"Hey Ryan, glad you're awake," Seth, the Cohen's only child, said as he entered into the pool house without knocking.
"What time is it Seth?" Ryan mumbled from underneath a pillow, enjoying the peacefulness of sleep up until a few seconds ago.
"Time for what I like to call a little Seth/Ryan time my friend," the curly mopped teenager said cheerily, setting a cup of coffee on the nightstand for Ryan.
After working his first week of construction, Ryan's body was screaming for the extra rest that this Saturday morning was suppose to allow but the smell of the coffee and the fact he hadn't spent much time with Seth lately got him to sit up. Wearing grey sweats and a wife beater, he ran a hand through his unkempt hair and took a long draw from his coffee mug in an effort to wake-up.
Spending all of his time during the day working and his nights with Marissa, he had neglected Seth and now felt guilty as he saw the excited expression on Seth's face about some time together. Seth was the exact opposite of him – geeky, a talker, skinny, a talker, a joker, a talker, sarcastic, and a talker – but when the Cohen's brought him here the two hit it off and now thought of each other more as brothers than friends.
"Alright, I'm awake," Ryan finally conceded.
"Great, I'll go first then," Seth spoke quickly, usually the conversation carrier between the two, "Summer's birthday is coming up quickly and if I don't purchase the perfect gift you may find me hanging upside down from the rooftop by my toes."
"Isn't the new DVD of The Valley coming out today?" Ryan asked, knowing that there were only two things Seth's girlfriend liked more than that show – shopping and yelling at Cohen.
"You're always there in the clutch Ryan my man," Seth replied happily, the fear of torture off his mind for the time being.
"Glad I could help."
"Well, now that my problems have been resolved, at least until I talk to Summer again, lets reflect a few moments on you," Seth said as he sat in the chair.
"Construction job is going good I guess," Ryan commented.
"Great, job's going good. Who's the flame in the usually non-existent love life of yours?" Seth asked, getting straight to the point.
"Marissa Cooper and I guess things are going good there too."
Going good was like saying that Newport only had a few who gossiped but as Ryan preferred to use as little of words as he could, especially about his feelings, he went with that. The truth was things were absolutely amazing with Marissa. They spent every moment of their free time with each other and he still couldn't get enough. Things were happening so rapidly with her, the feelings he already had coming out of nowhere, but instead of only knowing each other for two weeks, it felt more like two years.
Ryan loved everything about her, from her amazing eyes, her soft skin, the intense make-out sessions, to surprisingly the way she made him feel. Everything about her was incredible and when he was with her, she brought out a different side of him that he had never known existed. It scarred him but at the same time thrilled him and as he thought about her a smile appeared on his face.
"Holy Christmakuh!" Seth let out as he saw Ryan smile, "Where is the real Ryan and what have you done with him?"
Ryan chose to ignore Seth's comment, a trait he had perfected after living with him for so long, and instead climbed out of be to the bathroom where he splashed cold water on his face. Seth however, had never learned how to take a hint or even a verbal refusal and pressed for more details.
"I know she's hot, obviously just from looking at her," he said, unaware of the glare Ryan was throwing in his direction, "but come on! What else is she like?"
"She likes movies, hanging out at the beach, and her family moves around a lot," Ryan said as he knew Seth wouldn't leave him alone without a little more insight.
As he said it though, he realized that maybe he didn't know Marissa as well as he thought. Sure they had fun when they were together and he knew some of the things she liked, but as far as her family and her past were concerned, he really didn't have a lot of information. The more he considered it, the more he saw that she asked him so many more questions then she answered about herself. This new revelation troubled him, but for what reason or why it did so much he wasn't sure.
"Hey, earth to Ryan," he heard Seth say, snapping out of his thoughts, "Can't have Seth/Ryan time without you adding your tiny input into the conversation."
"Ryan, the working man," Sandy Cohen announced as he entered the pool house carrying Ryan a cup of coffee, "Did I just overhear something about a new lady in your life?"
If there ever was a contest held for best dad, Ryan knew Sandy would win hands down and not just because his had been an abusive criminal. Sure he could be a little nosy at times and maybe a little embarrassing in public, but everything he did was with the best intentions and out of love. His life would have turned out so differently if Sandy hadn't been his public defender and at times he wondered how much it would have been had Sandy been his father from day one.
"Yeah, Ryan found himself this sweet little honey," Seth answered, holding out his hand for a cup of coffee that never came.
"Alright Ryan!" Sandy said enthusiastically, always thinking of himself as one of the guys, "So when do we get to meet this foxy momma?"
"Who says 'foxy momma' anymore Dad?" Seth groaned, his father's lack of current trends always embarrassing him.
"Your father does but it better only be when he's referring to me," Sandy's wife, Kirsten, exclaimed as she entered the room with two cups of coffee.
"Mom! I think I just went deaf," Seth complained again.
"Ryan's got himself a hot hunny," Sandy commented.
"I can't wait to hear all the details," Kirsten implied, which meant now, as she handed Ryan one of the cups she was carrying.
"Did anyone forget I was born into this family?" Seth asked as Ryan now had three cups of coffee to his one, "Although I will deny that publicly if ever asked."
Ryan handed Seth the new cup and sat back down on the bed. When he looked up he saw the three Cohen's seated around the room starring at him. Kirsten was leaning forward in her chair, eagerly anticipating the news of a girlfriend, while Sandy and Seth sat back with large grins.
"I should get ready for work," Ryan announced, jumping off the bed quickly towards his closet.
"But its Saturday," Seth protested.
"Overtime," was Ryan's answer though it was just an excuse to escape.
"I expect her here for dinner tonight," Kirsten said, seeing she would get no information out of Ryan so she would get it herself from the source.
"OK, I'll ask."
"Does she look good in a bathing suit?" Sandy asked.
"Sandy Cohen!" Kirsten exclaimed loudly, shocked at her husband.
"What? You can always judge a woman in a bathing suit. It's the reason I married you," he said, standing up to kiss his wife which was the exit cue for the two boys as they hurried out the door.
…
The rest of the day Ryan spent with Seth doing the things they use to do before Marissa entered the picture. They hung out at the diner, walked around the pier, sailed for awhile, and Seth talked. Ryan's earlier escape attempt at overtime hadn't fooled his witty friend and as the afternoon wore on, Ryan was glad it hadn't. Seth had been his one true friend upon arriving in Newport and he realized that he had missed him the last two weeks.
When they had first met, Seth was the type of guy that would have gotten his ass kicked in Chino. He talked too much, was a scrawny dork, and a push-over that wouldn't stick up for himself. Even in Newport the other kids would pick on him but growing up in Chino, Ryan learned if you didn't stick up for yourself, no one would so it was either be tortured or fight back. The first year in Newport and having Seth as his only friend led to a lot of fights.
Since their time together, Seth was still mainly the same guy but he had more confidence about himself. Ryan could see the change and also the changes spending time with Seth had done for him. His punch first mentality had cooled considerable, comic books were a new hobby, and he now knew how to play video games. His whole approach to life had changed drastically and that was a worry that was growing ever larger in his mind.
It wasn't that the changes were bad, quite literally experiencing the male version of Cinderella, but how long they would last that was giving him so much turmoil lately. With senior year looming closer and closer, along with his eighteenth birthday, he wasn't sure what to expect from the Cohen's. Would he still be a part of the family, would they help him with college, would they let him come over for the holidays? Or would they expect him to go off on his own once he was a legal adult, no longer in their custody as he shed the title of juvenile?
The wondering and questions were almost too much for him anymore. He could never be fully comfortable without knowing, always holding back a little as life had taught him to avoid getting hurt. To be accepted was what he wanted, not just as a guest but as a part of the family, but it went against his nature to put too much hope on any one thing.
As they walked out of the mall, Seth with the newest version of The Valley for Summer's gift, the dilemma had occupied most of his thoughts since shopping wasn't his thing. So much in fact that he bumped into Seth who had stopped walking abruptly in front of him.
"Hey dork, what's in the bag?" a water polo player asked, four of his teammates standing behind him smirking.
"Oh you know, a little ointment for this rash I've been having," Seth rambled, the bag being snatched away from him.
"Give the bag back," Ryan demanded, stepping out from behind Seth, his temper sparking up quickly from the mood he was in.
"Why, you two queers have a date planned to watch The Valley?" the polo player said in a mocking voice, his teammates laughing at the joke.
"We're not the ones who shave our legs," Seth mumbled.
"What was that dork?" the guy said, pushing Cohen roughly.
Ryan forgot about behaving and trying to avoid fighting like he had promised Sand and Kirsten he would. It had been such a good day but the time spent in the mall thinking had soured his mood and this situation was just what he needed. A smile, or just a smirk, appeared on his face and without thinking or worrying about five athletes against him and Seth, he reacted.
His reaction had been stepping between the leader and Seth while his right fist swung. The forward momentum increased the blow and with one punch the odds were quickly four against two. He was full of anger, from the uncertainties he faced, from Seth being pushed, and if he wanted to be honest, from not knowing Marissa as deeply as he thought. Anger was a powerful weapon, but so were four on two.
Normally kids from Newport would step down after seeing their leader knocked-out cold with one punch. Normally. Today they rushed all at once and as Ryan swung with all the rage he could manage, it didn't take long for the three out of the four to tackle him down while the remaining one took care of Seth.
He cowered into a protective ball on the concrete parking lot as the fists and kicks found their mark. His arms, legs, ribs were taking a pounding and then something inside of him snapped. Not even realizing he was screaming he jumped up, his attackers frozen after hearing the cry escape from his body. Adrenaline coursing through his body he swung, kicked, spun, and unleashed everything that had been bottled up inside of him.
Within the same amount of time that he had spent curled up protecting himself, there were four bodies lying on the ground. He turned to see Seth getting kicked in the ribs and before the guy could do it again, Ryan had grabbed the back of the guy's head and smashed it into the back window of a suburban they were by.
"Thanks," Seth grimaced as Ryan helped him up, his body unable to take a beating in the way Ryan's could, "I might have a couple broken ribs."
"We really need to teach you how to fight," Ryan said, pain shooting up his left side as he reached down to pick-up Summer's gift, "If not to protect you than at least to help me out."
…
When they arrived home, after a stop by the hospital to care for a few broken ribs from Seth and some bad bruises and cuts from Ryan, they walked in to find a table full of food and Sandy, Kirsten, Summer, and Marissa sitting around it. Seth's arm was slung around Ryan's shoulders and both were limping badly. Between that and the dried blood, cuts, and swelling starting to occur, they looked like they had just survived a car accident.
The four sitting down in pleasant conversation jumped up at the sight of them, concern written across their faces. They rushed from the table towards the two boys, Sandy and Summer relieving Ryan from the burden of having to practically carry Seth.
"What happened?"
"How bad are you hurt?"
"You need to go see a doctor."
Questions barreled at them quickly and for an instant Ryan wished he was back at the fight swinging instead of the attack he was now facing. Kirsten had her hands around his face as she checked him out while Marissa hugged him tightly, making him wince in pain as it coursed through his body.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she exclaimed, jumping back quickly.
"I want to know what you two have been up to and why you're coming home looking like you've been run over by a bus," Sandy demanded once Seth was sitting in a chair.
"Are you alright?" Kirsten asked Ryan, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
"We'll be fine and we've already been to a doctor," Ryan assured her.
"Speak for yourself," Seth moaned while Summer fussed over him.
"Hello?" Sandy said loudly.
"We were at the mall," Seth said, "getting Summer her birthday present."
"It turned ugly as the present was released today and there wasn't enough for the large crowd," Ryan finished, telling the story they had concocted on the drive home between Seth's whining.
The two adults glanced at each other, their expressions telling that they weren't buying the fabricated story. With the company in the room however, they didn't press any further, not that they could have over Summer.
"Cohen, you asshat! What the hell is worth nearly getting killed over?" she shrieked, hitting him in the shoulder and then comforting him as he cried out.
"Birthday present?" Marissa questioned, coming up to him slowly as Kirsten went over to her son.
"Hope she likes it," Ryan replied, "I'm glad you came."
"It sounded important to you when you called this morning."
"Hey lovebirds," Sandy called out at them, "Since the story is just a mall mobbing, how about we eat this food before it gets cold?"
Ryan limped slightly across the kitchen and took a seat next to Marissa. As the food was passed around, the talking increased, the laughter contagious even though for two of them it hurt, Ryan looked around the table and realized he wanted this to last for a lifetime more than he had ever confessed to himself.