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Ryan is hopeful that they’ll leave as soon as Fabian and Shane get back from the bathroom. Well, they’ll probably be pictures of Shane in Fabian’s make-up first, but this club is overly crowded and noisy so maybe they won’t stay after for long. At least they have a table and everyone made sure he got the chair with his back to the wall. It’s slightly quieter here and knowing no one can approach him from behind is helping Ryan’s nerves. Ryan spots the two guys who have been taking turns trying to pick up Troy arguing with each other near the door. Maybe they’ll leave? Troy is probably tired of politely turning them down.
“Do you think he’ll have sparkles?” Ilya asks as he indicates his cheeks.
Ryan shrugs. “He’d look nice with sparkles.”
Ilya grins and agrees.
“Jealous?” Troy teases.
“Extremely,” Ilya deadpans back, but it’s less tease and more truth so Ryan checks his shoulder bag. Fabian usually stores some extra makeup in his bag. He holds up a blush that shimmers and Ilya grins. Ryan tells him to tilt his chin and applies the blush the way Fabian’s taught him. He blends it in with the applicator, frowns at the way it’s not quite right, and then uses his fingers. Ilya thanks him. Ryan nods. Ilya lets Troy see.
“Well, now I’m jealous,” Troy grumbles playfully. Ryan rolls his eyes.
“We could take pictures for Harris,” Ilya suggests.
“He’d love pictures!” Troy grin for the first time since getting hit on by two guys that don’t seem to think Troy saying he’s got a fiance means stop flirting. Troy comes around the table so Ryan can give him sparkly blush. Then he and Ilya start taking selfies. Ryan finds a wipe to clean his hands. He glances towards the bathroom. Any moment now they’ll probably be leaving.
“The food here is no good,” Ilya complains.
“Did they switch our drinks?” Eric asks as he frowns and sets down his phone. Eric is quiet tonight and occasionally texting with Kyle, who is in Vermont to see his parents. From the tense way Eric said this earlier in the night Ryan isn’t sure this is a good thing.
Troy frowns. “No, mine definitely has alcohol.”
Eric stands carefully. “I’m going to get a water.”
“One of us can,” Ilya offers as he starts to stand.
“I only had half the glass,” Eric points out. “I can get it myself.”
Ilya tilts his head like he’s studying Eric.
“I’m not drunk,” Eric insists. “If I was I would be crying over nothing.”
“It’s rarely nothing,” Ilya counters.
“I’ll be fine after some water,” Eric reassures before moving away from their table. Ilya sits back down frowning. Ryan considers following Eric to make sure he gets there, but he doesn’t really want to leave the spot at their table unless they’re leaving this club. Troy picks up his drink, sniffs it, then picks up Eric’s and does the same.
“They smell different,” Troy decides.
Ilya reaches for Eric’s drink.
“Don’t drink that,” Troy insists as he takes the drink away. “We can get them to remake it.”
Ilya says something to Troy, but Ryan doesn’t really catch it because the two people that were bugging Troy are just suddenly on top of Eric and talking to him quickly. They grab Eric’s arms and start to lead him to the door. Eric is trying to pull himself away as Ryan stands. Before he can step away from their table Fabian is right there, putting himself between Eric and the guys. Then Fabian is tilting Eric’s head down to look at him. Eric sways slightly.
“Ryan,” Ilya starts and then goes silent as follows Ryan’s gaze. He stands too.
Shane is already leading a worker over. Troy swears. It’s been a long time since Ryan heard Troy swear. Thankfully the workers seem to stop the two guys so Ryan doesn’t need to help. Fabian seems to be trying to lead Eric back to their table. Shane steps in to help and Fabian stays to talk to the staff that have swooped in. Eric insists on heading towards the door.
“I’ve got his phone,” Troy says as he grabs Eric’s phone and then starts checking the table to see if anything else got left behind. Thankfully tonight is warm enough that none of them brought jackets. They all head towards the door.
“I’m just going to go home,” Eric is trying to tell Shane, except his words are slurring and he’s leaning heavily on Shane.
“They called an ambulance,” Shane says. “You’re going to the hospital.”
Eric protests again. “I’ll just go home. You guys have fun. I’m fine.”
Eric’s legs chose that moment to go out from under him and Ryan steps in and scoops Eric into his arms before Shane can hurt himself trying to hold their friend up.
“Tell them I can go home,” Eric tries.
“Are you going to throw up on me?” Ryan asks.
Eric frowns as he considers this. Ryan frowns. Should they have tried to get Eric to throw up? Slowly Eric tries to say, “You should be having fun or we should be telling Shane he's pretty.”
“Shane knows he's pretty,” Ilya interjects. “I tell him.”
“I should go home so you can have fun,” Eric tries again.
“You're not going home,” Shane says firmly. “You're going to the hospital. And I know I look pretty, Fabian is excellent at makeup.”
“Thanks,” Fabian says as he joins them carrying a chair. As they carefully get Eric in the chair, and then get him to sit back when he starts to slump forward Fabian continues, “They definitely slipped something in your drink. They saw it on their security footage, but you're still going to want to go to the hospital so they can figure out what they gave you. It'll make it easier to press charges.”
Eric doesn’t answer, but there are tears starting down his face.
Fabian starts to say something, but Ilya interjects, “He said he cries when he’s drunk.”
“Which explains why he never gets drinks,” Troy puts in. He’s on his phone. He sounds off.
“This isn’t your fault,” Ryan tries.
“They were targeting me and we had basically the same drink,” Troy counters. He sounds brittle.
“What does Harris say?” Ilya pushes.
“That I should stay and talk to the police, then call him,” Troy sighs.
Eric tries to say something, the tone is reassuring, but the words are too slurred to make out.
“It’s not better that it’s you,” Troy says firmly. “If you don’t press charges I will.”
Fabian gives Ryan a look that is questioning if he has Eric. Ryan nods. Fabian steps away to give Troy a hug, then pat his back. Troy thanks him. Shortly after the police and an ambulance arrive. Shane, Fabian, and Troy stay behind to talk to the police. Ryan pushes Ilya to get in the ambulance with Eric. Ryan drives himself to the hospital. When he parks at the hospital he calls Scott and Kip to let them know not to meet them at that club and what hospital Eric is at. The call is brief. Scott is angry, but pauses to reassure Ryan that it has nothing to do with him. Scott says he’ll call Carter. Is Carter coming here too?
Eric already has a room in the ED. He’s already got an IV going. Ryan isn’t sure why they don’t make him wait in the waiting room, but Ilya gives him a relieved look when he shows up. “Do you have Kip’s number?”
“Kip?” Ryan asks.
“He’d have Kyle’s number,” Ilya reasons as he frowns down at his phone. “I’m getting numbers after this.”
Eric halfheartedly protests. He’s still crying.
“You are not a burden,” Ilya tells Eric firmly. “Kyle will be upset if you don’t call.”
Ilya tries handing Eric’s phone to him, but Eric just frowns at it.
“I have Kyle’s number,” Ryan tells him.
“Can you call him?” Ilya asks. “This is stressful. I might explain this wrong.”
Ryan hears what Ilya isn’t saying, that English is more difficult for him when he’s stressed. And Ilya’s right, this is stressful, but for some reason Ryan is feeling mostly calm. He’s worried about Eric, but at least he’s in the hospital if something goes wrong.
“Are you okay to call him?” Ilya asks.
“I’m okay,” Ryan reassures. Then he frowns as Eric reaches up and tries to peel at the tape holding his IV in.
Ilya huffs. “Eric stop.”
Eric pauses to blink at Ilya. Ilya rolls his eyes, grumbles. This is clearly not the first time this has happened. Then Ilya takes off his shoes and gets into the bed with Eric. He gently removes Eric’s hand from the IV, then rearranges him into a cuddle. Eric sobs. He goes from silently steady tears to full on whining sobs. Ilya reassures him and rubs his back. Ryan doesn’t want to leave Ilya alone with a crying Eric, but the only thing he can think of to help has him stepping out of the room. He snags a worker who gets him the washcloth, towel, and warm blanket he asks for. He steps back in. Eric isn’t crying so hard now. Ryan covers both Ilya and Eric with the blanket, then turns to the sink in the room and puts the warm water on. When it’s heated up he runs the washcloth under it. He wrings it out. Ilya takes it from him wordlessly and starts wiping the tears off Eric’s face. Ryan drapes the towel nearby, then sinks into the chair in the room so he can call Kyle.
Kyle picks up on the first ring. He listens as Ryan explains, doesn’t interrupt, and Ryan somehow manages to be concise about the situation. When Ryan stops talking Kyle makes a noise of distress, then states, “I was trying to convince myself the reason he stopped texting is that all of you were having fun.”
“Sorry,” Ryan manages.
“This isn’t your fault. Is Troy there?”
“Not yet.”
“Okay, when I get off the phone with Eric I’m going to call him and make sure he knows this isn’t his fault either. Then I’ll head home. If he gets discharged before I make it, can you text me?.”
“I will. Thanks.”
“No, Ryan, thank you. Can I talk to Eric now?”
Ryan reassures Kyle, then holds the phone up to Eric’s ear. Eric starts trying to apologize and for a moment Ryan thinks he’s going to start crying again, but then he relaxes. Eric falls asleep shortly after they hang up.
When Scott and Kip get there Scott seamlessly switches places with Ilya. Eric barely stirs. Scott looks down at Eric in concern, but when Eric doesn’t wake up he settles into cuddling his friend. Ilya looks tired and slightly brittle so Ryan steps out of the room again to get him a warm blanket. Ilya murmurs a thank you as Ryan drapes it around his shoulders.
“Are you okay?” Kip asks.
As Ryan reassures him the rest of the group shows up. Shane gets himself and Ilya into a sturdier looking chair, getting Ilya to sit on his lap. Troy sinks into the chair Ilya vacated. Fabian wraps him in a hug and Ryan sighs in relief.
The nurse checks in several times. The police show up and ask Eric so many questions. Eventually Eric gets discharged and they all end up migrating over to his home. Ryan texts Kyle.
There’s a moment where Eric tries to play host, get them set up in guest rooms, but Scott settles him onto a couch and tells him to stay there while Scott handles this. Eric falls asleep in a few moments.
Ryan and Fabian consider going back to their hotel, but neither of them feel right leaving until they know Eric is up and about, that he’s feeling better. They end up in a guest room. Neither of them can sleep. It doesn’t seem like anyone is really sleeping except for Eric. They all settle in around Eric. Scott’s got Eric’s head on a pillow in his lap and Kip has Eric’s feet. They’re holding hands along the back of the couch. Ilya and Shane are sharing a chair, though Shane is in Ilya’s lap half asleep. Troy indicates the other chair near the couch, before he heads into another room and gets a chair for himself. Ryan sits and feels himself relax that bit more when Fabian gets comfortable in his lap. Ryan wraps his arms around his boyfriend and presses a kiss to his shoulder.
“It’s my fault,” Ilya breaks the silence. “I got the drinks.”
“They were targeting me,” Troy counters.
“Semantics,” Ilya grumbles.
“No,” Fabian tells them firmly. “Neither of you drugged him so it’s not your fault. Ilya they were sneaky, of course you didn’t catch them. This is probably not the first time they’ve done this. Troy, just because Eric and you got similar drinks, and they had been annoying you doesn’t make it your fault either. Blame the people who actually did this and not yourself.”
“Or tell your brain to stop being a jerk to you,” Ryan adds.
Fabian grins at him and Ryan grins back.
Shane sits up slightly, blinks at all of them, then looks at Ilya. “Are you blaming yourself for something that isn’t your fault?”
Their eyes meet and for a moment they don’t say anything, then Ilya admits, “Fabian won’t let me.”
“Thanks Fabian,” Shane manages, before he yawns, kisses Ilya’s jaw, then goes back to sleep.
“I should really remove his make-up,” Fabian grumbles. “We barely got any pictures, just a few mirror selfies before everything went sideways.”
“There are makeup wipes in my bag,” Ryan tells him.
Fabian thanks him with a kiss and then goes to get their bags.
“He’s right,” Ilya tells Troy.
“Harris agrees,” Troy nods. “He’s sending me pictures of our dogs napping together, want to see?”
Ilya perks up. Troy hands his phone to Kip who hands it to Scott who hands it to Ilya. Ilya grins down at the pictures. “I’m going to tell him to send them to me.”
“He probably already did,” Troy points out.
Ilya agrees, but doesn’t reach for his phone. Fabian comes back into the room with the makeup wipes and wakes Shane up enough to clean off his face. Shane’s sleepy enough that he lets Fabian take care of him before going back to using Ilya as a pillow. Fabian takes the time to clean the blush off Ilya and Troy before finding where he can throw out the used wipes. The pack gets left on the coffee table before Fabian comes back to his lap and shortly after Ryan finds himself waking up to Kyle and Carter coming into the room carrying bags. It smells so good.
“Carter brought breakfast,” Kyle announces. Slowly everyone gets up and either heads for the kitchen or the bathroom. Fabian heads for the bathroom as Ryan gives himself another moment to wake up. Once Scott and Kip are off the couch Kyle is right there gently waking up Eric, who just wraps him in a hug. They kiss briefly, then Kyle cuddles up on the couch next to Eric. Ryan pushes himself up so they can have privacy.
“Why do you have glitter in your hair?” Kyle asks.
“My fault,” both Ryan and Ilya say at the same time.
Eric laughs. Ryan and Ilya look at each other and Ryan can’t help it, he starts laughing too. Everything isn’t fixed and Ryan’s grateful he likely won’t get pulled into however the media and public react to this, but at the same time he’s surrounded by friends who support each other. He was able to provide a lot of that support last night. Also he’s never going back to that club. He’s sure they’ll all agree with him.