You'd think their main issue would be the fact that the foundation for whatever their relationship was now was something awful and mangled and toxic, but really, it was communication. If they didn't have that problem, Brendon would probably have expressed how bored he was in some way other than intentionally riling Ryan up. Truthfully they'd probably never said one honest thing to one another, except when Ryan became exhilerated learning how being genuine with Brendon made him react. That first night in Seattle, bringing all their subtext to the surface, for example; or sometimes when both of them became vulnerable, forgot how uncomfortable they were being casual with one another, and he'd let slip something affectionate or the offhanded 'baby' that he could catch a gentle smile in response just before Brendon glazed over it (and eventually Ryan did exactly the same). They were funny, that way. Except it wasn't that funny when you were part of all the irritating bullshit, experiencing it firsthand. 

Ryan wasn't expecting to be the [i]wrong[/i] one at any point in this conversation (he didn't in any conversation, for fuck's sake, but Brendon had just said 'just wanted you a little riled up for next time' when Ryan had [i]missed him[/i]), but Brendon was suddenly looking at him defiantly and he backtracked, questioned himself. He rarely did that with Brendon, second-guessing his own words, but he was beginning to accept how completely wrong he was in the beginning of their 'friendship,' so he'd become more vigilant. In fact, he almost felt bad, watching Brendon's head drop, completely forgetting what started this confrontation for a moment. [i]The- ‘precious fucking rules’- are for both of our benefits. You know that. We [/i]agreed. [i]Don’t fucking pull that on me.[/i] Ryan paused, the anger in his gaze dying out, because, yeah, they agreed. Brendon hadn't given him much to agree to, but he knew, without Brendon having to say it, that not getting as attached as he was acting now was one of those rules. Unspoken. He recalled himself promising that he'd find some way around the rules, the 'only for this tour' that he figured he could win Brendon over on. Yeah, so he was being unfair. He only communicated his 'fine, fuck you, you win' through an unhappy expression, because of course his mouth couldn't form the words 'you win' in front of Brendon, or even pretend to compromise. Not in this state, anyway.

All he could actually bring himself to do was mess with Brendon, pressing him flush to the bus behind him, and for Christ's sake he had no idea [i]what[/i] was going on around him he was so focused on getting Brendon back for this but he prayed no one could see them from this angle. Brendon, on the other hand, was only worried about maintaining his status of Most Annoying Bastard Alive. [i]I dunno, darlin’, have you got it in you?[/i] It's like he [i]prepares[/i] for this moments. It took everything in Ryan to just blow past that, ignore how much of an asshole the guy he was practically pining after was. He did it anyway, watching Brendon closely, and it appeared as though this worked for him, somehow. Ryan supposed it made sense. It's not like their constant fights before did anything to ween them off of the below-the-surface lust between the two of them, why should some level of aggression not do it for him now? Brendon was practically slack against the metal behind him, Ryan feeling his musces relax under the palm of his hand.

Brendon glanced over Ryan's shoulder and Ryan followed his gaze with a close eye, daring him to look back at him. [i]I- I want you to fuck me.[/i] Ryan could have [i]literally[/i] broken character then and there, burst into laughter at the fact that he'd not only actually said it but could barely maintain eye contact throughout the admission, but he held it together, simply smirking in response. [i]But, uh, if you still wanna watch that movie...[/i] Ryan looked him over again, a soft, fond smile on his face while his eyes travelled from the ground beneath them, all the way back up to Brendon's eyeline. He shifted the hand at Brendon's jaw to crook behind his head, the one pinning him to the bus to settle on his lower back, and pulled him up closer for a kiss, long and punctuating. He hardly pulled away afterward, just rested his nose against Brendon's cheek and daintily tried to land more kisses against his skin. [b]"Yeah. I do. Asshole."[/b] Ryan completely separated, hot to cold, and backed away from the bus, rolling his eyes. [b]"Don't ever fuck with me like that again. What movie do you wanna watch?"[/b]