UNDER THE GREEN UMBRELLA TREES
Title: Under the green umbrella trees (standalone w/ letter series following)
Pairing: Ryan/Brendon, Gabe/William
Raiting: PG-13
Summary: Brendon is the son of a military General and William Beckett is his cousin. They meet Gabe Saporta, who's a soldier, and Ryan Ross, who's a pilot, and the rest is pure chemistry.
Ten days after the day we met, Ryan and I were witnesses of Gabe’s love declaration to Will. Then we were blessed with the beautiful sounds they make when they celebrate their love. Almost four weeks after the party, I discovered I was in love too.
Disclaimer: All this happened in my mind, and only there. I own nothing but the plot.
Author's note: I'm studying the second world war (AGAIN) and imagining intern affairs is the only way for me not to sleep through my history class. I'm starting a series of letters between Ryand & Brendon and Gabe & William, separately.
UNDER THE GREEN UMBRELLA TREES
We met on December 6th, 1941, a day before the world changed. It was a warm night, unusual in that time of the year, and everyone was gathering outside, as we were celebrating Mary’s birthday.
I had been told not to get in the way, because it was an important night, and they couldn’t afford me spoiling it. As if I would be so rude to ruin my sister’s eighteen birthday. Captain Stump, father’s friend, had been invited, because his brother, Joe, fancied Mary and my family couldn’t wait for them to get together. “Be sure to marry up,” my mother used to tell us.
Along with Captain Stump had come his subordinate and best friend Pete Wentz, bringing a few of his soldiers with him. Mother couldn’t have been happier; she wanted all of my sisters to settle down.
All of our family was home for the occasion too, even those weird relatives we hardly ever saw; But it didn’t change much to me, since I wasn’t allowed to do anything. Mother had prohibited me to have any sugar for a week, and I was beginning to feel a little weak, but I guessed it was for the greater good. Me plus sugar weren’t a very nice combination.
As I was saying, it was a big party, and people from all around town were there. The only thing I was enjoying about the night was that my cousin and kind of best friend was there as well, and I had someone who I could actually talk to. The only thing I was allowed to do was to talk to Bill and to play the piano when told.
The whole banquet bored me to death, and all I did was listen to little Jenny’s commentaries on the soldiers lack of modals -my little sister was always a bit picky and structured when it came to manners. I had thought Bill would be fun to have around, as usual, but he spent almost two hours staring at one of the soldiers.
“General Saporta,” he told me, “he’s come all the way from South America to help the navy. Isn’t that hot? He’s exot…”
“Shut up Bill or someone will hear you,” Jenny cut him off, “remember what Grandfather Alex told you, do not show your preferences around the soldiers.”
That thing about preferences applied to me to, but I didn’t care much. It wasn’t like I was as flamboyantly girly as Bill, and I hadn’t even spotted one single cute soldier. They all looked like tough gorillas to me.
Around nine, we were all directed to the salon, where I was indicated to play the piano for our guests, while little Cassadee sang along with me, and Mary danced with Joe. Bill joined us for one or two songs, and then he disappeared from sight. He probably had gotten his way with General Saporta, like he usually did.
Cassadee eventually got bored and went to bed, and I was left alone in the piano, playing practically all the ball songs I new and singing my lungs out. I was pretty sure my cheeks were burning but my mother told me to keep going, so I did. At some point I stopped sensing everyone else around me, and got so absorbed in my music that I didn’t realize when someone reached my side and sat next to me.
“I thought no one new this song,” a calm voice said, and my heart almost jumped out of my chest.
I mumbled something about it being the nursery song my mother used to sing to me, and tried not to lose focus of the keys, because whenever I got distracted, I missed the tune. When I finished, I removed my hand from the keyset and stretched. The person next to me spoke again.
“Care to show me around now that you are done playing?” he said in the softest tone, “I’m afraid I’ve never been here before and I can’t find my way to the backyard.
I noticed his rather embarrassed voice and nodded, turning to face him. This time, my heart sank. The man, or maybe boy would be the right word, wasn’t much older than me, he had soft hazelnut hair that fell on his face, unlike most of the soldiers, who had their heads skin shaved. His eyes were the softest brown I’d ever seen and there was the ghost of a smile on his face. There was no other way to describe him than beautiful.
Too stunned by his good looks to actually talk to him, I walked to the salon door and waited for him to follow me. The way to the backyard was in fact quite complicated, so I couldn’t be sure if it was a trick or if he actually needed my help. I led the way through the long corridor and opened the wooden door that led to the living room. I could have just taken the other way through the back corridor but it was dim and I didn’t want to look like an idiot terrified by darkness.
“Here we are,” I said as I slid the glass door to the side and let him walk outside.
He showed me a little smile and sat on a bench; after seeing that I hadn’t moved, he indicated me to sit by his side.
“Aren’t you supposed to be smoking now?”
“Yeah, well, I do not smoke, so that would be hard.”
“Why did you want to come out here then?”
I realized at that point that I was asking these questions to a random stranger, and that the polite thing to do would have been to introduce myself and at least ask his name, but then again, I’ve never been very polite.
“I don’t like crowded spaces. Make me feel out of place,” the boy/man answered.
“I get the feeling,” I said, “By the way, I’m Brendon; Brendon Urie.”
“I assumed,” he laughed, “given that this is the Urie residence.”
I smiled and felt my cheeks burn, but tried to hide it looking down. He laughing again hinted that I wasn’t hiding very well.
“Anyway, I’m Ryan Ross.”
“You one of Stumps soldiers?”
He didn’t answer right away; it took him a couple of seconds to put together an answer.
“I’m not actually a soldier,” he said, and looked down, as though he thought I was disappointed to hear it, “I’m here because I’m Gabe’s main pilot.”
I smiled, trying to show that I didn’t give a tiny rat’s ass that he wasn’t a soldier. In fact, I liked him better that way.
“You don’t much like a soldier,” I admitted.
“Yeah, I know. Too skinny,” and he blushed, and I nearly fainted.
“No, not too skinny. Just perfectly thin,” I said, and automatically realized it was too flirtatious for the tone of our conversation, so I added, “Gabe’s the General that Bill’s been lusting for the whole meal right?”
“I’m assuming Bill is the kid Gabe was taking upstairs half an hour ago?”
I laughed because really, that was so like William. Ryan laughed too, so I assumed the whole thing was going well.
“So, Mr. Pilot Ryan Ross, how old are you?” I asked, and then regretted it.
What if he thought I was too young?
“I’ve just turned twenty. How about you?”
“You won’t ditch me for telling you my real age?” I asked, blushing and snickering at the same time.
He shook his head and I relaxed a bit more, especially when a shy smile spread across his face.
“I turned seventeen last April.”
“You’re quite younger than me.”
“I am,” I said, and mentally cursed my mother for not having me two years earlier, “Is that gonna be a problem?”
“Not at all, I’m comfortable around kids.”
I smacked him in the arm playfully, and when he stopped laughing I wondered if maybe I had crossed the line. Then he stood up and across the patio, to a hidden spot underneath the weeping willows. He tilted his head towards me, and I assumed it was my key to follow him, so I did.
Standing there under the moonlight, he looked even more beautiful than before. His creamy skin almost sparkled under the pale light, and his eyes stared at me eagerly, contradicting his worried expression.
“Wanna dance?”Ryan said, and it was then that I realized that there was music playing.
I considered my options for a few seconds. Even though I was dying to get closer to him, dancing was not something I’d enjoy. It would all end up in me stepping on him and hurting him, which would result in Ryan never speaking to me again. No, thank you.
“Isn’t that a bit cheesy?” I asked, trying not to turn down the offer rudely, “two guys dancing in the moonlight? If I were a girl, it would be fine, but I’m not, so I’m not sure it’s appropriate. I can pretend to be a girl, if you want me too, but I’m afraid I’m too macho for that.”
He laughed at my comment and my heart skipped a beat, like it had been doing every time he looked at me in the past hour. I was pretty sure that if I didn’t learn to control my heart moods, I would end up having a stroke before the end of the night.
Ryan walked over towards me, but didn’t touch me; he just leaned forward a bit. If he had closed his eyes, I would have been sure he was going to kiss me, but he fixed his gaze to mine, and pressed his forehead against my own.
“What are you doing?” My voice came out a little more high pitch than I intentioned.
“Well, I can’t just kiss you out of the blue,” he explained, “and since you are against dancing, I don’t know another way to get close. I’m not a girl either, but it seems to me that you are never gonna step in and take the lead, so I’m doing it as good as I can.”
Just to show him I could be the man and take the lead, I closed the distance between our lips and kissed him full on the mouth. It was after doing so, that I understood what I had actually done, and I started freaking out. When he responded to the kiss, I relaxed. And by relaxed I mean I completely melted in his arms and let him do whatever he wanted. Or something like that.
“You know, this isn’t exactly like me,” he said an hour or so later.
“What do you mean?” I didn’t fully understand what he was meaning to say, given that we were laying half naked on my patio.
“I don’t usually go around charming boys at birthday parties.”
“You charmed me? I thought it had been the other way around,” I kidded.
“It was, trust me,” he laughed, and then went on, “but I mean… it may sound stupid, but I am not one for casual flings.”
“Does that mean I get to see you again after tonight?” I asked, trying not to sound too desperate.
He nodded before kissing me again, and I dissolved under his hands. His lips were the softest I’d ever kissed, and his hair was even smoother to the touch than I had imagined.
We spent the rest of the night kissing and talking and touching and just enjoying each other. It was very late when we finally heard cars leaving and assumed the party was done. I walked Ryan in and together we looked for Bill and Gabe, who were in my room, by the way.
“It’s time to leave,” Ryan told Gabe, trying not to look, because both males were still partly naked.
The older man kissed William on the lips and murmured something, then put some clothes on, stood up and walked to the door, where Ryan and I were standing.
“I’ll pick you up tomorrow afternoon,” he said and then waited for Ryan to leave.
“Is it okay if I come along tomorrow with Gabe and pick you up too?” Ryan asked softly.
I blushed before leaning in and kissing him in reply.
“We’ll be waiting for you.”
William and I spent the rest of the night sleepless; talking about how everything had went on. Bill’s experience was much dirtier than mine, but even though he and Gabe hadn’t talked much, he spoke about everything so excitedly and his eyes sparkled so intensely I assumed he had had an amazing night.
When we got up for breakfast the next day, we knew we shouldn’t wait up for our dates. My mother told us between sobs that the Japanese Army had attacked Pearl Harbor, and that our country had joined the war. I could see William’s terrified look as he heard so, and it wouldn’t have surprised me if my expression was identical.
We were told that both my father and Bill’s had left in a rush to start recruiting, and that Captain Stump was to have a meeting in our place that afternoon. We knew we shouldn’t have been excited about it, but both mine and Bill’s face lit up when we heard that Gabe and Ryan were coming over that day. At least it wasn’t all bad news.
Eavesdropping was as wrong as it is now, but William and I were so nervous that we couldn’t help to sit outside the conference room’s door and hear everything that went on in the meeting. That’s how we learnt a lot about war technicalities that we didn’t care about and how we found out that Stump and Wentz were leaving with their soldiers following day. We also found out that Ryan, Gabe and his team were staying at my place, as a back up, until they were needed.
“Guess we don’t have to worry about spending time together now,” Ryan said enthusiastically, though his face didn’t match his tone.
“Are you worried about the war?”
“If I’m lucky, I won’t even have to join them. The Japanese aren’t that strong, they’re gonna fall in no time,” He assured, but it didn’t sound like he believed it himself.
“We’ll have to make good use of the time we have together then.”
I kissed him fiercely, not caring that Gabe and Bill where in the room with us, not caring that we were surrounded by glass walls and everyone could see us, not caring about anything but him.
“I guess you are right.”
That was the first night we spent together. After that, our life adopted some kind of a routine. Everyday Bill and I would wake up, have breakfast with Gabe, Ryan and a couple random soldiers that changed with the date, we would hang outside for a few hours, then have lunch, read or study and at three we would meet Gabe and Ryan under the willows and go somewhere together.
No matter how scheduled our days were, every minute with Ryan felt like a whole new experience. I had never felt anything that could compare to the times I spent with him, and I somehow new it was all reciprocate.
Ten days after the day we met, Ryan and I were witnesses of Gabe’s love declaration to Will. Then we were blessed with the beautiful sounds they make when they celebrate their love. Almost four weeks after the party, I discovered I was in love too.
“Don’t say it though,” Ryan told me that afternoon, “saying it out loud disvalues the whole meaning. I’d rather feel it from you than hearing it.”
And it made sense. Because even if he didn’t say it, I was aware of the intensity of his gaze when he looked at me, I could sense his whole body relax under my touch, and I could feel his heart pounding harder whenever our chests where in contact. I could feel his love more than he could express it in words, and it made sense.
“And I do too,” he added before kissing me.
We spent countless hours together that winter. Soon we became one, and it was almost painful to be apart. Being with Ryan meant being happy, it meant laughing and smiling and feeling more than I had my whole life. And then it all changed.
On February fourth we received a letter from Europe, telling us that Stump’s plane had crashed, and that he and Pete were coming back to New Orleans. Patrick coming back meant that Gabe and Ryan had to go.
We spent that last week trying to make every minute last forever. We never left each other’s side, and even my mother got used to us when Ryan started sleeping in my room.
It was snowing in the morning of February twelfth when we woke up, even if the summer was ending. William’s eyes were red and puffy, which hinted he had been crying; I had wanted to cry all week, but I didn’t want Ryan to see me, so I sucked up my tears and forced myself to smile.
We drove to the train station in the family’s car. Bill and Gabe’s lips never lost contact during the whole drive, which meant they had a difficult time getting of the car. It was fifteen to nine and the train left at nine in the afternoon.
Gabe and William exchanged love promises and Bill gave him his cobra necklace; Gabe almost cried while he put it on and gave Bill his ID tag, claiming it was all he had. We all promised to write everyday and I didn’t even notice when I started crying.
“I love you,” I said, “I guess I’m allowed to say it now.”
“You are,” Ryan whispered against my lips, “I love you too.”
When they got on that train, I was convinced that it would be the last time I’d ever see Ryan Ross.