I Am A Wolf Among The Sheep [Ryden]

Meet Me In Hell, Heaven's Too Fussy [II]

'Ryan, long time no see!' I hear somebody say from behind the bar. Who it is I do not know. Nor do I care. But I still shoot a smile in the direction it came from.

'Uh, yeah,' I grumble. My temple has stopped throbbing and I've calmed down a bit. 'Long time...uh, who is it?'

Silence. A long silence. 'It's Joe, remember?'

Shit. Joe? Jesus christ. 'Oh my fuck, I haven't seen you in a while!' I chuckle awkwardly. I hope he isn't upset that I forgot his name. 

'Yeah man, it's been,' he pauses as he leans onto the bar, a light hitting one half of his face. 'It's been a while. Can I get you a drink? Do you have time to catch up?'

'Oh, oh god,' I mumble foolishly. 'Yeah. I mean yeah, can I get a drink? Just a beer, y'know. The usual,' I pause and look at Joe who is still stood looking at me. 'And yeah. I have the time to catch up.'

He smiles unusually warmly and pours me a beer. 'There's a booth over there. I'm catching up with a few more old friends. I'm sure they won't mind the one and only Ryan Ross joining us.'

I scoff and nod my head slightly at him as he gestures over to one of the bigger booths - it's closed off, and there's smoke puffing over the top of the oak seats. Good job, too. I forgot to bring my cigarettes.

As I shuffle over to the booth I begin to hear multiple voices. I nervously poke my head around the seats to see four men sat chatting, drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. Three of them turn to investigate who the mysterious being is, and they smile almost in-sync.

'Ryan?' one says. It's Patrick. I recognize his voice instantly. 

'Patrick!' I greet him with fake enthusiasm. 'You don't mind if I join you, do you?'

He shakes his head furiously and mutters 'of course not' while the two other men are still gawping at me. 

I sit next to the guy who hasn't turned his head - seems like the safer option. He has a guitar case propped up against the wall and he's taking a long drag from a cigarette.

'So, you gonna introduce me to your friends?' I catch Patricks attention.

'Oh...Oh!' He smiles. The guy next to me looks up at Patrick and snorts. 'This is William. And this is Alex.' He waves his hands at the two guys sat next to him. 'And that's Brendon.' 

'Nice to meet you all,' I grin. 'My name's Rya-'

'Ryan Ross!' Alex chirps excitedly. 'Oh my god, it's actually you! ITS FUCKING YOU IN THE FLESH! Oh gosh, I might have a panic attack...' he giggles. 'in a good way!'

'Oh god, Ryan Ross.. oh my god.'

I see Brendon look at me from the corner of my eye. His mouth is hanging open. I turn to face him.

'Seeing as you seem like the calmest member of the group,' I smirk. 'Nice to meet you. The name's Ryan Ross. Pleasure's all mine.' I shake his hand and I can almost feel his muscles weaken.

'Wow. It's...you.' he looks at me in awe, mouth still hanging open. 'Oh man, I love you.'

Long pause. Patrick sniggers and I hear William gasp.

'I mean, I love your band.'

I smile at him and he flashes a smile back. He's cute - I'm not going to lie. His hair is ruffled and his dark chocolate eyes are wide and admiring. He's wearing a pastel blue shirt, black bowtie and skinny jeans. Oh god, I'm looking at his thighs...his thighs. A strangers thighs. They are shapely, not like my own skinny thighs. What is happening to me. Why am I here? These are average, everyday people. I am Ryan Ross.

'Well thanks, I guess,' I grin at him. 'You play the guitar?'

He gasps slightly before answering. 'Y-yes... But I'm nowhere near as good as you!' 

'Don't defend yourself,' I snort. 'I'm bet you're great.'

I'm sure I hear William and Alex almost squeal because I have complimented their friend.

'Oh, oh thankyou. But I'm not. If I were any good, I would be out there! But I'm just playing in a little band for now.' 

I nod my head slowly and Joe appears almost from nowhere. He squeezes next to Patrick and hands me a beer. 

And for the rest of the night, I spend my night getting drunk with people I barely know. Alex and William are secretely freaking out over me between themselves and Patrick and Joe are chatting like old pals do. Brendon and I are having some sort of competition to see how many beers we can drink before we vomit. I'm winning. Brendon keeps zoning out. He is going to go soon. I am going to win.

Skip forward an hour and a half.

'Ry-ry-ry-' he stammers. 'Ry, ai doungt evurn knouw whut iarm douin rioght noaw.'  

He is fucked. I can barely understand him. I'm not far behind him. I can at least try and form sentences correctly though. Wait. Did he just call me Ry? I kind of like that. Ryan's better than George, and Ry is even better than Ryan. 

'Bren, you're drunk, okay?' I giggle at him. 'Where do you live? I can walk you home!'

'I..I live on 26 Ruhbeen Streeeeeet.' I smile at his drunk state of mind. 26 Robin Street. Just round the corner from the studio. 

'I'll walk you home, okay? My pleasure,' Joe is behind the bar and Patrick, William and Alex have gone home. It's just me and Brendon, enjoying ourselves. I haven't enjoyed myself for a long time. I like it. I like it a lot. I like variety. I am superior to these people. I am better than them all. And I can make them do anything I want. Anything. Because I am The Wanderer. I am Ryan Ross.