Yeah, it sucked that Brendon couldn’t be with his boyfriend all the time, and he made that very clear during every single show where he stopped for a few seconds to talk about how he missed home, how many shows they’d done, how many were left. It was just fortunate for him that his security thought Ryan was harmless enough that he could be allowed pretty much wherever he pleased- well, the harmlessness, and the fact he and the frontman of the band were an item, [i]and [/i]Ryan used to be the guitarist for said band. He still held onto some of those privileges and he sometimes fooled new crew members into thinking he was still part of it, Brendon had been told. He found it likely; he figured if some interns couldn’t even spell his name correctly, there would be some rookies who weren’t even sure of the lineup. Anyway, Ryan had free roam- almost. The night previous Brendon had impulsively brought him up onto the stage for one of the most meaningful parts of the show, where he draped himself in colourful pride flags and the fans shone their phone flashlights through the coloured hearts, all of that. It was an ecstatic moment, but Zack seemed to think it had diverted too much from the strict plan, so for the next show Ryan wasn’t allowed near him at all, save to say goodbye and good luck before the show.

Of course, they were both stubbornly obsessed with eachother so it was difficult to keep them apart- eventually, after they were discovered rendezvousing in Brendon’s dressing room when he was supposed to be, y’know, getting dressed, Zack physically removes Ryan from the premises and when he came back he told Brendon that he’d instructed Ryan to go entertain himself some other way. Though Brendon missed him, and regretful that they only managed to steal a few kisses before they had been tragically forced apart, he was amused by it all, and just smiled and shook his head. The question was- would Ryan be able to entertain himself for that long? God knows what he was out doing. Brendon’s best bet was that he just went back to the buses- or the hotel, Brendon couldn’t remember where they were sleeping tonight- And was either asleep or reading something, maybe absently scrolling through his phone. He wasn’t sure. Either way, there wasn’t much time free for Brendon to think about that- the show was about to start and though he thought fondly of his love during associated songs like [i]death of a bachelor [/i] and [i]nine in the afternoon[/i], for the most part he was fully in show mode.

As such, he didn’t even think about Ryan again until he’d finished the final song, picked up his discarded t-shirt and walked off stage back to his dressing room. Only then did he notice that Ryan wasn’t around waiting for him as he kind of expected, believing that Zack would cave and let him wait around towards the end of the show. But Ryan wasn’t there, so he sought out Zack and asked him about his whereabouts- Zack didn’t know either. Brendon wasn’t worried. He was probably asleep or something, that’s why he didn’t answer his phone when Zack texted him or called for the first time. Just in case, though, after he’d very quickly showered and changed into fresh clothes, he waited while Zack called for the second time and listened when Ryan finally picked up. All he heard at first was an unintelligible mumble, and Zack immediately asked him if he was drunk. The corners of Brendon’s mouth pulled up into a disbelieving smile- if he was, the rest of tonight was going to be fun. Ryan didn’t get drunk often so Brendon relished the chance to see it and tease him about it. [i]Not the drunkest I’ve ever been.[/i] Brendon stifled a laugh, thought back to the drunkest Ryan had ever been and raised his eyebrows. The bar was pretty high there, so it was likely that his lightweight boyfriend was fucking wasted. Cute. [b]”Dumbass,”[/b] He shouted, hoping the receiver picked it up.

Zack paused and then asked where he was. Brendon followed him as he went towards their driver and stood by as his bodyguard instructed them where to go to pick up a lost Ryan. Clearly he was past it, because he heard him asking someone else where he was. Honestly. And he called Brendon that one that was hard to control. Leave Ryan alone for three, four hours, and [i]this[/i] happened. Increasingly amused by the way events were playing out, he got into the back of the car and Zack got into the passenger seat, before they headed off to the random bar that Ryan had found himself in. Ten minutes later, they stopped outside some decent-looking place and Brendon was about to get out of the car but Zack said he had it handled so Brendon shrugged and settled back down. He supposed it would be more difficult for him, who was dismally little, to drag a much taller and reasonably stronger man out of a bar and bundle him into a car. He watched the door and a few moments later Zack re-emerged with a... dishevelled looking Ryan in tow. Brendon couldn’t help but grin wildly and expected a greeting when Ryan got inside, but he was turned fully the other way, staring at the window. Okay, rude. [b]”Dude, this is why y’should’ve let him stay.”[/b]

[i]Where are we going?[/i] Brendon paused, looked him up and down. He was such a mess. Brendon loved him so much. He was trying hard not to beam with affection so he suppressed it and prodded him in the side, trying to get his attention. [b]”Hotel. Hi, by the way,”[/b] He said loudly. [b]”Good to see you too, handsome.”[/b] Leaning over, He fastened Ryan’s seatbelt and smoothed a hand over his chest. Idiot. [i]I’m going to sleep.[/i] Huh. The ‘caring boyfriend’ part of him was relieved, Ryan needed to sleep this off. The ‘amused bastard’ part of him wanted Ryan to stay awake so he could have further entertainment. The latter won over the former and he leaned in, anticipating kissing him. [b]”Not on my watch.”[/b]