Kiss It Better, Dr. Ross

Alternate Ending: Explanation

A/N:

Surprise! So when I was writing this story, I couldn't decide which was I wanted to take Brendon's situation so my decision was to do both. This alternate ending starts when Ryan comes to Brendon's apartment after they broke up and Brendon collapsed. The majority of this was copied from the original chapter but I thought it would be helpful to include it as a refresher of what's going on. I have little asterisk where the new content starts. 

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Brendon woke up, surprisingly at ease. He wasn't aching as much anymore and his fever was gone. He looked around the room, slightly upset that he was alone. He grabbed his phone to check the time.

"Spencer should be home." As if on cue, Spencer came in with a bowl in hand.

"You're finally up. Good timing. I just heated up some soup." Brendon sat up and gratefully took the bowl. His appetite was coming back so he was starving. "Oh by the way, Ryan is waiting out in the living room." Brendon jerked, spilling some of the soup on the sheets.

"What?" The memory of Ryan coming before he blacked out popped into his head.

"Fuck," he let out.

"Well I gotta head out, but talk to him when you're ready." When Spencer turned to leave, Brendon reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt.

"Wait Spence."

"You'll be fine," Spencer said with a reassuring smile. "Just come out when you're ready. Take your time." When Brendon let go, Spencer left him alone in the room. He sat in the bed nursing his bowl of soup, not able to finish it all before it got cold.

He waited another ten minutes before he could calm his nerves enough to climb out of bed. He stumbled a little, using the wall to balance himself. He stood for a moment with his eyes shut until the room stopped spinning.

Steadily, he made his way into the hall, one hand on the wall just in case. When he got to the living room, he saw Ryan sitting on the couch, hunched forward, elbows on his knees. His hands were clasped together, pressed against his bottom lip while his eyes were trained on something in front of him.

"Hey Ryan," Brendon spoke softly. As if snapped out of a trance, Ryan jerked his head up at the voice. His eyes went wide and he jumped to his feet. Brendon wanted to chuckle at how nervous Ryan was compared to his calm behavior.

"H-hey, Bren...don. Brendon," Ryan said in a shaky voice. When neither spoke, Ryan looked away and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Spencer told me I could wait here until you came out."

"What are you doing here?" Brendon felt guilty at how aggressive his tone was. He was curious as to what brought Ryan back.

"I heard you were sick. I wanted to see if you were okay."

"Oh yeah. I'm alright. Just the flu." Ryan nodded but he couldn't stop the way his eyes scanned Brendon looking for any cues of his condition. Brendon let out a tired sigh. He could almost feel how much more anxious Ryan was now that he knew. "I'm fine. Really." Ryan nodded again and looked away. "Is that all you needed then?" There was a hint of hope in his voice.

"Yeah. Um.. yeah," Ryan looked around the room, as if the words he should say were floating around him, but of course that wasn't the case. He sighed and glanced over at Brendon. "T-that's all," he said in a more professional tone. A small voice in his head was screaming at him to stop lying, but he couldn't say what he really wanted.

"Oh," Brendon mouthed, ignoring the pain in his chest. What did he expect? Nothing's changed. "Okay." Ryan nodded and stood with his eyes down to the floor. The pair said nothing and only stood there. After a minute, Ryan looked up at Brendon.