Ryan could see Brendon in the hallway, but Brendon hadn't seen him yet. He was clutching Pete, begging to see Spencer.

"Gee, he - he told me - he said that -"

"They." Came a voice from behind Pete, and Brendon's heart skipped. Spencer gently pushed him off his new friend and went into Brendon's arms, weeping softly. "It's they, now. Gee's genderfluid. Changed their pronouns. Wouldn't stop going on about it."

Brendon held him at arm's length, kissing his forehead before looking him in the eye. Sometimes it seemed that Brendon was the older one, but it was just that Brendon was reckless, and Spencer was damaged. Ryan, well, Ryan could easily see that he was worthless.

"What happened? He - fuck, I mean, they - they said you had something to tell me." Spencer bit his lower lip, glancing into the living room, where Ryan sat, fury on his elegant features. Brendon looked too, and his eyes widened. "Oh. Ryan, I -"

"Pete, can I borrow your DS? And can you close the door?"

"Sure." Pete replied. "It's under the catalogs." He pointed towards the coffee table and then closed the living room door. It didn't matter that Ryan and Patrick could still hear the voices; they just didn't want to see the affection.

Ryan picked up the console and opened the lid, turning it on. "Do you wanna come to my town or shall I go to yours?"

Patrick smiled widely. "You come to mine; Pete's never on it so my town's better."

"What do you mean, he's gone?" Brendon cried, and the model looked towards the closed door as he waited for the game to load.

"He's left town. He didn't wanna tell you because he knew you'd freak, but -"

"Why?!"

"I don't know, he didn't exactly stop to have a deep conversation about it. He just told me he was leaving and left."

"Did he have his phone on him?" A pause. "But why? I don't understand -"

"Let's just...go. It's been a long day."

Footsteps, and the front door slamming shut. Ryan had just entered Patrick's town (Fobtown) when Pete walked in, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I don't like either of them." He said, flopping on the couch, his legs in the air. "They're annoying and self-centred and I really don't know what you see in Brendon, Ry."

Ryan glared at him as Patrick hit him with a net. "Don't fucking go there."

"I caught a stag beetle! Heck yeah!"

"If you'll excuse me, Peter, I'm going to catch a shark."

"Ryan -"

"A shark."

~

"But that was my fossil!"

"Nuh-uh, you just left it."

"You got like ten thousand bells for it! They're rightfully mine!"

"Not when you just run away from it, going 'eh just another crappy fossil'! You know the drill! You take it to Blathers!"

"My pockets were full!"

"Are you two done acting like children?" Pete said, standing in the doorway with his arms folded. "Because Ryan, Gee wants to see you. They're in the hallway."

"Should I...go?" Patrick said, glancing between Ryan and Pete, but the former shook his head while the latter let Gee in, who was followed by Bert and Bob, whose arm was in a sling.

"What's - uh - what's up?" Ryan looked at all three of them as Pete sat on the couch, and Bert briskly shoved him off so that they could sit down.

"Bert, give the guy his seat back." Gee said, perching on the arm. They'd showered, so they looked considerably tidier than they had several hours ago, but they were still feeling the effects of what they'd done, and it would stay with them for a long time. "It's his house."

Bert rolled his eyes but allowed Pete to sit down, and Patrick buried himself in his game, trying not to look at the weird scary people across the room.

"I'm guessing Spencer's been here." Gee said, raising an eyebrow, and Pete and Ryan nodded. "Has he told you what happened?" They nodded again, and Bob pouted like a small child.

"He fucking shot me!" He lifted his slinged arm a little, wincing at the movement. "It really hurt!"

"Shut up, Bob." Bert said.

"Well, it appears that he's cut ties with us now, so he's going to avoid us like the plague. The question is, are you two going to do the same?" Gee tilted their head to the side, taking the role of leader (because they really needed some sort of leader in times like this). "I'd ask that other guy over there, but I don't know him and he seems like he wants to stay out of it."

At that, Patrick looked up, locking eyes with the questionably dressed person sat across from him. "What, me?" He cleared his throat. "If it's all the same to you..." He trailed off, waiting for a name.

"Gee."

"If it's all the same to you, Gee, I'll - uh - I'll stay outta this. Just don't, like, start pointing guns at me or anything." He bit his lip and went back to his game, and when Gee glanced at Pete, he shrugged, and Gee turned back to Ryan, unperturbed.

They asked something but Ryan wasn't listening; he'd just received a text, and surprisingly it was from Brendon, strangely eager and wholeheartedly apologetic.

Come over, I kinda need to talk to you. I swear I won't kiss you or anything, we can just talk. Please xo

"Who's that?" Gee asked.

"My...Aunt." Ryan lied, getting to his feet. "My Mom fell down the stairs, she's in hospital. I'll catch up with you guys later."

With that he left, guilt swimming inside him as a result of the filthy lie he'd told.

~

Brendon was alone when Ryan arrived, which was kind of a shock, because he assumed that Spencer would be stuck to him like Thor's hammer to the ground, not worthy of being touched by anyone else but him.

"Hey," Brendon said, smiling weakly and running a hand through his hair. "Uh, come in."

Ryan followed him into the front room and sat on the couch, as the younger licked his lips, deciding whether he should actually sit down or not. Eventually he did, curling up beside Ryan and letting out a deep sigh.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly. "I've been a jerk, an ass, a...whatever you wanna call me. I lied, and I guess I kinda did nothing wrong but I guess I did so much wrong at the same time, and I -" he shrugged. "I'm sorry."

Ryan pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't even know why I'm here. Why am I here?"

"I don't know, but it's just - Dallon left town, and he didn't even tell me, and - and - and he didn't even tell me, and it hurts, and I don't even know if getting back with Spencer was the right thing, like he loves me, but he's - he's not right, he's not, something's wrong, I don't know what but something's wrong, and -"

The elder found himself taking Brendon's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze as their eyes met. "Look, B...Spencer just isn't right full stop. He seems very unstable to me."

It took everything he had not to reveal the truth about Dallon, but if he did, it would mean telling all about The Plan, and about everyone involved in it, and just how much it had gotten out of hand, and he hated to admit it, but he cared about Brendon. His heart fluttered and his mouth went dry and he couldn't bear the thought of Brendon being hurt like that. It would surely destroy him. It would surely destroy anyone.

"Hey, when I was at Pete's, his friend Patrick was there, and he's really cute, like - don't give me that look! - and he was playing Animal Crossing, please tell me you've heard of it, and -"

"Is there a point to this story, or...?" But Brendon was grinning, leaning into Ryan as he talked, nudging him slightly.

"Yes, just fucking listen." He cleared his throat. "And it was just good to relax for a little while, to not think about anything that was happening."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I don't know, I..." He licked his lips, subconsciously leaning closer to Brendon. "I feel like I should leave this town for a little while, but like, I don't wanna do it alone."

"So you...want me to come with you?"

It was the only way he could get himself out of this mess, out of everything. It was essentially running away, but he couldn't exactly help it. Right now, too much was happening in a short space of time, the trigger to the explosion that was bound to happen. The match had been lit. The fire was catching. Dallon's death was the catalyst. He needed to be out of here, and at best, he needed to take Brendon with him, to keep him away from Spencer. With him as he was, Ryan couldn't trust him at all.

That, and he desperately wanted some alone time with Brendon, despite the whole 'I'm dating my ex even though he told me he hated me' thing.

"Yes." By now their foreheads were brushing together, their mouths leaning ever closer.

"It would be great if I were a pilot. Of all the professions I could pick from a list that began with 'P', pilot was alphabetically higher. So why the fuck did I pick pornstar?"

"Pilots suck, B."

"Yeah, but like when I was twelve, I convinced myself that by the time I was twenty-one, I was gonna become a pilot. Look where I am now."

"You're about to kiss America's top model, I wouldn't complain."

When their mouths met, Brendon was smiling, his thumb rubbing circles on the back of Ryan's hand. And it tasted of sin, black and viscous between them, like liquorice that had gotten caught in their mouths, but it was sickly sweet, like they could never have too much of it. Like it was going to rot them from the inside.

But as far as Brendon was concerned, he was already rotten.

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