Title : The Kiss

Paring: Seth/Ryan

Rating: PG 13

Summary: What the hell just happened? What did it all mean?

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Ryan was speed-walking down the road. He wasn't a coward, he normally preferred to face any problems head-on but he just had to get the fuck away from there. He shouldn't have, but he couldn't help glancing back to check on him. And he was still there, his face as red as a beet, leaning on the railing, staring back at him. So Ryan picked up the pace and started jogging, then his brain urged his legs to move faster and before he knew it, he was sprinting to Marissa's dorm room.

What the fuck was that? Seth didn't just kiss him. No, Seth did NOT just kiss him. What the hell? Why in the world would he even think he'd want that? He didn't brag but everyone knew he loved to fuck. GIRLS. Ryan Atwood loved to fuck girls. He had enough sense to not do it while Seth was in the room, but on the few occasions he came back unexpectedly, he had to hear Marissa screeching and squealing in pleasure. He had to recognize that satisfied glow that had become a permanent part of her aura. That wouldn't have been there if he wasn't giving it to her good -and loving it. It was pretty damn obvious. So why the hell did Seth do it?

He stopped in front of her building to catch his breath. Shit, what was he doing? He had an eight o'clock class the next morning so he knew he had to get some sleep but he just couldn't risk going back to his room. He didn't even know what he'd say to him. 'How could this happen?' he asked himself. How the fuck had the evening ended so wrong?

It all started so innocently. They'd both gone to the computer room to get his Matlab homework done. Ryan's lab partner was a moron and since Seth, by some miracle, seemed to understand the Eastern European professor's thick accent with no difficulty, he'd offered to help.

They were walking back to their room when an excited Seth yelled, "Look!"

Ryan followed his gaze and saw a group of students rollerblading in the center of campus called 'the dome.' It was designed like a coliseum - circular, with a wide, flat, smooth center except it only had one row of seats surrounded by well trimmed grass. During the day, students sat and people watched, and from the looks of things, at night, they rollerbladed.

"Come on, let's go see them," Seth beckoned, pulling Ryan with him.

He did not budge. "Why?"

Seth blinked. "Dude, you've had those blades for almost a year and you still don't know how to ride, maybe you can take a tip from 'em."

"Have you forgotten we have section tomorrow morning?"

Seth sighed, exasperated. "So what? The TA is just going to drone on like a zombie and as usual, I'll catch up on my sleep. We'll just stay for a few minutes."

Ryan shook his head. There was no way he was going to sit in the middle of campus staring at some jobless kids skating. Besides, he wasn't a dork yet. "Why don't we just stay here? We can still see them."

"Well, we can't just stand here looking like idiots. Why don't we move over there?" he suggested, pointing to the footbridge. They moved to the other side of its entrance and leaned on the railing.

They watched the skaters at work. Some in couples, others not, some skating in beautiful patterns, others haphazardly. The entire time, Seth gave his usual 'insightful' running commentary, except unbeknownst to him, Ryan tuned him out and thought about how he was going to survive a full day of classes and work, on four hours of sleep.

"Ryan, that looks just like you," Seth voice intruded his thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Look at the guy sitting on his butt. That's you right there."

"You make fun of me and wonder why I don't skate."

"Rollerblade," he corrected. "Dude, they are rollerblades. They don't have four wheels arranged in a square."

Ryan turned around to look at him. "Ice skates have four wheels arranged in a square?" he challenged.

"Whatever, man." It was Seth's turn to shift his body and look back at him. "Skate, blade, call it what you want. Either way, you suck," he declared.

"There you go again," he pointed out, pretending to be hurt. He rarely did, but it was always fun to tease Seth.

As usual, it went over his head. "You know I'm kidding, right?" his voice became a little serious. Ryan could tell that Seth was searching his eyes, making sure he really wasn't hurt.

"Do I?" He lifted his brow and looked back into his eyes.

That's where everything went berserk. What had he done to warrant that reaction? He'd looked into his eyes a million times, what had been so different this time? What had he said or done to make Seth inch closer to him? And why did he let him put his slightly open mouth on his lips? And instead of pushing him off immediately, why did he wait till he was sure it was Doritos he tasted in his mouth before putting a stop to it?

With his head resting in his palms, Ryan sat on the steps leading to his girlfriend's dormitory, wondering why the fuck a very straight guy like him had kissed the boy back. No, he didn't enjoy that kiss – it just didn't make any sense. There was no way he liked kissing Seth Cohen.