The next morning, Brendon goes downstairs, unable to keep the smile from off his face.
Ryan loves him. Him. If he'd have known, when he first laid eyes on the troubled, quiet boy in the corner of the canteen, that they'd fall so suddenly in love, well. He would have laughed at himself. But now? It seems so real and, he doesn't want to get too soppy, but kind of really amazing.
He enters the kitchen, actually whistling to himself, to find his father eating cereal at the table, alone. He pours himself some, splashes in the milk, and then pulls up a chair next to Mr. Urie, feeling more at home than he has in six months.
"Morning, kid," Mr. Urie smiles, but there seems to be something forced about his cheeriness.
"Morning," Brendon replies, his own smile fading slightly. "Are you alright?"
"Oh, I'm fine," he says, airily, but then nods at the ceiling. "Your mom's, uh, boyfriend came round last night. He's with her now. To say the least, he wasn't happy to see me here."
"What did he do?" Brendon asks, sharply. He's not about to have Rodney doing anything to his dad. If he so much as tries to push him away again, then Brendon will probably be asking Ryan if he can borrow his knife for a little while.
"Nothing too bad. He just kind of glared at me and then went upstairs with her, asking who I was."
"I hate him," Brendon huffs, angrily, and it's a relief to be able to tell an adult about it, without fear of them defending the man. "He hates me, too. I don't understand what mom sees in him; he's really rude and ignorant, and he hurts me, but mom just kind of --"
"He what?" Mr. Urie just about shouts, looking furious. "He hurts you?"
Brendon nods, gesturing to his cheek. "Yeah. He kind of did that with his belt, and he's hit me around the back of the head a couple of times. With the belt, though, he was going to hurt me with it, but then Ryan told him to leave me alone, and so Rodney tried to hurt him, but I got in the way."
Mr. Urie's expression is the darkest that Brendon has ever seen it, and he begins to wonder if telling the truth was the best idea, after all. "It's your mom's business if she lets somebody ruin her life, however much I hate to see them together," he says, quietly. "But no asshole is going to start hurting my son."
Brendon's heart leaps, slightly. Maybe his dad will stop it all, and get rid of the man. Maybe. Then, he realises what his dad has said, and blinks. "You hate seeing them together? Why?"
Mr. Urie sighs, heavily, and looks glumly down at the table. "I've never stopped loving your mother," he explains, in a low voice. "She left me, because I've never been able to provide for the two of you. You know how hard I find it to hold down a job; I always want to do something new."
"You're still in love with her?" Brendon chokes, hope suddenly filling him. "Tell her!"
"It's not as easy as that, kid," he replies, sadly. "She's obviously moved on."
"Since when have you given up so easily?" Brendon asks coldly, hoping to provoke some kind of reaction. However, he glances at his watch before he can press the issue further, and winces. "Damn. I've got to get to school."
"I'll give you a lift," Mr. Urie smiles, getting to his feet. "God knows I owe you one, after sixth months of not seeing you."
"Thanks," Brendon beams, and rushes upstairs to run a brush through his hair, quickly, and grab his school bag. He passes his mom's door, and his half-tempted to go in and tell Rodney that he's not going to be able to get away with hitting him anymore, but he somehow resists.
In a minute, he's getting into his dad's car, his dad sliding into the driver's seat. They set off down the street, Brendon wanting to talk more about his mom and dad's situation, but it seems his dad has other things on his mind. "So," he says, as they turn the corner, "you're gay?"
Brendon's eyes go wide at the suddenness of the question, but he's hardly about to lie. "Um. Yeah, I am."
Mr. Urie nods, thoughtfully. "I thought so. I always guessed there was something deeper than friendship between you and that Lawrence kid, not to mention the fact that you always came home so badly beaten up."
"I never thought you or mom guessed! I would've told you sooner."
"I think your mom was in a bit of denial, to be honest," Mr. Urie explains, frowning slightly. At the look of hurt on Brendon's face, he quickly adds, "She's okay with it, really. She always has been. I just don't think she'd choose it for her own child, only because of how much people like to hurt you because of it."
"Ah, right," Brendon muses, thinking on it. He's beyond happy that his parents are accepting of it; he can't see why they wouldn't be, but he's experienced enough homophobia to make him a bit wary of people's reactions.
Within minutes, they're pulling up outside of school, and Brendon sighs, heavily. Timothy's walking through the gates, and he spots Brendon watching him. Swiftly, he raises his middle finger, and then heads off towards the building. Mr. Urie seems to notice this, looking extremely troubled, but then he breaks into a smile.
"Do you enjoy school?"
"Not really."
"How about you give it a miss today, and we go and get ice creams, instead? You can find Ryan, and we'll make a day of it."
Brendon stares at his dad, a smile slowly coming across his face. "Really? I get to skip school for ice cream?"
"Sure," Mr. Urie laughs.
"I'll go and find him," Brendon exclaims, excitedly. He gets out of the car, turns in the direction of the school - and then hears a call from behind him.
"Brendon!" comes a voice, and he turns, to find himself face to face with Ryan. He grins, widely, taking in Ryan's shy smile, and how nervous he looks to be with his boyfriend for the first time after admitting he's in love with him. "Hey. How are you?"
"I'm great," Brendon, practically bouncing up and down on the spot. "Fancy skipping school today?"
"What? Why?" Ryan asks, and laughs, a little. "Have you missed me that much?"
"Well, yeah," Brendon laughs, rolling his eyes. "But not just that. My dad said we can skip school today and go and get an ice cream or something. Do you wan to come? He said you can come along, so like, it's not putting any stress on him to bring you out so don't worry. It'll be amazing. I haven't had ice cream in ages; chocolate is my favourite, and --"
"Um. Really? You're sure it won't be any trouble?" Ryan asks, looking surprised.
"Not at all!" Brendon smiles, pulling him in the direction of the car. "Here we are."
"Hello again, Ryan," Mr. Urie greets, as Ryan slides nervously into the back seat. Brendon gets into the front, grinning, and tapping the dashboard in front of him. "How are you today?"
"I'm okay, thanks," Ryan answers, quietly. "Thanks very much for doing this. You don't have to."
"It's nothing," Mr. Urie dismisses, as the car sets into motion once more. "I've been out of Brendon's life for long enough, and what better time to get to know his boyfriend than over ice cream?"
Brendon hears Ryan laugh, and the sound makes his stomach flop, strangely. He turns around in his seat to shoot the boy a small smile, which Ryan returns. Then, he turns back to the front, and he and his dad begin to talk about California. It turns out that he's been kicked out of his house for not making payments, and so has come to live with Brendon and his mom for a couple of months, until he gets back onto his feet.
Brendon doesn't mind, at all. In fact, he's overjoyed.
They reach a café, that sells ice cream and cakes, within twenty minutes. It's nearly empty, as most people are at school or at work, and so Ryan and Brendon head to a small table in the corner, whilst Mr. Urie goes to get their order from the counter.
"Your dad is like, amazing," Ryan says, once he's out of earshot.
"I agree," Brendon smiles, glancing at his father's retreating back. "I mean, he's not perfect, though. He's really inconsistent. When I see him, we have an amazing time, but he gets these big ideas in his head that never actually work, and he's never been able to hold down a job. He got really mad when he heard that Rodney has hurt me, though."
"Thank God," Ryan breathes, looking relieved. "Somebody needs to do something to him."
Brendon nods in agreement, thinking about it. He can't imagine Rodney doing anything to him anymore; it must have been a power thing, and now that he knows he'll meet real opposition, hopefully, he'll stop. Brendon can only hope that his mom will see the difference between her current boyfriend and her ex-husband, and leave one for the other.
"I went to the doctors last night, you know," Ryan tells him, stirring him from his thoughts. Brendon looks at him, startled at how quickly he went through with his promise. "I saw this psychiatrist woman, with my mom. I've been put on lithium."
"A mood stabiliser?" Brendon asks, softly. He bites his lip, and takes Ryan's hand. "Look. It's a big thing to do. A fucking huge thing to do. You don't have to. I don't mind you, um --"
"Having mood swings?" Ryan asks, with a weak smile, and Brendon nods. "But I do. I don't want to mess things up for us, again. I have to do this. For you, but for me, too."
"If you want to, then good," Brendon smiles, reassuringly. He leans forward, and presses a tender, comforting kiss to Ryan's cheek. Pulling back, he grins. "Ice cream will make everything better. I promise."
Ryan shakes his head, but he's wearing a sunny smile as he gazes at Brendon. "I love you."
Brendon kinds of wants to cry. "Love you, too."
"Well, I, personally, love ice cream," comes Mr. Urie's laugh, as he sets a bowl of it in front of each of them. They both laugh, and Brendon feels Ryan's hand settle comfortably on his thigh. He smiles, secretly, looking down into the chocolate ice cream in front of him. Maybe things will be okay, after all.
*
A few hours later, and Mr. Urie is driving them home. They'd gone shopping, with Brendon's father treating them both - though Ryan hadn't accepted anything large, as he said he felt bad about money being spent on him - and now they're returning home in time for it to seem like Ryan has been at school.
They pull up outside of Ryan's house, and Ryan climbs out of the bar, thanking Mr. Urie profusely for such a nice day. Brendon glances at his dad as Ryan's door swings shut, and says, "Can I get out and say goodbye, properly?"
"Of course you can," Mr. Urie laughs, and then raises his eyebrows. "I'll look away to give you some privacy."
"Thanks," Brendon grins, and clambers out of the car. He quickly walks around onto the sidewalk, and catches up with Ryan, who is just about to open his front door. Ryan turns at the sounds, looking surprised, but then smiles when he sees Brendon. "Hey, you."
"Hey, you, too," Ryan smiles, and glances towards the car. Mr. Urie is reading a leaflet they'd picked up whilst shopping. "Have you come to walk me to my door?"
"Of course I have. I'm obviously the gentleman in the relationship," Brendon laughs, and then leans forward to press a quick kiss on Ryan's lips. He moves to lean back, but Ryan hand slips around to the back of his head, holding him still, as he deepens the kiss, tongue parting Brendon's lips.
Brendon smiles, as Ryan's tongue presses against his, and then Ryan pulls back, slightly flushed. "Thank you so much, again, for going through fucking lithium for me," Brendon murmurs, sliding a finger through one of Ryan's belt hoops to pull them closer together.
"You're welcome," Ryan replies, with a smile.
"I really --" Brendon breaks off, however, as the front door swings open. He lets go of Ryan and takes an automatic step back, not entirely sure how open Ryan is about their relationship to his parents. "Oh! Um. Hi, Mrs. Ross."
"Hello, Brendon, dear," she replies, in a tired voice. She has a black eye, that looks recent, and Brendon's stomach churns. "I thought I heard voices so I thought I'd come to see who it is."
"Yeah, we were just saying, um, goodbye," Ryan tells her, and then turns to Brendon, looking as though he's about to burst out laughing. "Goodbye, then."
"See you tomorrow," Brendon promises, and Ryan steps around his mom, disappearing into house. "Um. Goodbye then, Mrs. --"
"You're looking after my Ryan quite well, aren't you?" she interrupts him.
"Uh. Well. I think --"
"Thank you," she says, with a weak smile. "I hope you'll be able to look after him for as long as he needs it, because he really does need it."
"I'll look after him for as long as he wants me to, and longer, if I need to," Brendon tells her, sincerely, and her smile widens slightly. "See you later then, Mrs. Ross."
"Goodbye, dear," she replies, and when she shuts the door, her hands are shaking. Brendon feels a little nervous, but then shakes his head, dismissing it. She's probably just going through a stressful time, or something. It's not his place to ask her if she's okay.
He heads back to the car, trying to ignore the strange feeling of dread that's building in his stomach, as though something bad is about to happen.
After all, he thinks, as he gets back into his seat - fate can't really be so cruel to him, can it?