Chapter 0007: Not the wisest

Life with Ryan was... An adventure. Or something like that.

His uncle slash brother had been pretty blasé about joining Seth at Harbor, dryly stating it could hardly be any worse than his previous school. In truth, Seth quietly thought Ryan would actually fit in just fine with the throngs of rich, sheep–like teenagers his parents swore were his peers (he had to bite his tongue sometimes, because if they were in any way the same outside of being from the O.C., he would cut his hands out).

But seriously, Ryan easily fell into a rhythm at Harbor, what with his honest interest in schoolwork, undeniable goods looks, politeness and overall ease at blending in with their classmates. Maybe it was because everyone knew he was Caleb Nichol's kid and no one really wanted to mess with him, in particular after Ryan couldn't quite hide a frown when one very curious Summer Roberts questioned him about it.

(being around Summer, even if because of Ryan and Caleb, was one of the best things in Seth's life, hands down).

Of course, the fact that Ryan got on the soccer team helped some, even though he was relegated to the bench (not that he seemed to care, and the Cohens followed suit – it was weird to have someone in the house who liked sports enough to stay late at school to train, especially considering he had yet to actually play at an official game). Seth was a little bummed about losing his newly discovered uncle slash brother slash best friend a guy could ever wish for, but Ryan was clearly enjoying himself, and Seth didn't really have it in him to complain (much), after all, it wasn't like he didn't have his own stuff to work on, what with the whole Anna thing.

Anna! Yes, Anna. Anna, blond, smart, quick, from Pittsburgh and oddly into him. Sure, she wasn't Summer, she wasn't the girl who made him lose himself, however there was something to her, likely the fact that she was the first person in the O.C. to give two craps about the things he liked, and not like Ryan, who tried to get it but didn't (which was sad when Seth actually stopped to think about it), or Sandy and Kirsten, who attempted to be good parents (which they were) but in the end didn't get into it. Anna, though. Anna got it.

It was nice to have someone happy and carefree in his life for once, because if not for her, he wasn't sure he'd be able to handle being around the house all the time. Despite getting along better with Caleb, Kirsten remained a little down whenever she thought Ryan and Seth couldn't see her (which was inaccurate, she should know better – kids see everything), and Sandy smiled through it all, valiantly making sure everyone was taken cared of while Hurricane Caleb continued to wreck their lives.

Even for Seth, it was incredible how much damage his grandfather could possibly cause even being in the Cohen house for only a few hours a week. But then, the guy did cast a huge shadow, and it was showing more than ever before in Kirsten's obvious sadness (that Seth himself didn't want to address) and the way Ryan acted around the adults. Yeah, okay, fine, Seth was a typical only child, thank you, however even he could tell his new uncle slash brother slash best friend slash next door housemate was not himself in the way he went on as a perfect little boy any time Sandy, Kirsten and/or Caleb could see him.

He wondered if he should start poking Ryan until he finally 'fessed up about what the hell was going on, because Seth had the weird impression that things only looked like they were getting better when in fact– Well, he kind of hated spending time at the beach, but he had been dragged down by Sandy enough times to know that all waves eventually broke.


A shortie, but I guess Seth doesn't have much to say. And yes, he is a little self-centered, I tried not to make it all about him, but it's Seth lol

Yeah, Anna (she won't be a huge character, so it's fine). I have also decided to add Lindsay into this. No, she won't be Caleb's (ew), and I doubt she'll be Ryan's gf for a while (as we all saw what happened with Marissa, Round 1; I can't believe that wasn't in part because Ryan was not in any place to have a stable romantic relationship).

I agree with everyone that the show fell into the trope of the romantic relationships and pretty much became a high class soap opera, they started to ignore the familial aspect - though, in truth, they never really focused on it after a handful of episodes in S01. This story is instead all about the Cohens (and Nichols, I guess), so any and all romantic shit will be relegated to the background, at least as much as possible. The Oliver will appear, and I finally figured out how I would like to play with that. Ryan will not want to play White Knight to Marissa's Damsel, however there is a chance Luke will become a friend. I always think shows are economical with friendships for obvious reasons, I get it, you got other shit to worry about, but it's a bummer when it's mostly about love, then family, and maybe friendship. The O.C. dumped potential close friends like hot potatoes (Luke, Alex, Lindsay, Zach) because if they ain't fucking anyone, what are they for? So... I'll try to make it into family, friendship and maybe love, so don't worry about The Anna, or The Lindsay, and especially The Marissa.