Ryan wished there was some clear way to navigate all of this. There was one thing that was obvious to him, unquestionable - the fact that he had to break up with Keltie now, before he wasted more of both their time, before someone was actually hurt. At this point it wasn't like she had much invested in them, either. But he couldn't figure out how to treat Brendon. All he wanted to do now was be... softer, gentler with him, because he was finding that he preferred Brendon's reaction to that; he didn't miss snapping at him and bickering and the damn near physical fights they got into, although it'd only been a day. Maybe that was the thing- it'd only been a day, not even that. This was probably all just a phase, a few moments of weakness where he thought he wanted this with Brendon. In any case, as long as it felt better and he could get away with it, as long as they were in this weird alternate universe of a hotel room, he was going to go along with the natural instinct to lose all of his old heavyhandedness around Brendon, not try to rile up the traditional meanspiritedness.

First things first, though: calling Keltie. He was caught in his tracks by Brendon, who didn't seem totally pleased about it all, but then Ryan wasn't sure Brendon even knew what was going on. He forgave the approach. [i]I dunno, should you? Your call. I’m the princess here.[/i] A smile played on Ryan's lips, feeling like they were almost being playful with one another and his heart dipped in his chest in response. He turned his head slightly to where Brendon had hooked his chin over his shoulder to smile at him, the 'princess.' He didn't continue the banter, though, instead attempting to finish the call he'd started to make - only to be distracted by Brendon again. It made sense that Brendon wasn't [i]quite[/i] as worn out considering he wasn't even a fourth as drunk as Ryan had been, but still, being this ready to make out this soon after waking up? Ryan was impressed, urging him with a steady hand at the back of his head, and felt his chest swell mysteriously when Brendon held him more tightly to his own body. For them, this was oddly comfortable.

He felt more than heard the low sound from Brendon against his shoulder, a tiny vibration before he was pulling away and more delicately dragging his nails down Ryan's back again. Ryan inhaled gently but audibly, tipping his head back to find Brendon's forehead pressed to the back of his neck. He grinned slightly to himself, his free hand falling to cover one of Brendon's when they came back around his waist, almost holding it. For the time being, he forgot to care about that not being a part of their relationship. [i]You asked me to.[/i] True. Ryan remembered his own words from last night, knew he'd never be able to say the same things without a drink in him. He chewed his lip a little, somewhat embarrassed. [i]And, besides. I think you bring out the animal in me.[/i] Okay, screw embarrassment, that won out. [b]"You're corny as fuck,"[/b] Ryan replied, laughter touching his voice, but his fingers were finding Brendon's hair again while more kisses came, so clearly he didn't mind all that much.

He wanted to tell him that, yes, the breakup was for his own sake, getting out of it would be good for him, but also it would free him up for Brendon specifically. And he nearly did. Brendon looked ready to hear [i]something,[/i] maybe he thought Ryan was just going to argue about some other bullshit, but. He didn't say anything at all, played it safe. Moments later, too, he was on Brendon, straddling him far more innocently than either of them had in the past hours and splaying a hand on his chest to keep him far away from wherever would be an audible place to the phone. His greeting to Keltie felt wrong coming out anyway but seeing Brendon's face at the use of what was a natural, reflexive pet name - it did not feel good. At all. His hand on Brendon's chest loosened up when he saw the faint signs of sullenness overtake Brendon's features, blinking at him reservedly and looking vaguely apologetic. He smoothed his thumb over his skin in an effort to comfort him, a silent 'just wait,' and willed the little signals of sadness to go away because things had changed for them and he couldn't handle those.
 
Thankfully, Brendon looked defiant and smug pretty quickly after that, and that was so much better than sad. Ryan could deal with a self-righteous Brendon more than he could deal with a sad one. He read his lips: [i]dickhead.[/i] Yeah, it was true, this was kind of bullshit and Ryan was realizing the extent of his bad idea pretty quickly. He raised his eyebrows threateningly at Brendon when he started laughing, to no avail. [i]I appreciated last night, too.[/i] Ryan widened his eyes and jerked away from his touch, moving his hand from his chest to cover his mouth. He lost the nerve to when Brendon's hand shifted to his hip, distracted, dropping his head slightly and losing his focus. [i]Go on, player, tell her where you are.[/i] Ryan bit his lip, trying to shift away from Brendon's touch because he was a little too powerful right now, but didn't succeed much. [i]I’ll tell her if you want.[/i] Ryan flinched away from him when he reached for the phone, batting his hand away cattily. 

He watched Brendon stretch out, the epitome of nonchalance while he was having a mini-freak out. Somehow it was calming - seeing him so relaxed in the wake of Ryan's blight made it seem like maybe he was blowing this all out of proportion. [i]Maybe. Let me talk to her.[/i] [b]"Fuck off,"[/b] Ryan said, but he was grinning at him, dodging his hand again while he pressed the phone back to his ear. [b]"I'm in Seattle, in a hotel. No - don't come, just. We can talk more in person later, but I know you're done with this, we've been practically done for months, so. I'm sorry."[/b] [i]You're an asshole, you know that? You have some nerve -[/i] Ryan pulled the phone away again, covering the receiver while Keltie's voice continued on a tangent, and looked at Brendon, more casual. [b]"This happens, like, every night. Wanna order room service? My treat."[/b]