Fighting Butterflies (BoyxBoy)

Seventeen

Love was a cruel thing, Ryan thought. It promised good things and butterflies, it promised sweet and pleasant moments and a forever, but Ryan was finding out that the love he had come to know had stripped the carpet from under him, letting him fall into a never-ending dark hole that he wasn't sure he could ever climb out of.

And that was why Ryan tried so hard to feel happy for his best friend who couldn't help but gush about her new boyfriend to whoever was willing to listen. He smiled sadly as he listened to her talk about how sweet Drew was that Friday. Both he and Ruxie sat with Nora at their usual table in the cafeteria and it was probably the fifteenth time Nora had mentioned her date with Drew which happened a weekend ago.

"Guys, I cannot stress this enough!" Nora exclaimed with a dreamy sigh. "He was so sweet, even walked me home after the movie and only left after I'd gone inside."

Ryan rolled his eyes as he ran his hand through his hair. "Isn't that like the bare minimum?" He blurted out and his eyes went wide as they met Nora's brown ones.

She stared at him, shocked for a moment before shaking her head, as if she didn't hear him right. "What?"

"Uh... I just..."

"Even if it is the bare minimum, it was still nice of him, asshole," Nora stated as she frowned pointedly at her friend. "You don't understand because you've never been in love."

Ryan took a deep breath, licking the inside of his cheek and letting out a sigh. He opened his mouth to respond but paused when he felt Ruxie's hand slide into his, squeezing his slightly as a way to comfort him and keep him from lashing out. But even that was not enough to stop him from saying what was on his mind.

"That has nothing to do with..."

"Hey babe," a voice that Ryan would recognize from anywhere said sweetly, interrupting Ryan. The blond boy turned around to see Drew walking to their table with a smile, a smile that used to be directed at him. Behind him was Zane, one of Drew's close friends who seemed to be everywhere that Drew went. As soon as the two arrived at the table, Drew slid into the seat beside Nora, put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a kiss.

Ryan's heart clenched tightly at the scene before him and he looked away, biting his lip to keep his tears at bay. He had promised himself to not go down that rabbit hole again. Unluckily for him, Zane had decided to sit right next to him.

"Ryan, right?" The senior asked.

Before he could stop himself, Ryan blurted out, "You knew that already, didn't you?" Without waiting for an answer, the blond boy got up and rushed out of the cafeteria, ignoring Ruxie's calls for him to come back.

He couldn't go back there even if he wanted to, not even for Ruxie. He would rather be anywhere than in front of Drew and Nora. The blond boy ran through the hallways of the building, looking for a place he could lay low for the rest of the lunch period. Tears blinded him as he turned at a corner and bumped into a hard chest, causing the hot drink the person had been holding to spill all over Ryan's shirt.

"Fuck."

Ryan's heartbeat slowed at the sound. He looked up slowly, coming face to face with Cain. The short boy took a step back, ready to run and never come back but that thought was short-lived when Cain's strong hand grabbed his arm, keeping him still.

"The least you could do is fucking stay after that fiasco last week."

Ryan shook his head, lips pressed tightly together as he tried to keep himself from crying and forced his arm out of Cain's grip and ran, the only thing in mind being to get away from school as fast as possible. Ryan ran. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him. The blond boy had reached his limit. He would do anything but be near him, anyone but him. Even being in the presence of Nora and Drew was a pleasant hell to bear than reliving the time he embarrassed himself in front of Cain. And as much as he tried to avoid it, his mind thought differently as it pushed forward the memories of a moment Ryan tried to suppress.