Title: Ryan: Linus and Chris, part 7
Author: hwshipper
Characters: Chris/Linus friendship, Chris/Edward, Linus/Ryan
Beta: the continually marvellous srsly_yes
A/N: Parallels the story of Chris & Edward, from the end of part 3 through part 5.

Summary: Linus remembers the time when Chris and Edward broke up, and how he met Ryan.
Excerpt: "Elf," Linus said. "I need a beard."
"I assume you don't mean the kind you strap around your chin," Elf said with some amusement.

Ryan: Linus and Chris, part 7

"Edward sounds awesome," a Kitten opined.

"He certainly was," Linus agreed wholeheartedly.

Chris raised an eyebrow at Linus and nodded ever so slightly towards Brian, behind him. It wasn't necessary; Linus was fully aware of the sensitivities of his audience. He gave a small nod back.

"So how come he went back to his wife?" the Kitten was asking.

"Chrissy boy wasn't man enough for him," House said, putting a conspiratorial hand to the side of his mouth as if imparting a confidence.

"Fuck you," Chris said, without heat.

"Chris and Edward had a rather rocky relationship in the first year or so." Linus was solemn. "They broke up really quite badly, actually. Then I went off to South America for six months, and they got back together while I was away. Ah, I remember finding the email from Chris with the news, when I was in Buenos Aires... happy day."

"You were with Ryan, weren't you?" Chris's mouth puckered at the corners.

"I certainly was. Darling Ryan." Linus sighed.

Edward's problems were the ones that had been there at the beginning, that Chris had been so studiously ignoring-hostile, elderly parents, an unstable, immature sister, and worst of all, a wife. Edward arrived at Linus's house one Saturday morning, and spent half an hour with his head buried in his hands at the kitchen table.

Linus initially assumed he just needed a shoulder to cry on, to vent some family angst, but the strangled scraps of conversation soon showed Linus it was much more serious than that.

"It would be so much simpler if I hadn't met him," Edward moaned at one point.

"You can't mean that." Linus was horrified. "You have something so special! You're in love with him, and he's in love with you—"

"Then why don't we ever talk about this kind of stuff?" Edward demanded.

"Because he's an idiot who's never been in a relationship before." Linus made excuses for his friend, feeling more exasperated with every word; honestly, Chris, the fool.

"Seriously. I swear he hardly even knows I have a sister." Edward put his head in his hands. "I tell you, Linus, he doesn't care."

Linus really didn't like the way this was going. "Of course he cares, Edward, you can't possibly doubt that."

"He cares that I'm here and with him, living in his happy little bubble and having great sex with him," Edward stated. "He doesn't care about me as a person, about my work or friends or family—"

"Try talking to him—"

"I have! He changes the subject or pretends not to hear me or he just walks away." Edward got to his feet as he spoke. "I have to go, Linus. Thank you for everything, I really appreciate it, and I'm so sorry."

And he was gone.

Linus sat at the table for a moment in shock, before summoning the presence of mind to call Chris. But it was too little, too late.

Chris turned up a short while later, and he was white as a sheet, looking dazed as if he'd just been hit on the head, eyes frozen in a kind of numb horror. Linus put aside any idea of discussing what had happened, sat Chris down in the living room, and found a bottle of half-decent Scotch.

Only half-decent, as it wasn't like Chris would be able to appreciate the really good stuff right now. Linus roamed around his house, wanting to do something but with no idea what could be done.

Later in the day, Philippe returned from a shopping trip and Linus hastened to update him. "Edward has left Chris; it's really terrible. My dear boy, Chris is just destroyed. If you felt like comforting him at all..."

"I am always happy to comfort Chris," Philippe assured him, and went to join Chris in the living room.

From the doorway, Linus saw Philippe sit next to Chris and speak gently to him, and a minute later Chris put his head in his hands and started to sob. Linus could not recall ever having seen Chris cry before, not at sad movies, not even at funerals; always the alpha male, apparently physically unable to shed tears-until now.

Secure in the knowledge that Philippe would give Chris all the physical warmth and intimacy he required, Linus relaxed a little himself, went to make coffee, and turned his thoughts to the upcoming Christmas season.

Linus had long been in the habit of spending Christmases abroad, but this time opted to stay at home as he had a big trip to South America planned for the new year. Philippe, who might have kicked up a fuss and sulked otherwise, was very much looking forward to the trip and proclaimed himself happy to stay in New Jersey through Christmas. Linus was also aware that they could keep an eye on Chris through the holiday season; he didn't really think his friend would do anything stupid, but there was no harm in being careful. There was no precedent for this situation, after all.

He went on one of his sporadic office visits in mid-December to find Elf's offices festooned with decorations, and Elf herself hunkered behind her desk looking decidedly grumpy.

"Honestly, I can't wait until the whole Christmas thing is over," Elf declared, as he plumped himself down on the other side of her desk. "It's not like I can go to half the parties I get invited to. Look, even my architect's firm, who built my conservatory, invited me to their party."

"It's all about touting for business, that kind of party." Linus picked up the invitation card. "This is Edward's firm, right?"

"That's right," Elf confirmed, looking a little quizzical. She knew about the Chris-Edward mess, but not knowing Chris particularly well, wasn't that perturbed by it.

Linus grew thoughtful. He sat for a moment, twisting the card between two fingers, then sat forward.

"Elf," Linus said. "I need a beard."

"I assume you don't mean the kind you strap around your chin," Elf said with some amusement. "Where are you going that you need a beard?

"To this party." Linus waved the card. "I'll have to go as your guest. Unless people there would expect to see you with Donna?"

"No, Donna never met anyone at the firm except Edward, on his site visits. She was kinda busy with work when it was being built, I was trying to spare her the hassle." Elf sat forward in her own seat, her interest caught.

"And Edward's not going to have mentioned her to his co-workers if they really are a bunch of bigots." Linus thought aloud.

"Cinderella, you can go to the ball!" Elf chortled.

"Well, Elf, we've been married for ten years, you know, it's about time we were seen in public." Linus started to construct a persona.

Elf stuck one finger up at him, but she was smiling. "This could be fun."

The party was held in a large room in a beautiful old warehouse which was itself a prime example of the architectural firm's work, as it had been newly converted into large modern studio-type working spaces. Linus gathered the party was as much to lease out some of the offices as to have a good time, and there were a fair few small artistic-type businesses who seemed to be interested.

He and Elf armed themselves with champagne and ambled around the main room through the crowds, admiring high ceilings and recessed lighting. Elf rolled her eyes at the Christmas tree, which had red ribbons, bells, and miniature scrolled blueprints as decorations with the line, "All dreams can come true at Christmas! We'll build yours!"

And there suddenly was Edward, walking toward them-in a tux. Linus had never seen Edward wearing smart clothes before. Crisp white shirt, neat little tie, sleek jacket. Oh the gorgeousness of it could not be overstated.

He looked a little thinner, though, and that made Linus frown. Edward had always been on the skinny side, he didn't need to lose weight.

"Edward!" Elf greeted him as they approached each other. "How great to see you again!"

"Hello, Elf," Edward began, then his glasses slid down his nose and his jaw dropped, as his eye fell on Linus right behind her.

"You know Linus, I think," Elf added with supreme innocence.

"Uh-guh-yeah." Edward was crimson. "I-I need you to meet someone. This is my-wife, Claudia."

And now it was Linus's turn to be surprised, as a small woman appeared from behind Edward. So this was Claudia. Linus had no idea what he had expected but it wasn't this; she was short, and pretty in a kind of understated way, he supposed, with shoulder-length brown curly hair. And she had a limp, was walking with a floral patterned cane. Wow, he had definitely not expected that.

"Delighted to meet you, Claudia" Elf said, sounding quite sincere as she shook hands. "My name is Elf, your husband built my conservatory. And this is my husband, Linus."

Edward put a hand over his mouth.

"How very nice to meet you both," said Claudia, in a low serene voice. "A conservatory, you say? I keep telling Edward we should have one. How big is yours?..."

Elf embarked on a lengthy description of her house, and Linus turned to Edward.

"Edward, I'm thinking of renting my own office space," Linus lied briskly. "The studios here look very nice. Perhaps you could show me one?..."

Edward took his cue. "Uh yes, sure. There's an office down the corridor that might suit you-let's go take a look."

Edward led the way out of the party down a broad, newly carpeted corridor, to a spacious office with brick walls and an exposed beam ceiling. It didn't quite seem appropriate to close the door behind them, so Linus just followed Edward inside and lowered his voice.

"How are you?" Linus asked, as gently as he could.

"I'm fine." Edward's response sounded automatic. "How is he?"

No need to ask who was meant. "He's...surviving." Linus shrugged a little. "You broke his heart. He's desperately unhappy without you."

"Really?" Edward swallowed, and Linus watched the Adam's apple bob in his throat.

"Really." Linus was emphatic.

"I miss him too," Edward confessed. "I didn't think he... I thought he would have just gone back to screwing around and having a good time, how he was before."

"He might be screwing around-" there was no point pretending Chris was living like a hermit- "but he's not having a good time. You changed him, Edward, he'll never be the way he was before. If you could give him another chance-"

"No." Edward's voice was too loud, and he dropped it as he carried on. "Don't do this to me, Linus, please. Claudia is so happy, and Ellie, and we're all travelling to Mom and Dad's tomorrow for a big family Christmas-I can't ruin all that, Linus, I just can't!"

Linus opened his mouth to reply, but Edward was rolling on. "He will be fine, Linus, I know he will. He'll get over me, he'll find another guy with decent biceps and a tight ass, and he'll forget about me."

"He'll never find anyone who looks as good in a tux as you." Linus attempted levity.

Edward smiled a little, and muttered, "Your wife might not appreciate you ogling me..."

"Oh Elf knows I have my needs," Linus said airily, and at that moment Elf and Claudia walked into the room. Linus realized belatedly that Edward had seen them coming over his shoulder and had been trying to warn him.

"-And right now I need some more office space," Linus added hastily.

"Edward, I never thanked you properly for my wonderful conservatory." Elf elbowed her way past Linus to collar Edward. She had an expression on her face that told Linus she might just murder Claudia if left with her a moment longer.

Linus sighed inwardly and turned to talk to Claudia. He couldn't think of anything better to say than, "This is a lovely building, isn't it? I must say I am quite tempted."

"It is a nice conversion," Claudia agreed. "I am much happier with this than the last building conversion Edward worked on. That one was previously a church, and I worry that there will be payback at judgment day for taking it away from its true purpose."

Linus thought she was making a joke until he saw the grave sentiment on her face. He gulped, suddenly getting a new insight into Edward's married life.

"A church?" he prevaricated. "What, converted into apartments, or offices?"

"A big loft condo. It was done very tastefully, of course. But the devil's own work may be going on there now." Claudia was solemn. "The Lord may not be pleased."

"I guess." Linus had no words.

She pointed up at the ceiling, indicating the decorative curved molding around the edges. "These moldings are very pleasant, don't you think? I never know what the different patterns are called..."

The molding was curved inwards. Linus, who had become reasonably well versed in this kind of thing during the building of his own house, opened his mouth to say it was cavetto, but instead mischief bubbled up within him and he said, "I believe the style is called frottage."

"Ah." Claudia nodded wisely. "Well, you learn something new every day. The pastor at my church is having his ceiling done, I may suggest he goes for frottage."

"You do that," Linus was very pleased he managed to keep a straight face.

Linus didn't tell Chris about his meeting with Edward and Claudia, as he couldn't see that he'd learned anything Chris would want to know. They had a quiet Christmas at Linus's house with Philippe, and a lot of food and drink.

With the dawn of the new year, the big trip to South America beckoned. Linus invited Chris along too, but Chris declined to come. "Not in the mood."

"You can join us any time if you change your mind." Linus left a copy of his schedule, and made Chris promise to stay busy and keep in touch.

Linus and Philippe flew to Caracas, and after some big city fun, spent a couple of weeks journeying down the Amazon. From there they travelled through Brazil, falling in with a rowdy bunch of young people in Rio. When the time came from them to leave, Philippe did not want to go. "Everyone says I should stay for the summer, for the carnival, you know."

"Then I will bid you farewell," Linus said, rather sad but not too heartbroken. He'd thought Philippe was getting bored in New Jersey; he hadn't really expected Philippe to make it back with him, although he'd hoped to keep his company a little longer.

He had a busy schedule ahead which was flexible in part, but there were various meetings he had lined up along the way, and he didn't want to stay too long in one place. In Argentina he enjoyed visiting caves and parks, valleys and waterfalls, and a cattle ranch which supplied steak to a number of New Jersey establishments that Linus had an interest in, including Chris's steakhouse.

In Buenos Aires he admired smart cafes and nice restaurants, and wished Philippe was there with him. On his first evening he met up with an old acquaintance for a drink. He knew Matias as a friend of Julio's, who had lived in Florida for a while before returning to his native country to open his own bar.

"And a very nice place it is too." Linus appreciated the decor from a cozy nook in the corner.

"Thank you." Matias smiled modestly. "So tell me about your trip, Linus. It sounds quite ambitious."

Linus outlined his schedule past and future, and related how he had left Philippe in Rio. "The dear boy will have much more fun there without me, but it has left me a little lonely."

"You want a travelling companion, you could ask Ryan to go with you." Matias waved a hand across the room in the direction of the bartender.

Linus squinted to see a baby-faced young man, with pale skin and dark brown hair sticking upwards in tufts, pulling a pint. "Really? That beautiful boy?"

"Ryan's doing a round-the-world trip, he's working here until he can afford to move on," Matias explained.

"Really." Linus stretched out a hand. "Maybe I can help him."

"Don't get the wrong idea, he's not going to give up his ass to you for a plane fare," Matias said bluntly. "He's been here a few months now, and he hasn't let anyone into his pants that I've heard. And being behind that bar all day means he gets offers."

"Oh." Linus was chastened. "Well, perhaps I'll just talk to him."

He wandered across to the bar later in the evening. "Hello, my name is Linus, Matias tells me you are Ryan."

Up close, Ryan had beguiling hazel eyes that made Linus start to melt inside.

"That's right," Ryan confirmed, and they shook hands solemnly. "You're American, Linus?"

"I am," Linus confirmed, and could not help but try and come on to this lovely creature. "And what's a nice boy like you doing in a big bad city like this?"

"Seeing the world." Ryan raised an enchantingly lyrical voice over a hubbub of customers. "I did Europe, north Africa, south east Asia, Australia, New Zealand, working my way around. Then I got to South America, and now I'm just waiting until I earn enough money to move on."

"To the States?" Linus hazarded,

"I want to do the Inca trail first, and maybe visit Chile, too, but yeah. I hope to get to the States after that. I've never been there," Ryan admitted. "Whereabouts are you from?"

"New Jersey."

"Don't know anything about New Jersey," Ryan confessed, and Linus regaled him with Jersey's attractions for a while. Linus kept batting eyelashes and compliments, but Ryan managed to stay perfectly friendly while politely unresponsive to the suggestion of anything more.

Eventually Ryan excused himself to serve another customer. Linus shrugged defeat and took his beer to join Matias, who turned to him and said, "I did warn you, Linus! Look, you might have a better shot with my friend here, let me introduce you..."

And Linus spotted a young man standing nearby with a trim little mustache and gleaming white teeth, and tried to put Ryan from his mind.

Matias's mustached friend kept Linus very happily entertained that night, but was gone the next morning. Linus shrugged and set out to see the city by himself.

The bar was conveniently situated to visit while sightseeing, and Linus found himself returning each day he was in Buenos Aires. It was quiet in the mid-afternoon, and he found Ryan friendly and happy to chat to someone in his native tongue.

They talked a lot about travel. Linus was very well travelled in North America and Europe, but not other parts of the world. He was entranced by Ryan's stories, and resolved to go visit some of these places himself one day.

"Where are the best looking men, do you think?" Linus asked, a tad cheekily.

"Argentina," Ryan said with a smile. "Before that, Brazil. Wherever I am, basically."

"Anyone in particular you've encountered?" Linus pushed, hoping to hear about lurid sexual experiences. But Ryan just laughed him off.

Another area that Ryan wouldn't talk about was his life before he set out on his world trip. Linus expressed his liking for Ryan's melodious brogue, but Ryan deflected any questions about his family or background, insisting it was very boring and he would much rather hear about Linus's life in New Jersey. Linus happily expounded about his life, friends, and boyfriends.

"Philippe was gorgeous, I was so sorry to lose him," he sighed as he told Ryan about his departure from Rio. "He had a noble look, like a Roman God. I always thought his face looked like it had been carved from marble."

Superb news from home came one day when Linus checked his e-mail, and found a message from Chris.

Edward is back, he's left her again, I'm trying to be a better boyfriend this time around.
Wish me luck, C.

Linus sent back an ecstatic response, then went rushing to the bar to share his news with someone. "Edward and Chris are back together!"

"Chris is your best friend..." Ryan's brow creased as he remembered previous conversations.

"And Edward is his soulmate," Linus explained triumphantly. "They just haven't quite realized that yet."

"That's cute."

"Edward is certainly cute. He's quite the most fuckable guy I've ever met." Linus winked. "Present company excepted, of course."

Ryan shook his head with a grin, but didn't reply.

Inevitably they ended up discussing future plans, and they both intended to visit the same countries in South America, the only difference being that Linus had his itinerary neatly mapped out, and Ryan had a sketch on the back of a table napkin.

A couple of weeks later, having already extended his time in Buenos Aires once, Linus took the plunge and asked with some diffidence, "My dear Ryan, I am going to have to leave for Santiago in a few days time. You want to go there too, so I wonder if you would consider coming with me? And perhaps on to Peru after that?"

Ryan dropped his gaze. "I can't really afford-"

"I'm asking you as my guest," Linus hastened to add. "Please don't feel it would be any imposition. I always intended this to be a trip for two anyway, I have two places booked on an Inca Trail trek. It would be no trouble at all."

Ryan looked Linus squarely in the eye, and said, "Thank you, I do appreciate the offer, but I'm not looking for a relationship."

"I'm not asking for one," Linus parried.

Ryan's cheeks twitched at that. "Let me tell you what'll happen. We'll go to check in at a hotel one day, and you'll come back and tell me that they only had one room, but it's okay, it's got two beds. Then we'll get to the room, but there'll be a double instead. And you'll say no problem, we can share, I won't touch you. Then in the middle of the night you'll roll over, pretending to be asleep still, and put a hand on my-"

"Ryan, please!" Linus was going to say I would never do a thing like that but thought better of it. "I'm not going to deny that I find you very attractive. But I respect your wishes, and I swear most solemnly that if you come travelling with me, I won't lay a finger on you."

Ryan peered at him closely, and apparently what he saw reassured him, because he shrugged a little and said, "Then okay. I'll come with you to Chile and we'll see how we get on."

They got on very well, in a platonic kind of way, although Matias for one didn't believe it. When he heard he was losing his bartender, his reaction to Linus was, "Fucking hell! You got into his pants after all. It just took some time."

"We're just friends!" Linus said, rather crossly.

"Yeah, right." Matias winked and tapped his nose, and Linus gave up.

It was a little strange, travelling with someone who he wasn't sharing a bed with. He had done it before, having taken a number of vacations with Chris, but that was totally different. Not only had he no desire to share a bed with Chris (and they had in fact shared rooms and even double beds on occasion, with no trouble), but when travelling with Chris they had both been on the lookout for some tail, and encouraged each other in doing so.

Not so with Ryan, who remained politely distant in that regard. He did look at other men, sometimes-Linus spotted occasional desirous, yearning glances. Sometimes even (Linus flattered himself) directed at himself. But apparently he hadn't been kidding when he said he didn't want a relationship. Not even a one-night stand.

"You can make a move on him, I don't care," Ryan said in a bar one night, after Linus had commented on an alluring young man on the other side of the room.

"Maybe I will," Linus said, nettled, but he didn't. He suspected he would only end up pretending the other man was Ryan, anyway; might as well just keep on jerking off to a mental image instead. Linus's masturbatory mind was full of luscious hazel eyes and tufted brown hair, and a lilting brogue moaning his name.

Travelling with Ryan also meant that other people they met tended to assume they were a (rather undemonstrative) couple. Linus found Ryan was not apt to correct them, which surprised him until he realized it was a way of deterring them from hitting on him.

And so they went on, until one day everything changed. They were walking in a forested valley in Chile, with marvellous views over sweeping mountains, and had paused by a waterfall for a breather. Ryan climbed on a large rock to get a better view, but the rock was wet with spray. He slipped, and slithered sharply off the other side.

"Ryan!" Linus scrambled around the rock to find him.

"I'm here," Ryan said, a quiver in his voice, and Linus saw him crouched on the ground, leaning against the rock, clutching his left arm.

"You're hurt!" Linus was alarmed. He reached Ryan and saw a red ribbon running down his arm, from elbow to wrist. "You're bleeding! Here-"

"It's just a scrape," Ryan insisted, holding his arm away from Linus. His face had gone quite white.

"Don't be silly, let me see it." Linus groped in a pocket for a clean handkerchief to bind the wound. He reached out, but Ryan scrambled to his feet and stumbled a few paces away,

"No, Linus, I'm fine-just gimme the handkerchief-"

"Let me see it!" Linus insisted, feeling some of Ryan's agitation building in himself. Blood was still trickling down Ryan's arm. "It looks like a deep cut. Have you had a tetanus shot recently? You might need to see a doctor."

"Linus, there's something I need to tell you." Ryan took a deep breath, looked away, and tensed as if he expected to be hit. "I'm HIV positive."

Crap. Crap, crap, crap. Linus felt a huge wave of panicked sorrow sweep through his body. And suddenly a lot of things seemed to make more sense.

Words sputtered from his mouth: "Ryan, my darling Ryan." And he leaned forward to plant a kiss on Ryan's surprised lips.

END OF PART 7

TBC. Next part: Linus returns to New Jersey with Ryan.