Ryden Oneshots

This Is Fate

.:. Rating : R .:.
girl!brendon girl!ryan

Bren never thought she'd be good enough to be a cheerleader.

When Brent would take her to the football games, they'd sit next to each other holding hands. Bren used to watch the cheerleaders, with their bouncy ponytails and their white sneakers. Brent would be yelling next to her, his hand slightly sweaty in hers, and she'd be sneaking glances at the cheerleaders as they giggled and jostled each other on their bench.

She'd go home and practice the cheers in her room, chanting them quietly under her breath as she jumped around and waved her arms in the air.

So the day she finally gets the courage to attend tryouts, Bren is twitchy all day. She's so fidgety in English that Brent insists on giving her a kiss for good luck, and he slips in the tongue which, seriously, gross.

But all of the hours of stealth practice must have paid off, because Bren bounces out of the school gym afterwards as the newest member of the cheerleading squad. Brent wants to park up at the point for some celebration, but Bren makes him drop her home instead. She wants to celebrate, just maybe with a glass of soda and a game of Guitar Hero. Brent keeps wanting to kiss her and Bren likes him, but just. It's kind of icky.

Brent is lovely. He's sweet and handsome and fine. But she'd love to never see him naked. It's just, he's got...things happening down there that she never needs to see. And it's awesome when they go to the movies or play Guitar Hero together. But then they get in the car and he wants to kiss and it's so sloppy and gross and his tongue is weird. He's also got this scratchy beard. It's rough against her cheek, and when she wakes up in the morning her skin is blotchy and red. It would be better if they could go back to the beginning when all they did was hang out and watch movies and do homework together.

She tries to tell him this, but he rolls his eyes at her and says "That was what we did when we were friends. We're dating now." Bren guesses you have to do different things when you're dating a boy than when you're friends with him, which is dumb. Why would anyone want to date if it means losing all the fun stuff and gaining the awkward, messy stuff? Brent assures her that some people enjoy that stuff, but Bren doesn't think he has to sound so nasty about it. She just enjoys the simple things.

Boys make everything stupid.

::

"Come in, I think mom made cookies," Bren suggests. When Brent climbs out of the car, knuckles white around his school bag, he's smiling tightly. Bren smiles at him and slips her hand in his as they walk up the path. Brent's been demanding that they spend more time together, and she's not sure she can do that. She thinks she needs to break up with Brent. He just takes up too much of her time, and she's got a lot of things scheduled with the other cheerleaders - sleepovers and practices and games - and if she wants to keep doing well at school, then something has to go.

When she tried to tell Brent at lunch that they couldn't go to the movies on the weekend because she was supposed to be going to cheer camp, he'd got all huffy and stopped trying to palm her boob through her shirt. Which Bren didn't really see as a loss, but maybe she was supposed to. It's just, she loves cheerleading so much. It's really fun going to practice every day in her uniform, with her pompoms.

And she gets on really well with the other cheerleaders, and it's so much fun to learn new routines together. Everyone looks so, so pretty in their uniforms with their bright white sneakers and bouncy ponytails and sparkling pompoms. Bren still can't believe she was accepted into this group. She loves sharing lip gloss and sitting around cross-legged talking about routines and games.

Bren pushes open the door, mind made up. This weekend she'll tell Brent they're going to have to break up. She's got her priorities, and he's just not one of them.