You're Not In This Alone

When we get to Ryan's apartment we go into the kitchen and are stopped in our tracks. Brendon is cooking in his underwear, shaking his ass and singing at the top of his lungs, bits of food and rubbish everywhere. I immediately drop my
gaze to the floor as I start to giggle at the sight and Ryan smiles at me before walking over and grabbing him around the waist, causing him to scream girlishly as he didn't hear us come in. "Fuck Ry stop doing that" he yells as he tackles Ryan to the floor and they wrestle around. When they finally pull apart they both stand up and Brendon smiles at me and says "Hey, nice to see you again." "Id say the same but I think I'm seeing a little more of you than I was expecting" I tell him and he giggles and steps behind the table. Ryan comes back over to me and presses a gentle kiss to my forehead as he says "How about you go relax on the couch and watch tv and I'll make you some food ok?" I nod and press a kiss to his cheek before he says "You want a drink?" I nod again and he grabs me a bottle of juice from the fridge and I take it, going into their living room and seeing the tv already on. I open the juice as I sit down, taking a drink before sitting it on the floor and laying down, curling up in a ball, shivering despite my warm clothing. I let out another yawn and my focus on the tv slips as my eyes start closing for longer and longer every time I blink and the next thing I know Ryan is kneeling on the floor infront of the couch gently shaking me awake. "Wake up beautiful." I open my eyes and he smiles at me and says "Have a little bit to eat and then you can go right back to sleep." I sit up with his help and he sits beside me, holding a steaming bowl of Mac and cheese and he says "I hope you like this, I probably should have asked." "It's fine" I tell him and he smiles before handing me the bowl and I take it with slightly shaky hands, resting it in my lap as I slowly start to eat. I eat about half before I hand the bowl back and Ryan frowns before saying "Come on, just eat a little more babe" picking up the spoon and feeding me a few more mouthfuls. I let out another yawn and Ryan sits the bowl on the coffee table and stands up, leaning down to scoop me into his arms before carrying me to his bedroom. Once he lays me on the bed he pulls the blanket over me before climbing in beside me, cuddling me to his chest and stroking my hair. We lay in silence for a few minutes before I say "Will you sing to me?" "What baby?" "When I'm upset or scared my dad always sings me to sleep. Will you sing to me?" "What would you like me to sing?" "Anything" I tell him and he takes a deep breath before he starts to softly sing a song I'm not familiar with but it's beautiful and his voice is amazing and comforting and I soon find myself drifting to sleep again.

When I wake up again Ryan isn't in bed with me so I climb out of bed and stumble out of his room, unsure of where he could be. I hear noise in the kitchen so I make my way in there to see Brendon and Sarah. "Hey Ruby" Brendon greets me and I croak out "Hey, do you know where Ry is?" "Oh he took your apartment key and went to get you some clean clothes. He should be back real soon." "Oh" I say, surprised by his kindness and Brendon says "He told me what happened and I'm really sorry Ruby, I hope he recovers really soon." "Thanks" I choke out, tears welling in my eyes and Brendon comes around the table in the middle of the room and pulls me into his arms. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." I hug back as I say "It's ok, it's kinda hard to make me not upset right now." "So how is your mom handling everything? If I can do anything for you guys let me know." He asks and I pull back and start giggling. "Um no mom. I have two dad's actually." "Oh" he says, his face going a little red and Sarah laughs at him. "It's ok." I tell him and he smiles and ruffles my hair before walking back around to where he and Sarah are making pancakes. "You want some?" He asks and I shake my head, my stomach still full from the pasta I ate. "Your juice is in the fridge if you want it. Ry wrote your name on the bottle so you'll know which one." "Thanks" I tell him as I walk to the fridge and open it, seeing the bottle straight away. I smile as I pick it up, my name written on it surrounded by hearts. Brendon and Sarah sit at the table and start to eat and I'm about to leave the room when they tell me to sit with them. I sit opposite and we make small talk until the front door opens a few minutes later and Ryan comes in with a bag full of my clothes. "Hey you" he greets me as he walks in and presses a kiss to my forehead. I smile up at him and he smiles back as he takes the seat beside me. The four of us sit together and talk for another few minutes before Ryan says "Come on, I got you some clothes, you can take a shower and then we'll head back to the hospital." "You're coming with me?" "Of course babe, I cancelled everything else I had on today so I can be with you the whole day." I stare at him shocked as I say "You didn't have to do that Ry." "I wanted to" he tells me and we get up from the table, Ryan taking me to the bathroom. He starts the water for me and grabs me a clean towel before sitting it on the bench beside my bag of clothes and as he turns to leave the room I say "Will you stay with me?" "Of course" he tells me and walks away from the door, taking a seat on the closed toilet. I strip off and step in, closing my eyes and letting the hot water wash over me, making me feel somewhat human again. I quickly wash myself using the only girly body wash in there, assuming it belongs to Sarah before stepping out and drying off, wrapping the towel around myself as I go through my bag. I pull out clean underwear and a fresh pair of jeans before picking through the shirts he picked and settling on a long sleeved black and white striped shirt. I get dressed and pick up my dirty clothes but Ryan comes over and takes them from me, throwing them in the hamper. "I'll wash them later when I do my laundry" he tells me and I lean in and peck his lips. "Thanks for taking care of me." "You don't need to thank me baby" he tells me and we share a small smile before he takes my hand and leads me back to his room. I sit my bag in the corner before sitting on the edge of his bed and pulling my shoes back on. Just before we are about to leave Ryan stops and opens a drawer, digging out a slightly smaller sweater than the one I was wearing before, handing it to me as he says "Incase you get cold." I smile as I pull it on, leaving his room and we leave the apartment together, heading towards the hospital. On the way there we stop at a coffee shop and I order me and dad our usual coffees, Ryan getting the same as me and ordering a box of fresh, still warm
jelly donuts they are just putting in the display case, knowing they are dad's favourite. Once we have our coffee we walk the rest of the way to the hospital, going up to pa's room and finding dad asleep on the spare bed. I hand Ryan the box of
donuts after he sits the coffees down and I walk over to pa's bedside, leaning down and kissing his forehead. "Hey daddy. I'm sorry I left. I hope you wake up really soon cause there's so much I need to talk to you about, I really need your advice right now. I love you" I whisper to him before standing up again and walking over to dad, gently stroking his hair back off his face as I go to pull the blanket up over him and his eyes flutter open. "Hey baby girl" he croaks out and I lean down to hug him. "Sorry I was gone so long." "It's ok baby. You need to rest." He climbs off the bed and goes over to pa, leaning down and kissing his lips and whispering to him before sitting down in the chair. "We brought you something" I tell him and he turns his head to look at me. "What did you bring baby?" I walk over and grab his coffee and the box of donuts, handing both to him and he smiles wide as he says "You are the most perfect daughter ever." I giggle a little and Ryan and I pull up chairs aswell, all of us sitting together while we eat and drink our coffee. "So any news?" I ask after we finish and dad says "They took him for another scan late last night and he looks good. They were worried about the swelling and more fluid around his brain but it hasn't come back which is a really good sign. They might have to only keep him out for another few days if he keeps going well." Dad and I sharing a smile as he tells me this.

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