Family Business ► Sean + Ryan
@upstatebutcher
It was no secret that Ryan’s evening hadn’t ended the way he wanted it to. Of course, his little lapse wasn’t watched by any, and the first to see the outcome of it would probably be Olivia’s brother, so no one knew the reason. But one could tell by the look in his eyes how genuinely pissed off he was. His piercing blue eyes were lacking any emotion and while there usually was a tiny spark of kindness in them, tonight had officially taken it away. He was done. Absolutely fucking done.
Ryan walked through the ballroom, aiming straight for the bar. His first instinct had been to flee the scene, maybe lock himself up in his house or simply disappear for a while. His second instinct - and undoubtfully his former self was playing a big part in this one - was to find something to shoot, to let his anger out on, to start a fight with someone random who would go down. His third and final instinct was to drink the entire bar empty. Needless to say, he settled for the latter. He couldn’t and wouldn’t forgive himself, but alcohol at least would help him push the thoughts aside for a while. Maybe it would even allow him to pass out without a chance of starting to dream. It was a win-win situation.
The way he stood there; with cold eyes, a hard expression, a dangerous look and a glass of scotch in his right hand, would make everyone who knew him - the real him, not the broken version of him the amnesia created - think he was back. It was a very Ryan Gibbons typical pose; a predator looking for his prey. Maybe it was the reason why his eyes found his brother easily in a room filled with people, maybe it was by sheer coincident. Either way, his look was immediately locked onto the younger one.
By now, the face was familiar. Several nightmares had given Ryan the ability to study the face, the voice, even the way the other male moved, and if he had been unsure before whether or not the stranger was lying to him about their brothership, Ryan knew they had to be close now. He still was lacking the name, which was frustrating, but it wasn’t the only annoying thing.
With new determination, Ryan pushed himself off the bar, walked straight to the table his brother was sitting at and let himself fall down on a chair next to Sean. A part of him wanted to grab the man’s jacket and press him against the closest wall to growl at him, maybe even punch him back for the last time they met, but the gala saved the youngest Gibbons. Ryan didn’t want to end up being everyone’s favourite topic to gossip about on the next day. He would behave.
“How about we have a little fun, shall we?” he asked rhetorically. At this point, ‘no’ was not an option. “Some questions and answers. I can’t be the only one a little curious about this.”










