Ryan watched as Mike's tense shoulders shied away from him as they exited the police station. Ryan wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch Mike, to comfort him, but he resisted. Ryan tried imagine how hard it must have been for Mike to lie about the situation. He knew Mike was an honest person, and anything but the truth would crush him. It had been hard for Ryan to lie about what happened to Lily, but he knew it had to be done.
"Do you want a ride home?" Ryan offered.
Mike shook shook his head and looked away.
"I don't think you should be alone..."
"What the fuck do you know know? You don't know me! You don't know what I'm going through!" Mike yelled.
Ryan pulled Mike to his side, because people were starting to stare. "Alright, calm down. And I do, actually."
Mike's face immediately softened. "What do you mean?" His big blue eyes stared at Ryan innocently.
Ryan missed that innocents.
"I have a bottle of whiskey, it's not doing me any good, why don't you come drink it and just talk to me?"
Mike shook his head again, "I'm better off by myself."
Ryan took his hand, "You know you don't have to be alone."
After a few drinks Mike started to loosen up.
"Any time I have to pull the trigger, I have nightmares for months," Ryan offered.
"Yeah I've been having those too lately, that's why I try not to sleep too much. I don't feel safe, not even in my own bed."
"You could always stay the night. You know the first night is always the hardest."
"No I don't want to put you out..."
"No, it's no trouble, I just put on fresh sheets. You can take the bed."
"No, I'll take the couch. But you're right, I should stay over, I'm kind of drunk."
"You know we could also stay up and talk about girls, paint each others nails."
Mike gave a small chuckle which was music to Ryan's ears, but he then said, "Shut up."
Ryan laughed and turned to get the sheets, only to feel a tug on his hand. He turned back around to see that Mike had taken his hand. He stared at him with drunk sleepy eyes.
"Thank you," Mike said earnestly.
Ryan was caught off guard. He wasn't expecting the flood of emotions that came with such a simple statement.
He cleared his throat and said, "Uh, yeah, any time." And then he went to the back closet, taking his time to get the best sheets for Mike to use. When returned to the living room he noticed Mike was no where to be seen. Ryan wandered to his bedroom to find Mike passed out on top of the covers, with his shoes still on. Ryan sighed and smiled. The sight of Mike so peaceful for a moment was nice.
Ryan decided he wasn't sleep on the couch either. He took off Mike's shoes and tucked him in. Then Ryan slide into the bed on the other side.
It felt better than he would have expected to have Mike next to him. Ryan knew whatever happened between them, he just hoped he could help Mike get through this.