#oh they..

ryan automatically smiles every time he sees....well anyone. ryan thinks a smile can set anyone at ease, so he does his best to make sure at least one person in the room is smiling. he’s that person who could easily overrun a conversation with his own interjections, but he’s also the one that will listen and smile and ask you to continue when it seems like no one else is listening. even when he gets distracted or excited, he is always listening. he wants people to feel heard, yet he’s also the type that misses the subtext behind the words people are saying. 

it usually has to do with the fact that he’s that cliché...the smiley sunshine kid lives in turmoil on his own. he wants the world to be a better place for everyone in it except, maybe, himself. so when ben says he likes him, ryan is filled with happiness, but it never occurs to him that it might be more. “i like you, too!” the exclamation is easy, of course. he does like ben, and maybe he has had a crush on him for what feels like forever, but who wouldn’t! he doesn’t understand how people could know him and not feel kind feelings in his direction. the idea that there could be people in the world that don’t like ben seems...something close to foolish, though he’d never call anyone that. “you’re one of the best people i’ve ever met, and so kind and fair!! you give people second chances, and that’s so rare. oh hey, i rhymed without trying to. anyway, i just think you’re really great, and i’m glad you’re in my life.” his smile softens into something he can only say is love. pure affection for everything that ben is, and a sign to say that everything he said, he believes.