"Hey, Delirious?"

"Yeah?"

"Do... Do you ever wonder what happened to Luke? I mean, we act like nothing ever happened, like he just left on some business trip or shit, but..."

Jonathan fell silent, staring ahead at the empty street they were driving down. He eventually shook his head. "I.. I don't know. I mean, it's not that I don't, but I... I- I try not to? I dunno, man. It's too early for this."

Jon pulled into a driveway, then turned to Ryan.

"Come on. You'll love Bryce. I promise."

Ryan simply nodded and followed his friend up to the front door. Jon knocked, and to their surprise, someone actually answered.

"Jon? What are you doing here so early? It's not even seven yet, don't you usually sleep in?" The guy who answered the door was tall, with blonde hair and blue eyes, and from Ryan's perspective, much too happy for someone who's having to deal with Jonathan's hyperactivity at six AM.

"I wanted you to come to breakfast with us! And meet Ryan. Ryan! Meet Bryce!" Jon gestures towards Bryce, who quickly smiles down at Ryan.

"It's nice to meet you!" He giggles and-

Oh God no. He's related to Luke but giggles his ass off like Jon? Are they sure he's related to Luke and not Delirious? And who is happy this early in the morning, anyways?

"Jon's told me good things about you. And about breakfast." Ryan smiles tiredly, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants.

Bryce just shakes his head, the same warm grin still on his face. "Of course! Just let me put on my shoes, then we'll get going! Are we going to that place you showed us again, or...?" His voice trailed off as he went inside the house, presumably to go find his shoes.

"Yeah! The one with the cute jingle every time you walk in!" Jon nodded his head excitedly, clapping his hands together for emphasis.

Ryan just sighed. "Jon, you only like it so much because that's where you met Evan. I know for a fact that you don't like the food there." He then gave his shorter friend a pat on the back. "Delirious, why don't we go eat some pancakes instead? We all like pancakes, right? Besides, Evan won't even be at the restaurant at this early in the morning. Plus..." Ryan continued, albeit a bit more sheepish now," I want oatmeal.  They don't serve it there."

Jon pouted, looking back and forth between Ryan and Bryce, who had returned with shoes on and his phone in hand. 

"Nobody respects Delirious! This is unacceptable!" He stomped his foot on the ground, still pouting like a child.

Bryce simply took the keys out of Jon's hand, and gestured towards the car. "So, pancakes?"

"Yeah. Come on, Jon. Pancakes." Ryan and Bryce began to walk towards the car.

"Well, I call shotgun! I get shotgun! Bryce is the baby so he sits in the back!"Jonathan, being Jonathan, sprints past them both and sits himself in the passenger's seat, nearly hitting himself with the car door.

Ryan briefly wonders if he's aware that this is his car, and judging by the way Bryce was staring at Jon too, he was thinking the same thing.

Bryce just shrugged, running a hand through his hair. "I'll sit in the back. I've got no idea where the pancake place is."

"Alright then." Ryan went around, and got into the driver's seat, turning the car on and beginning to drive once everyone was settled.

They're driving in a comfortable silence, listening to the radio as they pass through the streets, though something seems tense about the situation.  It's a bit too quiet for his liking.

"Man, if Luke were here... He would rap the shit outta this song." Jon nods his head, as though agreeing with himself. "I miss the guy."

"What even happened to Luke, anyways?" Bryce sounds confused, which doesn't make any sense to Ryan. Surely one of his family members would've told him by now, right?

"From what I remember, he got into a fight with his family or something. Didn't his mom or something tell you? You're his cousin, I mean. Doesn't news like that spead- spread super quickly?" Jonathan turns his head to look back at Bryce.

"No. Well- okay, it did spread. It's just..."

The hesitation in Bryce's voice is evident.

"Luke's mom told us that he ran away, for no reason at all. She came over crying like crazy one night, and that was all she kept saying. It just.. It just didn't add up."

"Well," Ryan said," it looks like your family's lying to you. I distinctly remember Luke telling us that he kept getting into shit with his parents. Something about them not liking me and Jon, I think."

Ryan pulled into a parking spot, then turned to look at the others.

"Let's continue this talk over breakfast? I'm starving."