Disclaimer: I don't own anything OC related.
AN: I haven't seen the promo for the new season but I know it's out there. Here's my take on what I've heard. One Shot.
Frolic
It'd been a long summer for everyone.
Marissa was sitting on a towel rubbing suntan oil on her arms. Summer had already helped her with her back. Summer was sharing the towel with her, the chairs forgotten when the phone call had finally came.
Seth was back. And he was bringing Ryan.
They only had two weeks left in the summer.
They both had time.
Summer had time to prove to her man once and for all that she really wanted to be with him. She would show him that she loved him. She'd reel him back in and force him to realize that she needed him and loved him and wanted him in her life.
Cohen was so insecure. He'd sailed to god knows where because he couldn't face being in Newport without his silent broody friend by his side.
Summer would get him back. He'd called her. Not his parents, he'd called her.
Not that she wasn't pissed off. He'd be punished. Thoroughly.
But he'd already been punished.
He'd sounded so sad on the phone. So lost. Said that he'd burnt off the top two layers of his skin in the sun. Said that everything tasted like fish. Said that he missed her and that he'd die if she couldn't meet him.
Oh, he'd be punished. But she had to make sure he was intact first.
Marissa wasn't drinking today. At least not yet. She'd promised herself yesterday that she could stop. She would stop.
It didn't matter that she'd been drinking since the day he left.
It didn't matter that she wasn't strong enough to make it through a whole day without it.
It didn't matter that every cell in her body craved it now.
All that mattered was that he still loved her.
He'd called every day. He'd called from Teresa's house, he'd called from work, he'd called from the payphone outside Teresa's doctor's office.
He had called her.
He was bound to the woman in Chino, the woman that was carrying his child.
But he'd called her.
She hadn't told him that she was drinking again. She knew she was weak. She knew that he would always be there for her but she still drank.
Drinking was the only thing she could do to get through the days without him.
But Summer had called. She said that Seth was bringing him to the beach. She said that he was back. Said that he was coming with her.
So Marissa wasn't drinking today. She was waiting for him.
She knew that things would be okay again if he was just back where he belonged. If he could just come home.
She didn't care that her mother had forbidden her to see him. She didn't care about Mrs. Cohen's warnings about dragging him down with her. She didn't care that he'd told him that they couldn't be together anymore. She just wanted him home.
They were tanning and waiting for their boys.
It was a long drive from Chino but they were at the beach now.
Seth had shown up at Ryan's door looking weathered and sad.
Ryan had been sad for weeks but he'd never seen Seth sad before.
They hadn't had a good summer.
Seth had spent his days roasting in the hot sun, the one necessity forgotten by him being sunscreen. The Summer Breeze hadn't lasted to Tahiti, the coast guard had picked him up after she'd finally died. They'd been trailing him for a while at his parent's request.
Ryan had spent his days working his ass off at a garage. His hands were rough from use and he'd worked every day up until Teresa had called from the doctor's. An ectopic pregnancy. Rare, but dangerous. The past three weeks had been spent consoling her and trying to keep her from doing something she'd regret.
When Seth had shown up, Ryan didn't even have to tell him. He knew. Seth could read Ryan and he knew immediately that the baby was gone.
All Ryan wanted to do was come home.
But it wasn't home until Seth had come.
The Cohens' phone calls hadn't convinced him. Even the tense conversation with Mr. Nichol telling him that his family needed him hadn't convinced him.
But Seth came.
And Ryan went with him. They were going home.
Seth hadn't called anyone except Summer. He hadn't told his parents where he was going, he'd just gone.
He couldn't stay in Newport without Ryan. He knew it was selfish and unreasonable, he'd lived there for sixteen years with no Ryan, surely he could make it through another one, but he just couldn't.
So he'd left. Ryan had left so Seth had to leave, too.
But Seth made a mistake.
He'd left people behind. He had no purpose, no reason for leaving them and it hurt. He missed them. He missed his father's eyebrows and his mother's burnt food and he missed Summer.
He realized that even though he had to drive to see Ryan, at least there wasn't an ocean between them. At least there wasn't a plane of existence between them. Ryan was alive. And he'd done the hero thing again.
Sure, Seth knew that Ryan was human, he had accidentally gotten his ex-girlfriend pregnant and that's not something he read in comics everyday, but Ryan had been a man about it. He'd done the right thing.
Seth hadn't been prepared for that. No one in Newport ever did the right thing.
So Seth was sorry. He'd accepted his punishment from his parents. He was grounded forever and his mother couldn't seem to stop hugging him.
At his first opportunity, which was this morning, he'd lifted the keys and driven to Chino. He'd gone to Ryan.
Ryan hadn't wanted to leave Teresa. She hadn't got out of bed in days. All she did was cry.
He had to admit that it had started to wear him down. She cried. He'd hold her and rock her, shit, he even talked to her, but nothing seemed to work. She wouldn't let anyone near her besides him.
When he told her that Seth was there, she'd started to cry. Through her tears, she'd told him to go. She said that she was hurting him and there was too much hurt in the house already. She said that she'd call him and that she wasn't angry and that she loved him. She loved him.
Their baby was dead but she loved him.
Ryan didn't know what he was supposed to say to that. So he'd come with Seth.
He hadn't really said anything after he'd tossed his bag in the back of the Range Rover. Seth seemed to understand and now they were going to the beach.
Seth had called Summer on the way. She was waiting for him.
"We're at the beach."
"Who?"
"Me and Ryan. Summer and Marissa. We're right by the lifeguard's tower, Mom."
"You and Ryan?"
"Yeah. He's coming home."
Kirsten hung up the phone and embraced her husband who was standing behind her.
She had been angry only a few minutes ago. Seth had spent all summer worrying her to her wit's end and she hadn't been sure she could ever forgive him. But he was back, safe and he said that he was with Ryan. At the beach.
"Kirsten…"
"We're going to the beach to see our boys. Come on."
Sandy didn't really know what his wife was talking about but he followed her to the car. He was tired. He'd been finding gray hairs in his eyebrows since Seth had disappeared. Since he'd sent Ryan back to Chino. He'd lost both his sons in a matter of days and he'd spent all summer trying to get them back.
He'd lost his sons. He was working for a firm that stood for everything he hated. His wife wouldn't kiss him, she was so lost without her boys and he couldn't bring them back.
Kirsten not only lost her son, she lost her father, too. Caleb was barely staying out of jail. She couldn't believe that he'd done all the shady things that the lawyers told her. But the way that Sandy would get quiet when she'd ask about it told her that it was true.
When Seth had come home, it was like they saw the light at the end of the tunnel. He was safe, he was healthy and he was home. She'd never been as happy as she was when they'd gone to get him.
She'd come back to life. She finally felt like she could go on.
She'd been in stasis without her son. She couldn't work, the business had been running itself without her or her father. She couldn't make love to her husband, she just couldn't. Things were too wrong. She couldn't do anything except search for her son and try to take care of the boy that wasn't her son.
Sandy had tried to keep going. He searched for Seth, met with private investigators, met with Caleb's lawyers, went to work and called Ryan. He'd worked as much as he could to keep busy, to try and make the time pass while he tried to put his family back together.
Now, they're on the way to the beach. Seth had disappeared this morning but he'd called. He had Ryan. They were in Newport. Their boys were at the beach.
Summer spotted them first. She'd recognize that mop of black curls anywhere. She didn't bother to tell Marissa, she got to her feet and kicked sand up in wake as she ran to meet him.
"Cohen!"
He embraced her, swinging her around as she lifted her feet off the sand.
"I missed you so much…" He whispered. It was like he read her mind. He missed her, too.
She couldn't stop the tears from rolling down her face as she buried her face in his chest. She didn't think she'd ever be able to let him go. All the punishment she had planned had disappeared as soon as he touched her.
Marissa realized at Summer's squeal that the boys were there. She started to get up but before she could, he was beside her.
"Hey."
"Hey…" She whispered. He looked older now, he could pass for at least twenty-five. He looked tired. He was pale. She patted the towel beside her and he sat down.
"I haven't been to the beach in a long time," Ryan said.
"Really? They don't have beaches in Chino?"
He gave her a slight smile. "I haven't really gone out much."
"How's Teresa? What are you doing here?" She didn't mean to sound harsh but he lived in Chino now.
"Teresa's okay. I'm back now."
Summer had finally overcome her initial enthusiasm and let Seth breathe. They walked hand in hand back to their station at the towel.
"Hey, Chino," Summer said. He nodded to her as Seth spread out another towel for them to sit on.
"So. How was your summer?" Seth asked as they sat down.
Summer hit him. Hard. She hit him so hard that he lost his breath. "Fuck you, Cohen. What do you think?"
Ryan laughed and Marissa found herself joining in.
It'd been a long summer.
Sandy and Kirsten parked the car beside their Range Rover.
"We've got to keep track of our keys better," Kirsten muttered as she accepted his hand.
"Did Seth say that Ryan was coming home?" Sandy asked her as he put his face close to the window and peered inside.
"He didn't…"
"His bags. Seth brought him home…" Sandy whispered. He was proud of his son. Seth had done what he couldn't.
They started walking, searching the sparsely populated beach for their sons.
"There's Summer," Kirsten said, pointing a few yards away.
Summer was laughing and as they got closer they saw Seth tickling her with an evil grin on his face.
"Cohen, get off…" She was squealing between giggles.
"Seth, stop harassing the locals," Sandy said with a smile.
"Mr. Cohen…hey…" Summer regained her composure.
"Hey, Mom and Dad. I'm sorry for taking the car without asking but…" Seth started.
"Where's Ryan?" Kirsten interrupted.
Summer and Seth both pointed toward the ocean.
Marissa was visible swimming out toward the waves and as Sandy and Kirsten watched, Ryan's head popped up through the foam. He was smiling and yelling something to Marissa.
Kirsten grabbed hold of her husband's arm and turned to him. "He's smiling…"
"He's home…" Sandy said.
Kirsten kissed her husband despite Seth's outcries. It'd been a long time since she kissed him. But she loved him. She'd always love him.