For you, i will

chapter IX

a soft knock interrupted shane's silent thoughts, and he reluctantly rose to answer it, knowing who he would find on the other side. as soon as the door was closed, ryan collapsed into shane's arms, holding the man's figure against his as he struggled to hold back tears.
"god shane i was so worried about you."
shane slowly embraced ryan and rested his chin on top of his head. the moment was so comforting, it pained him to have to end it.
"i was planning on leaving LA tomorrow."
ryan, shocked at the remark, drew away from shane and locked his hurt eyes with the man. after some silence, ryan gathered his thoughts enough to make one statement.
"for what reason?"
"god ryan i don't know how to explain in a way you would believe me."
"i will believe you shane. i will."
"i..." shane trailed off. he looked visibly disturbed, and so ryan placed his hand on top of his to comfort him.
"i'm aging ryan. i'm growing older. i'm an immortal, and yet for the first time in my life, i might die."
ryan was confused by the statement, but he tried his best to comfort shane which, because he was not fully sure on how a demon's life worked, wasn't very effective.
"oh my goodness shane...i can't say i understand you, but that is a lot. do you know why this is happening? can you stop it..?" he struggled for the right words.
"that's the thing, ryan. it's because of you."
his words lingered in the air, making it dense around them. finally, someone spoke.
"that's why i was leaving. because i'm scared. because i really like you, and that's causing me to become mortal."
ryan tightened his grip on shane's hand at the words. he had wanted for so long to hear that the man had feelings for him, and yet it hurt his heart as he did.

"shane... you have to go. i can't stand here with you knowing that i'm the cause of this. i care about you too much. it hurts me an impossible amount to think of my life without you. but i want you to be okay, and i'm willing to not be okay for that to happen."
"ryan.." shane leaned closer to ryan, his eyes piercing into his with an iridescent glow. his voice spoke, a breathless whisper. "i'm not going to leave you."

it happened quickly, almost too quickly for ryan to process, but shane's lips were pressed against his. his surprise quickly transformed into passion, as he embraced the man in his arms, unable to stop because he had wanted to do this for so incredibly long. he let shane lay him down as they continued to kiss, closing his eyes and giving himself up to the moment. shane lifted off from ryan, staring down at him.
"ryan, i don't care what happens to me. i don't care how short my life is. i just know i want to be with you."
"i want to be with you too shane..."
the two leaned back into a kiss, letting themselves be selfish over the other, finally having what they needed for so long—each other.

off in the distance, the city lights, a beautiful sight, flickered as the traffic passed. so many people living their lives, not aware of the amazing occurrence. that two people so meant to be, would finally be. life continued with its flow, not acknowledging what had happened. but for shane and ryan, time was frozen. there was no sense of reality, for they were each other's reality. it was the best feeling either of them had felt in a long time.