Birthday Surprise - Rydon

Ryan Ross did not cry. He didn't cry when his Mother left, he didn't cry when his Father died, and he sure as hell did not cry when his friends forgot his birthday.  

Touring can be bad for the mind. Ideas for songs occasionally forgotten, articles of clothing left at venues, and important dates go in one ear and out the other. In this case, it's Ryan's birthday.  Usually the guys are pretty good at remembering birthdays, if anything that's the one thing they're great at remembering.  

Ryan is more upset over the fact that Spencer forgot his birthday, seeing as they have been best friends since they were in diapers.  Every year, Spencer would come to Ryan with a cake behind his back, some witty saying swirled onto it in goopy icing. If they weren't on tour they would sit together in Ryan's living room and drink a couple of beers talking about when they were younger. If they were on tour they would get everyone together and have a get together outside of the bus.

But when Ryan woke up this morning in his cramped bunk without the smell of sugar under his nose and Spencer in his face grinning, he knew something might be wrong. At first, he assumed that he had the day wrong and shrugged it off going to look for one of the calendars.  He walked to the living area of the bus seeing Jon, Brendon, and Spencer all talking in the kitchen, not even taking note of him. Ryan checked the date and his brow furrowed. He let out a confused noise and the conversation paused for a second before picking up again.

"Hey, guys…It's the 30th right?" Ryan asked, just trying to make sure.

Spencer turned his head slightly, showing Ryan that he had his attention. "Yup. Why? Is something going on?" He looked at Brendon and Jon, confusion plain on his face.

Ryan's face almost fell. Almost. He quickly set his features into a neutral mask and let no emotion show in his voice. "No, no reason at all." He said and tried not to scurry back to his bunk.

***
He held out all through the day, hoping that maybe someone, anyone, would remember his birthday.  Ryan made it through the interview they all had to attend, made it through lunch with the band and now all he had to deal with was getting through the concert.

Jon and Spencer had already left the dressing room, having already finished getting ready, giving Brendon and Ryan some extra room to finish up. Ryan was standing in front of one of the mirrors, his shirt unbuttoned and showing his torso. Brendon leaned across Ryan to grab a stick of deodorant.

Ryan stared at his reflection and started to apply his eyeliner. He just couldn't understand how his friends could have forgotten his birthday. His hand started to shake and he nearly let out a whimper.

Brendon's arm automatically snaked around his waist and pulled him a bit closer. He leaned over and whispered in the guitarist's ear. "You ok Ry?"

He shook his head. "Can you put my makeup on?"

Brendon's eyebrow went up and in response Ryan brought his visibly shaking hand into view. Brendon turned Ryan around to face him and started to gently apply the eyeliner. They stood there for a few moments, Ryan's breath puffing out in small bursts onto Brendon's face. Brendon brought the eyeliner down onto Ryan's cheek and swirled it around into a spiral. Coming off of the spiral he made a hook and slashed a line through it. There was a knock on the door that said five minutes to Showtime.

The singer set the pencil down and rubbed his thumb across Ryan's other cheek. "You know, you're really pretty." Brendon mused in a quiet voice.

Ryan looked down at Brendon with his head tilted to the side. Brendon stood up on his tippy toes trying to look into Ryan's eyes.  He had determination on his face his brought his lips up to meet Ryan's slowly descending ones.

Brendon pulled back and brushed his lips against Ryan's again before whispering "Happy birthday Ry," at the same moment the stage announcer said to the crowd: "And welcoming to the stage Brendon Urie and Birthday boy Ryan Ross!"