AN: A really random pairing, but one that I'm totally digging. This idea is about 24 hours old, it popped into my head so I wrote it down just for something different. Enjoy.
Life sucked sometimes. Ever since Ty left it had been on a slide and now that he'd broken up with Coco, things were even worse. He was lonely. Leah thought he should have some male friends. It had never really occurred to him to think it was weird that he didn't until she mentioned it. So when he saw Dean at the beach kicking a footy around, he figured that was blokey and something mates did, so he'd asked to join in. Dean liked him, had helped him out with some advice, not that it had stopped him breaking up with Coco but the guidance was right. Throwing Raffy under the bus was a low thing to do.
But Dean turned him down. He honestly hadn't expected that, and it hurt.
He'd been licking his wounds when Dean appeared, flashed him a cocky grin and asked if he was up for a game of pool. It had taken him less than a second to agree.
He felt better when he was with Dean, like if Dean thought he was cool, then maybe he was. He'd seen Dean around the caravan park, knew how popular he was with chicks. Really, he could be hanging out with anyone he wanted to right now, but he had picked Ryder. It was the confidence boost he needed.
Then Dean had opened up, told him a little about the River Boys, a gang he used to hang out with. That in itself was cool, but he talked too about mateship and loyalty, things Ryder needed and he began to wonder if he could be part of it too.
But then Grumps was giving him a hard time, carrying on that Dean wasn't good enough. So what if he was a criminal? Dean was nice to him and that was all Ryder cared about. But then Dean turned on him, sided with Grumps and Leah, suggested that maybe he should go home. Maybe it was because Dean thought he was just a kid. Well, Ryder had decided to prove the River Boy wrong.
At that's what led him to this moment, to creeping into this well, creepy, old house. River Boy initiation. All he had to do was stick it out for one night and then Dean would have to take him seriously.
xxx
"Hey Colbs, cop question..."
Colby frowned over at him.
"What did you do this time? You do know it's only been about four hours since you beat the last charge."
"Nothing," Dean defended, though admittedly he was thinking about it. "Yet…"
"Dean..."
"Na, it's cool. What's the age of consent again?"
"Dean! Kids? Seriously? That's a new low even for you."
"Ease up. Why do you think I asked? I'm not gonna do anything I shouldn't."
"It's sixteen. Not that that means a sixteen-year-old should be dating you or whatever the hell you've got in mind. Who have you got your eye on?"
"No one really. There's just this kid that I think might have a bit of a thing for me. Just checking it was legal if he tries anything."
"He? I thought you only hooked up with chicks these days."
"Chicks are easier to hit on, that's for sure. But I'm up for whatever, always was, you know that."
"Yeah..." Colby said, cheeks turning a shade darker. Dean laughed, he'd only said it to stir Colby up. Reminding him of those few teenage hook-ups always did it, because Colby didn't consider himself gay or even bi.
"Well," he said, standing up and clapping Colby on the shoulder. "Thanks for the beer. And it's good to know they won't throw me inside if this kid does work up some courage. Later."
Ryder was a bit weird, but that was probably just his age. All the kids these days were a bit strange. He was alright though, easy enough to get along with.
Dean was heading past the bait shop when Old Man Stewart called out to him.
"Thompson! Have you seen Ryder?"
"Na."
"Well he's missing, and I blame you."
Sounded about right. Everyone always thought the worst of him.
"I was in court all day," Dean defended.
"Well he's been acting out since you became mates."
Dean needed to nip this in the bud, the old man needed to get his facts straight.
"Okay, we are not mates. He approached me a couple of times. I felt sorry for the kid. That's all."
Alf continued to glare at him, Dean didn't need any more trouble.
"Look, I'll help you find him. Maybe then you'll believe me."
xxx
He got Ryder's number off Ziggy. He tried calling first. No answer. That was probably fair enough. Ryder didn't know the number, he tried a text instead.
Its dean didnt get locked up. U up for a game of pool?
There was no answer. He checked the usual kid hang outs with no luck and then he started to think. Maybe the kid was upset. Where would he go if he was? Dean didn't know him well enough, but he did know what it was like to be alone. And about going to the house when Colby was gone, and then it clicked. He'd told Ryder about that place. Maybe he was dumb enough to go looking in Mangrove River. The kid would be eaten alive if he had.
He jumped in his car and pulled out his phone.
"Mossy, you seen any dorky Summer Bay kids kicking around town today?"
"How would I know?"
"This kid wears horrible shirts."
"Yeah?" Mossy laughed. "Hang on."
Dean could hear him calling out to the boys he was with.
"Affirmative. He was asking questions about the River Boys."
"Shit. Where is he now?"
"Well he wanted to be a River Boy. There's only one place that can happen."
"Yep. Thanks," Dean hung up. The boys woulda though it was a great joke to send such a clueless kid around there alone. Hopefully Ryder hadn't run into too much trouble.
xxx
He stopped calling for help once it got dark. No one was coming. He'd dropped his phone when the stairs had collapsed. So much for the stupid thing being useful in an emergency. Anyway, it wasn't like it mattered all that much, getting rescued, no one was going to miss him much.
His leg was jammed in the splinted floorboards, at first he'd felt the blood filling up his shoe, but the whole thing had gone kind of numb now. That probably wasn't a good sign, but at least it didn't hurt anymore.
At first he thought he was dreaming, because he had been feeling sleepy, but then he realised the voice was real.
"In here!" he called back when the voice shouted his name.
It was Dean who appeared.
"Shit mate, what have you done?"
"Nothing!" Ryder defended. "It just collapsed."
"I didn't mean... Are you alright?"
"I'm stuck. Obviously. I think my leg is hurt kinda bad."
"Okay, I'm gonna make a call."
Dean quickly did that, giving nowhere near enough details for the ambos to find them. Ryder told him so.
"That was Colby. He'll sort it. Now, what can I do until they get here?"
"Just... Don't leave me alone."
"I'm not going anywhere, mate."
He didn't remember too much after that, just that he'd been tired and now that Dean was here, he could rest.
xxx
He didn't get in the way once the ambos arrived. They'd taken Ryder to hospital and that was enough. He'd done his part to help the kid.
Still, the following morning he wondered if he should visit the hospital, check in and see how he was doing. He did feel kind of responsible for putting the dumb idea in the kid's head to begin with. He may as well go, it wasn't like he had anywhere else to be right now. Community service orientation wasn't until this arvo.
At the hospital Alf and Leah greeted him gratefully. Clearly they knew he'd been the one to find the kid, but not the reason he'd gotten into trouble to begin with.
"Mind if I go see him?"
"No mate, go for it," Alf allowed.
He stepped into the room, kind of unsure where to go from here. It wasn't like he and Ryder were friends, he didn't really know the kid, so he just went for the obvious.
"Hey, how you feeling?"
"I'm alright. Doctors said I should be out of here tomorrow."
"That's good."
"Yeah."
And then the conversation ran out. Because there were other important questions to ask, but Dean didn't know if he was the right person to ask them. But then, if he didn't, who would?
"Hey-"
"So-"
They both started at the same time.
"You go," Dean smiled.
"Okay. So, I just wanted to say thanks. You probably saved my life."
"That's a bit dramatic, but you're welcome."
"How'd you find me anyway?"
"The boys said a kid was asking around. Figured it was you."
"So much for the River Boy code of silence," Ryder pouted.
"You are not a River Boy."
"True. I didn't last the whole night."
"You didn't even make nine o'clock. Anyway, think yourself lucky you don't need to be a River Boy."
"Why's that?"
"It's for people who have no other family. Or at least not one that wants them."
"Your family didn't want you?"
Dean's mind flashed to that short call with his mum, and the sound of the line going dead. He just shrugged.
"My mum didn't want me," Ryder said softly. And just like that a switch flipped, here was this huge, unexpected thing that they had in common.
"Me neither," Dean confided. There was nothing else either of them needed to say on the subject, they both understood exactly how shit that was.
"Well, I'm glad you're okay," Dean offered. He'd seen for himself now that the kid was alright, there was no need to hang around.
"I'll see you around?" There was more hope in Ryder's voice then there strictly should have been, but Dean didn't have the heart to disappoint him.
"Yeah mate. I'll kick your butt in pool when you get out of here."
"Yeah right. You wish," Ryder grinned, and it was nice to see a smile on his face again.
xxx
"Best of three?" Dean suggested, setting the game again.
"Um, can we maybe just talk for a bit?"
Talking wasn't a strong point of Dean's, but he guessed he could listen if the kid had something on his mind.
"Sure," he agreed, returning the cue to its rack.
"Maybe not here. Maybe the beach?"
"Okay..." he allowed.
They headed outside and found a spot to sit in the dunes. It was a good call, Dean always felt better on the sand, near the water.
When Ryder didn't say anything, Dean wondered if that meant he should.
"What's up?" he prompted.
"I've been thinking about everything. Me having no friends, you showing up when you did. About us, I guess."
Well there were two innocent letters that could be pretty scary sitting side by side. Us.
Ryder turned to him, all doe-eyed innocence. But Dean now knew it wasn't the whole truth, Ryder knew what real pain was.
"I mean, you found me. You. No one else. That means something. Right?"
"It just means I'm the only one stupid enough to think like you."
"I'm being serious."
"So am I."
"I really like you."
"I like you too."
"No, I mean I really like you."
"Oh."
"And I think maybe you like me too...?"
The statement didn't end quite as confidently as it began, but Dean couldn't exactly say the kid was wrong. It was weird, he did kinda feel something for this dorky teenager.
"Even if I did-" He didn't know exactly where that sentence was going, but apparently it didn't matter, it was deemed irrelevant when Ryder's lips landed on his.
The kiss wasn't much, a peck more than anything, but Ryder looked so pleased with himself when pulled back.
"I got kissed by a boy once, and I freaked out a bit, but I'm thinking now maybe that was because it was the wrong boy."
"That wasn't me kissing you," Dean pointed out.
"Oh..." Ryder's smile wilted a little around the edges, and Dean realised that was the last thing he wanted.
"That was you attempting to kiss me. Here," he said, sliding his hand behind Ryder's neck. "Try this."
He pulled Ryder in and caught his parted lips in a firm kiss, slipping his tongue into Ryder's mouth, swiping it over the kid's. He could feel Ryder melting into it, the kid needed this. He also didn't need to be caught and cop a dressing down for it. This was something just for the two of them. Dean ended the kiss, pulling his mouth away but keeping his hand pressed against Ryder's skin.
"Yeah," Ryder said, a dopey grin on his face. "Yeah, that's a kiss."
Dean couldn't help smiling too.
"It gets better with practice," he offered.
"Now?"
"Maybe not here. I don't think your family would be too happy about this."
"I don't care what they think."
"You should. They're good people."
"But I don't want this to be over already."
"I never said that," Dean smirked.
Ryder's smile brightened once more.
"So, how do we do this?"
"We'll figure something out."
Dean dropped his hand and turned back to the face the ocean, content in the knowledge that Ryder was with him. And if he felt a hand sneak over his in the sand, well no one else was gonna notice that.
AN: One more part to this story. It's all but written, I've just gotta edit it. Thanks for reading :)
