Pyre (Frerard, Rikey, Ryden, Petekey)

5: Big Girls Don't Cry And Neither Does Mikey Way Except For This Once

"Hurry up Ry! We have to get back before Bert notices we are gone."

Ryan sighed softly under his breath, trying not to take Brendon's tone to heart, because he knew that Brendon was frustrated, and it was Ryan's fault, but he just couldn't resist the urge to wander the outside world tonight.

It wasn't as if Brendon had to come with him, Ryan hadn't forced him, he had simply told him of his plans, as well as extending his mate an invitation to join him if he wished, and Brendon didn't have a very strong resolve when it came to Ryan. Ryan knew this of course, so he used it to his advantage as often as possible, because being topside was always a thousand times better when Brendon was by his side.

"Would you calm down Brendon, he said he was going out tonight anyway, we will be back long before he is, I mean, it's barely even ten in the evening."

Ryan knew that Brendon was right to be worried, because getting caught by Bert, again might he add, was pretty low on his list of things he wanted to experience. The first time had been terrifying, but not enough for him to learn his lesson, in fact, it hadn't deterred him in the slightest, unlike his mate, who had taken Bert's warning much more seriously than Ryan had.

But Brendon still stuck by Ryan's side, because he loved him, and even more importantly, he understood why he did what he did, so he let himself be borderline bullied by his mate, which meant the world to Ryan, and he hoped that Brendon understood how much he appreciated his constant presence.

Still, Ryan was aware that Brendon felt bad for going behind Bert's back just for a few hours of freedom, because Bert trusted them, he believed them when they swore they would never do it again, and even though Bert could be strict and overprotective, he was only looking out for their best interests, which was a fact that Ryan conveniently forgot about all in his quest to enjoy life, the thought only returning once he was forced to lie to the older man's face upon his return.

Ryan knew he probably should feel guilty for his reckless actions before he went through with them, not after, but he just couldn't bring himself to produce that particular emotion when it came to Bert and his stupid fucking rules, because even though he respected the man, he didn't agree with him on almost everything, so Ryan chose to risk his good standing with the older vampire for a chance at happiness, and so far, his numerous jaunts hadn't been discovered since the first occurrence.

The main reason Ryan hated Bert's rules was that there was absolutely nothing he could do about them, because Bert was the leader of their coven, and he had been for as long as anyone could remember. It was thanks to him that so many of them had survived the purge, not that Brendon or Ryan knew that from firsthand experience. They had both barely turned one hundred, which meant the purge had happened long before either of them had been born, and even though they had heard stories of the horrors that had transpired, to them it seemed so long ago, and therefore slightly irrelevant.

And - in Ryan's opinion at least, the purge was kind of overrated: of course it was sad, and cruel, and unnecessary, but it was in the past, and he hated the way it still managed to affect his life, even though he hadn't been a part of it whatsoever.

That was the whole reason Bert was so strict, and he made so many rules; all because of the purge and his hatred of humans, and Ryan could never see eye to eye with him on that point.

He did agree that humans could be hurtful and malicious, but he didn't believe that was their default setting, and the more of them he met, the more convinced he became that humans weren't all that different from vampires - besides the obvious fact that they didn't drink blood, and they weren't practically immortal - but his point still stood.