This is really weird. I haven't ever written an O.C. fic. Those that know me know I'm an ENORMOUS "Buffy" freak and that's what I usually write because that's what I know so well. This is uncharted territory, so let me know how it is and if I'm grasping the characters like I should. Constructive criticism only please, I'm very, very sensitive. Thanks a bushel.
I don't own anything. Duh.
***
I can't exactly pinpoint the precise moment that Seth Cohen became my brother. I felt that I had found an ally from the first moment I saw him. I walked into the Cohen house and there was this lanky, curly-haired boy sitting on the floor playing Playstation. He glanced up at me in the wide-eyed, innocently curious way he looks at everyone, and invited me to play videogames with him.
When he decided to help hide me out in Kirsten's model home, I became aware that I had found a friend. I didn't really understand why he wanted me around so badly, at first. Then I realized that I was it. I was the only friend he had. I was his chance for companionship. I had felt like the outsider in this psychotic neighborhood, and even though he lived here and fit in on the outside, Seth didn't belong. So I had a friend, someone who would be there for me when I needed him. Someone who would listen when I needed to talk and who would comfort me with his pointless jabber when I just needed to drown in the rhythm of his voice and forget everything.
But I don't know when Seth became my brother. That began to freak me out when it happened.
***
"Ryan! Get up, sleepyhead!" My sleep-influenced brain struggled to connect a voice with a name, or a face, when a hard collision with my head knocked me back to reality.
"Ow!" I rubbed my head and blinked my eyes to clear my vision. Through the haze I finally recognized the slender brown-haired girl holding a pillow up and grinning. "Domestic violence," I said through a yawn. "Something new and exciting for me."
Marissa laughed and flopped down on the bed, curling up next to me. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her hair. She always smells like Bath & Body Works' Sun-ripened Raspberry. Then I panicked about the fact that I know what that is.
"You're so lazy," she scolded.
"God, you bitch a lot." Marissa slapped me and we giggled. "Why do you nag me so much? That's what Seth's for."
Her sweet laughter tinkled in my ears. She brushed my neck lightly with her fingers and a slight chill ran through my stomach. I love it when she does that. I thought for a second about how lucky I was to have her and everyone else in my life, then she gave me one more smack with the pillow and stood up.
"Come on. We need to get going. I need to go see Mr. Beaman before first period."
She kept rambling about her plans for the day as I looked through my drawers for some clothes. I emerged with a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. Marissa looked at my selection and smiled.
"Black. Big surprise."
"Shut up and turn around."
"Why? I know what you've got," she said seductively and turned around anyway.
I put on my pants then slipped the shirt over my head. Or, more accurately, tugged. When it didn't quite reach the top of my pants and stretched tautly over my body, I got confused. I turned around to face Marissa. "What's wrong here?" I asked.
Marissa looked at me and giggled. "'Chicks dig scrawny pale guys?'"
"Huh?" She pointed. I looked down and read the white lettering. I looked back at her. "Seth's?"
"Yeah. Definitely."
I sighed and pulled the shirt back off. Another couple seconds of rummaging and I found another shirt. Black. Now fully dressed, I grabbed my jacket and book bag and Marissa and I headed out the door to the house.
We entered-bickering-to find Sandy at the table with a cup of coffee and the newspaper and Kirsten fixing a bagel with strawberry flavored cream cheese.
"Hey. Seth ready?"
"I just went to wake him up. Again," Kirsten answered with a hint of exasperation.
"He just got some new comic yesterday. He was probably up late reading it," I mentioned, not really helping any.
Kirsten sighed. "Figures."
"You're the one who insisted on letting him be himself. 'Let him be unique' you said. You should have forced him to play football and Little League," Sandy joked without looking up.
"Shut up."
Speak of the devil. The sound of Seth's feet were heard coming slowly down the stairs. He emerged looking very bedraggled.
"Dude, you okay? You look pretty crappy." I looked at him kinda worried. His eyes were red and bloodshot, with dark circles around them. His skin was Casper-y, and his hair…okay the hair looked pretty normal, but…
"I have the big-daddy-Vader of all headaches. Mom, do I have to go to school?" He opened the cabinet over the stove where the medicine is stored and looked around.
"Yes. You don't need to get behind in…" Kirsten trailed off when she looked up and noticed Seth mimicking her. Dirty looks followed.
"Sorry," he mumbled. "Don't we have any Tylenol?"
"No, Ryan used it all up after the last fight he got in left him with two black eyes." Seth glared at me and I blushed. I was pretty sure I heard Marissa snicker.
"Thanks bro. You know, you have a serious issue with violence. Anyone ever realize that?" Four sets of eyes stared at him. "No one gets me," he whined.
"Whatever," I said and grabbed Marissa's hand. "We need to get to school. Hurry up."
Seth went up to Kirsten and did his best to look pitiful. "No," she said. Seth gave up and followed us out the door. "Sure. Go ahead and hate, Mom. But face it, you couldn't live without me."
***
Oxygen, Hydrogen, Beryllium…who freakin' cares? I hate science. My teacher was about as interesting as that cardboard cut-out of Summer that I'm sure Seth has made and hidden somewhere. Sick, twisted little dork.
I was kind of worried about Seth. He had been kinda sluggish lately, a complete derivation from his normal bubbly, hyper disposition. Man, that boy should have been put on Riddlin years ago. And when he was getting books out of his locker I saw some big, nasty looking bruises on his arm that he says he doesn't remember acquiring. But Seth was a big boy and if he was gonna stay up all night reading Manga and having kinky sex with himself, then he could pay the consequences.
Damn Chemistry. The last five minutes of class always take too freakin' long. I doodled little hearts and stars that I decided to burn later until the bell rang. I gathered my stuff and headed down the hall to the cafeteria for lunch, making a slight detour at Marissa's locker to stuff a short note in the little vent. She had second lunch, so she liked it when I left her notes to read during English. I headed towards the cafeteria doors, expecting Seth to be waiting for me. He wasn't there. A quick glance to my right into the Nurse's office told me why.
Seth was sitting on the edge of the little cot with his head in his hands. My stomach turned and I rushed in and squat in front of him. The nurse didn't stop me and demand I go to class and mind my own business, because she was on the phone.
"Seth. Man, what's up?"
"I don't know, dude," he croaked and looked up. He looked terrible. "I fainted in the hall. I fainted. I'm such a geek."
I raised my eyebrows. "So?" The look on Seth's face told me that wasn't much help. "What's going on? How do you feel?"
"I feel like a truck ran over me. Like, a big U-Haul truck and not one of those small $19.95 ones but the big-ass $39.95 ones."
A small smile tugged at my lips. Man, I love him. Not in a gay way, though.
"What's she doing now?" I asked and nodded in the Nurse's direction.
Seth rubbed his forehead. "Calling my parents. God, I feel like shit." He rubbed his eyes hard. "Wow, is this what it's like feeling high? Cause this is a ridiculously crappy side-effect."
"Light-headed?"
"Yep."
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I've probably just got the flu."
I heard the nurse hang up the phone and walked back over to us. "Excuse me, what are you doing in here?" she asked me. "Don't you have a class to be getting to?"
"Lunch."
"It's okay. He's my brother," Seth added. I practically saw the skepticism written onto her face in bright pink pen.
"Uh-huh."
"Adopted."
"Uh-huh. Well, I couldn't get in touch with your mom but your father is on his way. He should be here any second."
"'Kay-whoa." Seth grabbed my arm suddenly.
"You dizzy?" I scrunched my forehead. Something was wrong.
"Yea," he breathed and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Here, lie down," the nurse said and patted the pillow.
Seth groaned. "Man, I already feel the estrogen flowing through my reproductive organs. I don't wanna lie down."
"Come on man," I coaxed him. "I promise you're still just as manly as ever."
"Somehow, not that comforting," he said, but he laid down anyway.
"It'll be okay," I tried to reassure him. "Your dad'll be here soon and then you can go home and watch Fishugi Yugi and eat macaroni and cheese."
Seth closed his eyes. "Okay," he sighed. I watched as, almost immediately, he fell asleep. I sat in the chair up against the wall and waited for Sandy.
"Why don't you go on to lunch?" the nurse asked me and gave me a look that I knew meant "leave. Now."
"I wanna keep an eye on him," I said.
"Why? He'll be fine if you go and Mr. Cohen will be here soon."
I looked at Seth, unsure of why exactly I had to stay in there with a cranky nurse breathing down my neck (I don't know why she hates me.), watching him. Making sure he was okay and not alone.
"Why don't you just go to lunch and hang out with your friends?" she persisted, even picking up my book bag and holding it out.
The words just came to me. I didn't think about them, but I knew after they were out that they were right. It was my reason.
"Because he's my brother."
*
Hope you enjoyed. Read and review, please. More coming soon.
"Seize the moment. Cuz, tomorrow you might be dead."
~Buffy
I don't own anything. Duh.
***
I can't exactly pinpoint the precise moment that Seth Cohen became my brother. I felt that I had found an ally from the first moment I saw him. I walked into the Cohen house and there was this lanky, curly-haired boy sitting on the floor playing Playstation. He glanced up at me in the wide-eyed, innocently curious way he looks at everyone, and invited me to play videogames with him.
When he decided to help hide me out in Kirsten's model home, I became aware that I had found a friend. I didn't really understand why he wanted me around so badly, at first. Then I realized that I was it. I was the only friend he had. I was his chance for companionship. I had felt like the outsider in this psychotic neighborhood, and even though he lived here and fit in on the outside, Seth didn't belong. So I had a friend, someone who would be there for me when I needed him. Someone who would listen when I needed to talk and who would comfort me with his pointless jabber when I just needed to drown in the rhythm of his voice and forget everything.
But I don't know when Seth became my brother. That began to freak me out when it happened.
***
"Ryan! Get up, sleepyhead!" My sleep-influenced brain struggled to connect a voice with a name, or a face, when a hard collision with my head knocked me back to reality.
"Ow!" I rubbed my head and blinked my eyes to clear my vision. Through the haze I finally recognized the slender brown-haired girl holding a pillow up and grinning. "Domestic violence," I said through a yawn. "Something new and exciting for me."
Marissa laughed and flopped down on the bed, curling up next to me. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her hair. She always smells like Bath & Body Works' Sun-ripened Raspberry. Then I panicked about the fact that I know what that is.
"You're so lazy," she scolded.
"God, you bitch a lot." Marissa slapped me and we giggled. "Why do you nag me so much? That's what Seth's for."
Her sweet laughter tinkled in my ears. She brushed my neck lightly with her fingers and a slight chill ran through my stomach. I love it when she does that. I thought for a second about how lucky I was to have her and everyone else in my life, then she gave me one more smack with the pillow and stood up.
"Come on. We need to get going. I need to go see Mr. Beaman before first period."
She kept rambling about her plans for the day as I looked through my drawers for some clothes. I emerged with a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. Marissa looked at my selection and smiled.
"Black. Big surprise."
"Shut up and turn around."
"Why? I know what you've got," she said seductively and turned around anyway.
I put on my pants then slipped the shirt over my head. Or, more accurately, tugged. When it didn't quite reach the top of my pants and stretched tautly over my body, I got confused. I turned around to face Marissa. "What's wrong here?" I asked.
Marissa looked at me and giggled. "'Chicks dig scrawny pale guys?'"
"Huh?" She pointed. I looked down and read the white lettering. I looked back at her. "Seth's?"
"Yeah. Definitely."
I sighed and pulled the shirt back off. Another couple seconds of rummaging and I found another shirt. Black. Now fully dressed, I grabbed my jacket and book bag and Marissa and I headed out the door to the house.
We entered-bickering-to find Sandy at the table with a cup of coffee and the newspaper and Kirsten fixing a bagel with strawberry flavored cream cheese.
"Hey. Seth ready?"
"I just went to wake him up. Again," Kirsten answered with a hint of exasperation.
"He just got some new comic yesterday. He was probably up late reading it," I mentioned, not really helping any.
Kirsten sighed. "Figures."
"You're the one who insisted on letting him be himself. 'Let him be unique' you said. You should have forced him to play football and Little League," Sandy joked without looking up.
"Shut up."
Speak of the devil. The sound of Seth's feet were heard coming slowly down the stairs. He emerged looking very bedraggled.
"Dude, you okay? You look pretty crappy." I looked at him kinda worried. His eyes were red and bloodshot, with dark circles around them. His skin was Casper-y, and his hair…okay the hair looked pretty normal, but…
"I have the big-daddy-Vader of all headaches. Mom, do I have to go to school?" He opened the cabinet over the stove where the medicine is stored and looked around.
"Yes. You don't need to get behind in…" Kirsten trailed off when she looked up and noticed Seth mimicking her. Dirty looks followed.
"Sorry," he mumbled. "Don't we have any Tylenol?"
"No, Ryan used it all up after the last fight he got in left him with two black eyes." Seth glared at me and I blushed. I was pretty sure I heard Marissa snicker.
"Thanks bro. You know, you have a serious issue with violence. Anyone ever realize that?" Four sets of eyes stared at him. "No one gets me," he whined.
"Whatever," I said and grabbed Marissa's hand. "We need to get to school. Hurry up."
Seth went up to Kirsten and did his best to look pitiful. "No," she said. Seth gave up and followed us out the door. "Sure. Go ahead and hate, Mom. But face it, you couldn't live without me."
***
Oxygen, Hydrogen, Beryllium…who freakin' cares? I hate science. My teacher was about as interesting as that cardboard cut-out of Summer that I'm sure Seth has made and hidden somewhere. Sick, twisted little dork.
I was kind of worried about Seth. He had been kinda sluggish lately, a complete derivation from his normal bubbly, hyper disposition. Man, that boy should have been put on Riddlin years ago. And when he was getting books out of his locker I saw some big, nasty looking bruises on his arm that he says he doesn't remember acquiring. But Seth was a big boy and if he was gonna stay up all night reading Manga and having kinky sex with himself, then he could pay the consequences.
Damn Chemistry. The last five minutes of class always take too freakin' long. I doodled little hearts and stars that I decided to burn later until the bell rang. I gathered my stuff and headed down the hall to the cafeteria for lunch, making a slight detour at Marissa's locker to stuff a short note in the little vent. She had second lunch, so she liked it when I left her notes to read during English. I headed towards the cafeteria doors, expecting Seth to be waiting for me. He wasn't there. A quick glance to my right into the Nurse's office told me why.
Seth was sitting on the edge of the little cot with his head in his hands. My stomach turned and I rushed in and squat in front of him. The nurse didn't stop me and demand I go to class and mind my own business, because she was on the phone.
"Seth. Man, what's up?"
"I don't know, dude," he croaked and looked up. He looked terrible. "I fainted in the hall. I fainted. I'm such a geek."
I raised my eyebrows. "So?" The look on Seth's face told me that wasn't much help. "What's going on? How do you feel?"
"I feel like a truck ran over me. Like, a big U-Haul truck and not one of those small $19.95 ones but the big-ass $39.95 ones."
A small smile tugged at my lips. Man, I love him. Not in a gay way, though.
"What's she doing now?" I asked and nodded in the Nurse's direction.
Seth rubbed his forehead. "Calling my parents. God, I feel like shit." He rubbed his eyes hard. "Wow, is this what it's like feeling high? Cause this is a ridiculously crappy side-effect."
"Light-headed?"
"Yep."
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I've probably just got the flu."
I heard the nurse hang up the phone and walked back over to us. "Excuse me, what are you doing in here?" she asked me. "Don't you have a class to be getting to?"
"Lunch."
"It's okay. He's my brother," Seth added. I practically saw the skepticism written onto her face in bright pink pen.
"Uh-huh."
"Adopted."
"Uh-huh. Well, I couldn't get in touch with your mom but your father is on his way. He should be here any second."
"'Kay-whoa." Seth grabbed my arm suddenly.
"You dizzy?" I scrunched my forehead. Something was wrong.
"Yea," he breathed and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Here, lie down," the nurse said and patted the pillow.
Seth groaned. "Man, I already feel the estrogen flowing through my reproductive organs. I don't wanna lie down."
"Come on man," I coaxed him. "I promise you're still just as manly as ever."
"Somehow, not that comforting," he said, but he laid down anyway.
"It'll be okay," I tried to reassure him. "Your dad'll be here soon and then you can go home and watch Fishugi Yugi and eat macaroni and cheese."
Seth closed his eyes. "Okay," he sighed. I watched as, almost immediately, he fell asleep. I sat in the chair up against the wall and waited for Sandy.
"Why don't you go on to lunch?" the nurse asked me and gave me a look that I knew meant "leave. Now."
"I wanna keep an eye on him," I said.
"Why? He'll be fine if you go and Mr. Cohen will be here soon."
I looked at Seth, unsure of why exactly I had to stay in there with a cranky nurse breathing down my neck (I don't know why she hates me.), watching him. Making sure he was okay and not alone.
"Why don't you just go to lunch and hang out with your friends?" she persisted, even picking up my book bag and holding it out.
The words just came to me. I didn't think about them, but I knew after they were out that they were right. It was my reason.
"Because he's my brother."
*
Hope you enjoyed. Read and review, please. More coming soon.
"Seize the moment. Cuz, tomorrow you might be dead."
~Buffy