Disclaimer: I do not own the O.C.
Chapter 1Ring ring.
Ryan awoke to the incessantly annoying sound. There was something especially irritating about being dragged out of sleep by high-pitched electronic sounds. Better than yelling, fists or the accusations of a drunken mother, but still damn annoying.
Ring ring.
What time was it? Ryan glanced over at the clock on the night sound, hoping it wasn't time to get up. 2.03, the fluorescent display read. Shit. Who the hell was calling at this hour?
Ring ring.
The irritation finally won over and Ryan forced himself out of bed to answer the phone. No one in the main house seemed to be showing any sign of picking up.
"Hello?" He mumbled indistinctly, rubbing the heel of his hand against his clenched shut eyes.
"Ryan? Ryan man, is that you?" The voice was urgent and instantly recognisable. Ryan snapped his eyes open, suddenly alert. He should have known. Calls at this hour in the morning were never good news.
"Ryan?" his brother's voice urged.
"Trey." Ryan stated matter of factly. Ryan could think of nothing that he wanted to say to his brother. It had all been said, good or bad, at one point or another. Nothing good could come out of this. Nothing good ever came out of an Atwood.
"Hey man, how are you?" Trey asked. Ryan sighed.
"Get to the point Trey. It's two in the morning. This isn't a social call, is it?" Ryan's voice was hostile. He could feel the tension and the anger bubbling inside of him.
"What, I can't check up on my little bro any more?" Trey tried. Silence followed. Ryan was clearly not in the mood for chat. Trey had hoped he wouldn't have to come straight to this. "Ryan, I'm out of prison".
Ryan remained silent. He was pretty sure there was more to come. After the last time he'd seen Trey, at Thanksgiving, he had made it obvious that there would be no more favours. Trey had told him at the time to stay away from Chino. He had a shot at life now. Ryan sure as hell hoped that he wasn't about to go back on that now…
"I'd really like to see you bro. I'm out now, it's different. We can be family again. I… I know you're in Newport now, I know you're life isn't in Chino anymore, but blood is thicker than water, right?" Ryan's breath hitched. Please, god, he prayed, don't ask Trey to make me give this up. Because at the end of the day, as much as Ryan liked his life in Newport, however happy he was here, however much it was the best thing for him, the best thing that had ever happened to him, Ryan knew he couldn't just turn his back entirely on his family. His was always going to be split between his old life and his new one. He couldn't just chose one life and stick with it, because life didn't work like that. The past didn't just disappear whenever something new happened.
"What do you want Trey? You want to see me, or you want something from me?" Ryan asked abruptly. There was no point drawing it out, turning it into a sensitive issue.
This time, the silence came from the other end of the phone. Ryan gripped the receiver hard, his impatience building, not just because of his brother's silence, but also from the almost certain knowledge that nothing good would come out of this. Better just to get it over with quickly. That way it would be a short, sharp, sting, and maybe the after affects would fade quickly. No matter how many times Ryan hoped that something in his family had changed, that he could trust them, or even just see them once without everything going wrong, he couldn't help himself from being pessimistic. They always let him down.
"Ryan, listen, it's not like last time. I promise." The silences were becoming oppressive.
"I just need to see you bro, I need you." Trey pleaded.
Ryan sighed. "Look, Trey, I don't want to get dragged into anything here. I'm trying to start afresh. I'm trying to forget all the shit. I can't keep getting into this stuff." Ryan too was pleading with his brother, asking him not to ask, because if he asked, Ryan wasn't sure if he could say no. Just like he could never say no to his mom, or to Theresa, or to pretty much anyone who asked anything of him. He didn't know how much left he had to give before he would be empty, before he would give up and resign himself to his old life, because it just didn't ever seem to want to let him go.
"I'm gonna have to go in a minute Ry, my coins are running out. But please, meet me at the diner on Fourth Street for lunch tomorrow. I need to see you man." Trey begged.
"Trey…" Ryan began to object, but the phone went dead. He slumped against the cool glass wall of the pool house and stared silently at the receiver for several minutes, as if willing it to change things somehow. He glared at it. Stupid fucking thing. Never had any good news.
It remained unapologetic.