Chapter Text
“You’re going to college? In New York? Ryland that’s—“ Colt looks in disbelief. He looks Ryland up and down.
“It’s New York! That’s a big opportunity.” Ryland replies. They’re getting loud. It never ends well when they get loud.
Colt sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. A move he’s adopted since the end of high school. “But that’s like…”
“All the way across the country? Yeah. I know. That’s two thousand seven hundred and ninety two miles away.” Ryland sits down on their couch. They’d been living in a small apartment together they could barely afford as students fresh out of high school.
“Aren’t you going to like…do anything else before that? A gap year? Community college? NYU is…it’s huge, Ryland. Like..bigger than you’re even thinking.” Colt says. They hadn’t had much time together between junior year when they found out the other existed and now moving in together. Colt wanted more time. Was there ever going to be more time?
A long pause. Silence. Not even cars honked outside like they did all day and all night. And Colt knew then. He took a deep breath, the shaky one where you swallow hard and blink rapidly, trying not to cry.
“Well..when do you.. leave?” Colt asks, buying more time.
“In about..a month.” Ryland replies hesitantly.
Something goes unspoken between them. Let’s make the most of it.
They spend a whole month together. One week is spent camping and hiking. Neither remember the place it was called but they take a camera with them to capture it. They take a day to go cliff jumping and Colt suffers a few nasty scrapes. The memories made outweighs the pain. A fishing spot is found in a beautiful lake. Colt nor Ryland have served an interest in fishing before but it’s worth paying the fine for, even though they argue about it on the way home.
Colt blasts Ryland’s music in his car when they go for late night drives. He hates the music he listens to but he’ll endure it. For Ryland.
Finally, a whole month comes to an end. They’ve got five memory cards worth of memories and Colt copies all of them to give to Ryland. The drive to the airport is silent. No banter, no teasing, no radio playing. Just quiet acceptance.
Eventually they pull into the airport parking lot. Ryland’s flight isn’t for about two hours but there’s security and customs to take into account. Colt leads Ryland into the airport before he goes over to check in and go through security and all that. Ryland drops his bags and turns to Colt, wrapping his arms around him.
They’re not huggers. They didn’t grow up with physical affection, not really. Colt inhales deeply as he presses his nose into Ryland’s shoulder. Their arms are tight around each other. A firm hold. Ryland sniffles and Colt feels him breathe shakily. Colt doesn’t cry. Yet. But he can feel a lump in his throat. One that feels hard to swallow.
When they pull away what feels like ten minutes later, both brothers are misty-eyed. Colt more-so than Ryland, actually.
“Fuck, I love you, man.” Colt says, sniffling and wiping his nose with his sleeve.
“I love you too, man. I’m gonna miss you.” Ryland wipes at his face with his hands. They hug again, for longer. The rest of the world fades away. Colt shakes with sobs as they hug. Ryland can’t help getting more emotional in return.
It’s going to be a while before they see each other again. And it’s bittersweet.