The Unexpected (Chapters Twenty Two and Twenty Three)

[missmara13]

Read, enjoy, whatever.


Chapter Twenty Two

A few weeks passed, and the four friends once again were hanging out together on a regular basis, though mostly avoiding anything that could remotely be couple-y. Ryan and Summer kept dating, though it was hard for anyone to tell the difference between now and when they were 'just friends' at the beginning of the summer.

One day, near the end of vacation, Summer and Ryan were hanging out in his room, the door open because of the rules Sandy and Kirsten had laid down for bedroom visits with girlfriends, but still cuddling side by side on the bed.

"Kiss me," Summer demanded sudddenly.

"Huh?" Ryan replied, trying to figure out how they went from tlaking about school to that.

"You heard me. Plant one on me," Summer insisted, propping herself up on an elbow and trying to look extra seductive.

"Summer..."

"Chino..."

Ryan laughed. "Why this sudden interest in kissing me?"

"No, not me kissing you. You kissing me," Summer corrected.

'There's a difference?"

"Yes!" Summer said, exasperated. "I want YOU to kiss ME. I don't wanna be starting the kiss, I want you to start it. I mean... okay, we've kissed like a dozen tiems, and every time I started it, and I just need to know if you even wanna..."

Ryan leaned forward and captured her lips with his, effectively silencing her. After a moment he pulled back and smiled. "Happy?" he asked.

"Depends."

"On what?" Ryan asked, getting exasperated himself.

"On whether that was just to shut me up or because you wanted to kiss me."

"Yes," Ryan said dryly.

Summer smacked his arm. "Chino!"

"I wanted to kiss you, Summer. And I also wanted to shut you up," he admitted. Then he leaned in to kiss her again.

As the kiss ended, Summer smiled at him. "I wasn't talking that time," she said.

"I know," Ryan said, smiling gently.

Summer returned the smile and returned to her position with her head on Ryan's chest. "Love you," she whispered.

"Love you, too," Ryan said back, not hesitating as he had what seemed like an eternity ago with Marissa.

"Hey, Ry?" a voice called out as Seth ran into the room. He skidded to a stop as he saw Ryan and Summer laying on the bed, looking mighty cozy. "Sorry," he muttered, clearly uncomfortable.

"No problem," Ryan said as he and Summer sat up. "What's up?"

"I should go," Summer said. "My dad's getting home from his latest business trip tonight and I actually going to help make his homecoming dinner," she said in way of explaination. "I'll... I'll call you later, Chino."

"Yeah," Ryan agreed, nodding.

"Hey, uh, Summer?" Seth said, stopping her.

"Yeah?"

"I just... we're cool right? I mean, like, we're back to our old not quite friends not really enemies thing we used to be, right?"

Summer nodded, a little confused. "Sure, Cohen. I thought we'd been there for weeks, though."

Seth smiled. "Cool." He watched as she left, then turned back to Ryan. "Sorry," he repeated.

"No problem," Ryan repeated. "What's up?"

"Uh... okay, I just... would you freak if I..."

"If you what?" Ryan asked.

"If I went out with Marissa? I know you guys are solidly over, and you're with Summer now, and we've all been hanging out and being friends, and everything, but... would it be cool with you?"

"You want to go out with Marissa?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah."

"You do realize she's your step-aunt, right?"

"Ryan, just..."

"It's cool, Seth," Ryan said. "I mean, I don't know if there's gonna be any double dates in the near future, but... it's cool."

"Dude, we've been going on double dates for weeks."

"Good point," Ryan said, chuckling. "It's cool, though. I'm good with it."

"Good," Seth repeated. "So, you and Summer... happy?"

Ryan chuckled. "Yeah, we are. She... she makes me happy."

"Good, good."

"You're cool now with me and Summer, right?"

"Yeah, I'm cool with you guys. But you know, it's weird. We've traded girlfriends, man. You've got my old one, and I've got yours."

"And your new one is your... our step-aunt," Ryan added, chuckling.

"You make it sound like that's the weirdest thing happening in Newport!" Seth said. "I mean, Grandpa likes you, Ryan. Who would have believed that a year ago?"

"A year ago I hadn't met you guys yet," Ryan pointed out.

"Okay, who would have guessed that... 6 months ago?"

Ryan snorted. "No one with eyes and ears," he admitted.

To Be Continued... Right Now!


and


Chapter Twenty Three

That night, after dinner, Sandy and Kirsten pulled Ryan aside, making him more than a little nervous. But, on the other hand, Kirsten was barely hiding a smile, so he had a feeling this was good, whatever it was. "Is everything okay?" he asked as he sat down on the couch.

"Everything's fine," Kirsten said hurriedly, her smile flashing brilliantly for a moment before she stiffled it again.

"Then what's up?"

Sandy grabbed a few papers from the end table and looked down at them for a moment. "It's completely up to you, and we'll understand if you say no, but... take a look," he said, holding out the papers.

Ryan tentively took them and read the first few lines. As he did, he felt a surge of different emotions. Happiness, fear, confusion, guilt. "You want to adopt me?" he finally whispered.

"As far as all of us are concerned, you are a member of this family," Kirsten said. "But we'd like you to be legally as well. So that it's completely true when I brag to people at Newport Group about my son the Intern."

Ryan blushed slightly and looked back down at the papers. He read through the entire thing slowly, knowing the Cohens were anxiously waiting for his response. Then, almost as slowly as he had read, he looked up. "I... Can I think about this?" he asked quietly.

"Of course," Sandy said, clearly trying to hide his disappointment that Ryan hadn't immediately agreed. "Take as much time as you want."

"No matter what you decide," Kirsten said, leaning forward to kiss his temple. "It doesn't change anything, honey. You're our son."

Ryan smiled. "Thanks," he said as he slowly stood. "I'm gonna... go for a walk, okay?"

Sandy nodded and they watched him leave. "We knew he might not immediately say yes," he told his wife after the door closed.

"Can you blame me for hoping he would?" Kirsten replied with a sigh.

Sandy shook his head, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Trust me, I hoped so too."

~~~~

Ryan walked down towards the water, his hands stuffed in his pockets. As he neared the water, he sat down and pulled off his shoes and socks, leaving them straight out from the trail up to the house, then rolled up his jeans. Then he stood again and walked straight into the water until it was up to his ankles. There was something comforting about the feel of the waves washing up around his ankles, the sand squishing between his toes. It reminded him of his first day in Newport, when Seth had taken him out on the Summer Breeze.

Ryan smiled at the memory of that day, though the best part had been the instant bond he and Seth had formed. There was no real hesitation or awkwardness, except of course for the Grand Theft Auto comment Seth had stumbled around. It was like they had known eachother for years instead of less than a day. And it had felt so good to find someone who didn't judge him immediately. Someone willing to go to bat for him. Someone who wanted to call him brother, and was proud to do so.

And that brought Ryan back to the question at hand. He desperately wanted to be Kirsten and Sandy's son, to be Seth's brother, in the eyes of everyone. But that meant giving up the Atwoods. Alright, so Trey had ordered him to stay away, for the first time doing something purely for Ryan's sake, Dawn was God knows where, having abandoned him, and Frank, his father, was in prison and would be for at least another couple years. They were still his family. Did he really want to abandon them like the had constantly abandoned him? Could he be like them?

And how genuine was the Cohen's offer? Yes, the papers seemed to be real, they seemed to really want to adopt him, but they also said his name was and would be Ryan Atwood. If he became a Cohen, then he'd want to be Ryan Cohen. There was no halfway in his eyes. He couldn't be their son and still be an Atwood. Did the name thing mean they were unsure? Or were they trying to think of his feelings about it and thought he'd prefer to stay an Atwood?

Ryan sighed, walking back out of the water and laying down in the sand to stare up at the star filled sky. The whole thing was so confusing. Was he an Atwood or a Cohen? Dawn and Frank's or Kirsten and Sandy's? Was Trey his brother or Seth? Was home Chino or Newport? "What a mess," he muttered to himself. He knew what he needed right now, he needed to talk to Summer. Too bad she was busy with her dad's welcome home dinner.

"Chino?"

Ryan sat up with a jerk, surprised by Summer's sudden appearance. "Summer?" he replied, getting up and taking a quick inventory of her appearance as he tried to figure out what was wrong. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, though it was coming loose, and she was dressed in a worn pair of jeans and a tanktop with one of his zip-up sweatshirts that he'd accidentally left at her place over it. "What happened?" he asked, stepping forward to embrace her.

Summer rested her head against his chest, her arms pulled up between them. "My dad stayed in Dallas for another week," she said. "Gloria came home though and I didn't want to spend any more time with her than I had to, so..."

"You know I'm always happy to see you," Ryan told her.

Summer pulled back and looked up at his face. "Is everything okay?"

"Kirsten and Sandy want to adopt me. Fully and legally," Ryan blurted out, sitting down again and pulling Summer with him.

"That's great!" Summer said, then she noticed how serious Ryan looked. "Isn't it?"

Ryan sighed and gave her a rundown of his doubts. "I'm being an idiot, aren't I?"

"They love you, Ryan. You're already their son, they just want it to be total and complete, so no one can ever say otherwise," Summer told him. "But here's the important part. Do you want them to be your parents?"

"Of course I do!" Ryan replied immediately. "I love them, love Seth. Hell, even Caleb's growing on me. I just..."

"You're scared," Summer said. "Guess what? No matter how bad you screw up, they won't give a damn, Chino. You're stuck with them anyway, might as well take advantage of the extra privileges others may offer the new Cohen boy."

Ryan smiled. "I guess you're right." He looked down at his watch, a nice one Sandy had bought him as a joking reminder to stop missing curfew, and hit the button to light up the face. It was a little past midnight, and as he looked over his shoulder he could see the lights were still on in the Cohen kitchen. "I should go up there, get some sleep."

"And let them get some sleep?" Summer said with a snicker, also having noticed the lights.

Ryan grinned. "Yeah."

"Did you figure things out?"

"Yeah."

"Can I know?"

"Are you gonna be okay with dating another guy named Cohen?"

Summer squealed and threw her arms around his neck. "You'll always be Chino to me!"

Ryan laughed. "You okay to go home?"

"Yeah, sure," she said, smiling.

It looked a little forced to Ryan, but he kissed her lightly on the lips. "I love you."

"Love you, too, Chino," Summer said before pulling away and starting back down the beach.

Ryan headed back up to the house, pausing to grab his shoes, and grinned as he saw the lights switch off. Once he passed out of sight of the house he broke into a run, a slight smile on his face. It might be fun to catch them waiting up. He even went around to the front of the house and dug his key out of his pocket to open the door and slip inside almost silently. He quietly walked towards the living room and peeked around the corner, spotting Kirsten anxiously trying to watch for him to come in the back without being seen from there.

"I'm back," he said, just loud enough for her to hear.

Kirsten jumped and turned towards him, looking both annoyed and embarassed. "I wasn't..."

"Waiting up and watching for me?" Ryan asked, still smiling slightly. "Yeah, you were."

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay. We didn't mean to upset you or anything..."

"You didn't," Ryan assured her. "I just needed to think. Without Seth babbling in my ear."

Kirsten chuckled. "I can understand that."

"I know my answer though," Ryan said.

"Don't tell me!' Kirsten said quickly. "Sleep on it so you know you really are sure, and then tell me and Sandy in the morning."

Ryan nodded. "I'm not going to change my mind," he told her, walking over and impulsively kissing her cheek. "Night," he said. Then, as an after thought, he smiled and whispered. "Mom." Then he turned and headed up stairs, leaving Kirsten to stare after him with a surprised, but happy, smile on her face.

To Be Continued...

Comments

[ohioala19.livejournal.com]

yay, the cohens are adopted him, i wish they did it for real on the show, anyways awesome update, i love how frequent they are

[missmara13]

Well, as I've said, this thing was completely written 3 years ago... I'm just finally working up the nerve to show it to people other than my friend Riley... lol... since all I have to do is edit for typoes and the most obvious errors in plot (and fixing the names since we hadn't known the Stepmonster's name or Ryan's dad's name at the time I originally wrote this... lol) I can post really really quickly... At the rate I've been going, I'll probably be posting the final chapter next Tuesday... lol

Those were great posts !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[thekiller00.livejournal.com]

I wasn't expecting Seth and Marissa to date !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am glad that Ryan will become a full fledged Cohen !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to see what happens next !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[katwoman76.livejournal.com]

Another loverly update.
I always love it when the Cohens officially adopt him.
And the watching out for him part and calling Kirsten "Mom". Aw.

[malinr.livejournal.com]

Okay, I've got tears in my eyes. Love the adoption. Hugs

[fredsmith518.livejournal.com]

I like your take on Ryan bing adopted, the thought he puts into his decision, the lovely beach description accompanying it too. Interesting on the name, the all or nothing thought.

[ryanforever.livejournal.com]

Love the mom touch. Really sweet.

[indigorayne.livejournal.com]

awwww, so sweet.