutes though, he didn't have the time to change. Instead he just switched into some jeans, the unidentified substance was just a bit too concerning. He ended up being a couple minutes early and still looking like a mess.
Brendon gave the dogs a quick walk and then grabbed his keys, not thinking about changing. He followed the instructions Ryan gave him, and still wound up lost. So ten minutes after he was supposed to be there, he walked into the diner. He looked and saw Ryan sitting in the back. At the sight of his friend, his stomach twisted and a flood of old emotions came back. He breathed in and slowly approached the table Ryan was at. "Hi," he said, when he had at last reached the table.
Ryan looked his friend up and down, finally meeting his eyes with a raised eyebrow. "Ten minutes, huh?"
"Uhm...I had to take Bogart and Penny out...and then I got lost." Brendon rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
Ryan smiled, "It's fine. I ordered for you."
Brendon would've questioned it but didn't. He sat down opposite Ryan and looked at his friend. A sadness filled him, and he tried to not let it show. "So, have you been okay?" Brendon asked, slowly.
Ryan shrugged, "Yeah I guess. You?"
Brendon gave him a smile, "I've been fine. I guess album stuff keeps me too busy to think about anything else."
Ryan nodded, "Yeah." Then their food promptly showed up.
Brendon looked at the food. "You still remember exactly how I like my eggs and ham," he mused and shook his head.
"Well... Yeah. " He smiled, "Just cause we don't hang out as much doesn't mean I don't know you still."
Brendon didn't say anything, because he knew that Ryan was the only person on this earth who knew him better than anybody. He was sure that even he was the only person who knew Ryan better than anyone.
"So... how's Spencer?" Ryan asked, trying to think of anything to talk about.
Brendon shrugged, "He's Spencer....I mean, you know how he is. Same old, same old."
Ryan nodded again, he felt like a fool. He couldn't think of what to do.
Brendon looked at his friend and tried to smile at him. "You know...I've missed you...the shows we've played haven't been the same..."
Ryan absently pushed around a piece of toast around his plate, "I know... but... it's still for the best."
Brendon nodded quickly, "Oh, yeah I know that. I'm not saying anything...I just..." He sighed, "Don't mind me."
"We were always going to change, you know... Just... we all grow up," Ryan tried to explain.
"I know Ryan...I didn't mean it like, I want you to come back to Panic.. I mean...I do..." Brendon sighed and ran his hands through his hair, "I just meant that, I miss you as a friend."
"Oh... I thought we were still friends," Ryan mumbled, slightly hurt.
Brendon sighed, "Ryan...I'm...I'm sorry." He got to his feet, "I'm just fucking everything up. I'm sorry, I shouldn't be here. I'm just making you miserable."
Ryan knitted his eyebrows, "I didn't say that."
Brendon looked down, "I don't want to hurt your feelings...and I feel like that's all I've done, because I can't say things the way I mean to get them out."
Ryan started to notice people staring, "Hold on to that thought." He put money on the table and grabbed Brendon by the hand and led him outside of the diner. "Now look, if you've got anything to say... now is the time."
Brendon looked at Ryan, "I....I just...." He stared at him and kissed him quickly. Almost instantly he pulled away, "Uhm I'm sorry." He turned, "I should go."
Ryan grabbed him before he could think and gave him a long, hard kiss.
Brendon kissed him back in return and pulled him closer to him, kissing him as hard as possible. Years of buried desire, need, and love coming through his emotions.
Ryan gripped onto Brendon's shoulders as he deepened the kiss, never wanting this moment to end.
Brendon didn't ever want it to end, but he broke the kiss to breathe. He looked at Ryan in the glow of the streetlamp. "I love you Ryan...I always have," he whispered, breathlessly.
Ryan's hand trembled as they came up to rest on Brendon's face. "I know," he choked out, "I..." Something held him back. He had done all this running from them. He had once a long time ago confided to Spencer about something he felt for Brendon and since then Spencer had been approving and disapproving. He didn't want to be judged. And Brendon, poor sweet Brendon who he had changed and hurt... he couldn't do it. "We... I... I can't."
Brendon stared at him. "Wh-what, why not?" He felt even more hurt and confused.
"I just... can't."
Brendon stepped back and felt his heart and stomach constrict, "Oh...right...okay." He wiped his face, as if to remove some trace of the kiss they had shared. "I'm gonna go then..."
Ryan stayed deathly quiet, just simply watching him.
Brendon looked at Ryan for a moment longer, tried to open his mouth to say something, but simply closed it and turned to slowly walk back to his car. Feeling alone and rejected, rejected by the one person he thought had ever truly loved him and cared for him.
Ryan walked towards his own car, in the distance he could see Brendon moving quickly away. He sighed and pulled the keys from his pocket. That's when he felt cold hands grab him and pull him backwards into the alley. "Aw, look at the cute gay," a big man in flannel and jeans said, he had two friends with him.
Ryan's heartbeat pounded in his ears, "L-Look, I can give you whatever you want." The man scowled and punched the other man in the stomach. Ryan doubled over in pain to the ground, "I want to rid the Earth of your kind." He kicked him in the face, and Ryan let out a cry of pain.
Brendon almost had his keys to his car when looked up at the sound. He turned and saw, just lightly silhouetted, the men in the alley, looking as if they were kicking the ground. Brendon took a step and saw Ryan on the ground. He swore loudly and quickly dialed 9-1-1, explained the situation, and instead of waiting for the cops, grabbed a baseball bat from the back seat of his car and ran towards the alley. "Hey, assholes," he shouted, "Leave him the fuck alone."
"Ooh look, the little boyfriend is sticking up for the other one. It's as almost if they're people," one said, he took a swing at Brendon.
Brendon ducked and swung the bat. It made a sick noise as it hit the guy’s head. "I've called the cops..." Brendon said, "Get the fuck away from him now, you sick bastards."
The sirens whaled in the distance, one of the guys friends got his attention, "Man, we need to go." The biggest of them frowned but they all ran. Ryan was moaning on the ground, looking worse than he ever could. There were drops of blood on the ground next to him.
Brendon stared at Ryan and dropped the bat. He fell to his knees beside Ryan and looked at him, "Ryan...Ryan man, it's me," he said softly. Carefully he pulled Ryan into his arms and held onto him. "I've got you," he said as he waited for the police.
His arms reached out to hold on to Brendon's shirt. "I'm sorry," he choked and coughed. He had a bloody nose, probably a busted lip.
"No....oh no, don't apologize." Brendon shook his head, "I'm sorry...you wouldn't of been here if it wasn't for me."
Ryan shook his head and his body went limp.
Brendon felt a fat tear well in his eye, "Ryan, oh come on, Ryan." He held on to his friend and looked up as the cops and medical team approached. They had to fight to get Ryan out of Brendon's arms and once Ryan was in the ambulance, Brendon was taken for questioning, and to tell them everything that had happened.
Authors: jack_is_love17 (hushsoundislove.tumblr.com) and K9_Time_Puppy
Pairing: Brendon/Ryan (with mention of Brendon/Sarah and Ryan/Z)
Rating: NC-17/R/M whatever the hell you wanna rate it...this isn't for the kids.
POV: Third person
Beta: Kristen...who as soon as I have an LJ user name for her, I'm gonna put it in this little space. But she's this totally awesome person who approached me via Tumblr for the beta job.
Warnings: Uhm....well if you are a huge Jwalk fan...don't read. For one...at one point we did write him ever so slightly out of character...and well we just don't like him, so we didn't exactly portray him in good light. The other warning is of course smut...Also there is a brief moment of abuse.
Summary: Exhausted from sleep deprivation and loneliness, Ryan calls his best friend for the first time in months. He tries to pass it off as nothing, but Brendon isn't that stupid. But a hate crime brings Brendon and Ryan right back to each other, and this time they are in it for the long haul.
Disclaimer: While we both adore the idea of Rydon, we know none of this is real and we have no connections to Panic in any way shape or form. Okay? Okay!
It’s late, really late. The light coming from his nearly dead phone is starting to make Ryan’s eyes burn. He’s been staring at the display of contacts for nearly an hour. His mind raced as a sudden urge to contact someone he hadn’t really talked to in a while. However, his voice still haunts him. It seems to be everywhere now; the television, the radio, his computer. It’s following him. The phone went black, stopping his thoughts for just a moment. He hit a button to turn it back on. The contacts were still pulled up, white letters forming the name “Brendon” right in the middle.
“Fuck it,” Ryan said aloud to himself. He selected it and it instantly started to call, but then he panicked, a hundred reasons why he shouldn’t call flew through his mind. He quickly tore the phone away from his face and hung up.
---
Brendon had been sitting on the sofa of his house, savoring what time at home he had before he went on tour in two weeks. Penny and Bogart were laying on the sofa beside him, curled up close. His hand absentmindedly smoothing down Bogart's already smooth ears. The dogs were oddly calm, but given the all-day escapade at the beach, he understood it. His eyes were heavy with sleep and exhaustion, but his brain was racing as he thought. Thoughts over everything that had happened to them since Vices and Virtues had been released.
It was his phone lighting up that made him stir. He stared at the phone and the bright screen. Even the dogs seemed to know something was up as they raised their heads to look at him. "Ryan Calling" was illuminated on his screen. He stared at it, and almost instantly the screen changed to “Missed Call.” Brendon continued to stare. Why would Ryan be calling, let alone this late at night. Could there be an emergency? When they had all parted ways, they agreed that until things had blown over and time had healed their wounds, they'd only contact each other in case of an emergency. It could be something with Ryan's family...or something. As these thoughts began to race through his mind, he pulled up his missed calls, and instantly hit send, so his phone rang “Calling Ryan.”
---
Ryan jumped nearly ten feet in the air when his phone buzzed and sang a jingle loudly. The phone flew out of his hand and he stared at it with big doe eyes until the song was nearly over, he scrambled to answer it. He opened his mouth to answer it but no sound came out.
Brendon was silent, according to his phone Ryan had answered. He frowned, "Ryan? Are you okay?" The words spilled out of his mouth quickly, worry and love for his friend setting in.
Ryan hung up again, he couldn't do it. "Fuck!" he yelled. He ran a hand through his hair.
Brendon pulled his phone away and stared at it, "What the hell." He frowned and dialed the number again.
Ryan looked at the phone, his hand still tugging at his hair, he quickly grabbed the phone. "I'm sorry," he blurted out, resisting the urge to hang up again.
Brendon was silent...Ryan's voice sounded so rushed but sad. He frowned, "Ryan, are you okay?"
"I..." He wanted to say so much, "I- yeah. Yeah I'm fine. I just wanted... to um..." He couldn't form the words he wanted to so badly say. "Congratulations," he came up with.
"On...on what?" Brendon's mind wasn't working. The fact that he was having a conversation right now with Ryan was making him feel stupid and slow.
"The album." Ryan was slightly saying the truth, he had been meaning to congratulate him, but not now. "I've just been so busy, sorry for calling so late." He faked a laugh.
"Oh...right." Brendon rubbed his eyes. "Don't apologize...I wasn't doing anything important...and thanks, I guess." He was trying to not sound like an idiot...he had missed Ryan's friendship so much, that now things felt awkward and he didn't know how to respond to anything Ryan would say.
"Yeah totally, I think it sounds good." He was lying now, he couldn't bring himself to listen to it yet.
Brendon felt the corners of his face pull into a smile. "Thanks...that...that means a lot to me."
"You made Nearly Witches sound amazing, totally my favorite." Ryan couldn't help it now.
Brendon was grinning now, "Really?"
"Yeah." Ryan could hear the smile in his old friend's voice and it twisted his heart in multiple directions.
"So uhm...." Brendon looked for the right words to say, "How are you doing?"
"I'm alright," he said casually. "How ‘bout you?"
Brendon shrugged, "I'm doing alright...just enjoying home time...before uh...before touring."
"Oh well... I'll let you get back to it then." Ryan was trying to find his cue to go before he spilled his guts, and this was it.
He frowned, "Well I didn't mean it like that..." Brendon said quickly.
"Oh no, I know what you mean," he reassured. "You need all the down time you can get before launching on a nation-wide tour."
Brendon checked his watch, "Uhm...you wouldn't want to go out and maybe get something...?"
Ryan blinked, "Uh... Now?"
Brendon frowned, "Well I mean...no...of course not." He shook his head. It had never stopped them before from meeting up at some random place in LA...but that was before. It had felt so nice talking to Ryan, he had forgotten that things were different now.
Ryan couldn't help but smile. "You did though," he called him out on it.
He sighed, "Well I mean...of course if you wanted to...I mean...if not, that's fine."
"Do you want to?" Ryan asked.
"Only if you wanted to...I guess."
"Well... I'm not doing anything else."
Brendon raised an eyebrow, "Okay...great...where do you wanna meet?"
"Uhhhm..." Ryan tried to think, this was all going a bit fast for him. "There's a small twenty-four hour diner around my place."
He nodded. "Okay...I'll see you in ten minutes," Brendon answered.
"Ah... yeah okay." Ryan gave him some directions before they hung up. He looked at himself in the mirror and winced. His hair was getting to be a bit too long, his button down was wrinkled, and his pants had something mysterious on them that was now hardened and flaking off. Ten minutes though, he didn't have the time to change. Instead he just switched into some jeans, the unidentified substance was just a bit too concerning. He ended up being a couple minutes early and still looking like a mess.
Brendon gave the dogs a quick walk and then grabbed his keys, not thinking about changing. He followed the instructions Ryan gave him, and still wound up lost. So ten minutes after he was supposed to be there, he walked into the diner. He looked and saw Ryan sitting in the back. At the sight of his friend, his stomach twisted and a flood of old emotions came back. He breathed in and slowly approached the table Ryan was at. "Hi," he said, when he had at last reached the table.
Ryan looked his friend up and down, finally meeting his eyes with a raised eyebrow. "Ten minutes, huh?"
"Uhm...I had to take Bogart and Penny out...and then I got lost." Brendon rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
Ryan smiled, "It's fine. I ordered for you."
Brendon would've questioned it but didn't. He sat down opposite Ryan and looked at his friend. A sadness filled him, and he tried to not let it show. "So, have you been okay?" Brendon asked, slowly.
Ryan shrugged, "Yeah I guess. You?"
Brendon gave him a smile, "I've been fine. I guess album stuff keeps me too busy to think about anything else."
Ryan nodded, "Yeah." Then their food promptly showed up.
Brendon looked at the food. "You still remember exactly how I like my eggs and ham," he mused and shook his head.
"Well... Yeah. " He smiled, "Just cause we don't hang out as much doesn't mean I don't know you still."
Brendon didn't say anything, because he knew that Ryan was the only person on this earth who knew him better than anybody. He was sure that even he was the only person who knew Ryan better than anyone.
"So... how's Spencer?" Ryan asked, trying to think of anything to talk about.
Brendon shrugged, "He's Spencer....I mean, you know how he is. Same old, same old."
Ryan nodded again, he felt like a fool. He couldn't think of what to do.
Brendon looked at his friend and tried to smile at him. "You know...I've missed you...the shows we've played haven't been the same..."
Ryan absently pushed around a piece of toast around his plate, "I know... but... it's still for the best."
Brendon nodded quickly, "Oh, yeah I know that. I'm not saying anything...I just..." He sighed, "Don't mind me."
"We were always going to change, you know... Just... we all grow up," Ryan tried to explain.
"I know Ryan...I didn't mean it like, I want you to come back to Panic.. I mean...I do..." Brendon sighed and ran his hands through his hair, "I just meant that, I miss you as a friend."
"Oh... I thought we were still friends," Ryan mumbled, slightly hurt.
Brendon sighed, "Ryan...I'm...I'm sorry." He got to his feet, "I'm just fucking everything up. I'm sorry, I shouldn't be here. I'm just making you miserable."
Ryan knitted his eyebrows, "I didn't say that."
Brendon looked down, "I don't want to hurt your feelings...and I feel like that's all I've done, because I can't say things the way I mean to get them out."
Ryan started to notice people staring, "Hold on to that thought." He put money on the table and grabbed Brendon by the hand and led him outside of the diner. "Now look, if you've got anything to say... now is the time."
Brendon looked at Ryan, "I....I just...." He stared at him and kissed him quickly. Almost instantly he pulled away, "Uhm I'm sorry." He turned, "I should go."
Ryan grabbed him before he could think and gave him a long, hard kiss.
Brendon kissed him back in return and pulled him closer to him, kissing him as hard as possible. Years of buried desire, need, and love coming through his emotions.
Ryan gripped onto Brendon's shoulders as he deepened the kiss, never wanting this moment to end.
Brendon didn't ever want it to end, but he broke the kiss to breathe. He looked at Ryan in the glow of the streetlamp. "I love you Ryan...I always have," he whispered, breathlessly.
Ryan's hand trembled as they came up to rest on Brendon's face. "I know," he choked out, "I..." Something held him back. He had done all this running from them. He had once a long time ago confided to Spencer about something he felt for Brendon and since then Spencer had been approving and disapproving. He didn't want to be judged. And Brendon, poor sweet Brendon who he had changed and hurt... he couldn't do it. "We... I... I can't."
Brendon stared at him. "Wh-what, why not?" He felt even more hurt and confused.
"I just... can't."
Brendon stepped back and felt his heart and stomach constrict, "Oh...right...okay." He wiped his face, as if to remove some trace of the kiss they had shared. "I'm gonna go then..."
Ryan stayed deathly quiet, just simply watching him.
Brendon looked at Ryan for a moment longer, tried to open his mouth to say something, but simply closed it and turned to slowly walk back to his car. Feeling alone and rejected, rejected by the one person he thought had ever truly loved him and cared for him.
Ryan walked towards his own car, in the distance he could see Brendon moving quickly away. He sighed and pulled the keys from his pocket. That's when he felt cold hands grab him and pull him backwards into the alley. "Aw, look at the cute gay," a big man in flannel and jeans said, he had two friends with him.
Ryan's heartbeat pounded in his ears, "L-Look, I can give you whatever you want." The man scowled and punched the other man in the stomach. Ryan doubled over in pain to the ground, "I want to rid the Earth of your kind." He kicked him in the face, and Ryan let out a cry of pain.
Brendon almost had his keys to his car when looked up at the sound. He turned and saw, just lightly silhouetted, the men in the alley, looking as if they were kicking the ground. Brendon took a step and saw Ryan on the ground. He swore loudly and quickly dialed 9-1-1, explained the situation, and instead of waiting for the cops, grabbed a baseball bat from the back seat of his car and ran towards the alley. "Hey, assholes," he shouted, "Leave him the fuck alone."
"Ooh look, the little boyfriend is sticking up for the other one. It's as almost if they're people," one said, he took a swing at Brendon.
Brendon ducked and swung the bat. It made a sick noise as it hit the guy’s head. "I've called the cops..." Brendon said, "Get the fuck away from him now, you sick bastards."
The sirens whaled in the distance, one of the guys friends got his attention, "Man, we need to go." The biggest of them frowned but they all ran. Ryan was moaning on the ground, looking worse than he ever could. There were drops of blood on the ground next to him.
Brendon stared at Ryan and dropped the bat. He fell to his knees beside Ryan and looked at him, "Ryan...Ryan man, it's me," he said softly. Carefully he pulled Ryan into his arms and held onto him. "I've got you," he said as he waited for the police.
His arms reached out to hold on to Brendon's shirt. "I'm sorry," he choked and coughed. He had a bloody nose, probably a busted lip.
"No....oh no, don't apologize." Brendon shook his head, "I'm sorry...you wouldn't of been here if it wasn't for me."
Ryan shook his head and his body went limp.
Brendon felt a fat tear well in his eye, "Ryan, oh come on, Ryan." He held on to his friend and looked up as the cops and medical team approached. They had to fight to get Ryan out of Brendon's arms and once Ryan was in the ambulance, Brendon was taken for questioning, and to tell them everything that had happened.