Don't Pretend You Ever Forgot About Me [Ryden]

Chapter 7

U up?

Dallon would lose his shit if he found out that Brendon's texting his ex, but right now he doesn't give a fuck. It's 2am, he's lonely, he's pissed off, and Ryan's the only person he can see being awake right now. When he's upset he tends to self-destruct a little.

Once the message reads delivered, it almost immediately changes to read, and Brendon can see the little bubbles that indicate Ryan's typing.

What do you want?

He expected this. Ryan may have messaged him first, but he can almost guarantee that message wasn't sent while sober. Brendon, however, is sober, if not an absolute moron for what he's doing, and it's understandable that Ryan would be shitty as a knee-jerk response. It still stings a little, though.

Another text pings through a few minutes later, just when Brendon's all but given up.

Sorry, that was uncalled for. I've had a bad day, and I wasn't expecting you to want to talk to me.

It's okay, I know what it's like to be messaged out of the blue. I should've known. Sorry.

Touché, Brendon. In my defence, I was high when I sent that, but by the time I realised, it was too late, and you didn't say anything, so I assumed that I was off the hook. I guess not

I think I was in a state of shock, to be honest.

I would be too if I were you, honestly. I'm surprised you didn't call the cops.

Oh yeah, and say what? 911, what's your emergency? Hi, please help, my ex-boyfriend is dope-texting me again

Okay, first off, it was one time, and second, I'm not sure dope-texting is a thing.

Sure it is, it's like drunk-texting, except high off your tits

I - don't know what to say to that

You don't have to say anything at all, it's okay

Brendon can't believe that he forgot how easy it is to talk to Ryan. His heart is beating fast and his palms are sweaty, and he's not sure if he's feeling like this because he's talking to Ryan again, or because he's not meant to be talking to Ryan. He doesn't care either way, because it feels nice. Nothing is expected of him, not like there is when he talks to Dallon - Dallon expects him to talk a certain way, say certain things, use certain phrases, but Ryan won't get upset if he says a word he never normally says, or accidentally forgets kisses on the end of the message.

They talk until the sun starts to rise, jumping from one topic to another and never staying on one for too long. They avoid talking about Dallon, Pete, each other, their relationship, and why they're texting, but they still find things to talk about. Ryan talks about the new dog his mom got, and Brendon talks about the song that's been in his head all week. Ryan asks Brendon if mimes mime using the toilet, and Brendon asks Ryan if he's ever seen a UFO.

Brendon falls asleep just after 6am, and when he wakes again a few hours later, he's disoriented and the house is silent. He rubs his eyes, checking the time: 11:14am. He panics, leaping off the bed - he starts work in forty-five minutes.

He rushes around, throwing on some clothes, brushing his teeth and using the bathroom before grabbing his phone and keys and practically running out the front door. Luckily, it doesn't take him long to walk to the library, so with some breathless speed-walking he manages to get there with two minutes to spare.

Thankfully, instead of demanding he get to work right away, his boss laughs and tells him to take a breather before he starts. His boss is chill; a woman in her sixties with glasses and long, blonde hair. She's firm but fair, and the nicest boss Brendon's ever had. He's hardly ever late, so when he is, she often lets it slide. Apart from that one time when he was an hour late. She didn't let that slide.