Hello all!
This used to be the one-shot called 'Testosterone', but I got inspired to write other one-shots like it, and decided to bundle them all together.
So this is now 'The Mixed Tape', a collection of fics written to the lyrics of songs. Each chapter is a different song, with a different focus, and a different style of writing.
Song: 'Testosterone' by Bush, off the album 'Sixteen Stone' Focus: Ryan and Taylor Timeline: Seasons 1, 3, 4 and post-4
I'm a man, I'm real proud of my manhood
"I am not doing that." Ryan crossed his arms over his chest defensively.
"Look, Ryan, you have to. Because I already signed us up, and we can't back out of it." Taylor's eyes were pleading as she looked at him.
"What, in all of our relationship, made you think that I would ever be ok with this… this public display of humiliation?" Ryan gestured down at the costume on the bed.
"I know you don't like dancing," Ryan snorted, but Taylor ignored that. "I know you don't like dancing, but it's for charity. Plus, you'll really enjoy my salsa costume." She raised her eyebrows suggestively.
"That's great. You can wear it for me, then. But I will not salsa dance. No way." That was that.
I like to smoke ten thousand cigarillos
"Excuse me? Hi." Taylor Townsend clasped her hands in front of her and stood, waiting for a reply.
"What do you want?" the boy shot back at her.
"You can't do that here. There's no smoking on school property." She motioned at his cigarette. He took it out of his mouth, looked at it appraisingly, then stuck it back between his lips. The light at the end burned brightly against the dark of the night.
"What are you, the police?" He took a huge drag and blew it out in her general direction. Taylor's mouth went wide at his audacity.
"No, but I could report you," she hissed, indignant. This boy had only been at Harbor for a week, and already he was causing trouble.
"It's not even school hours," he rolled his eyes.
"But it's a school dance, which still makes it official school hours. Look, I really don't want you to get into trouble. I'm trying to do you a favor." She smoothed down her pink plaid skirt, not sure how to deal with him.
He took one last, hard, drag before throwing it to the ground and snuffing it out. He held the breath in for much longer than Taylor thought healthy – not that smoking was healthy to begin with – and then let it out in a huge sigh. "God, I hate this place." He seemed to be talking to himself. Then he started walking towards the door that led into the gym, which happened to be situated behind her. He stopped when he got close to her. "By the way," he rumbled in her ear, his body very close. "I don't need any favors."
She was frozen to the spot, staring straight ahead and not at him: half afraid, half excited. She had never met anyone like him before. He wore a leather jacket, for crying out loud. He stood there, mere centimeters between them, for a few more seconds, his eyes following the curve of her neck and down to the top of her dress. He finally smirked, then went back inside.
When he was gone, she stumbled back against the wall, and pressed a palm to her pounding heart. No. She had definitely never met anyone like him.
Eight ball, I could climb any mountain
Ryan was good at containing excitement, but Taylor was not. She jumped up, squealing, and hugged him tightly. His face showed no emotion, but his eyes were mocking. Taylor let go of him, and he positioned himself again. Another perfect shot. Taylor was jumping and clapping her hands together. The men on the other side of the table did not look happy. They threw money down onto the green of the table, and walked away. Ryan picked it up casually, and pushed the bills into his shirt pocket.
"Anyone else?" he asked the bar, taking a sip of his beer. The other patrons eyed him warily, but didn't challenge him: they had seen the game. Ryan nodded, and then raised his glass, toasting them. Then he slung an arm around the still-grinning Taylor.
"That was so hot," she curled herself against him, whispering into his chest.
"It was nothing," he shrugged, still smug.
"Of course it was!" She looked up at him, and he smiled down at her. "The way you defended my honor?" she batted her eyelashes playfully like a damsel in distress. "I'm definitely going to be paying you back for that," she smiled suggestively. He shrugged again as she raised herself up to kiss him.
"Well then, I hope more creepy guys challenge me in a game of pool over you."
I never cry, I only bawl when I'm losing
"Atwood cried?" Summer was skeptical. Ryan never cried, or showed any other emotion for that matter. Except maybe anger.
"I did not cry," Ryan growled, hitting Seth in the shoulder. The smaller boy grimaced and rubbed the spot. "I just got angry at being beaten."
"No, man, you cried." Seth backed away as Ryan went to hit him again.
"Who cried?" Taylor walked into the pool house, looking overly cheerful in a yellow sun dress.
"Atwood, apparently," Summer gave a little shrug.
"Ryan? You cried?" Taylor looked happy. "Does this mean you actually have emotions now?" Seth laughed.
"No…" Ryan started, but Seth cut him off.
"We were playing this massive, nine hour long, video game tournament, and he lost," Seth was hiding behind Summer now. "He threw the controller through a window, and then cried." Summer screeched and stepped aside as Ryan moved towards them, leaving Seth totally unprotected.
"I am going to kill you."
"Ryan! That's so sweet!" Taylor squealed. "Now when we watch sad movies, you won't have to worry about looking weak! You can cry now!" She clapped her hands excitedly.
"I am soooo going to kill you," Ryan laughed cruelly as Seth began to run.
And I've never been wrong, never been wrong
Taylor looked out of the window angrily. She could barely see the trees lining the streets through the darkness. Ryan drove on stubbornly. Ten minutes passed.
"Would you just call Sandy and Kirstin?" Taylor waved her arms in frustration.
"No, because we're not lost," Ryan muttered through clenched teeth, hands gripping the steering wheel harder.
"I'm pretty sure we've driven past that weird gnome about seven times," Taylor pointed to the lawn ornament in question.
"Well, maybe seven different people all bought the same gnome."
Taylor sighed. He was hopeless.
And I'm looking so good, looking so good
Ryan turned to see himself better in the mirror. He had to admit, Taylor knew what she was doing. She had decided that his wardrobe was in serious need of a makeover, and had bought him a whole mess of clothes. The wife beaters, though, he could keep. He looked sexy in them, she said. He had to admit he looked really good.
"Wow." Taylor's voice was appreciative. She sauntered into the pool house towards him.
"Yeah. Not too bad. You ready to go?" He wasn't particularly looking forward to this party, but she had wanted to go.
"In a little," she mumbled, smoothing her hands over his chest. "I think I might have my way with you first."
Ryan's eyebrows shot up. "Yeah. That sounds… that sounds awesome." These new clothes were great.
Got a big gold gun, got a big gold bullet
Bullit looked at the young couple walking through the door. "You two look fantastic!" he cried, putting his arm around Taylor's shoulder. She gave a wary glance at Ryan, who could only smile sadly and shake his head. "I re-arranged the tables, so you two are sitting over there now."
"Didn't Kirsten do the seating?" Taylor questioned looking around at all the new decorations.
"Well, she did, but I didn't really like it. So I decided to change some things around. I hope blondie doesn't mind." The two teenagers smiled, knowing she would. "I just figured that since this was my rifle club event, I should have final say." He gave them both little gun hand gestures before walking away.
"I find it a little scary that he owns guns. I mean, he calls himself 'The Bullit'," Ryan whispered to Taylor, linking their arms.
"Bang," she whispered back, and followed him inside.
And I guess you could say I'm real full of it
"Say it," Ryan commanded, voice stern.
"Fine," she rolled her eyes. "You're the king."
Ryan smiled and turned back to the game. "Good. Now, let's play again so I can royally beat you." Taylor made a whining noise in the back of her throat, but it did no good. She had agreed to 'Ryan Fun Day' which included a lot of playing video games, jogging, eating, and sex. She didn't mind doing these things, but he was just so damn smug sometimes when he was winning.
I'm real straight
"I can't believe I don't get to see you till Christmas!"
"I know," Ryan said sadly. "But we can talk on the phone all the time. And there's always e-mail."
"You have to send me pictures. I want to see all the new people in your life, so I can make judgments, and make sure you're not replacing me."
Ryan laughed, "I could never replace you." The two stood in silence, not knowing what else to say.
"Are you two done?" Taylor and Summer stood at the end of the driveway, arms crossed, waiting.
Ryan and Seth nodded quickly, blinking away tears. The summer was over, and they had to go back to different parts of the country.
"You guys are so gay," Kaitlin rolled her eyes, and walked back into the Berkeley house where her mother and brother were. Taylor and Summer nodded in agreement.
You wanna see my peccadilloes
"Wow…" Taylor breathed over the file. She shouldn't be doing this, but damn it, she had to. Ryan had been admitted back into Harbor, and now he was trying to get Marissa back in. That couldn't happen. Not because Taylor didn't want her back – she knew she could never replace the worshipped Marissa Cooper – but because her mother and Jack – Dean Hess – didn't want her. So the Dean had 'accidentally' left the key to the discipline records on his desk.
Ryan's file was… impressive. Fights, underage drinking, grand theft auto; the boy was a walking misdemeanor. She had no idea. She scanned his school file as well. Good grades, great testing percentile, taking college level math classes. She wondered why he didn't use his potential, because the boy definitely had some. He was smart, loyal, and really hot. Maybe someday when he realized life didn't have to be all about drama, he could become something amazing.
Hot dog, 7:30 in the morning
"How can you eat that?" Taylor made a disgusted face. Ryan shrugged, and continued to wolf down the hot dog. It was 7:30, and Taylor had woken up to the smell of cooked pig. Of course, the smell made her sick this early in the morning, but Ryan didn't seem to mind it. She sighed.
One of the many perks of being Ryan Atwood's girlfriend.
And I'm big into war, big into war
"See, Seth, this is what you get when you mess with me," Ryan punched a few more buttons before Seth threw up his hands in defeat.
"How did you do that? Where did all my minions go? They should've been blocking me…"
"Look, I'm not gonna give you any pointers, but your defense sucks." Ryan dug his hand into the bowl of chips and shoved the handful into his mouth.
On the couch behind them, Taylor and Summer rolled their eyes.
I am a whore, I am a whore, I am a whore
He collapsed on top of her. After a couple seconds, he groaned and rolled off. "Sorry, didn't mean to crush you." Taylor gave him a lazy smile, closing her eyes.
"You are too easy sometimes," she whispered it to herself, but he heard.
Sitting up, he asked, "what?" Taylor's eyes opened warily.
"Nothing, go to sleep." She tried to roll into him again, but he stopped her.
"No, seriously. What was that?"
Taylor sighed dramatically. "What were we doing before we had sex?" She raised an eyebrow as he thought about it for a second.
"We were fighting about you pushing me to see my dad."
"And what happened when you started to win the argument?"
"You… jumped me." Ryan looked down on her, realization dawning.
"See, Atwood. You're too easy." She grinned, and snuggled up next to him as he sunk down into the bed.
"God, I'm such a whore," he muttered.
I shave with Gillette, shave with Gillette
For some reason she loved watching him shave. It was just so… male. She would sit on his bed and watch him through the bathroom's open door. She loved watching him drag the razor across his jugular. It gave her a little thrill. Oh, did she mention he usually did this shirtless? Yeah.
"Taylor, it gets really weird when you stare." He talked at her through the mirror.
"Sorry, I just like to watch," she crossed her legs and leaned back, resting her weight on her arms.
"I got that." He resumed shaving, not looking at her again.
"Does it really make you that uncomfortable?" She got up and came to lean on the bathroom door frame. He shrugged.
"Sometimes."
"Sorry. I'll try not to do it anymore. I can't make any promises," she held up her hands guiltily, "but I'll try."
He rinsed off the razor, and wiped off the excess shave cream. She walked to the counter and picked up the razor. "Gillette, the best a man can get," she sing-songed quietly, and he laughed.
And I'm patting my back, patting my back
Taylor was in a daze. Her whole world was hazy, her senses dulled. She took laborious breaths, trying to breathe against her exhaustion. It felt like she had blown a fuse in her head.
Ryan lay next to her on his side, head propped up on his hand. He smiled smugly at Taylor, who was naked on her back next to him. "Taylor…" he chorused, "you in there?" She made no response, and he congratulated himself for another job well done. Now all he had to do was wait until she came back to full consciousness so that she could return the favor.
Got a big gold gun, got a big gold bullet
"Go ahead, you can hold it," Bullit roared, clapping Ryan on the back. Ryan reached down and picked up the gun. He had held them before, but he never really noticed how heavy they were. His eyes ran over the exquisite piece. Nothing in Chino had ever been like this. "Like her?" Bullit broke in. "She's a classic." Ryan nodded admiringly. It was beautiful.
Taylor stood next to him, a little nervous. Was it good to give a gun to an ex-car thief slash cage fighter from Chino? Not that she didn't trust Ryan completely, but she knew that temptation was hard to fight. She was relieved when he put it back down, and only said "nice."
When they had left Bullits office, he was quiet. "What's up?" she asked.
"It just felt a little weird holding a gun again." That sentence scared her. "I mean, we used to have one. Back in Chino, I mean. Actually, it was Trey's, but I still held it for him sometimes. Then he got caught with it when we stole that car… and then Marissa shot him…" he was silent for a few more seconds as they walked. "I just never realized how… cold and heavy they were."
Taylor didn't know what to say, so she just hugged his arm, and walked with him out into the bright morning sunshine.
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