Oneshots | Ryden

Fever Dreams

“Are you feeling any better?” Brendon asks and sits down next to Ryan on their large, dark blue sofa.

Ryan sighs and shakes his head in response. “I still have a major headache and it won’t go away the slightest bit,” he tells Brendon, pouting a little bit.

Brendon sends Ryan a sympathetic smile and then he wraps both his arms around the other man’s body to pull him against his chest. “Try to sleep a bit,” he suggests, the tips of his fingers slowly travelling up Ryan’s spine. “I’m sure you can use some rest,” he adds and presses a light kiss against his lover’s forehead.

“I certainly can,” Ryan answers, his voice slightly muffled. “But I can’t sleep with this damned headache. It’s like someone’s constantly banging my head against a wall.”

“Did you take an aspirin yet?” Brendon asks and pushes Ryan away for a few seconds. Then he places his hands on Ryan’s shoulders and starts massaging them.

Ryan shakes his head, wincing at the pain it causes and then closes his eyes, leaning his head forward a bit. “You know I can’t stand them. If I take one, I’ll puke it out two minutes after,” he tells Brendon matter-of-factly. “I’ll just have to deal with this. It’ll go away eventually.”

Brendon hums in response and then moves his hands from Ryan’s shoulders to his temples. He uses his index fingers to massage Ryan’s painfully throbbing head, hoping it would help the pain to go away.

“That feels good,” Ryan says, leaning his head backwards. His eyes slip shut and a long sigh escapes from his dry and slightly chapped lips.

Brendon leans forward a few inches and presses a gentle kiss in Ryan’s hair. “Keep your eyes closed and try to stop thinking,” he mutters, his fingers still massaging Ryan’s tense face. “Just relax.”

Ryan does exactly as Brendon tells him and doesn’t open his eyes again. He tries to relax but his pounding headache just won’t let him. It’s there and not planning on going away soon, on the contrary: it’s getting worse. A few tears leak from Ryan’s eyes and then he pushes his boyfriend’s hands away. “I’m sorry. I don’t even know why I’m crying.”

“Hey. Sshh, don’t cry,” Brendon whispers, rubbing his left hand up and down Ryan’s back. “Let’s get you to bed,” he adds and lets go of Ryan, only to stand up and pick the man off the sofa.

Ryan presses his face against Brendon’s shoulder and keeps on crying. He puts his arms around his boyfriend and clings to him like there’s no tomorrow. “Don’t leave me, okay?” he utters, sniffing away a few tears. “Please stay with me.”

“I won’t leave you, Ry,” Brendon states and carefully lays Ryan down on the soft mattress of their bed. “I’m going to stay right here, next to you,” he continues and then he crawls underneath the sheets as well. “I love you, baby,” he whispers, wrapping his long arms around Ryan’s sobbing body. “Close your eyes and try to sleep. I’ll be here the entire time.” He presses a light kiss against the back of Ryan’s head and rests his own head on the soft pillow.

Ryan turns around so he’s face-to-face with Brendon and grabs the man’s bright red shirt in a tight fist. “Thank you,” he mutters, wriggling one of his legs in-between Brendon’s. He presses his face against Brendon’s chest and closes his eyes.

Brendon rests both his hands against the small of Ryan’s back and rubs his left one in soothing little circles. Then he opens his mouth and softly starts singing.

“You are my sweetest downfall.
I loved you first, I loved you first.
Beneath the sheets of paper lies my truth.
I have to go, I have to go.
Your hair was long when we first met.”

Above his own voice, Brendon can hear Ryan sniff a few more times, but as he goes on singing, the sniffing ceases.

“Samson went back to bed,
Not much hair left on his head.
He ate a slice of wonder bread and went right back to bed.
And history books forgot about us and the bible didn't mention us.
And the bible didn't mention us, not even once.”

After this second part of the song, Ryan’s heavy breathing evens out and Brendon can tell that he’s falling asleep. It’s only a matter of seconds now until the man will be sleeping, a soft snore coming from his mouth. Brendon knows this because he has watched and listened to Ryan while he was falling asleep already a countless of times before. It’s something that he will never get bored of.

“You are my sweetest downfall.
I loved you first, I loved you first.
Beneath the stars came fallin' on our heads.
But they're just old light, they're just old light.
Your hair was long when we first met.”

Brendon stops singing and carefully listens to Ryan’s breathing. A first snore quietly escapes from the man’s mouth, making Brendon smile. Mission accomplished, he thinks to himself as he closes his own eyes, allowing himself to fall asleep with his arms still wrapped around Ryan’s body. “Sweet dreams.”