My all new and incessant need to fill in bits of TRC/TDT storyline we know probably happened but didnāt get to see. Started a series of sorts on ao3 called āmissing piecesā under the same username and hereās some post-TRK Ronsey Iām working on :)
As Gansey drives, he can sense Ronanās gaze on him. He can see that his face is turned towards him in the corner of his vision and he knows his eyes will be flicking from Ganseyās hand on the stick, to the dashboard, to his face then back again.
Gansey savours the moment.
Itās something that had happened for the last time once and when it occurred, he had no idea it was going to be the last time. But now itās happening like there was never a break, never a pause or a hitch between a Gansey and Ronan before and a Gansey and Ronan now.
Tomorrow, Gansey will be getting on a plane but right now, he doesnāt think about that.
Thereās a thousand things he wants to say, but he doesnāt know how he can say them, even though heās sat beside his best friend who would absorb it all.
Over the past year, Ronan has changed and Gansey can see more than a glimpse of who he was before his father was murdered. Heās getting used to a smile that doesnāt hurt to look at and a laugh that comes easy and at little cost.
Itās almost dark now, the sun bleeding apricot and blush across the cloudless sky and Gansey is so excited to start his adventure with Blue and with Henry butā
He looks over at Ronan finally and his eyes are dark as the car interior draws the dusky evening in closer. Heās wearing a jacket as though the late August day left behind them on the still warm asphalt spoke of chilly autumn mornings.
The smell in the car is gasoline, sharp and thick and itās the scent of years passed and Gansey feels sad. For a moment. Just a moment.
āLet me drive it,ā Ronan says, his voice perfectly in sync with the sputtering cadence of the Pigās engine, āJust once.ā
Gansey smiles at the road in front of him as the orange creature eats it up, hungry for the miles itās easily consuming. God, Gansey loves this car.
āJust once?ā He repeats, āLike this version didnāt come directly from your head?ā Youāve dreamt it, youāve thought it, youāve driven it.ā
Ronan laughs and Gansey glances at him and watches how the passenger seat cradles his body and the back of his skull. His laugh rumbles within him like he himself runs off an engine.
āWhen youāre goneāā
āWhen Iām gone, itāll be in my dadās garage,ā Gansey interrupts, āYouāre not getting your hands on it, Lynch.ā
Ronan says nothing but heās still smirking and Gansey wonders whether heās thinking of a weekend the previous year when Gansey had taken Adam to DC and Ronan had stayed in Henrietta and got himself into trouble.
Dream me the world, Gansey had told him and he had wondered since then if he had tried.
The dreamt Pig was perfect and faultless, meaning it was imperfect and had many faults, one being the fact that the engine would sometimes give up. Ronan dreamt the car to do this because he knew Gansey loved the old car fiercely, even though at times it was difficult. Sometimes Gansey wasnāt sure if it was the car he loved or the dreamer who dreamt it anew.
They drive now to a destination that remains a secret kept from Gansey, though he is the one taking them there. Ronan tells him when to turn and they climb up into the mountains as the sky fills with stars.
At some point during the drive, Gansey realizes where theyāre going but he doesnāt point it out and he doesnāt ask why. He lets Ronan guide him as they remain in silence. A comfortable, familiar silence, one that feels good to hold, to run a hand over.
