Ryan laid in bed, looking at the sealed envelope. This was the letter about his detentions and the fight. He should have been confronted at the door by Mrs. Stump, who would have quietly scolded him before sending him in to face his mother and admit his lies.

Admit that he had been lying to his sick mother's face.

His hands shook as he continued to look at the letter. He should have been busted. He deserved to be busted.

Patrick had actually gone against his own moral code, technically lying to his own mother, to save Ryan. The text messages that he had left Ryan were a clear documentation of how much it freaked him out. He had panicked upon seeing the letter when he offered to empty the mailbox and hid it up his sleeve. He kept trying to get ahold of Ryan and ask what to do, or possibly even find some reassurance, but Ryan had never opened the messages.

Ryan tried to call and text Patrick after helping Pete with the food, but Patrick wouldn't even open the messages to leave him on read.

"Fuck..." Ryan let his arms fall to his sides. He needed to apologize to Patrick. He felt horrible for saying what he said about standing up for Patrick. He was his best friend, of course Ryan would stand up for him. Patrick should never think otherwise.

He covered his face with his hands. Such a good day went downhill so fast.

He was considering falling asleep, but a tapping sound made his eyes snap open. Ryan pushed himself up, looking around his room for the tapping. Nothing looked out of place. He began to lower himself back to his mattress when the tapping started again. This time, the sound clearly came from the window.

Ryan slide off the bed and walked over to his window. As soon as he had a clear view out of it, he gasped. He unlatched it and practically threw it open. "Brendon!?"

"Sshh!" Brendon replied, bringing a finger to his lips as he climbed into the room. "Don't go waking up the whole neighborhood."

"What are you doing here?" Ryan asked, shutting the window behind Brendon. When he turned around, Brendon was face to face with him.

"You wanted me to shake it up." He said, placing a finger under Ryan's chin to tilt his head up.

Ryan leaned forward to close the space between them.

They kissed in the middle of the room for awhile before Ryan found it within himself to grab hold of Brendon's shirt and pull him towards his bed. He fell back, gasping for breath as Brendon stood at the edge of the mattress.

"How'd you guess which window was mine?" Ryan asked between breaths.

Brendon shrugged, taking a quick look around the room. "Lucky guess."

Ryan grinned. He grabbed Brendon's hand and pulled him down to lean over him. Brendon was a welcome distraction. He didn't feel like shit about himself and his decisions with Brendon there.

"Kiss me." Ryan urged as Brendon hovered above him.

"Aren't you scared your parents will hear?" Brendon teased with a mischievous grin. He pressed a kiss against Ryan's lips before moving to plant them along his jawline.

Ryan wrapped an arm around Brendon's torso. "Just a mom downstairs." He whispered as Brendon moved down to his neck. "Her caretaker is probably doing homework or something."

Brendon pulled away, giving Ryan a confused look. "Caretaker?"

"Don't worry about it." Ryan insisted. He pulled Brendon back down, connecting their lips. Ryan wanted to lose himself in that moment. He wanted to forget everything except this new thing he had with Brendon. He just needed to escape.

He woke up to find Brendon sitting on the edge of his bed, fixing his hair. "Morning?" Ryan's voice came out croaky. He pushed himself up as Brendon turned to him.

"Hey." Brendon grinned. "Sleep good?"

Ryan yawned. "I don't even remember getting to that point."

Brendon laughed. He crawled across the bed and gave Ryan a short kiss. "Think I may have gotten there first, sorry. Your bed is comfortable."

Ryan smiled. He could faintly remember Brendon laying on his stomach beside Ryan, slowly letting his eyes drop shut. "It's okay."

Brendon backtracked off the bed and stretched. "Thanks for letting me in."

"Thanks for coming over." Ryan pushed his blanket away and climbed out of bed. "I... I really enjoyed it."

"Making out and falling asleep?" Brendon asked with a laugh. He walked up to Ryan, wrapping his arms around him. "My pleasure."

Ryan pressed himself against Brendon. "We should do that more often."

Brendon laughed. He dropped his arms and stepped away from Ryan. "Maybe." He said with a wink as he walked over to Ryan's window. "We'll see."

"Where are you going?" Ryan asked as Brendon pushed the window open.

Brendon turned to look at Ryan. "Don't worry. I'll see you in a bit." With that, he crawled out the window.

Ryan laughed, walking over to the window. Brendon had already vanished. There wasn't a trace of him in the growing light outside. Ryan yawned.

The night felt too short. Having Brendon there, in his room, kissing and holding him. It made him dizzy to think about. Was he sure that wasn't just a dream?

He went on with his morning routine, blissfully reliving how Brendon had snuck through his window like something out of a teen romcom. about twenty minutes later, he made his way down the stairs.

Mrs. Stump walked into the hall just as Ryan reached the foot of the stairs.

"Good morning, Ryan." She smiled. She was holding an empty pill tray in her hand, most likely going to refill it and put it in its proper place.

"Morning." Ryan yawned again, "Patrick in the kitchen?" guilt flooded back to him. He needed to make things right with Patrick.

Mrs. Stump frowned. "He's actually at home sick today. Poor thing was running a fever and could barely talk."

Ryan's stomach dropped. Patrick couldn't be sick. He had to be faking... But would he really fake illness to a mother he never lied to just to avoid Ryan? It wasn't like Ryan could say much in argument against it.

"He should be fine tomorrow." Mrs. Stump added, cheerfully. "Gave him some medicine to help him sleep it off."

Basically, Patrick was out cold for the forseeable future.

"Want some breakfast, Ryan?"

Ryan shook his head. "Thanks, Mrs. Stump, but I'm not that hungry. I'm going to head out to the bus."

She raised an eyebrow. "You're not getting sick too, are you?" She asked.

Ryan shook his head vigorously. "No, ma'am. I swear."

She looked unconvinced, but nodded. "Alright. If you need someone to come get you, though, you call me."

"Yes, Ma'am."

She smiled. "Have a nice day, honey."

"You too." Ryan smiled back. He ducked into the living room and kissed his mother's cheek. "Love you, mom." He whispered. She slept through his sentiment, not stirring as he pulled her blanket up slightly. He then went back into the main hall and slipped out the door.

The cold air instantly attached to his nose. It felt like ice as he scrunched it. "If I'm not sick now, I will be..." He muttered to himself as he walked down the drive. He rubbed his hands together, trying to find warmth. His walk to the bus stop was lonelier today without Patrick to talk to. He really wanted to apologize for what he said.

"Need a lift?"

Ryan turned as Brendon pulled up next to him. He had a wide grin on his face. "Hop in, loser."

"You're going to take me to school?" Ryan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We're not going to school." Brendon replied, "Time I took you on a ditch day. Now, hop in, Elsa." He leaned over and opened the truck door for Ryan.

The warmth from the interior of the cab immediately beckoned Ryan in. It felt so much nicer than the air outside. Ryan found himself climbing into the truck without much thought. He shut the door and grinned at Brendon. "Show me the world." He said, ready to be whisked away from what today would bring.