Though his musical career alongside Jon and Ryan was gone, it wasn’t like Brendon had hit a stop completely- in fact, to what he knew would be a very mixed reaction, he had plans to continue under the same band name with Spencer. His friend (Ryan’s best friend- formally? Brendon felt a little strange about taking Ryan’s childhood best friend with him, while Ryan had ‘kept’ Jon) had some doubts about doing so, seeing as Brendon’s grand scheme involved taking some of [i]Ryan’s[/i] unfinished lyrics and modifying old demos into semi-new songs he could call his own. Brendon didn’t see wha was wrong with it- it wasn’t a Ryan Ready song, it was a Panic song- but Spencer kind of hinted he thought it was wrong, that it was basically stealing and giving no credit, so Brendon met him halfway and said he’d make sure to give his ex boyfriend credit on the lyric booklet or whatever. In any case, Brendon was ready to move on.

It had been difficult, because at the time of the breakup, he still felt as strongly about Ryan as he had in the beginning, and there were lots of things he missed- the attention and affection that Ryan seemed to have disposable amounts of, Ryan singing beside him on stage, even sometimes the taste of his lips and the sound of his laugh, memories he kind of pushed back with an inner eye roll. They were just separated- it wasn’t like Ryan was dead. Now, though, he’d thought he’d moved on; he had plans for his career moving forward, Spencer was still steadfast by his side, and he had friends like Gabe inviting him to unnecessarily themed parties every other week for no reason other than to keep their reputation. Gabe was a good friend- though Brendon still kind of knew nothing about them, he did know they were the kind of friend to take care of him if he passed out on the couch or something, and be a sympathetic ear with maybe too much to say about other people’s business.

Or at least, Brendon had thought he’d been over Ryan. If he had been less tipsy, he could have probably resisted even going over, but after a few drinks his common sense kind of drained neatly away, and he wasn’t listening to his brain anymore. He was semi-driven by his heart, aching a little at how good his ex looked, but also felt physically drawn over there, deciding that no matter what, he knew what he wanted the outcome of tonight to be in just a few moments. After quickly locating and picking up his drink, he made his way over, wondering distantly whether he looked sort of ridiculous. Oh well. He could make it work. Anyway, he was amused by Ryan’s ‘deer-caught-in-headlights’ reaction, and quickly found somewhere to put his drink down after he took a last sip. He reached up, then, taking off his dumb mask and placing it down by his drink. Now he could see better. Brendon met his eyes briefly and felt a little electrified, however dramatic that sounded.

[i]Hey.[/i] Smooth. Brendon grinned. [i]Um. Thanks![/i] [b]”You’re welcome,”[/b] Came his immediate response, and he carried on saying everything on his mind, even letting his tactile senses catch on as he explored Ryan’s suit a little, dropping attention from his face momentarily. Then his hands fell to his sides and he exhaled as if satisfied, but his hands urged him to just not let go next time. [i]I guess- a little. Maybe you got shorter.[/i] Brendon laughed, shrugging his shoulders, now kind of distracted by Ryan’s mouth. It was kind of ridiculous how he didn’t even care that Ryan noticed- in fact, that’s what he wanted. Ryan’s attention. It seemed he had already seized it. [i]More like who. The best of the best.[/i] He nodded quickly, glancing over at Gabe and back at Ryan and then finally clicking. Wow. Gabe had definitely planned that they run into eachother. He vowed to get them later.

[i]I was surprised, actually. Not many people are interested since i’m not, like, active anymore. Did they invite you too?[/i] [b]”No, I crashed the party,”[/b] They declared, flashing Ryan another smile. [b]”Yeah, I was. Me, Spencer... Dallon.”[/b] He forgot Ryan didn’t know who Dallon was. He just let it remain a mystery. [i]You, um- you look really good. You look like you just walked out of a Gatsby party, really.[/i] Flattered, He splayed a hand across his own chest and tilted his head. [b]”Thank you. I try,”[/b] Brendon said absently, but he was looking Ryan clearly up and down, sighing and trailing his fingers down his ex’s arm. [b]”You’re so [i]tall.[/i] Fuck [i]me[/i],”[/b] He breathed, then let Ryan process it, only distantly wondering whether that was at all appropriate. Then he broke into a smile. [b]”Kidding.”[/b] He wasn’t.