Everything Clicks - An AJR Music Video Fic

V - I'm Not Famous (Ryan)

I woke up to a metallic clang outside the door. My whole body jolted and I squinted as I struggled to adjust to being awake. Even now, after everything that had happened, I was still unconsciously expecting to wake up in my bed. White sheets, the sounds of Manhattan outside my window. Hell, I was even starting to miss the sight of windows. I was starting to forget what outside looked like. All I knew now was grey brick and dim light. Maybe I was supposed to think that.

The next thing that hit me was the pain. Dull, achy, and intense. I started to bring a hand to my sore face. At least it felt good to be able to move.

Wait, I could move.

I sat up on the floor of the cell. It was a different, slightly larger cell than the individual ones we had been in when we first got here, and it seemed that they'd decided to stuff all three of us in one this time around. There were no beds, and Adam and Jack slept not quite soundly on the floor near where I was. I was faced with a similar dilemma to what had happened in the taxi. I either wake up the other two or I try and investigate on my own. The only difference was that the danger wasn't as impending.

To my luck, I didn't have to think about it much. I was about to try and make a choice when I heard light shuffling on the opposite side of the room. I peered over to see Adam slowly sit up, looking mildly disconcerted. He turned his head from side to side, stretching his neck.

"Hey," I said quietly, so I wouldn't scare him.

Adam glanced over in my direction, then back at the floor. "Oh. Hey," He rubbed his eyes with a prolonged, heavy sigh. He looked around the room, then to his feet. "Huh...that's weird."

"What's that?"

"I forgot where I was for a second..." He turned to me, an unhappy, sideways smile on his face. He chuckled. "You'd think after everything, it'd be drilled into me. But..."

I returned his smile. "The same thing happened to me."

He adjusted himself to face me. "How long have you been up?"

"Few minutes, maybe. Not much longer than you."

Adam nodded. "How's...the face?" The end of the question had a hint of hesitation.

"Sore," I replied, reaching up to massage where the General had hit me and the shards from my glasses had scratched me. Immediately, the intensity became almost too much to bear. The memories of the previous night came flooding back. Every hit, every drop of blood, the extent of the damage The General had done to us. I cringed from the feeling. Adam came rushing over and knelt on the floor next to me. I took a few deep breaths to calm down.

"You okay?" Adam asked.

"I'm fine," I said, "just...hurts, is all. The General knows how to throw a punch, I guess. I'll probably have bruises."

Adam looked a bit dejected. "What about your glasses?"

I shrugged, taking my shattered glasses off my face and inspecting them. "I'll have to keep wearing them for now. I liked these, but...I guess there are always new ones."

"Yeah, if we ever get out of here."

I avoided his gaze. He had a point, but I didn't want to imagine that scenario. There had to be a way out of this somehow. We'd find one.

"...I don't wanna stick around to find out what they're gonna do to us next." I blurted.

"What are you saying?" Adam queried.

"I don't know, I..." I paused, "I don't know."

"Ryan."

"I mean, the last time we tried to sneak around, we got caught, so who knows how well that would work on this large of a scale."