Missing in Action

Chapter 007

It was 8:30 when Spencer slipped out of his dorm room, making sure not to make any noise. He'd gotten a call from Brendon about half an hour earlier, the boy claiming that he 'needed his best friend', sounding desperate unlike Spencer had ever heard him before until Spencer, still half asleep, had agreed to get up and come at the ungodly hour. He'd showered quickly and gotten dressed in his church clothes, aware that he would probably be with Brendon until it was time for church, and then quietly hurried down the hallway to knock on Brendon's door. Zach opened it quickly, and Spencer entered the room to see Brendon's slightly bloodshot eyes and disheveled hair. He hurried to his friend's side, frowning and asking what was wrong.

And so Brendon had told Spencer everything. Well, an edited version of everything. How he'd been talking to Ryan online, and how he'd figured everything out and how Ryan had kissed him! The edited parts were last night's nervous rambling, which made no appearance as he recounted the events. Spencer sat beside him, quite shocked on one hand, but happy on the other.

"So, what you're trying to say is that you're actually... dating someone?" He asked, finally, when Brendon had finished. This questions earned him a glare and Brendon huffed, rolling his eyes.

"No, of course not. We're just... mutually attracted to each other? I don't know." He sighed, momentarily at a loss for words. A few minutes later, Spencer stood from the bed and shrugged.

"Well, you know, it could be worse. Let's just see how it goes, all right? Now, I have to go wake up Jon. Want to come?" Nodding, Brendon followed Spencer to the door and out into the hallway. "Since when have you been awake, anyway? You look exhausted."

"Most of the night. Got dressed around 5:30 this morning and I've been lying in my bed since," Brendon mumbled. "I guess I just needed to think." He stated, as they arrived to Spencer's dorm room. He waited in the hallway as Spencer woke Jon and yelled at him to get ready for church, smiling slightly at his friends.

A little down the hall, Ryan started awake at the sound of his alarm clock going off, and all he wanted to do was burrow back under the covers and sleep for another few weeks. After doing something unspeakable to shut the damn alarm up, that is. He'd been up till well past four with the report, hadn't even gotten around to calling his mother back. And now, far too few hours later, he had to get up and somehow become presentable for church. He didn't even want to go to church! He was perfectly content being an atheist, thanks very much.

Nonetheless, he finally managed to drag his lanky body out of the comfortable warmth of his covers and went into the bathroom to shower and get ready.

Thirty minutes later he reappeared with a towel around his waist, hair dried and styled and just a tad of eyeliner framing his eyes. He quickly went to his closet and pulled out, breathing a small sigh of relief as he was at it, a pair of dress pants, a blue button-up and a blazer before laying them on the bed as he went to the set of drawers to find fresh socks and underwear.

After a look at his watch he got dressed quickly, leaving the room in a hurry. He was not about to miss breakfast or there was no way he'd be able to function for the rest of the day. He jogged down the hall, stairs, another hall, around a corner and finally found himself in the cafeteria where he picked up a plate and started stacking breakfast onto his plate.

Brendon, Spencer, and Jon entered the cafeteria only a few minutes after Ryan and all set out to get their breakfast. Brendon zipped through the line, only picking up a coffee and filling his plate with some fruit. He went and sat down at his usual table, picking at the fruit and drinking the coffee in almost one gulp. He looked over at Spencer, who was smirking and pointing at Ryan, and at Jon, who was looking better, if not utterly bewildered. Brendon shook his head and snorted, eating a big piece of watermelon.