-Title: Love Bites -Author: Emily -Email: valenshy@yahoo.com -Rating: PG -Pairing: Ryan/Colin, 'cause you should always write about what you love *grins* -Summary: Colin bites his nails to mask his feelings. -Disclaimer: I'm not trying to be libelous here... *shields herself from lawyers* I just wanted to write a story. I am in no way implying that anything in this story really happened. Please don't sue me. *** He bites his nails, not because he is nervous about performing tonight, or because it's an old habit that he needs to kick, or any of the other worn out excuses he gives out like lollipops whenever anyone happens to notice his hands. He is an old pro, used to performing up on stage, and his friends surrounding him give him the strength he needs to draw from. He doesn't need to gnaw at his nails, and he tells himself that over and over as he waits in his usual chair for Drew to appear and for rehearsal to begin. His fingers are red and swollen, the nails jagged and worn away like cliffs, but he can't stop biting tonight because Ryan is beside him and he doesn't know how to tell Ryan something. And if he could, he thinks he would say: Drew calls us ColinandRyan, all in one breath, like we're one soul shared between two people, and that's how I feel with you even more than I feel with my wife. I love to build you up, break you down, and then stand back and watch you smile and blush and know that I did that to you. And sometimes when we're on stage it's like time slows down, and I forget that I am standing beside my favorite person, doing my favorite thing, because you're touching my shoulder and suddenly I can't breathe. He clamps on his nails even harder, muffling the sound of his whimper with his hand. But Ryan, who's been off in his own little world, scowling at nothing, turns to him with softened eyes and lays one hand on his knee. Colin's hands instantly drop from his mouth to his side as Drew walks onto stage and starts to talk. His words slide over Colin meaninglessly, and his nails ache and his knee aches and his heart aches, but there's Ryan's sweetness mixed in with the pain. And after rehearsal Ryan appears with a box of Band-aids and a tube of ointment cradled in his large, artist's hands. He wordlessly wraps Colin's fingers and places a kiss on each one. The End