Sugarcane Chronicles Volume I: One and Lonely (ryden)

To Love and Live Happily

*Ryan's POV*

Planes were weird.

I mean, think about it.

A large tube of metal shooting through the sky at, like, 600 miles per hour?

Weird.

The worst part was definitely when I got nosebleeds. On the first flight, I got one after Brendon fell asleep, then I lucked out on the second flight, but I got the worst nosebleed of my life on the third one. It wouldn't stop bleeding and I had to get help from the flight attendants, one of which kept flirting with me. His name was Justin and he was fabulous.

I kept reminding myself that the plane would land and where it would land. Where I would land. Right in Daniel's arms.

Brendon was a sweetheart and stayed up with me on the plane from New York to London because I was incapable of sleeping on planes. We were drunk with sleep deprivation by the time we got off, giggling at nothing and everything. We also almost cried at a family reuniting at baggage claim. To put it simply: we were weak and tired.

While Brendon giggled at and talked to the rotating luggage, I watched the crowds of families and friends picking up the ones they loved, looking for a loved one myself. I had talked to Daniel a few days earlier and he promised he would pick us up and give us a little tour of the London he knew. I almost gave up looking to giggle with Brendon when I saw his face.

The face that had pulled me through so much.

I took off towards him, disregarding the luggage. It was him. Daniel. The love of my life.

As I got closer, I realized how tall he had gotten. He was way taller than me now. I also noticed the wrinkles in his forehead that were now present. He just looked... Older. But that didn't stop my eyes from watering as I called his name.

He turned around and looked at me, his eyes lighting up when he saw me. A smile creeped onto his lips and all feelings of sleepiness creeped from my mind.

The whole thing felt like it was in slow motion. I only slowed slightly as I wrapped my arms around him and held on tightly. I felt his arms around my shoulders as I inhaled his scent.

He was nothing like I remembered.

Everything was different. The way he held me, the way he looked, the air about him, the clothes he wore. Nothing was the same.

The feeling hit me the way I had him: hard and desperate. There was no way I could jump back into this relationship with him. He had Phillip and I had Brendon-

Wait.

Brendon.

The sweetest boy to ever enter my life.

All this time I had sat around wishing for love when he was right there. God, I was such an idiot. I couldn't believe myself.

I pulled away from the hug and looked up at Daniel. He was just... Different. I barely believed it was the same person.

He looked down at me with teary eyes as he whispered the nickname he had for me. "KittyCat," he breathed. "I just can't believe it's you." He hugged me again. "It's really you."

"Yeah," I said because I was stupid (as noted earlier). I pulled away from the hug again because I sensed Brendon behind me.

Brendon waved when my eyes landed on him. "So this is Daniel?" he asked.

"Yeah," Daniel answered, then sighed. "Where are my manners?" He held his hand out for Brendon to shake. "You're Brandon?"

"Brendon," he corrected, shaking Daniel's hand.