PATD: Blue Rock - Part 5/6 - PG-13
Sep. 7th, 2009 09:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
laniew1You should read these first: Blue Rock
RATING: PG-13
PAIRING: GEN - With subtexty Ryan/Brent, Ryan/Spencer
AUTHOR: Melanie
WARNINGS: This didn’t happen?
DISCLAIMER: I don’t own any of these boys. If you recognize your name press the back button right on out.
Chapter 5/6
Tom taps softly on their door at 5 am the next morning. Luckily they’re up, Giselle has been restless all night and neither of them has gotten more then an hour of sleep.
There’s nothing wrong, that they can tell. She’s an excited, nervous bundle of baby dragon energy.
Tom just sort of raises an eyebrow at him when Brent answers the door, he doesn’t want to know what he looks like if Tom is looking that amused at him.
He probably looks like Ryan, exhausted, with a hint of exasperation.
“Good morning?” Brent asks. He would have figured they were the only ones up, since Giselle is acting like an infant who has decided that if she’s not sleeping, neither is anyone else.
“You wanted to meet Sebastian didn’t you?” he asks. Giselle is in Ryan’s arms, she’s squirming so Brent can pretty well figure out what her answer would have been if she could speak.
“The others aren’t coming?” Ryan asks.
“I think this time it should just be the five of us,” Tom says.
“Five of us?” Brent asks. He counts three of them, him and Ryan and Tom.
“Plus Giselle and Sebastian,” Tom says, he smiles though it looks kind of sad. Brent blinks at the thought that Tom just read his mind.
“You didn’t hatch Sebastian’s egg with someone?” Ryan asks, he’s got Giselle’s bag in his hand, somehow, even with all her squirming he’s managed to get Giselle into it. Her head is poking out the top and she looks slightly impatient.
She doesn’t understand what’s taking so long.
“Yeah,” Tom shrugs. “But he’s got better things to do then hang out with the crazy guy and the dragon he doesn’t believe exists.”
“He wasn’t there when Sebastian’s egg hatched?” Brent asks. He’s not sure how someone could be there and still not believe.
He pulls the door shut behind them, pushing to make sure it has latched closed. There’s nothing of value in the room with the exception of his laptop but that doesn’t mean he wants to lose that.
Tom snorts. “He was there, he still doesn’t believe,” he pushed the button for the elevator and waits.
“How can?” Ryan shakes his head, Giselle is staring at Tom.
“Evidently if you tell yourself something enough times, well, you can pretty much make yourself believe anything,” Tom says. “Besides, Sebastian and I, we’re fine without him.”
Brent looks over at Ryan and Ryan looks just as skeptical as Brent feels. Giselle freaks out when the lay down in separate beds, Brent isn’t sure how she would handle them having completely separate lives.
He doesn’t think about the fact that if Spencer gets his way they might find out.
He tries to but can’t think of just one person that it could be, there’s a couple of people that it could be, depending on how old Sebastian is, either one of the guys from The Academy Is… or someone from Empires.
He’s more inclined to believe that it’s someone in The Academy; he thinks that Tom and whoever had probably found Sebastian’s egg at about the same time that he and Ryan had found Giselle’s. They’d been touring with The Academy; it’s pretty much the only logical choice.
Plus the only people that Tom wouldn’t have had interaction with over the last couple of years would have been The Academy guys. He wonders which one it is.
There’s a car waiting when they get to the lobby and Tom takes the place behind the wheel.
“How did you get rid of Zack?” Ryan asks. He’s settling in the backseat, Giselle pushes her way out of the backpack to sit right next to him. Brent turns and can see her leaning into Ryan, she chirps at him and he grins and waggles his fingers at her.
“I told him that you guys weren’t going to bolt the minute that everyone took their eyes off you.”
“You know they’re going to be super pissed off when we get back,” Ryan says, he sounds slightly amused by that fact. Like he’s enjoying the prospect of watching everyone lose their shit because they’re missing… even though they won’t be there to actually, you know, see them lose their shit.
Tom shrugs. “Honestly, I don’t care, getting Sebastian and Giselle introduced is more important and that’s going to be easier without a bunch of people that neither of them are tied to watching.”
“You don’t think they’re going to fight, do you?” Ryan sounds alarmed.
Tom laughs. “No, Sebastian is just as excited to meet Giselle as she is to meet him. Besides I think they’re littermates, or whatever dragons that are all born to the same clutch are called. Sebastian looked almost like Giselle when he was hatched; he has some of the same markings she has… I’m pretty sure the last thing we have to worry about is them fighting.”
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They drive out to the middle of nowhere, Tom hasn’t turned his phone off but he set it to vibrate before they left the hotel. He should have just turned it off; he should have just left it in the room that he and Jon are sharing.
He would have but he doesn’t want anyone to think that he’s absconding with Ryan and Brent and Giselle with no intent to return.
The red message light is blinking steadily at him, and he glances at the screen after he puts the car in park. Six missed calls from Jon, two from Pete, two from Spencer. He drops it back into the center console and twists in his seat so he can see Ryan and Giselle.
Giselle is impatient in his mind; Ryan and Brent are both nervous but excited. It’s the first time he’s felt anyone besides Sebastian and…
Well it’s the first time; since Sebastian’s egg had hatched that he’s heard anyone in his mind besides Sebastian and…
He purposefully doesn’t think his name, doesn’t identify him. Ryan and Brent are new at this, but there’s no telling what they’ll be able to pick up.
He doesn’t need them to feel sorry for him because his rider thinks he’s insane; he’s had years to get used to it, to come to terms with it.
Prior to finding Sebastian’s egg their relationship had been fraught with tension, after… it only got worse, because the egg wanted them together all the time and that just wasn’t going to happen, they didn’t hate each other, but they definitely didn’t have the type of friendship where sleeping next to each other in the same bed was the norm… or ever going to happen.
He doesn’t know what the hell Sebastian was thinking bonding himself to the two of them, he should have waited for Tom to be out stumbling around with someone else.
Anyone else.
Because even though he’d been there when Sebastian had pushed his way out of his egg, even though he’d been there when Tom had named him…
He still firmly believes with every fiber of his being that their dragon is a figment of Tom’s imagination; it’s taken a long time for Tom to be okay with that, to come to the realization that he doesn’t need him.
They don’t need him. If Tom could have chosen anyone it would have probably been Jon.
Because Jon’s going to be awesome with Sebastian once Tom introduces him. He hopes that introduction will pave the way for Sean and Nick and Max and everyone else that he’s had to keep Sebastian a secret from for years for fear of discovery.
He hadn’t been sure what the world would do if they found out there was a dragon (let alone there now being two of them), he was pretty sure it was going to be a zoo of some sort for Sebastian, some sort of medical facility for him.
He’s kind of a little jealous that Ryan and Brent are attempting, at least, to rear Giselle together. It’s only been a little over a week though, with the others poking their noses in and Spencer being angry about Brent’s continued presence he only hopes that it’ll continue.
It’s easier with two he has a feeling, neither of them feels as stressed as he remembers feeling the first couple of weeks, let alone the first month.
Having him snarling and snapping at him that he was crazy, delusional; having him ignore Sebastian as if he was nothing.
They’d wanted him to concentrate on the music, to help with the writing and he was expending all his energy trying to not consciously hear him in his mind, trying to keep Sebastian from chasing after him.
He’s probably lucky that he and Sebastian are both still sane, that first month had been hard, he’s lucky that all they did in the end was kick him out on his ass.
If it had been someone else and he’d been in their position, he probably would have had him committed.
He opens the door and climbs out, Brent doing the same on the other side; Brent opens Ryan’s door and Ryan climbs out, Giselle wrapped up in his long arms.
Tom runs a hand down Giselle’s back, he remembers Sebastian being this small once.
A long time ago.
He walks a few steps away and whistles.
It’s a clear signal, one they’ve trained with and practiced and Sebastian comes almost immediately. Melting from the wooded area where he’d been waiting for them.
He can feel the startled amazement at their first sight of Sebastian.
Sebastian is his dragon, he is Sebastian’s handler. It’s been years since… well, he’s not even sure that he and Sebastian would still accept him as their rider if he were to show up.
They probably would, Sebastian still tries to push his way into his mind, it’s his rider after all, someone that is supposed to be his. Sometimes he’s gets through, sometimes he doesn’t. Tom doesn’t even try anymore; he gave up once he’d screamed for help and none had come.
Sebastian and him, they’d got themselves out of the predicament just fine, it was probably then when Tom had realized that though they might want him, they might not need him as much as they thought they did.
Tom smiles at him, walks up and lays his hands on Sebastian’s nose. Sebastian huffs at him, bumping his nose against Tom’s shoulder. Tom plants his feet and plays the immovable object, it’s a game they play and Sebastian just nudges him, not even close to hard enough to topple him to the ground, but enough to reassure himself that Tom is there, is his.
Sebastian hasn’t taken his eyes off the three by the car and when Tom looks back, he can see Ryan and Brent staring at Sebastian with wide, wondrous eyes.
Sebastian hasn’t been small enough to hold in his arms since months after he was hatched. Now he’s big enough to ride.
Brendon would be demanding to ride him.
That’s why Tom didn’t bring them. He’s wanted Jon to meet Sebastian for years, but how do you tell the guy who’s supposed to be your best friend that you’re a single parent raising a dragon, when you’ve kept it from him for years.
Besides, this is about Sebastian and Giselle, and about Ryan and Brent and Tom.
This isn’t about the others, even if they want a place in this story it’s already started and their places while not clearly defined are definitely not to be involved in the ways they most likely would like to be.
Ryan’s arms release Giselle finally and she flaps her wings once, twice and floats on the slight breeze over to Sebastian. She hovers there, right in front of him and their noses touch.
Sebastian rumbles a greeting and Giselle chirps at him.
The only thing that he’s getting from Sebastian is pure unadulterated happiness. He’s found one of his littermates and he’s not alone anymore.
He has people besides Tom and… He has Giselle and now he has her rider and handler.
They’re not alone.
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Jon is mad; it’s been a long time since Spencer has seen Jon mad.
But Jon had woke up and Tom was gone, no note, no nothing. Then Zack had reported that Ryan and Brent and Giselle weren’t in their room which made Brendon mad.
Because that could only mean that Tom had taken those three to meet Sebastian, without them.
“It’s not fair,” Brendon says.
He’s pouting; Spencer doesn’t really want to deal with a pouting Brendon and a mad Jon. And Zack is no help, because Zack is being sort of zen about the whole thing.
“Wilson left his car and his laptop and all their clothes are still here, they’ll be back,” Zack says. Spencer wishes he were as sure.
******************************************************************************
When they go to Pete’s room it’s full, apparently at some point during the intervening hours The Academy Is… has descended.
Spencer looks at Pete, its common knowledge that Tom has pretty much mended most of the fences with the guys in TAI, but he hasn’t mended all of them. One of those fences is sitting slouched in a chair with a magazine open.
“They have an interview and a concert tomorrow,” Pete says. “They thought they’d come in early and hang while they had to be here anyway.”
He’s tapping away at his computer, when Spencer looks at the screen he can see that it’s the journal that’s been cataloging Ryan and Brent’s trip in pictures.
If Pete is on it; that means that there’s been an update.
“Pictures of them and Tom at a gas station about seven this morning,” Pete says, Spencer’s grateful he didn’t make him ask. He clicks on the link and there are two pictures of the three of them walking into a gas station and then back out again.
Ryan has his backpack on; Spencer knows enough by now to know that Giselle is probably in it.
They’re all three holding bottles of water; Brent and Tom both have bags of chips.
Spencer doesn’t even want to know what the comments to the pictures are.
He rubs at his head. He’s had a headache going on two weeks now. It’s starting to get annoying.
He doesn’t say anything, Jon is leaning over Pete’s shoulder looking at the pictures, he’s calmed down a little. Isn’t as mad. He’d be even calmer if Tom would call and at least attempt an explanation as to why he took Ryan and Brent and didn’t take them, or at the very least, him to meet Sebastian.
Spencer thinks it has something to do with Giselle and possibly this Sebastian that Tom claims is his dragon.
William leans over his shoulder to peer at the pictures.
“So Tommy is wrapped up in this whole Ross, Wilson thing now?” he asks. He sounds amused; Spencer wishes he could be amused about it. All he feels is Ryan moving further and further away from them; Brendon thinks that they’ll end up back together, he’s thought that from the beginning.
That all they need is some time apart, some time to do their own thing. Spencer isn’t so sure anymore that allowing Ryan to do his own thing was the smartest idea that any of them has ever had.
“This just keeps getting better and better,” William says.
“It’s a long story,” Jon says. He flops down into a chair, Mike Carden glares at him then returns his attention to whatever magazine he’s flipping through.
“Jon Walker, you must share every last tidbit with us,” William says. Jon groans when William drops into his lap.
“Tom and Ryan and Brent’s story to tell,” Jon manages to say. He shoves until he manages to push William off his lap. William pouts at him from the floor then smoothly gets to his feet.
“Are they involved, the three of them, in some sort of sordid love affair?” William sounds positively delighted at the thought. Jon frowns at him and Spencer shakes his head even as he attempts to virtually scrub his mind clear of the image.
“It involves things that shouldn’t exist,” Spencer says. It’s the most he can say without talking about dragons and he hasn’t seen Giselle yet this morning, he hasn’t yet re-confirmed her existence to himself. He could still have a tumor or be drooling on himself in a padded room.
He notices that Mike’s hands still on his magazine, the expression on his face says he wants to kill people, Spencer wonders what the hell he’s reading that’s pissing him off, and why he’s still reading it if its managing to make him that angry.
“You’re not going to share Spencer? I’m disappointed.”
“Not my story, one of them will have to fill you in.”
“They might not ever return.”
“Oh, they’re going to return,” Zack says, he’s glowering. “Conrad assured me that if I called off the watchdogs that they wouldn’t split and I’m completely holding him to that.”
******************************************************************************
They don’t come back before they have to leave for sound check. Spencer can see the indecision on Jon’s face. Should he stay and yell at them when they return or go to the concert and yell at them when they get back to the hotel?
He compromises; he comes to sound check with them, and calls the hotel in twenty minute increments. Eventually the hotel will just stop being nice to him, hopefully they’ll have come back before it happens.
Zack, at least, is remaining optimistic that they will return.
“I’ll have to kill them all if they don’t,” he says when Spencer asks. “And none of us want that.”
“We should bring Jon on stage with us,” Brendon says, he’s bouncing which means he’s had at least two Red Bulls while Spencer’s been watching Jon continue to get ‘no, they have not returned yet, yes we’ll give them the message to contact you as soon as they do’ messages when he calls the hotel.
“That’s not a good idea,” Pete says, Spencer doesn’t know what he’s doing in their dressing room, he’s got his own. “Patrick threatened to kill me if I didn’t go away for at least thirty minutes,” he says when he notices Spencer staring at him.
“I concur,” Jon says absently. Spencer hopes he’s agreeing with him not going on stage, he’d hate to have to explain to Ashlee why Patrick and/or Jon killed Pete.
Jon is holding his phone in his hand and periodically glancing at the screen.
When it rings he jumps slightly. ‘Tom,’ he mouths, before he answers it.
“Where are you guys?” he asks. Spencer stares at him and he can see Brendon from the corner of his eye watching intently. Pete has his hands loosely clasped together in his lap.
“Okay… when are you going to get back?” Jon drags a hand over his face. “Okay, okay… and I’m completely holding you to that. I can’t believe you managed to keep him a secret from me for this long.”
He nods twice and Spencer doesn’t tell him that Tom can’t see that, he drops the phone in his lap when he’s done.
“They’ll be back in a couple of hours, they’re going to stop for something to eat and to, I don’t know, see the fucking sights or something,” Jon sighs heavily. “He says the meeting between Giselle and Sebastian went wonderfully and everyone is happy and relaxed and…”
“They’re going to miss the concert,” Brendon says. He sounds disappointed, Spencer doesn’t know why; there was never any way that Jon and Ryan were going to come on stage with them, even if Ryan had managed to stay in one place long enough for it to theoretically happen.
“I don’t think they’re really concerned with that,” Jon says.
Pete looks between them and Spencer notices finally that he has a puzzled look on his face.
“Who’s Sebastian?” he asks.
******************************************************************************
“Were they having a two for one sale on dragon eggs that day?” Pete asks.
Jon had given him the short version, it was the only version of the story they knew to give him. Because it wasn’t like Tom had told them anything besides the fact that he had a dragon named Sebastian.
“If they’d been having a sale Brendon would have been in line with his hands out before the words were even uttered.”
Spencer has his sticks in hand, they go on stage in less then ten minutes, he can’t believe that Pete is still asking them questions about this.
Brendon nods emphatically. “I might have actually got two if they’d given me the choice,” he says. He’s holding up two fingers and his eyes are glowing. If there’s any way for Giselle or Sebastian to have baby dragons of their own Brendon will be the first one there with his hands out waiting for Tom or Ryan to drop one into them.
Spencer shudders at the thought of Brendon with a dragon egg; he can’t imagine how Tom has raised a dragon without it being all over the internet, he has no idea how Ryan is going to manage it, especially considering that Ryan tells the net virtually everything.
Even things that are in no way true in anyone else’s mind but Ryan’s.
He doesn’t consider Brent’s role in this because he still hasn’t given up hope that Brent’s involvement will cease very shortly, he’s going to keep hoping that, even though he thinks that severing the ties that have appeared between Ryan and Brent will be very difficult and possibly impossible.
He’d like to be able to give Brent credit, he’d like to be able to thank him for getting Ryan on the straight and narrow again, he can’t though, because that straight and narrow path didn’t put Ryan back on the same path that Spencer and Brendon (and even Jon) are following, it put him on a completely different path that they haven’t even been able to find shitty Mapquest directions for.
Ian appears in the doorway, he has his guitar slung over his shoulder already and he looks between them all.
“Are we going on stage, or what?”
“We’re coming,” Spencer says. He pulls at Brendon’s arm until Brendon follows him.
They’ve got a show to do and Spencer is a consummate professional. Ryan and Brent and all their problems will still be waiting for them when they come off stage.
Of that Spencer has no doubt.
******************************************************************************
Giselle is sleeping in her backpack, Ryan can feel the quiet hum of her mind and it’s sort of peaceful. His shoulders feel like they’re missing something because it’s Brent’s turn to carry her.
Tom is keeping step with him and Brent; they’d stopped at a couple of touristy type places on their way back. Pictures were taken at least at two of them, Ryan had seen the cameras, he wonders if they’ve been posted yet.
There’s a concert going on, he would have thought that anyone that was a fan of Panics would be there, watching Brendon and Spencer on-stage, not following them to rest stops and farmers markets.
He purposefully doesn’t wonder if they convinced Jon to go on stage with them, because he doesn’t want to know. Jon’s back where he belongs and he should be on that stage with them.
Tom leaves the car with the bellhop and takes the ticket he gives him.
“You’re not having them return it?” Brent asks.
“I think it’ll be easier for all of us if we just drive ourselves, can you imagine us all crammed on a bus?” Tom laughs, it sounds bitter and kind of sad all at the same time.
“We have our own car,” Brent says.
“We brought Brent’s because we thought it would be more inconspicuous,” Ryan says.
“And yet the fangirls still managed to find you at a rest stop and post pictures of you,” Tom grins.
“They probably just recognized Ryan and then followed us to find out what we were driving,” Brent says.
Then they published that information on that stupid group and now everyone and their brother knows in what manner him and Brent are traveling. Maybe they should take Tom’s rental car, shake them up a little bit.
Except that information is probably up on that damn group already.
“We shouldn’t be here anyway, and it’s not like they really want us traveling alongside them,” Ryan says.
“I think you underestimate how much Spencer wants to put a leash on you at the moment,” Brent sounds amused.
“And how much he thinks you’re going to be climbing on the bus with them tomorrow morning,” Tom adds.
“Then Spencer has joined us all on the crazy train and not had his ticket punched… I’m not even sure why we’re still here. They wanted to make sure that Brent hadn’t kidnapped me or forced me to travel with him under duress, I understand that, can even see where they kind of coming from… they’ve seen that I’m okay, Brent’s okay, nobody’s forcing anybody to do or go anywhere they don’t want to… I’m not sure what we’re still doing here,” Ryan knows he sounds frustrated, he feels frustrated.
Brent touches his back, rubs a slow circle and Ryan takes a deep breath.
Tom averts his eyes from them and Ryan wouldn’t notice if he hadn’t spent the whole day with Tom, watching him be relaxed and kind of happy in a way that he doesn’t think he’s ever seen him before.
Tom jolts, his entire body stiffens and Ryan follows his eyes until he sees what caused the reaction.
Mike Carden is leaning back in a wicker chair in the lobby and he looks pissed as hell.
Ryan glances between them and wonders if he and Brent could stop them if they decided to get in a fight.
“Mike,” Tom says, his eyes are blank when Ryan looks over at him, his voice dull and expressionless.
Mike gets to his feet and walks over to them, they stand there shuffling and Ryan wonders if this picture is going to end up on that group page.
If it is it’ll be titled ‘awkward meeting between former bandmates’.
“Your boys are pretty pissed off,” Mike says, he’s talking to Ryan and Brent. He doesn’t take his eyes off Tom though. Ryan gets the feeling that even though he looks like he’s trying to kill Tom with the power of his mind that he’s not actually trying to do that.
Ryan shrugs. He thinks he agrees with Tom’s decision to only allow Ryan, Brent and himself to be there for that first meeting between Giselle and Sebastian.
They’d adored each other at first sight, but they could have hated each other.
“Why don’t you guys go upstairs, I’ll be up in a few minutes,” Tom says. He manages to drag his eyes away from Mike long enough to smile softly at both of them.
“Are you sure?” Brent asks. He sounds concerned about leaving Tom and Mike alone together, even if it is in a full hotel lobby. Like he expects them to decide to draw guns and shoot at each other or something.
“It’s fine,” Tom says. He sounds like he’s trying to reassure them that it’s okay, he’s not doing a very good job because Ryan in no way feels reassured that Tom isn’t going to come upstairs with bruises.
“We can just…” Ryan says slowly.
“He says its fine,” Mike says. He sounds pissed off, like he could care less about reassuring them and that, yes, there will be pistols drawn at dawn.
Brent still looks indecisive but Tom is looking a little steadier, so Ryan tugs on Brent’s arm until he allows Ryan to pull him away toward the elevator.
The doors close and Tom and Mike are still standing there, Mike glaring, Tom looking very stoic.
There’s something more then Tom getting kicked out of TAI between them.
It takes him a second to figure it out, or come to a conclusion that may or may not be proven right when Tom comes to their room and he can ask him point blank.
“You think Mike Carden is Sebastian’s missing rider?” Brent asks.
Ryan nods, and doesn’t question how Brent and he are apparently having the same thoughts. If Tom is to be believed that’ll be happening a lot.
******************************************************************************
Brent is lounging on one of the beds; Giselle curled up on his stomach.
“We’re going to need bigger property,” Ryan muses.
“Sebastian was pretty big, wasn’t he?” Brent grins.
“I’m thinking like a ranch in Montana or something,” Ryan says.
“That’s a nice dream, but there’s a slim chance between hell no and not even remotely possible that Spencer is going to let you buy ranch property in Montana,” Brent says.
“I think that Spencer doesn’t really have a say in the decision,” Ryan states. Even though he knows that Spencer probably has a lot more say in things then Ryan would admit out loud anymore.
There’s a soft knock on the door and Ryan goes to answer it because Brent has Giselle and they’re still waiting for Tom.
Tom stands there; Ryan opens the door wider and just lets him walk in, the door closing behind him.
“Mike is your rider, right?” Ryan asks.
Tom makes a noise.
“Mike was Sebastian’s rider, I’m not sure if Sebastian would even accept him on his back at this point,” Tom says.
Ryan wonders if he knows that he’s lying.
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There’s a tap on their door at a little past midnight, Spencer has been trying to distract Brendon from going to Ryan and Brent’s room.
They know they’re back, the lady at the front desk had been very adamant about that fact. Jon had ignored her glare, just asked if she’d given them all their messages.
Brendon wants to see Giselle, Jon wants to make sure Tom and Ryan are okay, Spencer would just like to rewind eight months and fix whatever it was that had gone wrong so he could have his band and his friends back.
Tom is standing there when Jon opens the door, he looks sheepish.
“Sorry,” he says softly and Jon tugs him into a hug.
“Next time though, right?”
Tom nods against his shoulder and loops his arms around Jon. Hugging tightly.
“Yeah, it’s just. It could have gone both ways, they could have seen each other and hated each other on sight,” Tom says. “We just couldn’t be sure.”
“I still can’t believe you managed to keep him a secret,” Jon says.
“When you keep a secret for that long, sometimes it’s easier to just continue keeping it secret, then to share it.”
“So Giselle and Sebastian got along okay?” Brendon asks.
“They got along famously,” Tom sits on the edge of Brendon’s bed. “He got along with Ryan and Brent as well; I think that Ryan will probably learn how to ride on Sebastian while they wait for Giselle to grow.”
The room stills and Spencer’s brain freezes, restarts, then freezes again.
Jon coughs, “How, uh, big is Sebastian anyway?”
Tom pulls his bottom lip between his teeth and looks like he regrets saying anything at all.
“Big enough to ride,” he says finally. His voice sounds weak, like he’s not sure of his answer.
“Oh my god,” Brendon breathes. “Oh my god, you’re going to let us ride him, right?”
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RATING: PG-13
PAIRING: GEN - With subtexty Ryan/Brent, Ryan/Spencer
AUTHOR: Melanie
WARNINGS: This didn’t happen?
DISCLAIMER: I don’t own any of these boys. If you recognize your name press the back button right on out.
Chapter 5/6
Tom taps softly on their door at 5 am the next morning. Luckily they’re up, Giselle has been restless all night and neither of them has gotten more then an hour of sleep.
There’s nothing wrong, that they can tell. She’s an excited, nervous bundle of baby dragon energy.
Tom just sort of raises an eyebrow at him when Brent answers the door, he doesn’t want to know what he looks like if Tom is looking that amused at him.
He probably looks like Ryan, exhausted, with a hint of exasperation.
“Good morning?” Brent asks. He would have figured they were the only ones up, since Giselle is acting like an infant who has decided that if she’s not sleeping, neither is anyone else.
“You wanted to meet Sebastian didn’t you?” he asks. Giselle is in Ryan’s arms, she’s squirming so Brent can pretty well figure out what her answer would have been if she could speak.
“The others aren’t coming?” Ryan asks.
“I think this time it should just be the five of us,” Tom says.
“Five of us?” Brent asks. He counts three of them, him and Ryan and Tom.
“Plus Giselle and Sebastian,” Tom says, he smiles though it looks kind of sad. Brent blinks at the thought that Tom just read his mind.
“You didn’t hatch Sebastian’s egg with someone?” Ryan asks, he’s got Giselle’s bag in his hand, somehow, even with all her squirming he’s managed to get Giselle into it. Her head is poking out the top and she looks slightly impatient.
She doesn’t understand what’s taking so long.
“Yeah,” Tom shrugs. “But he’s got better things to do then hang out with the crazy guy and the dragon he doesn’t believe exists.”
“He wasn’t there when Sebastian’s egg hatched?” Brent asks. He’s not sure how someone could be there and still not believe.
He pulls the door shut behind them, pushing to make sure it has latched closed. There’s nothing of value in the room with the exception of his laptop but that doesn’t mean he wants to lose that.
Tom snorts. “He was there, he still doesn’t believe,” he pushed the button for the elevator and waits.
“How can?” Ryan shakes his head, Giselle is staring at Tom.
“Evidently if you tell yourself something enough times, well, you can pretty much make yourself believe anything,” Tom says. “Besides, Sebastian and I, we’re fine without him.”
Brent looks over at Ryan and Ryan looks just as skeptical as Brent feels. Giselle freaks out when the lay down in separate beds, Brent isn’t sure how she would handle them having completely separate lives.
He doesn’t think about the fact that if Spencer gets his way they might find out.
He tries to but can’t think of just one person that it could be, there’s a couple of people that it could be, depending on how old Sebastian is, either one of the guys from The Academy Is… or someone from Empires.
He’s more inclined to believe that it’s someone in The Academy; he thinks that Tom and whoever had probably found Sebastian’s egg at about the same time that he and Ryan had found Giselle’s. They’d been touring with The Academy; it’s pretty much the only logical choice.
Plus the only people that Tom wouldn’t have had interaction with over the last couple of years would have been The Academy guys. He wonders which one it is.
There’s a car waiting when they get to the lobby and Tom takes the place behind the wheel.
“How did you get rid of Zack?” Ryan asks. He’s settling in the backseat, Giselle pushes her way out of the backpack to sit right next to him. Brent turns and can see her leaning into Ryan, she chirps at him and he grins and waggles his fingers at her.
“I told him that you guys weren’t going to bolt the minute that everyone took their eyes off you.”
“You know they’re going to be super pissed off when we get back,” Ryan says, he sounds slightly amused by that fact. Like he’s enjoying the prospect of watching everyone lose their shit because they’re missing… even though they won’t be there to actually, you know, see them lose their shit.
Tom shrugs. “Honestly, I don’t care, getting Sebastian and Giselle introduced is more important and that’s going to be easier without a bunch of people that neither of them are tied to watching.”
“You don’t think they’re going to fight, do you?” Ryan sounds alarmed.
Tom laughs. “No, Sebastian is just as excited to meet Giselle as she is to meet him. Besides I think they’re littermates, or whatever dragons that are all born to the same clutch are called. Sebastian looked almost like Giselle when he was hatched; he has some of the same markings she has… I’m pretty sure the last thing we have to worry about is them fighting.”
They drive out to the middle of nowhere, Tom hasn’t turned his phone off but he set it to vibrate before they left the hotel. He should have just turned it off; he should have just left it in the room that he and Jon are sharing.
He would have but he doesn’t want anyone to think that he’s absconding with Ryan and Brent and Giselle with no intent to return.
The red message light is blinking steadily at him, and he glances at the screen after he puts the car in park. Six missed calls from Jon, two from Pete, two from Spencer. He drops it back into the center console and twists in his seat so he can see Ryan and Giselle.
Giselle is impatient in his mind; Ryan and Brent are both nervous but excited. It’s the first time he’s felt anyone besides Sebastian and…
Well it’s the first time; since Sebastian’s egg had hatched that he’s heard anyone in his mind besides Sebastian and…
He purposefully doesn’t think his name, doesn’t identify him. Ryan and Brent are new at this, but there’s no telling what they’ll be able to pick up.
He doesn’t need them to feel sorry for him because his rider thinks he’s insane; he’s had years to get used to it, to come to terms with it.
Prior to finding Sebastian’s egg their relationship had been fraught with tension, after… it only got worse, because the egg wanted them together all the time and that just wasn’t going to happen, they didn’t hate each other, but they definitely didn’t have the type of friendship where sleeping next to each other in the same bed was the norm… or ever going to happen.
He doesn’t know what the hell Sebastian was thinking bonding himself to the two of them, he should have waited for Tom to be out stumbling around with someone else.
Anyone else.
Because even though he’d been there when Sebastian had pushed his way out of his egg, even though he’d been there when Tom had named him…
He still firmly believes with every fiber of his being that their dragon is a figment of Tom’s imagination; it’s taken a long time for Tom to be okay with that, to come to the realization that he doesn’t need him.
They don’t need him. If Tom could have chosen anyone it would have probably been Jon.
Because Jon’s going to be awesome with Sebastian once Tom introduces him. He hopes that introduction will pave the way for Sean and Nick and Max and everyone else that he’s had to keep Sebastian a secret from for years for fear of discovery.
He hadn’t been sure what the world would do if they found out there was a dragon (let alone there now being two of them), he was pretty sure it was going to be a zoo of some sort for Sebastian, some sort of medical facility for him.
He’s kind of a little jealous that Ryan and Brent are attempting, at least, to rear Giselle together. It’s only been a little over a week though, with the others poking their noses in and Spencer being angry about Brent’s continued presence he only hopes that it’ll continue.
It’s easier with two he has a feeling, neither of them feels as stressed as he remembers feeling the first couple of weeks, let alone the first month.
Having him snarling and snapping at him that he was crazy, delusional; having him ignore Sebastian as if he was nothing.
They’d wanted him to concentrate on the music, to help with the writing and he was expending all his energy trying to not consciously hear him in his mind, trying to keep Sebastian from chasing after him.
He’s probably lucky that he and Sebastian are both still sane, that first month had been hard, he’s lucky that all they did in the end was kick him out on his ass.
If it had been someone else and he’d been in their position, he probably would have had him committed.
He opens the door and climbs out, Brent doing the same on the other side; Brent opens Ryan’s door and Ryan climbs out, Giselle wrapped up in his long arms.
Tom runs a hand down Giselle’s back, he remembers Sebastian being this small once.
A long time ago.
He walks a few steps away and whistles.
It’s a clear signal, one they’ve trained with and practiced and Sebastian comes almost immediately. Melting from the wooded area where he’d been waiting for them.
He can feel the startled amazement at their first sight of Sebastian.
Sebastian is his dragon, he is Sebastian’s handler. It’s been years since… well, he’s not even sure that he and Sebastian would still accept him as their rider if he were to show up.
They probably would, Sebastian still tries to push his way into his mind, it’s his rider after all, someone that is supposed to be his. Sometimes he’s gets through, sometimes he doesn’t. Tom doesn’t even try anymore; he gave up once he’d screamed for help and none had come.
Sebastian and him, they’d got themselves out of the predicament just fine, it was probably then when Tom had realized that though they might want him, they might not need him as much as they thought they did.
Tom smiles at him, walks up and lays his hands on Sebastian’s nose. Sebastian huffs at him, bumping his nose against Tom’s shoulder. Tom plants his feet and plays the immovable object, it’s a game they play and Sebastian just nudges him, not even close to hard enough to topple him to the ground, but enough to reassure himself that Tom is there, is his.
Sebastian hasn’t taken his eyes off the three by the car and when Tom looks back, he can see Ryan and Brent staring at Sebastian with wide, wondrous eyes.
Sebastian hasn’t been small enough to hold in his arms since months after he was hatched. Now he’s big enough to ride.
Brendon would be demanding to ride him.
That’s why Tom didn’t bring them. He’s wanted Jon to meet Sebastian for years, but how do you tell the guy who’s supposed to be your best friend that you’re a single parent raising a dragon, when you’ve kept it from him for years.
Besides, this is about Sebastian and Giselle, and about Ryan and Brent and Tom.
This isn’t about the others, even if they want a place in this story it’s already started and their places while not clearly defined are definitely not to be involved in the ways they most likely would like to be.
Ryan’s arms release Giselle finally and she flaps her wings once, twice and floats on the slight breeze over to Sebastian. She hovers there, right in front of him and their noses touch.
Sebastian rumbles a greeting and Giselle chirps at him.
The only thing that he’s getting from Sebastian is pure unadulterated happiness. He’s found one of his littermates and he’s not alone anymore.
He has people besides Tom and… He has Giselle and now he has her rider and handler.
They’re not alone.
Jon is mad; it’s been a long time since Spencer has seen Jon mad.
But Jon had woke up and Tom was gone, no note, no nothing. Then Zack had reported that Ryan and Brent and Giselle weren’t in their room which made Brendon mad.
Because that could only mean that Tom had taken those three to meet Sebastian, without them.
“It’s not fair,” Brendon says.
He’s pouting; Spencer doesn’t really want to deal with a pouting Brendon and a mad Jon. And Zack is no help, because Zack is being sort of zen about the whole thing.
“Wilson left his car and his laptop and all their clothes are still here, they’ll be back,” Zack says. Spencer wishes he were as sure.
When they go to Pete’s room it’s full, apparently at some point during the intervening hours The Academy Is… has descended.
Spencer looks at Pete, its common knowledge that Tom has pretty much mended most of the fences with the guys in TAI, but he hasn’t mended all of them. One of those fences is sitting slouched in a chair with a magazine open.
“They have an interview and a concert tomorrow,” Pete says. “They thought they’d come in early and hang while they had to be here anyway.”
He’s tapping away at his computer, when Spencer looks at the screen he can see that it’s the journal that’s been cataloging Ryan and Brent’s trip in pictures.
If Pete is on it; that means that there’s been an update.
“Pictures of them and Tom at a gas station about seven this morning,” Pete says, Spencer’s grateful he didn’t make him ask. He clicks on the link and there are two pictures of the three of them walking into a gas station and then back out again.
Ryan has his backpack on; Spencer knows enough by now to know that Giselle is probably in it.
They’re all three holding bottles of water; Brent and Tom both have bags of chips.
Spencer doesn’t even want to know what the comments to the pictures are.
He rubs at his head. He’s had a headache going on two weeks now. It’s starting to get annoying.
He doesn’t say anything, Jon is leaning over Pete’s shoulder looking at the pictures, he’s calmed down a little. Isn’t as mad. He’d be even calmer if Tom would call and at least attempt an explanation as to why he took Ryan and Brent and didn’t take them, or at the very least, him to meet Sebastian.
Spencer thinks it has something to do with Giselle and possibly this Sebastian that Tom claims is his dragon.
William leans over his shoulder to peer at the pictures.
“So Tommy is wrapped up in this whole Ross, Wilson thing now?” he asks. He sounds amused; Spencer wishes he could be amused about it. All he feels is Ryan moving further and further away from them; Brendon thinks that they’ll end up back together, he’s thought that from the beginning.
That all they need is some time apart, some time to do their own thing. Spencer isn’t so sure anymore that allowing Ryan to do his own thing was the smartest idea that any of them has ever had.
“This just keeps getting better and better,” William says.
“It’s a long story,” Jon says. He flops down into a chair, Mike Carden glares at him then returns his attention to whatever magazine he’s flipping through.
“Jon Walker, you must share every last tidbit with us,” William says. Jon groans when William drops into his lap.
“Tom and Ryan and Brent’s story to tell,” Jon manages to say. He shoves until he manages to push William off his lap. William pouts at him from the floor then smoothly gets to his feet.
“Are they involved, the three of them, in some sort of sordid love affair?” William sounds positively delighted at the thought. Jon frowns at him and Spencer shakes his head even as he attempts to virtually scrub his mind clear of the image.
“It involves things that shouldn’t exist,” Spencer says. It’s the most he can say without talking about dragons and he hasn’t seen Giselle yet this morning, he hasn’t yet re-confirmed her existence to himself. He could still have a tumor or be drooling on himself in a padded room.
He notices that Mike’s hands still on his magazine, the expression on his face says he wants to kill people, Spencer wonders what the hell he’s reading that’s pissing him off, and why he’s still reading it if its managing to make him that angry.
“You’re not going to share Spencer? I’m disappointed.”
“Not my story, one of them will have to fill you in.”
“They might not ever return.”
“Oh, they’re going to return,” Zack says, he’s glowering. “Conrad assured me that if I called off the watchdogs that they wouldn’t split and I’m completely holding him to that.”
They don’t come back before they have to leave for sound check. Spencer can see the indecision on Jon’s face. Should he stay and yell at them when they return or go to the concert and yell at them when they get back to the hotel?
He compromises; he comes to sound check with them, and calls the hotel in twenty minute increments. Eventually the hotel will just stop being nice to him, hopefully they’ll have come back before it happens.
Zack, at least, is remaining optimistic that they will return.
“I’ll have to kill them all if they don’t,” he says when Spencer asks. “And none of us want that.”
“We should bring Jon on stage with us,” Brendon says, he’s bouncing which means he’s had at least two Red Bulls while Spencer’s been watching Jon continue to get ‘no, they have not returned yet, yes we’ll give them the message to contact you as soon as they do’ messages when he calls the hotel.
“That’s not a good idea,” Pete says, Spencer doesn’t know what he’s doing in their dressing room, he’s got his own. “Patrick threatened to kill me if I didn’t go away for at least thirty minutes,” he says when he notices Spencer staring at him.
“I concur,” Jon says absently. Spencer hopes he’s agreeing with him not going on stage, he’d hate to have to explain to Ashlee why Patrick and/or Jon killed Pete.
Jon is holding his phone in his hand and periodically glancing at the screen.
When it rings he jumps slightly. ‘Tom,’ he mouths, before he answers it.
“Where are you guys?” he asks. Spencer stares at him and he can see Brendon from the corner of his eye watching intently. Pete has his hands loosely clasped together in his lap.
“Okay… when are you going to get back?” Jon drags a hand over his face. “Okay, okay… and I’m completely holding you to that. I can’t believe you managed to keep him a secret from me for this long.”
He nods twice and Spencer doesn’t tell him that Tom can’t see that, he drops the phone in his lap when he’s done.
“They’ll be back in a couple of hours, they’re going to stop for something to eat and to, I don’t know, see the fucking sights or something,” Jon sighs heavily. “He says the meeting between Giselle and Sebastian went wonderfully and everyone is happy and relaxed and…”
“They’re going to miss the concert,” Brendon says. He sounds disappointed, Spencer doesn’t know why; there was never any way that Jon and Ryan were going to come on stage with them, even if Ryan had managed to stay in one place long enough for it to theoretically happen.
“I don’t think they’re really concerned with that,” Jon says.
Pete looks between them and Spencer notices finally that he has a puzzled look on his face.
“Who’s Sebastian?” he asks.
“Were they having a two for one sale on dragon eggs that day?” Pete asks.
Jon had given him the short version, it was the only version of the story they knew to give him. Because it wasn’t like Tom had told them anything besides the fact that he had a dragon named Sebastian.
“If they’d been having a sale Brendon would have been in line with his hands out before the words were even uttered.”
Spencer has his sticks in hand, they go on stage in less then ten minutes, he can’t believe that Pete is still asking them questions about this.
Brendon nods emphatically. “I might have actually got two if they’d given me the choice,” he says. He’s holding up two fingers and his eyes are glowing. If there’s any way for Giselle or Sebastian to have baby dragons of their own Brendon will be the first one there with his hands out waiting for Tom or Ryan to drop one into them.
Spencer shudders at the thought of Brendon with a dragon egg; he can’t imagine how Tom has raised a dragon without it being all over the internet, he has no idea how Ryan is going to manage it, especially considering that Ryan tells the net virtually everything.
Even things that are in no way true in anyone else’s mind but Ryan’s.
He doesn’t consider Brent’s role in this because he still hasn’t given up hope that Brent’s involvement will cease very shortly, he’s going to keep hoping that, even though he thinks that severing the ties that have appeared between Ryan and Brent will be very difficult and possibly impossible.
He’d like to be able to give Brent credit, he’d like to be able to thank him for getting Ryan on the straight and narrow again, he can’t though, because that straight and narrow path didn’t put Ryan back on the same path that Spencer and Brendon (and even Jon) are following, it put him on a completely different path that they haven’t even been able to find shitty Mapquest directions for.
Ian appears in the doorway, he has his guitar slung over his shoulder already and he looks between them all.
“Are we going on stage, or what?”
“We’re coming,” Spencer says. He pulls at Brendon’s arm until Brendon follows him.
They’ve got a show to do and Spencer is a consummate professional. Ryan and Brent and all their problems will still be waiting for them when they come off stage.
Of that Spencer has no doubt.
Giselle is sleeping in her backpack, Ryan can feel the quiet hum of her mind and it’s sort of peaceful. His shoulders feel like they’re missing something because it’s Brent’s turn to carry her.
Tom is keeping step with him and Brent; they’d stopped at a couple of touristy type places on their way back. Pictures were taken at least at two of them, Ryan had seen the cameras, he wonders if they’ve been posted yet.
There’s a concert going on, he would have thought that anyone that was a fan of Panics would be there, watching Brendon and Spencer on-stage, not following them to rest stops and farmers markets.
He purposefully doesn’t wonder if they convinced Jon to go on stage with them, because he doesn’t want to know. Jon’s back where he belongs and he should be on that stage with them.
Tom leaves the car with the bellhop and takes the ticket he gives him.
“You’re not having them return it?” Brent asks.
“I think it’ll be easier for all of us if we just drive ourselves, can you imagine us all crammed on a bus?” Tom laughs, it sounds bitter and kind of sad all at the same time.
“We have our own car,” Brent says.
“We brought Brent’s because we thought it would be more inconspicuous,” Ryan says.
“And yet the fangirls still managed to find you at a rest stop and post pictures of you,” Tom grins.
“They probably just recognized Ryan and then followed us to find out what we were driving,” Brent says.
Then they published that information on that stupid group and now everyone and their brother knows in what manner him and Brent are traveling. Maybe they should take Tom’s rental car, shake them up a little bit.
Except that information is probably up on that damn group already.
“We shouldn’t be here anyway, and it’s not like they really want us traveling alongside them,” Ryan says.
“I think you underestimate how much Spencer wants to put a leash on you at the moment,” Brent sounds amused.
“And how much he thinks you’re going to be climbing on the bus with them tomorrow morning,” Tom adds.
“Then Spencer has joined us all on the crazy train and not had his ticket punched… I’m not even sure why we’re still here. They wanted to make sure that Brent hadn’t kidnapped me or forced me to travel with him under duress, I understand that, can even see where they kind of coming from… they’ve seen that I’m okay, Brent’s okay, nobody’s forcing anybody to do or go anywhere they don’t want to… I’m not sure what we’re still doing here,” Ryan knows he sounds frustrated, he feels frustrated.
Brent touches his back, rubs a slow circle and Ryan takes a deep breath.
Tom averts his eyes from them and Ryan wouldn’t notice if he hadn’t spent the whole day with Tom, watching him be relaxed and kind of happy in a way that he doesn’t think he’s ever seen him before.
Tom jolts, his entire body stiffens and Ryan follows his eyes until he sees what caused the reaction.
Mike Carden is leaning back in a wicker chair in the lobby and he looks pissed as hell.
Ryan glances between them and wonders if he and Brent could stop them if they decided to get in a fight.
“Mike,” Tom says, his eyes are blank when Ryan looks over at him, his voice dull and expressionless.
Mike gets to his feet and walks over to them, they stand there shuffling and Ryan wonders if this picture is going to end up on that group page.
If it is it’ll be titled ‘awkward meeting between former bandmates’.
“Your boys are pretty pissed off,” Mike says, he’s talking to Ryan and Brent. He doesn’t take his eyes off Tom though. Ryan gets the feeling that even though he looks like he’s trying to kill Tom with the power of his mind that he’s not actually trying to do that.
Ryan shrugs. He thinks he agrees with Tom’s decision to only allow Ryan, Brent and himself to be there for that first meeting between Giselle and Sebastian.
They’d adored each other at first sight, but they could have hated each other.
“Why don’t you guys go upstairs, I’ll be up in a few minutes,” Tom says. He manages to drag his eyes away from Mike long enough to smile softly at both of them.
“Are you sure?” Brent asks. He sounds concerned about leaving Tom and Mike alone together, even if it is in a full hotel lobby. Like he expects them to decide to draw guns and shoot at each other or something.
“It’s fine,” Tom says. He sounds like he’s trying to reassure them that it’s okay, he’s not doing a very good job because Ryan in no way feels reassured that Tom isn’t going to come upstairs with bruises.
“We can just…” Ryan says slowly.
“He says its fine,” Mike says. He sounds pissed off, like he could care less about reassuring them and that, yes, there will be pistols drawn at dawn.
Brent still looks indecisive but Tom is looking a little steadier, so Ryan tugs on Brent’s arm until he allows Ryan to pull him away toward the elevator.
The doors close and Tom and Mike are still standing there, Mike glaring, Tom looking very stoic.
There’s something more then Tom getting kicked out of TAI between them.
It takes him a second to figure it out, or come to a conclusion that may or may not be proven right when Tom comes to their room and he can ask him point blank.
“You think Mike Carden is Sebastian’s missing rider?” Brent asks.
Ryan nods, and doesn’t question how Brent and he are apparently having the same thoughts. If Tom is to be believed that’ll be happening a lot.
Brent is lounging on one of the beds; Giselle curled up on his stomach.
“We’re going to need bigger property,” Ryan muses.
“Sebastian was pretty big, wasn’t he?” Brent grins.
“I’m thinking like a ranch in Montana or something,” Ryan says.
“That’s a nice dream, but there’s a slim chance between hell no and not even remotely possible that Spencer is going to let you buy ranch property in Montana,” Brent says.
“I think that Spencer doesn’t really have a say in the decision,” Ryan states. Even though he knows that Spencer probably has a lot more say in things then Ryan would admit out loud anymore.
There’s a soft knock on the door and Ryan goes to answer it because Brent has Giselle and they’re still waiting for Tom.
Tom stands there; Ryan opens the door wider and just lets him walk in, the door closing behind him.
“Mike is your rider, right?” Ryan asks.
Tom makes a noise.
“Mike was Sebastian’s rider, I’m not sure if Sebastian would even accept him on his back at this point,” Tom says.
Ryan wonders if he knows that he’s lying.
There’s a tap on their door at a little past midnight, Spencer has been trying to distract Brendon from going to Ryan and Brent’s room.
They know they’re back, the lady at the front desk had been very adamant about that fact. Jon had ignored her glare, just asked if she’d given them all their messages.
Brendon wants to see Giselle, Jon wants to make sure Tom and Ryan are okay, Spencer would just like to rewind eight months and fix whatever it was that had gone wrong so he could have his band and his friends back.
Tom is standing there when Jon opens the door, he looks sheepish.
“Sorry,” he says softly and Jon tugs him into a hug.
“Next time though, right?”
Tom nods against his shoulder and loops his arms around Jon. Hugging tightly.
“Yeah, it’s just. It could have gone both ways, they could have seen each other and hated each other on sight,” Tom says. “We just couldn’t be sure.”
“I still can’t believe you managed to keep him a secret,” Jon says.
“When you keep a secret for that long, sometimes it’s easier to just continue keeping it secret, then to share it.”
“So Giselle and Sebastian got along okay?” Brendon asks.
“They got along famously,” Tom sits on the edge of Brendon’s bed. “He got along with Ryan and Brent as well; I think that Ryan will probably learn how to ride on Sebastian while they wait for Giselle to grow.”
The room stills and Spencer’s brain freezes, restarts, then freezes again.
Jon coughs, “How, uh, big is Sebastian anyway?”
Tom pulls his bottom lip between his teeth and looks like he regrets saying anything at all.
“Big enough to ride,” he says finally. His voice sounds weak, like he’s not sure of his answer.
“Oh my god,” Brendon breathes. “Oh my god, you’re going to let us ride him, right?”