Personal Assistant (Ryden)

Chapter twenty-two

Ryan should've said no. Agreeing to going to the frozen river and walking on it was a horrible idea, but he still said yes. Brendon didn't come, he was busy doing something that is unknown to the brunet. Why would Ryan care what he's doing? He could be doing whatever, watching a movie, taking a nap, but whatever, who cares? Who cares that the man that had sex with Ryan isn't here?

Ryan takes a deep breath, feeling very dizzy and very exhausted. Four days without sleep. Should've said no.

"Come on, babe!" Sarah encourages her best friend happily, her apple red lips formed into a wide, pearly-white-teeth smile. Ryan shrugs, scratching the back of his neck. She tilts her head to the side, and Ryan obliges, putting on a fake smile. He steps onto the ice, being as careful as he can. Sarah hums in content, looking back at Ryan slowly making his way to her.

No one notices Dallon and Spencer walking away from a shallow part of the ice, trying as fast as they can to walk away from it. Ryan nearly trips, and Sarah catches him, all while Spencer says, "Avoid that area, it's really thin."

Ryan just looks up, snowflakes delicately falling onto his short, wavy brown hair. One lands on his nose and he wipes it away, sniffling quietly. Sarah moves onto where Meredith is, laughing and happily chatting with her. Spencer holds Linda's hand, helping her balance on the ice. 

Ryan wanders around to the thin area that Spencer warned everyone about before. He doesn't see the cracked ice, just some snow, and he didn't hear the warning. A wave of exhaustion hits him and he feels like he will fall, so he stumbles slightly. He doesn't care anymore, he's tired of it all. Dallon looks over, eyebrows furrowing together as he notices Ryan swaying slightly, eyes beginning to close. He realizes where he is and what is about to happen, and Dallon's heart sinks.

"Ryan!" Dallon screams, gaining everyone's attention. All of the energy in Ryan's body leaves, his eyes closing. He falls, and he falls through the ice, into the freezing and slowly flowing water. Dallon runs fast down the river to where Ryan hasn't reached, most following carefully with fear.

Ryan just floats along, unable to do anything. He'd never thought of drowning, it's never crossed his mind, but if this is how he is gonna go, then he's fine. He's asleep, stuck beneath the ice, possibly about to die. He can't do anything. And even if he could, there's a rare chance he would.

Dallon, meanwhile, begins to stomp on a certain piece of ice that looks more thin than the rest, trying to break through before Ryan reaches it. Once it breaks, everyone has caught up. Dallon reaches in, sees Ryan, then grabs his hands and him and Josh pull him out. His hand got cut on a rock underneath the water.

"Ryan..." Sarah says, absolutely frozen with tears in her eyes. Dallon blinks, swallowing the lump in his throat. Ryan isn't moving. Eyes wide, everyone looks at him, not sure what to do.

"Is..." Linda starts quietly. Sarah shakes her head, mouth open but nothing coming out. Dallon feels for a pulse and Ryan starts coughing up water. Their eyes widen and Dallon swiftly picks him up bridal style.

Dallon quickly runs across the ice, everyone carefully but quickly following him. They run through the snow, the trees, all the way to the cabin. Sarah instructs the four others to go drive to the nearest store and get food and some things that are warm, insisting that they can handle Ryan. They nod, running to the car.

Dallon rushes inside with Ryan and Sarah. Brendon turns, seeing his manager, then the shivering, soaking wet, deathly pale looking boy in his arms. Brendon's eyes widen. He quickly gets up.

"What-"

"Ryan fell through the ice," he quickly explains, and Brendon immediately leads the two to his and Ryan's room.

Ryan makes a small noise. Sarah is the first to ask, "Ryan, are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah... I... I'm fine..." He mumbles, body shaking horribly. Dallon lets him down so he can leave to grab a towel. He retrieves some bandages as well all while Brendon stares at Ryan. Dallon starts to bandage Ryan's hand once he comes back. Sarah cuts the bandage and Dallon ties it carefully. Sarah quickly dries Ryan's hair with a towel. Thankfully it dries by the time that Dallon leaves to grab extra blankets from across the cabin. Sarah takes a deep breath before slowly walking out of the room so Ryan can get some rest.

"Brendon is gonna help you get dressed," Dallon tells Ryan, but Ryan doesn't hear exactly what he said. Dallon places a hand on Brendon's shoulder. "Make sure he warms up and sleeps, he passed out and that's how he fell through. And be gentle with him," he says quietly and nicely, but it's still a command. His hand falls onto the handle, closing it behind him, leaving Brendon and Ryan alone. 

Ryan weakly takes off his shirt, tossing that and the towel to the side, and Brendon looks at him worriedly, then notices the bandages that he saw before. The bandages on his arms are wet and cold, so Brendon grabs more. Ryan does it himself, managing to hide what is being bandaged quite well. It's a slow process but he manages it.

Brendon grabs some of his own clothes from his dresser once Ryan's done. Ryan looks at his newly bandaged arms, hands shaking. He jumps as Brendon places his almost-too-hot hand on his shoulder. He looks up, seeing the clothes Brendon is holding. Brendon's heart sinks at him jumping, but doesn't say anything. His eyes meet Ryan's and suddenly he wants to cry cause he has never seen someone look so scared and sad.

Ryan grabs the sweater, pulling it over his head. Brendon helps him get dressed fully, throwing the clothes in the laundry bin. He wanted to forget about Ryan. Forget about his feelings, forget about the kisses, forget about the holding, forget about the night they had together, forget it all. But the second that Dallon ran inside with Ryan in his arms, he was reminded of it all.

"Be more careful next time," is all Brendon says, his voice barely a whisper as he wraps Ryan in two blankets, pulling him close into a hug.

Ryan weakly holds him and says, "I'm sorry... I, um... I haven't been able to-" 

One of the rules: No telling me about yourself because usually I'm not actually interested.

"Nevermind."

"No, tell me," Brendon says carefully. Ryan hesitates.

"I... you asked me... if I slept. The other day, I think. Or was it today? I... I don't know. I haven't slept in a few days..."

His eyes meet Brendon's for a second, a second too long for Ryan to feel guilty.

"I'm sorry... i-if you need me to do something, I'll be fine. A bit of not sleeping won't kill me, I can just go- I should finish emails anyway, a-and I've gotta make calls," Ryan goes to reach for his laptop, blankets falling off of his shoulders, and Brendon stares at him in disbelief. 

"Ross," he says, his tone making Ryan tense up. Brendon notices, and guilt rises up in his chest. 

"I-I could do something else, if you need me to go get something-"

"And what makes you think that you're in any shape to drive?"

Ryan looks down once Brendon notices the tears forming in his eyes. "Sorry, I... I'm sorry. I'll go-"

Brendon pulls him close, holding him tightly. Ryan weakly and anxiously hugs him back until they both pull away. Brendon looks at him and speaks, voice quiet and careful, "I want you to lay down and sleep now, okay?" He asks as he grabs the multiple blankets again.

Ryan nods, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Okay." 

He gets in the bed, facing the wall. Brendon puts the blankets on him and Ryan relaxes a bit, something about the weight making his anxiety go down. Brendon looks at the door, sighs, then crawls into bed with Ryan. His arms wrap around him. Ryan turns and snuggles into Brendon's chest, the blankets warm and heavy on them. Brendon plants a gentle kiss on the top of Ryan's head, both of them closing their eyes.