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When Ryan came back from his trip to the grocery store he didn't waste any time on anything else but cooking. Brendon could hear from his bed, where he laid, that Ryan whisked the batter and then the bubbling sound when the cool batter hit the hot frying pan.
Brendon wasn't really craving pancakes. It had all just been a trick to get Ryan out of his house so that Brendon could take a drink without getting questioned about it.
Sick men aren't supposed to fuddle.

Brendon put a smile on his face as Ryan bashed into the bedroom with a plate full of golden pancakes in the secure safety of his hands. They were so hot that a steam came out of them and they smelled delicious too.

As Ryan got closer Brendon could see the brown syrup that was sprinkled over the pancakes. Yum.

"Hey. Looks like you have done a great job with those," Brendon cooed and let his lips twist into a grin as he pointed towards the plate with food on it. Ryan couldn't have been prouder. The guitarist's back was so straight and his head was held so high that you could have mistaken him for a street lamp.

Brendon was sincerely happy that Ryan had succeeded with his cooking this time. That could not be said about the soup which the older man had made earlier. It had been a mess of flavours that simply didn't go well together.

Since the singer had alcohol flowing in his system he felt harmonic and well-satisfied with everything that was going on. He decided that he would try to eat all of the pancakes even if he wasn't hungry. Just to please Ryan.
Brendon thought of it as his kindest deed yet. Politeness was important in the young man's mind.

Ryan helped Brendon to sit up in the bed, his back resting against some pillows that Ryan had stacked up. Ryan then put the pancakes in Brendon's lap and sat down on the bed to watch him eat.
Ryan's big dark eyes followed Brendon's every movement carefully. He seemed to be genuinely enjoying seeing Brendon pleased.

The singer sent the guitarist a weak smile before he pierced a piece of the syrup-drenched pancake on a fork and let it travel through the air to it's goal - Brendon's mouth.
The flavours exploded in his mouth. He had to admit that it tasted like a piece of heaven.

"Yum!" Brendon cheered over-excitedly to make sure that Ryan got the hint. His gesture was appreciated since Ryan grinned like a fool back at him.
"You liked it?" Ryan asked like a child that needed confirmation from a stern parent. Brendon nodded and took another mouthful on the fork and stuffed it into his hungry oral opening.

A sigh escaped the singer's mouth as he completed the meal. The belly was about to explode as the pancakes started to swell in there. He was delighted though, it had definitely been worth it. Both because of the taste and the happiness it gave Ryan.

Brendon knew very well that Ryan probably was the best friend he would ever get and he was eternally thankful for that. Having Ryan around was like having an amusement park in your room. You'd never get bored in a million years.
Everything about Ryan was a ball.

Still Brendon couldn't stop his mind from thinking other thoughts. A part of him wanted to have Ryan gone so that he could interact with his bottles all by himself.
His relationship with booze was strong. But was it stronger than his friendship with Ryan?

He couldn't help but wonder if Ryan would stay another night. He sure didn't hope for that. Then he would need an excuse to go downstairs - alone - and digest some liquid gold.
Brendon knew that the bottle of beer that he just drank wouldn't be enough for more than a couple of hours. Then the body would start to tingle and crave more to keep the flow going.
Or else the sweats and shakes would come.

Ryan put away the empty plate on the bedside table with a happy sigh. His eyes sparkled and reminded Brendon of the reflection of the sun which you can see on water surfaces on sunny days.
That's how enchanting and beautiful it was. Almost like a fairytale.

"So..." Ryan started, "we have talked when you were gone. You know, the guys in the band."

Brendon nodded. He wasn't sure where this was going. By the looks of Ryan it seemed like he was about to get kicked out of the band.
Ice started to spread like poison in his veins. It wasn't fair! They couldn't do that to him after everything they had been through.

"And we figured that since we have so many new songs, why not record another album?" Ryan continued and grinned like a Cheshire cat.

Brendon let out a sigh of relief. He wasn't kicked out. At least not yet.

The thought of recording a new album was highly appealing since he remembered how much fun it was to do A Fever You Can't Sweat Out.
The band would hang out, occasionally record some songs and then drink. Mostly just fuddle and have a good time.

"Really?" Brendon asked, his voice was slightly unstable. After all, he had just thought that he was out of the band. That would rock any one's world.

"Yeah! We're going to present the idea and some of the songs to the record label soon but then you have to sing it with us!" Ryan twittered happily. You could see in his eyes that he was very excited about the idea.

"I'll do it. I'll learn the songs," Brendon said. Ryan squealed and threw his arms around Brendon's neck.
Brendon returned the hug, quite stiffly. It felt good and weird to have Ryan so close. He could feel the musky and spicy scent of the guitarist's perfume as he clung like a koala on Brendon.

After a couple of seconds Ryan let go. He was grinning, the corner of his mouth reaching from his right ear to the left one.

"Fucking awesome! I knew that I could count on you. Still , we need to name the new album," Ryan said pensively.

Brendon couldn't really give that many suggestions since he hadn't heard the music yet but he was still determined to at least try.

"We can call it Our Second Try? Or maybe Tales Of A Panic Attack?" Brendon tried only to receive grimaces from Ryan.

"Those names are pretty odd," Ryan said slowly.

Something clicked in Brendon's mind and a light bulb appeared above his head. "I got it!" the singer screeched, "Let's call it Pretty Odd!"