Pizza Night
Ryan rang the doorbell of the house in the middle of the street. As he waited, he leaned heavily on one of the beams that made up the porch. His breathing was irregular, and he was hyperaware of the blood trickling down his leg and staining the welcome mat at his feet. One very painful minute passed before the door was flung open to reveal a tiny Asian woman wearing superhero pyjamas. She was grinning expectantly up until the point that she saw Ryan. She scowled. "You're not the pizza guy." Ryan smiled weakly, not thrown by the girl's complete lack of empathy. "Sorry Hinata. I'll bring pizza next time." Hinata raised a single, unimpressed eyebrow as she looked down at the welcome mat. "You're paying for a new one of those." "Are you sure? It gives off an impressive serial killer vibe. It's very trendy at the moment." Hinata simply rolled her eyes; she was a woman of passive aggressive gestures rather than words. For a moment Ryan thought she was going to leave him bleeding to death in the cold, and he seriously contemplated buying some pizza just so she would let him in. Luckily, fate smiled kindly on his leg and his wallet as Hinata disappeared back inside, leaving the door open for Ryan to hobble through. As soon as he was three steps into the house, his leg gave out, and he caught himself on the small table covered in keys, receipts and other objects that should really be kept in safer places. He heard Hinata yell up the stairs, "Emmet! Ryan's dying again. Fix him before he bleeds over everything." At this, another girl poked her head around the doorway of the kitchen and sighed. "I was really hoping it was the pizza guy." "I'm feeling the love Tiff, I really am," Ryan called from the floor. He could feel beads of perspiration run down his temples and his leg ached like nobody's business. He shifted slightly and groaned as his trouser leg unstuck from his wound, sending a fresh wave of pain through his body. A tall skinny boy came into view, crouching down in front of Ryan and staring at him with big blue eyes half full of worry, half full of irritation. "You just had to get hurt on pizza night," Emmet muttered, poking Ryan's bleeding leg. Ryan gritted his teeth and hissed. "Shut up about pizza. I'm about to die!" Emmet sighed, adjusting his glasses and ruffling his already messy hair. "Don't be so dramatic. I'm not going to let you die." Emmet stood up and called into the kitchen, "Tiffany, clear the table." And then into the living room, "Tam, give me a hand." Tam and Emmet lifted Ryan onto the kitchen table which had been cleared of all crap. Said crap lay scattered on the floor instead; a pile of university textbooks, Cluedo, a sock and an unhealthy amount of beer bottles. As Emmet got to work stitching Ryan's leg back together, everyone else filtered in and out of the kitchen as if nothing was out of the ordinary. And that was because nothing was. Ryan had lost count of the number of times he had ended up on this table, his life in the hands of one of the med students. It was almost always Emmet simply because he had the best bedside manner and even that was questionable. Emmet took a break from his work and poured himself a shot of the alcohol he'd used to clean Ryan's wound. They didn't have any shot glasses, so he used a Hello Kitty mug instead. Ryan took this moment to gather the thoughts still available to him through the haze of painkiller that Emmet had practically forced down his throat. It was one that Hinata had invented. He'd once asked her how she had done it but zoned out as soon as she stopped speaking English and started speaking Science Nerd. All that he knew was that it was bright pink, tasted like candy floss and made it impossible to think much about anything. It worked though; he felt as light as a feather and comfier than he should for a man sitting in his underwear on a hard, wooden table with a needle stuck in his thigh. "So, what did you do this time?" Emmet asked. It took Ryan a while to even register the question let alone formulate a coherent answer. His first attempt came out it caveman style grunts that were as far away from proper words as possible. His second attempt wasn't much better. However, attempt number three actually involved words, slurred, muffled words but words none the less. "I got sliced by a Spider." Emmet frowned. "Why were you around The Spiders? You know they're dangerous people." Ryan shrugged. "I didn't even know they were there until one of them jumped me." "This war is getting out of hand. You should leave, Ryan." "I can't. My parents need me to fight." "But it means you're not even safe during Normal Hours nevermind Spider ones." Ryan just shrugged. The little value he held for his own life was disturbing. Emmet sighed, finishing the last stitch and cutting the thread. "I swear you are a danger magnet." Ryan grinned lopsidedly, "That's why you love me." "One day I'm not going to be able to fix you. I'm not a miracle worker." "You're close enough." Emmet suddenly grabbed Ryan's shoulders, smearing blood into his shirt and stared him straight in the eyes. "Please stay safe. You may ruin pizza night but, believe it or not, I'd be sad if you died." "Just sad?" Emmet rolled his eyes and let go of his shoulders. He didn't answer but just packed away the medical equipment that he kept in the back of the cupboard for every time Ryan came around. If Ryan hadn't been drowning in a haze of painkillers, he might have recognised that Emmet was really worried about him, worried enough that it affected his everyday life. Ryan's lifestyle was dangerous, and it drove Emmet crazy. Instead, he just reached for his jeans and awkwardly shimmied them back on. For a moment, Emmet just stared at Ryan and he imagined him not being there anymore. He felt his chest tighten and his eyes prick with tears. If only that boy would leave his parent's legacy behind and live his own life. Maybe then Emmet wouldn't have to consider Ryan's death as an all too real possibility. Suddenly the doorbell rang and Hinata's voice echoed through the house. "Pizza's here." Sounds of celebration accompanied everyone as they filtered into the kitchen, steaming boxes of pizza in hand. Tiffany poured some wine, Tam lit candles and Hinata helped Ryan off the table. They all sat down, and slices of cheesy goodness were passed around like bread at holy communion. Before they all dug in, Hinata raised her wine glass. "A toast," she called out, and everyone else raised their glasses to join hers, "to a long life." She caught Emmet's eye and smiled. "To a long life," he parroted because if one thing was for sure, despite how impossible the situation seemed, Emmet was going to make sure they made it through this war alive. All of them.
