New - (boyxboy)

Chapter 22 - Sugar and Spice

"I'm sorry I ruined our date," Ryan sighed. He and Will were sat on his bed at home the next day, his leg propped up on the bed with a cast on it to help mend his broken tibia. He felt embarrassed really. The entire accident was all his fault and he felt stupid. And he wasn't even the worst affected by it, physically.

He'd spent most of the previous day setting up for the dinner he'd planned to surprise Will with. He had planned a romantic little dinner in the wood gazebo he had in his backyard but he needed to fix it up a little to make it good enough. He knew he needed help so he asked Dale and Robbie to lend a hand — the girls wouldn't have been able to keep it a secret, Ryan knew that. So, after a day of preparing food for dinner, showing off a bit of his cooking skills, the three guys spent the afternoon painting a few parts that had begun to peel, hanging up little lanterns, and tying up flower chains to make it look a bit nicer.

When Dale left to make sure Will was ready, Ryan decided that the gazebo wasn't decorated enough, even with Robbie telling him otherwise. Ryan ignored him, rummaging through his house to find the fairy lights that his mother usually used for the Christmas tree. Once they were found, the teen climbed the ladder, fairy lights in hand, ready to hang them up.

Looking back, Ryan wasn't exactly sure what happened. He remembered the box of lights falling out of his hands, and in his panic, he went out to reach for them. Stupidly. In his panic, he also forgot that he was up on a ladder. So, when he reached out, the ladder began to tip over and he fell right along with it. Ryan happened to land on an unsuspecting Robbie, while the ladder landed heavily on his leg.

And so, that's how both boys ended up in hospital: Ryan with a broken leg and Robbie with cracked ribs. Luckily, the break wasn't bad, so Ryan's leg was easily set and a cast was put on, while Robbie had to be careful not to turn the cracked ribs into broken ones. But apparently they should heal on their own in a month or two, which was sort of good news, Ryan guessed.

Who was he kidding, none of this was good. It was all his fault and he felt absolutely awful, like he should be. "Stupid Ryan," he muttered to himself.

"Don't be like that, Ry, it's not your fault," Will reassured him, pulling the injured boy to his side and placing a quick peck on his cheek.

Ryan sighed, resting his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. "Yes it is," he muttered sadly. "You're just saying that 'cause your my boyfriend and you have to say that."

"No, it was an accident," Will responded for maybe the fiftieth time. "Dale and Rob don't even blame you, so you gotta stop." Ryan just grunted, obviously not wanting to listen to him. Will sighed. "C'mon, let's go downstairs and have some of that food you prepared yesterday," he suggested, needing a reason to get out of that damn room. And try to distract Ryan too.

"But I can't cook with this damn cast," the other boy sighed. He wasn't all that hungry either. Nor did he feel like getting up. He just wanted to cuddle up with Will and sleep for days to try and forget about his stupidity.

"You're not the only one who can cook, you numpty," Will retorted, hopping up off the bed. "Now c'mon, let's get going," he pushed, pulling his boyfriend up and handing him the crutches. Ryan took them reluctantly, knowing he wasn't getting out of this, no matter what he did.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"No, you gotta heat up the pan first before you put in the oil!" Ryan exclaimed about half an hour later. He'd spent most of the time ordering Will around the kitchen as he sat on a stool at the island. Will mostly ignored him, constantly telling him that he knew what he was doing.

"I know what I'm doing, Ryan," he said as such. "So shush it and let me cook this meat. Just sit there and look pretty, ok?" Ryan scowled at him, arms crossed as he glared. Will rolled his eyes as he returned his attention back to the pan in front of him.