The next time I opened my eyes, I was still passed out on the couch, curled up in Ryan's lap. I raised my head to peer around Ryan's arms. The living room was quiet, the tv and dvd player turned off. When I glanced a the window I noticed it was dark outside. The environment was serene- so what had woke me up? I attempted to shift, but pain shot up my leg, so I winced and sat still. Instead, I turned my attention up to Ryan.
He was peacefully asleep, he looked as if nothing could ever disturb him. A soft smile landed on my face, but my intervention where I enjoyed Ryan's appearance was interrupted as Sarah threw the door open, walked in, then slammed it again. She appeared to have something in her hand, which I soon realized was my own, olive-green guitar. Panic filled me as stormed straight through the house, her goal appeared to be outside- with my guitar. Not hers, mine.
I quickly whined and grabbed Ryan's leg, shaking him rather violently. Ryan jolted awake with a sharp intake of breath. He sent me an expression of confusion, but I simply motioned my head in the direction in which Sarah was headed. Ryan quietly turned his head over his shoulder to peer over the couch. When he took notice of Sarah, he cursed under his breath. "Shit." Quickly, I scrambled off of Ryan, allowing him to lunge from the couch, and instead run at Sarah before she could reach the door.
"Sarah! What..what uh, are you doing with Brendon's guitar?" Ryan stalled. Sarah whirled around to face Ryan, an expression of disgust crossing her face. I frowned from behind the couch. I was clutching to it to express my pain, instead watching over the edge of the couch at the conversation. Sarah easily saw me, though, and shook her head in disbelief. "If he's gonna be a cheating son of a bitch he doesn't deserve the pleasure of this stupid group of glued together wood, Ryan, get out of my house." She snapped.
My panic grew- Ryan wouldn't let her throw my guitar out, would he? Ryan's face fell into yet another frown. I could tell from where I sat, there was really nothing he could do about the situation. I groaned and fell back on the couch, "Then I'll leave," I decided, raising my head warily to yet again, peer over the couch. That stopped their docile argument. Both Ryan and Sarah snapped their attention to me.
"Leave? You're just gonna walk out if I give you this?" She asked. Ryan gave me a look of desperation, I could see the pain in his eyes knowing I was risking my favorite guitar's 'life'. Yet at the moment, my guitar was the last of my worries. If Sarah was going to act like this, cross the line into my musical career, then clearly I had no business with her. So I straightened up as my confidence grown, though my mood was easily dropping. "Yes."
Sarah stared at me for a long moment before her lips curled into a smile. "Deal, take this, and get out." She decided, shoving the guitar into Ryan's arms. The boy grunted softly in surprise at the extra weight added to his arms. I found myself choking on air as I neurotically willed Ryan to keep a good hold on it. In the end, he managed to catch it, and turned to me with a deflated smile. "Shall we?" He called out.
I quickly wiped at my eyes, before leaning over to lift Bogart into my arms. "I'm taking Bogart, too. Everything else..I'll come get it in the next 30 days. Legally, I have that much time to get on my feet before you have the right to kick me out of this house." I spoke, my confidence growing with each step I took towards Ryan, Bogart curled up in my arms. Ryan gripped firmly to the guitar neck, running his fingers over the body of it all the same- he appeared to be too caught up in admiring my guitar.
"Deal. Go." Sarah insisted, pointing at the door. As I turned to head in that direction, Sarah spoke up yet again, "Wait, here. You can take this, too." I whirled around to face Sarah, only for her to watch her quite dramatically remove the engagement ring I'd given her- off of her finger. That's when my world came crashing down. Surely she just wanted a break, right? She wasn't dumping me- she couldn't, not in the situation I was in.
Yet she had. She stuffed the ring into my hand, smiled, and waved me off.
I don't exactly remember all that remembered after that, as everything was just fuzzy. I do remember very clearly though, Sarah's smile. She didn't care about how she was breaking my heart. Her smile was ruthless, that and Ryan's hand. I could easily remember his heart clutching tightly on mine, chaining me to reality, so I wouldn't completely lose myself. I remember screaming, crying out for Sarah to stay, that it wasn't fair. That she couldn't leave me like this.
Still, that careless smile burned in my mind. Sarah smiles, like Sarah doesn't care. Clearly, she didn't care.
...
The next time I finally snapped into reality, and stopped fucking around in my mind, I had awoken in an unfamiliar place. The only familiar thing about where ever I was, was the soft licking of my own dog's tongue. I released a heavy breath, my eyes opening, but I was forced to close them and adjust to the beams of bright light. Once my eyes were adjusted to the light, I finally took in the room I was lying in.
It was dark, but around the head of the bed, and just hanging from the ceiling at random places, were some fairy lights. Though they weren't what woke me, it was the eerie silence at my ears, and the bright light shining from the door at the far end of the room. The room over all was a bit smaller, and cozy, with a gray theme. The walls were decorated with pictures, photography done by somebody who spent too much time outside.
I took notice of my own dog, Bogart, lying curled up at my side, his tongue drawing over my hand. I cleared my throat and propped myself up on my elbows, which scarred off Bogart. The dog gave me a look, wagged his tail, and leapt from the rather comfortable bed, instead darting from the room through the door that was barely ajar. Speaking of this door, I decided I needed to figure out 1) where I am, and 2) why the light is so bright.
I slipped off the bed with clumsy steps, turning to the bedside table, where I found my phone, glasses, and the ring that destroyed my life. The engagement ring Sarah had returned to me. My breath caught in my throat as I stared at it- tears threatening to bubble over and spill again, but I choked them back, and simply grabbed the ring, stuffing it in my pocket. I figured I'd forget it later on, but for now I had my own ways of grieving.
Next, I slipped my glasses on, and gripped my phone tightly, hitting the power button so it'd light up, and give me enough light to examine the room closer. I noticed a dresser in one corner, with a tv sitting upon it, but what caught my eye the most was what was placed right in front of the closet. Sitting in a guitar stand, was my military green guitar, with a sticky note plastered to the fretboard.
I released a soft sigh, and shuffled on over, leaning over to shine the light from my phone onto the sticky note.
I figured you'd want this close to you when you woke up.
- xoxo ryan
I straightened up again, a smile finding my face before I could stop it. Ryan. I was at Ryan's. A sense of safety and security washed over me, now that I knew I wasn't in some stranger's house. Not only that, but he'd put me in his mind. I was jolted from my thoughts when a noise rang out, though. A loud bang!, then a hiss. Cat? So I wandered out of the room, towards the light. The source, I found out soon enough, was the kitchen.
And in the kitchen, were two dogs, and a cat. One of the dogs was mine, Bogart, but the other dog, along with the cat, were strangers to me. The cat, which appeared to be a Savannah cat, was perched on a pan, on the counter near the stove. Hanging on the wall above the cat were a variety of pots and pans. Bogart had begun to bark at the sight of me, the shorter dog attempting to scale the counter, to no avail.
But if anyone were making fruitless attempts, it was the next dog. The last dog, and definitely as small as the cat, was a bloodhound. I couldn't help but smile at the scene; the dog was flopping all over the place, tripping over it's own long, droopy ears. Out of sympathy, I leaned over to lift the puppy into my arms. A giggle escaped me as the dog then decided to try and scale me, instead, licking at my face. In no time, I had dog slobber all over my face.
"Brendon, meet Dottie. Dottie, meet Brendon," I jumped, startled, as my grip on the dog tightened only slightly. Standing in the doorway of the kitchen, was a very drowsy appearing Ryan. He looked over the scene with a wary smile, though he looked more comfortable here, than he had at Sarah's. I don't blame him. I simply gave him a lopsided smile, testing my ankle as I released the dog back onto the ground.
Pain began to burn in my ankle, so I returned to walking the way I had before, a subtle limp, favoring my injured leg. Ryan must've took notice of the way I stumbled slightly into the safe grip of the counter, which I clutched to for support, knocking aside the pan the cat had been perched on top of at one point. The cat lunged from it, a meow of protest escaping before it landed on the dining room table. The kitchen light was flicked on, hinting to why I'd woken up.
Bogart yelped and stepped aside as Ryan was at my side in no time, one arm around my waist. My face flushed at the attention he gave me, but I had no choice but to let him walk me over to a chair, where he let me sit down. I grunted in thanks and pulled my phone out, a frown reaching my face.
"It's three in the morning, what the hell are you doing awake?" I snapped at him, only to earn a smirk. Ryan moved to stand behind the chair I was sitting in, his hands finding my shoulders. He'd begun to quite expertly rub at my shoulders and upper back. "I thought by now you'd have been used to me waking up early, my entire sleeping pattern's been fucked up since high school." He whispered in my ear.
So to make up for his disturbance he'd caused...he's giving me a message? I could deal with this for a while. I relaxed into the seat, closing my eyes, and allowing my shoulders to relax under his touch- I felt at peace.
//
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- ADAKIAS (SATURN)