Brendon drove Ryan home again after dropping the others off. They had stayed in the empty lot for ages, until the sun lowered significantly in the sky. Conversation with the group just felt so... Simple? It felt as if Ryan had known them for years rather than just hours.

"Dude, you've gotta dip the fries in the milkshake." Brendon said as Ryan tossed some fries into his mouth.

"Hhmm?"

"Dip it and sink it." Josh repeated for Brendon, offering a demonstration with his words. He took a fry, dunked it into the lidless milkshake, and pulled it out to toss in his mouth. He held up his arms with a shrug.

"That can't be good." Ryan had scrunched his nose at the idea. Brendon, however, wasn't having it.

"You don't know what's good if don't try it." He said, leaning forward to push Ryan's milkshake towards him. He pulled off the lid and pointed at Ryan's fries. "Just one."

"No way."

"I bought those for the soul purpose of dunking." Josh said, tossing the fry in his hand at Ryan. "You'd better."

"Just try it." Tyler insisted, "You'll be surprised."

"Peer pressure, peer pressure!" Ashley cheered.

Ryan frowned down at the shake and fries. It didn't sound like a winning combination. He looked back up at the group, catching Brendon's eye. Brendon shrugged, despite the other's soft chanting. Ryan looked back down at the meal.

"Just one." He sighed, earning cheers from the group. He grabbed a small fry and scrapped it across the milkshake and held it in front of his face. "This looks gross."

"You're gross." Brendon shot back with a laugh, "Just try it already."

Ryan rolled his eyes. He didn't hesitate any longer before tossing it on his tongue. He was quiet as the others waited for his reaction.

"Holy shit." He finally whispered.

"Right!?"

"Welcome to the dark side, we have frosties and fries."

Ryan smiled just thinking back to it. Somehow that combination had been delicious. "I should trust you more." He said as Brendon pulled in front of his house.

Brendon laughed. "You'd think after jumping out a window and getting a garage tattoo with me, you would." He flashed Ryan a toothy grin.

Ryan laughed, hoping the color in his cheeks wasn't too visible with the dimming light. "I think I will trust you more." He said, honestly. Brendon was showing him a whole new world, and he didn't want it to end.

Brendon smiled, but didn't reply.

Ryan looked down, reaching for the door handle. "See you tomorrow."

"I'll have something fun for you." Brendon said, rubbing his thumbs on the steering wheel.

Ryan felt his heart beat faster. "I'm looking forward to it." He hopped out of the truck, waved, and shut the door. Brendon waved back before restarting the truck and driving off. Ryan lingered on the sidewalk as Brendon drove down the street.

"Oh god..." He muttered to himself when he finally turned to walk towards his house. There was a thought repeating in his mind, but he chose to ignore it. He just focused on getting inside.

When he entered, he heard voices in the kitchen. He quietly shut the door and hurried down the hall, hoping to not be seen by his mother. In the kitchen, Patrick sat in front of an open text book nodding as Pete pointed to different sections on the page.

"Hey, guys." Ryan waved.

"Ryan!" Patrick looked up with wide eyes, "H-hey!"

"Hey, Ryan." Pete smiled, "Late tutoring session?"

Oh, right. "Yea." Ryan lied, "It was a bit of a study group situation."

Patrick frowned, but Pete nodded. "Cool, dude." Pete gestured to the book open in front of Patrick, "I've been doing a bit of tutoring myself."

"How's mom?" Ryan asked, trying to avoid tutor talk while also staying out of his mother's line of vision.

"Sleeping now." Pete said, "She was prescribed new pills to offset the pain and they knocked her out."

Ryan stepped forward to peek into the living room. His mother was soundly asleep on her chair. He smiled, hoping the pain really was lessened with her new medication. "Thanks, Pete."

The dark haired man just shrugged as Patrick hastily shut his text book and gathered his papers. "It's what I'm paid for."

"T-th-thanks for y-your help-p." Patrick smiled. He was barely able to hold everything in his arms as he stood from the table.

Pete grinned. "No problem, 'Trick."

Patrick hurried, as fast as he could with all the supplies in his arms, out of the kitchen. Ryan followed.

"Spending the night?" Ryan asked as Patrick.

Patrick turned to him with a nod. "W-we p-p-planned it a w-week ago."

"Oh, right." Ryan hit his palm against his forehead. They had planned this what felt like months ago now. Patrick usually came over when they had a project together, or the boys just wanted to hang out. Ryan couldn't think of the full details of this time, so it made him nervous that there was a huge project he had completely forgotten about.

They treked up to his room, not speaking until Patrick sat down on the floor and Ryan grabbed the chair at his desk.

"Have you been here since school let out?" Ryan asked.

Patrick nodded. "J-just been waiting on y-you." He said, tugging at the sleeve of his pastel, zip up hoodie. He looked up at Ryan with the tilt of his head. "What d-did you do today?"

Ryan grinned. He sat backwards on his chair, crossing his arms on the back and leaning against it. "We snuck out a window, got chased off campus, and had some milkshakes with fries." He replied, fondly, reliving the memories as he relayed them.

Patrick's eyes grew wide. "Ryan!"

Ryan tilted his head, "Yea?"

"Y-you c-c-could get in s-s-serious t-trouble!" Patrick exclaimed. He pulled at the strings that poked out his jacket's hood, "W-What if-f you got c-caught?"

"But I didn't." Ryan shrugged, looking away from his concerned friend. "I haven't been caught yet."

Patrick bit his lip. After a moment, he inhaled and exhaled slowly. "I'm just worried." He spoke just as slowly, avoiding his stutter. "You're acting different."

Ryan rose from his chair. He shook his hand through his hair, fighting the urge to pace. "I'm feeling different!" He exclaimed, "I feel so... So alive Patrick! I'm actually living for myself just a few hours a day and feeling things I've never felt; I'm experiencing things I've never experienced!" His heart raced as he continued. He had been concerned about his reputation at first, but the more time he spent with Brendon, the more it faded.

Patrick may have been the sensible angel on his shoulder, but Brendon was the devil that kept him alive.

"I've never felt this before..." Ryan released the words with a sigh, staring at one of his posters.

Patrick looked down at his shoes. "You're crushing?" The question was quiet, but there. Ryan didn't reply. He walked over to his bed and let himself fall face first.

"I... I get it."

Ryan pushed himself up enough to speak. "Please tell me its not on the guy downstairs that's being paid to care for my mom at night, Patrick."

Silence.

"Really, goodie two shoes?!" He could see Patrick turning red from the corner of his sight. "He's twenty one! You're Seventeen!"

"Almost eighteen!" Patrick defended himself, "It's j-j-just a s-stupid c-crush!"

"You can't say shit about me crushing on a bad boy if you're crushing on an older guy!" Ryan shot at Patrick with unintentional venom in his words. He immediately felt guilty for snapping at Patrick and embarrassed to admit the thought he had been surprising earlier outloud. "Shit, I mean..."

Patrick pulled his hood over his head. "He's just nice." Patrick muttered as he pulled the strings to hide his face, "No one at school beside you and Elisa are nice to me. It's not like he'd like me back anyway..."

Ryan frowned. "You're great, Patrick." He shifted his position on the bed and tapped Patrick's head, "I didn't mean to make you feel bad. A crush is just a crush." Hopefully a crush can just be a crush. Ryan frowned, knowing there was no way Brendon would have a crush on him.

Patrick sighed. "Yea..."

"Cheer up." Ryan said to both himself and Patrick, "Hey, wanna watch some cartoons?"

Patrick laughed, making Ryan smile. "You realize we were supposed to be working on our science project, right?"

Ryan shrugged, "Eh, that's what the lunch period is for."