when the day met the night || ryden

as long as you can make a promise

☽

     "Ryan, are you even listening?"

     I immediately looked up. "Sorry?" I asked. "Were you too busy thinking about your boyfriend?" Dallon whispered. The teacher shook her head and continued teaching.

     "You better shut the fuck up about Bren. You're ruining his life, you piece of shit." I whispered. "Oh? That's where you're wrong. In fact, you're the one who ruined his life." He smirked.

     I furrowed my eyebrows. Those words kept repeating.

     You're the one who ruined his life.

     "I don't get it?" I muttered. Dallon rolled his eyes. "If it weren't for you, maybe I wouldn't have been told that Brendon has feelings for you." He told me. "I can't control who he does and doesn't like." I said. "You didn't think that way when me and him were getting close, now did you?"

     You're the one who ruined his life.

     I swallowed. "I didn't ruin his life." I stated. "The reason all this is happening is because he likes you, isn't it?" "Stop ending everything with questions." "I can do what I want, Ross."

     "Just.. just stop. Okay? I didn't do anything." I told him. "You made him fall for you, Ryan. You're the one who ruined his life."

     You're the one who ruined his life. You're the one who ruined his life. You're the one who ruined his life.

     Those words kept circling around in my head and they wouldn't go away.

     "Can I go to the bathroom?" I raised my hand quickly. "Make it quick." The teacher said. I got up and quickly left the room.

     I didn't ruin his life, I didn't force him to have feelings for me. Him having feelings isn't hurting anything.

     I slammed the stall door and shut my eyes.

You're the one who ruined his life.

"I didn't mean for it to happen." I whispered.

Two knocks were heard. "Hey, are you okay?" A voice asked. I didn't answer. "Come on, I saw you run in there. Are you okay?" They asked once more. I sighed and then opened the door.

A boy with blue eyes and a nose piercing was standing there with concern displayed over his face. "If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to, I just wanna-"

"Who are you?"

He pressed his lips together and looked to the side. "Geoff Wigington, sorry. I should've said so." He told me. I shook my head. "No, don't be sorry. You don't need to worry about me, I'm fine." I told him. I really wasn't fine, but why would I tell him? I didn't even know his name until only seconds before.

     "Sorry, sorry. It's just, my friend, Awsten, he was talking about you earlier and saying how mad you were and I just saw you run in here and I just wanted to know if you were fine. I'm sorry." He looked down. "You know who I am?" I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, everyone does. Sorry if I sounded creepy or anything." He stumbled over his words and threw his hands behind his back.

     He seemed sweet.

     "You didn't sound creepy, you're fine. Don't worry about it." I said. He sighed. "Okay, that's good. But seriously, is everything okay?" He asked once more. I swallowed. "You already know about Gerard's party, don't you?" I murmured. He slowly nodded. "Sorry, I didn't know this was about- I'm sorry. I'll just go." He took a step back. "It's okay. I'm just stressed out over it, that's all. It's not real, yet everyone believes it." I explained. He went back to where he was at first and nodded.

     "Okay, I'm sorry. Look, if it's not true then it's not true, but don't feel any pressure or anything because of something someone else did." He tried to comfort me. I shook my head. "It's not that easy when I'm being blamed for what happened." I told him. Geoff furrowed his eyebrows. "Why are you being blamed for something you didn't do?"

     I sighed. "I can't really explain." I told him. "Oh, sorry, sorry. It's fine, you don't have to." He said. "You say sorry a lot, y'know?" I grinned. "Yeah, sorry about that." He rubbed his arm nervously. "It's fine, don't worry about it." I chuckled at him saying sorry once more.

"Hey, um, if you ever need to talk, my Instagram is underscoregeoff. I'm open for anything." He offered. I grinned. "Thank you." "Of course." He nodded. "I need to get back to class, talk to you later?" He gave me a shy smile. "Yeah, that sounds good." I nodded enthusiastically. He nodded and left the bathroom, his smile not fading away.

Geoff was very sweet.

     I decided it was about time I went back to class. I felt much more calm after my interaction with Geoff. I left and started walking back to the classroom.

     "Ryan, what took you so long?" The teacher asked as I opened the door. "Sorry, I ran into someone." I told her. "That's not an excuse. I let you go so you could use the bathroom, not talk with your friends." She frowned. "He wasn't my-" "Sit down."

     I raised my eyebrows and went over to my desk. "Were you making out with your boyfriend?" Dallon whispered. "Shut the fuck up, he is not my boyfriend." I rolled my eyes. "Hey, can y'all be a little more quiet, please?" Someone tapped on my shoulder. "Since when do you care?" Dallon turned around. "Oh, I don't. I'm trying to listen to this song but you guys won't shut up." Awsten narrowed his eyes before looking down.

     I glared at Dallon. "Leave Bren alone, okay? He did nothing to you." I said. "I don't really feel like it. You can't just expect everything to be on your side, Ross. I thought you would've known that by now since Brendon wouldn't even talk to you." He smirked.

     Before I knew it, Awsten was holding me back and I was attempting to hit Dallon.

     "Ryan Ross! What are you doing?" The teacher shouted. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!" I yelled at Dallon as he sat there and laughed. "You look so stupid, how can Brendon like someone like you?"

     The class went silent and looked at us. "Bren doesn't like me, okay? Stop spreading bullshit rumors to make him feel bad." I relaxed my arms. "Watch your language." The teacher warned. "Oh, why wouldn't he, George?"

     That was it.

     I broke free from Awsten's grasp and punched Dallon across the face. "You two, hallway, now." The teacher shouted.

     "Yes, ma'am." Dallon stood up as he rubbed his right cheek and glared at me.

     I'm fucked.