CONTEST SUBMISSION #2: Run to You

[clayangel.livejournal.com]

Title: Run to You
In the Style of: Saiya_Tina
Author: draconica_nova
Pairing: Brad/Ryan, with a bit of Colin/Ryan
Rating: R
Summary: After a break-up, how long do you wait before making your move? A sad, angered end leaves Ryan searching for comfort in the arms of another.



Brad peeped around the curtain, snooping like a basset hound at the audience filing into the Washington theatre. From his position, he could see them but his face was hidden by shadows, making stealth that much easier.

“I don’t know why I do this,” he whispered, “it doesn’t make me any less nervous.”

“So I see,” Colin replied, standing behind him. “Look at my hand.” As he said it, he raised his left hand, the one without the plastic cup of water in it. Brad did so and noted with jealousy that it was completely steady. Colin had that skill implanted in him since his youth, the ability to hold nerves down until they disappeared altogether.

“How do you do it?” Brad asked unbelievably.

The Canadian shrugged modestly and sipped some more water.

Looking out over the audience again, Brad’s eye caught something, or someone, that might knock Colin’s confidence around a bit. But it also fed into his own jealousy and inner grief like air into a balloon that was ready to burst.

Ryan Stiles, no less, was so clearly and characteristically striding in longer steps to everyone else in order to get to the front row. The front row of all places.

It was common knowledge that Ryan and Colin were together, and had been for five years. It was also known, to Brad at least, that Brad had been in love with Ryan since long before the relationship had started. So imagine the amount of envy and disappointment when Ryan fell for Colin instead, and also the level of awkwardness and self-loathing that appeared whenever he saw the two of them together - kissing or cuddling or practically dry humping.

Five years worth of an opportunity to get over and accept it hadn’t worked either. Brad hated himself for all the resentment and in turn hated himself for making the decision not to tell Colin that his lover was in the crowd tonight. He’d find out soon enough anyway, and Brad didn’t want to set off the jealousy early.

“Quite a crowd out there,” he said instead, fiddling with the buttons on his shirt.

“Isn’t there always?” replied Colin and threw his empty cup into a nearby bin. And just like that, the house lights dimmed, the bustling and chatting ceased, and Brad felt Colin’s hand squeeze his shoulder. “Ready, porky?”

Brad smiled, patting the hand gratefully. “After you, baldy.”

DI

DI

Brad will never forget that face. The one that graced Colin’s features when his eyes found Ryan sitting in the front row, beaming up at him. And the reason he’ll never forget it is because of how unexpectedly he reacted. Colin didn’t crack a grin, gape or perk up considerably. Instead, his face had paled and Brad had noticed his Adam’s apple bob in a tight, nervous swallow.

He just didn’t understand why Colin would act so uneasy. Though the older man had never let this momentary lapse interfere with their performance, there was the odd occasion when his gaze would drift back to Ryan and his focus would tail off just a bit. Not enough for the crowd to notice, but certainly enough for Brad to step in on more than one occasion in order to pick up the faltering energy.

After the customary post-show autograph and fan-meet session, Colin had disappeared faster than a thief into the night, not stopping for a drink with Brad in the hotel bar. And as he sat at a lonely table in the corner, swigging blandly at some strange new concoction involving vodka and some fruity beverage, his mind came up with theories as to why Colin was behaving so strangely. He was so far into this thought bubble that he never noticed Ryan enter the room and stride over to the table, a worried look on his face.

“Hey, Brad,” he said, making the younger man jump slightly.

“Oh, Ryan, hi.” Brad sighed, a hand over his heart. “I didn’t notice you come in.”

Ryan blushed and chuckled slightly. “Sorry, man. Um…do you know where Colin is?

“Best guess, I’d say he was in his room. Maybe he’s having an early night? He didn’t seem all himself during the show.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Ryan replied, tightening his lips together in anxiety. “Do you have his room number?”

Brad blinked at him. “You don’t know it?”

“No, I wanted to surprise him so I didn’t tell him I’d be coming to the show.” He shuffled his feet. “Is that why he was so distracted?”

“I guess.” Brad shrugged, running a finger along the rim of his glass tumbler. He gave Ryan the room number who then thanked him and left, without further word. Brad couldn’t help but watch him walk away with the fluid gait that always enchanted anyone who happened to be observing.

Shaking his head harshly and cutting off that yearning feeling, he went back to a calm whimsical state with alcohol on the side. There was no better ending to a long, odd day in his opinion.

He wondered if Colin was trying to avoid Ryan on purpose and if he had actually done the right thing, telling Ryan what room he was staying in. Then again, if Colin really didn’t want to see him, wouldn’t he have said something? Brad sat there pondering this for a good ten minutes before fatigue and curiosity eventually got the better of him and he made his way upstairs towards bed and sleep.

As he trudged through the corridor en route to his room, his journey included having to walk past Colin’s room, which was conveniently, or inconveniently, right next door. He wondered as he passed the door if he would unavoidably hear signs of activity in there, like talking or laughing or perhaps the errant, awkward sound of bedsprings.

Well, there was talking, but as Brad paused and listened it was clear that the talking was only one-sided - because the other person was shouting.

Brad pressed his ear up against the door in helpless curiosity and from what he could make out, Colin was the one having trouble keeping his volume, and seemingly his temper, to subliminal levels.

Not particularly wanting to hear the argument, Brad quickly brushed past it and swiftly made his way to his own room, his trembling hand fumbling with the door key for whatever reason. As he leant back against the door, finally finding some privacy and solitude, he realised that he could still hear the rather heated discussion of the next room through the walls.

Scrubbing a hand over his face, he tried his best to ignore the outside warfare and focused on the more mundane tasks. All he wanted was a nice relaxing shower and to collapse into bed and bury himself under the quilted protection of the covers. Tomorrow would bring a more peaceful setting, perhaps.


Twenty minutes later, Brad emerged from the bathroom surrounded by steam and heat with only a towel wrapped around his waist. Before he fetched any clothing though, he paused for a moment in the middle of the room and listened, expecting to hear more arguing from next door. But instead, he heard nothing. Silence - like the calm before the storm.

A sudden burst of knocks at the door startled him, but what was said on the other side startled him further.

“Brad? Are you awake?”

Brad blinked at the voice. “Ryan?” he called, stepping forward steadily.

He heard Ryan sigh. “Oh good, you are. Can I come in..…please?”

The question hardly registered at first, but further pleading from the clearly shaken man on the other side made him alert again. Tightening his towel a bit more he reached out and turned the knob, revealing his visitor. Ryan was leaning against the doorframe shyly as if he couldn’t stand by himself, his face turned downward and his hands fidgeting with something seemingly invisible. The glistening moisture clinging to his cheeks was the final indication to Brad that something was wrong. As Ryan glanced up and saw how little Brad was wearing, his eyes widened and flicked away briefly. “Oh, er.…sorry Brad. I didn’t know you were….ahem,“ he coughed. “I can come back later…”

“No, no. It’s fine, really Ryan,” Brad hurried to assure his long-time friend and stepped aside customarily, letting the tall man pass. “What’s wrong?”

Ryan shrugged, stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked into the room, trying his best not to accidentally touch Brad on the way. “What makes you think anything’s wrong?” he asked and sat himself on the edge of the double bed, still finding the carpet more interesting to look at.

The younger man looked at him bemused as he shut the door. “Well, listening to Colin shout the place down along with those tears on your face hardly says ‘good times’.”

Ryan looked up into Brad’s eyes for the first time since arriving, but his gaze wandered off again soon after. “Right.…I guess not.”

Brad approached the bed and stood a few feet in front of the depressed Ryan, arms folded expectantly. He was still very much aware of his lack of clothes, but there were more pressing matters to attend to first.

“What’s happened?” he asked softly. Ryan shook his head ruefully in response and sighed heavily, picking something out of his jeans in distraction.

“I screwed up, Brad. I completely screwed everything up,” was the wavering moan that Ryan spoke. Brad said nothing, instead silently willing for Ryan to continue. “You know why Col didn’t want to see me? It’s because he cheated on me, that’s why.” Ryan said it with the bitterest tone Brad had ever heard him speak.

“He did what?” The younger man was in disbelief, not quite understanding why anyone would be disloyal to someone as amazing as Ryan

“He slept with this girl from a strip club apparently. And I know what you’re thinking: He’s not the kind of guy you’d expect to go to strip clubs, is he?”

Brad shook his head.

“That’s because it’s my fault. It’s all my fucking fault.” Ryan dropped his head in his hands, shaking visibly and sniffling. But before Brad could say anything, he continued. “He said…said I drove him to it. Said he was getting bored of me...”

Brad felt his blood boil. What a horrible thing to say, and after sleeping with someone else? Blaming Ryan for his own stupid lack of control? Colin was so going to get an earful from him later.

“Anyway,” Ryan muttered, sitting back up and staring unseeingly into the distance. “He just told me to leave him alone and….now I don’t know what to do.”

“Do you want me to go and talk to him?”

The taller man was still for a moment as if Brad hadn’t spoken at all, but then brought himself back into the room like a hypnosis subject. “Oh…no, it’s fine. I don’t think he wants to see anybody right now.” He quickly rubbed his sleeve over his eyes and went back to silent musing, sniffling occasionally.

Brad was still heading through the denial stage; Colin seriously wasn’t capable of something like this? “But this can’t be happening, Ry. He loves you.”

“Past tense,” he grumbled miserably. “Not anymore. And all because I fucked up.”

“How is this in any way your fault?” Brad started, very much on track to set things right in Ryan’s manipulated head. “He sleeps with someone else on purpose and then puts the blame on you? Ryan, you don’t deserve crap like that. You deserve so much better!”

Ryan looked up at him, confused. “Really? Like what?”

At seeing his curious face, Brad swallowed and suddenly became a little wearier of his lack of clothes. “Er….well this is only an observation from me, I mean you and Colin have been friends for way longer than I’ve known you but….you need to be with someone who wants to spend time with you and loves to seeing your face in the morning when they roll over in bed.”

“So you’re saying Colin didn’t love me like that?”

Brad shook his head quickly. “No! I mean yes! I mean probably….ugh, I’m sorry, Ry. I’m not very good company at the moment. It’s just it’s you and…I should really put some clothes on.” He laughed nervously, crossing his arms as if trying to shrink with awkward self-awareness.

Without warning, Ryan suddenly rose and strode the length of a few feet in one easy step, grabbing at Brad’s shoulders and bringing him forward until their lips met somewhere in the middle. Brad struggled against it even as his deeply buried affection threw itself at Ryan in joy, making a clear head become very clouded indeed.

“Ry…wait….what are you doing?” he muttered as he braced his hands on the tall man’s chest.

“I’ve seen the way you look at me, Brad,” Ryan whispered against the soft skin of the younger man’s neck. “I know you want this.”

Brad grew heated and flushed; felt the blood rushing in his ears, but still knew logic like it was his middle name. “But…Colin?”

Ryan shook his head and sighed. “Fuck Colin..…fuck him and everyone else. Brad, I just want you tonight.”

Ryan wanted him. Ryan wanted him. The thought alone made him float on air, but hearing the man himself say it with such conviction made Brad’s member harden like molten steel in ice. And when their lips came together for a second time, he surrendered completely and wrapped his arms firmly around Ryan’s body, bringing him close.

The towel was snatched from his waist and immediately forgotten as two large hands found his already leaking cock and began to fondle every little part of him, making Brad gasp and moan into Ryan’s ear.

“God, Brad….look at you,” whispered Ryan, not taking his eyes off the prize in is flexing fingers.

Brad grinned, stroking Ryan’s cheek and lifting his head in the process. “I’d rather look at you.”

The deep laugh from Ryan’s lungs surprised Brad a bit, but it also touched his soul to no end. He loved to hear the tall man laugh, but he loved it even more to make him laugh, which was a rarity.

Ryan flailed his arms until he could throw his jacket to the floor while Brad had already started on the buttons of his green shirt, that beautiful shade that so nicely brought out the color of his eyes. It was almost a shame that he had to take the thing off, but it was all for a good purpose in the end.

As Brad moved his attention to Ryan’s belt and tenting pants, Ryan’s moved back to Brad’s erection, cradling it lovingly between his hands and rubbing slowly. With this expert stimulation, Brad’s own movements became slowed as his knees began to buckle with the pleasure building in his lower belly.

“Ryan…” he breathed, clasping hard at the fabric of the other man’s jeans as he pushed them down lean legs. “I’m…..I’m…oh, Ry…”

“Yeah,” Ryan mumbled as he pressed his lips back to Brad’s ferociously and tugged gently with his hands.

It wasn’t long before both men were sprawled together on the bed, searching each other with desperate, exciting touches. Ryan was on top, effectively pinning Brad to the bed as all thoughts of Colin vanished from his mind to be replaced with the exhilaration of discovery and ecstasy with someone new.

Brad’s hands were wrapped tight around him as they continued kissing, but the hands stayed mainly around his midriff and ventured no further downward. Even as Ryan deliberately moved forward trying to push himself into Brad’s touch, he could feel a sense of trepidation from him.

“C’mon Brad…..touch me.” In case Brad needed any more encouragement, Ryan added a sly nibble at the man’s Adam’s apple and rubbed the rosy nipples with his thumbs.

Brad was floating on cloud nine. Ryan, the man he had always wanted, was moaning and breaking up under his control. It was like breaking a man of steel using nothing but a feather. They shared the explorations, never once losing skin contact so that they missed no touch, no stimulation. Brad increased pressure and speed with his hands on Ryan’s firm sex, making the tall man thrust above him, mumbling pleasured sounds into Brad’s ear.

He was comfortable with this, Ryan wanted him and there was no way he was going to hold back now. So, after that wonderful thought had successfully overtaken him, Brad pushed Ryan into a roll so that the younger man could be on top and gently bit down onto Ryan’s neck in a new energy, pressing their erections together in an exciting first meeting.

Ryan let out a cry, falling against the pillows and allowing the headboard to knock against the wall. The pair were almost conscious of Colin in the next room, but once Brad began to move against the tall man in desperation and lust, nothing else seemed to matter.

Their members rubbed frantically together like flint ready to spark a fire. Long, firm limbs were wrapped like snakes around Brad and were easing him into a heavier, faster rocking motion and the elated man on top was gasping as he felt not only physical stirrings but emotional ones as well. As Ryan neared climax, the look on his face was intoxicating, glistening beads of sweat, parted lips and unfocused eyes. All the suppressed emotions that Brad had buried for five years suddenly poured out of him and into the beautiful man below him.

With a burst of white light blurring his vision, Brad moaned into Ryan’s broad shoulder with his orgasm simultaneously spreading liquid warmth between their stomachs. The sensation ignited Ryan to golden levels of desire and pleasure he’d never felt before. Not with Colin or anyone else.

“Oh, Brad!”

That was it. That call of his name as Ryan hit euphoria set free all emotion in Brad, all fantasies and wishful ideas he had ever held of what it might be like to make love with Ryan were finally made into a beautiful reality. Collapsing onto the heavily panting chest beneath him, the sound of a thumping heart and hot, deep breaths brought tears to Brad’s eyes as all activity of the past hour caught up with him.

Ryan was startled and worried to see how Brad had been affected. Offering all the comfort he had, he tugged Brad even closer and rubbed a large hand up and down his back, shushing and hushing the sniffling man while pressing soft kisses to his forehead. “Hey…. you okay?”

Brad blinked through his tears in order to see the concerned face next to him. “I’m fine,” he replied, voice wavering despite his affirmation. “I’m just fine.”

But what happened next totally rewrote that statement. Just as the pair were drifting off in each other’s arms, small smiles on their faces, there was a sequence of ferocious knocks on the door. This was the sound of persistent pounding fist, not tentative tapping knuckles.

“Brad! Ryan, I know you’re both in there!”

Colin. Only Colin could have a voice that demanding and instantly recognisable, which almost made Ryan fly out of the bed in alarm. But Brad was right at his side, trying to calm the older man. It was his turn to be the strong one.

“Ryan, it’s okay,” he whispered, grasping tight at his hands. “Don’t worry.”

Ryan bit his lip and nodded but flinched when Colin knocked again with urgency. Brad pressed a kiss to his new lover’s lips and got up to answer it, grabbing a bathrobe on the way and making sure it was tied effectively while Ryan sat on the bed hastily tugging on his pants.

No sooner did Brad turn the handle did Colin force his way in, the scent of scotch following him like a snail’s trail, though he appeared to be perfectly sober. Colin stopped short of the messy bed, eyeing Ryan’s green shirt draped over the end of the bedpost and jacket thrown carelessly on the floor next to his large shoes. Then his eyes moved to Ryan himself, bent over slightly, shirtless and hair less than presentable. Ryan was thankful that the bed was between them, but looked ready to run just in case.

The older man dropped his shoulders for a brief moment before tensing them again. “I knew it,” he said sadly, but his appearance still remained strong. “You two….”

“Colin, please,” Brad moved forward, reaching out to touch Colin but thinking better of it for the moment. “I…I know it looks bad, but-”

“Has this always been going on?”

Ryan flinched slightly at the sharp tone Colin spoke to him with and turned his eyes away. Brad swallowed at seeing Ryan’s discomfort and opened his mouth to reply on his behalf, but was cut off when Colin spoke again. “Ryan, have you been fucking him behind my back?”

“No,” Ryan finally came to life, nose and eyes leaking helplessly. “No, no, Col. After….we broke up, I came in here just to talk, but…one thing led to another….and I…”

“You don’t have to explain it, Ryan. Those noises you were both making left very little to the imagination.” His words were like venom and Brad had to intervene, even if it was suicidal. If it meant putting himself between the feuding ex-lovers, then he would do it.

“Col, listen to me. We didn’t just jump into bed together for the hell of it, okay? I’m in love with him.”

That statement felt like a shot in the head, knowing that it might just get his ass kicked at any minute, but surprisingly Colin’s stern gaze softened, his mouth gaped and he took one big step back. “What?”

“Say that again.”

Ryan had spoken that time, his voice sure and inquisitive as Brad looked at him with a nervous smile. “I mean it. I’m in love with you, Ryan.”

Silence followed, a silence that drew out every doubt all three men had ever had and shattered them in the air like fireworks.

The youngest man turned back to Colin, defiantly. “So don’t think for a second that I only had sex with him because he was vulnerable and lonely. I made love with him, Colin, because I have been so in love with him since I first met him.”

Colin looked on as Brad continued, his facial expression unnervingly unreadable. “So before you start hitting me or yelling at me, please know that I’ve never let my feelings for him or your relationship with him tamper with our friendship in anyway, the way I feel about you. You’re still one of my best friends, Col. You always have been.”

After a few moments thought, Colin shook his head. “No, I’m not going to hit you,” he said softly in nothing like the voice he had two minutes ago. “So you two are going to be together now? Like…a couple?”

Noticing that that last question was directed at him, Ryan came around from his side of the bed. “Yeah.” He held Brad’s hand tightly. “Yeah, I think we are.”

And that was it. Colin finally felt defeated when he saw the silent smiles that the new couple sent each other, twinkles in their eyes like newborn stars. Though his heart tore apart to see it, he willed the pieces hesitantly back together using friendship as the binding glue.

“All right, well….I guess I should leave you two alone then.” He turned to leave, the line of his back stiff and cold.

“Col, hold on. You’re clearly not all right with this-”

“No, no. I am, really.” Colin smiled and cut Brad off, still heading towards the door with a dominant motive. “I’m happy for you.”

Sighing, Brad moved after him with a hand outstretched. “I’m sorry you found out his way. But we’re still friends aren’t we? The tour, Col. We can keep it up?”

“Of course, yeah.” Colin’s words were drenched in subliminal doubt, making Brad and Ryan wince slightly and the hold on each other’s hand tightened a bit more. “I wouldn’t end the tour over something like this, that’d just be selfish.”

The other two men desperately wanted more to say, but no more logical reassurances came out. Colin nodded, one hand stuffed into his pocket while the other opened the door. “Have a nice evening,” he muttered, not looking at his friends as he finally left, shutting the door softly as he did so.

It only took a full four seconds before Brad started to cry again, turning and burying his face into Ryan’s shoulder whilst snuffling and mumbling against the soft skin. Ryan held him just as firmly, shushing into the other man’s ear and rocking him back and forth.

“Oh God, Ry,” mumbled Brad, “what have I done?”

“You’ve done nothing wrong,” the other man assured, pulling back and kissing his temple whilst wiping the tears away with soothing thumbs. “It can’t have been wrong when it felt so right.”

Brad’s glittered gaze found Ryan’s as he swallowed. “You felt it, too?”

“I didn’t need to hear you say you loved me,” Ryan said, shaking his head. ”I knew it from the moment you kissed me and the way you looked at me. Nothing I had with Colin ever compared to that.”

As his heart burst in joy, Brad couldn’t help but grin up at his new lover, feeling his cheeks begin to ache with the strength of his happiness. But just as quickly as the grin had appeared, it faltered. “I thought you loved him?”

“Past tense.” Ryan grinned back, bumping their foreheads together pleasingly.

Feeling a sense of peace finally descend on them, Brad allowed himself to get lifted back into cloud nine. With his arms securely back around Ryan, he embraced him fiercely, displaying as much gratitude and affection as he could. “Whatever happens to us, Ry,” he whispered, closing his eyes and inhaling their newly combined scents, “we’ll see it through together, won’t we?”

“Together,” Ryan agreed, returning the hug just as strong and smiling into Brad’s hair. “I promise.”