Strawberries & cigarettes (ryatt)

Chapter one

Ryan shoved his hands in his pockets after closing his front door behind him, taking a step outside. He exhaled through his mouth, watching a small cloud of condensation come out as a result. He couldn't wait for winter to end, sweatpants were comfortable, sure, but he missed his trademark gym shorts & flip flops.

He decided to check his phone once more as he started walking, pulling it out his pocket. He read the time, squinting his eyes as he adjusted to the sudden screen light. 10:32pm. He shook his head, putting his hand & phone back into his pocket. He must have been crazy, leaving his warm house just to meet up with his friend.

Matt had randomly woke him up from his nap, Ryan hadn't been sleeping well lately so he started taking small naps until late at night. Matt had called him, explaining he needed to see Ryan as soon as possible at the park near their old apartment. Ryan had bit his tongue to hold back his complaints & agreed, throwing on whatever clothes were laying around.

As he walked, he wondered what Matt could possibly want that was so urgent. Couldn't he have asked Harryson or Jackson instead. That would have been much more convenient since they lived together now. He sighed, there was no way he could pin point that boy's mind so he gave up & focused on the path ahead.

The street was mostly empty, aside from a few cars flying by on the road beside him. A group of teenagers passed him, most likely high or drunk since they were all laughing loudly at nothing in particular & clinging to each other just to stay upright. He didn't pay much attention to them, stepping out the way as they crossed paths.

Eventually, he had reached the park, taking a seat on the nearest thing to him, the swing set. He gently rocked himself back & forth, scanning the area for his friend. He rolled his eyes since the tall boy wasn't on site, pulling out his phone to ask said boy.

As Ryan began typing in his password, he was suddenly grabbed by the shoulders. "Shit!" He called out, quickly standing up & turning around, causing the hands to release him along with familiar laughter.

"Dude, calm down, it's just me" Matt spoke up once he was done laughing, stepping around the swing set to hug his best friend.

Ryan let out a small sigh, hugging the other back. "You scared the fuck out of me" he complained, the first to pull away from the embrace to quickly bury his hands back into his pockets for warmth.

Matt's smug smile remained as he crossed his arms. "Yeah, that's payback for all those times you've screamed bazinga at me" he replied.

"Whatever" Ryan laughed a little at the response, remembering back to when they lived together. "So what did you need me for?"

Matt seemed surprised at the question, caught off guard, as if he wasn't the one who had suddenly requested this meet up. "Oh, right!" He stumbled on his words, then trailing off as if he was trying to translate his thoughts into words. "It's been a while since we hung out, just the two of us, you know. I was thinking we could go on a camping trip since it's our week off" he shrugged as if it was no big deal, although his uncertain tone said otherwise.

Ryan scanned his friend's face before replying. "What are you, eight?" He joked, shaking his head a little.

"Come on, it'll be fun. Who knows, there might be some cute college chicks there" Matt suggested, as if the end of winter was equal to the middle of spring break.

Ryan thought for a moment. He had nothing interesting going on this week, all he had planned was to finish a video game he started & catch up on his sleep schedule. Matt wasn't wrong, the only times they spent time alone together was at work & even then, there would be other people chiming in. "Fuck it, why not?"

Matt's eyes lit up at the response, he opened & closed his mouth as if he was about to question if the other was completely sure. "Nice nice nice, I'll pick you up tomorrow around noon" his smile returned.

"Sounds good, I'm gonna go home & sleep" Ryan replied, Stirling a yawn.

"Is sleep code for jacking off?"

"Maybe, haven't decided yet".

Ryan almost collapsed on his sofa as soon as he got in the door. He pet Lego as the dog came to greet him, kicking off his shoes.

He made his way to the kitchen area, opening the fridge & grabbing the first can of soda he saw. He decided he was too tired to make any food & went off to his bedroom.

He opened the can, taking a large sip of it before setting it down on his bedside table & laying down on his bed. He smiled to himself, staring at the blank ceiling. He was somewhat looking forward to spending alone time with Matt like old times, they hadn't done so since Matt moved out. He let his thoughts run on what they would do at the campsite before they died down & he eventually fell asleep.

(A/n: happy valentines day in my time. This chapter is short since I wanted to get this up for today but the next ones should be longer. Also, I know the boys quit smoking & vaping [im so proud of them] but Ryan's gonna smoke in this fic for the sake of the fic name)