Work Text:
Shane Madej always had a thing for Ryan, except Ryan didn't know this.
Ryan has been having a hard time coming to terms with his true feelings for Shane. This lead Shane to do a little bit of experimenting.
Shane walked into the office one lovely morning and took his seat. He pulled out a folder from his bag and began to type up some reports. He stopped in a couple of minutes and turned to say his hellos to his friend.
"Morning Ryan! Wanna go out for lunch today?"
Nothing unusual about that, they always ate lunch together. Most of the time they ate in the office instead of going into the outside world, but today they'd venture forth to the closest McDonalds.
"Uh, sure..." Ryan said with a hint of caution in his voice. He trusted Shane, but they rarely went out to eat unless it was a special occasion.
Shane gave a curt nod and went back to his work. He smirked to himself as he planned the next step in his experiment. The smirk didn't go unnoticed, and it frightened Ryan to a great extent.
As twelve o'clock rolled around, Shane stood and stretched his stiff muscles. "Ready to go?" He asked with a lopsided grin. Ryan gave him a slight nod and stood up from his chair. They gathered a few of their things and started walking down to the parking lot.
"Did you get much done this morning?" Ryan asked with a curious glance.
Shane thought for a moment, "Not really. Did you?"
"I did nothing." Was spoken as a comfortable silence spread through the air.
The continued their walk through the parking lot and across the street to the restaurant. As they entered, they noticed it was unusually empty. "Guess we beat the rush." Ryan said with a smile.
The approached the counter with their orders in mind. "What do you want, Ry?" Shane asked with an expectant look.
Ryan gave him a confused look but answered anyway. "Um, get me a cheeseburger and a large soda."
"Got it, babe. Go get us a seat." A blush scattered Ryan's face as he took a seat in the booth waiting for Shane.
'Why is he acting so strange today? And why do I like it?' All these questions began to spiral in Ryan's mind. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice Shane placing the food on the table and sitting down in front of him.
"Ryan....Ry!" Shane gently kicked him under the table. This brought Ryan back into reality and into a stuttering mess.
"S-sorry." He managed to say as he grabbed his burger. "Guess I was just lost in thought."
"Thinking about how attractive I am, again? Or how you wish you were as attractive as me?" Shane teased at the shorter, who was now blushing yet again.
"Shut up, Shane. Just eat your food."
Shane chuckled and began eating, but the silence between the two didn't last long. "You're really cute when you blush." This sentence caused Ryan to blush darker.
"T-thanks."
~•~
This was not the last time Shane felt the need to flirt with Ryan in public. He started doing it every chance he got, and he couldn't wait for the dinner they had planned with Zach and Keith tonight.
Shane was getting dressed when he got a text from Ryan.
Ryan: I'm here, come down when you're done.
He smiled at his phone and quickly put on a deep maroon colored button up. "Shoes, CHECK! Pants, CHECK! Hair, eh but CHECK! I'm ready." With that said, he headed out of his house and to Ryan's car.
Ryan was leaning on his car and scrolling through Twitter as he waited. Once he saw Shane he grinned and put his phone away. "Hey! You clean up nice, Madej."
"Yeah yeah, let's just go." Shane replied as he slid into the passenger seat. Ryan shrugged as he sat himself down and started the car. He pulled out of Shane's driveway and began their five minute drive to The Yellow Hibiscus.
It was silent until Ryan spoke up, "No funny business tonight. I don't know what's been going on with you lately, but please behave." He saw Shane smiling mischievously from his peripheral vision and sighed.
After another minute or so of silence, they arrived to the restaurant and found a parking spot relatively close to the entrance. As Ryan was parking the car, Shane noticed their friends waiting for them. "Hurry up, Ry! They're waiting for us and we're ten minutes late." Ryan just rolled his eyes at this and turned the car off.
They got out and said their hellos. They made their way into the restaurant, where they had to wait for a table to eat at. Eventually, they were seated in a booth and placed their orders. Oh how the night was young.
"So you guys have been good lately? It's felt like forever since we've talked." Keith finished with a huge smile on his face.
"Yeah, and the Unsolved series is going really well! What about you two? How are the Try Guys?" Ryan asked while looking at Keith across the table.
Keith began to tell him about the most recent video they've recorded, and this is when Shane saw the perfect time to start flirting again. Shane gently slung his arm across Ryan's shoulders and scooted a bit closer to him. "-and then Ned tried to vacuum Eugene, but that obviously didn't work." As Keith finished talking, Ryan gave Shane a weird look.
There was a brief pause. "So when do you guys start dating?" Zach asked with a beaming smile, receiving an elbow to the ribcage from Keith. "Ouch. What was that for?" Ryan blushed profusely at the question directed towards them, while Shane grinned.
Keith rolled his eyes, "You can't just ask people that!" Zach mumbled a 'shut up' and waited for a response from the two across from them. Shane moved his arm off of Ryan and scooted away a tiny bit, as Ryan continued to blush and looked anywhere but the people in front of him.
"W-we aren't- no it's not- we're just friends." Ryan managed to stutter out in a small voice. Shane coughed and nodded his head in agreement, and this lead to the topic being dropped.
~•~
Not long after, their orders were served fresh and steamy! They spent a good ten minutes savoring their food in silence until Zach spoke up. "I'm so glad we decided to have dinner here." Which caused Ryan to laugh in a way of saying he agrees.
They fell into another silence as they devoured everything on the table. Shane was the first to finish so he sat back and watched the 'pigs' go at it.
"Shane, can you pass the salt please?" Ryan asked with a smile. Shane seized the opportunity, "Of course, dear." And with that, he handed the salt to Ryan as he watched the boy's face fill with color.
"T-thanks." Was heard barely above a whisper. This caused Shane to lean near Ryan's ear. "You make it too easy, Bergara." He said lowly and stayed sitting very close to Ryan.
Ryan rolled his eyes and was finishing up his meal when he felt a hand rest on his thigh, which made him freeze in his seat. "You okay, Ryan?" Keith asked with a concerned look, which made Zach look up from his phone.
"Just dandy." Ryan responded through gritted teeth. Zach and Keith shrugged it off and went back into their own conversation. Ryan spoke in a hushed voice, "Move your hand, Shane." Shane smirked and did as told, he moved his hand up higher on Ryan's thigh, making him blush harder. "This isn't over, Madej. We have a lot to discuss." He said while swatting the hand off of his thigh.
~•~
The rest of the evening ended fairly quick, as they were all ready to go home and relax. They had split the bill and said their goodbyes as they walked to their respective cars.
Once Shane and Ryan were in and comfortable in their seats, Ryan locked the doors. "W-what are you doing, Ry?" Shane asked hesitantly as he slowly looked over at Ryan.
"I said we were going to talk and I meant it, so let's talk, Madej. Why have you been acting so flirty lately?" There was a hint of confidence that wasn't there before as Ryan spoke.
"Can't a man just act flirty sometimes?" Shane chuckled slightly as he concluded his question.
"Not with their best friend. What's going on? You know you can tell me anything, right?" Shane nodded, answering Ryan's question.
Shane took in a deep breath and exhaled to try and calm his nerves. "I-I may have a tiny crush on you..." He said so quietly while looking down, he wasn't even sure Ryan had heard him.
A few moments of intense silence passed as Shane slowly looked up at Ryan. He was expecting a look of disgust or of confusion, but instead, he was greeted with a look of relief and happiness. Did Ryan like him too? Was the thing Shane wanted for so long finally going to happen?
Giving Shane a peck on the cheek, Ryan smiled and said, "It took you long enough."
~•~
From that moment on, Shane Madej made a vow to himself, a vow of the upmost importance.
I, Shane Alexander Madej, vow to always flirt with Ryan Bergara in public at any moment necessary.
Because that is how they finally got together after all, and who would want to ruin such a fun new tradition?