Character(s)::Peri and Ryland Word Count::2,591 Content Warnings: Mentions of abuse and death
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Things had been tense, too much all at once. Dawn running off with a little fae child, Stone turning up alive and, a werewolf. It was, honestly, almost too much. To make matters worse, River had been tailing her for the last two weeks, making it almost impossible for her to do anything outside of work.
Peri had gotten lucky though. River had been put on a case that took her three states over and that gave Peri the time she needed to get in touch with Ryland. She needed to know if he had known anything about this.
She doubted it, but she would have said the same thing about Marcus had Stone and Riley not filled her in on all of it.
“Did you know?” she demanded as she slid into the booth across from him. The torn and faded vinyl scraped against her bare legs but she barely felt it. Shorts weren’t the best for hiding guns, but it was too damn hot to be wearing jeans and she doubted she was going to need the gun in some hole-in-the-wall diner.
Ryland glanced up at her, confusion creasing his brow as he slid a menu to her. “Did I know...what?”
She could have left it that, but she needed to be sure. If he had known and didn’t tell her she was going to punch him. Hard.
“That he was alive?”
“Who?”
“My brother, you dumb fuck.”
Of all the things that could have come out of Peri’s mouth, that was the last thing Ryland had been expecting. As far as he knew, Stone had been dead for over a decade at this point. Torn up by some werewolf on a hunt he had been too young and inexperienced to tackle on his own.
“Per, what the fuck drugs are you on? I was at his funeral, remember?”
“So was I. That box was fucking empty, Ry. It was all for goddamn show.”
“What are you goddamn talking about, Per? You saw the scene. There’s no way in hell he could have survived that,” the younger hunter pointed out, concern mounting.
Peri shook her head, a twisted smile curving on her lips. “He’s alive, Ryland. I saw him. He’s been living with Chase fucking Holden. Del Rogers faked his goddamn death after he got bit. He’s currently shacked up with Riley. Who, by the way, hadn’t had a goddamn clue but his daddy sure as shit knew,” she elaborated as she dug the phone out of her back pocket.
He didn’t want to believe her, couldn’t believe her. After that many years, it seemed impossible. But, as Peri slid her phone across the table, he couldn’t help but want to believe what he was seeing in the picture.
“Jesus,” he muttered, not knowing what else to say. “And you’re completely sure it’s him? Really, actually him?”
“One hundred percent sure. Marcus confirmed it. That might not have gone over too well.”
Admittedly, Peri had taken that bit of information harder than the rest of what she had learned. But who could blame her? Someone she had trusted for most of her life had lied to her face for so many years. Anyone would be pissed at that sort of revelation.
Ryland groaned and slumped down on his side of the booth, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Please tell me you didn’t take a swing at Marcus? Actually, no, don’t answer that. I’d know if you were lying and I think I’m better off not fucking knowing.”
“Yeah, that’s fair.”
“So. Stone’s alive and a werewolf. I gotta say, Per, I did not have that on my bingo card.”
The response had her grabbing one of the sweetener packs and throwing it at his face, annoyed at the relief she felt over that small bit of normalcy.
“If that had been on your bingo card, I would have asked if your daddy had finally beat the last lick of sense out of your goddamn head,” she shot back, relaxing just a little. “I can’t believe he’s really alive. That he got out. My little brother is alive, Ry.”
“Yeah, I can’t even begin to wrap my head around that. You always said you weren’t convinced he was really dead though. Guess I should stop questioning whether or not you’re right about things anymore.”
“I wouldn’t go that far. I’ve given some pretty shitty advice over the years.”
He hummed in agreement at that, fingers balling his straw wrapper before flicking it at her. “Well, yeah, can’t be perfect. If you were, you wouldn’t be a hunter. Neither one of us would be in a perfect world.”
“Gettin’ cold feet again?”
“Something like that.”
“What’s got you wanting to run this time?” Last time it had been because he had fallen in love and she was hoping like hell he hadn’t made that same mistake twice.
“Sorta met someone a while back. He knows what I am, who am I. He also knows Asshole and not in a good way,” he sighed, hating that he and Lex shared some of the same trauma.
“As in your uncle?” She didn’t need to know more than that. She knew what sort of hobbies Atticus had and she couldn’t imagine the hell he would put anyone through.
Ryland nodded, fidgetting a little. “I might run this time, Per. You know what my dad’ll do if he catches me dating another guy. I am not going through that again and I don’t want to give up Lex either.”
She reached across the table, calloused fingers wrapping around his wrist before giving him a gentle squeeze. “Then do it, Ry. One of us deserves the chance to get the fuck out and have a real life. Just don’t be stupid about it.”
“Thanks, Per. I knew you of all people would understand.”
“Well, someone has to. This is a shit life full of shit people. If you see a chance to bolt and don’t take it, I’ll shoot your ass. Deal?”
“Deal.”Silence stretched between them for a moment, the waitress came and took their orders, trying not to look like she had been eavesdropping. As far as she knew, this was just some weird game played by two kids a little too old for such nonsense, but who was she to judge?
“You really think I have a chance of getting out? Alive, I mean. Obviously, if I die, I’m done,” Ryland finally asked, looking for some reassurance, some sliver of hope that he and Lex would be okay.
“I can’t say for sure. I don’t know a lot of places that are safe enough to hide you, you know?”
She had told Riley once that he might show up there, but she knew that wouldn’t work long term. No one wanted to start that kind of fight with Ryland’s family. It wouldn’t end well for anyone involved and she also knew Ryland wouldn’t put others at risk like that.
“Lex said we’d figure something out, but I don’t know how much optimism I can have. I mean, it’s not common for anyone in my family to get out alive.” The only ones he really knew about were dead or so deep in hiding they might as well have been. It did not bode well for him.
“Maybe, but, staying is only going to get you killed and you know it.” She was assuming Lex was the boyfriend, but she wasn’t going to question it. She had known Ryland a long time and if he had found someone that made him feel like this again, she wasn’t going to tell him the hard truth.
He didn’t need to be told it would be safer for both of them to part ways. Not when Peri would put money on him already knowing that.
“Yeah...I hate when you’re right.”
He didn’t, but he also didn’t want the truth right now. He wanted to be lied to, to be told everything would work out fine and he’d be able to have a life. A real one. That he would be able to be with the person he loved without risking either of their lives in the process.
“I do too if it’s any consolation.”
It wasn’t, they both knew it, but they’d take what they could get.
“Maybe going to the creek for a few days at least wouldn’t be a terrible idea. You’d get to see Stone again and maybe someone there will have a better idea of where you could go. There’s got to be someone in this country with enough power base to either hide you completely or keep you safe when shit hits the fan. Because you know shit will absolutely hit the fan.”
“Helpful.”
Despite his bitter grumbling, he knew Peri had a point. The odds were good that someone there would be able to point him and Lex in a safe direction.
And he did want to see Stone for himself and give him at least a little hell for putting them all through mourning his ass. After all, they had been friends once and he needed that kind of closure himself.
“You know I’m right, again, even if you hate it.”
“I’m not feeding your ego any further.”
“That might be for the best. It is getting pretty out of control.”
He snorted a laugh at that before lobbing a sugar packet at her, one upping the amount of product thrown at the table. It was childish, sure, but for people that had never gotten the chance to be children, it was comforting.
“I don’t think it’s ever been in control.”
“Oh bite me.”
“I would, but neither one of us would enjoy it.”
“Fair point,” she laughed, knowing neither of them had ever been into the other like that. Even if Ryland wasn’t gay or Peri didn’t have a preference for femme presenting, they had always viewed each other like family.
Or, the family they wished they could have had growing up.
“When you do bolt, call me when you get somewhere safe, okay? Don’t let me spend a decade or more wondering if you’re dead or I swear to god, I’ll kill you myself,” she threatened, giving her best playful glower as she threw the sugar pack back at him.
“I’d never put you through that. Not after your brother. You know that,” he answered quietly, not ready to joke about that one quite yet. She had had time to sit with it enough to joke, but Ryland was still reeling from the shock, even if he was trying not to show it.
“Too soon for humor?”
“Just a bit. Give me like...a week.”
“One week. That’s all you get before you have to make bad jokes with me.”
“I think I can manage that.”
“Good. Because I have no one to make jokes with and I need the humor.” She couldn’t make those kinds of jokes with Stone or Riley, it was all still too raw for them, she thought, but Ryland coped like she did most of the time. Shitty jokes about dead siblings and moms had just always been a thing for them.
Maybe it wasn’t healthy, but neither of them would have known a healthy coping mechanism if it bit them on the ass.
“Tune in next week when we find out I have living siblings,” he muttered, shaking his head and cracking the barest smile. That was a distinct possibility, they both knew it, but he also knew at least one was likely a werewolf if he was still alive and his dad wouldn’t stop until he was dead. It really put a damper on wanting to meet any of his potential siblings.
“That could happen. I don’t see any of them showing up on your doorstep though. Not if they know anything about your daddy.” She knew she wouldn’t go near that family at all if she had a choice, not with how most of them were. Ryland was likely the only exception she was ever going to make on that front.
“Can’t really blame them for that,” he agreed, wishing like hell he could have had that option. But, no, he got to be the one with the absolute misfortune of being raised in that life.
The waitress returned with their food and refills on their drinks, eyeing the two of them suspiciously. But they were both used to those sorts of looks and only smiled sweetly at her. Nothing to see here, just two assholes with shit humor and a gratitude to anyone that didn’t ask too many questions. Or call the cops on them.
“I’m beginning to think we need new bingo cards though if this is how the year is going to play out. I’m adding dad gets eaten by a zombie, Carver manages to lose a limb, and your dad gets bit in the ass by a coyote.”
“Oh you’re on,” Ry agreed as he pulled out his phone to make notes of that. “I’m adding your mom is the zombie that eats your dad, someone in the family shoots Atticus, and daddy dearest finally drinks himself to death.”
“Okay, but we both know you don’t have the kind of luck that would make those last two happen. You might be the unluckiest son of a bitch I’ve ever met and that’s...saying a lot.”
“Okay, rude. I’m not that unluck-- fuck, you might have a point.”
He really wanted to argue it but his entire life had been a series of piss poor luck and he was really hoping that wouldn’t keep being a thing. Not if he was planning on running.
Instead, he decided to lean across the table and snag the pickle off of her plate, barely dodging her attempt to stab him with a fork as he did.
“Hey! Don’t stab me! You don’t even like pickles, remember?” he taunted, knowing the last time they had spoken she had mentioned some girl she was seeing on the other side of the country.
“I like pickles just fine, you little shit.”
“Well, too bad you’re getting slow in your old age then,” he countered before chomping down on it and trying not to choke when she landed a solid kick to his shin.
“I’m going to remind you that you said that the next time your ass calls me for back up,” she groused as she threw a fry at his face.
“You’re going to get us kicked out before I even have a chance to eat.”
“It’d be your fault.”
“Not this time.”
“How do you figure? You started it when you stole my damn pickle.”
“You’re the one that called me and dropped a literal bomb on me that I am still trying to wrap my head around. My judgment is compromised, yours isn’t.”
Peri opened her mouth to argue before being forced to concede. He had a decent enough point that she couldn’t argue it well enough to win.
“You’re an ass.”
“Yeah, but you still choose to be friends with me. Which is just another point in your column of bad judgment calls, Per.”
“Just shut up and eat so we can get out of here before the waitress calls the cops on us.”