“Ladies and Gentlemen!” Janet called, waving her arms in a fashion to attract attention, “For the very first time in history, two of the Cirque' de Tragedy acts will be performing together! They just so happen to be the premier acts this quarter, and the only reason we can do this is because they get along so well. Put your hands together for Brendon and Ryan!”
     The crowd went wild as Brendon and I walked out into the ring. We waved and took our bows, and then I climbed into the two-and-a-half foot deep tank.
     “My dear patrons,” Brendon called to the crowd, dropping his voice and speaking in a way that I honest to god wished he hadn't. I'd blame it on the cold water later. “since we get to work together today, we have set up a little Houdini act for the lot of you.” He walked over to the tank, where I was still sitting upright with my legs crossed. He raised his eyebrows, and I looked down as the color rose in my cheeks. He used this moment as a time to work things up for the crowd. Brendon dropped to a crouch and put two fingers under my chin, lifting my face to look him in the eyes. “Are you nervous my dear boy?”
     I nodded.
     “Good. That just motivates faster escape.” He stood upon the last word and walked over to his table, where he picked a large key lock up and spun it around his finger lazily. “Anyone want to help me with this?”
     Literally, half of the audience all on one side in a large group raised their hands. I laughed.
     “The Gentleman in the bright green pants! Please join me to make sure that this is all real.”
     A teenage kid, maybe sixteen or seventeen, jumped up and almost tripped down the stairs. I giggled to myself as he blushed. He was skinny, average height, with black hair and a lip ring. I swear if I have to see another emo kid I'll drown myself. The only thing that I actually liked was his clothes. Green skinny jeans, like neon green, black chucks, a “Cobra Starship” t-shirt, and a loose black and white checkered hoodie. The thing that caught my attention was his eyes, which were a really odd shade of purple. I furrowed my eyebrows, until Brendon asked if they were contacts. The kid shook his head.
     “Ah well that's cool. Now, tell me, does this lock open without the key?”
     The kid tugged on the lock with quite a bit of strength and shook his head.
     “And with the key?”
     The boy tried the lock with the key, and it popped open easily. I swallowed hard at the thought that I may not escape. I never was good at breaking locks, or picking them for that matter. Brendon had the kid shut the top of the tank after I went under and lock it. We didn't usually close the top, so a slight air of claustrophobia washed over me with the water. A dark sheet was draped over the tank, and I struggled not to laugh because a piece of paper had been taped to the bottom of it. Through the water and the glass I saw, in Brendon's messy scrawling, the words “I LOVE YOU. GOOD LUCK.” and that's actually how it looked, too. He never wrote in more than one case. I suppressed my thoughts so I could focus.
     

Hold it. Hold it Ryan. Keep it together. You'll make it out. Come on, hang in there. He won't let anything happen to you.

     I couldn't help it. My thoughts did as they wished, as did my imagination. That I didn't mind so much. I had fun with my imagination.
     I felt around the tank for the key. It was supposed to be taped to the side, but I didn't expect the tape to hold underwater. I felt around the bottom of the tank with my hands, and didn't find it. Oh God, I thought, he did not forget to put the key in here. Please, tell me he remembered.
     
     *******************(Brendon's POV)*************

     I strode in circles around the tank, waiting to hear the telltale 'click' of the lock. Instead, something tapped on the glass. I pulled a corner of the sheet up and saw Ryan glaring at me. He made a motion of turning one hand, as if holding a key, and then followed with a questioning gesture. Eyes wide, I stood to full height and walked over to my table. There sat the key. The key that was supposed to be in the bottom of the tank...next to Ryan.
     DAMMIT BRENDON! I scolded myself, Why? Why are you such an idiot?
     
     ******************(Ryan's POV)*************

     So Brendon forgot. He does that a lot. I'm constantly reminding him not to grab me in the mornings because one of these days I'll be really out of it and hit him. Not that big of a deal, though. It happens.
     He couldn't put the key in the tank now—It would ruin the act. The entire thing that we rehearsed for for so long. Oh well. I'll hold my breath until he decides that I can't get out and opens the tank.
     
     ~~Fifteen minutes later~~
     
     Head...throbbing...chest...pounding...arm wrapped in a plastic bag...that serves no purpose...Oh god I think I'm blacking out...Ugh...Brendon, help me...please...I love you...don't forget me...
     Light. Bright light. Air. Breathable air.
     “Dammit Ryan breathe!”
     That voice...so familiar. Who? Who was that? Oh, what a lovely voice. I would kill for a voice like that.
     “Breathe! Please!”
     I took a breath. I had forgotten that it was possible. My eyes slid open for a second, and focused on a pair of milk-chocolate brown eyes. Brendon? Yeah, Brendon. My Brendon. My dear, beautiful Brendon. My head was still throbbing, but not as badly as before.
     “You jackass,” I mumbled, “you forgot the effing key.”
     He laughed nervously, seeming indecisive as to whether or not that was a joke. It was. He sat me up and pulled me tight against his body. Ah, so warm. So...warm...
     He sat back, hands on my shoulders, and then wiped my wet hair out of my face. I smiled weakly, still dazed. “Can we go take a shower? I'm freezing.” I asked, a little bit of strength returning slowly. He laughed again. Then Brendon pulled one of my arms over his shoulders and pulled me up so I was standing next to him. He put one hand on my waist.
     “Let's go then.” He whispered into my ear. I noticed that the audience was gone. Not a soul in there.
     “What? Where is everybody?” I asked, and he looked me in the eyes.
     “I told them that there was an emergency and that everyone needed to leave. Jango had gotten loose.”
     I shook my head, a faint smile tracing my lips. “Oh Brendon. Brendon, Brendon, Brendon. You amaze me.”
     “As you do to me, my love.”
     I took a shower much hotter than usual and slipped into a pair of sweats and a hoodie. I decided that I would skip a shirt tonight, I wouldn't need it. Dinner was a salad, which Brendon enjoyed quite a bit. I'm starting to wonder if he's a vegetarian...he only eats cheese pizza and loves the salads. Hm.
     After dinner, Jon and Spencer invited us to the local mall. We had after-hours access because of our jobs.
     I shrugged. “Why not?” Brendon's eyes lit up like a pair of neon signs, except they were brown.
     “Ya know, Ry,” He said, seeming to analyze my gaze, “your eyes changed color. Now they're red-brown. Really pretty.”
     I smiled.
     “Come on!” Spencer whined, “Hurry up! Are you just gonna go in that, Ryan?”
     I looked appalled. “Of course not! We should all wear costumes tonight in case someone's there.”
     So we did. Well, I did. It was fun, because we got to do whatever we wanted while no one else was there. I jumped leap-frog style over one of the giant pole-like things that are about three-and-a-half feet tall, miraculously landing on the other side of the concrete structure without hurting myself. Jon wasn't so lucky, and I'll leave it at that. Towards the end of the night, we found a photo booth. It was a lot of fun; we took the pictures individually, standing in the booth as opposed to sitting. Spencer had bought a pair of drumsticks on a whim and was beating me with them as Brendon took his photo. He was attacked upon Brendon's leaving the photo booth, as Brendon yelled “No! Don't worry Ryan, I've got your back, babe!”
     “I'll say!” Spencer yelled back as he fell under Brendon's weight. Brendon punched him in the stomach, forcing a small 'oomph' from his throat. Jon laughed, still seeming in pain from his earlier misadventure, and stepped into the booth.
     We printed off four copies of the set and went home. Along the way, something amazing happened—Spencer reached over and grabbed Jon's arm.
     “it's too dark.” He muttered. “Jon you're my seeing-eye dog.”
     Two of us knew he was thinking something else. Brendon and I smiled at each other. I put my arm over his shoulders, and he leaned his head into my collar bone. I kissed the top of his head and he sighed contentedly, wrapping his arms around my waist. It made me smile even more broadly; I could feel the face-paint smearing. At this very moment I looked like a clown. Everyone around me was pretty much in shirts and jeans; No I was wearing a purple button-down and white skinny jeans with purple pinstripes, as well as a white vest with yellow stripes down one side and flowers on a single vine down the other side. A single large purple flower was pinned to the right chest-pocket. I had some random colorful swirly design painted over my right eye, and Brendon had almost laughed when he saw me.
     “Someone has to get us in.” I reasoned, and I was right. If not for the way I was dressed, we wouldn't have been let in to the mall.
     The photos turned out strange...the picture in the back of the booth made it look like we were standing in some hallway somewhere. It was pretty cool.
     As we laid in bed, reviewing our day, Brendon did something unexpected. I rolled over to go to sleep, my back was facing him, and at first I thought he was just going to drape his arm over my waist. I have never been more wrong in my entire life. I noticed something was strange when his hand kept sliding down...any slower and I wouldn't have noticed it, but the thought was still there. I turned to look at him, now laying on my back. He was biting his lip, and then let his expression fall into a sexy smile. I raised an eyebrow at him; clearly he was up to no good. In a single moment, the time it takes to blink, he had jumped up and grabbed my crotch. I practically fell out of bed trying to get away. He sat there laughing, and I smiled evilly.
     “What? Does that feel good to you?” I asked, chewing my bottom lip. I probably was going to regret what I was about to do. He nodded, and I rolled some of my weight onto his side. Slowly, I pressed my lips against his collarbone. He smiled, and starting singing softly.
     “Is it still me that makes you sweat?”
     I sighed into his neck.
     “Am I who you think about in bed?”
     I ran my tongue over his jaw line slowly, stopping just under his ear.
     “I've got more wit, a better kiss. A hotter touch, a better fuck...”
     I took his lips in mine. While he was distracted, I slowly let my hand slide down his completely flat stomach. I drew one of my short nails across the delicate skin below his belly button. He shuddered. I smiled against his lips. My hand went further down, copying his movements. Without warning, I slid my hand into his sweats. He was wearing underwear, mind you, I'm not like that. He moaned softly.
     “What are you doing?” He whispered, eyes closed. I smiled.
     “Teasing.”
     I brought my hand back up to his neck and pressed for a more passionate kiss. He obliged, and I found myself sitting astride him as we kissed. Then Spencer walked in.
     “Whoa, OK then, uh I'll just—yeah.” He turned to leave.
     “No Spence we're done.” I said, falling to one side and brushing my hair out of my face. Brendon started to pout.
     “Um, OK then.” He mumbled, turning back around. “I have a quick question for you guys. How did you go about the business of getting together?”
     “Um, well,” I stuttered, trying to remember the moment, “I just kind of kissed him and them boom! We were a couple. You can always just ask if our approach is too sudden.”
     He grimaced. “What if you don't know about this specific person?” He asked.
     “Yes Jon is bi. He likes you too.”
     A look of relief and some excitement washed over Spencer's face. “Really?”
     I smiled my innocent smile and replied, “Hey would I lie to you?”
     Spencer shrugged, still smiling. So he did love Jon. Cool.
     “OK so if I see the two of you holding hands tomorrow I know what's going on.” Brendon said, and the three of us laughed lightly. Spencer said goodnite and left. I turned on my  side to face Brendon, who was one step ahead of me and buried his face in my chest.
     “Don't you ever leave me, Brendon Boyd Urie.” I whispered.
     “As long as you don't leave me, George Ryan Ross.” He whispered back. Then I kissed his cheek and pulled he chain on the lamp, plunging the room into complete darkness.