100_Situations - Breakaway (063 - Break)
Oct. 30th, 2006 10:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missmara13Title: Breakaway
Fandom: The OC
Characters: Ryan Atwood
Prompt: 063 - Break
Word Count: 1335
Rating: PG-13 (Like 1 bad word)
Summary: There's a lot of ways to break, and Ryan feels them all.
Author's Notes: Comes after 'Finality', but can be read on it's own, I guess.
Breakaway
It was a week after Marissa's funeral that Ryan made his decision. He was tired of the looks he got from everyone, including his own so-called family. He was tired of Seth's attempts to get him to have fun. He was tired of Kirsten and Sandy's attemtps to get him to 'talk'. He waited until everyone else was asleep, then tucked pillows and clothes under the covers on his bed and grabbed his already packed duffle bag from the closet. He propped a note up on his pillow, then locked the door on his way out and walked around the side of the house.
When he got to the end of the driveway, he almost looked back, but in the end he didn't because he knew that if he did, he wouldn't be able to do this. He wouldn't be able to make a clean break from Newport and all it represented.
The love of a family for the first time. The neglect of a family yet again.
The love of a waif of a girl. The betrayal from a waif of a girl.
The birth of his friendships with Seth, Luke, and Summer. The end of his friendship with Theresa.
He never should have expected things to be different in Newport than they were in Chino, but he had and it had lead to loosing himself within who they wanted him to be. And as much as he loved those left, he couldn't stay.
No, it was best to make a clean break.
~~~~
He didn't realize he'd packed the watch Sandy and Kirsten had given him for his first Chrismukkah until he found it a few days later, tucked into the bottom of his bag along with Marissa's old carebear that Kaitlin had given to him, and a photo of himself and the Cohens. He didn't mean to pack those reminders, they went against his plan for a clean break, but at the same time he also couldn't bring himself to part with them quite yet.
So they want back to the bottom of his bag, under the folded jeans and shirts, under the handful of paperback novels he had brought, under the guidebooks to Houston, Denver, Chicago, and every other big city in the US that he could find in the book store.
~~~~
He gave Marissa's carebear to a little girl he met in a homeless shelter in Houston. She had lost everything when her family's house burned down, and needed something to hold at night when she was scared. When he casually mentioned a week later that he was leaving the city and heading north, the girl's mother gave him a warm jacket that had been her late husband's, telling him to take care, and gently suggesting he should go home.
"Don't have one anymore," Ryan replied with a shrug, tucking the jacket into his duffle.
~~~~
He found a job in Kansas, of all places, doing farm work in exchange for room and board. He got along well with the family, and might have stayed on longer if he hadn't fallen off a ladder and broken his wrist. They asked Ryan to stay anyway, he'd heal and then he could help again, but Ryan knew they were short on cash and couldn't afford a worthless mouth to feed. He did trade several of his paperbacks for ones of theirs that he hadn't read, giving away one more thing that reminded him of Newport and kept him tied to it.
~~~~
He went to Denver next, and needed that warm coat he had gotten months before from the woman in Houston. He found work at a grocery store, and was saving up first and last months rent for an apartment when he work up one morning at the shelter to find his bag was missing, along with everything he owned except for what he was wearing and his money, which he always kept in a smaller bag, held against his stomach at night. By the time he got the adminstrator to come and do a search, the bag and his clothes were back, but his books and his watch were gone, taking another connection to Newport from him, and while he told himself it was helping him make his clean break, he also felt his heart shudder at the thought of loosing it.
But there, among the mess, was the picture of himself with the Cohens, the frame gone, but the picture itself safe. He left Denver the next day, his things repacked and the money going to a bus ticket south to Georgia instead of towards rent.
~~~~
He found work with a company renovating an old plantation, complete with room and board on the grounds, and a locked trunk at the foot of his bed to hold his things. And one night, after using his fake ID to go out drinking with other workers, Ryan spotted the display in a comic book store window, a sale on Atomic County's first graphic novel, since the second was due out soon. And beside it was a poster asking for information about Ryan's whereabouts, calling him the 'real' Kid Chino. Ryan couldn't resist tempting fate, and almost hoped the store owner would recognize him from the poster, so he went in and bought a copy, reading it over and over again until he had memorized every word of the story and could describe the images in his sleep.
And so, instead of loosing a connection, Ryan gained one more, the graphic novel being tucked into his bag with the photo stuck in as a bookmark. Two days later, he spotted Sandy and Seth in the comic book store, talking to the owner, and for a moment he thought about crossing the street and asking them to take him home. Instead he turned around and went back to the plantation, telling his boss he had to break his contract, it was a family thing.
~~~~
He got to Miami in time for New Year's Eve, and ended up getting a hotel room and going out to party. He met a girl and went back to her room with her, wanting to forget who he was and where he wanted to be. In the morning, when he told her he was leaving Miami that day, she threw a shoe at him and the mirror he stood in front of shattered, little broken pieces falling to the dresser top and leaving him to stare at a fractured image of himself.
~~~~
He felt his wrist break again when he fought back against a man who tried to steal his duffle bag in a South Carolina bus station, and this time he just got it set at a free clinic, refusing a cast in favor of an ace bandage wrapped around it, and left with it throbbing in pain and a bottle of painkillers in his hand.
That night he broke his promise to himself about never talking to anyone he knew from Newport again when he called Luke.
"Are they okay?" Ryan asked the moment Luke picked up.
"Chino?" came the stunned reply.
"Please, Luke, just tell me, are the Cohens okay?"
"They're scared shitless, man!" Luke said. "Where the hell are you? They've been following leads all over! Sandy flew to Denver a couple weeks ago because your watch turned up at a pawn shop, and then Georgia because some comic guy recognized you..."
"Are they okay?" Ryan repeated. "Are they... Are they okay?"
"Except for being worried about you? Yeah, they're good."
"Good," Ryan said. "Do me a favor, tell them... tell them I'm doing okay."
"You don't sound like it."
"I'm okay, Luke," Ryan repeated. "Just tell them that."
"When are you going to go home?"
"I don't have one anymore," Ryan said, hanging up before his friend could respond. He bowed his head and let out a choked sob, breaking down for the first time since... since he could remember. And for once, he let himself break.
THE END
Fandom: The OC
Characters: Ryan Atwood
Prompt: 063 - Break
Word Count: 1335
Rating: PG-13 (Like 1 bad word)
Summary: There's a lot of ways to break, and Ryan feels them all.
Author's Notes: Comes after 'Finality', but can be read on it's own, I guess.
Breakaway
It was a week after Marissa's funeral that Ryan made his decision. He was tired of the looks he got from everyone, including his own so-called family. He was tired of Seth's attempts to get him to have fun. He was tired of Kirsten and Sandy's attemtps to get him to 'talk'. He waited until everyone else was asleep, then tucked pillows and clothes under the covers on his bed and grabbed his already packed duffle bag from the closet. He propped a note up on his pillow, then locked the door on his way out and walked around the side of the house.
When he got to the end of the driveway, he almost looked back, but in the end he didn't because he knew that if he did, he wouldn't be able to do this. He wouldn't be able to make a clean break from Newport and all it represented.
The love of a family for the first time. The neglect of a family yet again.
The love of a waif of a girl. The betrayal from a waif of a girl.
The birth of his friendships with Seth, Luke, and Summer. The end of his friendship with Theresa.
He never should have expected things to be different in Newport than they were in Chino, but he had and it had lead to loosing himself within who they wanted him to be. And as much as he loved those left, he couldn't stay.
No, it was best to make a clean break.
~~~~
He didn't realize he'd packed the watch Sandy and Kirsten had given him for his first Chrismukkah until he found it a few days later, tucked into the bottom of his bag along with Marissa's old carebear that Kaitlin had given to him, and a photo of himself and the Cohens. He didn't mean to pack those reminders, they went against his plan for a clean break, but at the same time he also couldn't bring himself to part with them quite yet.
So they want back to the bottom of his bag, under the folded jeans and shirts, under the handful of paperback novels he had brought, under the guidebooks to Houston, Denver, Chicago, and every other big city in the US that he could find in the book store.
~~~~
He gave Marissa's carebear to a little girl he met in a homeless shelter in Houston. She had lost everything when her family's house burned down, and needed something to hold at night when she was scared. When he casually mentioned a week later that he was leaving the city and heading north, the girl's mother gave him a warm jacket that had been her late husband's, telling him to take care, and gently suggesting he should go home.
"Don't have one anymore," Ryan replied with a shrug, tucking the jacket into his duffle.
~~~~
He found a job in Kansas, of all places, doing farm work in exchange for room and board. He got along well with the family, and might have stayed on longer if he hadn't fallen off a ladder and broken his wrist. They asked Ryan to stay anyway, he'd heal and then he could help again, but Ryan knew they were short on cash and couldn't afford a worthless mouth to feed. He did trade several of his paperbacks for ones of theirs that he hadn't read, giving away one more thing that reminded him of Newport and kept him tied to it.
~~~~
He went to Denver next, and needed that warm coat he had gotten months before from the woman in Houston. He found work at a grocery store, and was saving up first and last months rent for an apartment when he work up one morning at the shelter to find his bag was missing, along with everything he owned except for what he was wearing and his money, which he always kept in a smaller bag, held against his stomach at night. By the time he got the adminstrator to come and do a search, the bag and his clothes were back, but his books and his watch were gone, taking another connection to Newport from him, and while he told himself it was helping him make his clean break, he also felt his heart shudder at the thought of loosing it.
But there, among the mess, was the picture of himself with the Cohens, the frame gone, but the picture itself safe. He left Denver the next day, his things repacked and the money going to a bus ticket south to Georgia instead of towards rent.
~~~~
He found work with a company renovating an old plantation, complete with room and board on the grounds, and a locked trunk at the foot of his bed to hold his things. And one night, after using his fake ID to go out drinking with other workers, Ryan spotted the display in a comic book store window, a sale on Atomic County's first graphic novel, since the second was due out soon. And beside it was a poster asking for information about Ryan's whereabouts, calling him the 'real' Kid Chino. Ryan couldn't resist tempting fate, and almost hoped the store owner would recognize him from the poster, so he went in and bought a copy, reading it over and over again until he had memorized every word of the story and could describe the images in his sleep.
And so, instead of loosing a connection, Ryan gained one more, the graphic novel being tucked into his bag with the photo stuck in as a bookmark. Two days later, he spotted Sandy and Seth in the comic book store, talking to the owner, and for a moment he thought about crossing the street and asking them to take him home. Instead he turned around and went back to the plantation, telling his boss he had to break his contract, it was a family thing.
~~~~
He got to Miami in time for New Year's Eve, and ended up getting a hotel room and going out to party. He met a girl and went back to her room with her, wanting to forget who he was and where he wanted to be. In the morning, when he told her he was leaving Miami that day, she threw a shoe at him and the mirror he stood in front of shattered, little broken pieces falling to the dresser top and leaving him to stare at a fractured image of himself.
~~~~
He felt his wrist break again when he fought back against a man who tried to steal his duffle bag in a South Carolina bus station, and this time he just got it set at a free clinic, refusing a cast in favor of an ace bandage wrapped around it, and left with it throbbing in pain and a bottle of painkillers in his hand.
That night he broke his promise to himself about never talking to anyone he knew from Newport again when he called Luke.
"Are they okay?" Ryan asked the moment Luke picked up.
"Chino?" came the stunned reply.
"Please, Luke, just tell me, are the Cohens okay?"
"They're scared shitless, man!" Luke said. "Where the hell are you? They've been following leads all over! Sandy flew to Denver a couple weeks ago because your watch turned up at a pawn shop, and then Georgia because some comic guy recognized you..."
"Are they okay?" Ryan repeated. "Are they... Are they okay?"
"Except for being worried about you? Yeah, they're good."
"Good," Ryan said. "Do me a favor, tell them... tell them I'm doing okay."
"You don't sound like it."
"I'm okay, Luke," Ryan repeated. "Just tell them that."
"When are you going to go home?"
"I don't have one anymore," Ryan said, hanging up before his friend could respond. He bowed his head and let out a choked sob, breaking down for the first time since... since he could remember. And for once, he let himself break.
THE END
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-10-31 01:23 am (UTC)BTW, I've been meaning to tell you that your icon is so cute! Just perfect.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-31 01:32 am (UTC)And thanks! It's made from a manip I mad... originally Marissa and Seth were in between Ryan and Summer, but with some editing and color adjustment, I think I managed to make it look almost real... lol