You Don't Care a Bit
Summary: Set in the 2nd Season Finale, from when Seth tells Ryan about Trey and Marissa to the end. Follows different characters through the scenes. Probably a one-shot, but who knows. Rated T for mild language.
A/N: I know that this has been done a million times already, but I started writing this the day after the finale. Hopefully it is different than everyone else's for it follows through the scenes vividly, not a little on the end and then what happens after. This will probably be a one-shot, but if I get bored this summer I may continue. This is my first attempt at doing a fanfic like this, changing perspectives and such, so all feedback is welcome. Please read and review!
Disclaimer: I do not own The O.C. or its characters or the lines in italics. Unfortunately. I do, however, own the other stuff so please do not steal. Song at the end is by Kelly Osburne--One Word. I don't own that either.
"All year, I have tried to be a different person. I can't do that anymore."
It was true, what he had said. Ever since coming back from Chino, he had tried to fit in. Tried to be a Newport spoiled rich kid. Or at least act like one. He had gotten a new girlfriend. He had hit the books hard instead of hitting water polo players. Even when Trey came back, he had tried to work it out with him. After all, they were brothers, they were blood.
Obviously, Trey didn't see it like that. Attacking Marissa? What the hell was he thinking? That he wouldn't find out?
"Do you swear?" "On Mom. I wouldn't lie to you, Ryan. Not about this."
Liar. He asked Trey point blank and he lied. He should have known something like this had happened. On Mom? What good does that do? Mom's not trustworthy. And neither is Trey.
"Why do you always assume that it's my fault?" "Cause it always is."
"What are you going to do?" "I'm gonna settle this with Trey—once and for all."
Ryan's words echoed in Seth's head as he waited for Summer to pick him up. That look on his face was etched into his mind. The way his eyes went dark and his whole demeanor changed. As he had watched, Ryan had become a fighter. A fighter who wanted nothing but bloodshed.
Seth had only seen this side of Ryan a couple of times. When Oliver had been around, for sure. When Ryan had heard about Eddie beating up Theresa was another time. All the other times he had watched Ryan fight, it wasn't the same look. When Ryan was just fighting to save himself or if someone provoked him, he had a look of determination. The Ryan that had left Seth earlier had a look of murder.
"We are on our way to Trey's, but you're closer. Maybe you can stop him."
"What are you talking about?"
"Ryan knows."
Ryan knew. Ryan knew. Summer wasn't supposed to tell! Ryan was going to kill Trey. Kill him. She had to stop him.
Without a word to her parents, Marissa raced off into the darkness. For the first time in ages, she prayed. Prayed that she wouldn't get a ticket. She swore off alcohol and fighting with her mom if only she could get there in time. Time was of the utmost important and time was not on her side.
"I know what happened. I know what happened with you and Marissa."
Oh shit, thought Trey. Ryan knew? What happened to the pact he and Marissa made? If he got out of this alive, he would personally kill her. The Ryan standing in front of him was not the brother he knew and had grown up with. He was confused, sad, and very pissed off. Usual emotions from the brooding bad boy, but they were emanating in very unusual forms.
"How could you, man? I would have done anything for you."
Past tense. Their relationship was definitely over. Not like the over that had happened while he was in jail. The over that is indefinite and never returns.
"It wasn't my idea, Trey. I didn't wanna steal that car."
Whoa. Where did that come from? Sure, Trey had messed up with Marissa but the car? That was old news, history. If it wasn't for him, Ryan would never have met Marissa.
"Yeah, well, I went away for it and you got the good life."
"So you had to destroy it? You had to hurt her, huh?"
Ryan shoved Trey with more force than he thought Ryan had in him. With one shove Trey knew this fight wasn't going to end just a relationship. He knew that Ryan was prepared to kill him. Or at least render him useless for the rest of his life. Neither was going to happen on his watch. Not when he had a gun.
"It wasn't my idea, Trey. I didn't wanna steal that car."
Ryan had no idea where that came from. He thought he was over that. Why bring that back up again? Stealing that car was probably the best move he had ever made. It had given him a family, a best friend, a reliable brother, and a first love.
"So you had to destroy it? You had to hurt her, huh?'
What gave him the right to move in on his girlfriend? No, no, what gave him the right to move in on anybody? No means no. Ryan knew Trey was a lot of things, but a rapist, an abuser? That he never saw coming. Just like he never saw the gun in Trey's hands coming. The gun that was pointed right at his head.
"What are you gonna do, shoot me?"
Trey had no intention of shooting Ryan. Maybe Ryan wanted murder, but not Trey. He had had his share of shootings, stabbings, and arrests. The gun was to worry Ryan.
"How this ends is up to you. And whether or not you walk away right now."
Trey hoped that he had judged his brother right and that he would walk away. A murder was not what he had had in mind for his last night in Newport.
"WALK away."
Ryan gave in. He did not want his life to end with a single bullet flying through his body. At the same time, his brother could not get away with what he had done. Throwing his hands up in surrender, he slowly turned, letting the emotion play out on his face. Behind him, he heard Trey breathe a sigh of relief and lower the gun. That was when he attacked.
There was just one more block to go before Marissa reached Trey's apartment. Hard to believe that the same apartment a showdown was happening at was the one she had shared with Alex. Maybe she should have never gotten back together with Ryan. Not that would have prevented Trey from attacking her. Everything was just so messed up. It was the end of the year. The summer was coming. This summer was going to be the best one ever. There was no Theresa, marriage, or baby to get in the way. Instead, there was Trey.
Never in his life had Ryan been so angry. Not when AJ had hit him, not when his mother had kicked him out, not when Oliver held a gun to his own head. Ryan was just throwing punches wildly, rejoicing every time his hand connected with Trey. Trey was in pain, Ryan knew, and he was glad. Trey was going to pay for what he had done.
They grabbed each other's faces blindly. It was ironic, actually. Both of them had the same fighting technique. Of course they did. Ryan's dad had taught Trey and Trey had taught Ryan.
With his hands occupied, Ryan resorted to kicking. This was dangerous, he knew, because Trey could easily grab his legs and take him down. But at that point, Ryan didn't really care.
As Marissa parked the car in the driveway, she heard a crash. It sounded like glass breaking. That was not a good sign. The door was open and through her window, she could see two figures. One was on top and seemed to have his hands around the other's neck. Who was on top was the question.
Ryan felt Trey's hands around his neck and automatically reached around for Trey's neck. Why hadn't he just left when he had the chance? Trey had always been the stronger of the two, partly because Trey fought more often. More than that though, Trey had always had the worst temper. When Trey got mad, he got mad. The rage enveloped him, blocking out all logic and sense. Trey would fight until he gave out or the other person surrendered. Ryan was willing to surrender, but he couldn't get the words out.
Slowly, Ryan became aware of the fact that his brain was losing oxygen. Memories flashed before his eyes. Christmas with his family in Fresno, the Christmas his dad was arrested for stealing from a toy store. Moving to Chino and meeting Theresa. His first kiss with Theresa and the first time they slept together. The first time one of his mom's boyfriends hit him. The first time Ryan hit one of them back. Being in that play, oh what was that called? You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, that was it. The moment when Trey drove the stolen car into a wall and the police surrounded them. His first meeting with Sandy, when he talked nonsense about Social Security. Walking down the end of the driveway and using some cheesy pickup line of Marissa. Who are you? Whoever you want me to be. All the fights he had gotten into in Newport, finding Marissa unconscious in an alley, kissing her for the first time. Saying I love you for the first time in his life. Oliver flashed by, as did Theresa's short stay in Newport. Telling his three friends that he was leaving Newport to help Theresa, then finding out they lost the baby. Lindsay flashed by in pictures only, then kissing Marissa for the first time in forever popped up.
Marissa. His sole purpose in life now was Marissa. Showing her that he cared and felt terribly about what his brother had done to her. He knew he shouldn't have gone to Miami! Despite the fact that he was angry as hell at Trey, some of his anger was directed towards Marissa. Sure, there had been a lot of times he had been angry with her. And sure, almost everything bad he was involved with was a result of her. This time was no exception. He was not content with dying because of her (well, partially because of her), but he had no choice. Ryan only wished Marissa could know just how much he loved her. Of the many regrets he had in his life, one was that he never made love to Marissa.
Marissa. Ryan was dimly aware of someone entering the apartment. From his dark haze, he could just make out the shape of the person. Tall, skinny, and beautiful. Marissa. It gladdened his heart to know that someone actually cared enough to come and rescue him. In Chino, no one would have come. Still, he knew it was useless. Weak Marissa would never be able to pull the crazed Trey off him.
When she stepped into the room, she could not believe her eyes. Trey was on top of Ryan, strangling him. Trey was killing her boyfriend, the love of her life.
"Oh my God, stop it! You're killing him! Trey, get off of him, please!"
From where she was standing, Marissa could just make out Ryan's face. It was scrunched up, showing the pain he was going through.
"Please stop it, you're killing him. Stop it!"
Trey's hand came up and hit her hard. Surprised, she stumbled backwards, watching in horror as Trey's hand formed into a fist and punched the already limp Ryan twice more. It was then that she spotted the gun lying on the floor.
"Oh my God, stop it! You're killing him! Trey, get off of him, please!"
Who did she think she was? This was no longer involving Marissa, that little rich brat. Beautiful, but stuck-up brat. What would she know about any of this? Her whole life has been one easy road.
Ah, shit. Now he would have to kill Marissa too. Maybe he would get that action after all. Wait, Trey was not that kind of person. Not at all. Trey could not believe the thoughts that were running through his head. Kill? Since when did he want to kill anyone?
"Please stop it, you're killing him. Stop it!"
That was when the anger returned. Marissa's feeble attempts made him laugh scornfully inside. With one swift motion, he hit her hard before returning to his brother. Strangling was no longer getting the anger out. Trey punched Ryan a few more times, but they weren't doing much for his arm was tired.
Out of the corner of his eye, Trey saw Marissa move her head. One word popped into his mind: phone. He ripped the phone off the wall and held it above Ryan's head, prepared to finish it once and for all.
In his barely conscious state of mind, Ryan could see Trey over him. There was something in his hands, something that looked like a phone. Oh god, a phone. A phone would crack his skull, smoosh his facial features, and do permanent damage. Vaguely he thought of all the uses of phones. Never had he imagined a phone being used to kill him.
Just as Trey ripped out the phone, Marissa curled her fingers around the gun. No thoughts went through her head other than saving Ryan. She couldn't let Ryan die because of her. She couldn't let Ryan die, period. Marissa didn't stop to consider what shooting Trey would do to her. She didn't even think about what she wanted the bullet to do to Trey. All she knew was that the gun was there and the only way to save Ryan.
Marissa pulled the trigger and saw the bullet go flying.
Summer and Seth turned the corner, just a few feet from Trey's apartment. It was then that they heard the gun go off. A gun meant a bullet and a bullet meant a landing spot. And that landing spot was either on Ryan, Marissa, or Trey. Already, Seth was imaging life without Ryan. Life would go back to loneliness and being the outcast. He would have Summer, but it wouldn't be the same. Ryan was his best friend, his brother even.
Summer heard the gun go off and jumped. Twice now in two days she had heard a gun go off. Guns never went off in Newport, not even in the numbered streets. That was something that only happened in places like Chino. You could take the boys out of Chino, but you couldn't take the Chino out of the boys. Except she had almost forgotten Ryan had been from Chino. Until that gun went off.
Trey heard the gun go off and all of a sudden something hot coursed through his body. He let go of Ryan's head, forgetting why he had been holding it, forgetting where he was, forgetting everything. There was a bullet in his body. A bullet, a lethal weapon, something that could kill him. His life didn't flash before him. Not like it does in movies or books. The only thing he saw was himself attacking Marissa on that beach. It slowly rewound to when he had got out of jail and saw Ryan waiting for him. Nothing else flashed, nothing else was remembered.
Blood seeped through the front of Trey's shirt and some part of him realized that it was his. It felt like his whole body was melting as white hot pain seared through him. He raised his hand to his shirt and pressed it into the wound. Slowly, he turned to face Marissa with a look of disbelief on his face. She was sitting on the ground, her face mirroring his. The last thought Trey had was that he had messed everything up for Ryan once again.
Ryan, his brother, his flesh and blood. He had messed things up for him for the last time. Trey was finally getting what he deserved. For the first time, Trey realized how much he had used his little brother. To get chicks, to get cigarettes, to get money. For the first time, Trey realized how much he loved Ryan. Bad time to realize it, but at least he did.
Then he fell to the ground and crumpled up.
Ryan's first instinct when the gun went off was to make sure the bullet wasn't flying in his direction. Every cell was screaming at him to open his eyes, but he couldn't. Then he felt the pressure let up off his head. Trey had let go. Why would Trey let go? Unless he had been the one shot.
Still writing in pain, Ryan cracked his eyes open just in time to see the blood drip down onto his clothes. His brother's blood, seeping from the back to the front. Trey turned and faced Marissa. Marissa—who had shot Trey to save him. Just as Trey crumpled on to the ground, Ryan got the energy to stand up.
Using his left arm to support him, he leaned against his brother for what would be probably be the last time. Marissa was sitting on the ground, disbelief etched into her face. Ryan wasn't sure what was his face, but he imagined that it had to be similar.
Seth raced into the apartment, followed close behind by Summer. The scene he found was not what he had expected. Trey was in a heap, Marissa was on the floor, Ryan was standing, and the gun was lying on the ground. Summer was shocked. Who had shot Trey? Why had that person shot Trey? Was it self defense or a real murder? There were so many questions floating through her head. The only answer she got was silence.
One word breaks the code of silence,
Silence tells me all I need to know.
One word, one word
Tells me everything I need to know.
One world driven in to madness,
Madness driven by the depths below.
One word, one word
Tells me everything I need to know