HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BECCA!
Okay, so, this is a little late, but it's still bluejbird's birthday in my timezone, so it still counts! I decided to write this because a) Becca is one of my most favorite people, and I needed to give her a present and b) it just needed to exist, because Ryan/Ronon is the greatest crossover pairing of real/fictional people maybe ever.
So, without further ado, I present, to her and to you:
With No Handlebars, or, A Little Less Molly Ringwald, A Little More Shore Leave. Set in the same universe (or universes, I guess) as this comment fic that Becca herself wrote...I am merely expounding upon her brilliance! You should probably read that first, or a few important details will not make much sense.
Bandom/SGA crossover: Ryan Ross/Ronon Dex (Pete/Patrick, McKay/Sheppard, a little bit of Brendon/Spencer) Basically as many OTP's as I could fit in! Oh, also, past Pete/Ryan.
~8,000 words
Mostly PG-13, I'd say, but there is one scene in there that is maybe higher, I don't know, I'm bad with ratings.
Disclaimer: This isn't real, because half the people in this story are fictional, and even within their fictional world, it's still not true. As far as I know, Rodney McKay is not a Panic At The Disco fan...but he could be, who knows!
Title stolen from the Flobots' song "Handlebars" and obviously, Fall Out Boy's "A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More 'Touch Me.'" Which is already Molly Ringwald related! So thanks, Fall Out Boy!
Notes: Thank you so so much to mintyfiend and makesomelove, for looking this over and catching my stupid mistakes, letting me ramble to them, giving me ideas, and agreeing with me that James Spader is hot. ♥ I couldn't have done it without you!
This is Ronon, in case anyone is wondering. He's basically really hot. And well, just think about how hilarious and cute he'd look with Ryan. I mean, really. Also imagine him hanging out with Pete Wentz. Great, huh?
"I don't understand how you can get leave to go to Earth all the time to make out with your jailbait boyfriend," Rodney complains as he attempts to keep up with Ronon as he hurries down the hallways of Atlantis, duffel bag slung over one shoulder.
Ronon makes a noncommittal noise and doesn't slow down, but that doesn't stop Rodney from continuing. "I mean, seriously, what do you say to Sam when you do this? Do you make up some inane excuse about wanting to experience the culture of your Earthling friends, or what? Because as far as I can see there's no benefit to the Atlantis mission or any mission at all in you traipsing off to Earth, seeing as how, oh right, you're not even from there. So I'm curious to know exactly what you tell Sam and what she tells the SGC. It must be a really good excuse-"
At this, Ronon finally stops and turns around to face Rodney, blank expression on his face. "McKay."
Rodney stumbles a bit as he attempts to not crash into Ronon's suddenly not-moving frame. "What?"
"I just tell her that I want to go back to Earth to spend time with my boyfriend." Ronon's mouth twitches a little like he's going to laugh, and then he's off again, Rodney racing to keep up.
"...Seriously? That's it? And she allows that? Oh my god, if I'd known it was that easy, I would've- hey, would you slow down? I'm trying to see you off, you ingrate!"
He doesn't manage to catch up with Ronon again until they reach the gate room, where John and Teyla are also waiting. Ronon nods at them as the gate begins to activate, chevrons lighting up.
"Now make sure you don't talk to any strangers, and stay with Ryan at all times," John says in mock seriousness, and Ronon rolls his eyes.
Teyla reaches out and Ronon lowers his forehead to hers gently.
"Have a wonderful time," she tells him and he smiles and gently touches her swelling stomach.
"Take care of yourself. And rest."
Teyla promises to do so, and Ronon looks at John. "You make sure she listens."
John nods, crossing his arms. "Don't worry, I'll make sure she's supervised at all times."
"Not at all times, I hope," Teyla smiles indulgently and it's a very nice moment, until Rodney makes an irritated sound.
"It's not like he's leaving for a year, he'll be back in a week. We don't have to cry about it."
Ronon laughs and punches Rodney on the arm, in what is probably meant to be a light, affectionate manner, but Rodney winces anyway. "Gonna miss you too, McKay."
Chuck calls down that they're all clear to go, and Ronon nods at them all one last time before disappearing through the gate.
"Watch out for the groupies!" Rodney shouts after him, and John laughs. "What? It's a valid concern, they can be vicious!"
"Well, you would know, wouldn't you," John drawls, in that way that annoys Rodney immensely, still grinning like crazy.
"What is that supposed to mean, Sheppard? Oh my god, just because I happen to appreciate the music does not mean I'm a groupie! Please!" Rodney scoffs, and Teyla shakes her head at them before making her way back to her quarters.
"Rodney, you fell all over yourself when you found out about Ryan and Ronon. And I heard you and Zelenka and Simpson giggling about it in the labs, don't pretend like you weren't."
Rodney glares at John and begins walking out of the gateroom, intending on going to the labs and ignoring him for the rest of the day. "I do not giggle, Colonel. And now if you'll excuse me, I have some work to do. Unlike Ronon, I can't go back to Earth and spend the entire day having what is probably ridiculous amounts of sex."
"Yeah, you're right. You don't have to go back to Earth to do that," John says lightly, and Rodney stops short and stares. John is staring at him with a faux-innocent expression on his face, but his eyes are giving it away.
"Umm...well...that's. You know, I don't really have that much work to do. I can put it off for an hour or so. Or maybe a few."
John smiles brightly and licks his lips. "Is that so?"
Rodney tries not to look like he's staring at John's mouth, but mostly fails. "Yes, I think I can rearrange my schedule."
"My quarters are closest," John says, and Rodney most definitely does not have to restrain himself from running to get there.
---
Ryan and Spencer are waiting for Ronon when he finally emerges out of Cheyenne Mountain, after the manual physical inspection and random protocol needed before he's allowed to go. Sometimes Ronon really doesn't understand people from this galaxy.
When Ryan sees Ronon, he walks casually toward him and pushes his sunglasses up onto the top of his head. "Hey."
"Hey," Ronon says in response, and then they just stand there staring at each other for a few seconds, before Ryan's face slowly breaks into a huge grin and then he launches himself into Ronon's arms, wrapping all of his gangly limbs around Ronon at once, and Ronon doesn't even stagger at all, just laughs loudly and tries not to hug Ryan too hard.
"Hey," Ryan says again, and before Ronon can say anything, he kisses him, hard, and Ronon's still holding him up like he weighs nothing at all. Spencer just shakes his head and smiles.
Eventually Ronon puts Ryan down, and greets Spencer as they get into the car. Spencer agreed to drive them to the airport, mostly because he knew Ryan would want to do exactly what he's doing now, which is practically sit in Ronon's lap and...welcome him back. Spencer just figured that it would be better if Ryan wasn't also trying to focus on driving while doing this.
"Your flight to Chicago leaves in two hours," he tells them, looking in the rear view mirror and then, oh eww, wishing he hadn't. He hopes Ryan appreciates this; he feels like a chauffeur. Or a cabbie. When he'd told the others what he was doing, Jon had wrapped his arms around him and said "You're a good friend, Spencer Smith," so at least someone thinks so.
"Hey," Ronon says as he notices something hanging from a chain around Ryan's neck. It's the epipen Ronon gave him. Ronon gently lifts the chain and holds it in his hand. "You kept it."
Ryan ducks his head and shrugs. "It made me think of you."
Ronon lets go of the epipen and brings his hand up to brush Ryan's hair off of his forehead. Ryan looks up and flushes. "I know it's kind of lame, but I didn't have anything...you just left, and I didn't-"
He doesn't finish because Ronon's kissing him, forceful and quick. "Thank you."
"Oh my god," Spencer says from the front seat.
---
"So where're we going?" Ronon asks as they board the plane, receiving several strange looks from passengers. Ronon draws attention wherever he goes, even while wearing jeans, and Ryan's fairly certain no one even has given him a second glance. He's completely anonymous today.
"Chicago. My friends, I've told you about them, Fall Out Boy? They have a couple of shows there, and it's going to be really awesome. It's their hometown, so everyone's really excited, and Pete said I should bring you."
Ronon nods thoughtfully. "Pete's the one who, what's it called, signed you to the label?"
"Yeah. He's...well, he's Pete. You'll see when you meet him," Ryan says as they take their seats. He puts his head on Ronon's shoulder and keeps it there as the plane prepares for take off.
---
The first night of three sold out Fall Out Boy shows in Chicago is the first time Ronon accidentally causes a mosh pit all by himself.
He doesn't mean to, just, well, he gets really into the music, banging his head, dreadlocks whipping around everywhere, and pretty soon the entire floor of the arena is flailing around like mad. It's probably the most hardcore a Fall Out Boy show has been in years, and Pete is visibly ecstatic about it. So much so that when they reach the end of the set, he full on dives into the crowd during "Saturday," instead of his normal security-supervised crowd visitation. Thankfully, the crowd reacts quickly enough to hold him up, and he makes it through without being dropped. Patrick still looks terrified the entire time; Pete's too old for this shit.
It is, however, agreed upon by all members of the band that it's one of the best shows they've ever played, and when Ryan and Ronon come back stage afterward, everyone is really pumped. Especially Pete, who is standing on the back of the couch in the dressing room, apparently ready to re-create his stage dive from earlier.
"Oh man, and then it was so awesome, I was just standing there, deciding whether I should go for it-"
"Yeah, we saw, we were all there," Joe notes from across the room, as Pete almost loses his balance, arms flailing wildly.
"Pete, get down," Patrick says without even looking behind him, and Ryan notes with amusement that while Pete rolls his eyes, he doesn't argue.
"Yes mom." He jumps and lands on his ass on the cushions, right next to Patrick. "Patrick, Patrick, you were amazing," he says, getting to his knees and leaning over Patrick to kiss him. When he pulls away Patrick looks exasperated, but mostly just really pleased.
"How very Freudian of you," Ryan notes dryly, and Pete grins and jumps off the couch.
"Ross! You're here! Wasn't that fucking awesome?" He grabs Ryan and hugs him, lifting him off the ground for a second with his exuberance.
Ryan laughs. "I guess it was okay," he jokes, and Pete grins and kisses him on the cheek with a loud, smacking noise.
"It was the shit, and you know it, kid. Hey, so are you going to introduce me?"
"Oh, right!" Ryan laughs happily; no matter how many years he's known Pete, he's never quite fully lost that 'ohmygoditspetewentz!' feeling that he gets when he's around him, and he's sort of stupidly giddy right now. "Pete, this is Ronon."
Pete seems to fully look at Ronon for the first time, and Ryan notes smugly that his jaw kind of drops a little and his eyes are wide. "Wow. Really?" His face melts into that signature Pete Wentz grin. "Ryan Ross, you devil. Hi, I'm Pete," he says to Ronon, holding out his hand.
Ronon's eyes are narrow and he's not quite scowling, but looks like he could start to at any second. He holds out his hand, too, though, and grins a little when Pete winces in pain. "Shit, you're strong," Pete notes as he pulls his hand away, rubbing at it a little.
"Sorry," Ronon says shortly, but he doesn't look it.
Pete just grins and looks at Ronon with something like awe in his eyes. "It's cool. Wow. Awesome."
Ronon appears confused as to why Pete isn't running away in terror or at least looking more uncomfortable. Ryan's actually uncomfortable enough for the both of them, so he figures it makes up for it a little.
"Umm, yeah, Ronon, why don't I introduce you to the rest of the guys," he says, leading Ronon away from Pete, who is still standing there looking slightly dazed.
Ryan has a feeling he and Ronon are going to have to talk.
---
Later that night, when Ryan and Ronon are checking into their hotel room, Ronon is suspiciously quiet, and Ryan's worried. Not that Ronon's ever really that talkative, but there's a tension that's not normally there, and Ryan has a suspicion he knows what it's about.
Thankfully, he doesn't have to wait that long, or bring the topic up himself, which he really didn't want to do, because soon after they get to their room and start preparing for bed, Ronon speaks up.
"So. You and Pete. Did you ever..."
Ryan could probably lie, but he doesn't want to do that, and figures it would probably eventually come back to him someday, so he doesn't. "Yes," he says hesitantly, and Ronon's shoulders go tense, but he doesn't say anything, and lets Ryan continue. "It was...awhile ago. I swear, nothing's happened in years. I just...I thought I was in love with him, you know? And I think he thought he was in love with me, too, but it wasn't...it was great, but we realized it wasn't...we're just friends, I swear. And in case you didn't notice, he's pretty much one step away from kidnapping Patrick and running away with him to Canada."
"Canada? That's where McKay's from," Ronon says, looking confused, and Ryan realizes it's one of those weird things that Ronon somehow missed out on learning when he was off doing his super secret projects for the government...wherever.
"Oh, no, it just. I just meant Pete really likes Patrick. A lot."
Ronon nods, but doesn't do anything that tells Ryan how he's feeling, and Ryan's really freaked out that he's going to say something that will ruin this completely. "And, in case you didn't notice this either, I'm...I'm kind of ridiculously crazy about you. So."
There's a second where Ronon looks away that Ryan's sure he's going to break up with him, right there, and go back to...wherever it is he goes, and then Ronon is pulling Ryan down onto the bed and gently pinning him to the mattress. "Good," he says, and Ryan grins in relief.
"Yeah," he agrees as Ronon lowers his head to kiss him.
---
Before the show the next night, Ronon asks, "What's that thing Pete did last night? Where he jumped off the stage?"
Ryan's kind of surprised; the question came out of nowhere. "Oh. It's called crowdsurfing."
Sheppard has told Ronon about surfing before, on the water, and how great it is, but he never mentioned crowdsurfing. He wonders if Sheppard knows about this. He'll have to mention it when he gets back.
"Hmm," he says, and doesn't mention it again.
---
Pete pretty much thinks Ronon is the greatest thing ever. He won't leave Ronon alone, and seems to consider him his own personal jungle gym or something, the way he keeps crawling all over him, and doing ridiculous things like asking for piggy back rides. Ronon, apparently pleased with Ryan's answers about his relationship with Pete, allows this with good-natured tolerance.
"He's pretty cool," he tells Ryan with a shrug, and Ryan can't fight the huge smile on his face.
Patrick tells him, with a little bit of a scowl, Ryan notes, that all Pete had been able to talk about the rest of the night was how awesome and hot Ronon is. Actually, Patrick seems to be kind of in a bad mood; he spends a lot of the day sitting in the corner with his Macbook, alternatively ignoring Pete and glaring at him. Pete doesn't seem to notice; he's too busy teaching Ronon to play soccer.
"It'd be awesome if he did a header!" he tells Ryan excitedly.
Ryan ignores the weird feeling that seems kind of like jealousy when he sees Pete sitting in Ronon's lap, laughing about something. Pete doesn't mean anything by it. At least they're getting along, right?
Later he hears Pete and Patrick arguing.
"I guess I'm just not tall enough for you Pete," Patrick snaps, and Pete has no idea how to respond.
"....Patrick, I have no idea what you're talking about, I just think Ronon's cool. You're really cute when you're being all bitchy and jealous, though."
Ryan doesn't have to stick around to know what Patrick's response to that will be.
---
The second show is just as great as the first, though there is a bit of a sticky situation when someone bumps into Ryan, hard, and then says "hey, watch it, asshole!" Ronon grabs the guy around the neck and lifts him off the ground with one hand. "Apologize. Right now," he growls.
"Ronon! It's okay, it's not a big deal! Put him down!" Ryan puts his hand on Ronon's arm and Ronon immediately releases the guy, whose face is red and is clutching his throat and coughing loudly.
"Sorry-" Ryan starts to say, but the guy, understandably, is already running away. "Don't do that again," he tells Ronon, who grunts his consent and shrugs.
After that, things go smoothly, despite the fact that Patrick is still mad at Pete, and Pete even dedicates "Gin Joints" to "a good friend of mine and his very good friend," which makes Ryan grin and even Ronon looks pleased.
Things go smoothly, that is, until the crowdsurfing begins. Ronon's interest is immediately peaked; it looks like fun, and if it's anything like the surfing Sheppard talks about, then it must be pretty great. He carefully observes what people are doing for awhile, and then turns to Ryan, grinning. "Be right back."
"Ronon, what-oh my god." Ryan gasps as Ronon throws himself into a group of people, disappears for a second or two, and then somehow, miraculously, is lifted up into the air. It takes a lot of people to hold him up, but either the crowd tonight is abnormally strong, or just really scared that a 6'4" guy with huge muscles is going to fall on them (probably the latter) but Ronon is, somehow, successfully crowdsurfing, looking like he's having the time of his life.
"Oh god, oh god, oh god," Ryan mutters to himself, heart beating wildly, unable to pay attention to the show, all his attention focused on his gigantic boyfriend being held up by the hands of 5 foot scene kids. He's not sure whether he's more afraid that Ronon is going to hurt himself, or that Ronon is going to hurt someone else. It's a toss up, really. He reminds himself that 21 is too young to have a heart attack.
After a minute or so that feels like forever to Ryan, Ronon does some crazy looking leap, and somehow lands on the ground, on his feet, and not on anyone's head. He walks back over to Ryan proudly. "I did it."
Ryan can't help but smile. "Yeah, you did."
---
"That was so great!" Pete jumps on Ronon the instant he and Ryan come back stage. "I saw you! Well, you were kind of hard to miss, actually, but dude, that was seriously the coolest thing I've ever seen."
"It was pretty freakin' sweet," Joe agrees, and Ronon beams.
"Hey, Ryan, me and Patrick are gonna watch Pretty In Pink," Pete says, and well, Ryan can sort of never resist the opportunity to watch Pretty In Pink, even though he's seen it a ridiculous amount of times. He's really glad he has friends who also like it, too; the last time the band had watched it, Brendon had jumped in Ryan's lap and wailed "God, Ryan, I'd've died for you!" at random times for like, days afterward.
"Is that the movie with that Molly Ringwald person?" Ronon asks.
"Yeah," Ryan says, surprised. Ronon doesn't seem to have that wide a knowledge of popular culture.
"Sheppard loves her," Ronon explains. "We've watched all her movies probably three times on movie nights. I bet I'll have to watch it again when I go back."
"Well, we don't have to-" Ryan begins to say, but Joe cuts him off.
"Nah, you go ahead, I'll keep Ronon company. Andy disappeared with Mixon, so I'm all alone. Don't worry, we're just gonna chill, I won't have him out too late."
"That okay?" Ronon asks, and when Ryan nods, he leans in to kiss him once before following Joe out the door.
"I'll meet you back at the room," Ryan calls.
Pete grins happily. "You guys ready for some Duckie love?"
---
They head back to the hotel; Pete and Patrick both have places in the city, but the hotel is closer, and Ryan and Ronon have a suite, so there's plenty of room for them to sprawl on the couch and watch the movie. Pete sits in the middle, his legs thrown across Ryan's lap, and his head on Patrick's shoulder.
Ryan gets out his phone and texts Brendon as the movie's starting: watching pretty in pink w/ pete and patrick and receives a reply less than a minute later.
ID STILL DIE FOR U RYAN ROSS!!!
Ryan hopes Ronon is having fun with Joe; he's a little worried, but he realizes that Ronon can definitely take care of himself, and it's not like they're going to do anything else but sit around and smoke; Ronon's done that with Ryan and the rest of the band, the last time he visited, so Ryan knows he's not going to like, have some weird reaction and go completely crazy.
Pete nuzzles Patrick's neck and says, "May I admire you again today?" along with Duckie, and Patrick smiles and seems to forget that Ryan's there for a second, because he lowers his mouth to Pete's and wow, that is seriously not the way he usually lets Pete kiss him in front of other people; he must've forgotten that he was irritated with Pete earlier in the day, too. If that was a fight, it didn't last long.
Ryan looks back at the screen, stifling a laugh. If Ronon could see this, and he had any lingering doubts about Pete maybe having feelings for Ryan, this would erase them completely.
"I think James Spader's hot," Pete says sleepily after awhile, and both Ryan and Patrick respond with an "eww."
By the time Ronon comes back, Pete and Patrick have fallen asleep on the couch, Pete sprawled all over Patrick, and Patrick's arms around Pete's waist. Ryan has taken several pictures to entertain himself, and sent them to various people, including his own band, and received several responses, pretty much all of them variations of aww they're so whipped!.
Ryan's thinking of other ways he can amuse himself, when he hears a soft knocking at the door.
"Didn't you have your key?" he asks, as he opens the door and Ronon stumbles inside.
"Oh yeah," he says, shrugging. "Didn't think of that, sorry. Hi," he adds, pulling Ryan into his arms.
"Hi," Ryan says softly, as Ronon kisses along his jaw. Ronon's pretty stoned; Ryan can tell by the way he's all loose-limbed and clingy, but he figures it would take a lot more than pot to have much more of an effect on someone of Ronon's size.
"Pete and Patrick are still here," Ryan tells Ronon when his kisses become more insistent.
Ronon says something that sounds like "mppphf" and pulls his mouth away from Ryan's skin to peer over at the couch, where Pete and Patrick are still curled up together, sound asleep. He smiles.
"That's cute," he says fondly. "I like them."
Ronon when he's high is pretty hilarious, and Ryan bites back a laugh. "Yeah."
"We can just be quiet," Ronon grins wickedly, and Ryan is really tempted, but he knows for a fact that Pete's a really light sleeper; Ryan's actually surprised he hasn't woken up yet, but then again, Ryan's never really seen Pete asleep with Patrick, so maybe that makes a difference. And there is a door between the living room area and the bedroom...and he really doesn't want to kick them out, it's really late...
"Okay," Ryan decides. Fuck, like he hasn't heard Pete having sex before; if he hears anything, it'll be like a million years worth of payback. He'd feel bad subjecting Patrick to that, though, so he adds, "but seriously, really quiet."
Ronon pulls him towards the bedroom, smiles again and says (quietly), "No promises."
---
"Oh, god, Ronon, yeah, that's...oh my god..."
Ronon stops what he's doing long enough to grin at Ryan and mumble, "Shh, quiet, remember," before lowering his head again, and making Ryan see sparks behind his eyelids.
Ryan's trying, he really is, but what's he supposed to do when Ronon pushes him to the bed and gets all their clothes off in a record amount of time, kisses Ryan, quick and dirty, before saying "Here, I'm...I want to..." and sliding down Ryan's body and taking his cock into his mouth all at once? Anyone would make at least a little bit of noise if that happened to them.
"God," Ryan says again and grabs a pillow to muffle the sounds coming out of his mouth. This is going to be difficult.
---
When Ryan wakes up in the morning, Ronon's gone, but he hears voices coming from the living room part of the suite, so he gets up, and finds Pete and Patrick still there, the television blaring, and animatedly trying to explain whatever Transformers series is on the screen to Ronon.
"See okay, they're robots, but they can disguise themselves as like, cars and stuff, in order to blend in here on Earth," Patrick's saying, his jealousy of Ronon apparently forgotten, and Ronon's nodding interestedly.
"I like that one," he says nodding at the screen.
"Starscream," Pete tells him. "Yeah, he's awesome. He's one of the Decepticons-"
"The bad guys," Ronon interjects and Pete nods excitedly.
"Yeah! This is great, me and Patrick never have anyone to talk about Transformers with."
"That's because it's lame," Ryan says, and is rewarded with twin glares from Pete and Patrick. Even Ronon looks at him disapprovingly.
"I don't know, it seems pretty cool," he shrugs.
Pete gives Ryan a triumphant look and then goes on to explain to Ronon about the epic battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons, with Patrick interjecting occasionally. Ryan thinks maybe he just got replaced.
they like ronon better than me he texts Spencer.
who wouldn't? Spencer responds. Sometimes Spencer is a really not supportive best friend.
---
Later, when he and Ronon are out with Pete and Patrick - for some reason Pete had started talking to Ronon about bikes, and when Ronon had said he'd never learned to ride, Pete had decided he needed to rectify this immediately by buying one, and they have time today, because the third show isn't until tomorrow - Ryan's phone rings. It's Spencer.
"So can Ronon play guitar?" he asks. "Because if he's replacing you, he's gonna have to take lessons if he can't."
"Haha." Ryan rolls his eyes.
"He'd be great," Spencer continues. "The girls'd love him."
"Your mom would love him," Ryan retorts and then feels bad; Ginger is a lovely woman and pretty much raised him.
"Whose mom would love who?" Pete calls over.
"Spencer's," Ryan tells him, but refrains from answering the second part. "I kinda gotta go, we're shopping for bikes."
Spencer laughs. "Why?"
"Don't ask," Ryan advises. "I'll talk to you later."
"Okay. Ahh, Brendon, stop it! I'm on the phone!" Spencer sounds like he's giggling, if Spencer did anything as undignified as giggle. "I'll be off in a second. Brendon says hi," he adds, and Ryan snorts in amusement.
"I'll bet he does. Bye."
"Oh man, Spencer's mom. She's-" Pete's saying, but Ryan cuts him off before he can continue.
"Okay, so, bikes?"
Patrick is just staring at all of them like they're crazy, but this is nothing new.
---
"Seriously dude, what planet did you grow up on that you never learned to ride a bike?" Pete asks, and Ronon laughs really hard, but doesn't answer.
They go to a place that sells all kinds of bikes; new, old, and everything in between. Pete finally decides on a Schwinn cruiser, a classic one, used, but in great condition. It's red, and "the one for you, I can feel it," Pete adamantly tells Ronon.
"Okay," Ronon agrees, and Pete gleefully hugs him before wheeling the bike over to pay for it.
"Now you just have to learn to ride it," Patrick points out, and Ronon frowns a little.
"Oh right. Is it hard?"
Patrick shrugs. "It can be, but once you get the hang of it- Pete! What are you doing? You do not need to buy a two-person bike! I refuse to ride that with you, just so you know!"
They finally leave the store, in possession of two new bikes, even though they only came for one. They manage to load one bike into the trunk of Pete's car, but need to attach the two-person one onto the roof. Well, the guy who works at the store does that, actually, with Ronon's help.
In the car, Pete tries to convince Patrick that what he really wants more than anything in the world is for them to ride a two-person bike together. "It's like my dream!" he says, and Patrick raises an eyebrow.
"Since when?"
"Since forever! Just because I never told you about it, doesn't mean I wasn't thinking about it! For all you know, I lie awake at night, fantasizing about you, me, and a two-person bike, on our way to a picnic in the meadow," Pete pouts.
Patrick laughs. "Well, keep fantasizing then."
"But it'd be so romantic! Patrick! Think about it."
"Uh-huh," Patrick says. "I'm kind of hungry, let's get lunch."
---
"Patrick, Patrick, give me your answer, doooooo..."
"Oh god, Pete, stop it."
"....I'm half crazy, all for the love of youuuu..."
"I mean, it Pete, I'm breaking up with you unless you shut up."
"Something something marriage...la la something about a carriage..."
"You're hurting everyone's ears."
"...But you'll look sweet on the seat of a bicycle built for two!"
"I hate you."
"Are they always like this?" Ronon asks, amused, as they sit as close together as possible in the backseat.
"Pretty much," Ryan answers, putting his head on Ronon's shoulder. Ronon takes his hand and laces their fingers together.
---
After lunch, Pete makes it his goal to teach Ronon to ride a bike by the end of the week.
"I promise, I will have you up and riding around! Guaranteed."
Ronon agrees, and they end up in the back parking lot of the hotel, which is pretty deserted.
"So, if you had a kid's bike, you'd have training wheels. But training wheels are for losers, so you're just gonna learn the old-fashioned way. Actually, I have no idea if that's the old-fashioned way, but that's how we're gonna roll."
Ryan and Patrick watch with amusement as Pete shows Ronon how to get on the bike and how the kickstand works, and how to use the brakes. He zooms around the parking lot, a few times before coming to a stop in front of Ronon. "Okay, your turn."
Ronon gets on the bike. He starts pedaling with Pete still holding on, and then as they build up speed, Pete lets go. Ronon promptly falls over.
Ryan and Patrick determinedly do not laugh.
They try again; this time, Pete gives Ronon a little push as he lets go. The only thing this accomplishes is that Pete falls over as well.
Ryan and Patrick let themselves laugh a little. But quietly.
By the time Pete does something that results in both he and Ronon on the ground with the bike on top of them, Ryan and Patrick have lost it.
Patrick is practically crying he's laughing so hard, and Ryan's clinging to Patrick's side for support, because otherwise he wouldn't be able to stand.
It's okay though, because Pete and Ronon are laughing harder than anyone, in a heap on the ground. They seem incapable of moving, and simply lie there with their eyes closed and both of their ridiculous laughs echoing throughout the parking lot. Their laughter actually makes Ryan and Patrick laugh harder, if that's possible.
"Oww...I can't...feel...my legs, I think, okay, yeah...just gotta get this bike off...and it'll be...fine," Pete gasps for breath as he ineffectually kicks at the bike.
Ronon manages to lift the bike up, and then stands, wobbling a little bit. He has a scrape on his arm, but appears otherwise unharmed. He holds his hand out to help Pete get up. It takes a few tries, because Pete keeps doubling over with laughter and falling down again.
"You remind me of Sheppard when you laugh," Ronon says when Pete's finally standing again.
"Yeah?" Pete asks, examining the bruises on his arms. "Oh, man, I'm bleeding a little."
"Yeah. You both have really dumb laughs."
"You should talk," Pete says, but he's still grinning.
"You sure you guys are okay?" Ryan calls over to them.
"We're fine!" Pete calls back, and winces a little when he presses his fingers to a scrape on his cheek. "You ready to try again?"
"Bring it on," is Ronon's reply.
---
Somehow, Pete's teaching method of 'oops, sorry about that, well, let's just start over!' is actually making progress. Ryan and Patrick had gone inside the hotel for a while, when they'd started talking about music and Patrick had wanted to show Ryan something on Garageband (Ryan hadn't even realized Patrick had brought his laptop with him last night, apparently forgetting that Patrick rarely goes anywhere with out it) and when they'd come back outside, Ronon was actually riding around the parking lot and only falling down occasionally.
"I'm a teaching master!" Pete informs them proudly, arms raised in victory. He has scrapes and bruises on his arms and what looks like the beginning of a black eye.
"How'd that happen?" Patrick asks, looking concerned.
"Oh," Pete shrugs. "We fell over and Ronon sort of elbowed me in the face. It was no big deal."
They watch as Ronon starts to fall over but manages to right himself before hitting the ground and takes off again.
"We'll have him at the Tour de France in no time at all," Pete says, grinning like a proud father.
---
Ronon and Pete finally call it a day, and Pete and Patrick head off to...wherever it is Pete and Patrick go.
"I finally have you all to myself," Ryan says happily, straddling Ronon's lap, and frowning when Ronon winces slightly. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing. Just some bruises." He wraps his arms around Ryan's waist and kisses his throat.
Ryan's still frowning. "Am I gonna have to yell at Pete for breaking you?"
Ronon snorts. "Takes a lot more than Pete to break me. Trust me."
"I'll be gentle," Ryan jokes, and then gasps when Ronon bites his ear gently.
"You don't have to be," he growls, and Ryan pretty much thinks his brain is going to leak out of his ears if Ronon keeps looking at him like that, with his eyes all dark and intense and suggestive.
When Ryan pushes Ronon back against the mattress, Ronon lets him.
---
They spend all the next day up until it's time to go to the show in bed. Ryan doesn't think he's come that many times in 24 hours in his life. Then again, he's never spent 24 hours in bed with Ronon, so. That probably explains it.
The last show is maybe even better than the first two, even without Ronon crowdsurfing. He stands behind Ryan the whole time with his arms around his waist and gets a lot of complaints from the people standing directly behind him, but whatever. Ryan doesn't care. Ronon's going to be leaving in a few days, and Ryan has no idea how long it will be until he can see him again. He knows he's not allowed to ask questions about Ronon's job, but sometimes he wants to, wants to know what it is that's so top-secret and important that Ronon can only see him every few months. It's not fair, he thinks, and doesn't care that it's selfish.
Maybe Ronon can hear what he's thinking, because he holds Ryan a little tighter.
---
Pete has a party at his place after the show. Ronon spends most of it getting impromptu drum lessons from Andy.
"Why does Pete even have drums here?" Ryan shouts to Patrick over the noise.
"They're actually mine," Patrick shouts back, wincing. "There's more room for them here."
Ronon may not know how to drum, but Ryan has to admit, he looks good, his dreadlocks flailing everywhere as he wildly bangs the cymbals. He thinks Spencer would approve. Actually...he pulls out his phone, takes a video and sends it to Spencer.
NICE. i like his form Spencer texts back.
Andy takes the drumsticks from Ronon and explains something, gesturing, and Ronon nods. When Andy hands the drumsticks back and Ronon starts to play again, Ryan thinks he can make out an actual beat. Andy looks amused, but pleased.
"Dude," Joe says when Ryan ventures into the kitchen for a drink. "Ronon's really great."
"Yeah," Ryan agrees softly, already missing him.
"Last night all he could talk about was you. He pretty much thinks you shit rainbows. Well, he didn't say that, but pretty much that's what I got out of it."
Ryan tries not to do something lame, like get choked up. "He has to leave again in two days."
"That sucks," Joe sounds sympathetic. "Long distance is hard work, I know. But if it's worth it..."
"Yeah," Ryan smiles. "It is."
---
"By george, I think he's got it!" Pete exclaims, clapping his hands in glee.
"If you start singing My Fair Lady again, Pete, I swear," Patrick mutters.
They're back in the hotel parking lot, and Ronon's back on the bike. He hasn't fallen once. He's riding around like a pro, weaving in and out from between cars.
"Admit it Patrick, he's like Audrey Hepburn and I'm like what's-his-face. Only with bikes."
Ronon coasts towards them and comes to a stop in front of Ryan.
"Wanna ride on the handlebars?" he says, grinning, and Patrick rolls his eyes.
"God, Pete, what have you been telling him?!"
"Do it!" Pete says, ignoring Patrick, looking like it will make his entire life if Ryan says yes.
Ryan puts his sunglasses on and walks over to Ronon. "Sure."
Pete and Ronon both grin.
Balancing is a little awkward, and probably if it were anyone else, they wouldn't be able to move very far, but it's Ronon, and Ronon could probably push like, Arnold Schwarzenegger around on his handlebars, so. It works. Ryan's a little too tall for this to work, but he remembers when he used to ride around like this on Spencer's bike, back when they were kids and Ryan's bike had been stolen.
"I can't believe you learned this quickly," Ryan says as Ronon takes them in a huge circle around the lot.
"Fast learner. When I want to be."
They ride around awhile longer, Pete and Patrick watching them from a distance, and Ryan knows it's dumb, but he kind of wishes they could stay here forever.
"I wish you didn't have to leave." It takes him a second before he realizes he said it out loud.
"Me too," Ronon says after awhile.
Ryan realizes they sort of had a 'moment' while he was riding on the handlebars of Ronon's bike that Pete bought two days ago and taught Ronon to ride in that frame of time, and laughs a little. This whole thing is completely ridiculous. In the best way possible.
---
They have one more day before Ronon has to fly back to Colorado Springs, and Pete decides he wants to show them around town. Well, Ronon, mostly; Ryan's been here before.
"You know, the Sears Tower, the Bean, Michigan Avenue, all that touristy crap. Lame, I know, but if you're only here for one day you might as well, just so you can say you've seen 'em."
Ryan thinks Pete has a point, and so they wander around Chicago and act like tourists for a day.
When they're up in the Sears Tower, looking out over Lake Michigan, Ronon smiles as he feels the strong breeze coming in off the water.
"Reminds me of home," he says fondly, and Ryan feels a pang in his chest, because he realizes that as much as he wishes Ronon could stay with him all the time, Ronon would miss his life...wherever that is. And Ryan just wants Ronon to be happy.
He doesn't say anything, just takes Ronon's hand.
---
"You're a pretty awesome dude," Pete says to Ronon when he and Patrick drop them off at the airport.
"You too. Thanks for teaching me to ride a bike," Ronon grins.
"Thanks for making Ryan happy," Pete replies, and Ryan feels a tightness in his throat, because he knows it's one of those rare moments when Pete is being completely serious. "I know that sounds cheesy, but...he deserves it. So thank you."
Ronon looks really touched, and like he's not sure what to say. He finally settles on a mumbled, "You're welcome."
Pete hugs Ronon for a long time. Ronon hugs back.
Then Ronon hugs Patrick, which is a really hilarious sight, because Ronon's practically a foot taller than Patrick, and Patrick sort of disappears when engulfed in Ronon's arms.
Pete grabs Ryan and holds on, and Ryan wraps his arms around Pete and thanks God, or whoever, that he met this guy.
"Love you," Pete says into Ryan's ear, and Ryan kisses Pete on the cheek.
"Love you, too," he manages to say it without his voice wavering at all, which Ryan thinks is an accomplishment.
When Ryan pulls away, Ronon and Patrick are looking at them, but neither one of them looks upset, and Ryan thinks it's a pretty great turnaround for Ronon, to be able to go from completely jealous of Pete to...not at all, in less than a week.
"Oh, one more thing!" Pete goes to root around in the car, and in that time Patrick hugs Ryan.
"Thanks, Patrick. For everything. Even if you did introduce Ronon to Transformers."
Patrick laughs and Pete says "aha!" and emerges from the car holding a wrapped package. He hands it to Ronon.
"This is for you," he tells him. "To remember us by. Don't open it yet. Oh, and don't forget, we're holding your bike hostage, so you better come back if you ever want to see it again."
They all exchange one last round of hugs, and then Ryan and Ronon grab their bags and walk into the airport, Ronon clutching the package Pete gave him and smiling softly to himself.
---
Ryan and Ronon don't say anything to each other the entire flight, Ryan just rests his head on Ronon's shoulder and Ronon lays his head on Ryan's. Ryan doesn't think there's anything they can say, really.
Spencer's waiting for them at the airport, and if he hugs Ryan a little longer than he normally would when he sees him, Ryan thinks it's probably because he looks like he really needs it.
They drive to the place where they picked Ronon up a week ago, and Spencer stays in the car as Ryan and Ronon get out.
"Well," Ryan says, not knowing where to go from there.
"Yeah," Ronon agrees, looking just as unsure of himself.
Fuck it, Ryan thinks, if he can't say it now, when will he ever be able to?
"Ronon, you. I don't...I've never met anyone like you before, and. I just. I think this really...something. What we have. I want it to work, no matter how hard it is."
"You changed my life," Ronon says gruffly, not looking directly at Ryan. "You made me believe there was still good things out there for me. And I...I gave up on that. Awhile ago. But now. I want it too work, too," he concludes in a rush.
Ryan tells himself he's not going to cry.
"C'mere," Ronon says, and he wraps his arms around Ryan, and Ryan closes his eyes and hugs Ronon as hard as he can. He doesn't ever want to let go.
Ronon kisses him, and Ryan kisses back, probably a little desperately, grabbing onto Ronon's hair, and when he pulls away, Ronon says, "I love you." He looks scared, like he's afraid Ryan won't say it back, or doesn't feel the same way, which is completely ridiculous.
"I love you too." Ryan kisses Ronon again, and he knows this will be the last time in...a really long time.
"I promise I'll be back," Ronon says against his lips and Ryan nods; he believes it, he just doesn't know how long he'll have to wait for Ronon to make good on that promise.
Ronon eventually lets go of him, and presses one last kiss to Ryan's forehead, and then he's saying "Bye," and Ryan thinks he says "bye," too, and then Ronon's gone, carrying his duffel bag and Pete's present, and Ryan's still standing there, and he doesn't know what to do, and then Spencer's there, pulling him into a hug.
"Hey, it's alright," he whispers, running his hand down Ryan's back soothingly.
Ryan bites his lip and shuts his eyes. "I just..."
"I know," Spencer says and hugs him tighter.
"C'mon," Spencer says after awhile, putting his arm around Ryan's shoulders and walking back towards the car. "Jon and Brendon miss you, we gotta get back."
Ryan smiles and actually means it. "I missed them, too."
---
John, Rodney, and Teyla are all waiting for Ronon when he comes back through the gate, in a sort of flashback to a week before.
"Hey buddy, welcome back," John calls.
When Ronon gets closer Rodney makes an upset noise at all the scratches and bruises on Ronon's arms. "Oh my god, did you actually get attacked by groupies?"
"Nah," Ronon laughs. "Learned to ride a bike. Oh, I did crowdsurf, though."
John laughs happily. "Really? Cool. Did you tell Ryan that Rodney finally likes the new CD?"
Rodney sputters indignantly. "I just was surprised, alright? The new sound is so different, but I never said I didn't-"
"I think your words were 'my illusions about the universe have been shattered forever,' or something like that. But don't think I didn't hear you humming 'Behind The Sea' when we were off-world last week."
Rodney crosses his arms defensively. "Well, since you somehow got the 'jumpers to play CD's, and that's all you've been listening to for the last few months, I've pretty much got the entire thing burned into my brain for the rest of my life. And," he adds reluctantly, "I guess it is pretty good. Once you get past the whole- stop laughing at me right now, Colonel."
John doesn't stop laughing, but he's looking at Rodney with a fond smile on his face.
"Are you well?" Teyla asks Ronon keenly; she can always tell when something isn't quite right.
"Yeah," Ronon says, putting his arm around her briefly. "Mostly. Good to be home, though."
"Glad to have you back," John says. "Just in time for movie night."
Ronon groans. "Please tell me we're not watching something with Molly Ringwald again."
John frowns and starts to respond when Rodney shrieks, "Oh god, what are you wearing!"
Ronon looks down at his hoodie; it's a new piece of Clandestine merch, not available for purchase yet, according to the note Pete left in the box along with the hoodie itself. its probably too small for u but i thought youd look good in it anyway it had gone on to say.
"Oh, Ryan's friend Pete gave it to me," Ronon says casually, throwing his duffel bag over his shoulder and heading towards his quarters. Everyone trails after him.
"You know it's...kind of small," John says hesitantly, and Ronon laughs.
"I like it anyway."
Teyla looks at it curiously. "What is that...creature on it? It resembles...I believe on Earth you call it a...bat?" she turns to John, who nods.
Ronon shrugs. "Dunno. Pete designs 'em."
"Wait," Rodney says, eyes wide. "Are you talking about Pete Wentz? Pete Wentz gave you that? Oh my god."
"It's no big deal. See you guys at dinner." And Ronon steps into his quarters and closes the door, Rodney's voice still practically shrieking in the hallway.
He showers, changing out of his Earth clothes, except for the hoodie, of course, and it's not until he looks in his duffel bag for something that he finds it.
There, on top of his clothes, is an epipen on a chain, just like the one Ryan has. There's a note wrapped around it. Ronon unfolds it and reads.
Now you have one too.
Ronon grins, slips the chain around his neck, and goes to meet his team for dinner.
---
Manip by makesomelove! ISN'T IT RIDICULOUSLY GREAT AND ADORABLE??!
THE END. FOR NOW.
So, without further ado, I present, to her and to you:
With No Handlebars, or, A Little Less Molly Ringwald, A Little More Shore Leave. Set in the same universe (or universes, I guess) as this comment fic that Becca herself wrote...I am merely expounding upon her brilliance! You should probably read that first, or a few important details will not make much sense.
Bandom/SGA crossover: Ryan Ross/Ronon Dex (Pete/Patrick, McKay/Sheppard, a little bit of Brendon/Spencer) Basically as many OTP's as I could fit in! Oh, also, past Pete/Ryan.
~8,000 words
Mostly PG-13, I'd say, but there is one scene in there that is maybe higher, I don't know, I'm bad with ratings.
Disclaimer: This isn't real, because half the people in this story are fictional, and even within their fictional world, it's still not true. As far as I know, Rodney McKay is not a Panic At The Disco fan...but he could be, who knows!
Title stolen from the Flobots' song "Handlebars" and obviously, Fall Out Boy's "A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More 'Touch Me.'" Which is already Molly Ringwald related! So thanks, Fall Out Boy!
Notes: Thank you so so much to mintyfiend and makesomelove, for looking this over and catching my stupid mistakes, letting me ramble to them, giving me ideas, and agreeing with me that James Spader is hot. ♥ I couldn't have done it without you!
This is Ronon, in case anyone is wondering. He's basically really hot. And well, just think about how hilarious and cute he'd look with Ryan. I mean, really. Also imagine him hanging out with Pete Wentz. Great, huh?
"I don't understand how you can get leave to go to Earth all the time to make out with your jailbait boyfriend," Rodney complains as he attempts to keep up with Ronon as he hurries down the hallways of Atlantis, duffel bag slung over one shoulder.
Ronon makes a noncommittal noise and doesn't slow down, but that doesn't stop Rodney from continuing. "I mean, seriously, what do you say to Sam when you do this? Do you make up some inane excuse about wanting to experience the culture of your Earthling friends, or what? Because as far as I can see there's no benefit to the Atlantis mission or any mission at all in you traipsing off to Earth, seeing as how, oh right, you're not even from there. So I'm curious to know exactly what you tell Sam and what she tells the SGC. It must be a really good excuse-"
At this, Ronon finally stops and turns around to face Rodney, blank expression on his face. "McKay."
Rodney stumbles a bit as he attempts to not crash into Ronon's suddenly not-moving frame. "What?"
"I just tell her that I want to go back to Earth to spend time with my boyfriend." Ronon's mouth twitches a little like he's going to laugh, and then he's off again, Rodney racing to keep up.
"...Seriously? That's it? And she allows that? Oh my god, if I'd known it was that easy, I would've- hey, would you slow down? I'm trying to see you off, you ingrate!"
He doesn't manage to catch up with Ronon again until they reach the gate room, where John and Teyla are also waiting. Ronon nods at them as the gate begins to activate, chevrons lighting up.
"Now make sure you don't talk to any strangers, and stay with Ryan at all times," John says in mock seriousness, and Ronon rolls his eyes.
Teyla reaches out and Ronon lowers his forehead to hers gently.
"Have a wonderful time," she tells him and he smiles and gently touches her swelling stomach.
"Take care of yourself. And rest."
Teyla promises to do so, and Ronon looks at John. "You make sure she listens."
John nods, crossing his arms. "Don't worry, I'll make sure she's supervised at all times."
"Not at all times, I hope," Teyla smiles indulgently and it's a very nice moment, until Rodney makes an irritated sound.
"It's not like he's leaving for a year, he'll be back in a week. We don't have to cry about it."
Ronon laughs and punches Rodney on the arm, in what is probably meant to be a light, affectionate manner, but Rodney winces anyway. "Gonna miss you too, McKay."
Chuck calls down that they're all clear to go, and Ronon nods at them all one last time before disappearing through the gate.
"Watch out for the groupies!" Rodney shouts after him, and John laughs. "What? It's a valid concern, they can be vicious!"
"Well, you would know, wouldn't you," John drawls, in that way that annoys Rodney immensely, still grinning like crazy.
"What is that supposed to mean, Sheppard? Oh my god, just because I happen to appreciate the music does not mean I'm a groupie! Please!" Rodney scoffs, and Teyla shakes her head at them before making her way back to her quarters.
"Rodney, you fell all over yourself when you found out about Ryan and Ronon. And I heard you and Zelenka and Simpson giggling about it in the labs, don't pretend like you weren't."
Rodney glares at John and begins walking out of the gateroom, intending on going to the labs and ignoring him for the rest of the day. "I do not giggle, Colonel. And now if you'll excuse me, I have some work to do. Unlike Ronon, I can't go back to Earth and spend the entire day having what is probably ridiculous amounts of sex."
"Yeah, you're right. You don't have to go back to Earth to do that," John says lightly, and Rodney stops short and stares. John is staring at him with a faux-innocent expression on his face, but his eyes are giving it away.
"Umm...well...that's. You know, I don't really have that much work to do. I can put it off for an hour or so. Or maybe a few."
John smiles brightly and licks his lips. "Is that so?"
Rodney tries not to look like he's staring at John's mouth, but mostly fails. "Yes, I think I can rearrange my schedule."
"My quarters are closest," John says, and Rodney most definitely does not have to restrain himself from running to get there.
---
Ryan and Spencer are waiting for Ronon when he finally emerges out of Cheyenne Mountain, after the manual physical inspection and random protocol needed before he's allowed to go. Sometimes Ronon really doesn't understand people from this galaxy.
When Ryan sees Ronon, he walks casually toward him and pushes his sunglasses up onto the top of his head. "Hey."
"Hey," Ronon says in response, and then they just stand there staring at each other for a few seconds, before Ryan's face slowly breaks into a huge grin and then he launches himself into Ronon's arms, wrapping all of his gangly limbs around Ronon at once, and Ronon doesn't even stagger at all, just laughs loudly and tries not to hug Ryan too hard.
"Hey," Ryan says again, and before Ronon can say anything, he kisses him, hard, and Ronon's still holding him up like he weighs nothing at all. Spencer just shakes his head and smiles.
Eventually Ronon puts Ryan down, and greets Spencer as they get into the car. Spencer agreed to drive them to the airport, mostly because he knew Ryan would want to do exactly what he's doing now, which is practically sit in Ronon's lap and...welcome him back. Spencer just figured that it would be better if Ryan wasn't also trying to focus on driving while doing this.
"Your flight to Chicago leaves in two hours," he tells them, looking in the rear view mirror and then, oh eww, wishing he hadn't. He hopes Ryan appreciates this; he feels like a chauffeur. Or a cabbie. When he'd told the others what he was doing, Jon had wrapped his arms around him and said "You're a good friend, Spencer Smith," so at least someone thinks so.
"Hey," Ronon says as he notices something hanging from a chain around Ryan's neck. It's the epipen Ronon gave him. Ronon gently lifts the chain and holds it in his hand. "You kept it."
Ryan ducks his head and shrugs. "It made me think of you."
Ronon lets go of the epipen and brings his hand up to brush Ryan's hair off of his forehead. Ryan looks up and flushes. "I know it's kind of lame, but I didn't have anything...you just left, and I didn't-"
He doesn't finish because Ronon's kissing him, forceful and quick. "Thank you."
"Oh my god," Spencer says from the front seat.
---
"So where're we going?" Ronon asks as they board the plane, receiving several strange looks from passengers. Ronon draws attention wherever he goes, even while wearing jeans, and Ryan's fairly certain no one even has given him a second glance. He's completely anonymous today.
"Chicago. My friends, I've told you about them, Fall Out Boy? They have a couple of shows there, and it's going to be really awesome. It's their hometown, so everyone's really excited, and Pete said I should bring you."
Ronon nods thoughtfully. "Pete's the one who, what's it called, signed you to the label?"
"Yeah. He's...well, he's Pete. You'll see when you meet him," Ryan says as they take their seats. He puts his head on Ronon's shoulder and keeps it there as the plane prepares for take off.
---
The first night of three sold out Fall Out Boy shows in Chicago is the first time Ronon accidentally causes a mosh pit all by himself.
He doesn't mean to, just, well, he gets really into the music, banging his head, dreadlocks whipping around everywhere, and pretty soon the entire floor of the arena is flailing around like mad. It's probably the most hardcore a Fall Out Boy show has been in years, and Pete is visibly ecstatic about it. So much so that when they reach the end of the set, he full on dives into the crowd during "Saturday," instead of his normal security-supervised crowd visitation. Thankfully, the crowd reacts quickly enough to hold him up, and he makes it through without being dropped. Patrick still looks terrified the entire time; Pete's too old for this shit.
It is, however, agreed upon by all members of the band that it's one of the best shows they've ever played, and when Ryan and Ronon come back stage afterward, everyone is really pumped. Especially Pete, who is standing on the back of the couch in the dressing room, apparently ready to re-create his stage dive from earlier.
"Oh man, and then it was so awesome, I was just standing there, deciding whether I should go for it-"
"Yeah, we saw, we were all there," Joe notes from across the room, as Pete almost loses his balance, arms flailing wildly.
"Pete, get down," Patrick says without even looking behind him, and Ryan notes with amusement that while Pete rolls his eyes, he doesn't argue.
"Yes mom." He jumps and lands on his ass on the cushions, right next to Patrick. "Patrick, Patrick, you were amazing," he says, getting to his knees and leaning over Patrick to kiss him. When he pulls away Patrick looks exasperated, but mostly just really pleased.
"How very Freudian of you," Ryan notes dryly, and Pete grins and jumps off the couch.
"Ross! You're here! Wasn't that fucking awesome?" He grabs Ryan and hugs him, lifting him off the ground for a second with his exuberance.
Ryan laughs. "I guess it was okay," he jokes, and Pete grins and kisses him on the cheek with a loud, smacking noise.
"It was the shit, and you know it, kid. Hey, so are you going to introduce me?"
"Oh, right!" Ryan laughs happily; no matter how many years he's known Pete, he's never quite fully lost that 'ohmygoditspetewentz!' feeling that he gets when he's around him, and he's sort of stupidly giddy right now. "Pete, this is Ronon."
Pete seems to fully look at Ronon for the first time, and Ryan notes smugly that his jaw kind of drops a little and his eyes are wide. "Wow. Really?" His face melts into that signature Pete Wentz grin. "Ryan Ross, you devil. Hi, I'm Pete," he says to Ronon, holding out his hand.
Ronon's eyes are narrow and he's not quite scowling, but looks like he could start to at any second. He holds out his hand, too, though, and grins a little when Pete winces in pain. "Shit, you're strong," Pete notes as he pulls his hand away, rubbing at it a little.
"Sorry," Ronon says shortly, but he doesn't look it.
Pete just grins and looks at Ronon with something like awe in his eyes. "It's cool. Wow. Awesome."
Ronon appears confused as to why Pete isn't running away in terror or at least looking more uncomfortable. Ryan's actually uncomfortable enough for the both of them, so he figures it makes up for it a little.
"Umm, yeah, Ronon, why don't I introduce you to the rest of the guys," he says, leading Ronon away from Pete, who is still standing there looking slightly dazed.
Ryan has a feeling he and Ronon are going to have to talk.
---
Later that night, when Ryan and Ronon are checking into their hotel room, Ronon is suspiciously quiet, and Ryan's worried. Not that Ronon's ever really that talkative, but there's a tension that's not normally there, and Ryan has a suspicion he knows what it's about.
Thankfully, he doesn't have to wait that long, or bring the topic up himself, which he really didn't want to do, because soon after they get to their room and start preparing for bed, Ronon speaks up.
"So. You and Pete. Did you ever..."
Ryan could probably lie, but he doesn't want to do that, and figures it would probably eventually come back to him someday, so he doesn't. "Yes," he says hesitantly, and Ronon's shoulders go tense, but he doesn't say anything, and lets Ryan continue. "It was...awhile ago. I swear, nothing's happened in years. I just...I thought I was in love with him, you know? And I think he thought he was in love with me, too, but it wasn't...it was great, but we realized it wasn't...we're just friends, I swear. And in case you didn't notice, he's pretty much one step away from kidnapping Patrick and running away with him to Canada."
"Canada? That's where McKay's from," Ronon says, looking confused, and Ryan realizes it's one of those weird things that Ronon somehow missed out on learning when he was off doing his super secret projects for the government...wherever.
"Oh, no, it just. I just meant Pete really likes Patrick. A lot."
Ronon nods, but doesn't do anything that tells Ryan how he's feeling, and Ryan's really freaked out that he's going to say something that will ruin this completely. "And, in case you didn't notice this either, I'm...I'm kind of ridiculously crazy about you. So."
There's a second where Ronon looks away that Ryan's sure he's going to break up with him, right there, and go back to...wherever it is he goes, and then Ronon is pulling Ryan down onto the bed and gently pinning him to the mattress. "Good," he says, and Ryan grins in relief.
"Yeah," he agrees as Ronon lowers his head to kiss him.
---
Before the show the next night, Ronon asks, "What's that thing Pete did last night? Where he jumped off the stage?"
Ryan's kind of surprised; the question came out of nowhere. "Oh. It's called crowdsurfing."
Sheppard has told Ronon about surfing before, on the water, and how great it is, but he never mentioned crowdsurfing. He wonders if Sheppard knows about this. He'll have to mention it when he gets back.
"Hmm," he says, and doesn't mention it again.
---
Pete pretty much thinks Ronon is the greatest thing ever. He won't leave Ronon alone, and seems to consider him his own personal jungle gym or something, the way he keeps crawling all over him, and doing ridiculous things like asking for piggy back rides. Ronon, apparently pleased with Ryan's answers about his relationship with Pete, allows this with good-natured tolerance.
"He's pretty cool," he tells Ryan with a shrug, and Ryan can't fight the huge smile on his face.
Patrick tells him, with a little bit of a scowl, Ryan notes, that all Pete had been able to talk about the rest of the night was how awesome and hot Ronon is. Actually, Patrick seems to be kind of in a bad mood; he spends a lot of the day sitting in the corner with his Macbook, alternatively ignoring Pete and glaring at him. Pete doesn't seem to notice; he's too busy teaching Ronon to play soccer.
"It'd be awesome if he did a header!" he tells Ryan excitedly.
Ryan ignores the weird feeling that seems kind of like jealousy when he sees Pete sitting in Ronon's lap, laughing about something. Pete doesn't mean anything by it. At least they're getting along, right?
Later he hears Pete and Patrick arguing.
"I guess I'm just not tall enough for you Pete," Patrick snaps, and Pete has no idea how to respond.
"....Patrick, I have no idea what you're talking about, I just think Ronon's cool. You're really cute when you're being all bitchy and jealous, though."
Ryan doesn't have to stick around to know what Patrick's response to that will be.
---
The second show is just as great as the first, though there is a bit of a sticky situation when someone bumps into Ryan, hard, and then says "hey, watch it, asshole!" Ronon grabs the guy around the neck and lifts him off the ground with one hand. "Apologize. Right now," he growls.
"Ronon! It's okay, it's not a big deal! Put him down!" Ryan puts his hand on Ronon's arm and Ronon immediately releases the guy, whose face is red and is clutching his throat and coughing loudly.
"Sorry-" Ryan starts to say, but the guy, understandably, is already running away. "Don't do that again," he tells Ronon, who grunts his consent and shrugs.
After that, things go smoothly, despite the fact that Patrick is still mad at Pete, and Pete even dedicates "Gin Joints" to "a good friend of mine and his very good friend," which makes Ryan grin and even Ronon looks pleased.
Things go smoothly, that is, until the crowdsurfing begins. Ronon's interest is immediately peaked; it looks like fun, and if it's anything like the surfing Sheppard talks about, then it must be pretty great. He carefully observes what people are doing for awhile, and then turns to Ryan, grinning. "Be right back."
"Ronon, what-oh my god." Ryan gasps as Ronon throws himself into a group of people, disappears for a second or two, and then somehow, miraculously, is lifted up into the air. It takes a lot of people to hold him up, but either the crowd tonight is abnormally strong, or just really scared that a 6'4" guy with huge muscles is going to fall on them (probably the latter) but Ronon is, somehow, successfully crowdsurfing, looking like he's having the time of his life.
"Oh god, oh god, oh god," Ryan mutters to himself, heart beating wildly, unable to pay attention to the show, all his attention focused on his gigantic boyfriend being held up by the hands of 5 foot scene kids. He's not sure whether he's more afraid that Ronon is going to hurt himself, or that Ronon is going to hurt someone else. It's a toss up, really. He reminds himself that 21 is too young to have a heart attack.
After a minute or so that feels like forever to Ryan, Ronon does some crazy looking leap, and somehow lands on the ground, on his feet, and not on anyone's head. He walks back over to Ryan proudly. "I did it."
Ryan can't help but smile. "Yeah, you did."
---
"That was so great!" Pete jumps on Ronon the instant he and Ryan come back stage. "I saw you! Well, you were kind of hard to miss, actually, but dude, that was seriously the coolest thing I've ever seen."
"It was pretty freakin' sweet," Joe agrees, and Ronon beams.
"Hey, Ryan, me and Patrick are gonna watch Pretty In Pink," Pete says, and well, Ryan can sort of never resist the opportunity to watch Pretty In Pink, even though he's seen it a ridiculous amount of times. He's really glad he has friends who also like it, too; the last time the band had watched it, Brendon had jumped in Ryan's lap and wailed "God, Ryan, I'd've died for you!" at random times for like, days afterward.
"Is that the movie with that Molly Ringwald person?" Ronon asks.
"Yeah," Ryan says, surprised. Ronon doesn't seem to have that wide a knowledge of popular culture.
"Sheppard loves her," Ronon explains. "We've watched all her movies probably three times on movie nights. I bet I'll have to watch it again when I go back."
"Well, we don't have to-" Ryan begins to say, but Joe cuts him off.
"Nah, you go ahead, I'll keep Ronon company. Andy disappeared with Mixon, so I'm all alone. Don't worry, we're just gonna chill, I won't have him out too late."
"That okay?" Ronon asks, and when Ryan nods, he leans in to kiss him once before following Joe out the door.
"I'll meet you back at the room," Ryan calls.
Pete grins happily. "You guys ready for some Duckie love?"
---
They head back to the hotel; Pete and Patrick both have places in the city, but the hotel is closer, and Ryan and Ronon have a suite, so there's plenty of room for them to sprawl on the couch and watch the movie. Pete sits in the middle, his legs thrown across Ryan's lap, and his head on Patrick's shoulder.
Ryan gets out his phone and texts Brendon as the movie's starting: watching pretty in pink w/ pete and patrick and receives a reply less than a minute later.
ID STILL DIE FOR U RYAN ROSS!!!
Ryan hopes Ronon is having fun with Joe; he's a little worried, but he realizes that Ronon can definitely take care of himself, and it's not like they're going to do anything else but sit around and smoke; Ronon's done that with Ryan and the rest of the band, the last time he visited, so Ryan knows he's not going to like, have some weird reaction and go completely crazy.
Pete nuzzles Patrick's neck and says, "May I admire you again today?" along with Duckie, and Patrick smiles and seems to forget that Ryan's there for a second, because he lowers his mouth to Pete's and wow, that is seriously not the way he usually lets Pete kiss him in front of other people; he must've forgotten that he was irritated with Pete earlier in the day, too. If that was a fight, it didn't last long.
Ryan looks back at the screen, stifling a laugh. If Ronon could see this, and he had any lingering doubts about Pete maybe having feelings for Ryan, this would erase them completely.
"I think James Spader's hot," Pete says sleepily after awhile, and both Ryan and Patrick respond with an "eww."
By the time Ronon comes back, Pete and Patrick have fallen asleep on the couch, Pete sprawled all over Patrick, and Patrick's arms around Pete's waist. Ryan has taken several pictures to entertain himself, and sent them to various people, including his own band, and received several responses, pretty much all of them variations of aww they're so whipped!.
Ryan's thinking of other ways he can amuse himself, when he hears a soft knocking at the door.
"Didn't you have your key?" he asks, as he opens the door and Ronon stumbles inside.
"Oh yeah," he says, shrugging. "Didn't think of that, sorry. Hi," he adds, pulling Ryan into his arms.
"Hi," Ryan says softly, as Ronon kisses along his jaw. Ronon's pretty stoned; Ryan can tell by the way he's all loose-limbed and clingy, but he figures it would take a lot more than pot to have much more of an effect on someone of Ronon's size.
"Pete and Patrick are still here," Ryan tells Ronon when his kisses become more insistent.
Ronon says something that sounds like "mppphf" and pulls his mouth away from Ryan's skin to peer over at the couch, where Pete and Patrick are still curled up together, sound asleep. He smiles.
"That's cute," he says fondly. "I like them."
Ronon when he's high is pretty hilarious, and Ryan bites back a laugh. "Yeah."
"We can just be quiet," Ronon grins wickedly, and Ryan is really tempted, but he knows for a fact that Pete's a really light sleeper; Ryan's actually surprised he hasn't woken up yet, but then again, Ryan's never really seen Pete asleep with Patrick, so maybe that makes a difference. And there is a door between the living room area and the bedroom...and he really doesn't want to kick them out, it's really late...
"Okay," Ryan decides. Fuck, like he hasn't heard Pete having sex before; if he hears anything, it'll be like a million years worth of payback. He'd feel bad subjecting Patrick to that, though, so he adds, "but seriously, really quiet."
Ronon pulls him towards the bedroom, smiles again and says (quietly), "No promises."
---
"Oh, god, Ronon, yeah, that's...oh my god..."
Ronon stops what he's doing long enough to grin at Ryan and mumble, "Shh, quiet, remember," before lowering his head again, and making Ryan see sparks behind his eyelids.
Ryan's trying, he really is, but what's he supposed to do when Ronon pushes him to the bed and gets all their clothes off in a record amount of time, kisses Ryan, quick and dirty, before saying "Here, I'm...I want to..." and sliding down Ryan's body and taking his cock into his mouth all at once? Anyone would make at least a little bit of noise if that happened to them.
"God," Ryan says again and grabs a pillow to muffle the sounds coming out of his mouth. This is going to be difficult.
---
When Ryan wakes up in the morning, Ronon's gone, but he hears voices coming from the living room part of the suite, so he gets up, and finds Pete and Patrick still there, the television blaring, and animatedly trying to explain whatever Transformers series is on the screen to Ronon.
"See okay, they're robots, but they can disguise themselves as like, cars and stuff, in order to blend in here on Earth," Patrick's saying, his jealousy of Ronon apparently forgotten, and Ronon's nodding interestedly.
"I like that one," he says nodding at the screen.
"Starscream," Pete tells him. "Yeah, he's awesome. He's one of the Decepticons-"
"The bad guys," Ronon interjects and Pete nods excitedly.
"Yeah! This is great, me and Patrick never have anyone to talk about Transformers with."
"That's because it's lame," Ryan says, and is rewarded with twin glares from Pete and Patrick. Even Ronon looks at him disapprovingly.
"I don't know, it seems pretty cool," he shrugs.
Pete gives Ryan a triumphant look and then goes on to explain to Ronon about the epic battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons, with Patrick interjecting occasionally. Ryan thinks maybe he just got replaced.
they like ronon better than me he texts Spencer.
who wouldn't? Spencer responds. Sometimes Spencer is a really not supportive best friend.
---
Later, when he and Ronon are out with Pete and Patrick - for some reason Pete had started talking to Ronon about bikes, and when Ronon had said he'd never learned to ride, Pete had decided he needed to rectify this immediately by buying one, and they have time today, because the third show isn't until tomorrow - Ryan's phone rings. It's Spencer.
"So can Ronon play guitar?" he asks. "Because if he's replacing you, he's gonna have to take lessons if he can't."
"Haha." Ryan rolls his eyes.
"He'd be great," Spencer continues. "The girls'd love him."
"Your mom would love him," Ryan retorts and then feels bad; Ginger is a lovely woman and pretty much raised him.
"Whose mom would love who?" Pete calls over.
"Spencer's," Ryan tells him, but refrains from answering the second part. "I kinda gotta go, we're shopping for bikes."
Spencer laughs. "Why?"
"Don't ask," Ryan advises. "I'll talk to you later."
"Okay. Ahh, Brendon, stop it! I'm on the phone!" Spencer sounds like he's giggling, if Spencer did anything as undignified as giggle. "I'll be off in a second. Brendon says hi," he adds, and Ryan snorts in amusement.
"I'll bet he does. Bye."
"Oh man, Spencer's mom. She's-" Pete's saying, but Ryan cuts him off before he can continue.
"Okay, so, bikes?"
Patrick is just staring at all of them like they're crazy, but this is nothing new.
---
"Seriously dude, what planet did you grow up on that you never learned to ride a bike?" Pete asks, and Ronon laughs really hard, but doesn't answer.
They go to a place that sells all kinds of bikes; new, old, and everything in between. Pete finally decides on a Schwinn cruiser, a classic one, used, but in great condition. It's red, and "the one for you, I can feel it," Pete adamantly tells Ronon.
"Okay," Ronon agrees, and Pete gleefully hugs him before wheeling the bike over to pay for it.
"Now you just have to learn to ride it," Patrick points out, and Ronon frowns a little.
"Oh right. Is it hard?"
Patrick shrugs. "It can be, but once you get the hang of it- Pete! What are you doing? You do not need to buy a two-person bike! I refuse to ride that with you, just so you know!"
They finally leave the store, in possession of two new bikes, even though they only came for one. They manage to load one bike into the trunk of Pete's car, but need to attach the two-person one onto the roof. Well, the guy who works at the store does that, actually, with Ronon's help.
In the car, Pete tries to convince Patrick that what he really wants more than anything in the world is for them to ride a two-person bike together. "It's like my dream!" he says, and Patrick raises an eyebrow.
"Since when?"
"Since forever! Just because I never told you about it, doesn't mean I wasn't thinking about it! For all you know, I lie awake at night, fantasizing about you, me, and a two-person bike, on our way to a picnic in the meadow," Pete pouts.
Patrick laughs. "Well, keep fantasizing then."
"But it'd be so romantic! Patrick! Think about it."
"Uh-huh," Patrick says. "I'm kind of hungry, let's get lunch."
---
"Patrick, Patrick, give me your answer, doooooo..."
"Oh god, Pete, stop it."
"....I'm half crazy, all for the love of youuuu..."
"I mean, it Pete, I'm breaking up with you unless you shut up."
"Something something marriage...la la something about a carriage..."
"You're hurting everyone's ears."
"...But you'll look sweet on the seat of a bicycle built for two!"
"I hate you."
"Are they always like this?" Ronon asks, amused, as they sit as close together as possible in the backseat.
"Pretty much," Ryan answers, putting his head on Ronon's shoulder. Ronon takes his hand and laces their fingers together.
---
After lunch, Pete makes it his goal to teach Ronon to ride a bike by the end of the week.
"I promise, I will have you up and riding around! Guaranteed."
Ronon agrees, and they end up in the back parking lot of the hotel, which is pretty deserted.
"So, if you had a kid's bike, you'd have training wheels. But training wheels are for losers, so you're just gonna learn the old-fashioned way. Actually, I have no idea if that's the old-fashioned way, but that's how we're gonna roll."
Ryan and Patrick watch with amusement as Pete shows Ronon how to get on the bike and how the kickstand works, and how to use the brakes. He zooms around the parking lot, a few times before coming to a stop in front of Ronon. "Okay, your turn."
Ronon gets on the bike. He starts pedaling with Pete still holding on, and then as they build up speed, Pete lets go. Ronon promptly falls over.
Ryan and Patrick determinedly do not laugh.
They try again; this time, Pete gives Ronon a little push as he lets go. The only thing this accomplishes is that Pete falls over as well.
Ryan and Patrick let themselves laugh a little. But quietly.
By the time Pete does something that results in both he and Ronon on the ground with the bike on top of them, Ryan and Patrick have lost it.
Patrick is practically crying he's laughing so hard, and Ryan's clinging to Patrick's side for support, because otherwise he wouldn't be able to stand.
It's okay though, because Pete and Ronon are laughing harder than anyone, in a heap on the ground. They seem incapable of moving, and simply lie there with their eyes closed and both of their ridiculous laughs echoing throughout the parking lot. Their laughter actually makes Ryan and Patrick laugh harder, if that's possible.
"Oww...I can't...feel...my legs, I think, okay, yeah...just gotta get this bike off...and it'll be...fine," Pete gasps for breath as he ineffectually kicks at the bike.
Ronon manages to lift the bike up, and then stands, wobbling a little bit. He has a scrape on his arm, but appears otherwise unharmed. He holds his hand out to help Pete get up. It takes a few tries, because Pete keeps doubling over with laughter and falling down again.
"You remind me of Sheppard when you laugh," Ronon says when Pete's finally standing again.
"Yeah?" Pete asks, examining the bruises on his arms. "Oh, man, I'm bleeding a little."
"Yeah. You both have really dumb laughs."
"You should talk," Pete says, but he's still grinning.
"You sure you guys are okay?" Ryan calls over to them.
"We're fine!" Pete calls back, and winces a little when he presses his fingers to a scrape on his cheek. "You ready to try again?"
"Bring it on," is Ronon's reply.
---
Somehow, Pete's teaching method of 'oops, sorry about that, well, let's just start over!' is actually making progress. Ryan and Patrick had gone inside the hotel for a while, when they'd started talking about music and Patrick had wanted to show Ryan something on Garageband (Ryan hadn't even realized Patrick had brought his laptop with him last night, apparently forgetting that Patrick rarely goes anywhere with out it) and when they'd come back outside, Ronon was actually riding around the parking lot and only falling down occasionally.
"I'm a teaching master!" Pete informs them proudly, arms raised in victory. He has scrapes and bruises on his arms and what looks like the beginning of a black eye.
"How'd that happen?" Patrick asks, looking concerned.
"Oh," Pete shrugs. "We fell over and Ronon sort of elbowed me in the face. It was no big deal."
They watch as Ronon starts to fall over but manages to right himself before hitting the ground and takes off again.
"We'll have him at the Tour de France in no time at all," Pete says, grinning like a proud father.
---
Ronon and Pete finally call it a day, and Pete and Patrick head off to...wherever it is Pete and Patrick go.
"I finally have you all to myself," Ryan says happily, straddling Ronon's lap, and frowning when Ronon winces slightly. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing. Just some bruises." He wraps his arms around Ryan's waist and kisses his throat.
Ryan's still frowning. "Am I gonna have to yell at Pete for breaking you?"
Ronon snorts. "Takes a lot more than Pete to break me. Trust me."
"I'll be gentle," Ryan jokes, and then gasps when Ronon bites his ear gently.
"You don't have to be," he growls, and Ryan pretty much thinks his brain is going to leak out of his ears if Ronon keeps looking at him like that, with his eyes all dark and intense and suggestive.
When Ryan pushes Ronon back against the mattress, Ronon lets him.
---
They spend all the next day up until it's time to go to the show in bed. Ryan doesn't think he's come that many times in 24 hours in his life. Then again, he's never spent 24 hours in bed with Ronon, so. That probably explains it.
The last show is maybe even better than the first two, even without Ronon crowdsurfing. He stands behind Ryan the whole time with his arms around his waist and gets a lot of complaints from the people standing directly behind him, but whatever. Ryan doesn't care. Ronon's going to be leaving in a few days, and Ryan has no idea how long it will be until he can see him again. He knows he's not allowed to ask questions about Ronon's job, but sometimes he wants to, wants to know what it is that's so top-secret and important that Ronon can only see him every few months. It's not fair, he thinks, and doesn't care that it's selfish.
Maybe Ronon can hear what he's thinking, because he holds Ryan a little tighter.
---
Pete has a party at his place after the show. Ronon spends most of it getting impromptu drum lessons from Andy.
"Why does Pete even have drums here?" Ryan shouts to Patrick over the noise.
"They're actually mine," Patrick shouts back, wincing. "There's more room for them here."
Ronon may not know how to drum, but Ryan has to admit, he looks good, his dreadlocks flailing everywhere as he wildly bangs the cymbals. He thinks Spencer would approve. Actually...he pulls out his phone, takes a video and sends it to Spencer.
NICE. i like his form Spencer texts back.
Andy takes the drumsticks from Ronon and explains something, gesturing, and Ronon nods. When Andy hands the drumsticks back and Ronon starts to play again, Ryan thinks he can make out an actual beat. Andy looks amused, but pleased.
"Dude," Joe says when Ryan ventures into the kitchen for a drink. "Ronon's really great."
"Yeah," Ryan agrees softly, already missing him.
"Last night all he could talk about was you. He pretty much thinks you shit rainbows. Well, he didn't say that, but pretty much that's what I got out of it."
Ryan tries not to do something lame, like get choked up. "He has to leave again in two days."
"That sucks," Joe sounds sympathetic. "Long distance is hard work, I know. But if it's worth it..."
"Yeah," Ryan smiles. "It is."
---
"By george, I think he's got it!" Pete exclaims, clapping his hands in glee.
"If you start singing My Fair Lady again, Pete, I swear," Patrick mutters.
They're back in the hotel parking lot, and Ronon's back on the bike. He hasn't fallen once. He's riding around like a pro, weaving in and out from between cars.
"Admit it Patrick, he's like Audrey Hepburn and I'm like what's-his-face. Only with bikes."
Ronon coasts towards them and comes to a stop in front of Ryan.
"Wanna ride on the handlebars?" he says, grinning, and Patrick rolls his eyes.
"God, Pete, what have you been telling him?!"
"Do it!" Pete says, ignoring Patrick, looking like it will make his entire life if Ryan says yes.
Ryan puts his sunglasses on and walks over to Ronon. "Sure."
Pete and Ronon both grin.
Balancing is a little awkward, and probably if it were anyone else, they wouldn't be able to move very far, but it's Ronon, and Ronon could probably push like, Arnold Schwarzenegger around on his handlebars, so. It works. Ryan's a little too tall for this to work, but he remembers when he used to ride around like this on Spencer's bike, back when they were kids and Ryan's bike had been stolen.
"I can't believe you learned this quickly," Ryan says as Ronon takes them in a huge circle around the lot.
"Fast learner. When I want to be."
They ride around awhile longer, Pete and Patrick watching them from a distance, and Ryan knows it's dumb, but he kind of wishes they could stay here forever.
"I wish you didn't have to leave." It takes him a second before he realizes he said it out loud.
"Me too," Ronon says after awhile.
Ryan realizes they sort of had a 'moment' while he was riding on the handlebars of Ronon's bike that Pete bought two days ago and taught Ronon to ride in that frame of time, and laughs a little. This whole thing is completely ridiculous. In the best way possible.
---
They have one more day before Ronon has to fly back to Colorado Springs, and Pete decides he wants to show them around town. Well, Ronon, mostly; Ryan's been here before.
"You know, the Sears Tower, the Bean, Michigan Avenue, all that touristy crap. Lame, I know, but if you're only here for one day you might as well, just so you can say you've seen 'em."
Ryan thinks Pete has a point, and so they wander around Chicago and act like tourists for a day.
When they're up in the Sears Tower, looking out over Lake Michigan, Ronon smiles as he feels the strong breeze coming in off the water.
"Reminds me of home," he says fondly, and Ryan feels a pang in his chest, because he realizes that as much as he wishes Ronon could stay with him all the time, Ronon would miss his life...wherever that is. And Ryan just wants Ronon to be happy.
He doesn't say anything, just takes Ronon's hand.
---
"You're a pretty awesome dude," Pete says to Ronon when he and Patrick drop them off at the airport.
"You too. Thanks for teaching me to ride a bike," Ronon grins.
"Thanks for making Ryan happy," Pete replies, and Ryan feels a tightness in his throat, because he knows it's one of those rare moments when Pete is being completely serious. "I know that sounds cheesy, but...he deserves it. So thank you."
Ronon looks really touched, and like he's not sure what to say. He finally settles on a mumbled, "You're welcome."
Pete hugs Ronon for a long time. Ronon hugs back.
Then Ronon hugs Patrick, which is a really hilarious sight, because Ronon's practically a foot taller than Patrick, and Patrick sort of disappears when engulfed in Ronon's arms.
Pete grabs Ryan and holds on, and Ryan wraps his arms around Pete and thanks God, or whoever, that he met this guy.
"Love you," Pete says into Ryan's ear, and Ryan kisses Pete on the cheek.
"Love you, too," he manages to say it without his voice wavering at all, which Ryan thinks is an accomplishment.
When Ryan pulls away, Ronon and Patrick are looking at them, but neither one of them looks upset, and Ryan thinks it's a pretty great turnaround for Ronon, to be able to go from completely jealous of Pete to...not at all, in less than a week.
"Oh, one more thing!" Pete goes to root around in the car, and in that time Patrick hugs Ryan.
"Thanks, Patrick. For everything. Even if you did introduce Ronon to Transformers."
Patrick laughs and Pete says "aha!" and emerges from the car holding a wrapped package. He hands it to Ronon.
"This is for you," he tells him. "To remember us by. Don't open it yet. Oh, and don't forget, we're holding your bike hostage, so you better come back if you ever want to see it again."
They all exchange one last round of hugs, and then Ryan and Ronon grab their bags and walk into the airport, Ronon clutching the package Pete gave him and smiling softly to himself.
---
Ryan and Ronon don't say anything to each other the entire flight, Ryan just rests his head on Ronon's shoulder and Ronon lays his head on Ryan's. Ryan doesn't think there's anything they can say, really.
Spencer's waiting for them at the airport, and if he hugs Ryan a little longer than he normally would when he sees him, Ryan thinks it's probably because he looks like he really needs it.
They drive to the place where they picked Ronon up a week ago, and Spencer stays in the car as Ryan and Ronon get out.
"Well," Ryan says, not knowing where to go from there.
"Yeah," Ronon agrees, looking just as unsure of himself.
Fuck it, Ryan thinks, if he can't say it now, when will he ever be able to?
"Ronon, you. I don't...I've never met anyone like you before, and. I just. I think this really...something. What we have. I want it to work, no matter how hard it is."
"You changed my life," Ronon says gruffly, not looking directly at Ryan. "You made me believe there was still good things out there for me. And I...I gave up on that. Awhile ago. But now. I want it too work, too," he concludes in a rush.
Ryan tells himself he's not going to cry.
"C'mere," Ronon says, and he wraps his arms around Ryan, and Ryan closes his eyes and hugs Ronon as hard as he can. He doesn't ever want to let go.
Ronon kisses him, and Ryan kisses back, probably a little desperately, grabbing onto Ronon's hair, and when he pulls away, Ronon says, "I love you." He looks scared, like he's afraid Ryan won't say it back, or doesn't feel the same way, which is completely ridiculous.
"I love you too." Ryan kisses Ronon again, and he knows this will be the last time in...a really long time.
"I promise I'll be back," Ronon says against his lips and Ryan nods; he believes it, he just doesn't know how long he'll have to wait for Ronon to make good on that promise.
Ronon eventually lets go of him, and presses one last kiss to Ryan's forehead, and then he's saying "Bye," and Ryan thinks he says "bye," too, and then Ronon's gone, carrying his duffel bag and Pete's present, and Ryan's still standing there, and he doesn't know what to do, and then Spencer's there, pulling him into a hug.
"Hey, it's alright," he whispers, running his hand down Ryan's back soothingly.
Ryan bites his lip and shuts his eyes. "I just..."
"I know," Spencer says and hugs him tighter.
"C'mon," Spencer says after awhile, putting his arm around Ryan's shoulders and walking back towards the car. "Jon and Brendon miss you, we gotta get back."
Ryan smiles and actually means it. "I missed them, too."
---
John, Rodney, and Teyla are all waiting for Ronon when he comes back through the gate, in a sort of flashback to a week before.
"Hey buddy, welcome back," John calls.
When Ronon gets closer Rodney makes an upset noise at all the scratches and bruises on Ronon's arms. "Oh my god, did you actually get attacked by groupies?"
"Nah," Ronon laughs. "Learned to ride a bike. Oh, I did crowdsurf, though."
John laughs happily. "Really? Cool. Did you tell Ryan that Rodney finally likes the new CD?"
Rodney sputters indignantly. "I just was surprised, alright? The new sound is so different, but I never said I didn't-"
"I think your words were 'my illusions about the universe have been shattered forever,' or something like that. But don't think I didn't hear you humming 'Behind The Sea' when we were off-world last week."
Rodney crosses his arms defensively. "Well, since you somehow got the 'jumpers to play CD's, and that's all you've been listening to for the last few months, I've pretty much got the entire thing burned into my brain for the rest of my life. And," he adds reluctantly, "I guess it is pretty good. Once you get past the whole- stop laughing at me right now, Colonel."
John doesn't stop laughing, but he's looking at Rodney with a fond smile on his face.
"Are you well?" Teyla asks Ronon keenly; she can always tell when something isn't quite right.
"Yeah," Ronon says, putting his arm around her briefly. "Mostly. Good to be home, though."
"Glad to have you back," John says. "Just in time for movie night."
Ronon groans. "Please tell me we're not watching something with Molly Ringwald again."
John frowns and starts to respond when Rodney shrieks, "Oh god, what are you wearing!"
Ronon looks down at his hoodie; it's a new piece of Clandestine merch, not available for purchase yet, according to the note Pete left in the box along with the hoodie itself. its probably too small for u but i thought youd look good in it anyway it had gone on to say.
"Oh, Ryan's friend Pete gave it to me," Ronon says casually, throwing his duffel bag over his shoulder and heading towards his quarters. Everyone trails after him.
"You know it's...kind of small," John says hesitantly, and Ronon laughs.
"I like it anyway."
Teyla looks at it curiously. "What is that...creature on it? It resembles...I believe on Earth you call it a...bat?" she turns to John, who nods.
Ronon shrugs. "Dunno. Pete designs 'em."
"Wait," Rodney says, eyes wide. "Are you talking about Pete Wentz? Pete Wentz gave you that? Oh my god."
"It's no big deal. See you guys at dinner." And Ronon steps into his quarters and closes the door, Rodney's voice still practically shrieking in the hallway.
He showers, changing out of his Earth clothes, except for the hoodie, of course, and it's not until he looks in his duffel bag for something that he finds it.
There, on top of his clothes, is an epipen on a chain, just like the one Ryan has. There's a note wrapped around it. Ronon unfolds it and reads.
Now you have one too.
Ronon grins, slips the chain around his neck, and goes to meet his team for dinner.
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Manip by makesomelove! ISN'T IT RIDICULOUSLY GREAT AND ADORABLE??!
THE END. FOR NOW.