Title: A Note and a Bus Station
Summary: What if Sandy was the one who found Ryan's note about taking a bus to Chicago to see Lindsay instead of Seth? (A little missing parenting from 2.15 The Mallpisode.)
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to The O.C. No profit is taken from this story.
Author's Notes: There has not been a lot of contact between Ryan/Seth and Sandy/Kirsten for several episodes. So I figured I'd introduce some by having Sandy deal with Ryan trying to run away to Chicago instead of Seth.
Chapter 1
With his head under the kitchen sink, Sandy was getting more and more frustrated by this plumbing thing. And having Caleb here moaning about losing Lindsay, which was mostly his own fault, wasn't helping matters any. At least Seth wasn't here too, making wisecracks about his lack of ability as a plumber. Seth was off having breakfast with Summer. Sandy could be happy about that, at least. Seth finally won his girl back. Now it was Sandy's turn.
Sandy sighed in frustration. He wasn't getting anywhere and was tempted to just give up, but he couldn't just forget about trying to find Kirsten's wedding and engagement rings. He had to get them back for her to try and get one step closer to making it up to her for all the stupid things he did with regard to Rebecca – even having her around was a colossally bad idea. Sandy didn't even want to think about that maybe Kirsten took the rings off on purpose. Or even lost them on purpose. They just had to be caught in the sink.
Before Sandy gave up entirely on the plumbing, he had one last idea – Ryan. Ryan had a lot of hidden talents, and maybe plumbing was one of them. Who knows, maybe Ryan had to fix a leaky faucet or two back at his Mom's house in Chino, or at Theresa's house over the summer. At the very least, this could get Ryan out of the pool house.
Ryan had been depressed all week about Lindsay leaving. He only left the pool house to go to school, he barely ate, and he didn't want to talk to anybody. Both Sandy and Kirsten had tried to console him, but didn't appear to get anywhere. Even Seth hadn't had any luck. Maybe if Sandy gave Ryan something to do, it would get his mind off of things. For a little while, at least.
So Sandy crawled his way out from under the sink, put down the tools he'd been attempting to use, wiped his hands off, and got up to head for the pool house to get Ryan.
"Where are you going, Sanford? Ready to break down and call a real plumber?"
Sandy looked down at Caleb, who was still sitting in that same spot on the floor, leaning back against the cabinets. Right, maybe it was a bad idea to get Ryan. He and Cal didn't exactly get along, and that was an understatement. You know what, though? Maybe it was time for Sandy to say something about that.
"I'm going to get Ryan to see if he knows anything about plumbing." Sandy pointed a warning finger at Caleb. "And don't even think about saying anything to him, Cal. He's been really upset about Lindsay leaving, and I won't allow you to talk shit to him like you usually do. If you can't be civil, then you can leave." As he said that, Sandy gestured in the direction of the front door.
Caleb didn't move, except for a slight shrug. "Fine, fine. I'll be civil." Caleb gestured himself, towards the pool house. "Go get the boy."
Sandy frowned at Caleb. He didn't exactly trust him to keep his word, so Sandy vowed to himself to kick Caleb out of the house if he said anything out of line. Hopefully it wouldn't be too late by then. Then again, both Caleb and Ryan were upset by Lindsay leaving, so they had that in common. Maybe they could connect somehow over that and become... well, not friends, but at least not as much enemies. After all, Sandy and Caleb were almost like friends now after almost 20 years of antagonism, which Sandy never thought would change. So anything was possible.
Sandy took a deep breath and walked past Caleb and out to the pool house. When he opened the door and walked in, he was surprised to find that Ryan was not lying in bed as he had been all week. The bed was even made. Sandy looked towards the bathroom and walked a little bit in that direction.
"Ryan? Ryan, are you in here?"
When there was no answer, Sandy turned back towards the door. That was when he spotted the white piece of paper on the dark blue comforter. It looked like a note. As Sandy slowly walked over to pick it up, he tried to keep himself calm. Maybe it meant nothing. Maybe he just wanted some time to himself, without all the Cohens hovering over him. Maybe he just went to the beach or something.
Sandy reached over and picked it up. He opened it slowly and read it. He had to smile at the first line.
Don't panic, I'm coming back.
I'm going to take a bus to Chicago to see Lindsay for the weekend, surprise her.
I'll be back in a few days.
Ryan
Sandy quickly folded up the note and hurried back into the kitchen. He went over to the cordless phone next to the refrigerator, picked it up, and started to dial Ryan's cell phone number. But he stopped and turned off the phone before he finished. It would probably be better if he went down to the bus station and brought Ryan back in person.
"Sandy? What's going on?"
Sandy turned around. Caleb was now standing up at the kitchen island. He'd entirely forgotten that Caleb was here. Sandy put the phone back on its cradle.
"Nothing. I just have to go out for a while." Sandy grabbed the car keys. "You can let yourself out, right?"
Without waiting for an answer, Sandy hurried out of the house.
To Be Continued