The Unexpected (Chapters Eight And Nine)
Jul. 18th, 2007 11:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missmara13Again, not bothering with the whole spiel. Click here and scroll to see the full warnings.
Chapter Eight
"Sucks to be back, huh?" Seth said as he and Ryan walked into school on Monday.
Ryan sighed. "I've been wanting back for 2 weeks, remember?" he said.
"I worry about you, man," Seth said, shaking his head.
"Hey!" Marissa called as she ran up the steps to join them. She went to throw her arms around Ryan and hug him, but he turned his head away and pulled back quickly. "What?"
"Chest's still sore," Ryan mumbled.
"Oh," Marissa said, a little hurt and confused.
"I should go ahead to class, I need to get some extra credit to make up for the classes I missed," Ryan continued, giving a slight wave to Seth before heading off.
Marissa looked to Seth for an explaination but he just shrugged. "He's still a little out of it," he said.
~~~~
"How's Chino doing?" Summer asked as she and Seth walked down the stairs together.
"Besides giving Marissa the brush off, he's fine."
"Can you blame him?" Summer said. "She visited him like twice in 2 weeks."
Seth shrugged. "Yeah, but he loves her, she loves him..."
"Who loves who?" a familiar voice asked.
Seth looked down at the foot of the stairs and grinned. "Anna! When'd you get back to town?" he asked, running down the last few steps to greet her with a hug.
"Last night," Anna said. "So, what's up?"
"Ryan got shot 2 and a half weeks ago," Seth said. "Saving my mom from a mugger. Marissa barely visited him. Today's his first day back and he pretty much ignored her."
"Not like he was in the wrong, Cohen," Summer said. "Coop's my best friend, but she was really being lousy to him. Chino's hurt."
"So... you're dating Seth and know so much about how Ryan feels?" Anna asked with a slight smirk.
Summer waited a minute for Seth to defend her, then she shoved him and walked off, angry. But at the same time, she realized Anna had a point. There WAS something a little strange about how well she seemed to 'get' Ryan.
~~~~
"Ryan's ignoring me!" Marissa complaiend as she found Summer in the bathroom.
"He's busy," Summer replied, touching up her lipstick. "He missed two and a half weeks and he wants to pull up his grades. Plus he's still in pain. Cut him some slack, Coop."
"But... I'm his girlfriend!" Marissa rpelied.
"Then why didn't you ACT like it?" Summer replied, turning and crossing her arms over her chest. "God, Coop, he could have used a little TLC from you, but no. You visited twice. And each visit was like under 5 minutes. I saw the look in his eyes when you hurried out of his room on Friday! If he wasn't a tough guy, he would have been crying! Because you left instead of being there for him like he always is for you!" She threw her hands up in exasperation. "You're treated him like crap, Coop. Why do you expect him to be all lovey to you?" she asked before turning and walking out of the bathroom.
Marissa watched her go, a look of confusion and sadness on her face, then she dug in her purse and pulled out a small flask of vodka, downing it in a matter of seconds then wiping her mouth and going to the sink to wash her face. In moments she was much calmer and could put a smile back on her face effortlessly. She'd make it up to Ryan tonight.
~~~~
"Be warned, Chino, I read Coop the riot act for treating you all cold and then expecting things to be normal," Summer said as she sat down next to Ryan in their last class of the day. "I went off on her, so she may either get mad at you, or complain about me."
Ryan shrugged slightly. "Thanks for the warning," he said.
"She deserved to be yelled at," Summer continued. "Right now, she's not being a good girlfriend. God, I'm a bitch and I'd like to think I'm a better girlfriend. I didn't get over jealous over that little... over Anna being back."
That caught Ryan's attention and he looked over at her. "Anna's back?"
"You haven't seen her yet?"
"Nope."
"Well Cohen and I did. He hugged her and ignored me. And she was rude to me, and he didn't care."
"He was just distracted," Ryan defended lamely. When Summer shot a glare at him, he shrugged. "He's like me brother, I have to defend him," he said absently.
Summer smiled slightly. "I guess."
"If I hear Anna saying anything rude about you or to you, I'll defend you," Ryan promised, smiling slightly.
"Aw, you're so sweet, Chino," Summer teased.
~~~~
That night, as he ate dinner with the Cohens, Ryan couldn't help yawning slightly. And of course, Kirsten noticed.
"Tired?" she asked.
Ryan shrugged. "It was a little rough, being behind and stuff."
"Yeah, except teachers love him and are willing to let him slide on a few of the missed assignments. They're giving him passing grades automatically because they know 'the high quality of his work' would warrant at least a passing grade anyway," Seth said. "They didn't let me slide after I missed a day," he added, mock grumpily.
Ryan shook his head in amusement. "Because you tried to milk it for all it was worth, Seth."
"Good point," Seth acknowledged.
Sandy tried to surpress his amusement, and found a distraction when he spotted Marissa outside. "Ryan," he said, gesturing out the doors.
Ryan looked over his should and let out a nervous breath. "I'm gonna..." he started. "I need to talk to her." He pushed himself to his feet and headed for the door, slowly opening it then closing it behind him, leaving his family to wonder why he looked almost scared. "Marissa," he said simply.
"Hey," Marissa replied. "I didn't see you today. I mean once school started."
"I had to meet with teachers in between class and during lunch," Ryan said.
"Did you eat?"
"While talking to Dr. Prince about catching up in Science."
"Good."
"Why are you here, Marissa?"
"I missed you, and..."
"And you think everything should go back to normal?" Ryan asked, remembering how Summer had put it.
"Why not?"
"Because I could have died. I spent two and a half weeks in the hospital and I saw you twice. Both times you barely looked at me, and then you left in a hurry because of shopping, or party planning, or helping Kaitlin with her hair. Why didn't you visit me more?"
"I was..."
"Busy, yeah. Hectic schedule," Ryan said bitterly. "You know, Kirsten and Sandy both pushed their work aside and got completely behind to be there with me. Seth was there everyday after school. Summer made time to stop in while she was working, and she came to visit me on Friday, her day off. And you came twice. Twice, Marissa. Do you have any idea how that feels? My own girlfriend, only came to see me twice."
"Ryan..." Marissa, started, on the verge of tears.
"Don't," Ryan said. "You know, my entire life, I've let crying women manipulate me. No matter what she did... ignore me, yell at me, hit me, let her boyfriends hit me, I always forgave my mother when she cried. I couldn't stand to see her cry. I let her walk all over me, because she'd cry and I'd forgive. I'm not going to fall into that same thing with you."
"I don't understand..."
"It's simple, Marissa. I'm so tired of not knowing if the people around me actually love me, or they're just saying it... I needed you while I was at HOAG. I needed you to hold me hand, and tell me you loved me, and that you'd keep me company. But you were no where to be seen," Ryan paused and ran a hand through his hair. "If you can make up your mind, whether you really love me and want to be with me, or you just want to be with the tough bad boy, your white knight, let me know. Then we'll talk." He hesitated a minute then turned and headed for the doors. He opened the door and was stepping back inside when he heard her quiet, shaky voice.
"Ryan?"
Ryan stopped without looking back, struggling to control his emotions. "I love you, Marissa, but if you don't really love me? I don't want to be with you," he said, barely loud enough for her to hear. Then he stepped inside and closed the door behind him, closing his eyes for a minute then opening them to see the Cohens all watching in confusion and worry. "I'm... I'm gonna go lie down," he said, offering a shaky smile before walking past them and heading upstairs.
To Be Continued... Right Now!
And
Chapter Nine
Ryan was laying face up on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, which was only illuminated by the moonlight coming in the window, when there was a knock on his door. "Come in," he said.
Sandy walked in and leaned against the wall. "Can I turn on a light?" he asked.
Ryan nodded, "Sure," he said.
Rather than flick on the overhead, Sandy walked over to the desk and turned on the lamp, which at least made it possible to clearly see his foster son. "You wanna tell me what happened outside?" Sandy asked.
Ryan shrugged, pushing himself into a sitting position and whincing slightly. "I think I broke up with her."
"You think?"
"I told her to figure out how she felt, and if she loves me, we'll talk. If not..." he shrugged again. "Pretty stupid of me."
"Why?" Sandy asked. "She visited you twice in two and a half weeks, that's pretty lousy."
"That's what Summer said," Ryan admitted. "She and Marissa had some big blow up earlier about it."
"You and Summer are friends now?" Sandy asked. When Ryan shrugged, he rolled his eyes. "Shrugs aren't a good language skill, kid," he advised.
Ryan cracked a half smile. "It gets the point across, though."
"The point being indifference or uncertainty?"
"Yeah."
Sandy smiled slightly. "Are you okay?" he asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "With... everything that's happening?"
"Not with being shot, that's still a sore spot..." Ryan started, a slight twinkle in his eyes as he tried not to grin.
Sandy groaned. "Bad joke."
"Seth used it a couple of days ago," Ryan said. "But... I'm fine with moving inside. Though you guys didn't have to buy me new stuff."
"Yeah we did," Sandy said.
"No, you didn't. I was fine with what I already had."
"You know Kirsten loves shopping. And she actually loves shopping for other people as much as shopping for herself."
Ryan shrugged again. "Whatever you say," he said. "But I'm okay with it."
"And Marissa?"
"I don't know."
Sandy nodded. "If you need to talk..."
"I know."
"Okay," Sandy said, standing up again. "I'll let you rest. Do homework, whatever."
"Homework's done," Ryan replied. "Finished it right after school."
"Can you convince Seth to start doing that?" Sandy asked.
"I will on the day Julie Nichols decides I'm not the scum of the universe."
"I'll take that as a never," Sandy said, chuckling. "But you know better than to believe her, right? If she was right, you wouldn't be here."
"I know," Ryan assured him, smiling. "Thanks."
"Anytime," Sandy said, switching off the lamp again and slowly leaving, though he did leave the door cracked open so they'd have a better chance of hearing it if Ryan needed them.
Ryan sighed, leaning back against his pillows. He kept thinking about what Summer had said to him, about how she had been willing to argue with Marissa for his sake. Since their first meeting, he had considered Summer to be nothing but a typical Newport rich girl. Bitchy, self centered, and greedy. But over the last two weeks she had shown herself to be smarter and kinder than he had expected. And it made him feel guilty for judging her, especially since he hated when people judged him.
With a slight grunt of discomfort, Ryan pushed hismelf up out of bed and sat at his desk, quickly logging onto the internet. He had an idea of how to thank her.
~~~~
"I knew you were sweet," Summer said as she slid into a seat next to Ryan the next day in class.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Ryan replied, lying badly. VERY badly.
"Yellow roses, which mean friendship, showing up at my door this morning with a card that only says 'thanks'? Come on, Chino, I know they were from you!"
Ryan smiled slightly. "Yeah, okay, I sent them," he admitted.
"Uh-huh, I knew it," Summer said. "And what exactly was I getting thanked for?"
"I broke up with Marissa last night. Because of what you said yesterday. I don't need to be taking care of her right now, I need to take care of me. So the thanks... it's for standing up for me, for being my friend."
Summer smiled. "Anytime, Chino."
~~~~
"Okay, so end of year carnival's tonight..." Seth said on Friday as school let out.
"It is?" Ryan said, frowning. "I forgot."
"You've been a little distracted the past 3 weeks, man," Seth pointed out.
"Yeah, and I have been doped up most of that time, too."
Seth grinned. "So, you gonna come?"
"Don't know. Will your parents still let me? I've only been out of the hospital a week," Ryan remidned him.
"You need a little relaxation, and between me, Anna, and Summer, we can make sure you don't over do it."
"And will they buy that?"
"They already did. If you wanna come, you're coming."
Ryan chuckled. "Okay, I guess I'm going then."
"Yes!" Seth cheered, pumping his fist in the air and earning strange looks from everyone around them.
"Yeah, don't do that again," Ryan advised, shaking his head.
To Be Continued...
I'm working on some new stuff, but it's gonna be pretty damn dark because of my recent mood... I've found writing really dark and angsty stuff helps me get through feeling really angsty, so... Ryan's in for some hell...
Chapter Eight
"Sucks to be back, huh?" Seth said as he and Ryan walked into school on Monday.
Ryan sighed. "I've been wanting back for 2 weeks, remember?" he said.
"I worry about you, man," Seth said, shaking his head.
"Hey!" Marissa called as she ran up the steps to join them. She went to throw her arms around Ryan and hug him, but he turned his head away and pulled back quickly. "What?"
"Chest's still sore," Ryan mumbled.
"Oh," Marissa said, a little hurt and confused.
"I should go ahead to class, I need to get some extra credit to make up for the classes I missed," Ryan continued, giving a slight wave to Seth before heading off.
Marissa looked to Seth for an explaination but he just shrugged. "He's still a little out of it," he said.
~~~~
"How's Chino doing?" Summer asked as she and Seth walked down the stairs together.
"Besides giving Marissa the brush off, he's fine."
"Can you blame him?" Summer said. "She visited him like twice in 2 weeks."
Seth shrugged. "Yeah, but he loves her, she loves him..."
"Who loves who?" a familiar voice asked.
Seth looked down at the foot of the stairs and grinned. "Anna! When'd you get back to town?" he asked, running down the last few steps to greet her with a hug.
"Last night," Anna said. "So, what's up?"
"Ryan got shot 2 and a half weeks ago," Seth said. "Saving my mom from a mugger. Marissa barely visited him. Today's his first day back and he pretty much ignored her."
"Not like he was in the wrong, Cohen," Summer said. "Coop's my best friend, but she was really being lousy to him. Chino's hurt."
"So... you're dating Seth and know so much about how Ryan feels?" Anna asked with a slight smirk.
Summer waited a minute for Seth to defend her, then she shoved him and walked off, angry. But at the same time, she realized Anna had a point. There WAS something a little strange about how well she seemed to 'get' Ryan.
~~~~
"Ryan's ignoring me!" Marissa complaiend as she found Summer in the bathroom.
"He's busy," Summer replied, touching up her lipstick. "He missed two and a half weeks and he wants to pull up his grades. Plus he's still in pain. Cut him some slack, Coop."
"But... I'm his girlfriend!" Marissa rpelied.
"Then why didn't you ACT like it?" Summer replied, turning and crossing her arms over her chest. "God, Coop, he could have used a little TLC from you, but no. You visited twice. And each visit was like under 5 minutes. I saw the look in his eyes when you hurried out of his room on Friday! If he wasn't a tough guy, he would have been crying! Because you left instead of being there for him like he always is for you!" She threw her hands up in exasperation. "You're treated him like crap, Coop. Why do you expect him to be all lovey to you?" she asked before turning and walking out of the bathroom.
Marissa watched her go, a look of confusion and sadness on her face, then she dug in her purse and pulled out a small flask of vodka, downing it in a matter of seconds then wiping her mouth and going to the sink to wash her face. In moments she was much calmer and could put a smile back on her face effortlessly. She'd make it up to Ryan tonight.
~~~~
"Be warned, Chino, I read Coop the riot act for treating you all cold and then expecting things to be normal," Summer said as she sat down next to Ryan in their last class of the day. "I went off on her, so she may either get mad at you, or complain about me."
Ryan shrugged slightly. "Thanks for the warning," he said.
"She deserved to be yelled at," Summer continued. "Right now, she's not being a good girlfriend. God, I'm a bitch and I'd like to think I'm a better girlfriend. I didn't get over jealous over that little... over Anna being back."
That caught Ryan's attention and he looked over at her. "Anna's back?"
"You haven't seen her yet?"
"Nope."
"Well Cohen and I did. He hugged her and ignored me. And she was rude to me, and he didn't care."
"He was just distracted," Ryan defended lamely. When Summer shot a glare at him, he shrugged. "He's like me brother, I have to defend him," he said absently.
Summer smiled slightly. "I guess."
"If I hear Anna saying anything rude about you or to you, I'll defend you," Ryan promised, smiling slightly.
"Aw, you're so sweet, Chino," Summer teased.
~~~~
That night, as he ate dinner with the Cohens, Ryan couldn't help yawning slightly. And of course, Kirsten noticed.
"Tired?" she asked.
Ryan shrugged. "It was a little rough, being behind and stuff."
"Yeah, except teachers love him and are willing to let him slide on a few of the missed assignments. They're giving him passing grades automatically because they know 'the high quality of his work' would warrant at least a passing grade anyway," Seth said. "They didn't let me slide after I missed a day," he added, mock grumpily.
Ryan shook his head in amusement. "Because you tried to milk it for all it was worth, Seth."
"Good point," Seth acknowledged.
Sandy tried to surpress his amusement, and found a distraction when he spotted Marissa outside. "Ryan," he said, gesturing out the doors.
Ryan looked over his should and let out a nervous breath. "I'm gonna..." he started. "I need to talk to her." He pushed himself to his feet and headed for the door, slowly opening it then closing it behind him, leaving his family to wonder why he looked almost scared. "Marissa," he said simply.
"Hey," Marissa replied. "I didn't see you today. I mean once school started."
"I had to meet with teachers in between class and during lunch," Ryan said.
"Did you eat?"
"While talking to Dr. Prince about catching up in Science."
"Good."
"Why are you here, Marissa?"
"I missed you, and..."
"And you think everything should go back to normal?" Ryan asked, remembering how Summer had put it.
"Why not?"
"Because I could have died. I spent two and a half weeks in the hospital and I saw you twice. Both times you barely looked at me, and then you left in a hurry because of shopping, or party planning, or helping Kaitlin with her hair. Why didn't you visit me more?"
"I was..."
"Busy, yeah. Hectic schedule," Ryan said bitterly. "You know, Kirsten and Sandy both pushed their work aside and got completely behind to be there with me. Seth was there everyday after school. Summer made time to stop in while she was working, and she came to visit me on Friday, her day off. And you came twice. Twice, Marissa. Do you have any idea how that feels? My own girlfriend, only came to see me twice."
"Ryan..." Marissa, started, on the verge of tears.
"Don't," Ryan said. "You know, my entire life, I've let crying women manipulate me. No matter what she did... ignore me, yell at me, hit me, let her boyfriends hit me, I always forgave my mother when she cried. I couldn't stand to see her cry. I let her walk all over me, because she'd cry and I'd forgive. I'm not going to fall into that same thing with you."
"I don't understand..."
"It's simple, Marissa. I'm so tired of not knowing if the people around me actually love me, or they're just saying it... I needed you while I was at HOAG. I needed you to hold me hand, and tell me you loved me, and that you'd keep me company. But you were no where to be seen," Ryan paused and ran a hand through his hair. "If you can make up your mind, whether you really love me and want to be with me, or you just want to be with the tough bad boy, your white knight, let me know. Then we'll talk." He hesitated a minute then turned and headed for the doors. He opened the door and was stepping back inside when he heard her quiet, shaky voice.
"Ryan?"
Ryan stopped without looking back, struggling to control his emotions. "I love you, Marissa, but if you don't really love me? I don't want to be with you," he said, barely loud enough for her to hear. Then he stepped inside and closed the door behind him, closing his eyes for a minute then opening them to see the Cohens all watching in confusion and worry. "I'm... I'm gonna go lie down," he said, offering a shaky smile before walking past them and heading upstairs.
To Be Continued... Right Now!
And
Chapter Nine
Ryan was laying face up on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, which was only illuminated by the moonlight coming in the window, when there was a knock on his door. "Come in," he said.
Sandy walked in and leaned against the wall. "Can I turn on a light?" he asked.
Ryan nodded, "Sure," he said.
Rather than flick on the overhead, Sandy walked over to the desk and turned on the lamp, which at least made it possible to clearly see his foster son. "You wanna tell me what happened outside?" Sandy asked.
Ryan shrugged, pushing himself into a sitting position and whincing slightly. "I think I broke up with her."
"You think?"
"I told her to figure out how she felt, and if she loves me, we'll talk. If not..." he shrugged again. "Pretty stupid of me."
"Why?" Sandy asked. "She visited you twice in two and a half weeks, that's pretty lousy."
"That's what Summer said," Ryan admitted. "She and Marissa had some big blow up earlier about it."
"You and Summer are friends now?" Sandy asked. When Ryan shrugged, he rolled his eyes. "Shrugs aren't a good language skill, kid," he advised.
Ryan cracked a half smile. "It gets the point across, though."
"The point being indifference or uncertainty?"
"Yeah."
Sandy smiled slightly. "Are you okay?" he asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "With... everything that's happening?"
"Not with being shot, that's still a sore spot..." Ryan started, a slight twinkle in his eyes as he tried not to grin.
Sandy groaned. "Bad joke."
"Seth used it a couple of days ago," Ryan said. "But... I'm fine with moving inside. Though you guys didn't have to buy me new stuff."
"Yeah we did," Sandy said.
"No, you didn't. I was fine with what I already had."
"You know Kirsten loves shopping. And she actually loves shopping for other people as much as shopping for herself."
Ryan shrugged again. "Whatever you say," he said. "But I'm okay with it."
"And Marissa?"
"I don't know."
Sandy nodded. "If you need to talk..."
"I know."
"Okay," Sandy said, standing up again. "I'll let you rest. Do homework, whatever."
"Homework's done," Ryan replied. "Finished it right after school."
"Can you convince Seth to start doing that?" Sandy asked.
"I will on the day Julie Nichols decides I'm not the scum of the universe."
"I'll take that as a never," Sandy said, chuckling. "But you know better than to believe her, right? If she was right, you wouldn't be here."
"I know," Ryan assured him, smiling. "Thanks."
"Anytime," Sandy said, switching off the lamp again and slowly leaving, though he did leave the door cracked open so they'd have a better chance of hearing it if Ryan needed them.
Ryan sighed, leaning back against his pillows. He kept thinking about what Summer had said to him, about how she had been willing to argue with Marissa for his sake. Since their first meeting, he had considered Summer to be nothing but a typical Newport rich girl. Bitchy, self centered, and greedy. But over the last two weeks she had shown herself to be smarter and kinder than he had expected. And it made him feel guilty for judging her, especially since he hated when people judged him.
With a slight grunt of discomfort, Ryan pushed hismelf up out of bed and sat at his desk, quickly logging onto the internet. He had an idea of how to thank her.
~~~~
"I knew you were sweet," Summer said as she slid into a seat next to Ryan the next day in class.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Ryan replied, lying badly. VERY badly.
"Yellow roses, which mean friendship, showing up at my door this morning with a card that only says 'thanks'? Come on, Chino, I know they were from you!"
Ryan smiled slightly. "Yeah, okay, I sent them," he admitted.
"Uh-huh, I knew it," Summer said. "And what exactly was I getting thanked for?"
"I broke up with Marissa last night. Because of what you said yesterday. I don't need to be taking care of her right now, I need to take care of me. So the thanks... it's for standing up for me, for being my friend."
Summer smiled. "Anytime, Chino."
~~~~
"Okay, so end of year carnival's tonight..." Seth said on Friday as school let out.
"It is?" Ryan said, frowning. "I forgot."
"You've been a little distracted the past 3 weeks, man," Seth pointed out.
"Yeah, and I have been doped up most of that time, too."
Seth grinned. "So, you gonna come?"
"Don't know. Will your parents still let me? I've only been out of the hospital a week," Ryan remidned him.
"You need a little relaxation, and between me, Anna, and Summer, we can make sure you don't over do it."
"And will they buy that?"
"They already did. If you wanna come, you're coming."
Ryan chuckled. "Okay, I guess I'm going then."
"Yes!" Seth cheered, pumping his fist in the air and earning strange looks from everyone around them.
"Yeah, don't do that again," Ryan advised, shaking his head.
To Be Continued...
I'm working on some new stuff, but it's gonna be pretty damn dark because of my recent mood... I've found writing really dark and angsty stuff helps me get through feeling really angsty, so... Ryan's in for some hell...
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Those were great posts !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Date: 2007-07-19 06:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-19 07:20 am (UTC)sorry you are feeling bad - I write fluff when I'm stressed, the more angst when life is on a more even keel...
no subject
Date: 2007-07-19 12:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-19 12:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-19 03:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-19 03:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-19 08:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-24 07:22 am (UTC)can't wait to read the rest- well, literally, I MUST wait because RL calls tomorrow and sleep is a must- but- yeah. Thanks for this!~