inkisrunning

Title: Fastest Runner, Highest Jumper
Pairing: Jon/Ryan
Rating: NC-17 (towards the end)
Warnings: Mentions of rape. Unbeta'd. Written on a bad day.
Summary: Don't hate.
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone. The plot came out of my head. This is not real.
A/N: 1) Title comes from something Ryan once said. 2) Ryan and Jon's tweets are real. The replies are NOT real. There are similar tweets out there that I'm sure Ryan and Jon (and all the rest) are NOT oblivious to. If my NOT real replies are in fact, real, it is a coincidence. I worked the replies into the fic to make a point for the storyline, you gets? And I feel I must say that I do not mean any harm or wish to express hate. 3) Story was born from this comment.

Part 5

Jon and Ryan didn't actually go back to sleep. They didn't do much of anything, really.

"Hey, remember that one time when we sang the bracelet song and you got hit with that bracelet--"

"Got a black eye 'cause of love." Ryan laughed.

Jon smiled. "That tickles."

"What tickles?" Ryan turned his face up from his spot on Jon's chest.

"Your whole body like vibrated when you laughed."

Ryan smiled. "Well, your body hums when you talk." He nuzzled his head back onto Jon's chest and moved his body closer, if that were even possible. "You have this deep, smooth voice. It's very masculine, sexy, you know? First thing I noticed about you, your voice."

Jon laughed. "Yeah, and then you made fun of my accent."

"Is that what you call it, an accent? And I did not, I was asking if you had a stutter."

"I wasn't stuttering. Obviously, I was speechless after meeting you."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "The Jon Walker I know always has something to say about everything."

"I think you got me mixed up with you."

Ryan shifted and propped himself up on his elbow so that he could make eye contact. "Hey, you didn't know who I was when I... when I got into your shot, did you?"

Jon smiled and moved further up the bed so that he could lean against the headboard. He recalled the memory perfectly.

He was testing his new lens and was trying to take a picture with all the buses lined up in the lot at night. The crew and random people were ruining his shots as they passed by. He knew the sun would be rising any minute, thereby ending the atmosphere he wanted to capture. He had put his camera down in frustration and looked up as he yelled out to everyone and to no one in particular: "Just give me one fucking moment, will you?" He then closed his eyes and imagined the picture he wanted. He then brought the camera up, looked through the viewfinder, adjusted the lens and moved to find his perfect shot. The lighting of the street lamps casted a perfect glow, all was clear from interference, it was just what he wanted. And then something unexpected happened.

"I heard your voice first. You were cursing from behind one of the buses," Jon said softly. "I hesitated, forgetting what I was doing there as I looked through the camera, trying to find out where the voice was coming from. And then there you were, walking backwards into my shot. You were shouting at someone that I couldn't see. I remember that I couldn't help but laugh. Not at the situation, but I thought to myself that I'd never want to cross a guy like you. You were relentless."

Ryan rolled his eyes and sighed. "Glad you could find humor in that."

Jon grinned. "It wasn't so much as being humored, just--I don't know... I found myself in this surreal moment, I guess. Like I was watching some scene out of a movie. In any case, I never heard anyone who had a mouth like yours."

"Hey, he deserved it. He was drunk at the show we played. And then he ran off the stage before I could ask him about it. I ended up looking for him all night. I mean, he was my friend. I worried about what was happening to him, how he changed so quickly. I worried that he might be in some dumpster, or something. And then to find his drunk ass partying with all these trashed girls... You know, he fucking offered me a drink? I blew up," Ryan said in a rush. "He didn't even know how worried I was. He didn't have a clue what was going on in my head that night," Ryan added in a whisper. He sat up as he recalled the memory. "I was tired and I was just tired of him, really. He was so fucking irresponsible. I mean, come on."

"Hey, I know. It was bad," Jon said, putting a hand on Ryan's shoulder.

Ryan, who was tense, instantly relaxed at the contact.

"To answer your question, no, I didn't know who you were. I never even saw your face."

Ryan blinked at Jon as he momentarily forgotten what the question was.

Jon cleared his throat. "You asked if I knew who you were."

"Oh, yeah? Probably thought I was some raged lunatic..."

"That didn't even cross my mind. I did think, however, that you were intense. And anyway, when you walked into my shot, still yelling and your back facing me, that's when I took my picture, your picture. I didn't think about it. When I put my camera down, I made a move to stand, wanting to find out if I could help, but you were already gone."

Ryan smiled. "You did help. Eventually."

"Yeah, yeah, I guess I did." Jon smiled. "You know, right after I realized you were gone I ran back onto Academy's bus and uploaded that shot. William woke some time after and hovered over my shoulder to look. He told me that you, Ryan Ross, were and I quote, 'made to be in front of the camera, a perfect shot,' unquote. It is a perfect shot, still my favorite picture that I've taken."

Ryan scrunched up his nose, not ever wanting to talk about how he looked. "I saw it. It is a nice picture. The lighting was nice. The fog added a nice touch. But Jon, all you could see was my back." Ryan said this as if he was revealing some huge secret and wanted to break the news carefully to Jon.

"Hey, I know that," Jon said. "Did you know that when Bill said your name, I knew of you? Everyone knew who you were. Even if they didn't know of your band yet. Pete made sure that we knew of your name. I don't think he did it purposefully, just that he was always excited to bring you up every chance he got. It was always, 'there's this kid, Ryan Ross, and his band is gonna blow fucking up,' or 'You should hear the things Ryan can come up with, that kid's gonna go all the way,'" Jon said in amusement. "At just the mention of you, I was already intrigued to find out what kind of person could get someone so worked up. But then I remembered that this was Pete and everybody on his radar involves exclamations of some sort. So, I forgot you. But when Bill said your name again, that feeling of wanting to find out more about you came back."

"So, you knew who I was the first time we talked?"

"The first time we met..." Jon recalled when Ryan had come onto the bus. He didn't notice at first until Bill asked Ryan if he needed someone to fill in. That was when he had looked up from his computer and saw Ryan's face for the first time. "I knew of your name. I knew you played guitar for your band. I knew that Pete loved you and probably thought that he raised you himself. I knew that you had a way with words. I knew that you were someone I didn't want to anger. I knew the shape of your hips, your back, the way your hair shined under the glow of the street lamp. I knew after looking at the picture for hours--from the time I uploaded it to the time you walked onto the bus--that you were someone I wanted to get to know."

Ryan sat there, entranced by Jon's even voice. After what felt like seconds but could have been minutes, he moved, wanting to feel Jon around him, wanting to get closer, wanting to kiss those lips that said those words, wanting Jon to know how touched he was at what he just said, but the moment was broken at the sound of the doorbell.

"Looks like they're here," Jon announced, unnecessarily. Jon made a move to get off the bed but before he did so, he pressed a kiss to Ryan's forehead.

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iamstillryanross x

@iamstillryanross x what? what kind of drugs are you on? go back to panic and get away from those hipsters you call friends.

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Ryan checked his phone right after he threw on a sweater. "Guess love is a drug after all." Ryan smiled as he walked into the living room to join the reunion.

TBC

A/N: fluffy, here fluffy, fluffy... :)