Brendon wasn’t somebody to lose his temper often. He was fiery, and driven, and he was no pushover, but it never seemed to get the point with him where he reached his boiling point and bubbled over in some kind of loss of control due to rage. Any emotions he experienced tended to be strong and intense, but he wasn’t ruled by them, not usually. Specific people affected him in different ways- Spencer made him feel calm and supported and appreciated, Jon provided a groundedness and an honesty that made him feel respected. Ryan, though, the fourth member of the unit and in the pecking order in Brendon’s eyes, was one of the only people who could push him over the metaphorical age, take his prevalent but contained Aries sparks and ignite them into a roaring flame. He was the only person who could cause him to snap, and he hated it- the one person he wasn’t willing to be vulnerable around, the one person he wanted to back off from him and leave him alone, and Ryan [i]knew[/i] what particular buttons to press if he wanted to get a rise out of Brendon. It was the same vice versa, so it was something of a mutually assured destruction, but the threat of his own embarrassment and the theoretical demise of his dignity was enough to keep him hesitant, at least, in an ideal world. In reality, when Ryan started to antagonise, and he was the one more likely to, it didn’t take long for Brendon’s composure to break.

Lucky for Brendon, he seemed to have one-upped him this time, but then he’d sort of triumphed as soon as Ryan left the party and bought a plane ticket, even if he didn’t know it. His second victory was when Ryan turned up at his hotel room door, the third was when Ryan opened slightly up to him about his and Keltie’s failing relationship, the fourth was when Brendon presented the opportunity and Ryan fell for the bait and leaned in to kiss him. Hook, line, sinker- his initial intention was just to see what he’d do, pull back and be done with it but hold it over his head forever, but there they were, Brendon with his back pressed against the mattress and Ryan holding himself slightly above, holding him down on the cushions, and they were still kissing, Brendon biting relentlessly because he didn’t really want Ryan to get anything out of this, he didn’t want to get anything out of this, then it would be too real. But it was probably too late for that, now. He paused briefly at Ryan’s neck and then let himself go limp against the sheets, catching his breath.

Ryan had a hand cradling his face and Brendon wondered whether he should move it away, because now it was just quiet, a breath of calm, even though the tension was crushing. He felt Ryan’s hands still tangling in his hair, but he didn’t feel his nails, it felt gentler, almost restrained. Brendon stared up at him, eyes still dark, breathing deep to recover after he had replied to Ryan’s bullshit declaration about how ‘if you wanted to be nice, you’d have been at my stupid party’. But, really- Brendon didn’t know what Ryan wanted him to do. If he had turned up, he’d hardly know or like anybody, not even the birthday boy himself. Ryan would have snidely commented about how his presence wasn’t welcome, why wasn’t he even here, and Keltie would make some venomous remark like ‘go pine after somebody else’s boyfriend’, or ‘funny how you claim to hate him and follow him around like a puppy’. Brendon hadn’t really been particularly inclined either way about Keltie in the beginning, she was just Ryan’s girlfriend, not her fault he was in a messy situation with Brendon. But she’d joined in. Now he couldn’t stand either of them. Going to that party would have been his own personal idea of hell, aside from the fact it was themed around basically mocking the man of the hour. Besides, Jon wasn’t even there. What was up with that?

[i]You’re real fucking bold, you know.[/i] Still with slightly parted lips, Brendon turned up his mouth at the corner into a poorly concealed half-smirk. [b]”At least I’m not fucking boring.”[/b] They kisses for maybe a few moments after that, and Brendon had tuned out a little, only paying attention enough that he just about heard Ryan mention Keltie as he pulled back and lifted himself up a little. Honestly, he’d been expecting this- even if he was ruffled about how they’d been, what, making out for a while now and all he could think about was the basically-ex girlfriend he had decided to officially break up with at the soonest possible opportunity. Way to kill the mood- though maybe that was safe. Something in Ryan’s energy was becoming calmer, almost neutral instead of intense anger and friction, and Brendon was alarmed, though the hatred he had started this whole thing out with had simmered into remaining intensity combined with minimal anger that was continuing to burn out. After staring at Ryan for a moment, though, waiting for him to maybe denounce Keltie and get back to what they were doing, he inwardly rolled his eyes and sighed and physically drew himself away from Ryan, who mirrored his actions by leaning against the headboard.

Brendon feigned indifference and picked at the sheets on the bed, crossing one arm loosely across his chest. [i]Sounds like it bothered you even more than it bothered me.[/i] For once, he had nothing to say- instead he tried to gain the upper hand in the other ways he knew as he thought of a comeback, leaning back on his elbows and tilting his head to the side, skin still carrying a sheen of sweat and chest rising and falling evenly with every deep breath. [i]Yeah.[/i] ...Oh. Brendon blinked. It wasn’t like he didn’t know, but he didn’t expect Ryan to admit it with so little prompting. [i]I would’ve invited you.[/i] That only earned him an eye roll. [b]”But you didn’t. You can say whatever shit you want, but if you don’t do it, you might as well be spinning bullshit.”[/b] Their eyes met for a half-second and Brendon wondered what he was thinking. [i]I think about you more than I’ve ever thought about her.[/i]

Brendon’s increasingly tired eyes widened, and immediately he felt wide awake, first comprehension and then a sense of triumph surging through his entire body. Still lying back, propped up on his elbows, he tilted his head back fully and grinned at the ceiling, because this was all so [i]funny.[/i] Slowly, he sat up, this time leaning back on both of his palms that were placed behind him against the mattress. [i]That what you were looking for?[/i] [b]”I never thought you’d admit it,”[/b] He mused, sitting forwards and resting his hands on his lap, searching for Ryan’s gaze. He wished he had recorded that. [b]”But yeah, that’s what I wanted to hear.”[/b] Well. Now he didn’t know what to do with himself. He’d hit the jackpot- Ryan would never live this down. Setting out to almost seal the deal, he moved back in and moved onto his lap before he could protest, curling a fist in his shirt again and using it to tilt Ryan’s head back so he could lean down to kiss him and trail off to speak into his ear. [b]”What do you think about?”[/b]