love never dies (a ryden fan fic)

Bed of Leaves

    "Please don't let me go home." I may have said that too loud.
    The nurse looks at me worried but before she can question me I hop off the table and grab my bag and Brendon's books. Panic sets in deep inside my core as the nurse goes to grab my arm. Her face shows the fear she holds for me, but I can't let her know.
    With fear in my heart I walk briskly out of the office and wait for Brendon to catch up, which he does surprisingly quickly. He just looks at me for a second as I take a few much-needed breaths, his face betraying the worry he has.
   "I think she knows Ryan." His eyes hold the pity I have learned to hate. Every time someone looked at me with those eyes they didn't help at all.              It was useless to pity me, but Brendon's seems more real, more genuine.
    "Know w-what?" Though I know that Brendon has put the pieces together I just can't get myself to admit the cold reality of it. I'm not sure how my mother would react if she knew that Brendon knows how brutal she can be and I don't want him getting hurt.
    His perfect lips turn down into a frown and he starts walking towards the exit of the school. I follow behind helplessly as so many emotions run through my veins, making my body hard to move.
    "Wow look who it is." Brendon stops quick and my blood runs cold at the voice. Spencer is standing right in front of Brendon, anger clear in the way he is standing. His face still has the faintest mark to show where my fist had contacted it.
    "Leave us alone Spencer, please." Sadness laces Brendon's voice. It must have been hard for him to lose his friend after all the time they had been together. Spencer scoffs at Brendon as two more guys that I have never seen before walk up and stand behind him, obviously offering their support.
    "What? Running off with your boyfriend once again?" He smirks as if the word boyfriend was supposed to hurt us, but it just makes me smile.
    "Who knew word traveled so fast?" I take strength from Brendon's presence and confidently call out the affirmation that Brendon and I are indeed a couple. This gives Spencer pause and his jaw opens and closes a couple of time, searching for the words to say next. 
    Ignoring the voice screaming in my head not to, I try to push past Spencer and his gang, but they aren't about to let that happen. The tall redhead to Spencer's right grabs my left arm roughly and holds me in front of Spencer.
    Looking at me, he suddenly smiles and turns towards Brendon, even the way he moves sinister. He gently touches Brendon's arm and takes a deep breath that turns into a sigh.
    "Do you know how much you hurt me Brendon?" He talks as if he was the only one that was hurt and it makes me see red. He probably hasn't felt half the hurt that I have with this whole ordeal.
    "Don't feign hurt. Everything we had before is gone. I refuse to be friends with the likes of you." Brendon spits out and pulls his arm away from Spencer's grasp. "Come on Ryan, don't let this bully scare you." 
    I pull my arm away from the boy who is holding it, which turns out to be a lot harder than I expected. Brendon walks away looking confident even on crutches and I follow behind him like a reprimanded puppy.
    Surprised that Spencer lets us go this easy when he looked like he was out for blood, I turn back to look at him. He runs his finger across his neck then laughs at my mortified expression.
    "You're throwing away the best thing you ever had for a piece of shit. Don't come running to me when you get sick of your little play thing." Spencer snarls and returns to his class, leaving me shaken to the core.
    Brendon's jaw clenches at the comment but he doesn't say anything, just keeps walking until we have made it safely out of the school. Not being able to control my emotional roller coaster, a few tears spill from my eyes.
    Brendon turns to me and cups my face in his hands. "Don't listen to him babe, he is just trying to say anything to hurt you." He kisses my lips lovingly for a few seconds and is almost reluctant to pull away.
    "Let's go." A mischievous smile plays on his perfect pink lips, planting worry deep in my gut. He walks to his car and throws his bag and crutches in the back seat and gets in the driver's seat. I follow suit and am soon buckled into the passenger seat.
    "Where are we going?" I frown, scare at the possibilities of danger running through my mind.
   "You'll see." He smiles and pulls out of the school's parking lot, turning the radio on full blast.

                                                                                                   ###

    Brendon puts the car in park and turns to look at me, a huge smile taking up his face. "We are here."
    I look out the window, confused. Trees stand tall all around us, their leaves different shades of green, orange, red and brown. There are no buildings to be seen, only the sky painted with fluffy clouds.
    "Um, where exactly is here?" Instead of answering, Brendon gets out, grabs his crutches and comes around to my side. He opens the door for me, the smile still pasted on his lips. The cool fall air washes into the car and instantly makes me feel better.
    Taking Brendon's hand, I get out of the car and stand by him. "Just, come on." He lets my hand go and starts walking towards the woods. I shake my head but follow anyway, truly interested in where we are going.
    We take a well-worn path for about 5 minutes and then go off the path deep into the woods. If Brendon wasn't still walking confidently ahead of me, I would think we are lost. After another 5 minutes, we have apparently arrived because Brendon stops abruptly.
    I look around and only see tall pine trees surrounding us. Before I can ask what we are doing here again, Brendon points up. I look and up in one of the pine trees is a huge tree house painted in a deep burgundy.
    "I used to come here every day as a kid. I never did find out whose house this is, but it has kind of been mine since I found it. Come on." He rests his crutches against the tree and puts his good leg on the rope ladder leading up.
    "Should you really be using that leg?" Brendon waves me off and climbs the rest of the way up to the tree house. Sighing at his bull headedness, I climb up after him.
    What greets me inside is not what I expected at all. The whole tree house is about the size of a classroom and is adorned with many pieces of furniture. A rug sits in the center of the room and on it is 2 chairs facing slightly away from each other.
    The walls are covered in records that have been nailed there in a thin row with their cases nailed below them. A small battery powered lamp illuminated the room in a dark glow. This whole place screams Brendon.
    "I did the decorating." He smiles and walks over to one of the chairs and sits, admiring me. Suddenly feeling self-conscious, I rub my arms gently and come sit in the other chair.
    "It's beautiful." I turn to him and he is already looking at me, a strange look in his eye. The look turns to love as he runs his thumb down my jaw.
    "Just like you." He pulls me to his and connects his lips to mine in a romantic kiss. I run my hands up his sides until they rest, cupping his chin as his lips work against mine. I never want this moment to end, but I rarely get what I want.
    Suddenly, I pull away from his lips and cough violently into my sleeve. One after another, the coughs come until my throat is completely sore. My eyes watering and throat hurting, I look back at Brendon, an apology in my eyes.
    "Are you ok?" He grabs my hand gently.
    "Yeah, I must just be allergic to the leaves or something." Brendon looks worried but doesn't say anything else about it, instead, he pulls me to him again and resumes where we left off.
    My breath leaves my body quickly as Brendon's velvet lips work against mine. He, very unhappily, disconnects from me and just looks into my eyes for a second. Without a word, he pulls me from the chair and lays me down on the rug next to him.
    Looking up, I see the sky through the hole that spreads across half of the roof. The moon hangs, a bright crescent in the sky. Brendon slides his hand slowly into mine as we both look into the beautiful night sky.
    "This is where I come whenever life is too much. When my aunt died, I hid up here for days, not even my mom could get me down." He looks over at me, a smile from memory playing lightly on his lips.
    "I love you Brendon." I turn my face to him and kiss him lightly on his lips then return my eyes to the stars.
    "Thank you for taking me here."