A/N: Hiya! I've been wanting to write this story forever. If you know me at all, and look at my penname, you would know that I'm sadly in love with Ryan Ross. Panic! At The Disco is my favorite band, I've gone beyond the point of obsession. I don't know if there's a Panic fandom on here, or whose going to read this, but I'm writing it just to satisfy myself- and if anyone else reads it, then fantastic. I actually live in Las Vegas and know people who go to the schools that Ryan and Brendon and the rest of Panic attended, so this story is very accurate in that aspect. This, of course, is pre-breakup. So, I hope you enjoy this.

Where will we stand?
When all the lights go out
Across these city streets
Where were you when
All of the embers fell

if we can find where we belong,
We'll have to make it on our own.
Face all the pain and take it on
Because the only hope for me is you
Alone

Two Years Prior.

I fumbled with my bright orange shirt, tucking it into my khaki colored trousers. The dress code was extremely strict in school and I always found myself getting in trouble for something: Cate, no gum. Cate, your hemline isn't past your fingertips. Cate, enough with the smart remarks. Bishop Gorman is one of the top schools in the Las Vegas area, the best money could buy. Combining the Catholic religion and good old fashioned ball busting curriculum into one.

"Cate!" I whipped my head around quickly, which resulted in my ponytail slapping my face. A smile grazed my lips as I caught sight of my best friend, Merideth, jogging up the hallway.

"What's up?" I replied, picking my backpack from up off the floor and placing it on my shoulder.

"Did you write all of the copy needed on our spread?" She requested, using a hand to brush her blonde and scarlet infused hair out of her eyes. Merideth and I were apart of the yearbook committee and were assigned the opening page for the student section since we were somehow chosen as the Junior Editors. We figured it was a joke, seeing as though we slacked off half of the time and barely made our deadlines. For the spread we got all of the top stereotypes and picked the people best suited for the positions, the over achiever, the jock, the brainiac.

"Yeah, I saved it onto the flash drive." I indicated, pulling the thin strip of metal out of the front pocket of my backpack. She snatched it out of my hand quickly and gave me a quick slap on the back.

"Thank god, alright. Now all we have left is the musician, and then we're finished." she urged, ready to get it over with- we had been slaving over this spread for the past month and it was a total pain in the ass.

"Let's just get it done," I moaned, "whose the kid?".

"Ryan Ross, he's a senior." she indicated, looking off of a piece of paper that was crumbled in her pocket that I recognized as a printed out schedule that she must have gotten from the counselor.

"He's in Mr. Stefanelli's class- joy." I rolled my eyes and walked down the hall, Merideth following closely behind me, filling my thoughts with endless distractions.

I knocked lightly on the classroom door before walking in, most of the kids didn't bother to look up, eyebrows threaded together in concentrations as the lead of their pencils squeaked against the faux wood of the desks.

"May I help you, girls? Miss Cooper, isn't there another teacher you should be bothering this period? I'm sure it isn't your spare." Mr. Stefanelli dictated, leaning on his podium that was placed in the front of the class room.

"Ouch, Mr. Stefanelli, harsh." I chuckled, leaning back on the wall, letting Merideth continue the conversation, teachers always liked her better than me. Sure she was a bitch, but for the most part she kept quiet in class.

"We're in our publications period," Merideth lectured, placing a plastic smile on her face, making the pure irritation in her voice, "could we borrow... Ryan Ross? Just for a second?" she said, lifting her eyes from the sheet of paper in her hands.

"I guess so, but make sure to have him back quickly." bargained, I gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up and turned my back and went out of the door, not seeing the boy get up from out of his seat, and follow us out of the classroom. Once my feet reached the linoleum floor of the school's hallway, I stopped and turned around, hearing the classroom's door suction shut behind us. I heard his voice, before I saw him. Low, and smooth-

"So, what do you need me to do?"

I turned around, and let my eyes connect with his, dark and full of depth. I detached them quickly and let them look over the rest of his features. His frame was tall, extremely lanky, barely filling out his uniform. Even his fingers were long and lean as he wrapped them around one of his wrists. His brown hair fell over his eyebrows and he licked his pale lips before they returned to laying plump on his somber expression.

"We just need to take your picture, and get a couple of quotes." Merideth commanded quickly, shoving him lightly over to the lockers and backing him up against them and snapping his picture quickly. He chuckled lightly at the way Merideth basically manhandled him, that was one of the things I loved about her. She was hard. I couldn't keep my eyes off of him, he seemed exotic, like something I had never seen before, it seemed like if I blinked, he would disappear.

"Earth to Cate- we need to have this done by sixth period, come on!" Merideth called, snapping her fingers in front of my face.

"Oh, sorry!" I sputtered, my hands frantically flipping through the pages of the small notebook in my hands. "Uhm, how long have you been playing- guitar?" I guessed, looking at the calyces on his fingers.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" He asked, blinking slowly.

"I saw the calyces on your fingers, I play, too."

"Oh, well, since I was 12."

"What kind of guitar do you play?"

"I really like old guitars, but I have a Gibson, right now."

"Definitely, for some reason older guitars like Stratocasters or Les Pauls always sound cleaner and play better."

That's how it went on for a good twenty minutes, Merideth kept giving my looks from over his shoulder, and pointing to the clock on her blackberry screen until finally she slapped her hands at her sides frustrated and had to physically place herself in between us to stop our chatter.

"Alright, I'm sorry to break this up, but we have a deadline to meet. Thanks, Ryan." Merideth cut in, giving him a wave and then starting to pull me away by my elbow.
"No problem, catch you guys around." He nodded, turning and walking back into his class. Walking down the hallway, I looked over at Merideth who was flipping through her sloppy notes, starring and crossing out what we could use on our page.

"Is it just me, or was there something really, really attractive about him?" I asked, stopping Merideth in her tracks and putting me on the receiving end on one of the looks she only gave if I said something completely outrageous.

"Are you kidding me, Cate? Any second a draft could have came in, and he would have blown away. Besides, he kind of looked like a girl."