TITLE: The past rewinded

AUTHOR: Anika I own absolutely nothing!

FEEDBACK: I'd be delighted.

CATEGORY: AU, Drama, Romance, etc. (R/M romance, S/S, some Kandy, family stuff)

SUMMARY: After an accident, Ryan appears to be someone else... or rather another him.

TIMELINE/SPOILERS: From 01x07 "The Escape" it becomes an AU fic... you'll see.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I actually got the idea when I was reading "The catcher in the rye" and saw a trailer for an upcoming tv show. Don't worry, this story has so nothing to do with the book! Partly because I wasn't too crazy about it. This Holden Caulfield got me all hooked up on 'anyway'... well, the idea for this fic probably isn't new. Still, I think it's pretty neat and finally, I am putting some romance in it! Please do me a favor and read it, and of course never forget the tiny little review! Have fun!

Time was the cruelest force.

Seth Cohen nervously tapped his fingers on the empty plastic chair next to him. His eyes were glued to the huge clock that hung over the entrance. Only twenty minutes had passed since he'd sat down. The wating room was rather small. Just two rows of chairs. Their red color made Seth sick. Some of the chairs were taken. Unlike Seth, no one was alone. Everyone was waiting for news- either good or bad- but no one was alone. Except Seth Cohen. No one sat beside him, told him everything would be ok. He hoped his parents would arrive soon.

Some minutes ago, his eyes had started to close every now and then. Seth couldn't sleep though. Not only because he had to stay away for any news but because the whole scenario haunted him. It was his fault the four of them were here. His fault that he didn't know if everything would be ok, if they could all leave the hospital. Seth stared at the clock. Another minute had passed.

Neither Ryan nor Marissa had wanted to go to Tijuana. Only because they had been forced by their best friends, they had agreed. Summer had persuaded Marissa to go and Seth had done the same with Ryan. He still remembered it vividly:

"The plan is undeniable", Seth had said.

"I'm denying it." Ryan had answered him. Of course, Seth hadn't given up.

"We have my mom's ranger, we have a perfect alibi as I go to this comic convention every year and we also have my entire life never doing anything wrong. Which completely allows my parents to give a false sense of trust."

"And you want to give that all away for Summer in a wet T-shirt doing body shots."

"Sorry, I thought that was a rhetorical question. Yes Ryan, yes. On the last weekend before school one goes to Tijuana, it's a tradition, it is a right of passage, and you know what else? What happens in Mexico, satys in Mexico."

"What happens in Mexico?"

"I don't know because it stays there, and that's why we must go."

"Ah... I don't know about lying to your parents."

"Okay, I can respect that. I will lie to them."

"Why can't we just go to Comic-Con?"

"Okay, Comic-Con is just a bunch of pathetic virgins ogling some porn star dressed as Cat Woman."

"I thought you went every year."

"Listen, Tijuana is a big town, I bet you won't even see Marissa."

"I don't care about seeing Marissa or not seeing Marissa."

"Okay, therefore you should have no problem coming to Mexico."

Seth wished he had listened to Ryan and they had just gone to Comic-Com but ever since he had moved in with them, his miserable life had so drastically changed. He actually got a chance to be with Summer! Having always been a little self-centered, he had seen his chance. But never in the world could he have imagined that something like this would happen.

Pushing his thoughts away for a second, he honestly wondered where Summer had gone to. She had only wanted to go get coffee. Having lost all track of actual time, Seth didn't know when she'd said that. It was an ironic twist that them, the two who wanted to go to Tijuana had come out of the accident absolutely uninjuried. Marissa had been at least conscious the whole time, she had just seemed shaken up. Ryan on the other hand... Seth had to swallow the nausea. All this blood on his forehead, his closed eyes and yet pained expression. Not able to sit any longer, he went to look for Summer.

Eventually, he found her at the vending machine. She was clinging to her own cup of coffee while another was on one of the chairs that stood next to the machine. She looked as bad as Seth felt. Her hair was frizzy and her face pale. Still, Seth couldn't shake off the pang of lust that shot through him. Ignoring it, he approached her.

"Hey, I thought you'd actually bring me the coffee." He pointed to the waiting cup. Summer stared at him as if she'd never seen him in her entire life.

"This isn't for you, it's tea for Marissa. She'll be out in a second." Although glad that Marissa was fine, he was angry with Summer for having ignored his request earlier. One should think she'd forget her feelings towards him after such a day, but apparently she couldn't. Seth jerked some coins from his pocket and bought himself a coffee.

"So Marissa is fine?" he asked, taking a sip from his coffee. Summer was oblivious of Seth.

"Huh?", she turned to him with a start, "Oh yeah, she's fine. They just wanted to check on her." Again, she faced the other direction, making it obvious she didn't want to spend any time with Seth. So they simply stood there, each facing a different direction. Together and yet apart.

The ten minutes wait for Marissa to emerge from one of the rooms, seemed like hours to Seth. He felt exhausted and hoped his parents would arrive finally. He should be lucky the accident had happened quite close to home. Never had he imagined to actually crave his parents' arrival. Summer embraced Marissa tightly and demanded to go back home immediately. But Marissa turned to Seth.

"What about Ryan?" she was extremely concered for him. She feared he wouldn't wake up again ever. The guilt of her rude behavior towards him was all too present in her mind.

"I don't know yet," he shrugged tiredly, "I hope my parents arrive soon, I guess they will be told something." Seth finished bitterly. It sucked being ignored by everyone all the time- even if it was for differnt reasons.

"I got you some tea." Summer handed her the cup. Marissa smiled weakly.

"I guess we can only wait." Seth stated because the silence was awkward. The three teenagers dragged themselves into the waiting room.

Time was not a friend of Seth Cohen. While Marissa and Summer chatted quietly but rather happily, he had gone back to staring at his old pal, the clock. It seemed not to move at all. The caffeine had done nothing to his system. He wanted to crawl into a warm bed and sleep til next afternoon. Waking up, he'd find nothing had happened.

"Cohen!" Summer said loudly. Seth's head jerked up and stared at the two angry eyes.

"Your head fell on my shoulder." She told him, her expression not changing. Seth was too tired to say anything and just sat upright. Marissa gave him a reassuring smile before she went back to her conversation.

Before Seth's eyes could close another time, he heard a familiar voice in the hallway. He jumped off the chair and practically ran to his parents, not caring what Summer and Marissa thought of him.

Kirsten hugged her son firmly. Seth felt like crying. Finally, he wasn't alone anymore. Lately, he had ignored that he still needed and depended on his parents.

"How are you?" Kirsten asked her son, loosening the grip on him.

"I'm fine, they just won't tell me anything about Ryan. It was horrible, mom. I don't even know what happened exactly, how Ryan could get hurt so bad. I just don't know." He told her, desperate.

"I'm sure he's fine." Kirsten said, trying to comfort Seth. She just hoped it wasn't a lie. Sandy was still talking to one of the nurses. He looked angry. Apparently, he wasn't told anything either. Seth watched his father, his expression sad.

"Where are the girls?" he heard his mother ask. She needed him to look another way otherwise he might understand Sandy's encounter wrongly.

"Waiting room." He answered simply, not tearing his eyes off his father.

"Have you eaten anything yet? We could get something."

"I'm not hungry. Mom, why is dad so angry? Do you think he already knows what's the matter with Ryan?" Kirsten gave it up. Her son couldn't be distracted. Understandable, she was dieing to find out in what condition her foster son was as well. A short moment later, Sandy approached them. He hugged his son briefly before he started explaining:

"It seems that Ryan is not dangerously hurt. The nurse couldn't tell me for sure though. She told me to wait a moment, she is just getting Ryan's doctor." Seth sighed with relief.

"So he's gonna be ok?" It was Marissa. No one had noticed the two girls joining them.

"Apparently. We're not sure yet." Sandy was pretty shaken up. Sure, Ryan hadn't lived with them long but he had grown fond of him.

A tall, stern man walked towards him. Seth felt his heart beating faster. He knew this was Ryan's doctor. Although the nurse had already said Ryan would be ok, Seth sensed something wasn't right.

"Mr. and Sandy and Kirsten turned to him expectingly.

"I'm Dr.Nibler, I'm Ryan's doctor," the adults exchanged quick hand shakes, "Is that all family?" he asked pointing to Summer, Marissa and Seth. He almost seemed annoyed.

"Yes," Sandy told him, "So how is Ryan? Is he alright?"

"Well, there is something... I am not quite sure how to tell you," Dr.Nibler began, his hands fidgeting. Kirsten grasped Sandy's hand, Seth held his breath and Marissa felt like she'd faint any second.

END, part 1

So, want the next part? It will show you Ryan and the condition is in and some more stuff... Anyway, please leave a tiny review. This day was so damn long(not that it is over yet) and I'd really appericiate some!

Written by Anika