Work Text:
Tom Ryder could not believe it. He had flown from LA to San Francisco to surprise the man he was pretty sure he was falling in love with, and he wasn’t home. This is not how it worked in the movies. He would know, he was in them! Frustrated, he pulled out his phone to call Ryland again. He hadn’t answered the last three times he’d called, but maybe this time would be different. It wasn’t. Trying to find a clue to Ryland’s whereabouts, he looked back over their text messages from earlier in the day.
“morning Sunshine! what r u up 2 today?”
“Good morning, Tom. I’m headed to the school to pack up the rest of my classroom decorations. I had to borrow a wagon from my neighbor’s kids to bring the rest of it back to my place with me.”
“they dont just give u the same classroom next year?”
“No, they shuffle stuff around based on need, boredom, how much headache it causes the teachers. I’m not sure exactly. I haven’t had the same classroom two years in a row, so I’m sure I’ll be in a different one next year too.”
“cant u just toss the stuff and start over fresh next year?”
“On my salary? Heck no! It’s taken me years to gather all the cool stuff in my room. Not gonna toss it just to save a little time.”
“u mean the school makes you pay for all that shit? they dont even make me pay for haircuts around here”
“That’s because the school is paying me for my mind and the movie industry is paying you for your body. ;)”
That last text had almost knocked Tom over when he first read it. It was the flirtiest thing Ryland had ever sent him. He had to capitalize on the moment.
“oh ? and what do you think of my body?”
It took a few minutes, but Ryland finally replied, “Maybe I’ll let you know next time I see you.”
Tom was booking his flight to San Francisco within moments of reading that.
Flirty text messages aside, Tom still had no idea where Ryland was. Getting a little worried, he finally broke down and called Colt.
**********
Colt was surprised to see a call coming in from Tom Ryder out of nowhere. They had wrapped on their most recent project a week before, so it wasn’t like there was any real work related reason for him to be calling. Cautiously, he answered the phone.
“Ryder? What do you want?”
“I want to know where your brother is.”
“Huh, you’re still stalking Ryland? I’m not going to be party to that.”
“Stalking? No, I’m just in town and wanted to take him to dinner. He didn’t mention having plans for the evening, but now he’s not answering his phone, or answering his door. You’re all overprotective and shit. Don’t you have a tracking app or something on his phone?”
“You’re talking like you’ve been in touch with him. Are you for real right now? And no I don’t have any kind of tracker on his phone. Tried that. He got mad and didn’t talk to me for almost a month.” Colt was sure that Ryland would have told him if he kept in touch with Ryder. The man was practically stalking him for a while there, even going so far as to show up at his work while he was in class. What was going on here?
“Figures. Well, if you hear from him, would you let me know? I’m kind of worried. He usually texts me back right away.” Tom really did sound worried. Colt was starting to get the suspicion that Ryland hadn’t been telling him everything he was up to lately.
“Uh, yeah, if I hear from him I’ll text you. Or tell him to, I guess.”
“Thanks.” And then Ryder hung up. Weird.
Colt started going over everything he could remember of Ryder’s behavior lately. He’d chilled out a lot the past month or so. Hadn’t yelled at any crew members in weeks and once even complimented Colt after a particularly crazy stunt. Dude was being nice and it was weird as hell. Was this Ryland having some kind of influence on him if they really were keeping in touch? Colt decided to call Ryland and find out what his brother was up to. He didn’t answer. Colt left a voicemail telling Ryland to call him back ASAP and then texted essentially the same thing.
*********
Okay, so calling Colt had been a bust, and he was pretty sure he’d maybe broken the news about him kinda almost dating Ryland to his brother in like the worst way he could think of right now. Great. Colt had accused him of stalking and maybe that was the way to track Ryland down tonight. Tom remembered early on in his infatuation with Ryland, looking to see if he had an Instagram account. He did, but he rarely used it. Maybe he was using it tonight? Nope, but he checked to see if anyone had tagged him, and jackpot!
Someone had posted a video of Ryland at what looked like a karaoke bar. The caption said “When the margaritas hit and your coworker @SciRyland starts dedicating songs to his boyfriend ‘who is definitely NOT @TomRyder’. Someone needs to come pick up his man.” And there on the stage was an obviously drunk Ryland doing a fairly good job of singing “A Thousand Miles” by Vanessa Carlton. He looked again and saw that the bar was tagged, too. Yeah, he was definitely going to have to go pick up his man.
**********
When Tom arrived at the bar, he was desperately hoping that Ryland was still there. On his way in he looked to see if there was a bike chained up, and sure enough, there it was. Well, at least he’s not out riding that thing drunk. It didn’t take long to locate Ryland once he got inside. It was a small venue and there weren’t that many people there. Ryland was seated at a table near the back of the room with a few other people. He spotted Tom as he walked in and waved him over. “You’re not supposed to be here! I told them you’re NOT my boyfriend!”
Tom smiled at that and said, “So I heard. Thanks to whoever posted him singing on Instagram.”
One of the ladies at the table raised a glass and said “You’re welcome. You should probably get him out of here before he can get his hands on another margarita.”
Tom grabbed Ryland by the hand and helped him out of his seat. “C’mon Sunshine, let’s get you home.”
*********
Tom had his driver drop them off at Ryland’s apartment and then he escorted him to the door. Ryland wasn’t quite falling over himself, but it was obvious he was past his alcohol tolerance by a significant margin. Tom wasn’t used to being the most sober one of any group, but he wasn’t going to leave Ryland to his own devices like this.
Tom had never been inside Ryland’s place, but it wasn’t big enough that he got lost on the way to the bedroom. He helped Ryland out of his clothes (leaving his boxers on for modesty, of course) and into bed and turned to leave, but Ryland grabbed him by the wrist and clumsily tried to pull him closer. “Wanna touch you. Want you touch me.” Ryland said. Tom pulled back, “I want that too, Sweetheart, but not tonight. I’m not going to have both of us hating me tomorrow morning for taking advantage of you.” Instead, he just sat there, holding Ryland’s hand until he fell asleep. The ride back to his hotel was lonely, but it had definitely been the right move to make. Before falling into bed alone, Tom made sure to text Colt. “Found him. He’s back safe in his own bed now.”
**********
Ryland woke up alone and confused. He didn’t remember much of the night before, and especially not getting home or undressing himself. There was a hot pink sticky note next to his glasses on the nightstand. “Morning Sunshine, let me know when you’re awake. XOXO Tom” Wait, Tom had been here? That wasn’t just a dream? Oh no, how badly did he embarrass himself in front of him? Ryland reached for his phone and noticed he had a ton of missed calls and messages and even Instagram notifications. Most of the missed calls and messages were from Tom, who seemed to have gotten increasingly worried over the course of the night. There were a few from Colt as well. The Instagram notifications were absolutely mortifying. He was tagged in videos of himself singing love songs dedicated to “NOT Tom Ryder”. That’s it, he was never drinking again.
Before anything else, Ryland decided he’d better text Colt to let him know he was okay. Then he texted Tom as well. “Hey, I’m awake, but not sure how alive I feel. Margaritas are clearly evil.”
“morning sunshine, you will live. now why didnt u tell me u can sing?”
“That was clearly a figment of your imagination. Or maybe it was Colt. Definitely not me!”
“uh huh. next u’re gonna say that was colt i brought home from the bar too?”
Well, he guessed he hadn’t imagined that part of the night after all. Of course, who else would have left that sticky note? “Better not have been. I’d have to get jealous.”
“why is that? u said to anyone who would listen that im not ur boyfriend.”
Crap. He hoped this was Tom flirting and not Tom actually upset. “Um, are you still in town? Wanna come over and talk about this in person?”
“ill be there in 10 min”
Double crap, he better get a shower pronto.
**********
After the fastest shower of his life, Ryland scrambled to get dressed before Tom showed up. He didn’t want to have any kind of serious conversation while still wrapped in a towel. While he was getting dressed, he heard a text notification. Pants half on, he hopped over to the bed where he had left his phone. It was Colt, replying to his earlier message.
“What happened last night? Why did Ryder of all people call me to ask how to track you down? He acted like you’ve been keeping in touch with him.”
Oh boy. Should he just rip the band-aid off and come clean to his brother? “I went out with some coworkers and got a little too drunk. I’m not totally sure how Tom ended up there, but yes, we have been keeping in touch. We’re kinda dating.”
“You WHAT?! Tom fucking Ryder?! I mean, I thought your ex-girlfriend was bad, but you really do have no taste in partners, do you?” Yeah, that was about what he had expected Colt’s reaction to be.
“I know you’ve always seen a different side of him, but he really can be very sweet. We’ve been taking this very slow and he’s been so patient with me, not putting any pressure on me at all. I really like him, Colt. And I think the feeling is mutual. Not just the silly crush he had on me at the start, but something real. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I wasn’t sure what this was, and I’m still a little unclear, but I know it’s SOMETHING and I want to keep pursuing it.”
Colt didn’t reply right away. Eventually, he said “Okay, but if he hurts you, I WILL end him.”