What I Wouldn't Give For a Daiquiri

Ryan walked across the beach, spotting Brendon lying a ways away.

"Are those my glasses?"

He darted over and sat down in the sand next to Brendon.

"I thought I lost those for good! Give 'em back!"

He reached for the glasses, trying to snatch them off of Brendon's face.

Brendon sighed softly, rolling over and groaning into the sand, the smallest movement causing the bruise on the back of his head to throb. "So much... for my vacation..."

He muttered, slowly moving to kneel and leaning away from Ryan, smirking slightly and looking at him over the tops of his sunglasses. "Whaddya gimme if I do?"

Ryan raised an eyebrow. He pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on them.

"I dunno. What do you want? I can get you a coconut or something. There's not much out here."

He tilted his head, watching Brendon's eyes appear over the tops of the sunglasses.

Brendon sighed and handed Ryan back his sunglasses, laying back down in the sand and draping an arm over his eyes to block out the sun. "God, my head hurts. I hope I didn't do serious damage. If I have an aneurysm I'm gonna be really upset."

Ryan frowned. "Is the sun making your head worse? 'Cause if that's it, you can use the glasses. I don't mind." He waved the sunglasses at Brendon.

"I hope your head is okay too." Ryan wouldn't say it, but he was really worried about Brendon. He kept forgetting that Brendon had hurt his head, and he always felt guilty after he forgot.

"Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?"

Brendon smiled a little, groping blindly for the glasses and sliding them onto his face. "Thanks Ry."

Opening his mouth to say something, he closed it again, thinking better of it. "No I'm fine. Just got dizzy so I thought, Hey... I'll lay on the beach and pretend I didn't almost die in a plane crash... which worked... till I move or breathe or do anything else that makes my head hurt."

Ryan nodded slowly. He wasn't really sure what to do about this...Brendon was hurt, and that bothered him a LOT, but what could he do?

"Yeah...it...yeah." He sighed. There really weren't words to describe what they had been through. He bit his lower lip.

"Maybe things will get better, though."

"So much for a three fucking hour tour."

Brendon muttered jokingly, reaching out for Ryan's hand and guiding it to his hair, hoping he'd take the hint and pet his head. He'd been coaxing Ryan into doing it almost every day since the pain started. "Pleashe?"

He asked softly, lifting up the sunglasses enough to shoot big brown pleading eyes at his best friend.

Ryan smiled softly. If it would make Brendon feel better, he was willing to do pretty much anything. He petted his hair gently, combing his fingers through the tousled, sandy locks.

"Ew, your hair is all dirty." he said teasingly. It didn't really bother him. Brendon's hair still felt soft and nice on his hand. Not that he'd ever admit that.

"There's like, a river thing down...that way." He gestured fairly randomly. The island was small enough that he was sure they could find it. "When you decide to take up personal hygiene again."

But not now. Ryan thought, keeping his hand moving slowly through Brendon's hair. It was strangely relaxing.

Brendon sighed softly, squirming a little and resting his head in Ryan's lap, nodding slowly to what he was saying and not actually paying a whole lotta attention.

Snorting at his last comment, he pointed at him, a slight smirk on his lips. "Fuck you I smell nice, thanks. And if you really wanna get into it it's your cologne that didn't break in your suitcase... that I've been wearing so if you gotta problem I smell like you so think about that."

He said teasingly, nuzzling into his hand and relaxing again. "That's nice Ry..."

Ryan quirked a smile. "You smell like me, huh?" He kept petting Brendon's head, gently massaging his scalp. "Well then you probably smell pretty damn good. I have geat taste in cologne."

He combed his fingers through Brendon's hair. "I was more referring to the fact that you've got half of the beach stashed in your hair. Gross."

Brendon smirked slightly, running a hand through his hair and making a face, shaking his hand in his hair just lightly, getting sand all over Ryan's jeans. "Meh, could be worse..."

He muttered, snuggling into Ryan's thigh and wrapping his arms around his leg.

Ryan squirmed slightly as Brendon hugged his leg. "Hey! Don't get my pants all dirty!" he said in mock-irritation. He ruffled Brendon's hair gently and swept some of the sand off of his leg. Not that it really mattered. Pretty much everything was covered in sand now. He brushed his fingertips gently over Brendon's cheek.

"'S gonna be okay, Bren." he said softly. He was worried though...worried that Brendon's head wouldn't get better, and that he'd keep having those dizzy spells, or get worse. It scared Ryan more than he wanted to admit.

Brendon smiled softly, ignoring the skip his heart made when Ryan brushed his fingertip over his face. "I know."

He said softly, tracing soft patterns on Ryan's thigh over his jeans, his eyes half closed behind the dark sunglasses. "I'm too stubborn to go... I think surviving the damn thing was proof enough.. m'just glad you're okay... dunno what I'd do without my RyRo."

Ryan suppressed a shiver. Why did Brendon DO that? He was always touching, and petting and...Ryan shifted uncomfortably, moving Brendon's head a bit more than he had intended. "Sorry!" he said quickly, trying to sit still. "Did I hurt your head?"

He bit his lip. He didn't know why he was suddenly so damn uncomfortable around Brendon. It had never been a problem before...just now, that they spent so much time alone, and there was no one else around...

Brendon winced slightly, closing his eyes tightly and waiting for a minute before relaxing, a soft whimper escaping his lips. "S'fine Ry... s'okay, really."

He said quickly, grabbing Ryan's hand and bringing it back to his head, fairly sure that if Ryan touched his temple, he'd be able to feel just how bad his head throbbed so... he made sure Ryan didn't touch there. He couldn't take seeing those big brown eyes of Ryan's filled with worry. "Just... s'fine... keep... keep touching..."

Ryan's fingertips massaged Brendon's head slowly. He sighed. "Why'd it have to be you?" he asked plaintively. "You never did anything to deserve getting hurt." He ran his fingers gently down the back of Brendon's neck, massaging slowly.

"Poor Bren." he cooed softly, one hand on Brendon's neck, the other petting his head gently. "Wish I could do more to cheer you up."

Brendon sighed softly. God days like this I'm wondering if I've died. He lived for attention like this from Ryan, it made this whole thing surivable. "No one deserved to get hurt."

He said softly, groaning softly and tilting his head forward a little, his entire body relaxing as Ryan massaged him. After a moment, he reached up and tentively brushed his fingertips over Ryan's left shoulder, making sure not to put any pressure on it. "... How's your shoulder, Ry?"

Ryan flinched, more out of reflex than anything else. "'S okay. I mean, I won't be doing any heavy lifting for awhile, but..."

The truth was, it hurt like hell and he didn't know how to make it feel better. He just tried not to move it, or lift anything. It wasn't broken, but he had a feeling he'd pulled or torn a muscle. He hoped it would heal on its own. "Your head's more important, anyway. I can live with a messed up arm."

"Oh no. You've been good to me every fucking day for the past week." Brendon said softly, sitting up slowly and getting to his feet, reaching out a hand to help Ryan up. "Sick of the sun, c'mere."

Ryan took Brendon's hand and pulled himself up.

"Kay. Where are we going?"

He half-hoped that they were going somewhere where he could soak in cool water...it was the only thing that eased the constant pain in his arm. Plus, he hated the constant feeling of sand on his body.

Brendon headed into the forest, lacing their fingers together and ignoring the feeling of Ryan's skin on his even if it was just hands touching. "So couple days ago... found this... this spring thing... I've been meaning to tell you but uh... s'the first time I've remembered when you've been around."

Reaching back, he let go of his hand and instead wrapped it around Ryan's waist, leaning over to kiss the side of his head. "It's warm but it's not like.. hot tub warm... it might help your shoulder."

Ryan squeezed Brendon's hand. "Okay. That sounds nice."

This kind of touching didn't bother him. It was when Brendon wanted to pet and cuddle like lovers that Ryan started feeling the uncomfortable tenseness in his stomach. No, this was just two guys walking and...holding...hands...like boyfr-he pulled his hand away quickly, before the word could even finish forming in his mind.

Ryan covered the jerk away by swatting at the air. "Ew, bugs." he said weakly. He dropped his hand and didn't take Brendon's hand again.

Brendon blinked, a little confused and, if he really wanted to think about it, a little hurt. Touching Ryan came as second nature to Brendon, especially now that they spent so much time alone. Most days it took every ounce of strength in the vocalist to stop himself from kissing his best friend. "Okay, so... It... it's gonna be here somewhere."

He said softly, his brow furrowing in confusion and, to anyone who knew Brendon well, irritation. The brunette was having the hardest time remembering things and if he thought about it too hard he ... "Oh God..."

Brendon breathed softly, pressing a hand to his head and stumbling a little, reaching out with a trembling hand and gripping Ryan's right shoulder to keep himself standing. He flushed and leaned back against a tree, his breathing slightly labored. After a moment, he opened his eyes, thankful for the canopy above that blocked the sun from his eyes. "S'over... over..."

Pointing to a clearing with a trembling hand, he reached behind him and gripped the bark of the tree, his fingertips digging in a little just to stay upright. "Fuck..."