Title: You'll Always Have Me

Author: Tym

Fandom: The O.C.

Pairing: Seth/Ryan

Timeline: Everything up to 2:02 The Way We Were.

Summary: Caleb's arrest set off a series of events in Seth's life.

Disclaimer: The O.C. and all related characters are owned by Josh Schwartz and the people at FOX but they obviously missed the huge amount of sexual tension between the boys.


Author's Note: Sorry it took so long. This story was completely finished at 160 pages then a week after posting the first chapter my PC crashed and I lost everything! Things are back up and running now and I'm almost done again. I know there's only five of you reading this, but I didn't want to let you down. Thanks for the reviews! So without further delay...

Chapter Two:

When it Rains It Pours

Seth came into the kitchen and thought he'd stepped into a florist shop. "What the hell, man?" He looked around to see Ryan making breakfast surrounded by at least ten dozen bouquets of roses. "Someone's got a fan?"

He just shrugged. "They were here when I got here."

"Well someone's got the Valentine's Day bug." He stated. "Dad must really be in the dog house."

"I am not." Sandy came into the kitchen carrying two more dozen in his hand. "I've been married to your mother for," he stumbled. "A long time and I know her. She loves roses." He turned his head at the sound of feet approaching. "Ah, there's my valentine now." He held out the roses. "Happy Valentine's Day sweetheart."

Kirsten took the bouquet and went to the sink and stuffed the roses into the garbage disposal and turned it on. She handed Sandy back the chewed stems and grunted before leaving the kitchen.

Seth looked at his father. "Looks like I'm not the only one without a Valentine this year."

Sandy just looked disappointed and hurried after his angry wife.

Seth rubbed a hand through his unruly curls. "This is going to be a fun weekend."

"I hate when they fight." Ryan muttered.

"They're not fighting." He told him, half trying to convince himself. "It's this new case Dad has. He won't talk about his mysterious new client and Mom's mad."

Ryan turned the bacon, but said nothing more about it. "You all packed for your trip?"

He nodded. "I'm really nervous. This is major Ryan. This is WildStorm, this is the big leagues."

"I thought you said DC and Marvel were the big leagues?"

"No, they are the big, big leagues, but this is big too, Dude. This is my shot and I just know I'm going to blow it. Something will happen and I'll totally tank out there."

Ryan patted his shoulder. "You'll have Zack and Summer with you." He stopped. "Won't that be uncomfortable? Spending the weekend with your ex and her boyfriend?"

He nodded, looking miserable. "Yeah, but the thing with Summer would never have worked. She needs someone she's not ashamed of being seen with and now I don't have to worry about being bruised up because she hits Zack instead."

Ryan raised an eyebrow.

"What? I'm delicate."

He tried to hide the smile. "Wimp." He muttered under his breath as he put the eggs on a plate.

"I heard that. Next time I'll tell her to hit you and see if you say that. She might be small, but she's freakishly strong, dude."

"Freakishly strong?"

"Yeah." He grabbed the silverware as they sat down to eat, not waiting for their arguing parents.


Ryan couldn't believe he was doing this. Lindsay wanted him to come over and hang out with Caleb. Did she want the man to have another coronary? But here he was about to walk into the lion's den to apologize to a man that hated him just to make his girlfriend happy.

He pushed open the door to find Caleb playing pool. "Hello, Mr. Nichol. Are you feeling better?"

"Fit as a fiddle."

"Look, I came by to apologize. If I had anything to do with the heart attack..."

"Thank you. I realize how difficult that was for you to string together that many words at one time."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm merely noting how rarely you talk."

He shrugged. "I guess I don't have much to say to you."

The man looked up with a stern look. "How about thank you for a fine education, the roof over your head and everything else I've done for you."

Ryan had enough of this. "You didn't do any of those things. The Cohens did."

"With my money."

"I think Sandy and Kirsten would have something to say about that."

"The bottom line is that without me Sandy wouldn't have a dime. You need to understand the basics here. I run this town."

He turned to leave. "Whatever. I'm not listening to this."

"You're nothing here. You are nothing but a criminal my bleeding heart son-in-law took pity on." He stated as Ryan closed the door behind him.

He looked at the expectant expression on Lindsay's face. "How did it go?"

He felt like screaming. "Maybe next Valentine's Day."

"No, I want my father and my boyfriend to get along."

"Then talk to Caleb." He never stopped walking. He needed to be out of here.


Zack walked out of Larry Burnstein's office, shaking his head. He couldn't believe what just happened.

"You totally derailed Cohen." Summer accused, looking at him. Seth was still wide-eyed, cranked on espresso and fifteen minutes of sleep. "What the hell were you even talking about? A can of beans that cost $1.99?"

"Look, I know I was off the wall a bit, but listen, they want character development and we needed something to hook them?"

Zach stood his head sadly. "But you didn't give them anything. You talked about Cher's new boyfriend and evil of water polo players and how you hate little wiener dogs."

"Well, they're freaky looking and they bite." He deflated. "I totally blew it for us."

"Yes, you did." Summer snapped.

"Summer." Zack said softly. "It's okay Seth. We were unprepared for this, that's all. We didn't have any of the answers he wanted. Of course the answers you gave him were crazy, but we can fix this. We just need to go back to the drawing board. Work on developing the characters, give them more depth and we can pitch it again."

Summer looked at him like he was crazy too.

Zack nodded. "Of course, we'll need a Cohen-filter. Next time Summer and I will take the meeting and have you on the phone with me to answer any questions and I'll interpret the…"

"Madness." Summer finished.


The atmosphere in the house was stifling. Kirsten was all dressed up but cancelling reservations at the Arches as Ryan walked through the kitchen. He noticed Sandy wasn't home. Seth met him in the foyer, still looking as bummed as he did when Zach had dropped him off earlier.

"You want to go to the pier?"

Seth just nodded. "Dad took off to meet Rebecca and Mom's pretty ticked."

He didn't know what to say to that. He'd be pretty bummed too if his wife took off to see an old boyfriend on Valentine's Day and ditched him. "So, I guess it's been a terrible Valentine's for all of us."

Seth nodded again. "I blew the meeting and my chances at my own comic, Lindsay's choosing Grampa over you and Dad's still in the doghouse. Yep, this totally sucks. I think the universe is trying to tell us something."

"What's the universe saying?"

Seth looked around at the couples walking through the neighborhood holding hands and smiling. "We are destined to be alone, Ryan."

He patted Seth's back. "I don't think it's saying that. Things always look darkest before the dawn."

Seth gave him a disbelieving look. "Really?"

Ryan shrugged. "Sounded better than we're doomed to loneliness."

"Yeah." He bumped Ryan's shoulder. "But you'll always have me."

Ryan smiled. "Let's go get a Balboa bar."


Julie couldn't believe what she was hearing. Cal was actually thinking of publicly acknowledging that girl without a paternity test first. There was no way she was letting someone get their hooks into her money. She had worked too hard, schemed for too long to become Mrs. Caleb Nichol to have Lindsay waltz in and lay claim to her husband's assets.

She knew she should've nipped that relationship in the bud when she first returned from Paris and found the girl in her house. If there was one thing Julie could spot it was a gold-digger. She needed a plan to get Lindsay to go to Chicago with her mother. She knew if she could get Cal to demand the paternity test that it would shatter the girl and possibly the new relationship.

She just needed to find the right angle to persuade Caleb.


Ryan was awakened early Sunday morning to a loud crash. He bolted upright in the bed, readying himself for the attack then saw the streak of light that flashed through the windows of the pool house. It was raining? He couldn't remember the last time it rained here. In Chino it rained all the time, but something about Newport made it seem impossible that there could ever be a cloudy day, much less dark, dreary and storming.

He climbed out of bed and put his sweatpants on, tripping over the controller Seth had left out last night. His stomach gave a loud protest at the lack of bagel in there. Usually Seth was already here with a bagel and coffee. He stood at the door watching the water cascading down the glass. It looked nasty out there. Through the distorted view he saw Seth at the kitchen door, posed to open it, but not moving.

The other boy waved him over. Ryan heard another loud clap of thunder then the sky streaked with light for a moment. He released the door handle and waved to Seth to join him instead. Seth looked at him disappointed and walked away. Suddenly he was back at the door waving the bagel basket around like an offering. Ryan was hungry, but not enough to brave the elements for a salt bagel. He shook his head and waved Seth over again.

Seth walked away for a moment, this time returning with his cell to his ear. Ryan didn't need three guess as to who he was calling. He immediately looked around for his cell that was now ringing.

"You coming in for breakfast, dude?" Seth asked.

"I got some cleaning up to do. Why don't you swing by here?" He knew Seth would eventually cave. Since Ryan had arrived, they ate breakfast together every single morning.

"Dude. Have you looked out the window? It's like the opening sequence from the Day After Tomorrow out there?"

Ryan smiled. "It's just rain, Seth."

"Come on, Ryan." He whined. "I'm a child of Southern California. I can't go out in this. I'll melt or something."

"It's just rain." He repeated, but he wasn't ready to brave it either. He didn't think Kirsten had an umbrella in the pool house. "It'll let up soon." He hoped. He was hungry.

"So, have you talked to Lindsay today?" Seth asked, sitting on the floor in the Cohen kitchen.

Ryan slumped down on the bed, the energy seemed to drain right out of him at the question. "She took off last night right after your grandfather told her he wanted a paternity test ran."

There was silence for a second, but Seth didn't do silence. "Well, I'm not sure why she was so upset. That's like standard procedure in these things, right?"

He shrugged a shoulder, though Seth couldn't see him. "I don't know." He said, though it would've made things a lot easier for him last summer if Theresa would've had one. "She just feels like after everything she did for him…"

"Well, grandpa's not big on the trust, dude. He's more fond of his money than his family, you know."

He nodded. That was an understatement. He thought about the conversation he'd had with Lindsay's mom. "She's not sure Lindsay's his."

"What?"

"Mrs. Wheeler. I talked to her last night. She doesn't want the test done because there's a possibility Lindsay's not a Nichol."

There was a long pause in the conversation. "Whoa. That would be bad. She took all that money from Grandpa and the kid might not be his. He'll freak."

"Yeah. Lindsay wouldn't answer her phone last night."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I guess all I can do is wait."

"I'm here if you need me." Seth offered. "With bagels and orange juice and Mom bought those mini-muffins you like."

"Bribery?" He chuckled. "Seth, that's so unlike you."

Laughter flooded the other end.


Marissa was so bummed out. The rain pouring from the sky mimicked her mood today. First her mother ordered that they spend 'quality time' together so she could listen to her mom bitch about Lindsay. Then DJ broke up with her because he said he couldn't handle her drinking anymore. No one seemed to understand how hard life was for her right now. Alex had been MIA for several days and her phone had been cut off. And Summer was taking off to Italy with Zack for two weeks.

The door to her bedroom opened and her mom breezed in looking happy. "Ever heard of privacy?" She snapped.

Julie just waved off the comment. "Not even your teenage hostility can darkened my day, young lady. I don't care if you throw your bedroom furniture into the pool." She smiled.

"What happen? You win the lottery and don't have sponge off Caleb anymore?"

"Even better. Cal decided to demand a paternity test and little Lindsay got upset and decided to move to Chicago with her mother."

That perked up Marissa's spirits. Ryan would need a shoulder to cry on after she left him. "I'm going out." She announced, getting up. She needed to hunt up an umbrella.


Seth was soaked. The rain hadn't let up all day. At this rate, his dad should start building a boat and collecting animals. This was seriously out of control. He couldn't even find an umbrella or rain gear. The closest thing he had was a Spiderman mask and that was 'too weird' even for him to walk around the neighborhood in.

Ryan had left to go see Lindsay four hours ago and now he wasn't answering his cell. This was bad. If his mom was right and Lindsay was leaving it was going to hit Ryan hard. He had already been hurt by too many people who claimed that they loved him.

His mother took off and dumped him with virtual strangers. Marissa dumped for an unstable lunatic she'd only known for a few weeks. Theresa had emotionally blackmailed him into returning to Chino to help her with her mistake. Now Lindsay was leaving too because she was angry at Caleb. He didn't know how much more Ryan could take.

He walked the rain-soaked streets looking for a glimpse of his friend. No one was out today and the pier was deserted. Most of the smaller shops hadn't even bothered to open due to the lack of business they'd get today. He spotted a large umbrella sheltering a tall, skinny frame and recognized Marissa walking up the pier. She had come by his house earlier looking for Ryan. He knew she'd heard about what happen.

She was moving with conviction and he followed that line of sight and saw the lonely figure standing by the railing looking out at the angry sky. Quickening his pace, he passed her. The last thing Ryan needed was to have to hear Marissa try to make this all about herself somehow or more likely use it as a way of getting back together with him.

His sneakers slid on the wet planks as he raced over, cutting her off. He gave her a stern look and mouthed, 'I got this.' She didn't look happy, but he wasn't taking no for an answer today. He didn't care how much it pissed her off. He and Marissa were never friends to begin with. They were just casual acquaintances because of Ryan. Finally, she gave in and turned around, stomping back down the pier.

"Hey." He slid up beside the boy.

Ryan said nothing. He didn't even turn and look at him. He was soaked through to the skin and looked cold in the chilly afternoon air.

Seth had no words of wisdom. He was not skilled in the art of women. All he could do was stand there in the pouring rain and let Ryan know he was there if he wanted to talk, which was an impossibility, given that Ryan rarely talked without being pressed.

The silence was deafening as they stood there for what felt like days. Seth hated silence. It gave him too much time to think and right now Ryan didn't need more time to think. He was trying to come up with something witty to distract him out of his sullen mood when he felt the brush against his shoulder. Ryan was still staring out at the pouring rain pelting the ocean below them. He gave a half-smile and bumped him back.

As a reward he saw the smallest twitch of lips. "You're really soaked." Ryan finally spoke, though his voice sounded rough and low.

Seth nodded. "I'll probably caught pneumonia thanks to you." He shot back.

Ryan bumped his shoulder one more time. "Then I guess I need to get you home and dried off before you succumb to the symptoms and the whining begins."

He chuckled. "You know me too well, dude. Think we'll find any place that has brave enough employees to deliver dinner tonight?"

He shrugged. "If not I'll make grilled cheese."


Seth felt better now that he was showered and dry. He heard the water turn on in Ryan's bathroom and grabbed the cell on the nightstand. Scrolling through the few numbers in Ryan's phone, he found Lindsay's and hit send.

"I really don't want to talk right now Ryan." She started.

"Good." He told her. "Because I need you to listen."

"Who is this?"

He looked at the phone like she was stupid. "It's Seth. Seth Cohen. Now look, Lindsay, I know Grandpa pissed you off, but that's like par for the course for him. He does it to everyone all the time. You might come to find it endearing. The point is that this isn't about Grandpa. This is about Ryan and you can't just leave him because you're angry."

"I don't think this is any of your business—"

"Probably not. But Ryan is my best friend and I don't want to see him hurt. He really likes you. Likes you a lot and he's been hurt enough by the people he likes. So, you gotta decide if you're going to be with him or bail on him. It's like when Vicki Vale found out Batman was really Bruce Wayne and walked away because she couldn't deal with it. But then she came back at the end of the movie because she wanted it to work out. But then Batman II came out and she was gone. Man, you can't do that him."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

He was getting seriously frustrated by girls and their lack of understand the basics of life. "Look, do you love him?"

"Yes. I think so."

"So, you're willing to risk losing him because you're mad at someone else? Because let me tell you long distance relationships never work out."

There was silence on the other end for several minutes and he was getting impatient. "I'll think about it."

"Okay." He closed the phone as the shower turned off.


Seth walked slowly down the path to the pool house being careful not to spill the hot coffee. He wanted to get some quality Seth/Ryan time in this morning because Summer was returning from her trip to Italy with Zach and she was dragging him to the mall. This morning Ryan was already awake and must have been up for at least an hour because the room was cleaned up from last night and he'd already showered.

"Coffee?" Seth asked, noticing those dark rings that were just barely forming under his eyes and he knew he probably had another fight with Lindsay. She had been spending all her time nursing his Grandpa back to health and fighting with Ryan over this and that. She was getting as demanding as his grandfather. "You're up early."

Ryan took the mug, but offered nothing in the way of an explanation on his recent sleep problems.

"So, what's on the agenda this weekend? You and the Linds got a hot date planned?" He asked, trying to gauge the other boy's reaction.

Ryan bristled. "Doubt it. Since she's moved in with your grandpa, she's been a little busy."

"Well, nursing an old guy back to health is hard." He offered. He hated to see Ryan look like that. He wished Lindsay would get a clue. His grandfather was a stubborn old coot and always had to have his way.

"She just wants me over there helping. But the guy can't stand me and he's already had one heart attack. I just think that being around him is asking for trouble."

"He'll come around and eventually see what a great guy you are." He told him and if it didn't happen soon, Seth would be talking to his grandfather.

"I doubt it." He looked miserable. "So, I figure it's probably just you and me this weekend."

"And Dad." He threw in. "Seems like him and Mom are going through a rough patch too." He hated to see his parents fighting. His mother was never home anymore and when she was she was drinking a lot more than her usual glass of wine with dinner. He had thrown out her empty bottle in the recycling bin this morning and noticed a few pints of vodka mixed in there. "They're fighting a lot."

"Seems to be the trend." Ryan sighed.


The pounding on the door continued for a few minutes before Steve finally gave up and took off. Alex sighed heavily and cursed her bad luck. First a surprise inspection from the liquor board when she was signing for a shipment of beer and then getting caught by an undercover officer when she was serving drinks. Manny had enough and finally fired her. She had loved that job and was damn good at it. He was never going to find someone to replace her at what he was currently paying her, but she knew the rules. Don't get caught. She was underage, but talked him into it one night after too many drinks, but now that was over.

She couldn't make rent this month and Steve would throw her ass out on the street. She had no savings and calling her folks was definitely out. They'd make her start back in school again and going back to repeat 10th grade was not an option. She could crash on a few friends' floors for a few nights but not indefinitely. She needed a plan.

To make matters worse Seth still wasn't speaking to her. She had seen him at the Thrills concert and figured he was there to grovel, but Ryan had actually bought tickets and they stayed on their side of the club and watched the show. Seth never even looked her way once. She knew she should apologize, but her pride wouldn't let her besides she had really started to like his friend Marissa but that didn't pan out either because she had a boyfriend.

Life just sucked. She had finally broken down this morning and called to apologize sure that once he found out her problems he'd lend her the rent money and have his dad look into what he could do to help. Sandy was all about helping the less fortunate, but Ryan had answered and told Seth it was her. She had heard him tell Ryan to just hang up because he had nothing to say. Ryan of course apologized to her and said that Seth did not want to speak to her and she had hung up on him. That idea was shot to hell too. She didn't know what she was going to do. But she had better start packing before they pad locked her out.


Lindsay came down the stairs of her new home. She couldn't believe she lived in a mansion and Caleb's home was even bigger than the Cohen's. She had gotten lost three times in the past two weeks. Ever since the paternity test he had been trying to make things up to her. She had been shopping four times, today with Marissa and Summer. They were both spoiled rich kids but she dealt with their incessant whining—well Marissa's and Summer's rude comments to the sales girls.

"I can't wait to call Ryan and show him the outfit I got for the party." Lindsay saw the look that passed between the two. "What?"

Marissa shrugged, but Summer answered. "He's not home."

She wondered how Summer knew Ryan's whereabouts. "Where is he?"

"Someone name Brian Bendy or something is signing books in LA today and he took Cohen."

Lindsay felt her face get tight. "Doesn't Zack like comics? Why couldn't he go with Seth?"

Summer had that look like Lindsay had just said something incredibly stupid. "Cohen loves comics and if he gets to see this Bendy guy then he's going to want to share that with Ryan."

Lindsay pulled out her cell and hit speed dial # 1. The phone never rang, but went right to voicemail. What the hell? She looked at the smug smile on Summer's face.

"Told ya. They're probably in line with Zach talking all things comic related and Ryan is trying to keep Cohen from going all..well Cohen."

She didn't understand why Ryan needed to go. He wasn't into comics. "Ryan doesn't like comics." She stated stubbornly.

Summer just smirked. "He likes a few, but he went for Cohen. Those two are like joined at the hip."

She nodded. She hated that about them. No matter what crisis occurred Ryan always chose Seth first. He hadn't even come to see Caleb once since he'd been home and if Seth was so upset about it why hadn't he visited his grandfather?

The more she saw of Seth the less she liked. She loved Kirsten and Sandy and wished she had parents like them so she couldn't figure out where they went wrong raising Seth. Even Caleb was ashamed of the comic book loving geek. He had no interest in anything college related except that he wanted to attend Brown and loved anything that bucked the system. While his anti-Newport viewpoint she agreed with, she knew he only made them to piss off his grandfather because he was just as spoiled as the rest of these kids.

She just needed a way to get his claws out of her boyfriend. She was already getting rid of Marissa because Caleb had filed for divorce from Julie. Thank God. She was only interested in his money. Once they moved out she'd have Caleb to herself and then she would start working on him to see how wonderful Ryan was and start his grooming for the Newport Group. Once that was accomplished it wouldn't be that hard to get Caleb to send them both to Harvard together.


Ryan stood staring at the phone in his hand. Trey. Trey was getting out of jail. Not one word from his brother since Thanksgiving of last year and all of a sudden he needs a ride. Something wasn't sitting well with Ryan, but Trey was his brother. The only connection he had with his family anymore. His mother hadn't even contacted him since she took off other than a Christmas present almost two years ago.

"Hey." Seth looked at him expectantly.

Ryan put the phone down. "Trey." He managed to choke out. "He's getting released."

"Oh." Seth seemed speechless, but what was there to say to that.

"He wants me to pick him up at the prison."

"You going to?"

He shrugged. "He's my brother." He stated, like that was an explanation.

The next day Ryan was in the Cohen kitchen ready to go. He had butterflies in his stomach the size of bats and couldn't stop the feeling that this was a bad idea. But as Sandy had pointed out if someone didn't try and help Trey, he'd be back on the inside within a year.

Seth had begged his mother to go along with them, but she shot him down stating school was more important. He really could have used the support, but then he wasn't sure how Trey would take to Seth. So maybe it was for the best. They drove to Chino in silence, just the radio playing showtunes quietly and Sandy occasionally hummed along.

Prison was a lot like Juvie and Ryan never wanted to step foot in it again, but here he was waiting for his brother to come through the door. Trey looked a little thinner and even rougher around the edges than the last time he'd seen him. Ryan stretched out his hand and Trey grabbed him and hugged him tight. He wasn't sure what to do, but he hugged him back.

No one said very much on the drive to Trey's new place. Sandy tried to fill the silence with unimportant conversation about current events, but Trey just grunted. When they arrived at the run-down house he was supposed to be staying at, the bats seemed to multiply by two. There was no car in the driveway and one of the windows was boarded up.

"This is me." Trey grabbed his box of belongings. "Thanks for the ride."

Sandy insisted on waiting until he got inside, but Ryan already knew there was no one there to greet Trey. In the back of his mind he wondered if there had been anyone there in the first place. After all, why would he need Ryan to pick him up if he had people who were there for him? His brother was nothing if not conniving. After a few minutes of watching Trey wander the yard, looking lost, Sandy finally gave in and offered to take him home with them.


Lindsay stood on the terrace trying to figure out where to sit. Without Ryan here she felt out of place. She saw Seth sitting with Zack and Summer, but she definitely didn't feel like sitting with them. Marissa came out from around the corner and joined them too. Now she was definitely not sitting with them. She grabbed an empty table under the tree, but she was still close enough to overhear Marissa's whiny voice.

"How was he?" She asked right away.

Seth just shrugged. "How do you think? The last time he heard from Trey the guy wanted him to wreck his probation and steal a car."

"I should have gone with him."

Lindsay's face tightened. If anyone was going with Ryan it would be her. She was his girlfriend. She wondered why he hadn't asked her to go, but then she hadn't offered either. Prison was not somewhere she was looking forward to visiting. Ever.

"I wanted to go with him, but Mom said school was more important. I mean, what am I supposed to do with a good education?"

"Cohen, Chino's a big boy. I'm sure he'll be fine. We'll all go over to your house after school and make sure, okay?"

"Won't that seem like ganging up on Trey?" Zack asked.

Summer nodded. "Let him know that we got Ryan's back."

"I'm coming too." Marissa threw in and Lindsay's face couldn't get any tighter. She was seriously in danger of cracking something. She'd go over after school and make sure Marissa kept her hands off her boyfriend. She was not looking forward to meeting Ryan's convict brother, but she needed to show him some support.


Ryan thought back to the first time he saw the view of the ocean from the Cohen's kitchen and wondered if he had the same look on his face that Trey did right now. The guy looked stunned as he glanced around. Ryan kept his focus on his brother's wondering eyes as he looked around at the many expensive things Kirsten had decorated around the house.

"Trey," Sandy began, putting down his car keys on the counter. "You can take the pool house for the time being. Ryan, you don't mind the guest room, right?"

He shook his head.

Trey gave him a look. "Did he just say pool house?"

He nodded and walked out into the backyard with Trey following him. When they got inside, Trey took in his surroundings. "You got hooked up, little brother."

He didn't know what to say to that. He knew Trey was resentful that Ryan got all this while he rotted in jail all this time, but it was Trey's idea to steal that car and he had a gun and pot on him at the time. "There's a shower over there and towels are in the linen closet. You can borrow whatever you need."

Trey still had the stunned look on his face. "Sorry to be kicking you outta your cabana mansion here."

He shrugged. "It's just for a few days."

Trey flinched. "Don't worry. I won't get too comfortable." He stood by the desk and fingered the laptop Ryan had. "This yours?"

"Seth's." He lied. He wasn't sure why he did that, but something told him not to admit that the Cohen gave him things. Trey had no problem stealing from him in the past. He called it sharing, even after he pawned it. But he didn't think he'd steal from the Cohens when they were nice enough to let him stay here. "I'll grab my stuff and get settled. Be right back."

He gathered up a few days worth of clothes and the laptop and headed back into the house. It was three-thirty and Seth was due home soon. The front door opened and he thought it was him, but he was shocked to see Marissa walking in.

"How are you? How was he?" She immediately asked, looking concerned as she neared him.

"He's okay. He's in the pool house."

The backdoor opened and Lindsay was standing there looking angry. "Ryan, why didn't you call me?"

He wasn't sure what she was mad about but thought it had a lot to do with the proximity of Marissa to him. "There wasn't time. Trey's friend fell through and Sandy brought him here."

She looked scared. "Here? He's letting him stay here?"

"In the pool house."