Ficlet: Novel (Jon/Ryan)
Title: Novel
Rating: PG
Pairing: Jon/Ryan
Summary: Something about Jon always makes him think of the one called Stole Your Way Home, the way he smiles and laughs and always has coffee ready for Ryan whenever he and Brendon get into snitfits.
Wordcount: 1,500
A/N: Written for stereomer's RST meme. Unbeta'd, written quickly. Please forgive and point out any typos that you see.
It starts out small, smiles across the interview and then across stage, stolen looks that always make him think of the box of romance novels his mother left behind, the ones he read at seven, when he thought he should miss her. Something about Jon always makes him think of the one called Stole Your Way Home, the way he smiles and laughs and always has coffee ready for Ryan whenever he and Brendon get into snitfits.
Ryan doesn't know what to say when it becomes lingering touches instead of looks, when Jon holds onto the coffee mug for too long and says, "You need to try and explain it better, I think," with a steady voice, even if Ryan can't look away from his mouth. He remembers the thirteenth chapter, when Mitchell McKennerty was helping the heroine--whose name Ryan can't remember anymore, has been years since he actually opened the book--set up her dream gallery and had a bitch fit with her best friend. Ryan almost drops the cup and retreats to the corner of the room.
It's odd, because Ryan feels he should tell Spencer about it. Spencer's the only one who knows about his romance novel thing, let Ryan read to him long passages of flowery words for things they didn't understand at six and seven, but it almost feels like it will break the spell.
Jon's staying in his guest room this week, while the tracks are still being set down. It's almost like it was for the second album, except then it was Keltie twisting around him with her way of handling utilities and now it's Jon who makes a joke every time the hot water runs out, gentle ribbing when he first gets out of the shower and his hair is plastered down. Sometimes he makes the joke without a shirt, and Ryan's mouth contracts like a wet sponge, suddenly unable to ignore Jon's chest hair and the small drops of water collecting to it.
But, being Jon who is almost too much like Mitchell McKennerty when the paint fell and he had to use the heroine's upstairs apartment to clean off, Jon doesn't say anything except brushing their arms together as he passed. Ryan's too busy trying to find his tongue to complain about the damp. He turns around to look at Jon's back, the way his shoulders seem broader when he's not in t-shirts, and Jon stares back at him, turned around and watching with darker brown eyes.
They do an interview at the studio two days later, Brendon, Spencer, and Jon on the love-seat while he tries to balance himself on the arm and not roll his eyes at some of the questions, because it's been two and a half years, and seriously? People still care about the exclamation point? Ryan just thinks that they've run out of questions and are going to start asking about Ryan's relationship with his dad again, maybe, or Brent.
Until the interviewer starts talking about onstage chemistry, and Spencer and Brendon laugh harder than Jon does. Ryan sort of freezes, until Brendon shoots off a comment about him and Jon and their torrid love affair. Spencer's laugh isn't as loud, and Ryan slides almost into Jon's lap because he can't hold himself up anymore and listen to this. Jon's hand is on his side, stabilizing, but he doesn't push Ryan back up and off.
"You see, Ryan and I have a very special kind of love that Brendon is just too young to understand," Jon says, with a wink to the interviewer, who laughs.
"It's a shame that all Brendon's romance lessons came from Disney," Spencer chimes in, and Brendon starts squawking about age and how if he's too young to understand that Spencer, by the laws of time and god, shouldn't be able to understand, either, and best friend clauses do not help here, Ryan Ross.
Jon's hand never actually leaves his side, but the interviewer has already moved onto fans and touring and bras thrown on stage.
Ryan takes the old book out of storage and starts to read it, wincing at the lines and how over-sexed everything is. The heroine's name is Nancy, something soft and outdated that can't stick in his mind. He reads it in one sitting, skimming over the sections where things yearn and long, are wet and waiting, and then throws it into his sock drawer because he can't actually bring himself to chuck it into the trash for being stupid.
It's only when Jon is packing his duffel, rolling up his clean clothes into a plastic Walgreens bag so they won't mingle with the stuff that's dirty and he's going to have Brendon's mom wash, that Ryan wonders if maybe if he's reading all the signs wrong. Jon hasn't joked or leaned against his arm, and their hands don't brush over coffee. Jon leaves things on the counter for him, and there aren't looks in the studio. The books were full of fluff and nonsense, and Jon would never say, "You make my heart stop, Nancy," to Ryan, which is good because he's sure that there is no real way that he'd ever be able to look at Jon without laughing his ass off.
When Jon's all packed, he walks Jon down the stairs to make sure that he's got everything, like they won't see each other in the morning to listen to Brendon and Spencer snipe at each other about how the drums should be muted or not. The front door is closed, but Brendon's already outside, honking the horn loud enough to make Ryan wince.
He goes to hold the door open for Jon, so he can manage his duffel and spare bass, the one he likes to have to play when he can't sleep and Ryan's gotten used to listening to it at three in the morning.
Jon grabs his arm, bass on the floor by his feet, though, and then Ryan's torn back into how Mitchel McKennerty grabbed the heroine by the waist, just before the yearning, longing, torrid, and steamy, and Jon's on the bottom stair so he has to lean down over Ryan. "Hey," he says and Ryan knows that he's brushed his teeth, cool mint. "Thanks for letting me crash."
Ryan's mouth is trying to do the sponge thing again, but he can fight it off when Jon's not wet and shirtless. "Someday, we're going to convince you to just move out here, Walker." His voice isn't breathy or high. He doesn't flutter his eyelashes, and he goes to step away. He needs to call Spencer and let him laugh about Ryan being ridiculous.
"I don't like that idea." Jon's grip is tighter, firm on his arm. Brendon honks again before Jon's Sidekick starts to ring. "It'll screw up my master plan."
Ryan wants to ask what the plan is, but he can't. There's a honking horn, and they have, maybe, sixty seconds before Brendon's at the door and ringing the doorbell like a normal human being. He can't because Jon's got his mouth over Ryan's, running his tongue along the seam of Ryan's lips until Ryan has to open his mouth and gets to taste Jon's mouthwash. Jon comes down the last step, walks Ryan into the wall and there are little noises bubbling out of his throat. Jon swallows them, uses his weight and the bruising grip on his arm to pin Ryan there.
Ryan's Sidekick is ringing now, and Jon drops his duffel to pull it from the pocket of Ryan's pants. They're tight, and Jon's hand lingers longer than he needs to, pushes his hips against Ryan's to hold him still, and drops Ryan's arm to start to untuck Ryan's button down.
"Brendon," Jon says into Ryan's phone like it's normal. He doesn't sound dark-eyed and red-lipped when he talks, and Ryan rolls his hips to see if he can change that. Jon breathes hard out of his nose before continuing. "Yeah, I'm not coming out. Sorry, dude. Ryan's sort of sick, and he'll be blowing his nose into dirty clothes because he can't remember to buy Kleenex." Ryan glares at Jon, because he's really not that pathetic and it only happened once, but Jon is trying to unbutton his shirt with his left hand.
Brendon says something that makes Jon grin. "All right, Brendon. I'll call you if we have to cancel practice," Jon says before he hangs up the phone and hands it back to Ryan. "Call Spencer before Brendon does." Jon's much better at undoing buttons with both hands, and Ryan will just have to deal with Spencer coming over with chicken soup and Puffs (because Spencer knows Ryan only uses that brand) in an hour or so because Jon's unbuttoning skill is much more pressing.
Rating: PG
Pairing: Jon/Ryan
Summary: Something about Jon always makes him think of the one called Stole Your Way Home, the way he smiles and laughs and always has coffee ready for Ryan whenever he and Brendon get into snitfits.
Wordcount: 1,500
A/N: Written for stereomer's RST meme. Unbeta'd, written quickly. Please forgive and point out any typos that you see.
It starts out small, smiles across the interview and then across stage, stolen looks that always make him think of the box of romance novels his mother left behind, the ones he read at seven, when he thought he should miss her. Something about Jon always makes him think of the one called Stole Your Way Home, the way he smiles and laughs and always has coffee ready for Ryan whenever he and Brendon get into snitfits.
Ryan doesn't know what to say when it becomes lingering touches instead of looks, when Jon holds onto the coffee mug for too long and says, "You need to try and explain it better, I think," with a steady voice, even if Ryan can't look away from his mouth. He remembers the thirteenth chapter, when Mitchell McKennerty was helping the heroine--whose name Ryan can't remember anymore, has been years since he actually opened the book--set up her dream gallery and had a bitch fit with her best friend. Ryan almost drops the cup and retreats to the corner of the room.
It's odd, because Ryan feels he should tell Spencer about it. Spencer's the only one who knows about his romance novel thing, let Ryan read to him long passages of flowery words for things they didn't understand at six and seven, but it almost feels like it will break the spell.
Jon's staying in his guest room this week, while the tracks are still being set down. It's almost like it was for the second album, except then it was Keltie twisting around him with her way of handling utilities and now it's Jon who makes a joke every time the hot water runs out, gentle ribbing when he first gets out of the shower and his hair is plastered down. Sometimes he makes the joke without a shirt, and Ryan's mouth contracts like a wet sponge, suddenly unable to ignore Jon's chest hair and the small drops of water collecting to it.
But, being Jon who is almost too much like Mitchell McKennerty when the paint fell and he had to use the heroine's upstairs apartment to clean off, Jon doesn't say anything except brushing their arms together as he passed. Ryan's too busy trying to find his tongue to complain about the damp. He turns around to look at Jon's back, the way his shoulders seem broader when he's not in t-shirts, and Jon stares back at him, turned around and watching with darker brown eyes.
They do an interview at the studio two days later, Brendon, Spencer, and Jon on the love-seat while he tries to balance himself on the arm and not roll his eyes at some of the questions, because it's been two and a half years, and seriously? People still care about the exclamation point? Ryan just thinks that they've run out of questions and are going to start asking about Ryan's relationship with his dad again, maybe, or Brent.
Until the interviewer starts talking about onstage chemistry, and Spencer and Brendon laugh harder than Jon does. Ryan sort of freezes, until Brendon shoots off a comment about him and Jon and their torrid love affair. Spencer's laugh isn't as loud, and Ryan slides almost into Jon's lap because he can't hold himself up anymore and listen to this. Jon's hand is on his side, stabilizing, but he doesn't push Ryan back up and off.
"You see, Ryan and I have a very special kind of love that Brendon is just too young to understand," Jon says, with a wink to the interviewer, who laughs.
"It's a shame that all Brendon's romance lessons came from Disney," Spencer chimes in, and Brendon starts squawking about age and how if he's too young to understand that Spencer, by the laws of time and god, shouldn't be able to understand, either, and best friend clauses do not help here, Ryan Ross.
Jon's hand never actually leaves his side, but the interviewer has already moved onto fans and touring and bras thrown on stage.
Ryan takes the old book out of storage and starts to read it, wincing at the lines and how over-sexed everything is. The heroine's name is Nancy, something soft and outdated that can't stick in his mind. He reads it in one sitting, skimming over the sections where things yearn and long, are wet and waiting, and then throws it into his sock drawer because he can't actually bring himself to chuck it into the trash for being stupid.
It's only when Jon is packing his duffel, rolling up his clean clothes into a plastic Walgreens bag so they won't mingle with the stuff that's dirty and he's going to have Brendon's mom wash, that Ryan wonders if maybe if he's reading all the signs wrong. Jon hasn't joked or leaned against his arm, and their hands don't brush over coffee. Jon leaves things on the counter for him, and there aren't looks in the studio. The books were full of fluff and nonsense, and Jon would never say, "You make my heart stop, Nancy," to Ryan, which is good because he's sure that there is no real way that he'd ever be able to look at Jon without laughing his ass off.
When Jon's all packed, he walks Jon down the stairs to make sure that he's got everything, like they won't see each other in the morning to listen to Brendon and Spencer snipe at each other about how the drums should be muted or not. The front door is closed, but Brendon's already outside, honking the horn loud enough to make Ryan wince.
He goes to hold the door open for Jon, so he can manage his duffel and spare bass, the one he likes to have to play when he can't sleep and Ryan's gotten used to listening to it at three in the morning.
Jon grabs his arm, bass on the floor by his feet, though, and then Ryan's torn back into how Mitchel McKennerty grabbed the heroine by the waist, just before the yearning, longing, torrid, and steamy, and Jon's on the bottom stair so he has to lean down over Ryan. "Hey," he says and Ryan knows that he's brushed his teeth, cool mint. "Thanks for letting me crash."
Ryan's mouth is trying to do the sponge thing again, but he can fight it off when Jon's not wet and shirtless. "Someday, we're going to convince you to just move out here, Walker." His voice isn't breathy or high. He doesn't flutter his eyelashes, and he goes to step away. He needs to call Spencer and let him laugh about Ryan being ridiculous.
"I don't like that idea." Jon's grip is tighter, firm on his arm. Brendon honks again before Jon's Sidekick starts to ring. "It'll screw up my master plan."
Ryan wants to ask what the plan is, but he can't. There's a honking horn, and they have, maybe, sixty seconds before Brendon's at the door and ringing the doorbell like a normal human being. He can't because Jon's got his mouth over Ryan's, running his tongue along the seam of Ryan's lips until Ryan has to open his mouth and gets to taste Jon's mouthwash. Jon comes down the last step, walks Ryan into the wall and there are little noises bubbling out of his throat. Jon swallows them, uses his weight and the bruising grip on his arm to pin Ryan there.
Ryan's Sidekick is ringing now, and Jon drops his duffel to pull it from the pocket of Ryan's pants. They're tight, and Jon's hand lingers longer than he needs to, pushes his hips against Ryan's to hold him still, and drops Ryan's arm to start to untuck Ryan's button down.
"Brendon," Jon says into Ryan's phone like it's normal. He doesn't sound dark-eyed and red-lipped when he talks, and Ryan rolls his hips to see if he can change that. Jon breathes hard out of his nose before continuing. "Yeah, I'm not coming out. Sorry, dude. Ryan's sort of sick, and he'll be blowing his nose into dirty clothes because he can't remember to buy Kleenex." Ryan glares at Jon, because he's really not that pathetic and it only happened once, but Jon is trying to unbutton his shirt with his left hand.
Brendon says something that makes Jon grin. "All right, Brendon. I'll call you if we have to cancel practice," Jon says before he hangs up the phone and hands it back to Ryan. "Call Spencer before Brendon does." Jon's much better at undoing buttons with both hands, and Ryan will just have to deal with Spencer coming over with chicken soup and Puffs (because Spencer knows Ryan only uses that brand) in an hour or so because Jon's unbuttoning skill is much more pressing.