Over the next month, Ryan kept his promise and made sure to meet up with Gavin every night he would be out roaming the streets. All the while, The Vagabond made sure to be careful not to let his identity slip out. It took only a couple weeks for Gavin to ask where Ryan lived, and the gang member had to come up with a fast lie and tell him that he lived on the other side of the city. He seemed to buy it and dropped the conversation. Nothing else came up regarding anything personal about Ryan, like his real name or why he wears a mask, so he was very relieved. He dreaded the idea of Gavin asking him to remove his mask, and it would be the worst possible scenario for him.
But despite the fear, Ryan continued to make sure Gavin made it through each night safe and sound, and even escorted him home a few times. He knew where Gavin lived, however he never went inside his home. He began to wonder what the house of a man like him looked like. But he figured he'd never find out. It seemed like every night he spent with the Brit, Ryan felt his frozen heart grow warmer and warmer, and he couldn't explain why. He ignored the nagging feeling in the back of his brain that was attempting to communicate with him about emotions, because he didn't want to admit he had them. He didn't want to admit that he cared about this guy; cared about him a lot.
Gavin expressed his gratitude to Ryan for keeping him out of danger time and time again by attempting to buy him drinks, even though The Vagabond had told him he does not drink. He also offered to take him any place he wanted to go and hang out, but Ryan always picked the same place. Gavin had told him that he was a boring bloke, but instead of lashing out at him like he would do to anyone else, he simply laughed and agreed. He didn't act normal around the Brit, and he was starting to worry himself. He even tried to stop going out and meeting up with Gavin altogether for awhile, but it only lasted two days before he found himself desperately searching for the Brit and making sure to apologize when he saw him for being gone for such a long time.
Ryan wasn't a sane man by any means, but when he was around Gavin he felt. . .almost like a normal person. But then he looks at himself in the mirror and when nothing but a face covered with a skull mask and dead, emotionless eyes stare back at him, he remembers that he's not a normal person. He's not James Ryan Haywood anymore, he's The Vagabond. The Vagabond isn't normal, he's a ruthless and cold serial killer that no one finds comfort in, that no one relaxes around, that no one enjoys being around.
Except. . .this silly little British boy named Gavin Free.
Despite his appearance, despite knowing nearly nothing about him, despite seeing everyone's reaction to seeing him, despite the amount of murderous intent he gives off, Gavin still sticks by his side. But why? Was it just because he knew he'd protect him? Was he not scared of him because he hasn't seen what Ryan can really do? He didn't understand Gavin at all, and he was beginning to not care to understand. The only thing he cared about at that moment was just spending every moment he could with this clueless little man. And that's all it was to him, nothing more, nothing less.
That was, until one night in particular. He had just gotten done taking Gavin home,(well more like him riding in Gavin's car while Gavin drove home and then Ryan would walk back to his house later on) when the Brit stopped him as he was turning towards the direction his house was located. Ryan stared down at the brunette and didn't speak a single word as Gavin confessed to him what he was holding inside for quite awhile. "I enjoy spending time with you, so thanks for hanging out with me. I've been feeling really lonely since Michael died, and I have been hoping for someone to show up who's as kind as you are and take his place."
Ryan nodded, feeling rather happy in that moment that he actually was right that Gavin liked to hang out with him, but before the Brit let Ryan go, he said one last thing. "I loved him a lot. He was way more than my best friend." Before he parted, the brunette gave the masked man a gentle smile, then left him stunned at his doorway and entered his house, not to return for the rest of the night. Needless to say, Ryan was confused by the statement, and couldn't help but toss the statement around in his head for the remaining few hours he was awake. It was the only thing he could think about; nothing else was present at that moment as he walked home in silence and attempted to sleep.
The sleep didn't come easily due to his overloaded brain, but he eventually snuggled up under the covers and fell into a slumber that once arrived, was actually pretty decent. For the first time in years he was able to enter a deep sleep, not waking up until he had gotten a full eight hours of restful sleep. Not only that, but for the first time since he was a teenager he had a dream. Waking, he remembered the dream in full, playing it over in his conscious brain a couple times.
He remembers himself being in the dream, he was looking out from a seated position on a chair as he watched the sun setting behind mountains in the distance. The soft orange and red sky slowly faded into a darker and more sinister colour, but even so, he felt at ease. Looking to the left of him, he understood why he felt that way. Nestled under his arm and covered with half of a throw blanket that he was also taking part in using, was the gentle sleeping face of a brunette wearing a blue shirt. Ryan couldn't control the large smile that spread across his face, he knew in his dream that the two of them had been together for a long time and were peacefully enjoying their life.
Recalling the dream, and then recalling it again, and again, the knots in Ryan's brain were starting to unravel. All the questions he was asking himself were being answered, the problems were being resolved, theories were becoming facts. He couldn't deny it any longer, and he didn't want to deny it either. He understood now.
He was in love with the silly little British boy.
The next night, Ryan went out as per usual, but he didn't feel the same as he usually did. He was feeling a little nervous to meet up with Gavin this time, but he made a decision to remain calm while around him and not make it obvious that he was in love with him. He was cocky that he would be able to keep his cool the entire time. He was The Vagabond, after all! He wouldn't be caught off guard by a tiny British man.
Once the brunette's figure came into view, stood next to his car like usual, Ryan felt his heart leap into his throat and he nearly choked. Smooth move, Vagabond. Attempting to recover from his little freak out, he simply nodding his head and waved at the Brit.
"You ready to go?" Gavin asked as Ryan approached. "Go where?" He replied curiously, even though he already knew the answer, since they go to the same place every single night. Gavin cocked his head and folded his arms, giving a fake pout. "What do you mean where? The place we talked about going to yesterday. And the day before. And the month before! Boring bastard, you only go one place."
Ryan waved his hand and took it upon himself to help himself into the passenger's seat of Gavin's car. "Yeah, yeah. I was only messing with you. Let's get going. You said this time you were going to beat me in darts, so let's see if you can keep that promise." Gavin rolled his eyes and got into the driver's side, starting it up. "I bet you ten bucks." Ryan laughed at the random bet. "Only ten this time? You don't sound confident."
As the two made their way to the bar, Ryan gazed from the window to the Brit, and back to the window. He was debating whether or not to bring up the dream he had, but he silenced himself before he got it out. He wanted to tell Gavin how he felt, but he was nervous. What if it ruined their friendship? What if he didn't feel the same way for him and he was only imagining that he might? There was too much to risk, so he chose to remain silent about it.
Once they arrived at the bar, Ryan headed down to the basement while Gavin stayed back and chilled out upstairs in the main bar area for awhile. Ryan was wondering what he could possibly be doing up there, but figured it didn't matter much, he would return soon enough. So until then, he sat down at one of the tables and scanned the place. There were a little more people there than usual, probably because it was a weekend. But he wasn't too worried, he would just simply move to a different spot if anyone got too close. He was confident he knew what he was doing.
It took about ten minutes for the Brit to return, and when he did he was carrying two large glasses full of light yellow liquid. Ryan watched the bubbles float to the top where a film of foam lay, and knew right away what it was: beer. His nose scrunched up at the sight of it. He always hated drinking, but not only that, he hated the smell of it too. Gavin sat down next to him, smoothly sliding over one of the beverages and giving him a sly smirk. "Tonight's the night, Bondy."
Oh, right, that dumb nickname Gavin came up with for him just a week ago. He hated the hell out of it. But never said anything about it, since it was Gavin. Ignoring the sudden twinge of annoyance in his brain, Ryan asked back, "for what?" His question was quickly answered by the brunette nudging the glass closer to the masked man, obviously hinting at what he wanted him to do.
Ryan shook his head at the offer, pushing the cup back towards the brunette. "No thanks. I told you I don't drink." Gavin pouted in response and folded his arms on the table. "Weak." He grumbled in a disappointed tone. "But I already bought both of them. What am I supposed to do, drink them both?" The Vagabond shrugged his shoulders up. "I guess? Or you could give it to someone else."
Gavin sighed loudly and took the drink back. "Nah. If it's not you getting drunk off your arse then it's no fun." the masked man cocked an eyebrow. "You think I couldn't take one glass of beer?" The brunette suddenly made shifty eyes as he looked away, taking hold of the cup in front of him and beginning to drink as an embarrassed look etched on his face. Ryan suddenly smirked at the expression, knowing it meant that Gavin couldn't hold his alcohol.
He made a split decision in that moment to tease the other man. "Gee, it's as if /you/ can't handle it instead? Is that true? Are you a lightweight?" Gavin's eyes cut towards Ryan, continuing to drink as he glared at him. When he pulled away for a breath he replied back. "No. I can handle it. Watch me." He was getting defensive, clearly. After his reply he proceeded to chug down the rest of the glass, and Ryan instantly regretted opening his mouth. Well, no going back now; the Brit looked determined to prove him wrong.
Half way through the chug, Gavin coughed and gagged on the liquid, but he wasn't giving up, and was able to get it down. Without another word, he moved on to the next one and started chugging it down too. "Woah, woah! Easy there! I believe you!" Ryan yelled quickly, making an attempt to get Gavin to stop trying to kill himself. It seemed to work, because the brunette pulled the drink away from his lips and sat it down. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, groaning. "I feel sick." His voice strained out.
"Yeah, no shit, idiot." The Vagabond sighed and leaned back in his chair, suddenly feeling exhausted. "It's not smart to chug alcohol." Gavin looked back up at the other and gave him the saddest puppy dog eyes he could muster. "But you dared me to." At that moment, Ryan felt a pang of guilt in his heart. He wasn't sure what to say to make it up to him. ". . .Sorry." Was all he muttered in response. "Sorry isn't going to help. It's too late to back out now." Gavin took another drink of the beer, gagging soon after. He seemed determined to finish it.
"Geez. Just finish it slowly and then go get some water or something. No more alcohol for you." There had to be at least a pint of beer in each cup, and seeing how skinny Gavin was. . .Ryan was beginning to get a bad feeling all of a sudden. But despite that, the British moron continued to take drink after drink until he finally finished both of them off. The Vagabond stared at the brunette, waiting to see if he was going to vomit, because it sure looked like it. His eyes glazed over and his face flushed a deep red. His face twisted in pain. The Vagabond waited minutes upon minutes, waiting for the other to speak, or do anything but sit there staring at the table.
Breathing more evenly now, Gavin groaned and stood up. Ryan watched him, assuming he was going to go run to the bathroom, but instead he quietly walked, more like stumbled, over to the dart board. "Let's go." He called over to Ryan, and that's when it hit him. . .Gavin was definitely buzzed. "So he can't hold his alcohol after all. . .it's light beer." The Vagabond mumbled as he shook his head, but he soon after stood to his feet and followed the brunette, if nothing but to keep him from falling on his face. "Alright, I'm here. What is it?"
Gavin, swinging around to face the taller man, held up a dart, nearly stabbing himself in the eye as he lost his balance and staggered about. "I bet you two hundred bucks I can nail the bull seye with one. . ." He burped loudly, which interrupted his sentence. But he forgot what he was saying anyway and continued speaking. "Bondy, give it a go. Let me first, then you." Ryan cocked an eyebrow again, not really understanding his nonsense, but he stood by and watched as the brunette threw the dart, it falling just a couple feet in front of him and onto the floor. "Dammmmmit." Gavin mumbled and went to pick it up, but fell forward, and would have slammed his face against the wall if Ryan hadn't grabbed the back of his shirt and held him up.
"Alright tiger, I think it's time we got you home and in bed. You need to sleep." Ryan grabbed Gavin and picked him up, which was quiet easy since he weighed like nothing, and threw him over his shoulder. The brunette weakly fought back, kicking his legs around and trying to get free. "Nah man I'm good." He argued back, but The Vagabond was having none of it. "I'm putting you to bed." He strangely felt like Gavin's father at that moment, which was a creepy thought. That was quickly dashed when the Brit opened his mouth, though. "Oooh. Get me in bed? You slag."
Ryan didn't even need to know what slag meant to understand where the brunette was getting at. His face quickly turned red at the comment as he quickly made his way out of the building, almost every single eye in the place was on the two, but The Vagabond didn't pay any mind to them, he was too focused on getting Gavin home and put to sleep before he did something really stupid.
Once to the car, the masked man opened the passenger's side and gently sat Gavin down, putting his seat belt on him and shutting the door. By time Ryan got to the driver's side, the Brit was messing with his seat belt and trying to remove it. "Stop it. Leave it on." He scolded, making the drunken man huff and fold his arms. "I hope you have some wits left still so you can tell me where your house is." Even though he had already been to his house, he was still pretty clueless when it came to directions.
Luckily, it seemed Gavin understood what he meant and pointed to his house on the GPS. "Great. Then let's get going." Ryan reached for the key to the car, noticing that it was there even though he expected it not to be. Gavin had left the key in the car the whole time. Sighing, he shook his head and started it up. He'd deal with scolding the Brit about that later. For now, he just wanted this night to be over with; taking care of an adult child wasn't any fun at all. He just wanted to dump him off home and make him take care of the rest.
The drive to his house was rather interesting in the sense that Gavin kept doing anything and everything he could to piss Ryan off. Like changing directions on the GPS and rolling the windows down even though the other rolled them up four times, and he would even try to mess The Vagabond up while he was driving, which nearly caused him to wreck a good three times. By time they made it to the brunette's place, Ryan was about ready to leave him at the door and walk home.
However, that's not what he did. Instead he parked the car, walked over to Gavin's side, picked him up out of the car, and then locked the doors up. Falling in love with this guy was starting to become a pain in his ass. Making his way to the front door, Ryan had to fish the keys out of the Brit's front pocket, which earned a rather inappropriate cackle from him, but The Vagabond wasn't going to play that childish game with him at that moment.
Finally, he was able to get the drunk bastard into the house. It took him a few minutes to find where the bedroom is, since he had never actually been inside. Once he found it, he laid the brunette down and for the first time in awhile checked his face for any signs that would tell him what state he was in. His green hues were still glossy and his face was still red, but he looked rather content in that moment instead of sick and uncomfortable like he was before. His hair had gotten wrecked from all the fighting he was doing, so he looked like one of those typical wasted idiots.
It made Ryan smile a bit. He looked so silly like that, but also rather cute. Gavin must have noticed he was staring, because he gave him a smirk. "Like what ya see?" He teased, which made The Vagabond reel back like he was just burned. "Uh. Do you need anything? Water? Maybe some crackers?" He asked, stuttering his words on accident. Apparently the brunette wasn't going to let that go, either. He leaned up, using the taller male's leg as leverage and flashed a cocky grin. "Nervous? No need to be.~"
Ryan was about to reply with a defense, when Gavin fell forward against his chest. The Vagabond was about to pull him away and ask if he were alright, but as it turned out the fumble was intentional, or at least he assumed so, because in a split second the brunette went from his face plastered against Ryan's chest, to his lips plastered against Ryan's face. The brunette closed his eyes as he leaned in close to the other, wrapping his arms lazily around Ryan and giving him a sloppy kiss against his mask's mouth.
The Vagabond was quite surprised; his eyes widening and staying that way for a long while as he watched the British boy attempt to make out with his mask, if Ryan weren't so shocked, he would have found it really cute. He stared down at him for a few seconds before finally snapping out of his daze. He grabbed Gavin's shirt and pulled him off easily. Sad green eyes looked back at him and his face had a "why did you do that?" look that made the gang member's heart stop. He felt bad, but he had to stop Gavin. He was only making a pass at him because he was drunk, and nothing more.
"You're not in your right mind. You need to get some sleep." He replied back to his unasked question, to which the brunette groaned and sat back up. "I am!" He shouted, clinging to Ryan once again and going in to kiss him some more. The Vagabond was quicker to react this time and put his hands up to block the attempt. "Gavin. Stop." He said in a more firm voice, however it didn't help either way, the Brit still didn't let up.
"Please?" He stared up at him with begging eyes. Ryan wasn't sure what to do in this situation, it's not like he has ever been in one like this before! He really wanted nothing more than to kiss Gavin back, but if he did, then he would ruin everything he has built up. He couldn't let that happen. But Gavin was making it really hard, especially the way he was crawling onto him like a feline. He had both of his legs trapping The Vagabond on the bed as he sat onto the taller man's lap, squeezing his thighs against him.
Uh oh. This didn't look good for Ryan. Him being so close to his. . .
Ryan looked away quickly, trying to find any sort of distraction to keep his mind off what was happening. It was like he was dreaming. He had to be dreaming. This would never really be happening. He was home, sleeping.
If only that were the case. He was very much awake, and very much in a difficult situation and didn't know how he could get out of it. Should he try sobering the Brit up? Would that even work? He went over many scenarios in his head, each plan he came up with ended in failure when he tried to think of how it would end. He wasn't sure what he could do, so he tried to stay as still as possible so he didn't tempt Gavin any further.
It didn't seem to matter, because the brunette was continuing with the assault on the skull mask, kissing every inch of it as if it were Ryan's actual face. Eventually he seemed to grow bored of that and began to unzip The Vagabond's jacket. Sitting still wasn't working at all, as it turned out. He knew he could easily pin the Brit down and stop him, but something was keeping him from doing that. Maybe it was because he was actually enjoying what he was doing?
Allowing for the smaller man to remove his jacket, Ryan simply stared down at him and watched his movements, which were less than accurate and pretty sloppy. But he was getting what he wanted, which was disrobing Ryan, as it seemed. Gavin successfully was able to remove the jacket and his mouth went for The Vagabond's neck, his teeth scraping at the skin between his collarbone. Ryan hissed in both annoyance and also. . .pleasure? He actually enjoyed having his neck bit. That's something new he learned about himself.
Things were starting to get way out of hand, and Ryan knew if he didn't stop now, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from what he was really wanting to do. "Gavin. . .you're not a vampire. Stop it." He made another attempt to talk some sense into the Brit, but it was still to no avail; Gavin continued, his tongue lapping up at the bite marks he left behind on the taller man's skin. He seemed real eager to get somewhere with this, and it was starting to work. Ryan's pants were starting to feel uncomfortable to be in.
It took at least two minutes for Gavin to finally realize that Ryan wasn't playing along, so he decided to stop in his tracks, his face slowly turning up towards the taller man. The Vagabond thought for sure he was going to stop at that point, but it turns out he was wrong. Fluttering his eyes cutely, the brunette mumbled, "please, Bondy? I need you."
There goes another jolt to his member. He was beginning to not be able to handle it; the way the Brit touched him, the way he acted so needy and desperate. He was beginning to think maybe if he gave in, it would actually benefit both of them. But he was still on the fence. So instead, he asked, "are you really sure, Gavin?" as he looked down at the horny idiot. He got a nod in return, and that was all he needed to let himself go.
