Heres a story I published on LJ a while ago pushed by a prompt from Brandywine.
A Whole New World
"So who are you" Ryan hears. He's headed down the driveway while waiting for his lawyer to break the news to his wife about their unexpected house guest. He still can't believe he accepted Sandy's offer after Ryan called him this afternoon.
"Whoever you want me to be" retorts Ryan. As soon as the words leave his mouth he's kicking himself for his automatic response. This isn't Chino where he's expected to try and pick up every girl he runs into and he's trained himself to just hit on every new girl that he meets so the words have left his mouth before he could think. Now he's got to finish the game with this chick. Hopefully he won't end up having to take her to bed like he has with too many other girls who he has no interest in. After a little small talk he gets lucky and Sandy comes to the rescue and takes him up to the big house before he has to say much else to Marissa.
He hits it off with Seth, Sandy's son and they have a great weekend. Seth is a cool kid who accepts Ryan right away and he's happy to have a friend. While he considers Seth kind of cute and adorable there's no way he's letting himself think of Seth as anything but a friend. Seth spends the entire weekend talking about his life long crush and its obvious Seth is straight as an arrow and no good could come from Ryan thinking anything could happen. So Seth has been put very definitely in the friend only column which is just fine with Ryan because he has enough complications in his life and doesn't need to add another one to them.
Before he knows it the weekend is coming to an end and he figures out that its time to run before he gets sent back to foster care. He's been down that road before and there's no way he's going back if he can help it. He's packing and is almost ready to go when Seth catches him and convinces him that he's got a better plan. Turns out to be a pretty good plan and he ends up at one of Kirsten's model homes. He knows its not a real solution but it gives him some time to breath. Unfortunately Marissa got involved and he still has to play the "I'm interested" game with her since she's been hanging out with him and Seth. He'd much rather be hanging out with just Seth. Seth is so over the top that Ryan can just be low key and be himself. Even if he can never let Seth know that he's gay he doesn't have to play at being someone he's not and he's having a better time with Seth than anybody else. Seth is a little bit girl crazy but that's nothing new so he just enjoys the friendship while he can.
Seth and Marissa left a few hours ago and Ryan is just enjoying the solitude trying to come up with a plan for himself. He told Seth he was thinking about Austin but maybe West Hollywood or San Francisco would be a better place for him. From what he's heard these two places might be easier to blend in to the background. He hears a car pulling in the driveway and becomes worried. He's not supposed to be here and if it's a security guard he's screwed. Looking out he realizes its Marissa coming back without Seth. He realizes he's still screwed. Looks like Marissa has decided that she wants to be more than just friends with Ryan. It figures this would happen. He knows he started this game but he's pissed off at himself that he continues to put himself in these positions.
After a little small talk it become obvious that Marissa is making the move on him but he tells her "Marissa this isn't going to work".
He's hoping she thinks he doesn't want to get with her because he's leaving town. What he's really thinking is that he doesn't have to play his fake I love girls act when there's no one watching so what the heck is he doing. Once she leaves he's sorry that he upset Marissa but satisfied that he didn't let himself take the easy way out and sleep with her. He doesn't hear Luke and his buddies until it's too late.
"Stay away from my girl" yells Luke as he's rushing in to throw a punch at Ryan. They get into a scuffle and knock a couple of the lit candles over. Ryan's knocked out and the other boys run. Luke is the last one out of the house and realizes that Ryan was not following them. While he's pissed off at this new guy for trying to mack on Marissa he doesn't want him to die. He goes back and pulls him out of the fire.
Once he regains consciousness he tells Luke "Thanks"
Luke can't believe this kid just thanked him for knocking him out and almost killing him and just stares at the kid. "What are you thanking me for?"
"You could have left me to die in there. I know a lot of people who would have done just that" Ryan replies and starts walking away.
"Huh… Where are you going?" He asks Ryan as he's still trying to process the comment from him, wondering how someone can just expect to be left for dead.
"I should go and let Seth know I burned down his mom's development and see what's going to happen to me".
Not feeling right about letting Ryan take the blame for the fire he gives him a ride back to the Cohen's and they jointly confess to the fire resulting in them both being arrested and taken to jail.
It's obvious to Ryan that Luke has never been in lockup before. He can see the fear in Lukes eyes after the handcuffs are off and they are processed into the block. Figuring that this kid will be eaten alive if he's left alone, Ryan takes him under his wing and explains some of the facts of jail life to him.
"This may still be the OC but don't start anything here or your going to be someone else's bitch" he tells Luke reminding him of the first night they met and Lukes "That's how we do it in the OC bitch" comment. Luke really doesn't understand this kid. He should be leaving Luke to the wolves in here and yet he's giving him advice on how to survive.
With Ryan's help he manages to avoid a couple of run ins and the next morning they are both called up to the front. Luke is being bailed out and Ryan has a visitor. As Luke is leaving he gives Ryan a look that tries to convey Thanks and Sorry at the same time.
- . - . - . - . - . -
Ryan can't believe his luck. He gets out of Juvie thanks to Kirsten and then ends up being able to stay with the Cohens once his mother abandons him again after that horrible Casino Night. The thing is now that he's here for a while he's going to have to figure out how to handle Marissa. She's made it pretty clear she wants to be his boyfriend but he's not interested. This isn't Chino and he doesn't have to bed every girl who makes a pass at him, at least he hopes not.
Cotillion ends up being another weird but interesting Newport party. Originally he gets paired up with Anna, a new girl from Philadelphia. They seem to hit it off as possible friends and no sexual innuendo at all which is something new for him. Its obvious that Anna is interested in Seth and since his obsession over Summer is going nowhere maybe he can help his friend out and hook up the two of them. Of course the party ends up in the usual way with him in a fight, but at least Sandy and Kirsten gave him a pass this time because he was defending Marissa's dad.
The rest of the summer goes great with a few exceptions. Ryan was trying to avoid complications but they had a way of happening no matter what he did. He's still dodging Marissa as much as possible. Because they are neighbors and are going to be classmates once school starts he can't completely avoid her but he does his best to keep the relationship at the friendship level. Marissa's always trying to get him alone and more intimate but between Luke and the fact that her mother hates him he's been able to prevent anything from happening. But ever since Marissa caught Luke cheating on her in TJ they are no longer together so it's getting a lot tougher.
The Cohens let him get a job at the Crab Shack for the summer which resulted in him meeting Donnie. He's still not sure why he agreed to go out with Donnie that first night but he quickly realized that the Long Beach party scene was no different than the Chino party scene and he really wasn't interested so he ditched Donnie using Marissa as an excuse. It doesn't look like Marissa is going to give up and he's used to playing the dating game and figures its safer to be with Marissa than Donnie. Talk about the lesser of two evils. But Seth, being Seth decided to invite Donnie to a beach party resulting in Luke being shot. The only good thing about the incident is that Marissa seems to have started to forgive Luke and stays with him at the hospital.
As the summer wears on Kirsten tries to spend more time at home now that she has two boys to look after. Caleb doesn't make is easy but she manages to arrange to work at home most afternoons so she can keep an eye on things and make sure that Ryan is fitting in. One thing she's been surprised at is how Ryan handles Marissa. It's obvious to her that Marissa is interested in Ryan and she had assumed that she would have to be putting her foot down when it comes to Ryan's sexual activities. She has no doubts that his old life provided any number of opportunities for quick and easy sex and she had assumed that she would be working overtime to prevent them being together since Marissa was so obviously pushing for it. Kirsten has been doing her best to pay attention to the signs and was ready to step in to stop things and have a talk with Ryan at the appropriate time. However Ryan's been a perfect gentleman when it comes to Marissa. In fact based on everything she's seen the subtle signs show that he's not interested in her in that way at all so she's able to put that worry behind her, for now at least.
School starts and things get real interesting for Ryan. Since Anna's interested in Seth he's got a female friend that's not trying to hit on him and that's a whole new experience for him. Seth and Anna are in a couple of his classes which is really cool and while he can tell that he's the subject of gossip, for the most part things don't seem awful. There are a number of jerks who try and put him down for not being one of them but for the most part he doesn't seem to stick out that much. He's always been good at trying to stay on the edges looking like he fits in to the crowd without actually being part of the crowd so this is nothing new.
One of his biggest complications is Seth who won't stop trying to get Ryan and Marissa together. Every time he thinks he's been able to put Marissa out of relationship thinking Seth pushes them back together. He thinks that Marissa and Ryan should be together. The fact that Summer is Marissa's best friend has a lot to do with it. He's hoping the closer that Marissa gets to Ryan the more that Summer will be around. That along with the obvious expectation that since Ryan is from Chino he's experienced and should be all over Marissa since she's a hot chick and she wants him. Ryan's just wishing that Seth would get over Summer and get with Anna so that he could stay away from Marissa.
"So, have you two done the dirty deed yet" Seth asks Ryan as they are heading up the stairs at school.
Ryan just gives him one of his glares that says "lay off me man"
"Well, you know I just assume since Marissa is obviously so in to you and you know it's not like your new at this…. You have haven't you….I mean your from Chino so you have to be experienced."
Again, no words just a glare in return which Seth reads as "Yeah I've done it before, what do you think"
"Ok…so you're really experienced right. You can give me some pointers right. I definitely need pointers when it comes to picking up girls. So how many times have you done it?"
Ryan doesn't know how to respond to that question. Yeah, he's had sex with girls but only the ones who come on to him. He's never really tried all that hard to get a girl into bed with him. He flirts with them because he's covering himself but he's never talked a girl into it who wasn't after him to begin with. But then there are the guys. He'd only managed to fool around with 2 guys. The first guy came on to him and that was a pretty crazy situation, not to mention eye opening. But he was the one to see the connection with Brian and he actually was the aggressor in that situation. Thinking about it, the flirting thing wasn't that different than with the girls, he just took it a lot further until he ended up doing the deed. While this is going though his mind he's trying to decide how he should respond. If he was to answer Seth's real question as to giving him pointers on picking up girls he'd be pretty disappointed…"
"Oh wow, that many, you're my hero" Seth interrupts interpreting Ryan's look as "too many to count" so Ryan drops the conversation at that hoping Seth will move on to another topic which he does because Seth just can't not fill the quiet with words. Ryan appreciates this about Seth, not for the first time.
Seth runs into Marissa at lunch and takes the opportunity to invite himself and Ryan to hang out with her and Summer at the Kick-Off carnival that evening. He knows Marissa is into Ryan and figures he's doing his new brother a favor by fixing them up on a pseudo date. Of course there's the fact that where Marissa goes, Summer generally goes, so this will give him another chance with Summer.
When he gets home he tells Ryan about the carnival and the fact that they will be hanging out with Marissa and Summer. Not wanting the carnival to look like a double date Ryan invites Anna so it becomes more of a group thing than a double date. Anna just got back from her summer trip to Tahiti and he hasn't had a chance to spend that much time with her since Cotillion so he figures this is a good opportunity to spend some time with her and maybe he can help get Anna and Seth together.
He and Seth are with Anna throwing rings at bottles when Marissa and Summer appear.
"Oh hi, you remember Anna, from Cotillion, she's new, figured she could hang with us" Ryan tells the group.
Things are a little awkward at first with the various tensions in the group. Anna likes Seth, Seth likes Summer, Summer seems to be warming up to Seth, Marissa likes Ryan and Ryan wants none of them. Ryan's looking around and sees this cute guy heading their way. Actually he reminds him of Seth in a lot of ways only much more athletic and definitely sexier. He notices Anna in the group as he's walking by and stops to say Hi to her.
"Hi Tyler hows it going?" asks Anna. I assume you know most everyone here since you've all been going to school for years. This is Ryan he's new this year too." Turning to the group "Tyler and I met at one of my parents dinners. Our dad's have some business thing going on"
Tyler says Hi and they recognize each other from some classes they share. He's going to meet some friends from the Soccer team which leads to him talking to Ryan about trying out for the team. After a little more small talk Tyler takes off with Anna noticing Ryan watching him leave and something clicks in her mind.
"So …. I see now why I never had a chance with you" she says with a smile speaking softly so the others don't hear her.
Not having a clue how to respond he gives her a glare. Ryan's ready to kick himself. He's never been caught out before. Is he getting too soft here? Is he giving off "gay" vibes? What the hell is he going to do? Ryan's head is spinning as Anna continues to look between him and glancing towards Tyler's back as he's been walking away with that knowing smirk.
Finally he figures "Shit, she knows anyway so there's nothing I can do about it" so then to Anna "Ok .. Yeah .. Is this going to be a problem?" he asks.
"Of course not silly boy. I've always wanted to be a fag hag" she whispers to him and gives him a conspiritual wink as he lets go of the breath he hadn't realized he was holding on to.
"Maybe this isn't so bad" he thinks to himself as he punches her lightly in the arm and whispers back to her "Sorry your out of luck, no fags here…. But yeah he's kinda hot, isn't he?" he admits to her.
After the uncomfortable start the five of them end up enjoying themselves going on the various rides and playing the carnival games. Ryan does pretty well with the games and ends up with a number of plushy toys which he's been giving to the girls. Each of the girls are carrying a fairly large toy when Luke and a couple of his buddies cross their path. Ryan sees him coming and steels himself for another confrontation as the two groups stop to say hi. He sees Luke looking at the girls and he can tell that Luke is jealous. He can tell that Luke is looking at the big teddy that Marissa is holding on to and he just knows that Luke is thinking that Ryan won it for her in order to impress her.
"Crap, he thinks. I'm just digging the hole deeper" although he sees Luke mentally back down after a second. He figures out that Luke realizes that Marissa is still pretty pissed at him and if he makes a big deal out of it he's just going to push her further away so he gives Ryan a dirty look and says good bye as the two groups separate.
All in all not a bad start to the school year Ryan thinks as he makes it home. No fights and Anna figured out my big secret and the world has not imploded. This is something new for him and he's learning to like it.
- . - . - . - . - . - .
The next day Ryan walks into his English class and sees Tyler waving him over. He heads over to Tyler's table and acknowledges to himself that he's got a crush on this kid and he's a little scared. This is a first for him. He's never been interested in any of the girls that have come on to him and the two guys he has hooked up with were just quickies to get his rocks off so he's in new territory for himself.
Tyler's your typical jock and assuming Ryan does well at Soccer tryouts they will be teammates. He's a bit bigger than Ryan and pretty athletic so if he realizes that he's being checked out and goes off on Ryan it would be a tough fight. "This is bad" he thinks.
"Dude, Sally decided she wanted to go sit with her new boyfriend so we've got an extra seat and your tables one over. Why don't you grab a seat here" he says pointing out a chair across the table from him.
Ryan just shrugs and takes the seat giving Tyler a little smile as Tyler reminds him that soccer tryouts are that afternoon and he expects to see him there. "God, what a cute smile he has" thinks Ryan and then mentally slaps himself and responds back "I'll be there".
He and Tyler ended up sharing 3 classes. On the first day of school before the carnival they were already sharing a table in Calculus just by random coincidence and now he's at the same table for all three of their classes. When he got to their Science class this morning the teacher told them they had to pick out their lab partners for the semester and Tyler suggested they be partners so now they are sharing the same lab bench. And now he's sitting across from Tyler in Spanish. If he didn't know better he would think Tyler's being creative in seat assignment. He's not going to complain. He likes Tyler and hopefully they will become friends but he needs to make sure Tyler doesn't figure out what kind of friends he'd really like to be.
Tryouts go well and Ryan makes the team. Once he's on the team it seems to help cement the fact that he's at Harbor for good and even more of the kids seem to accept him being there. The first week goes well but Luke apparently can't keep his anger in check and goes after Ryan during one of the drills. He tackles Ryan pretty hard and knocks Ryan down.
"What a dick" he thinks as he jumps up and gets in Lukes face. He's getting ready to pull his arm back to punch this jerk in the face as he remembers his promise to Sandy and Kirsten "No more fights, promise". He hesitates trying to calm himself down. He so wants to hit this kid but he's promised to try and resolve things without his fists.
Luke sees that Ryan wants to hit him but is holding back. Yeah he's jealous and he's sure that Ryan is after Marissa but if he hadn't cheated this wouldn't have happened. And even if Ryan's after Marissa he is a stand up guy in other areas. If it wasn't for Ryan having his back when they were both in Juvie that one night Luke would have probably gotten his ass kicked. Luke is conflicted about what he's doing and after a short stare down Luke tells Ryan "Sorry".
Ryan can see that Luke really means it. "Look man, I swear I'm not interested in Marissa that way. I just want to be friends. She's the one who wants more" he admits.
Hearing Ryan's words at first Luke wants to call him a liar and get back in his face but he reminds himself that he's admitted that Ryan can be a stand up guy so maybe he is telling the truth. Processing what he's been told he backs off and heads over to the coach who's pretty pissed at him.
Its several days later and Seth barges into the pool house, once again without knocking reminding Ryan that he has to ask about getting a lock installed on that door. He likes that Seth is comfortable enough with him that he's ok with just barging in like any real brother would, but he does need his privacy at times. He really doesn't want Seth barging in while he's taking care of business. He especially doesn't want to have to get into any uncomfortable discussions about what he fantasizes about when he's jerking off. He can imagine Seth's disgust if he ever figured out that Ryan's favorite image right now is Tyler pulling his shirt off his sweaty body right after Soccer practice. Girls tits have nothing over that boys muscled chest!
"Dude, what's with you and Marissa?" Seth asks as he flops down on Ryan's bed. "It seems like Luke has finally realized that she's not going to get back with him so its open season. Why aren't you all over that?" Seth just doesn't get why Ryan hasn't jumped at the opportunity to have a real date with Marissa since she's officially available now.
"It's not gonna happen Seth. I don't need the hassle. She's way too high maintenance for me and I promised your parents I wouldn't get in any more trouble." He tells Seth realizing that he may have found just the right explanation for Seth that may get him off his back.
"You know, this, you, your family, is the best thing that ever happened to me and I don't want to mess it up. Between her drinking and willingness to flirt with me while she was still dating Luke she's just going to get me into trouble if I get involved with her." And after a short pause he concludes with "If it's a choice between her or you guys I chose you."
"Wow, man, I never really thought of if that way. But yeah dude I get it. Ok then, how about a re-match" Seth responds changing the subject.
Ryan and Tyler got assigned to do pick up after practice. By time they collected all the equipment and got it put away the rest of the team were finishing up in the locker room. A lot of the guys were already gone and the rest were finishing up and would be gone pretty quickly. Ryan stripped down and headed into the communal shower. He actually liked it when the shower room was empty. He was always a little worried that one of the guys would pick up on something so he's developed a routine where he finds a shower in the corner of the room and keeps his eyes to the walls. He's also usually one of the first ones in and out of the shower so there's never a chance of someone accusing him of looking.
Since the rest of the team is gone he can take his time and just relax with the hot water pounding down. He's got his back to the entry way and hears Tyler enter. Oh shit he thinks, he forgot about Tyler. One of the main reasons he's developed his little routine is to avoid Tyler in the shower. He's managed to check Tyler out being discreet as possible and knows what a great body this guy has. He's afraid of what may happen if he looks at Tyler so he just stays where he is looking at the walls and hoping that Tyler will do a quick rinse and leave the shower area so Ryan can get his towel.
"So man, that was a tough practice" Tyler says.
"Yeah, I'm still getting used to the regular work outs. It's been a long time since I've been in organized sports" Ryan admits.
"You'd never know. You're a natural. I think your going to be one of the best players on the team"
"You really think so?"
Ryan is waiting for Tyler to respond and when he doesn't he turns around to see if he left while Ryan was talking. The first thing he notices is Tyler's dick is way bigger than normal. He's checked him out on more than one occasion so he knows what it looks like in the shower and this thing has grown. He's getting hard Ryan realizes in shock. Wow, he figured that Tyler was a grower and would be huge but actually seeing it get bigger and bigger right in front of his eyes was way better than anything he imagined. When he realizes that he's been staring at Tyler who's dick has been working its way up to getting a full on hard on he thinks he's screwed and looks up at Tyler's face expecting to see fury on his face.
Instead Tyler is just smiling at him and says "Sorry dude…but it's your fault you know"
"Huh?"
"Well you've been teasing me with that cute ass of yours and I'm just your average horny teenage boy so …." He says looking down at his partially engorged member.
Oh shit thinks Ryan, what the hell am I supposed to do now? Is Tyler hitting on me? Should I admit it? But then he realizes as he looks down that he's half hard himself so there's no denying anything at this point. So he just looks back at Tyler and gives him a smirk and a little shrug as if to say "caught me".
"Look, we should get out of here before someone walks in on us" Tyler tells him. "You want to go get something to eat?" he asks
They make it to the parking lot before either of them says another word. Ryan's saying nothing because he doesn't have a clue what to do next. All of his experience is telling him to get the hell out of this situation before things go bad and he gets his ass kicked for being a fag. But Tyler's hitting on him and he likes it so he wants to stay and find out what's going to happen.
"You have a car?" Tyler asks
"Nope, Seth has got the keys today"
"So, you want a ride?"
"What just happened in there?" Ryan asks wanting to make sure he understands things correctly.
"I guess I just outed myself to you" Tyler tells Ryan with a smile, "and I'm hoping that's OK with you and your reaction back there was what I think it was…." He continues, pointing back towards the locker room.
Ryan thinks to himself that this is it. He's already come out to Anna, even if she's the one who pulled him out of the closet so he should take the next step and just admit it to the guy he's crushing on.
"I don't really know what to say. This is kinda new to me"
"Oh…but not completely new is it?" Tyler asks wondering how much of a newbie Ryan really is. He knows that Ryans been checking him out so he's pretty sure he knows where the conversation is going but you never know how a guys gonna react to being hit on so he's treading carefully.
"Nope, not completely new" Ryan sheepishly admits.
"Good, so dude you want to get that cup of coffee?"
They've been taking for quite a while. Ryan telling Tyler that yeah he's had a couple of experiences and knows he likes guys way more than he likes girls and Tyler filling him in on the fact that there are a couple of other guys on the team that are gay/bi. Conner and Tyler were each others first time and while they aren't together or anything they have stayed friends. Conner is one of the other key players on the team and like Tyler he's also in the closet. Then there's Marco. He's a little more out of the closet but is truly a bi guy and an equal opportunity slut. At school he has slept with most of the girls who like to sleep around but he's also been known to hang out in LA at the gay clubs. Tyler's been up there with him and Marco is as popular with the boys in LA as he is with the girls in Newport. Since he's usually got a girl friend at school the few people who do know about his LA trips go along with his don't ask/don't tell policy.
"No, never had a boyfriend, never even kissed a guy" Ryan admits.
"So you skipped the kissing part and straight to the gay sex" Tyler asks
"When it comes to getting your rocks off if there's no kissing involved then its not gay, or at least that's what they tell themselves. Probably has something to do with the fact that so many guys have been in juvie or jail and they have to pass of what goes on in there as not gay. Being gay is like a death sentence in Chino. I've seen my brother and his friends literally beating the shit out of guys they accused of being gay. If he ever finds out about me not only will he disown me, it will be just another beat down for him".
"Wow, that's too bad. My mom knows about me. She walked in on me and Conner making out one afternoon. It was pretty embarrassing but she seems ok with it. I'm pretty sure she's told Dad but we haven't talked about it. Since I've never brought anyone home I guess we are just avoiding the topic but at least I'm sure my parents aren't going to hate me."
Tyler has figured out that Ryan really is afraid of being kicked out of the Cohen's if they were to find out. Its obvious Ryan is just beginning to come to grips with his sexuality and pushing him right now would force him to hide even further so he makes up his mind that for now they will just be friends. He'll just have to be patient.
Its been a few weeks since he's joined the team and everything has been going well. Tyler was right and it turns out he's one of the better players. He and Tyler are getting along great. Seth has backed off on trying to fix him and Marissa up. Probably has to do with the fact that he's finally dating Anna but no matter the reason Ryan's life is going good right now.
But with the Atwood luck he knew that couldn't last. Today's the day Mr Tolliver announces partners for the new history class project. He knows that Marissa has been bugging the teacher to assign them as partners and if this happens he's going to have to deal with her coming on to him all over again. It looks like she's never going to leave him alone and he hasn't figured out what to do about it yet.
If this was Chino and he was dealing with a girl like her he'd have to do her because of the peer pressure. The guys would never let him get away with not sleeping with a girl who was pushing that hard. He doesn't have to deal with that pressure here so he really doesn't want to have to follow through with Marissa. Not that it might not be a bad idea to release some of his pent up needs. He's finding it harder and harder to not be thinking of a naked Tyler in bed but maybe its just a case of blue balls and if he gets off with someone else it will help. But the more he thinks about it the more he knows that's a bad idea. He can tell she's a needy girl who would never let it go if he gave in and while the sex may be ok the price he'd have to pay is just not worth it.
"Cooper & Sanders" he hears as the teacher is calling out names and thinks he's dodged the bullet.
"Atwood & Ward"
Well he dodged one bullet but not the other Ryan thinks as he and Luke trade scowls with each other.
Turns out Luke is not a bad partner for a project like this. They seem to have come to an unspoken agreement to not deal with the Marissa issue and just work on the project. He has a lot of good ideas and they work ok together. Luke takes them to his Dad's dealership to use some of the equipment there and they start checking out the models on the floor.
"Hey man check this one out. Have a seat" Luke tells Ryan as they get into one of the cars once again telling himself that in other circumstances Ryan would be a good guy to hang with.
"Isn't that your Dad over there?"
"Yeah and his business partner Gus, lets go say hey."
Heading towards the office they see Carson and Gus kissing which totally freaks out Luke who backs into a car, knocking his books down and setting off the alarm. As they both reach down to grab the books Luke spits out "If you tell anyone I'll kill you".
"No man, I won't tell anyone" Ryan responds as they run out the door.
Not even two days later the whole school knows about it. Ryan finds Luke to check up on him. Luke grabs him and shoves him against the lockers "You just couldn't keep your mouth shut could you?"
Ryan doesn't know what to say so just stares at Luke as he walks away.
For the rest of the day Ryan hears the nasty remarks being made about Luke and his dad. He's pretty sure he has an idea of how Luke is feeling. This is the kind of crap he expects to happen to him if anyone ever finds out only it will probably be much worse if they figure out its him that's gay, not just a family member. He knows Luke is pissed at him and thinks he's the one who gossiped so he heads over to Lukes to try and let him know that it wasn't him.
Luke opens the door and sees Ryan and again finds himself impressed with this kid. After this morning Ryan should have just walked away and left him to wallow in his own pity but no, the kid shows up here.
"Look man, I need to apologize to you. Turns out it was my Mom. Dad told her, she freaked out and told one of her friends and next thing you know the whole town knows" he tells Ryan.
"No worries, man. I just wanted to check on you and see how you were doing."
"I just want to get out of here, you wanna come with?"
"Sure, how about if I give Tyler a call and we meet up somewhere?" Ryan asks thinking that it might be good to have a little back up.
"You think he's going to want to be seen with me?" Luke returns with a detected look on his face.
"Yeah, he's a good guy. He's not the type to give you shit about something like this".
"kay"
Luke and Ryan are hanging out at the softball field waiting for Tyler. Luke got a hold of a couple of six packs and is working on his third beer while Ryan is nursing his first. Ryan thinks this is not a good time for him to get buzzed. Any conversation revolving around being gay is just not something he's comfortable with. He's not sure why he wanted Tyler to join them. It could only make things more complicated if Luke figures out he's hanging out with two gay kids after he finds out his fathers gay. But he's out of his comfort zone and he hopes Tyler may be able to help.
Luke's been telling him his feelings about being lied to all these years and what a mess his life is now.
After hearing Luke talk about his Dad he realized that Carson cares for Luke and Luke is not really seeing it. He wishes his family could be like that. He knows exactly how Dawn and Trey will react if they ever find out and it won't be pretty.
"At least you have a Dad who cares, who shows up to some of your games, or even knows what sport you play" he tells Luke.
He can tell there are a lot of things that Ryan is not saying but the few words that he has heard make Luke think. "Wow, maybe other guys do have it worse than I do. Sounds like this kid had a rougher life than I thought".
Ryan continues on with "Do you think any of this really matters. If it was the other way around do you think your dad would care if it was you?" Ryan's curious as to how Luke is going to answer his question. He's been listening to both Anna and Tyler talk about coming out of the closet and that's something he's never considered before. Its reactions like he's seeing about Lukes Dad that confirm his belief that it would be a bad idea. Even so he wonders what Luke thinks about it.
Luke doesn't have an immediate response for this and as he's thinking about it a couple of guys from the Del Visa team show up and start hassling them. He and Ryan look at each other and he can see they are on the same page so they take these two kids down. Then they see another 4 guys come up and shit its going to be 6 to 2, they are so dead. From behind them they hear someone else coming up behind them and Ryan's really cringing thinking this is only going to get worse.
Then he hears Tyler "Looks like you guys need a hand" and he's glad he called him. Its going to be bad but at least it won't be a massacre.
He turns his head to look back and give Tyler a smile/smirk that tries to say thanks for coming and sorry I got you into this mess all in one look.
Afterwards as they nurse their wounds at the Cohen house Luke comes to the conclusion that Ryan is right and he should deal with his Dad. On top of that he finally acknowledges to himself that he and Ryan have become friends and he's actually very ok with that. And then he's wondering about the way that Tyler interacts with Ryan. Its something he would have never noticed before but looking back at some hints he should have picked up over the years with his dad he's starting to see things a little differently. Is it possible that Tyler's interested in Ryan? And if so does it matter? He's known Tyler since they were kids and while they aren't that tight Tyler's a good guy. Though that would put a whole new spin on the Ryan/Marissa thing. Luke's whole world has been turned upside down in the last 48 hours and he has no idea what to think right now.
Now that Seth is dating Anna, Ryan has got a lot more time to fill but between soccer, Luke, Anna and Tyler he's keeping busy. He and Tyler have been spending a lot of time together. Since they have so many classes together they spend a lot of time studying. Sometimes they hang out at Tyler's and sometimes in the pool house. Anna is in their Spanish class so sometimes it's all three of them.
Anna's been very low key about the vibes she sees between Ryan and Tyler. She has had a couple of discussions with Ryan trying to convince him that it would be ok for him to go with his feelings but so far Ryan's not willing to think about it. He's not gonna fuck his new life up and if that means he has to keep dating girls so be it.
Tyler's working with Ryan on a lab problem and studying for a test together. It's been several weeks since their initial conversation and while he has not made any moves Tyler is definitely pushing the envelope when he can. During lab time he's gotten bolder and bolder about getting close to Ryan. When they 'accidently' bump shoulders or brush against each other grabbing for something on the table he can tell that Ryan's nervous but he's stopped flinching and is just going with it.
Like right now, they are sitting on the floor backs against the bed going over material for a test later that week. Tyler plopped down right next to Ryan earlier. He's been pushing into Ryan's personal space bit by bit and now they are both reviewing the same report so he's scrunched over so his leg is right against Ryan's. Its been a couple of minutes and Ryan has made no move to get away from Tyler. Finally Tyler decides he's had enough of this tip toeing around their attraction for each other. He gives up the pretence of reading the report and starts gazing into Ryan's face. After a bit he can tell that Ryan realizes what's going on and that Ryan's no longer paying attention to the report either. Tyler takes the notebook out of Ryan's hands and drops it on the floor out of the way locking eyes with Ryan. He reaches over and puts his hand on Ryan's shoulder pulling on it just a little so that Ryan's forced to look at him straight on. He's giving Ryan every chance to pull away or to say no but he can't see anything on Ryan's face that says "stop" so he moves closer until his mouth is right over Ryans. He starts with a nip of Ryan's lower lip causing Ryan to open up a little and he uses that opportunity to slide his tongue in. He's a little tentative at first but as he feels Ryan responding he gets bolder.
Ryan can feel Tyler's eyes on him. Tyler pushed up right next to him so they have been sitting side by side for a few minutes now and Ryan has been enjoying the warmth of Tyler's body right next to him. He's come to appreciate these moments where Tyler's touching him even though they aren't doing anything. Every time Tyler touches him he feels something and its killing him not to do anything about it.
As Ryan is contemplating his frustration, Tyler reaches over and takes the notebook Ryan has in his hands and tosses it to the side. Ryan's then being pulled over so he's staring right into Tyler's eyes and he can feel himself falling into that stare. He's never felt this kind of a pull before and he can't stop himself from wanting more. He's attracted to Tyler big time but he's been holding back. He knows it's a horrible idea but he doesn't flinch as Tyler moves closer and closer. Finally Tyler's nibbling on his lips and he lets him in. As soon as Tyler's tongue enters his mouth its like his whole world explodes. He's read stories about fireworks going off during sex and now he knows what they are talking about.
The boys are rolling back and forth on the floor, sometimes Tyler on top of Ryan and then its Ryan rolling Tyler on his back and thrusting his hips into Tylers crotch. Tongues battling, Ryan kisses like he has never kissed before. Tyler fits so well in Ryan's arms he can't stop rubbing his whole body up and down Tyler and then it happens.
"Oh my god I just came in my pants." He realizes and pulls himself off Tyler. This is something that has never happened before.
Tyler doesn't get it at first. "What happened?" One second everything is great, he's got Ryan's tongue in his mouth and his hands all over Ryan's back and ass and then all of a sudden Ryan has pulled back and is just staring at Tyler with this freaked out look. Then he see's the wet spot on Ryan's jeans.
"I guess I don't have to ask if you liked that do I?" He asks Ryan with a huge smile on his face.
Ryan's a little embarrassed that he just came all over himself that way but he's more focused on the whole experience and how good it felt. When he's been with girls he's always done a lot of kissing and heavy petting because that usually keeps them happy enough not to push for more. He does enjoy the experience with girls but these last 5 minutes with Tyler were mind blowing. He never knew it could be like this and fuck yeah he wants more.
"Yeah, you cold say I liked that" he says with a huge smile on his face as he rolls back over to put his weight on top of Tyler and now he's the one kissing Tyler hard and fast. Ryan reaches for Tyler's buckle. It's his turn to return the favor.
Kirsten is at the sink rinsing out a coffee cup as she sees Tyler heading across the patio towards the side gate. He's fumbling with his book bag and looks a little flushed she thinks. She sees him tucking in his shirt and for some reason it reminds her of her teenage years. Heading home and putting herself together after a heavy make out session with Jimmy. "Oh" she thinks and then a few other things fall into place. She's seen the way that Ryan has sidestepped Marissa's advances and has noticed that he doesn't talk about girls at all. Although since Ryan is not the most talkative teenager in the world that may not mean anything. But … maybe now she understands what's going on.
She decides to sit down at the counter and see if Ryan joins her. Maybe its time to have a heart to heart with Ryan and see if she can get him to open up a little. A few minutes later Ryan comes in to get a soda out of the refrigerator. She can see the evidence of swollen lips and maybe even a hickey peeking out from the T-Shirt so she knows she's on the right track.
"So how'd the study session go?" asks Kirsten
"Fine, we have a test on Friday so lots to do"
"You and Tyler seem to spend a lot of time together. Is the material that difficult?" asks Kirsten trying to figure out how to open up this conversation. Ryan has never been one to talk and she knows this is probably going to be even tougher.
"No, not really that tough, Tyler's cool and we like hanging out."
"I noticed" she says looking right at Ryan with a little smile on her face.
Ryan sees the look on her face and freezes. That's a 'I know something you don't want me to know' look if he ever saw one. He doesn't say anything in response.
After a short wait where it becomes obvious Ryan is not going to say any more she continues. "I saw Tyler leaving earlier and I'd have to say that it looks like he really enjoyed your hanging out time based on the smile on his face as he left".
"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit" Ryan chants in his mind. He's completely frozen right now with fear. He's never lied straight out to Kirsten and doesn't want to start now but …..
He thinks about the talks he has had with Anna. Other than Anna he's never admitted his true feelings to anyone. She's been encouraging him to be more honest. Should he do it now? But what if I'm wrong and she gets mad and kicks me out. 'Shit, shit, shit'
Kirsten can see the wheels turning in Ryan's mind even though he hasn't said anything in nearly a minute.
"I noticed that Marissa seems to have gotten your hints and stopped chasing you so hard" she tries.
Ryan decides that she knows and she's trying to get him to admit it so here goes "Yeah – Tyler's a lot easier to hang out with than Marissa".
"Because you like him more?"
A short hesitation, then "Yeah"
"Ryan, if your gay its ok"
At the gay word Ryan freaks out a little. Even though he and Tyler have talked about gay vs bi and now that he's actually kissed Tyler he's pretty sure he's gay because he's never felt like that after kissing a girl Ryan's not comfortable with the gay word. "No, no I'm not gay" he throws back but then a few seconds later. "I've been with lots of girls so I'm more like Bi. I'm into girls but yeah I like Tyler too."
"You know Ryan it doesn't matter whether you're gay, straight or Bi."
Avoiding the topic Ryan asks "How did you figure it out?"
"Well I could tell you weren't that interested in Marissa and just now I could tell that Tyler looked like he just got out of a pretty serious make out session so things kind of came together for me. Not to mention the physical evidence" she says tapping herself on the neck in the same space that she noticed Ryan's hickey and giving him a smile.
Ryan doesn't know how to respond to this revelation. He's struggling for a response when Kristen tells him.
"You should tell Sandy and Seth".
"No, I can't".
"It won't matter to them".
"Yes, yes it will. Stuff like this always does. I'm not going to do it. Forget it…please" he pleads.
"But.." Kirsten starts but is cut off.
"This is my business".
"Yes, your right it is your business and I wont say anything."
"I don't talk about myself. I don't trust people. Look at my life and tell me you don't see why I don't. I'm just not going to have this conversation any more". Ryan spits out at her and turns around to head back out across to the pool house.
Kirsten realizes that she' boxed herself in. If she tells anyone else she'll break Ryan's trust and prove him right. She comes to the conclusion that since this news isn't hurting anyone else she has no choice but to keep the secret. She's conflicted though. Even though it's not hurting anyone else its definitely hurting Ryan and she's not sure how to proceed.