Ryland stared out the foggy window at the passing scenery, watching as the dark skies were illuminated by flashes of lightning. A slightly-more-loud-than-necessary exclamation pulled him away from the window and turned his attention across the aisle to the only other occupied chairs on the bus.
"-and then he just tossed his drink at my face and started swearing at me!" A brown-haired man said, gesturing to the large red stain across his previously baby blue shirt.
"You look like you got a lap dance from a girl on her period!" One of the men beside him commented.
Ryland recognized the one furthest to the right as Shane, who he'd met once on the set of Clevver, although they weren't actually in a video together, and the other two of them as Shane's friends, though he wasn't able to remember much about them besides that.
"Oh, Drew, this is our stop!" The brown-haired one spoke up again. "Thanks for inviting us out, Shane!"
"Yeah, thanks. Still up for our video tomorrow?" The dark haired one, who Ryland assumed was Drew, added, turning back around to face Shane.
"You know it!" He replied enthusiastically with a wide smile. "See you guys later."
As the bus started up once more, Shane turned to face Ryland.
"Oh, hey, I remember you from Clevver! Ryland, right?"
The mentioned boy took a moment to respond, half from plain surprise and half from his quite tired state. "I- yeah, that's me. And you're Shane." He gave a small grin. "I remember you from the Chapstick episode."
"Yeah, god, that was fun." He replied, a somewhat dopey grin still plastered on his face, which Ryland was beginning to think was due to tipsiness. "So, heading anywhere interesting tonight?"
"I was just coming home from work, late night. My car broke down so I thought the bus would be my best bet. What about you?"
"Oh, just out clubbing, living my life to the fullest. Sex, drugs, parties." He paused. "No, I'm just kidding, we were actually at my friend's house dressing up her cats in baby clothes."
Ryland chuckled, opening his mouth to reply before the bus jerked to a sudden stop. The two simultaneously exchanged worried glances before looking to the driver, who was shaking his head.
"Sorry, gentlemen, it seems that the bus has broken down." He said, standing up.
"Broken down- how long are we going to be stuck here?" Ryland asked, biting his lip lightly.
"At least an hour, we've got to wait until either the services come or until the next bus comes, but since we've only ever got two buses running this loop, that'll take at least two hours."
Ryland groaned, his head falling into his hands.
"How far away is your stop? Would you be able to walk home?" Shane asked.
"It's almost a two hour walk from here, I'd be better just waiting for the next bus over that." He sighed, reaching into his pocket. "And my phone's dead, I guess I'll be waiting for the next bus."
"I mean, my place is just a fifteen-minute walk away, you could stay overnight if you wanted." He suggested. "I could drive you home in the morning and everything, no worries."
Ryland hesitated. "Are you sure? I don't want to be a nuisance or anything."
"Hey, it's no problem. I'd hate myself even more if I just forced you to just walk a mile home in the pouring rain." Shane said, gaining a smile in return.
The two hopped off the bus, rain already showering down on them. Shane muttered a hushed curse, sifting through his bag to pull out an umbrella and opening it. He looked to Ryland, who'd simply wrapped his arms around himself, shivering, and offered the umbrella to him.
"I'm alright, you're already allowing me to sleep at your place, you don't have to sacrifice your umbrella too." He chuckled.
"It's fine, we can share." Shane took a small step towards Ryland, holding the umbrella over him.
The two walked quietly for a short while, just listening to the sounds of the storm; wind whistling through the trees, rain pelting against the ground surrounding them, and thunder roaring from the sky.
"You're really short."
Ryland scoffed, half in shock and half in offense. "What?! Is that your idea of a good conversation starter?"
"You're like five inches shorter than me, it's just really noticeable!" Shane laughed.
"I'm practically average height, you're just tall!
"Then how tall are you?"
"...five ten."
"That's a lie if I've ever heard one."
"Fine, five eight."
Shane looked away, biting down on his lip slightly to keep from laughing. "I think my mom is taller than you."
"Just shut up." Ryland said, rolling his eyes and shoving the other man playfully.
They fell into silence once more, the mood seemingly much lighter than it was previously. Ryland shielded his face slightly as the wind got stronger, glancing at the heavily swaying trees beside them wearily.
"The winds are really picking up, huh?" Shane said, raising his voice in order to be heard over the breeze. "We're almost there though, don't worry. Plus, the trees around here are really sturdy, they aren't going to fall too easily."
As if on key, a sudden snap echoed through the area and the two watched as a branch fell to the ground across the street from them.
"Or not."
An alarming rip followed from above them, the fabric protecting them from the downpour beginning to tear open slowly.
"Well, fuck." Shane said, bluntly, tossing the umbrella into a nearby bush. "I knew I shouldn't have grabbed the dollar store 'Dora the Explorer' umbrella, you can never trust that bitch. As much as I hate it, we're gonna have to run, just follow me!"
The taller began to sprint, Ryland quickly following behind. If the wind rocketing beside them and crashing thunder weren't unnerving enough, the sight of quick spurts of lightning every few moments were, but they all pushed them harder to get to their destination faster. Shane turned back to face Ryland for a moment, saying something that the other couldn't quite make out, before turning into a driveway.
It wasn't until the door slammed behind them and the two had a chance to somewhat catch their breaths that someone finally spoke up.
"Holy shit, that was more exercise than I've ever done in my life, and more than I'd ever like to do again." Shane panted, brushing some wet strands of hair out of his eyes. "I'll never need to go to the gym again!"
Ryland chuckled, attempting to dry his face with his shirt sleeves, which were dripping water onto the floor. In fact, both he and Shane had puddles of water forming beneath them.
"I know I've probably bothered you enough already, but do you have a towel that I could borrow?" Ryland requested, shifting awkwardly in place. "And maybe a change of clothes?"
"Oh, fuck, yeah, of course. Just... stay there for a sec, I'll be right back." Shane told him, shedding his sopping wet jacket onto the floor and rushing upstairs.
Ryland stood in place, arms wrapped around his thin frame, looking around the house as much as he could without moving from his spot and without seeming intrusive. The odd and otherwise out-of-place decorations seemed to suit Shane's personality so well. The furniture had blankets and clothing strewn across them, although it was forgivable as Shane had no idea that he'd be having someone stay over (plus, Ryland could admit that his room was even more dirty). At the sound of footsteps coming down the spiral staircase, Ryland perked up, watching as the other man padded over to him, having already changed himself.
"Here," Shane handed over the towel. "You can dry yourself off a bit first. I tried to grab the shirt with the least amount of stains and or holes, but I can't promise anything."
Ryland chuckled, grabbing the cloth from him gratefully.
"The clothes are going to be pretty big, 'cause, well, I'm pretty big." Shane commented, gesturing to himself.
Grabbing the shirt and pants off the couch, Ryland smiled, before being pointed in the direction of the bathroom to change. He peeled the sticky shirt off his skin like a bandage, tossing it carelessly onto the tile beneath him, and pulled Shane's black t-shirt over his head. Saying it was 'big' was quite the understatement considering it dropped almost down to Ryland's knees, he didn't even need to wear the shorts when he had this on! Nevertheless, not wanting to be half-naked at an almost-stranger's house, he slipped on the similarly oversized shorts and stepped out. As Ryland opened the door he watched as Shane dragged a blanket across the floor to the living room, where he draped it over the couch, along with few pillows.
"Is this for me?"
Shane turned, startled by the sudden question. "I mean, unless you want to sleep in my room, which, believe me, you don't."
Passing his wet clothes to the other man with a thankful look, Ryland took a seat on the couch, laying back on the white blanket, eyes catching on a questionable stain for a moment.
"Hey, our clothes are in the dryer." Shane commented, causing Ryland's head to snap up to him quickly.
"Oh, yeah, thanks."
The room went silent for a moment, the tension just growing by the second.
"So, do you maybe want to-" Shane's question was cut short, the entire house going completely dark. "Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck..." A string of curses flowed out of the man's mouth as he spun around, grabbing a lighter and candles from off the kitchen counter.
"Is... is something wrong?" Ryland asked, observing as the other man continuously attempted to flick the lighter on without success and holding his hand out to try.
Shane handed the lighter over, watching as the other flicked it on with only a single attempt, quickly lighting the small array of candles that Shane had placed on the side table.
"My house is kind of... haunted... so I'm afraid having all the lights off. Like, I know it sounds kind of stupid in general but someone actually died here, so..." He took a seat on the couch next to Ryland. "Would you mind if I stuck down here with you for a while? If you want I can grab my laptop and we can watch a movie."
"That'd be nice."
The two settled in next to each other, laptop propped up on a pillow on Shane's knee. They agreed on watching Mean Girls and as the opening credits appeared on screen Ryland yawned, laying back a bit. It'd been a long day, not necessarily a busy one, just... eventful. Both boys could practically fall asleep where they were, even if it was only ten past eleven.
"Are you gonna be able to stay awake through the movie?" Shane asked.
Ryland shook his head, a tired grin on his face. "Probably not, sorry."
"It's no problem, I get it, I'm just a night owl. Do you want me to shut the movie off?"
He shook his head again, mumbling something that sounded like "it's fine" as he drifted off.
Rylands eyes fluttered open again after a little while, quickly shielding them from the sudden light that had filled the room. Shane leaned over to the table and blew out the candles, the smoke twirling into the air, before he got up, shutting his laptop and turning the lights off. He looked back to the boy on the couch, realizing that he'd woken up.
"Hey, sorry, did I wake you up? The power just turned back on and I didn't really want the lights on all night." He apologized.
"No, no, you didn't, don't worry. What time is it?"
Shane pulled his phone out of his pocket, turning it on quickly. "Just after two."
"Hmm... Are you heading to bed?"
Shane nodded. "By the way, if you need to charge your phone or anything I've got cables practically everywhere. Just... don't use the one in the kitchen, it's covered in Nutella. Don't even ask."
Both of them let out some tired chuckles as he mentioned that, taking a few steps up the stairs.
"Hey, Shane?"
His head flipped back to the other man.
"Thank you... for all of this. It was really sweet."
Maybe Ryland was mistaken, the room was dark, but he could've sworn that he'd seen the other man's cheeks turn red. Shane smiled, looking sweetly at Ryland.
"It's no problem. See you in the morning, Ry."
Maybe this whole situation wasn't as disastrous as they'd both thought.
•
Word count: 2118
A/N: Wow, thanks so much for reading this! I'm going to try to post a new oneshot at least once a week, but I might mess up that schedule. Whoops. Usually, I'm quite private about everything that I write, so it's a huge change to post this. But anyways...
♡ All votes and comments are appreciated ♡