How does time work?

The afternoon before Brendon's birthday, I was sitting in my dorm room, carefully wrapping the turntable that I had bought for him in bright red wrapping paper. I had already finished my homework for the night, and I didn't have anything better to do than to daydream about Brendon. I already had plans to go to the Aubergine early the next day so that I could spend plenty of time with him on his birthday. I wasn't sure exactly what would happen the next day, but that was the nature of the future. It was a perpetual mystery, and I would have to wait one more day to see how Brendon and I would spend his special day.

All of a sudden, Patrick opened the door. "Hey Ryan," he said. "What are you doing?"

"I'm just wrapping Brendon's present," I said as I stuck a bow on top of the gift.

"Is this the record player that you were telling me about last week?" Patrick asked. I nodded, and he asked, "Do you think that he'll like it?"

"I think so," I said. "I just worry about him sometimes."

"Why is that?" Patrick asked.

Should I tell him the truth? Patrick might freak out, but he was one of the few people that I truly trusted. As far as I knew, Patrick had never lied or gossiped, so if I had to tell someone about Brendon's alcoholism, Patrick was the best choice. Besides, as I had learned from experience, telling the truth was always a better option than lying. The truth could hurt, but lies would inevitably hurt more when the person who was lied to found out the truth.

I sighed and explained, "Brendon's an alcoholic. I knew that he drank a lot, but I had no idea just how bad it was until recently." It was painful to say those words, but it was nice to tell someone else about my problems. I didn't have to carry this burden on my own anymore.

Patrick's eyes widened and he said, "That's not possible. I've only seen him drunk a few times, and I thought you told me that he went to Yale."

"First of all, he's built up quite a bit of tolerance," I said. "Brendon doesn't usually appear to be drunk, but he's still drinking way too much. Second, he doesn't go to Yale."

"Then why did you tell me that he did?" Patrick asked.

"He used to go to Yale," I said. "Brendon dropped out after freshman year."

"This is crazy, Ryan," Patrick said.

"I know," I said, my voice shaking. "I don't know what to do anymore. I want to help Brendon, but I don't know how." For once, I had an unanswerable question, and the helpless, lonely feeling that came with it sank into my brain.

"Pete might know what to do," Patrick said. "He and I are meeting up in the Pendragon Center in about an hour. Would you like to come with us?"

"Sure," I said. Anything that could help me find a solution seemed like a great idea to me.

"Great," Patrick said. "I'm going to go get some lunch. I'll see you then."

As I stuck a card on Brendon's gift, I wished that I could time travel. I wanted to go back in time and keep Brendon from ever taking a sip of alcohol, just to keep both of us out of this mess. Then again, if Brendon had never gone to the Aubergine, would he and I have ever met? Even if we had, would we have fallen in love? Brendon was undoubtedly one of the best things that had happened to me, and I had no desire to undo that.

After I finished wrapping the present, I got a head start on the Ancient Philosophy paper that wasn't due for another week and then went to the Pendragon Center. As I walked past the dining hall, I met up with Patrick, and the two of us entered the Pendragon Center together.

We found Pete waiting near the staircase that led up to the second floor. He gave Patrick a rather long kiss when he saw him and then whispered, "What's Ryan doing here? I thought that we were going to be alone together."

Patrick blushed and then replied, "Ryan has a problem, and I thought that you might be able to help him."

"What's the issue?" Pete asked, and Patrick explained everything to him. Pete froze for a few moments and then said, "I think this calls for an intervention."

"Who cares about divine intervention?" I asked.

"That's not what I meant," Pete said. "We'll have an intervention, and then we'll send him off to rehab, and we should probably do this sooner rather than later."

"That's a great idea, but we should wait until after Brendon's birthday," I said. "I don't want to ruin his twenty first birthday."

Patrick thought about it, and then said, "That seems reasonable enough to me."

"I don't know about that," Pete said.

"Do you really want to ruin Brendon's birthday, Pete?" I asked.

"No, but he needs help," Pete said.

"I agree, but I'm not going to wreck his birthday," I said.

"I have to agree with Ryan," Patrick said. "I want to help Brendon, but we can wait until Friday to do it."

Pete sighed and said, "Fine. We'll let Brendon do whatever he wants for today and tomorrow, but after that, we're holding an intervention."

"That works," I said.

"Do you want to get anyone else involved in the intervention?" Patrick asked.

"The rest of the Guyliner Club might be able to help," Pete suggested.

"I don't think that's a good idea," I said. "It took Brendon seven months for him to be able to tell me about his addiction. I don't think that he would want anyone else to know."

"Then why did you tell me?" Patrick asked.

"I trust both you and Pete," I said. "Besides, it's pretty clear that Brendon needs help, and you're both better at this than I am."

"So it will just be the three of us," Pete said. "I suppose that's fine. We can hold an intervention with three people."

"Do you think that Brendon will listen to us?" Patrick asked.

It was a question that I had been pondering as well. What if Brendon didn't listen to Pete, Patrick, and I? What if we couldn't help him? What would I do if Brendon couldn't recover? "He'll listen to us," Pete said. "Ryan is his boyfriend, and I've been his friend for over a year."

"What if Brendon doesn't listen?" I asked.

"That won't be an issue," Pete said. "We'll find a way to make him listen."

"I certainly hope so," I said. "I'll see you two tonight. Thank you so much for your help."

"No problem, Ryan," Pete said. "See you soon."

I waved goodbye to Pete and Patrick and left the Pendragon Center, simultaneously worried and at ease. I couldn't help but worry about all the things that could possibly go wrong at the intervention, but I was also glad that I could put the issue aside for a few days and celebrate Brendon's birthday.

As I walked back to Flack Hall, I yet again imagined traveling through time to keep any of this from happening. I wanted to repeat days like our first date over and over again, and I wanted to go back in time to keep him sober. Maybe I would even go into the future to see where Brendon and I would be in a few years. Unfortunately, none of that was possible. Time just kept marching on in a linear fashion, and the only thing that I had control over was the present. I couldn't keep Brendon from becoming an alcoholic or make sure that the intervention went smoothly, so I took a few deep breaths on my way back to Flack Hall and tried my best not to panic.

When I returned to Room 27, I crashed onto my bed and immediately looked over at the gift lying near the door. I couldn't wait to see Brendon's face light up as he tore open the wrapping paper, and even though I could never be certain about what the future held, it was fun to fantasize. I knew that Brendon had already found a place in my house of memories, and I hoped to make many more memories with him.

A few hours went by, and around eight o'clock, I headed over to the Aubergine Dream. The familiar neon purple sign greeted me as I opened the door, and I found Brendon in the middle of the room, dancing wildly. My heart sank when I saw that he had one of his peach and lime daiquiris in his hand. I considered telling him to put the drink down, but I decided against it. It was the day before his twenty first birthday, after all.

I walked up to Brendon, but he didn't seem to notice me. Why was Brendon ignoring me? I tapped him on the shoulder, and he exclaimed, "Ryan! It's so good to see you!"

"It's good to see you too," I said as I stepped a little closer to Brendon.

"Your eyeliner looks amazing tonight," Brendon said as he gently touched my face.

"Thanks," I said.

"I'm not as think as you drunk I am," Brendon said suddenly.

I didn't know how to respond to that one. It was pretty obvious that Brendon was exactly as drunk as I thought he was, but at that moment, I didn't care. I only had to hang on for two more days, and then we would have the intervention.

I was about to say something, but Brendon started to ramble about high heels and tentacle monsters, and even I quickly became confused. Nevertheless, I was mesmerized by the sound of his voice. Even when he was drunk, Brendon Urie could be quite beautiful.

I spent the rest of the evening with Brendon as he wandered through the Aubergine, talking to everyone that he could, while I simply watched him and in one case, managed to keep him from tripping over the drum set. "Is Brendon okay?" Spencer asked shortly before we started the show.

"I don't know about Brendon, but I'm not okay," I said. I considered telling Spencer about the intervention, but I didn't want to involve more people than I had to. I doubted that Brendon wanted me to tell everyone that he knew just how bad his drinking had become, and I refused to betray my boyfriend.

At nine in the afternoon, Brendon, Spencer, and I played for everyone in the Aubergine. Brendon sounded just as wonderful as he always did, and I let his angelic voice drift into my ears. I played along with him and Spencer, carefully hitting the piano keys in time with the beat of the drums.

As I played, I worried about Brendon. Would the intervention be enough to stop his drinking? What if Pete's plan didn't work? What if something went horribly wrong? There were plenty of ways that could happen. However, I was also confident that everything would get better after the intervention, if everything went smoothly. Brendon would stop drinking, and our relationship would go back to normal. I wouldn't have to worry about turning out like my mother, Brendon could go back to school, and we would return to our perfect love story. This was nothing more than a detour in our relationship. I continued to play, letting my worries drift away as I listened to Brendon sing. For once, I was certain that there was a way to take control of my own fate, and the intervention would only prove that.