Chapter Text
Teaching middle schoolers is cooler than you would think. Unlike with elementary students Ryland can delve into more complex topics that he really enjoys, like his lessons on sound waves or gravity.
His favorite part of the year is always the end because he after he gives the finals he can bring out a lot of fun experiments that don't effect their grades. The only problem with liking the end of the year is that once the year ends Ryland has three months of constant free time.
Now, most people would be confused as to why free time isn't appreciated. And for the most part it is! But Ryland gets bored easily.
There are only so many documentaries he can watch or lesson plans he can make for next year before he can’t stand it anymore.
Maybe Colt caught onto that over their last phone call because he currently has Jody Moreno calling him.
Colt has talked at length about Jody and how amazing she is. Ryland found it a little funny how gone his brother is for her. He hasn't seen his brother this in love since highschool when he had his first girlfriend. Ryland is interested in meeting her once Colt actually makes a move instead of this weird inbetween state he is in.
But Ryland wasn't in anyway prepared for his brother's crush/potential future girlfriend calling him at nine in the morning!
Quickly he answers the phone and holds it up to his ear, "Hello?"
"Hi! This is Dr. Ryland Grace right?" Jody answers a lot smoothly then he does, it might be because he slept in far longer than he planned and hasn't had coffee yet.
"This is him." Ryland reaches out for his glasses case on the side table near his bed.
"This is Jody Moreno, I was calling to offer you a job as a science consultant on a movie and I wanted to reach out personally to you." She explains to him as he gets out of bed.
The offer knocks him a little off balance.
Ryland has been shunned by the whole scientific community after his paper and outburst at that Denmark conference a few years back. So why are they asking him instead of people who are not shunned?
It doesn't make much sense to him then he remembers that Colt is close with Jody. Colt must have set this up for him.
"What would I be consulting with the team about?" Ryland asks, feeling much more awake then before as he stands int he middle of his apartment.
"Without revealing too much about the script we are going to include alien life in the production and would like pointers." She tells him. "Your brother told me that you are currently working as a teacher so you would have the break free for a contract."
Ryland was right, Colt set this up.
"I would be able to do a three month contract," He says as he walks in the direction of his kitchen. "But where is filming taking place?"
He turns on his coffee machine and thinks about the contract, he has the time that won't be a problem and he can probably room with Colt if they are filming in LA like he hopes.
There is the sound of shuffling papers on the other end before her response comes, "Perfect! And we are filming in England."
Oh, maybe this won't work. Sure he has money but not enough to rent a room in England for three months and a flight. He will also have to pay rent on his apartment during him leaving.
"I know money may be a problem so we will be paying for your flight and stay since you will be consulting." Jody, somehow reading his mind, continues.
"Oh! That would be amazing," Ryland pours a cup of coffee. "How soon do you need me to fly out?"
"Within the next six hours if possible." She says like Ryland doesn't sike himself up for two days before a flight.
"Six hours-?"
"I can get you on the next flight out in two hours if that is more convenient Dr. Grace." Jody says with upbeat tone that doesn't match the growing anxiety because Ryland is getting on a plane and he didn't prepare for at least a few days before.
"Nope! Um- six hours is fine, it will give me some time to pack and get to the airport!" Ryland isn't panicking, okay maybe he is, but he prays that Jody can't tell.
"Good, I will text you all the information within the next few minutes and I look forward to meeting with you." Jody tells him.
They share a rather quick goodbye because someone is yelling for Jody in the background of her end of the line, leaving Ryland to catastrophize in his kitchen.
"This is crazy! I can't get on a plane in six hours! I need to call her back and see if I can get a later flight."
Ryland goes to pick up the phone to call her back before he thinks of Colt. He hasn't seen his brother in half a year. They live in different cities and work very different schedules so getting a time set to met is always a nightmare.
He could see Colt and stay in the same vicinity for three whole months.
Slowly he puts his phone down ont he counter and runs both of his hands down his face.
This is insane.
He is going.
☆
Ryland doesn't throw up at all, not when getting on the plane or getting off. He doesn't have a panic attack while they take off but other than that he handles the first flight fine.
Because he is flying out from San Francisco he has a lay over in Chicago. He spends those three hours texting back and forth with Colt and bracing for getting back on another plane.
Colt has been in London for a while now since the first half of the movie is filmed without any of the scenes they need Ryland's help with.
He couldn't really say much about the movie because of the long nda he had to sign but now that Ryland is becoming a part of the crew he is promising to tell Ryland everything that has been going on around set once all of Ryland's paperwork is signed.
Ryland gets a small meal from one of the airport fast food places since he didn't really have time to prepare besides packing his bag and cleaning out his fridge. He hopes that once he is in th hotel they booked for him and has a chance to sleep off the flight that he can actually cook for himself.
Eventually the three hours are up and he is booking it to his gate to catch his second, and thankfully final, flight.
★
Since Ryland was accustomed to sleep at the time his flight was taking place he slept through most of the flight over. He has never flown first class before but it gave him a lot more room to stretch out to sleep.
He is woken up by the plane landing.
Well, before the landing when the pilot decided to fly in what felt like infinite circles around the airport just to spite Ryland. He knows that they fly into the landing area a certain way but it felt like the one time he let Colt drive them in a stunt car and he just drove in circles really fast for ten minutes.
Ryland was very cool about it, he also gripped onto the arm rest for dear life, the entire time.
Getting off the plane was like a breath of fresh air. The sun was up which was a little weird since his internal clock was telling him that it was four in the morning.
Ryland has his backpack slung over his shoulder as he walks through the crowded London airport. He looks at the signs as he walks by hoping to find the one pointing him to baggage claim.
Relief floods him as he finds it and gets his suitcase back. He has an easier time getting out of the airport then the entire ride here. It's amazing to have his feet on solid ground again.
Walking out into the passenger pickup lane he looks around for the car Colt said he was in.
"Ryland!" He hears Colt before he sees him.
Looking to the right Ryland sees Colt running over to him with a wide grin.
He looks at his brother for the first time in six months. Colt has grown out his hair a little more then he remembers, his sandy blond hair is more shaggy but it's a good look on him. Ryland is relieved to not see any new scars on him because of his job.
"Colt!" He goes to wave but is practically tackled by his twin.
Ryland almost doesn't stay standing as his brother's full weight hits him. Colt has always been a bit more stalky than Ryland was but Ryland does have the height advantage on him.
Colt pulls back a bit, "I fucking missed you man!"
In normal circumstances he would be disappointed at his brother's liberal use of curse words but the sentiment is shared, he really missed Colt too.
"I missed you too," Ryland grins, "now point me towards the newest car you are going to wreck in a week."
Colt scoffs, "I just hugged you and you are ragging on my driving skills! You don't even have a license."
"I have eyes and a working memory," He crosses his arms, "You wreck almost every car you get your hands on."
Colt rolls his eyes, "I can make you walk to your hotel."
"But then Jody would be mad at you." Ryland's grin turns up into a smirk.
"Why do I even like you?" Colt pushes at his shoulder as they begin to make their way to the car.
"Because you are contractually obliged since we were born." Ryland reminds him.
He hears Colt mumble something that sounds very similar to 'smartass' as they get into Colt's newest car.
☆
The first thing Ryland does when they get to Colt's apartment is crash. He tries to stay awake but the jet lag and time difference all hits him at once and he nearly keels over once Colt shuts the door behind them.
Luckily Jody was nice enough to set it up so Ryland's hotel is only a few couple buildings down from Colt's apartment.
He lets Jody know that he is spending the night with Colt and will check into his hotel in the morning. She sends him a short message of confirmation since she is on set directing.
"I need sleep." Ryland mutters as he rubs his eyes under his glasses, pushing them up slightly to attempt to get the sleep out of his eyes.
"Sleep than." Colt nods to the bedroom, "We aren't doing any stunts today and I assume that you are signing your contract tomorrow?"
Ryland nods as a yawn works it's way out of him.
"I will drive us there in the morning and you can meet with Jody." Colt tries to restrain his excitement at the prospect of Ryland meeting Jody but Ryland can see it written all over his face.
"I am excited to finally meet who you rave about every few minutes when we talk." He laughs as Colt rolls his eyes at him.
"I'm gone for her but not that bad." Colt says before he takes a bite of his microwaved leftovers.
"If you say so," Ryland shrugs and turns towards the bedroom, "I am going to crash for a few hours."
Colt gives him a two fingered salute, "Have fun."
"Will do." Ryland calls back and shuts the door to the bedroom behind him.
He ends up sleeping for a long time. Ryland never set an alarm but he was surprised to see the sun low in the sky when he eventually opens his eyes.
With a groan he moves, feeling his muscles stretch with the movement.
Ryland walks out into the open concept living room, Colt isn't there. He expected him to be but Colt is the stuntman for the lead actor so him being called in isn't unusual.
It hits him then that he didn't get the lead actor's name at all. Jody probably couldn't release that yet but usually with movies they tell you who you are working with, at least Ryland thinks so.
The door opens just as Ryland sinks into the couch in Colt's living room.
"I am sure that he can do that but you can talk with him in the morning," Colt's voice is softened to a pitch that Ryland hasn't heard before. "also I am excited for you two to meet."
Ryland's lips curl up as he realizes that Colt is talking to Jody. He really should have guessed from the tone of his voice. His brother truely has it bad for her and Ryland is happy for him.
He can't remember when the last date he went on was. It was after Grad school, possibly before the conference and his paper.
Ryland thinks it was with a man he met at a conference, another biologist perhaps. They had a small connection through work but other than that the date was average. It wasn't a bad date persay but nothing caught Ryland's attention about the man. He gave up dating after years of having no interest in it and him being shunned from his peers.
Maybe he should go on those dating sites Colt suggested?
His train of thought is interrupted as Colt sets down a bag of take out on the counter. He seems to have hung up the phone because he is looking over at Ryland.
"Good evening, you seem to have slept well." Colt's greets.
"It was a good, and very much needed, nap." Ryland leans his head over the back of the couch.
"Good, I got dinner." Colt says and lifts up a carry out container.
It wasn't until Colt mentioned it and he smelled the food that Ryland remembered that he has eaten in a while. Since he slept on the plane he slept through the meal provided to passengers.
Ryland gets up and walks over to the kitchen counter, excited for the prospect of food, "Thank you."
He picks up one of the white containers only to have his hand batted away.
"That one's mine," Colt grabs the container and pushes the other one forward towards him. "you would die if you ate it."
Ryland quirked a brow, "How?"
"It's spicy and you keel over at the hint of spice on your food." Colt grins.
"I can handle it!" Ryland defends his honor.
"You can't." Colt shakes his head, "we have gone down this path before and you had to chug multiple glasses of milk after I let you swipe some of my vindaloo last time. I am not dealing with that again."
Ryland cringes slightly, remembering his shock and dismay at how low his heat tolerance is.
"Fine, I can't handle it. But this isn't a competition about who can handle more spice." He grumbles and picks up his food.
"Whatever you say." Colt says from behind him as he turns around and walks back to the couch.
The rest of the evening is spent watching a couple old movies that they enjoyed when they were younger and also one space documentary since Colt limited him to only one per movie night.
If Ryland had his way they would have watched all documentaries but it's Colt's apartment and therefore his rules.
It was definitely a good night, spending time with his brother is really nice.
★
Filming starts really early so Ryland is up around five so he is awake by the time they have to drive to the set in an hour.
He picks out the best of his casual clothes for meeting Jody. Ryland didn't know the dress code for a science consultant so he went with casual today and then if he needs to wear something else he has his usual work clothes in his suitcase.
Colt is already bursting with energy when he comes out of his bedroom at five-thirty. He finds it funny that Colt still needs to run off his energy even in his thirties. Back in highschool he was the star of the track team because of how much he enjoyed running.
"Let's go!" Colt cheers as they get into the car.
The drive to set is rather scenic, the rolling hills of the British countryside are nice to look at. The drive is only fifteen minutes to the set they picked out for this part of the movie. From the small pieces Colt could slip to Ryland before the contract they have only been filming here for the past two weeks since the movie is supposed to take place on multiple planets.
Eventually the the dirt road gives way to a gravel drive. Ryland sees a large building with people walking around outside. It's crowded with people of all professions, makeup artists, prop designers and even a few stuntmen.
Colt pulls his car into a parking spot and they hop out.
It's not even a few minutes before someone walks over to them.
"Colt-" The man says but trails off with a surprised look on his face, "-there are two of you?"
That gets Ryland to laugh, "No, me and Colt are twins, please don't make me do any stunts."
The man turns towards Colt with crossed arms, "You never told me you had a twin man!"
"It never came up." Colt shrugs with a grin.
"I'm Dr. Ryland Grace, I was hired to be a science consultant." He extends his hand and the man takes it.
"I'm Dan, the stunt coordinator for this set." Dan takes his hand and gives him a firm handshake. "Colt's supervisor and supposed friend before I learned he had a twin no one knew about."
Colt does look a little sheepish, "We don't want our public lives to be destructive to each other, I like the fame, Ryland doesn't, and Ryland doesn't want me to be know as the guy with the brother you told the top guy in his field the scientific equivalent of ‘kill yourself’."
Ryland looks away in embarrassment.
He doesn't regret his actions at the conference, in fact he still very much agrees with his paper and actions, but he is embarrassed. Ryland doesn't want his own life to effect his brother's career so they decided to keep both of them separated.
"Damn," Dan laughs a little, "I would have loved to see that."
Colt perks up, "I have a video saved! I was his plus one since we were filming in Denmark at the same time."
"Colt! Don't show him!" Ryland groans as he runs a hand down his face.
But Dan and Colt are already huddled around his phone as Ryland hear the familiar sound of his voice yelling. The worst thing about having a sibling is the embarrassing stories they have about you.
"You really told him off!" Dan pats Ryland on the shoulder.
"It was something." Ryland sighs, "Can we go see Jody so I can sign my contract?"
"Let's get a move on, the whole stunt team will want to meet you since you are Colt's brother." Dan says cheerfully and they finally start to move towards where Jody is.
They walk through people making props, the makeup tents and a group of stunt performers who wave to Dan and Colt.
Jody is in a big white tent in a field behind the building. Ryland feels a little nervous about being here but he flew all this way so he isn't backing out now.
Colt lifts up one of the flaps and Dan walks in. He holds it up so Ryland can follow him. Ryland's eyes adjust from the sunlight to the darker tent.
As his eyes adjust he sees the one person he hoped to never see again.
Tom Ryder is standing talk to two women, one with blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail and a taller woman with curly brown hair and a coke in one hand.
He catches sight of Ryland at the same time Ryland sees him. His eyes widen with shock and a softer emotion Ryland hates.
Ryland freezes in his tracks which makes Colt bump into him.
"Ryland?" Colt asks in confusion as Ryland glares at Tom.
Tom goes to speak, his hand reaching outward as if he wants to touch him, his whole body is angled towards Ryland now.
"Jody!" Dan waves to get Jody’s attention.
Ryland turns his attention towards the blonde woman, he has seen a few pictures that Colt has taken of her so he can tell it's her and not someone else.
Jody looks over in confusion before her eyes light up at the sight of him, Dan and Colt, she leaves Tom behind to walk over to their little group.
"You must be Dr. Grace." She holds out a hand to him, "I am Jody Moreno, the director."
"I have heard a lot about you Miss Moreno." Ryland gives her the best smile he can muster with Tom Ryder in the room as he shakes her hand.
"Like wise, Colt has told me about your work as a teacher." She releases his hand after a while.
"So Jody knows but not me." Dan looks over at Colt with narrowed eyes.
"Well-" Colt goes to defend himself when Tom walks over to the group.
He looks good, far too good for what Ryland hoped happened to him after being ghosted all those years ago. His eyes are vibrant with emotion as he looks at Ryland.
"Oh right," Jody turns to Tom, "This is Tom Ryder, the lead actor in the movie."
Tom holds out a hand and Ryland resists the urge to smack it away, "It's nice to meet you Dr. Grace. I have heard of your work."
Ryland takes his hand and squeezes as hard as possible while he shakes his hand, a fake smile on his face, "Nice to meet you Mr. Ryder, sadly I have never watched your work before."
Tom winces at the force of his grip, "That's a shame, maybe I could send you some of my favorite movies!"
Ryland would rather jump off a cliff.
"Maybe but I don't think I would find them really interesting so you don't have to Mr. Ryder." He replies, hoping to get his absolute displeasure across tot he man infront of him.
"Oh I insist!" Tom smiles through the pain. "And please call me Tom."
"I prefer to stick to professional speech when addressing my colleagues." He shoots that down immediately.
"I am sure we can be more then colleagues if you want." Tom is still shaking his hand.
"I don't think so." Ryland tries to pull his hand away but Tom holds it close to him.
"I'm sure there is some way we can work this out-"
"Okay!" Jody cuts in, sensing the tension in the room skyrocketing at a steady rate. "I need to have Ryland sign his paper work so everyone needs to head out of my tent."
Tom lets go of his hand but his gaze lingers even as the woman he was talking with ushers him out of the tent. Ryland suppresses a shudder under the weight of it.
"Let's get started, yeah?" Jody asks with a relieved expression.
"Yeah." Ryland nods and they sit down at a table.
This is going to be a disaster.