Casual Affair [Ryden]

Chapter 17

Brendon

I watch Ryan from a little distance and I bite my lips. He is curled up in a blanket on the couch. He hasn’t said a word since he asked me to take him home. I tried to make him talk, but he just stared at the floor and didn’t give me any kind of response. Seeing his dad… It fucking broke him…

“Ryan? Hey…” I whisper and I walk closer towards him. He still doesn’t seem to notice me. Fuck… I take out my phone and dial Danielle’s phone number.

“Hi, Brendon. Why are you calling? Is Ryan okay?” she immediately asks me. She knows we went out for the groceries. She thought it would be good for Ryan. Well, it would have been really good for him, I could see that, but then his dad ruined everything…

“No… No Danielle. He is doing really bad… We… Everything went fine. Ryan even relaxed, but… His dad showed up…” I whisper. When I say ‘dad’, Ryan flinches and I bite my lips in pain. Danielle gasps.

“No…” she whispers quietly. “No… This… Oh God… Ryan… How is he doing?”

“He doesn’t talk. He doesn’t respond to anything. He doesn’t look at me. It looks like he just doesn’t see or hear anything anymore. Just… When I talk about what happened, he tenses and makes scared noises…”

“Shit… Brendon? Where is he now?”

“I helped him get onto the couch and wrapped a blanket around him...” I say. Danielle is quiet for a moment.

“Okay. Okay that is good. I’m coming home straight away. Make sure you don’t leave him alone. If he is in this state… God knows what he’ll do… Try to make him eat something, can you do that for me?”

“Yeah. Yeah sure.” I say. Danielle breaks off the call and I put my phone away. I look at Ryan again. He is still in the exact same position. I walk to a drawer and take out a chocolate bar. It’s the only thing in the room, and I don’t want to go to the kitchen to get something. I can’t leave Ryan alone. I sit down next to him and slowly rub his back. Finally I get some response. Slowly he turns his head towards me. Then he rests it against my chest and closes his eyes.

“Ryan?” I whisper softly, but Ryan shakes his head. He doesn’t want to look at me. Or answer me. I put away the chocolate bar because I know I won’t be able to let him eat anything right now. I’ll need to wait for Danielle to come home. So I just hold Ryan close to me and keep stroking his back, hoping he won’t break down even more.