Title: Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk
Summary: Ryan does more to stop Luke from drinking and driving in episode 1.24 The Proposal.
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to The O.C. No profit is taken from this story.
Author's Notes: I've always thought that Ryan should have done something to stop Luke from driving away from the restaurant when he was drunk. Like maybe the following:
Ryan followed Luke out of the restaurant. He was worried about him.
"Luke! ... Hey, Luke! ... Hey!" Ryan reached Luke and grabbed his arm. "Look, Luke –"
Luke turned on his friend and raised his fist. "Don't make me!"
Ryan didn't react to the threat. He knew Luke didn't mean it. He was just upset. And he was drunk. Instead, Ryan just held out his hand.
"Just give me your keys. Let me drive you home, all right?"
Luke lowered his fist and held out his arms to the side. He responded, very upset, "What home?"
Luke started to run towards his truck. Ryan watched him run off, but he couldn't just let him go like that. Couldn't let him drink and drive. That slogan ran through his head: Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk. So after a brief moment's hesitation, he ran after his friend.
"Luke! Come on, man! Don't do this!" When Ryan reached Luke, he grabbed his arm again, stopping him and turning him around. "I mean it. Give me your keys."
Luke wrenched his arm out of Ryan's grasp. "Let go of me!"
And then without warning, he hauled off and punched him, right in the jaw. Ryan staggered back from the unexpected blow.
Luke yelled, "Leave me alone, Chino!" And then he resumed running towards his truck.
Inside the restaurant, Marissa had watched Ryan talking to Luke just inside the door. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but Ryan was obviously having to hold Luke back from coming further inside the restaurant and causing trouble. After Caleb's proposal to her mother, Marissa could see from the look on Luke's face that he was dumbfounded, maybe even heartbroken. She watched him rush out, with Ryan right behind him. She put down her glass, grabbed her purse, and started towards the exit, to see for herself what was going on.
Sandy had also watched the little drama unfolding by the door between Luke and Ryan. From his vantage point sitting at the bar, they were directly behind Caleb and Julie, so he saw everything while watching Caleb's proposal. He had no idea what Luke was doing there, since he hadn't been invited. And he had no idea what was going on between Luke and Ryan. As far as Sandy knew, they were friends now. But Luke definitely looked upset, and Ryan was clearly trying to hold him back. Then Sandy saw first Luke, then Ryan, and then Marissa head out of the restaurant, all looking upset. Sandy got up to follow.
After Ryan recovered from Luke's punch, he resumed chasing after his friend. Luke was just about at his truck when Ryan caught up to him for the second time. This time Ryan didn't waste time with words. He got in the first punch, or second really, and this time he was ready for it when Luke punched him back.
As they fought, Ryan wasn't sure if he'd get the upper hand or not. While Luke was drunk, which should give him an advantage, Luke was also pretty pissed off, which would tend to give Luke the advantage. In their previous fights, they were pretty evenly matched, so Ryan wasn't sure which way this would go. Hopefully, at least, Luke could be delayed long enough to give Ryan a chance to grab his keys, or maybe hurt just enough to keep him from being able to drive. Either way, Ryan figured that would be a win for him.
But it didn't get far enough for that. They were still fighting when Ryan heard Marissa's voice yelling at them.
"Luke! What are you doing? Ryan?"
Ryan ignored her. He couldn't just stop fighting if Luke didn't, or else he'd get flattened. And Luke wasn't stopping. That is, until they heard the next voice. Sandy's.
"Ryan! Luke! Stop that! Boys!"
Ryan could see Luke hesitate at the sound of an authoritative male voice. Ryan tried to take advantage of that and lunged for Luke's keys, which were in his hand. Unfortunately, Luke was able to duck away.
By this time, Sandy had reached them. He grabbed Ryan by the arm and pulled him away from Luke. "Ryan. Stop it. Right now."
Ryan didn't resist. He looked at his guardian and gestured with his free arm towards Luke's hand, the one with the keys. "Sandy, get his keys. He's had a lot to drink."
Sandy looked over at Luke. Ryan hoped that Sandy could see that Luke was drunk, or at least that he could smell the stench of beer that was coming from the cab of Luke's truck. Ryan's hopes were realized when Sandy let go of him and held out his hand to Luke.
Sandy said to Luke in his strongest parental voice, "Luke, give me the keys. Now."
Luke hesitated for just a moment before handing over the keys. Ryan breathed a sigh of relief. Thank god for parental authority. Any parent.
Sandy looked back and forth between the boys. "Now, what's going on here? Ryan?"
Ryan didn't get a chance to answer. He watched as Luke caught sight of Marissa standing a few feet away from them. His eyes lit up and he moved towards her, with his arms out in a beseeching way.
"Marissa! Marissa. Oh, my god. I have to talk to you."
Marissa backed up a step and shook her head. "No, Luke –"
Luke pleaded with her. "Please, please. 30 seconds."
Marissa stopped backing up. Luke took this as permission to go ahead. "Marissa, I am so, so sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I'm... I'm... I'm leaving, leaving town –"
"What?"
"My dad's moving to Portland and I'm going with him. We're leaving tomorrow. That's what I've been wanting to tell you. I know as long as I'm here, things won't go back to normal for you. But I need to know one thing before I go. Can you ever forgive me?"
"I don't know, Luke."
Marissa looked at Ryan. Ryan didn't know what she wanted from him. He wasn't about to tell her whether she should forgive Luke or not. So he just shrugged. Marissa looked back at Luke when he continued.
"Please. Please. It wasn't just sex with your mom. I was in love with her. I am in love with her."
Marissa was appalled. "Luke! I don't want to hear it."
Luke was pleading again. "I need you to hear it. I need you to know..."
Luke took a step forward. Marissa started backing away. "No. No."
She turned and started running back towards the restaurant. When Luke moved as if to go after her, Ryan stepped in.
"Luke. Let her go. She needs more time."
Luke stopped and just stood there looking after her, longingly. But he didn't make a move to follow her. They both just stood there while Marissa ran back to the restaurant and went inside. Then Luke sank down and sat on the pavement of the parking lot, up against the big tire of his truck, staring at the ground. He looked utterly defeated.
"Ryan?"
Ryan turned his head to look at Sandy. He had totally forgotten that he was there. He was just standing there, looking at Ryan, with his eyebrows raised, obviously wanting an explanation. Oh, God. He heard all that. What Luke said about himself and Julie Cooper. Ryan shifted his weight nervously and looked down. He wasn't ready to explain all this to Sandy. He didn't know what to say.
He heard Sandy sigh. "Fine, but we're going to talk later. You can be sure of that."
Ryan nodded uncomfortably. He definitely wasn't going to be looking forward to that conversation. Ryan looked up when he heard Sandy address Luke.
"Luke, I'm going to call your parents to come get you. Stay here." Luke didn't respond. "Luke?"
When Luke still didn't respond, Sandy turned to Ryan. "Keep an eye on him until his parents get here."
"Sure."
Sandy put Luke's keys in his pocket, took out his cell phone, and walked away from the boys to make his calls. After Sandy left, Ryan went over and sank down to the pavement next to Luke and waited silently with him.
The End.