Ryan tried again and again to talk to Brendon. He called, texted, even went to his house. Every time, Brendon ignored him. All Ryan wanted was for Brendon to come back, to pretend that night never happened and for them to be happy together again. But of course that didn't happen. Brendon had successfully ignored Ryan for two weeks and Ryan was getting really tired, slipping into a mindset he thought he long gotten rid of.

In a final attempt to get Brendon back, Ryan went to the diner. He walked in with his head down and went straight to his corner booth. Taking a deep breath, he lifted his head and scanned the room. Like a moth to a flame, his eyes were pulled to Brendon walking out of the kitchen with a tray full of food. Ryan's throat tightened. This is the first time he actually saw Brendon in two weeks and he looked just as handsome as ever.

Brendon served with that big smile and easy manner, bringing light everywhere he went. The customer's couldn't help but smile along with Ryan's sun. It wasn't until Brendon had turned did his smile fade away. The two locked eyes for a second before Brendon made his way back through the kitchen doors. Ryan got up after him, but stopped outside the doors.

Ryan had rehearsed what he wanted to say to Brendon, but all that went out the window once he saw Brendon. He looked so broken. He looked as if he'd barely slept the passed two week. Ryan hated that he saw a few new bruises moving up his arm. He knew what that meant and it made him sick to his stomach.

Ryan waited outside the doors trying to peek inside every time a server walked in or out of the kitchen. It wasn't until Sarah walked out of the door did Ryan lose the sliver of hope he had to get Brendon back.

"Sarah," his voice pleading her to let him talk to the boy. She gave him a pity look and shook her head.

"Ryan, you need to leave."

"Please. I just want to talk to him. Just for a minute." Sarah placed a hand on Ryan's chest and pushed him back gently. Ryan didn't protest as her hand guided him to the front door. Her touch was gentle but it took all the energy he had left. It didn't take long to feel the entrance door against his back.

"You need to leave him alone. I'm gonna drop by your place after my shift to pick up his things." Ryan peeked over Sarah's shoulder to see Brendon peeking out of the door. It wasn't hard to see Brendon's tears shine on his cheeks. Ryan pulled his bottom lip between his teeth and nodded.

"Okay," he whispered as his voice cracked. He glanced once more at Brendon then pushed the door open. He walked out of the diner leaving everything he cared about behind. He didn't want to just give up like this, but he was just hurting himself more for trying.

When Ryan got home, he gathered everything that he could find that belonged to Brendon and Skylar and put them in a box. Everything was so final now. He thought back to the depression he had in high school. He saw therapists, took pills, and went as far as to hurt himself. He lost his family and friends years ago when he came out. All that felt like nothing now when compared to how he felt losing Brendon and Skylar.

Ryan made his way to his music room. He sat on a stool and stared at the wall. After a few minutes, which felt like hours, Ryan grabbed his guitar and ran his fingers over the stings. He strummed a soft melody as he continued to stare at the wall. His mind moved in slow motion as he thought of Brendon. He shut his eyes so the picture of Brendon was clear in his mind.

"I don't love you I'm just passing the time." Brendon told Ryan in his mind. "You could love me if I knew how to lie." Tears pushed their way out of Ryan's closed eyes. "But who could love me? I am out of my mind." Ryan's voice shook as he sang. "Throwing a line out to sea to see if I can catch a dream." Ryan's finger's moved robotically over the strings.

Ryan put his guitar down and sat in silence. He wanted nothing more than to claw out his aching heart. A numbness spread over body. He felt himself shutting down until he was nothing more than a scared little boy trapped in a plastic shell of a body.

The day went on and Ryan didn't move until he heard a knock at the door. Sarah finally came to pick up Brendon's things. With a sigh, he went up and answered the door. He was shocked to see Brendon there holding a box in his arms.

"Hi." Ryan only nodded and moved to the side to let Brendon in. A part of Ryan was mad that Sarah didn't come. Another part was grateful that he had one last chance to see Brendon. "I brought everything you left at my house. Well, everything I could find anyway."

Brendon set the box down on the coffee table. "I just came for Skylar and my things. She left her favorite tutu here, so she's been pretty upset." Ryan nodded and went to his room to retrieve the box.

When he came back, Brendon was looking through old drawings that Skylar had left behind. "Here you go," Ryan said quietly to get Brendon's attention. Brendon immediately put the drawings down and took the box from Ryan. Neither of them moved or spoke a word. They avoided each others gaze, but occasionally locked eyes. One of them would break that only contact they had in weeks.

"I should probably get going." Brendon jerked his head to the door, but didn't move. When Ryan didn't respond, Brendon made his way to the door and Ryan followed. When Brendon was in the hallway, he turned back to face Ryan. "Skylar misses you. She always wants me to tell her that story you told her." Ryan's heart was in a million pieces on the floor.

"Why are you telling me this?"Ryan kept his face expressionless. He didn't want Brendon to see how much this was breaking him. Brendon balanced the box in one arm and reached behind to pull a paper out of his back pocket.

"She wanted me to give this to you." He handed the paper to Ryan. "She wouldn't let me see it." Ryan saw his name written on the top in the child's handwriting.

"Tell her I said thank you."

"I will." They stood, letting their unspoken words fill the air. "Bye Ryan." Ryan want to scream, to hold Brendon, to make sure he never left again. But all his shell did was nod in response. It was tired of goodbyes.

Brendon walked away and Ryan shut the door. He went to his room and sat at the edge of the bed. He wished Brendon stayed. He wished he told him to stay. He kept wishing for things that were too late to ask for.

Ryan unfolded the paper Brendon gave him and shut his eyes tightly after seeing what it was. He took a minute before opening his eyes again to look down at the drawing. Skylar drew three stick figures holding hands. The middle figure was much shorter than the other two. At the bottom of the page, Skylar wrote 'I Mis Yoo.' Ryan could picture the little girl trying to spell all by herself.

Ryan opened the nightstand drawer and put the picture with the other one. He laid in bed and pulled out his phone. He went to his photos and scrolled through the hundreds of pictures that were taken during his time with Brendon.

There were many of the three on their day's out together. Some were of Brendon and Skylar together. Ryan saw some of him and Brendon on their dates, laying in bed together, sharing a kiss.

His camera roll was mostly filled with pictures of just Skylar who decided to use his phone and take full advantage of the filters his phone offered. She also snuck a few pictures of Ryan and Brendon cuddling, holding hands, and laughing. Ryan clicked on a video she'd taken.

The video was shaky as the girl walked around Ryan's house adding in her commentary. "I took Ryan's phone again." Skylar giggled. "And I just finished playing. I'm so tired. Daddy and Ryan are making food. I'm hungry and they're taking forever." Ryan smiled at her whining. The video moved down and showed her feet as she ran down the hall.

When the view went up again, Skylar was at the kitchen doorway. The camera was pointed to the couple in the kitchen. Brendon's arms were wrapped around Ryan's neck and Ryan's were around Brendon's waist. The couple's eyes were closed and their foreheads were pressed together. They were swaying side to side to the song that the video was able to pick up.

"And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
And sooner or later it's over
I just don't wanna miss you tonight"

Ryan remembered that moment vividly. Brendon wanted to dance right as he heard the guitar at the start of the song. They both stopped what they were doing and embraced each other. The food nearly burned by the time the song had ended. Ryan heard Skylar's small giggle right as the video cut off. He laid the phone on his chest and sighed.

In the past two weeks, Ryan had developed a nightly routine; think about Brendon and Skylar, cry, fall asleep. Maybe tonight he could skip the crying part. He shut his eyes and let sleep pull him in.

Ryan loved to sleep. His mind stopped racing, her heart stopped hurting, and could finally be at peace for a little while. But just like every other night, his moment of peace ended too soon. Tonight's reason being his phone kept buzzing on his chest.

Ryan opened and looked at the clock on his night stand. It was almost midnight. He groaned. He'd only been asleep for two hours. Finally, Ryan registered that he was getting a call when he phone didn't stop buzzing. When he saw that it was Brendon calling him, he sat up and quickly accepted the call. He really hoped this wasn't a dream.

Ryan could only hear Brendon sniffling on the other side. Neither said a word at first. "Brendon?" Ryan heard a small cry from the other side.

"Ryan." Ryan's heart dropped and he sucked in a pained gasp. That wasn't Brendon's voice.