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It was only a few days into the tour the first time Ryan brought it up.
"Brendon, you snore like a fucking goblin." He had said irritably over a cup of coffee. He was seated at the small table they had, when they were all crowded into the kitchenette of their bus one morning.
Brendon shrugged and continued smacking as he chewed his toast. "Yeah I know."
Ryan gave him a look. "You didn't consider telling us this before you decided to hop on a cramped bus with us where we can hear each other's every move for a few months?"
Brendon shrugged yet again. "You guys can get used to it."
Ryan shook his head and Spencer copied the action, while Jon buried his face in his hands. Three of the four band members were now sure that this tour was going to be a test of their patience.
It pretty much continued on like that for a while, probably a few weeks. At night Ryan would toss and turn as he heard Brendon's noisy breathing. Brendon's bed did happen to be directly across from Ryan's so Ryan believed he got the worst of it. Every morning Ryan would grumble about how Brendon's snoring was annoying and every morning Brendon would give another shrug or reply something like "You love it, Ross."
One night in particular they had played a very late show and had done even more stage theatrics than usual, involving some dancing around and lots, LOTS, of sweating, and frankly, all Ryan wanted to do was sleep. But that night Brendon had managed to fall asleep before him and he was being especially loud. Brendon's snoring just flicked a switch in Ryan that night, so he swung his legs out of his own bed and determinedly crept up to Brendon's bunk, the source of the snores. Ryan yanked the curtain outside his bunk back and opened his mouth, prepared to verbally assault his main source of sleep deprivation the past few weeks, but he faltered, and his mouth shut at the sight before him. Brendon was lying in his bunk, low light of the small window highlighting the features of his face. His nose and mouth twitched slightly as he snored, and he looked extremely peaceful. It was a calming sight, especially when Brendon was constantly up and about and almost always hyperactive. Ryan almost couldn't believe it was the same boy before him now, stretched out on the mattress, shirt slightly ridden up, exposing his pale stomach. One of his arms were tucked behind his head, his brunette hair a mess. The other arm lay at his side. Ryan smiled gently at the sight before him, he couldn't help it. The energizer bunny crammed into a man's body was nonexistent as he took in what looked like a small child laid comfortably in bed, snoring softly. Ryan's heart softened and he quietly pulled Brendon's curtain back into place and retreated into his own bunk. He fell asleep thinking about Brendon and just listening to his friend.
The next morning was the first in a month that Ryan didn't complain.
The next night Ryan was ready to begin the usual ritual of cramming a pillow over his ears, but when Brendon started up, he couldn't find it in him to be annoyed. Instead he felt warm inside, at the sound of his friend's breathing, the soft snuffling and sounds that once drove Ryan crazy instead made him happy. He found that they were somewhat nice to listen to after a while. The sound was an adorable side-effect of the boy lying across from him, living, being Brendon.
Each night started to be like that, Ryan being soothed by Brendon's snoring (which wasn't really as bad as they made it out it be with their complaints) and just feeling fuzzy each time the boy took a breath. Ryan stopped complaining in the mornings, as his former major pet peeve now became his new fixation. Nighttime went from pillows pressed over Ryan's ears to Ryan's mouth stretched into a soft smile each time he heard the reminder of the sleeping boy across him.
Then Spencer had to go and ruin it. It was midday, and Brendon, Ryan, and Jon were lounging around on the couch. Brendon and Ryan were bickering playfully over who sucked the most at guitar hero, Jon occasionally butting in with comments like "you both suck the most," and "well, Ryan, at least Brendon can play his own band's songs without fucking up," triggering a response from Ryan, "THAT WAS ONE TIME, IT'S NOT MY FAULT MY GLOVE GOT CAUGHT."
Spencer emerged from the bunk area, plastic bag in hand, a smug smile on his face. "Oh my god, guys. I completely forgot I bought this." He reached into the bag, giggling like a maniac. Ryan and Brendon exchanged worried looks. What he pulled out was a blue box, about the size of a tissue box. Spencer held it out giddily for his band members to see.
"Snore eliminator pro, snore-stopping mouthpiece." Brendon read aloud.
Jon started laughing hysterically, Brendon joining him. "Oh my god, Spencer, you didn't." Spencer nodded, still giggling. He tossed the box to Brendon, who flipped it over and read the back of it silently. Brendon looked up at Ryan, who was wearing a hesitant smile. "Well, Ross, looks like you don't have to put up with my goblin snores anymore."
Ryan faked a laugh, trying not to show how disappointed he was that he'd no longer hear Brendon's precious snoring at night. "Thank god." Brendon pushed his head jokingly and Spencer turned on the tv and grabbed a plastic guitar.
"Who's ready to get murdered at guitar hero?" He asked.
Jon spoke up, "Well Spencer, at least you can play your part of the song without -"
"THAT WAS ONE TIME!" Ryan shouted, exasperated, head falling into his skinny hands.
When night came, Brendon walked out of the bathroom with the mouthpiece in, it was bulky and made him look absolutely ridiculous.
"I fink it ooks petty sexy." Brendon said, his words barely understandable. He held his arms out and spun around, as if he were a model displaying her $50,000 outfit.
Ryan looked up from his notebook and nodded. "Like Scarlet Johansson got adult braces and then decided to join the football team."
Brendon chuckled through his mouthpiece and ducked into his bunk.
To Spencer and Jon's relief, the mouthpiece actually worked really well. There was no longer any snoring coming from Brendon's bunk. Ryan tried to tell himself he was glad, and acted like it around his band mates. But he weirdly missed Brendon's snoring. It was his favorite part of nighttime, when it was dark and he could hear Brendon's goofy snoring and snuffling through the curtain and couldn't hold back a smile. But now every night was silence. And, contrary to the purpose of the mouthpiece, Ryan had trouble sleeping again, putting him in a bad mood.
Exactly 2 weeks had passed with the mouthpiece and Spencer and Jon were probably in love with the piece of plastic. Brendon occasionally complained about it being uncomfortable, but Ryan was pretty sure if he took it out the consequences would be much worse than having to sleep with it in. So Brendon was pretty okay with it. Ryan had started to sulk around a little, he couldn't help it, he missed the sound of Brendon at night. The other guys were wondering what the hell was wrong with him, he knew, but he couldn't exactly explain that he couldn't sleep without the sound of Brendon's snoring. He felt like they wouldn't exactly sympathize.
That night when everyone was in their respective bunks, sleeping soundly, Ryan just couldn't take it. It was so fucking quiet. How was he supposed to know Brendon was there?!? Living, breathing, Brendoning. Ryan swung his legs out of his bunk, and for the second time that tour, angrily tiptoed to Brendon's. He pulled the curtain back and held back a smile at the boy's sleeping form. He was so cute. But Ryan was pissed off, no time to gawk at his cuteness.
"Alright, this has gone on for too long." Ryan said, just loud enough for Brendon right in front of him to hear, but no one else. Brendon jerked awake, and after a second of panic, he saw Ryan hovering above him. He furrowed his brows adorably, and asked through his mouthpiece, "Ryah? Whah ge fuh do you wan?"
Ryan reached forward and yanked the mouthpiece out of Brendon's mouth. Brendon made a "ack" sound and wiped his mouth.
"Dude, what are you doing?" He took in Ryan's angry expression. "What's wrong?"
Ryan shook his head. "You don't fucking get it, do you?"
Brendon was taken aback. "Me? What did I do? Ryan, why the hell are you yelling at me in the middle of the night?"
"Because it's so fucking quiet! Every night, now, there's nothing! How am I supposed to know if you're even alive? It's complete dead silence. I can't take it!"
Brendon just looked at him with a confused puppy expression, until what Ryan was saying clicked. He suddenly looked amused. "Oh. Ross, do you miss my snoring?"
Ryan blushed, and made an annoyed sound. "Shut up. I just- I can't sleep without it." He admitted.
Brendon smiled slowly. "Well that's pretty weird, but if you insist. I'll stop wearing the mouthpiece. You know Spence and Jon are gonna be pissed though."
Ryan shrugged. "Who cares?"
Brendon laughed quietly. "I can't believe you actually like my snoring."
Ryan laughed too. "It was adorable." Brendon suddenly quieted and Ryan screamed internally at what he just let slip. Brendon sat up in his bunk and looked deep into Ryan's eyes, barely visible in the dim room. Ryan swallowed, looking into Brendon's chocolate ones.
Suddenly Brendon leaned forward, capturing Ryan's lips in a kiss. Ryan made a small noise of surprise, and kissed Brendon back. Brendon's lips were soft and slightly chapped. They tasted like toothpaste and Brendon and Ryan felt dizzy. The mouthpiece Ryan had a grip on dropped, hitting the floor. Brendon pulled away and Ryan opened his eyes, not even realizing he had shut them.
"Wow." Was all Ryan said.
Brendon looked down at his sheets. "Sorry if I-" but Ryan cut him off by crawling on top of him, legs straddling his waist. He smashed his lips against Brendon's again, which sounds unpleasant, but was actually pretty fucking amazing. They stayed like that, kissing and feeling each other for an hour, until Ryan slouched against him and rolled off so he was lying pressed up against Brendon with his arms around him. They were both breathing heavily.
"Hey, do you think I could stay in here tonight, with you?"
Brendon nodded. "But just a warning, I snore." Ryan laughed. Brendon pulled the curtain of his bunk shut. And then they fell asleep together, lying on the same mattress.
Jon woke up to the sound of snoring, and groaned into his pillow. He thought this had been dealt with. He looked across from him and made eye contact with Spencer, who seemed to have also been awakened by the snores. Spencer glared at the bunk underneath Jon's and looked back to Jon. "Someone is getting murdered."
Jon and Spencer climbed out of their bunks and were in front of Brendon's when suddenly Spencer cried out. "What the-?" He looked down at what he stepped on and it was Brendon's mouthpiece, lying on the floor, forgotten. Spencer grumbled a curse and kicked it under Brendon's bunk. He pulled the curtain back, ready to attack, but both Jon and Spencer froze at what they saw.
What they saw, was, of course, Ryan and Brendon curled up together, hair mussed and lips swollen. Jon glanced at Spencer who glanced at Jon. Spencer sighed and shut the curtain.
"I guess we'll just have to invest in some earplugs." He said tiredly, and crawled back up into his bunk. Jon rubbed his eyes and nodded, even though Spencer could no longer see him.
The next morning no one said anything, but they stopped at the store and Jon and Spencer bought a pack of earplugs. Ryan's bunk stopped all use, much like the mouthpiece, which lie under Brendon and Ryan each night, collecting dust.