⋆⭒ruin the friendship
Part 3 of the Paper Rings mini series! Romantic relationships weren’t easy. Being best friends with Ryland Grace was. At least, it had been, until you’d decided to get married to pacify your co-workers. Playing the role of a loving married couple seemed to come to you far more naturally than you’d prepared for.
Ryland Grace x BestFriend!Reader || series masterlist || part one || part two
a/n: I am. so fucking sorry this took two and a half weeks. my life has been hell. im not even posting on ao3 why am i getting the ao3 curse
warnings: reader is mentioned as wearing glasses once, florida mention, vague chronic illness mention, reader is mentioned to have been raised by their grandparents (who have since passed rip sorry guys), brief mentions of dead parents, like the slightest whiff of angst, mentions of having kids, desperate ryland grace sighting
2.7k words!
It had been two days since Ryland’s speech at the kitchen counter and zero seconds since the last time you thought about it. You’d played it over and over in your head all day every day, wishing you could smack yourself for the reaction you’d had.
”Oh. That’s sweet.” That’s what you’d said. **
Sweet? Sweet? Jesus, what was wrong with you? Your best friend had practically confessed his love for you and all you could say was that he was sweet.
You were getting ready, now, for your first dinner out as a ‘couple’. Ryland swore you needed to do this in order to really sell it, even if it was just to sell it to yourselves, so he’d elbowed his way into a reservation at a nice restaurant in the city and told you to get dressed up. It felt stupid how excited you were, hands nearly shaking with excitement at knowing you were being perceived as a couple. You’d noticed, in the last two days, that that feeling — the longing — had made itself a home in your chest. It had placed itself close to your heart, warming your body with every pump of blood that spread outwards. It had intertwined itself with the way you felt about Ryland, safety and comfort evolving into something more.
You knew, somewhere in your mind, what it really was. It just didn’t feel right to say it yet, even if not out loud. Even if you said it only to yourself.
The word ‘love’ had always been something you had associated with Ryland. Outside of your family, Ryland had been the first person you had ever loved. There had never been a time in your life where wouldn’t tell anyone who would listen how much you loved your best friend. You’d tell them about how smart he was, about how he managed to make every upsetting situation into a stupid joke. You’d tell them about how good of a teacher he was, how he treated every child that entered his classroom as his own. You’d tell them that you respected his work, even when nobody else did, and that you had always considered him a highly valuable scientist.
You would tell them that you loved him, and that he was your best friend.
And now, as you stood in your bedroom of your somewhat shitty apartment in a city you never thought you’d stay in with a career you never thought you’d have and a fiancé you never could’ve predicted, you realized, then, that the ‘love’ had never been about just him.
It had been about you. Both of you.
You had found it easy to fall in love with Ryland. From the very beginning, he had hooked you with his shy grins and messy hair. You’d been charmed by his jokes and his intelligence, lured into a quiet, comfortable trap that you’d never even realized you’d fallen into. You were pretty sure even Ryland didn’t know he’d set the trap, but he had, and you found yourself tangled in him.
You had to physically shake your head to get out of your thoughts, an action that made felt stupid to watch yourself do in the mirror. With a soft huff, you finished getting ready, speeding through the last of your routine.
You stepped out of your bedroom, head turning to look for your… fiancé. Fiancé.
He was wearing a suit, a sight that made you suddenly regret not asking for a real wedding. It was clearly an older suit, the fabric stretched around his shoulders and arms. His button up underneath was crisp, white contrasting the blue of his suit. He was wearing the watch that you’d bought him when the two of you had gotten your masters, a watch he’d wanted for years but could never justify buying. His hair was still a bit of a mess, but it was clear he’d put a lot of effort into his appearance for tonight.
Your hands smoothed down your outfit as you walked closer. “Do you have the rings?”
He held up the boxes, one in each hand.
“Right here, sweetheart.”
He popped them open as you approached, the light glinting off of them. He pulled yours from the box first, holding it up to you. You reached for it, but he pulled his hand back.
“No. I’m putting it on.”
“Oh,” you said. “Okay.”
His eyes met yours, free hand coming to stabilize your left one. His fingers wrapped around your wrist, pressing against your skin with a gentleness you had only ever felt from him. The ring was cool on your finger, a weight settling over you that felt far heavier than just the metal wrapped around your skin.
“There we go,” he murmured. He twisted it until it laid perfectly centered on your finger before pulling back.
You did his next, placing the band on his finger with such care that Ryland had to stop himself from tearing up. The rings fit you both perfectly, similarly to the way you fit each other. They were just loose enough that they weren’t too restricting — giving room to grow, you could say — while still clinging tightly to your skin.
That was a good metaphor for you and Ryland.
He cleared his throat, letting his hand fall back to his side. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m ready.”
Jazz music played softly through the speakers in the Italian restaurant, your meal and wine both half gone. Having dinner with Ryland had been a part of your daily life for more than a decade. Having dinner with your fiancé was a new thing that started tonight.
“You know, I was thinking about it,” Ryland said, “and I think we need to do this full time. Not just at work. What if we run into Peggy? She’d freak out if she saw one of us without our rings on.”
You looked at Ryland over your glasses, eyebrows raising just enough for him to start backtracking.
“I mean, only if you want to. Obviously. We don’t have to —”
“Okay.”
Ryland blinked. “Okay?”
You nodded. “Yeah. Okay. I kind of figured that was the plan, to be honest. I figured we were going to tell our family while we were in Florida.”
“Oh,” he said. “I mean, yeah. We can do that. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”
You smiled. “You were too excited at the idea of marrying me for your brain to work properly.”
“Right. That was definitely it.” Ryland twirled his pasta around his fork, watching it wrap around itself. “Speaking of Florida, I, uh, I got an invite to go to an astrobiology conference in Los Angeles next week.”
Your head shot up at his words, eyes widening. “Are you serious? Ryland! That’s incredible!” He nodded, not saying anything else. “What does that have to do with Florida?”
“Yeah. I mean, yeah, it’s a good thing. It’s just… it’s also scheduled for the weekend we were supposed to go home.”
He was asking you a question without explicitly asking it. You both knew that he was desperate to get back into academia, even if it was only in the smallest of ways. Even if it was just attending one more conference, he would take anything he could get. But… you guys had a tradition. Every summer since moving across the country for graduate school and work, you would travel back home to see your families. Colt traveled in, too, and you’d all reunite for a weekend before going your separate ways again.
Nobody had ever missed a year.
“Oh,” you said. “I mean, you could probably skip. It’s probably fine.”
“I’m not skipping,” he said. “I just might have to miss most of Saturday. I can fly in from LA after the conference is over.”
“We fly back Tuesday morning. That’s barely two days.”
“Fifty seven hours,” he corrected gently. “But I’m not skipping the whole weekend. It’s fine, really. It gives you the majority of the day to relax before we do everything, anyway.”
“Okay, well, how are we going to tell everyone about the engagement? If I just show up alone wearing a ring, they’re going to have questions. I don’t want to leave you out of it.”
Ryland’s fingers tapped against the tablecloth, his eyes flickering across your face. “We could just call my mom when we get home, I think. And we can text Colt, since he’s not going to answer.”
You nodded.
The phone call went about as well as you’d expect. It was a clear surprise — how could she have expected this? — but, overwhelmingly, there was joy. She was happy that you two were marrying each other, that you were going to be her in-law, that you were officially going to be a member of the family that had already been yours for your entire life. When your parents died, your grandparents had stepped in to help take care of you. They’d learned, quickly, that they weren’t fit for the role. Not as much as Ryland’s mom, anyway. She’d acted as a stand-in mother for you, keeping you over for dinner multiple nights a week and giving you a getaway from your own home.
Ryland’s family had always been your family. This would just make it a bit more official.
“Hello, future in-law.”
You couldn’t help but smile at the sound of Ryland’s mom’s voice. She was picking you up at the airport like usual, except this time, there was no Ryland with you. The flight had felt empty without Ryland beside you, the six hours dragging until it felt like sixty. It didn’t help that the stiff plane seats had your back aching, making it nearly impossible to move without a burst of pain.
“Hi, mom,” you said. You got your suitcase into the back of the car before getting into the front, eagerly accepting the hug that was waiting for you.
“Let me see it,” she said when you parted. Her hand lifted yours, eyes inspecting the ring on your finger. “Oh, it’s gorgeous, honey. It suits you so well.”
You caught up on the last year of your lives as she drove you back towards the neighborhood you’d spent half of your childhood in.
“You know, Colt and I were talking earlier, and we didn’t even know you and Ryland were dating,” she said.
Fuck. You hadn’t really thought through a plan on what you’d say if this question came up. You certainly should have, but it was too late now.
“Oh, yeah. We weren’t.” Ryland’s mom gave you a look, confusion written all over her face.
“Pardon?”
“I mean… we weren’t explicitly dating, but we kind of talked about it and it just felt right to get married, you know? Like, I can’t imagine marrying anyone else. I can’t see a world where I don’t live out my life with Ryland, I guess. It just took a while to realize that.”
“Well, it’s nice to know that he finally came to his senses,” she said. You waited for her to elaborate — God, please elaborate — but she didn’t say anything else.
“Yeah,” you said quietly. “It is.”
You made it about three steps into the house before Colt was swarming you.
“You are such an asshole. How dare you not tell me — me, your best friend — that you were getting engaged to my brother,” he said. His hands were already taking your bags out of yours, giving you a ‘stink eye’ look as he did so. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me beforehand.”
“We told you the night it happened,” you said with a laugh.
“Okay, and you helped plan my proposal. What does that say about you versus me?”
“That you need more help than Ryland and I do?”
“You know what, I’m going to —” His mom cleared her throat, giving him a pointed look. He took a breath in, still glaring at you. “I’m going to go put your bags in your room for you.”
You smiled, patting his shoulder with fake appreciation. “Thank you!”
“You’re going to kill me.”
Those were the first words you heard from your fiancé when he stepped into the house. You’d spent the day with his family, showing off your ring like it was real, and now, as everyone else was getting dinner ready, you were welcoming Ryland into the house. You didn’t even have a chance to open your mouth before he was speaking again.
“I forgot my ring at home.”
You see, Ryland Grace was a man of routine. Ever since attending his first scientific conference back in graduate school, he’d had the same routine. He wore the same outfit every time, even now, years later. He had the same step-by-step process every morning.
He was also a bit of a forgetful man.
It wasn’t on purpose that he’d left his ring on his bedside table. He’d taken it off last night after cleaning it and had set it next to his phone with the explicit reasoning of not forgetting it. He didn’t notice it wasn’t there until after the conference was over, when he was already 30,000 feet in the air. He had started thinking of excuses, but nothing came to mind. Apology, he decided, would be a far better route to take. At least then he could make it up to you.
“Oh,” you said. You shoved aside the feeling in your chest. It wasn’t longing, this time, instead something heavier. Something akin to disappointment.
You’d never been good at hiding your emotions from Ryland. Sure, others wouldn’t catch the downward twitch in your lip or the way your eyes dimmed just a fraction, but Ryland would.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, words tumbling out so fast you could barely understand him. “I took it off to clean it, and I put it by my phone so I’d remember it, but I was rushing so much that I just… I forgot it. I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”
“It’s okay,” you said. It wasn’t. “It’s only two days. You can put it back on when we get home.”
Ryland’s eyes met yours, that stupid trademark look in them. He looked devastated at his own mistake, and, to make things worse, he didn’t know what to say. He knew an apology wouldn’t make up for it, but… surely it hadn’t affected you that badly, right? The engagement was only for looks, but when he’d told you, he could’ve sworn that your face dropped.
“How was the conference?” you asked.
Thank God, he thought. You saved him before he could start begging for forgiveness.
“It was good,” he said. “I got to see a couple of the guys we worked with. Did you know Dalton’s a dad now?”
You let out a short laugh. “I can’t imagine that. He didn’t really seem like the dad type.”
Ryland hummed, a soft sound of agreement. “Yeah. He’s married to an influencer or something. They named the kid Lodge Roan.”
“They… named their kid Lodge?”
“That’s what I said.”
You laughed, a real laugh this time. The sound made a smile form on Ryland’s face, as if he could forgive himself of his ring-forgetting crimes if he could still make you smile.
A thought entered your head, and, unfortunately, came right out of your mouth, too. “Hey, that reminds me actually. Do you… like… want kids? I’m kind of your only option now.”
Ryland felt like he got knocked off balance at the question. He hadn’t been expecting that, surely. Hell, when you guys had agreed to turn this into a real thing, he hadn’t even considered kids. In truth, he’d always wanted to be a dad. Working with his classes had only reinforced that idea, and he knew it had done the same for you, too.
“I mean… yeah. I think it’d be nice.”
You nodded, lips parting to speak again.
“Guys! Dinner!” You turned towards the sound of Colt’s voice, finding him leaning out of the kitchen doorway. He gestured at the two of you. “Seriously, hurry up. Mom won’t let me eat until you guys are in here, and I’m starving.”
You both laughed softly, nodding. Your eyes met Ryland’s again.
“We’ll talk later,” you said.
“Yeah,” he said. “Later.”
a/n: I wrote the last half of this fic listening to big time rush songs on loop and had to force myself to not name it after a big time rush song. LMFAO once again i apologize for it being 2 and a half weeks since part 2. i love you all. smooches p.s. i apologize for the misleading title. confession coming soon have no fear my loves. also i apologize for the lack of colt and jody in this chapter. part 4 will be MUCH better I FORGOT TO TAG LIST OOPS if you want to be added, let me know and hopefully i'll remember next time! @cherrybeomm @trixxstrawberry @llovinjoonie @a-quick-request @rakilein @qardasngan @irissilujm @littelrobinette @kaitybvg @not-1to @keigohawks @crowley--aziraphale @imafangirlofeverything @kore2099 @malakh06 @zizimimimi @user0112358132134 special shoutout to the last two of y'all i am so sorry i never replied to ur comments oops
























