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Dylan was a forgetful person.
He was always losing stuff since he was a kid. It was a bad habit Dylan can’t get rid of to the point that you could say almost everything he owns has been left somewhere, forgotten by him at least once. That’s the one thing they all have in common.
It is a wonder how Dylan’s brain managed to memorize hundreds of physics formulas and rules but not leaving his phone in the fridge or his earphone on the school bus or his backpack in chemistry aka the last period of Friday. That poor thing spent the next two days rotting inside the lab before Dylan came to rescue it the following Monday. The list can literally go on for days but that’s not the one we’re focusing on today.
There’s something about certain people Dylan fell for that got him losing stuff he considered most important to him. Good thing he wasn’t particularly big on relationship, though he had flings going on every now and then but that was just typical horny teenager behavior and nothing special. But when he did find someone, he always unintentionally left something important behind with them.
Dylan didn’t mean to. He never did. It was a stupid mistake he ended up doing every time.
.
.
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List of the unfortunate lost items that once belonged to Dylan:
I.) Dylan’s very first special 80’s mix tape
He was like 14 at the time when he got his first girlfriend. It was the first time he’d ever been in love. And It was also the same period of time where Dylan first got into music. He would spend a lot of his free time goofing around the subject, trying out instruments, mixing music and making mix tapes.
It was around the second or the third time his girlfriend came to his house that he showed her his sick collection of mix tapes he’d been making. He put them on his mom’s music player and danced with his girlfriend. There were only like 5 of them and only a few songs on each but he was getting there. She was really impressed and kept eyeing the 80’s one which was the first one he made. By the time their date was over she asked if she could borrow it home and Dylan said yes without hesitation. He was very proud to show how good it was.
He still remembered how he spent every evening for the following 2 weeks crying and listening to my chemical romance and paramore after she broke up with him the very next week. Saying she wasn’t into him anymore or something along the line. He avoided her at school for a few weeks before eventually becoming cool with her again.
And he had forgotten about the mixtape’s existence.
It was reminded to him again at a party held by a friend of theirs months later. She was there and they caught up for a while and she brought up the mix tape. He was about to ask her to return it until she thanked him for giving it to her. Saying how much she loved the gift as it had all the best songs on there. Dylan could only force out a smile.
II.) That one jacket.
After going on and failing several dates with girls, Dylan came to a realization that he was into boys. So into boys. Thanks to the help of an acquaintance of his friend whom he was dared to kiss at a party. He had no idea how to deal with the butterfly in his stomach he just kept on eyeing the boy for the rest of the night and it seemed he noticed that. When the party was over, the boy came up to him. And they kissed again for the second time.
It was Dylan’s first time being with a boy and it was sure very exciting. He was real charming. Dylan fell pretty hard for him. It was their third date. They went to the movies in their neighborhood. He remembered how he spent hours deciding on outfits only to end up with the casual t-shirt and jeans with his best shoes and the jacket he knew never failed to make him look good.
It was some romance movie. Nothing really memorable or at least that’s how he remembered it anyway because they were too busy making out. The evening went very well and it was raining. They ran across the streets to the bus stop with his jacket covering both of them. Dylan told his boyfriend to keep the jacket for now as his house was less than a mile from here. The boy gave him a peck on the lips and told him he’d give it back next time Dylan come visit.
There was a next time. And the next time after that. But the jacket was never once brought up in their conversation, as if it never existed. And not long after, he caught the boy cheating on him and it all went downhill from there. It was really bad.
Dylan never went to his house again.
III.) Study notes
Dylan was in his junior year. He never got into an actual relationship after his last one with that boy, who now had moved away. He only had a fling every now and then which was not entirely his choice. It sucked at first but as time went by, he just got used to it. Dylan kinda became super flirty because of it too. Shooting every shot he could get at any hot guy he came across. If he’s lucky enough he’d get to make out with them. It never got any further than that, to the point where it might hurt him. He didn’t want to spend time crying over boys as he had more important thing to spend time thinking about, namely college.
Dylan had no idea what he really wanted to do yet. He was still figuring out himself, trying out new stuff to see if he likes it. That was when he came across the radio club application pinned on the board in the cafeteria. And so he decided to give it a shot.
The radio club was more enjoyable than he thought it’d be. Mainly because he liked snugging jokes in between broadcasting and partly because that one fellow club member was really cute. They had physics together and Dylan didn’t miss the chance to use that as an excuse to talk to the guy, asking him to explain assignments even though he was like at top of the class. Luckily the guy went along with it. They had their first kiss that one morning where there was no one else but them in the broadcast room.
There was something about this guy that got Dylan. Maybe it was the fact that he was closeted and still new to this experience. Dylan wanted to be there for him and help him become more comfortable with himself and with that he stuck around, doing a bunch of very gay stuff with him. They were basically boyfriends at that point. Or secret boyfriends. Or that’s what Dylan thought.
It was that one evening that they were studying for midterms in the library when a girl came up to them and kissed the guy. Dylan just sat there frozen as he watched his boyfriend nervously gathered up his things and went off with the girl. It was hard to process everything that just happened when warmth of his hand still lingered in Dylan’s.
The guy never showed up again at the club after that and Dylan realized his study notes were missing. He must’ve taken it by accident while he was packing up. But there was no way Dylan was getting it back when the guy just kept avoiding him.
Eventually Dylan just gave up and spent the rest of the days before the examination making new notes. It was exhausting and he never wanted to do it again.
IV.) Comfort book.
Dylan was told he wouldn’t be allowed to use his phone on this summer camp job he got, so he planned on bringing something to kill time and books seemed to be the perfect candidate for this as it was basically the only thing he could do. It’d be super embarrassing if he were to doodle on a sketchbook because sure as shit he’d get compared with the art tutor girl and the whole camp would definitely made fun of him.
Dylan brought 3 books with him. All of them were fictions, something he thought could entertain himself with reading over and over again. And as he did so he found himself falling in love with one of them in particular. It was a science fiction about travelling in space. And given that science had always been his favorite subject it was almost impossible for Dylan not to love this one. He always kept that book in the radio hut and would just chill with it while waiting for the time to do an announcement.
They say time flies when you’re having fun and before he knew it summer was already coming to an end. Dylan thought it was a shame he missed his shots with Ryan but he wasn’t too bothered about it. It’s not like it’s going to last between them anyway with his luck with love and how untouchable Ryan seemed to him. He still felt as distant as the first time they met despite all of Dylan’s attempts at flirting in the past 2 months. Ryan was kind enough to offer sharing his earbuds with him on the ride back though. Guess that’s as good as he’s gonna get out of this guy.
Then the car broke down. They had to spent another night here. It was like god saw how pathetic he was and gave him a second chance. Maybe Ryan sensed it too as he seemed more relaxed than usual and even smiled at Dylan’s attempts of getting his number. It was cute, Dylan thought. Better enjoy every second of it while it lasted.
Then the campfire game happened, truth or dare Dylan’s style and Ryan was dared to kiss either Kaitlyn or him. Dylan couldn’t believe his ears when he heard the sailing instructor calling his name. The kiss was short but that was enough to make him smile and blush like a school girl. There was a glint of something in Ryan’s eyes when Dylan looked across the fire to meet them that made him wish this night would never end.
Then there were werewolves.
The following events of the night felt like a blur to Dylan. All he could remember was the screams, the smell of blood in the air, the throbbing pain in his stub, and the kiss he shared with Ryan. The whole thing was hard to process, let alone giving testimony to the cops. He remembered the look on their face as he told them. Those eyes made him felt like he was crazy. It was all in his head. Like none of it was ever real. Like Ryan just cut off his fucking hand for nothing.
He went back to his hotel room he shared with Ryan after spending 4 hours being interrogated. Ryan was there flipping through that one particular book of his. The guy asked if he could borrow it because the cops took their phones away and he really needed some distraction to get his mind off of last night. Dylan said yes.
It was late at night when Dylan woke up from a nightmare which also woke Ryan up in the process because he was screaming so damn loud. The light was flickered on, showing a worried expression on Ryan‘s face. He didn’t even realize he was crying until Ryan climbed over to his bed and held him.
Dylan stayed in Ryan’s arm for the rest of the night as the soothing deep voice read the book to him. And once again he wished this night would never end. Dylan calmed down and eventually drifted away, melted to the warmth of Ryan’s arm at the end of chapter 4.
.
The judicial process took forever which was kinda understandable. Nobody had seen anything like this before. They refused to believe it at first because it sounded so…surreal. They blamed it on the alcohol but they knew it damn well in their heart it was fucking bullshit. Experiencing hallucinations upon having only a bottle of beer? One isn’t even enough to get someone drunk let alone giving drugs side effects.
Luckily evidence speaks louder than disbelief. And at the end they were all acquitted. Dylan came back to school and somehow became way more popular than he thought he’d ever be with unknown faces constantly coming up to him, asking the same 2 questions that were what really went down at the camp and what happened to his hand.
Yeah. About the hand…
He didn’t speak to the hot guy who cut off his hand again after the last trial nor did he get his number. He tried looking up Ryan’s social media for a while before giving up as it seemed like the guy didn’t have any. That meant 2 things. One: Dylan really had no luck with love. Two: there was no chance he was ever going to get his book back.
They were moved to the police station following morning of the first night at the motel. He was sitting next to Ryan who was reading the book and holding his only hand, drawing circles gently on the back of it. Then Dylan was called into the room. He still remembered the reassuring soft smile Ryan gave him and the firm squeeze he felt on his hand.
It was the last time he had physical contact with Ryan because he was immediately sent home after the questioning as his parents had already found him a lawyer. After that he only saw Ryan several times at the court. But they never did talk to each other. And the book was never returned.
.
Then life happened.
Dylan went on to pursue his dream of studying quantum physics. At first, he was jumping between science and music until that one day he came across a theory in a physics book about time travelling and butterfly effects and it peaked his nerdy interest in the subject. So here he was, buried under piles of documents and research having his third cup of coffee while writing a report for finals.
It had been a rough week of sleepless nights but Dylan made it to the last day of the final exams in one piece. He unlocked the door to his room, threw his bag somewhere on the ground and himself on the bed. He was so ready to go in a coma for the next 48 hours.
Then his phone buzzed. A notification from the contact he hasn’t heard from in a while popped up on the bright display and suddenly he wasn’t tired anymore.
It was Kaitlyn. The girl who he spent the majority of that night going through hell with apart from Ryan. Other than her hair being shorter, she was still exactly the same as how he had remembered her. Funny, confident and caring with the same smile plastered on her face. It had been months since the last time they spoke as they were so caught up in life. She was the only one who still kept in contact with him after all these years. It would’ve been a hard time for them had they not been there for each other and Dylan couldn’t be more grateful for her presence.
Dylan didn’t know how much time had passed. Apparently, the sun had gone down for hours and the two were still on the call. Dylan noticed the date had already changed to a different number on the display of his phone and Wednesday had turned into Thursday. Then Kaitlyn mentioned something about a reunion party this weekend at Emma’s place. She really wanted to see him there. Dylan smiled. It had been too long since the last time they hung out in person.
And it had been too long since the last time he saw a certain sailing instructor.
.
Dylan was almost surprised how small Kaitlyn was in his arms as they shared a hug for the first time in years. She had always been this size it’s just Dylan getting used to the presence of his best friend in person again. He got there a little later than the appointed time but seemed like everyone was already there. Well, actually…almost everyone. As disappointed as he was, this party wasn’t about that one missing guest. Seeing how happy everyone was, catching up with each other, knowing how well they were doing, he realized that’s what he was here for.
Everyone was different, not in a bad way but in a grown-up way. Though there were a few things in them that never changed. Laura and Max were still together, their love stronger than ever. Abi was still the shy and gentle girl who loved to draw. Emma was still as dramatic. Nick’s cooking was still as good as Dylan remembered. Jacob still blamed himself for causing the car to break down. And Kaitlyn was still the one looking after everyone. A strange sense of comfort washed over Dylan as he sank into the couch. It was really nice to see them again.
The alcohol was starting to kick in Dylan’s veins as the game of two truths and one lie Emma’s style began. It’s basically two truths and one lie but boring facts aren’t allowed other wise you have to take a shot and oh my god were they wild. Never in a million years would he ever guess that Nick had a tattoo on his ass or Emma used to have a crush on Abi or Jacob admitted to eating a whole ass eraser when he was young. The last one wasn’t really a surprise but still.
Kaitlyn just basically came out to the whole group about how she doesn’t kiss boys anymore which got Laura shouting ‘I fucking knew it!!’. Dylan and Jacob shared a knowing gaze as Laura collected 20 bucks from her ex-werewolf boyfriend. Abi just confessed to her crime of accidentally locking Ryan up in the tool shed back at the summer camp because he was so quiet and she thought no one was in there. They shared a loud laugh at the good ol’ memory. The red head looked so guilty Dylan was almost glad Ryan wasn’t here to acknowledge it.
Then it came to Dylan’s turn again. His brain was functioning less effectively than usual with shots of vodka he took earlier and coming up with a lie was getting harder as he was running out of ideas. He could lie about having done some freaky stuff with his prosthetic hand but that would be real nasty. He couldn’t do the coming out thing like Kaitlyn either because everyone already knew how gay he was. He barely noticed the absence of the weight next to him and how the empty space felt like it was left for a little too long.
Fuck this. He’d just take a shot if it didn’t pass Emma’s standard. She said they could crash here anyway if they get too wasted. And just as he was about to start, a familiar face appeared.
It felt like a blur. Dylan didn’t catch the moment when voices started to fill the room again. He was too busy blinking trying to get the haziness out of his eyes to see what was going on. Dylan’s gaze fell on the blurry face, following it as it made its way across the room, past the glass table, next to the couch. He realized the spot next to him was no longer empty and the face was no longer blurry.
And suddenly Dylan forgot how to breathe.
He just sat there like an idiot watching a smile slowly emerged on the full lips. They were moving, probably saying something but none of it got through Dylan‘s head.
The last thing he remembered was the smell of mild perfume as his head hit the crook of Ryan’s neck and the warmth he felt as his weight fell on top of the other’s body.
.
.
.
It was still dark out when Dylan woke up. Apparently the party was over. Everyone was gone. The room was spinning and his head felt like it was going to explode. The leather underneath his body creaked softly as Dylan propped his elbow up for support. That seemed to get the attention of the body at the end of the couch.
“Slow down” the deep voice said as the standing lamp was flickered on. Yellow light softly lit the room and Dylan could see clearly again. “Hey” Ryan smiled.
“Hi” he blinked dumbfoundedly. His brain was registering the fact that Ryan, the guy he hadn’t heard from/seen in years was here, sitting on the ground, next to the couch he was lying on. “What time is it?”
“Uh 4.57 in the morning”
“In the morning?? Shit how long was I out?”
“I got here around 9 so basically-”
“Ughhhhh” he groaned loudly, interrupting the raven before he could finish the sentence. He put his hands on his blushing face and Ryan was laughing. Dylan was dying of embarrassment combo with hungover and butterfly in his stomach caused by the other man’s laugh.
“Glad to know you’re happy to see me”
“Yeah sorry about that…” Dylan mumbled under his palms. “I thought you weren’t coming”
“I might’ve underestimated traffic a little bit” he still didn’t dare to take his hands off and look at the raven. “Laura said you were sleep deprived and super dehydrated”
“…I drank a lot today though”
“Apparently water and vodka are not the same smart guy” he could feel those dark eyes rolling through his voice. “How many hours have you slept this week”
Now that’s a good question and the one he never once dared coming up with the answer. But before he could say anything, Ryan just changed the subject, as if he could read his mind.
“Yeah. Figured. Anyway you could really use some water right now” Dylan heard shifting noises, followed by a shadow walking past corner of his eyes into the kitchen. He sat up slowly, not wanting to provoke his stomach or the spinning head.
Ryan came back with a glass of water in his hand a minute later. He sat down on the couch, holding the cup for Dylan as he took a big gulp.
“Better?”
“Hmm” he paused, before taking a few more sips. “…did you stay the night to look after me?”
“Kind of”
“Sorry…I feel like such an asshole” Dylan wanted to jump out the window.
“No- it’s fine- I was actually hoping to talk to you”
“Oh”
Ryan put the glass down on the table and looked down. Dylan followed his gaze as a silence fell between them. “I never got a chance to properly apologize to you” his fingers were tracing the patterns on Dylan’s prosthetic hand. He wished it could feel the touch of Ryan’s fingertips.
“Uh to be fair I was the one who told you to do it”
“Yeah but you were clearly freaking out and I was the one who was-”
“You did the right thing Ryan” he cut the raven off before he had a chance to do a powerpoint presentation about 100 reasons why he shouldn’t have chainsawed Dylan’s hand.
“Trust me. I could tell you about why I don’t regret it and it could go on for hours but I’m not going to cuz I might throw up if I use my head too much and Emma’s definitely gonna murder me” that got Ryan chuckling and Dylan found himself smiling too.
“Plus this is pretty cool and I’m used to it now. Some people are into the kinky stuff I can-”
“Okay- stop that”
Their laughter faded away into silence and now they were looking at each other. The soft yellow illuminating Ryan’s face reminded him of the dancing orange light on the face of a certain sailing instructor sitting across of him next to the firepit on that one summer night. One last good moment before their life was changed forever.
Ryan almost looked the same, only a little older and definitely hotter with a stubble and an earring. His beauty mark was still as prominent as the day he kissed it. Dylan recognized the band t-shirt the raven was wearing. Its colors had faded with time but apparently it was still Ryan’s favorite. And for a minute there Dylan felt like he was 18 again.
“I’ve missed you”
“Me too”
And there it was again. The glint in his eyes, the same one Dylan saw at the campfire. He remembered it as clear as day.
“I wish we had talked”
Ryan gave him a faint smile. “That’s on me. I never really gave you my number, did I?” Dylan just playfully shrugged a shoulder. “Still single here. If you ever change your mind”
“Maybe. I mean you still owe me that radio techie class after all”
“I see you remembered. That’s cute”
“How could I forget” another thing that never changed about Ryan was his ability to make Dylan brush like a school girl. It would’ve been cute if it wasn’t for the fact that he was a grown ass adult.
“How have you been” Ryan suddenly said as if he was afraid of the silence taking the space between them. Dylan took another sip from the glass. “Good. I guess. Considering I just finished finals and now my summer break is here”
“Are you studying quantum physics?”
“Yeah” a little smirk appeared on Dylan’s lips. “Do you have a crush on me or something?”
“I just happened to have a good memory” the raven just shrugged.
“Yeah sure” Dylan rolled his eyes. “What about you? How are you man?”
“Good” Ryan leaned back to the couch and sighed softly. “I got into an animation school but I’m kinda taking a break from it right now- to figure out some stuff” he was playing with the rim of his phone case.
“Not what you expected?”
“Something like that”
Dylan remembered how much Ryan hated being pushed so he just sat in silence, waiting for the raven to continue but nothing followed.
“Don’t worry man. Just take things at your own pace. I’m sure you’ll figure it out” he reached out his good hand and rested it on Ryan’s elbow, not missing how the raven’s eyes softened at the touch.
Then Ryan suddenly shifted and Dylan’s heart dropped, afraid he had made the other uncomfortable. But the panick only lasted a second as he realized the raven actually was searching through his bag for something. Something he knew too well about. The raven held it out to Dylan who couldn’t help but bark out a laugh. “Wow I’ve totally forgot about it”
“I thought it was your favorite” Ryan smirked.
“It was. But it’s been like what- 4 years?” he inspected the book in disbelief. The rims weren’t as sharp anymore and the papers had turned a shade darker but it didn’t smell like old books in the library. Over all it was still in good condition. Ryan must’ve taken really good care of it.
“So how did you like it”
“It’s really great. I can see why you kept reading it over and over again in that radio hut” Dylan smirked, not expecting Ryan to have paid close attention to details about him. “To be honest I didn’t really expect to see it again”
“Yeah felt like I kinda stole it from you so…” the raven shyly scratched the back of his neck.
“It wasn’t you fault and I didn’t mind. Really. I kinda- lost stuff all the time” Dylan flipped to see synopsis on the back cover. The only memory he had left of this book was Ryan reading it to him in the uncomfortable hotel bed that night. He made a mental note to give it a read later. “I always think of it as something for you to remember me by”
“How thoughtful of you” Ryan smiled. “But now that I returned it to you it means I don’t have something to remember you by anymore”
“I guess” Dylan put the book down. “What. You’re just gonna simply forget me if you don’t have something in your property that screams DYLAN?”
The raven pretended to be mulling. “…maybe”
“Ouch. I didn’t know I was that unmemorable to you”
Ryan snorted “You aren‘t. But a little reminder would be nice”
“I thought you have a good memory”
“It doesn’t always work”
“You’re such a hypocrite”
The moment felt like a fever dream. Ryan, the untouchable mysterious sailing instructor from 4 years ago who was always so distant to Dylan, was now here, in the same room, sitting on the very same couch as him.
It had really been a long time. Dylan would be lying if he said he hadn’t seen Ryan at all in the past years because he saw the raven almost every other night. But it was nothing pleasant as the only times Ryan would appear was always in the same horrible nightmare he had, with them screaming, running from something dreadful while covered in blood over and over again.
But he didn’t have to worry about that anymore. At least not right now, as in this moment, Ryan’s presence was as real as he can be. He wasn’t the sailing instructor from Dylan’s fuzzy memory of that one summer afternoon or the unfortunate faceless soul who lived in Dylan’s nightmare. He was Ryan, the guy he fell in love with 4 years ago. And looking at him right now, Dylan realized his feelings hasn’t changed at all.
Ryan’s dark eyes looking into Dylan’s lighter ones with that familiar glint, flickering between his eyes and his lips. The distance between them suddenly became inches apart. The warmth of Ryan’s breath ghosting over Dylan’s lips as their noses touched.
Warm hands cupped Dylan’s jaws as he closed his eyes and leaned in, meeting the full lips he’d been longing to kiss. His lips were soft and a little chapped against his own with the taste of champaign and cigarettes lingering on them. For a second, he wondered when Ryan had started smoking but the thought was quickly discarded as the raven briefly broke apart before closing the gap between them once again.
Dylan parted his lips slightly allowing Ryan’s tongue to slip in. He didn’t dare to open his eyes, he just let himself get lost in this divine feeling Ryan was giving him. His hand made its way up Ryan’s chest, feeling warmth and the beats of his heart underneath the fabric of the band t-shirt that was just about the same rhythm as his, before joining the prosthetic hand that was resting on the raven’s waist. They pulled Ryan closer as Ryan deepened their kiss.
The kiss went on for a while before they finally broke apart to catch some air. The two were softly panting, breaths ghosting over each other’s mouth, foreheads still touching. And just as he was about to lean in again, they jolted in unison to a loud buzz coming from Ryan’s phone. An annoyed expression appeared on his face as he glanced over to see the name displayed on the bright screen.
“Gimme a minute”
“Okay”
Ryan reached for his phone and made his way outside to the balcony. Dylan used this opportunity to regain his composure and fix his hair while glancing over to Ryan who was talking on the phone, facing away from him. The sky was changing colors to pink and soft sunlight started to dance on Ryan’s skin. He looked so pretty. Dylan wished he could have the moment painted forever on his mind.
Ryan came back inside few minutes later and Dylan did his best to look as cool and collected as possible, leaning against the couch with an elbow propped on it. “Come back for more?”
The raven smiled as he walked over to the couch. “As much as I’d like to” he said casually as he picked up his bag resting on the carpet and whipped it over his shoulder. “I have to go now”
“After kissing the hottest man alive?”
“Yes. Unfortunately these bills don’t pay themselves”
“You work this early?”
“I have to cover the morning shift for a colleague”
“Oh” Dylan’s heart dropped. “Then I guess we’ll have to continue this another day huh”
Ryan didn’t say anything, however he seemed to notice the change in Dylan’s face. The raven leaned down and kissed the mulling Dylan. His teeth gently bit on Dylan’s bottom lip before parting. That was so fucking hot.
“I really enjoyed catching up with you Dyl” he looked down at Dylan with a soft smile. “I’ll see you around”
And just like that, Ryan was gone.
Dylan remained seated on the couch, replaying the kisses they shared and how it felt on his lips over and over again in his head. He cursed Ryan’s stupid co-worker for taking Ryan away from him so soon.
The sun was up for a while and it was that moment Dylan realized once again, Ryan didn’t give him his phone number.
Dylan just wanted to sink back in to the couch, letting his existence disappear never to be seen again. Turns out it was just a closure between them after all. Sure he could easily get Ryan’s number from Emma but if the guy didn’t give it to him himself…that already says a lot. His heart hurt and so did his head. Thinking of how unlovable he was got the headache acting again.
Maybe sleep could help ease the pain away and when he wakes up he’d forget about everything that happened.
.
“Rise and shine lover boy” Dylan opened his eyes to a cheerful voice, the smell of chamomile and the bright room. The ceramic mug made a cling sound as Emma put in on the table and made her way to the seat next to him. He slowly sat himself up, feeling his head throbbing gently. “Made you some tea” she said and took a sip from her own cup.
“Thanks…” Dylan looked at the dancing smokes sending the fragrant chamomile throughout the room before holding it in his hands. The warmth was comforting. “How are you feeling”
“Better I guess. Sorry I killed the mood last night…” he said apologetically before blowing on the hot tea.
“Oh don’t worry. If anything that’s fucking content” the blonde smirked and Dylan intentionally took a loud sip before a comfortable silence fell between them. He was almost startled at the mild bitterness of the sweet tea until a certain memory of this morning came rushing back.
Oh how he wanted the earth to consume him.
While Dylan was going through 5 stages of grief, Emma was studying him with a cheeky grin.
“…what?”
“You guys are like so cute”
Dylan sighed. “Yeah real cute. Loved the part where I passed out cold on him. Totally not embarrassing at all”
“Well at least he’s into it. He did spend all night with you after all” Emma nudged his shoulder playfully. “You should totally go for it”
Into it huh? Dylan just let out a dry chuckle and shook his head, staring blankly at his reflection on the tea. “Maybe I dunno…I don’t really wanna use my head right now”
Emma was silent for a moment before placing a hand on his shoulder. “Just know that I’m rooting for you alright” she gave it a gentle squeeze. “Oh by the way you should give Kaitlyn a call”
“Ah yeah of course. How could I forget my second mom”
“She wanted to stay you know but it seemed like you already got someone taking care of so” Kaitlyn’s still Kaitlyn, as supportive as ever. He smiled.
Dylan fished his phone out of his back pocket and saw a bunch of notifications. Eighty percent of them were from Kaitlyn and the rest was just emails, instragram dms and his major group chat.
He searched through his messages hoping to find a text from an unknown number saying something along the line of ‘hey this is Ryan’ only to be met with disappointment. There was no new contact added to his phone either.
He was so hopeless, thinking maybe Ryan found a way to sneak in his number while he was out cold last night like they were in some kind of cute romcom movies. But apparently this is real life and no matter how many times he checked, Ryan’s number never magically appeared out of nowhere. It was still nothing.
He sighed before tossing his phone to the side. Once he’s in a better mood, he’d give Kaitlyn a call. Just not right now.
“Ooh what’s this” Emma broke the silence between them, her attention falling on the ground as she reached down. And again, he totally forgot about the book. “Did you think I was holding a reading party or something Mr. Star wars?” she teased as her eyes traced along the texts on the back cover.
“Shut up. Ryan was just returning it to me” Dylan rolled his eyes as he drank some more of his tea. He hated the fact that the taste of nicotine was almost gone at this point made him sad.
“Huh interesting” the blonde leaned and hummed a tune Dylan didn’t recognize to the sound of pages flipping. It went on for a while before abruptly stopped. Seemed like she was particularly interested in a certain page.
Then she whistled. Damn he really needed to give this book a read. “Found something you like?”
“mmm maybe” the grin on her face was getting wider and Dylan didn’t how to feel about it nor the look she was giving him. “Actually I think it’s more like something you’d like” and the book was shoved into his hands. She left the book opened at the beginning of chapter 5 where a piece of paper was sticking out.
It was a white post it with the name ‘Harbinger Motel’ printed at the bottom in a navy font. And in the middle was a set of 11 digits numbers written in blue ink followed by a certain name only Dylan knew.
“Don‘t keep Ryan Ryan waiting for too long” well- now it’s Dylan and Emma but he didn’t care. He was too busy focusing on the words written in Ryan’s handwriting to acknowledge the smug face Emma was making.
Call me.
Ryan Ryan :)
Dylan’s heart was pounding so loud he was sure Emma could hear every single beat of it. His mind was replaying their walk to the radio hut on that fateful night. While some parts of the memory were fuzzy and lost somewhere between denial and defense mechanism, he could remember that particular conversation clear as day. And the smile Ryan gave him.
He felt something in his chest. If only he could stay a little longer, if only he wasn’t immediately escorted back home, he wouldn’t have had to wait for 4 years. 4 long years to realize that Ryan did in fact give him his number. It was just buried in the book that never ended up going home with him. A stinging sensation appeared in the corners of his eyes.
“You know you’re smiling like an idiot right now right”
“Yeah” his cheeks were getting sore at that point.
“Oh! To be in love!”
“Ugh shut up” he felt tears running down his cheeks despite the fact that he was laughing. Emma’s sigh can be heard softly. “I’ll be in the kitchen” the blonde gave him a few pats on the head then got up from the couch and collected the mugs in her hands before disappearing into the kitchen, leaving Dylan to have his cute little moments.
When he gets home, he’s so going to get that piece of paper framed on the fucking walls.
.
Dylan didn’t stay for breakfast because of 3 reasons.
One: he agreed to go for a brunch with Kaitlyn while he was on call with her and she was dying to know about what happened this morning.
Two: he happened to meet a certain blushing red head coming out of Emma’s bedroom, looking a little messy. While he didn’t want to be a third wheel and ruin their quality time, he couldn’t help but tease the blonde about it. She flipped him off and gave him a hug as she saw him out.
And three: he wanted to read the book. He figured he could use some reading as a distraction as it’s almost impossible to get his mind off of Ryan and the fact that he just texted back, agreeing to go on a date with Dylan. But turns out the book screamed Ryan louder than the man himself.
Defeated. Dylan finally gave in. It wouldn’t hurt to have Ryan running around in his mind while waiting for the time he finishes his shift.
Lost book returned with a new chapter to a relationship with a certain someone Dylan didn’t even think was possible to have. But now that Ryan’s here and his feelings are returned, he couldn’t wait to get started on it.