Missing in Action

Chapter 009

He walked back into the hallway, closing the door after him as quietly as he could. He briefly considered looking in on Jon, but even though his relationship with Jon had improved a lot and certainly become a lot less strained, he was still far from the point of choosing to spend an uncertain amount of time alone with the boy. He and Jon were fine as long as one or both of the others were there to act as a buffer, but they hadn't yet reached the point of being friends independently of the others.

Eventually he settled on finding Brendon in the hopes that spending time with the younger male wouldn't simply make his doubts about what his assignment made him shout more loudly. At least he usually wasn't nearly as bored around the prince as he lately was on his own and somehow, in spite of the lies and the charade, there was just something about Brendon that made him feel oddly at ease.

The walk seemed shorter when he made it on his own rather than with the three younger boys, but after sets of stairs and long, winding corridors, he finally recognised the door and, taking a deep breath, knocked firmly, knowing that if Brendon was all the way in his bedroom, the soft knocks he'd attempted on Spencer's door wouldn't register.

***

Brendon, who had unfortunately fallen asleep while reading the, rather boring, school book, was roused suddenly by a firm knock on his door. He knew that it wasn't a worker or bodyguard, for they knocked very meekly, or incredibly loudly, respectively. Setting the book aside, he made his way to the door, straightening his clothes on the way; it wouldn't do to look dishevelled at any moment. He opened the door slowly, peeking out to make sure before opening it and nodding to Ryan. "Hi," he said, making sure to keep his voice friendly, but fairly neutral. He stepped aside to allow Ryan entrance, and then quickly closed the door behind the boy.

"Stupid guards," he mumbled, referring to the one who'd been standing outside his room, hidden almost completely by a statue that his mother had bought in Europe. Sighing heavily, he turned to Ryan and smiled softly. "Hey," he said coyly, chuckling a bit. He gestured towards the small sitting room before leading the way and sitting down on the right side of the small couch. He realized only now that he'd left the doors to his room open, and this bothered him a lot more than it probably should. It was Ryan, after all, but...

Sighing, he quickly got up and closed the doors, taking the key from his shirt pocket and locking the door. Once he heard the click of the lock, it felt as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, as odd as it seemed to admit. He turned back to Ryan and shrugged sheepishly, before sitting down once again. "Got lonely without me, did you?" he asked, smiling again. His behaviour, now, away from the guards and the cameras, was much more like his normal behaviour; the one his father and country never got to see.

"Something like that," Ryan answered with a wry smile, watching as Brendon crossed the room once more and sat down next to him. He looked into the other boy's face for a moment, biting his lip. Brendon looked tired; almost the same kind of tired he had seemed after the weekend spent with his parents, but a slightly different variant. He reached out and grabbed the prince's hand in his own, lacing their fingers and squeezing slightly. "You know," he muttered. "I got here, and saw all the cameras and thought about how much I hate being watched. I didn't even realise... This is pretty tough for you, isn't it?

Shrugging uncomfortably, Brendon looked away for a moment. "It just gets annoying," he said, then silently berated himself for sounding so childish. It was, of course, annoying, but these people were there to make sure he was safe, that his life wasn't in danger. He had absolutely no right to resent them in any way. Frowning slightly, Brendon shook his head at himself. "But they're there for my own protection, and I really shouldn't be complaining. If it weren't for them..." trailed off, sighing. Instead he looked back at Ryan and smiled lopsidedly, then looked down at their entangled fingers. "Doesn't matter," he murmured. "Are you going to be able to sleep with the cameras around? I've heard it's pretty disconcerting."