I UPDATED! :)
Sorry that it's been so long. I had a lot of stuff on my mind and I couldn't really write a happy chapter...which this chapter most definitely is.
I was writing this chapter when I found out she died and I didn't really want to come back to it. But I have and here it is. It's very long. Sorry about that.
Xoxo
Georgie
The Night and the Morning After
The kids heard the sound of the cars as they pulled up in the driveway. They looked at each other and then around them. Before they had time to do anything the adults were in the room looking at it too. The kitchen floor was covered in all different kinds of spilt soda. They'd managed to burn popcorn which was currently still in the microwave, smoke coming off it. There was squished fruit everywhere, lining the walls, surfaces, windows and floor. A few glasses were broken on the floor.
"We..." Seth stuttered. "We left you in...in front of the TV," Was all he could say.
"BOYS!" Summer shouted.
"Sum, let's go upstairs, you need to calm down," Seth put and arm around her, ever worried about the baby.
"I DO NOT NEED TO CALM DOWN! I NEED TO KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENED TO MY KITCHEN!" Summer screamed.
"Ryan will sort it, he's better at these things, come on Sum, you've got to think about the baby,"
"Summer, go upstairs," I said calmly. Then I turned back to the children. I didn't need to say anything, I just glared. Summer, Marissa and Seth went upstairs.
"We can explain!" The kids said quickly.
"You better be able to," I said forcefully. I towered over them.
"Ryan, we just had some fun, we..." Jake began.
"Not good enough,"
"We got hungry," Dan tried.
"Louise Grace Atwood you better give me a better explanation than your cousins,"
"Dad, we ate all the popcorn and got hungry so we tried to make some more, but it was in for too long and then we were SO hungry we ate fruit, which turned into a fruit fight and some of the fruit knocked of the drinks," Louise stuttered quickly. They ate fruit willingly? That was a first.
"I'm disappointed in you Louise. In all three of you. We gave you responsibility and you blew it. I don't know about you boys, your parents can decide your punishment, but Louise...Louise you're not being left alone without me or another responsible adult, in or out of the house, clear?"
"But, Dad, I always play out with my friends and..."
"No buts. With responsibility comes a consequence. You don't want to be treated like a baby, don't act like one. Now, all of you go fetch the cleaning stuff. Don't come back in here until I've tidied the glass up," The kids ran away as quickly as they could, hurrying to fetch the cleaning things. I knelt down and began carefully picking up the shards of glass. I put them straight in the bin. I got a dustpan and brush to sweep up the last remains tiny pieces then called the kids in.
"Clean," I order firmly, before leaving to go upstairs. I found them in Seth's old room, which they now used as a guest room. "Done," I said sitting in the empty desk chair, the other three occupied the bed.
"Thanks man," Seth said.
"Yeah thanks," Summer added.
"It's fine. Are you okay?"
"Yeah. How do you keep your cool? I remember the old Ryan Atwood who punched the first person he saw when he was angry,"
"They're kids. Give me an annoying jock like Chuck and we'll skip down memory lane," They laughed.
"My kitchen..."Sumer said sadly.
"It'll be fine," Seth assured her. "How long do you think we should stay up her for?"
"Well, the boys are sweating about what punishment you're giving them, so I think an hour or so will be ok,"
"What did you give Louise?" Summer asked.
"She's not allowed anywhere without an adult,"
"Good one," Summer said. "Mind if I steal it?"
"Not at all," Summer gasped realising something.
"The glass, they'll cut themselves trying to pick it up..."
"I cleaned it up,"
"My god you really are perfect," Summer exclaimed.
"Hardly."
"So, what do we do for an hour?" Seth asked.
"We could show Marissa Captain Oats," Summer suggested.
"No, she is the one person who doesn't know about him, because of that she's the one person who takes me seriously,"
"I don't take you seriously, Seth," Marissa laughed.
"Well...if you knew about Captain Oats...you'd take me even less seriously,"
"Who's Captain Oats?" Marissa asked me.
"He's..."
"Ryan, don't you dare desert your brother to a girl you want to kiss," Me and Marissa both went bright red. "THAT'S something we can talk about. How could I have forgotten about your big date?"
"Thanks Seth," I muttered.
"Come on, spill. What happened at Chino's romantic diner destination?" Summer asked.
"Nothing," Marissa said truthfully...well, nothing happened at the diner specifically.
"Ok, what happened on the journey?" Summer had figured it out.
"Nothing," I said quickly.
"Will you two please stop denying that you have, like, amazing chemistry?" Marissa and I glanced at each other quickly. "And Ryan's got no excuse for NOT dating you. His only excuse before has been Louise, which is totally out considering she set the whole thing up." I glanced over to Marissa again.
"Come one, Seth and Ryan time," Seth dragged me up.
"What? Why?" I asked.
"You're too embarrassed," He didn't give me time to argue, he just dragged me away. I rolled my eyes. "We can check up on the kids on the way down," We got to the kitchen. "You go in, you're scarier," I rolled my eyes again as I went in. The boys were sat at the breakfast bar, doing nothing, whilst Louise moved around wiping down surfaces and picking up large pieces of fruit.
"Boys!" I said firmly. "I'm willing to bet made just as much of this mess, probably more." The boys jumped and then immediately got down and started helping out. "We'll be outside...watching you," I said before going outside to find Seth.
"No pool house?" He asked.
"No, we need to keep an eye on them."
"Sure," We settled down into the deck chairs.
"I wonder what their talking about," Jake thought out loud.
"Probably Marissa," Dan said. "Do you know how it went?"
"I'm cornering him when we go home. I think it went good though," I said.
"Has your Dad even had a girlfriend since your Mom?"
"I don't think so," I said. "Not when I've been around. You ever heard about one?"
"No." Jake said.
"Imagine 2 years without sex." God, Dan was so disgusting. He'd been talking about it ever since he found out we were having sex education lessons this year. He was excited. Jake and I weren't looking forward to it at all.
"Ugh." Jake exclaimed.
"Well, you'll have to manage a whole lifetime. No girl will want to have sex with you," I said cleverly.
"What boy would want to have sex with YOU!" Dan retorted.
"I would," Jake said. "If it wasn't her cousin," He said quickly.
"INCEST! Jake fancies Lou! Jake fancies Lou!" Dan ran around the kitchen, repeating the same thing over and over again. Jake and I looked at each other, reading each other's thoughts. We stretched out the cloth between us then lowered it just as Dan ran past us. He fell right over. He screamed like a little girl. Jake and I stood over him, laughing. Seth and Dad were in the room by the time he got back to his feet.
"You ok?" Seth hurried over to Dan.
"I think I've broken my tibia," It was a scientific word he must have heard on that Emergency A+E program. He clutched his arm.
"Your tibia is in your leg." Dad corrected him. Dan looked flustered and eventually gave up faking.
"High 5!" I raised my hand up towards my Dad. He rejected it.
"Just cause he's not hurt doesn't mean it wasn't dangerous. It was a stupid thing to do."
"Yeah, if someone winds you up, you have to get back at them sneakily. With a prank..." Uncle Seth drifted off. I could imagine a thousand different pranks were going through his mind at that moment. He snapped back to reality. "We're going back upstairs for a bit. This kitchen better be clean when we come back down." Seth shook his finger at us then they went upstairs. We all sighed heavily and got on with our task.
"Guess who's back, back, back, back again, agai..." Seth began singing as we joined the girls. Summer cut him off half way through.
"No you didn't," Summer said, while moving her head and clicking her fingers in that oh so high school cheerleader way. "That makes me feel young," She smiled to herself. I rolled my eyes in Marissa's direction, which made her laugh.
"So, Ryan and I have had our talk...well I talked, Ryan managed a few gestures and grunts,"
"I don't grunt," I objected.
"Ok, mumbles," Seth corrected. "You girls have a nice chat?"
"Of course. Though we could have done with more time," Summer hinted.
"More time? We managed to cover Ryan and Marissa, the new Batman film, the new Final Fantasy game release AND telling the kids off,"
"What did they do?" Marissa asked.
"Oh, just tripping Dan up," Seth said airily, it was a regular occurrence.
"What were they arguing about this time?" Summer asked.
"Not sure," Seth sat down and cuddled Summer. I slowly put my arm around Marissa, not sure whether it was acceptable. Were we dating now? I was glad when she leant her head on my shoulder and intertwined her fingers with mine.
"Awww, Summer look at our little baby, he's all grown up and in love," Summer hit Seth. Marissa and I turned bright red, though I was glad to notice her hand never came away from mine.
"Way to ruin the moment, Cohen,"
"Are you guys dating then?" Seth asked. Marissa and I looked at each other. I was unsure what to say. Luckily she answered for me.
"I guess so," She said hesitantly.
"Yes," I said, now I knew that it was what she wanted I said it boldly.
"This is awesome, we can double date!" Summer screamed excitedly.
"Ow!" Seth muttered, holding his ears.
"Oi!" Summer hit him again.
"How come you get the nonviolent girl?" Seth asked rhetorically.
"Because he's a catch," Summer answered. "Where as you...I just went for you money,"
"I love you too, sweetie," Seth said before planting a kiss on Summer's mouth. Somebody coughed. The kids were stood in the doorway.
"You two are so gross," Dan said. He might have been fascinated by what they might learn in Sex Ed, but he sure didn't want to think about his parents like that.
"Can Louise sleep tonight?" Jake asked.
"She was going to anyway, sweetie," Summer said.
"She was?" It was news to me.
"Yep," Seth said. "See we thought of everything when we planned your date, including the after date..." Seth stopped, realising it wasn't appropriate for the kids. "Coffee or night cap," He said quickly.
"Ok. I should get going. Marissa do you need a ride?" I asked, standing up.
"Sure," She smiled.
"Louise, I'll pick you up tomorrow. Behave,"
"Ok. Love you Dad,"
"Love you too, munchkin,"
*************
"Do you wanna come in?" Marissa asked. We were stood on her doorstep.
"Sure," She led me into the kitchen.
"Coffee? Or something stronger?" She asked.
"This might sound weird...but do you have hot chocolate?"
"No girl can live in a house without hot chocolate," She said before setting about making 2 mugs.
"I don't really do coffee after 9pm,"
"Me neither," She agreed. Once we had a mug each we sat down on the sofa in the living room. "Wanna watch a movie?"
"Sure. What have you got?" I asked.
"Who said you had any say in the choice?" She giggled.
"I'm going to be forced to watch a chick flick, aren't I?"
"Yep," She said happily, before turning the TV on and putting in a DVD.
"You've got to be kidding me," I mumbled.
"What? It's an amazing film,"
"It's the Notebook," She smiled evilly at me. We sat at opposite ends of the sofa for the first half an hour. But slowly she moved closer and by the end of the film her head was against my chest and my arm was wrapped around her. She'd fallen asleep. I looked at her peaceful expression and thought about waking her. I decided not to and instead carried her upstairs in my arms and laid her in bed, tucking the sheets over her. I went back downstairs. Realising I was too tired to drive home, I crashed on her sofa. I hoped she wouldn't mind.
***********
"Ryan?" Marissa had changed after waking up. Her dress had been replaced with sweatpants and a hoody. She still looked effortlessly beautiful.
"Hey," I woke up, rubbing my eyes.
"Thanks for taking me to my room,"
"No problem," I said as I sat up.
"Sorry for crashing on you last night,"
"No," I suddenly had to yawn. "Problem," I repeated. She laughed at me then.
"So, you're not a morning person?"
"Not really, no,"
"Coffee?"
"Yes," I had to yawn again. "Please," I could hear her airy laugh again as she went into the kitchen. I got up and attempted to wake up properly. I ended up slapping myself. It worked a treat. Unfortunately Marissa walked in just as I was doing it. It sent her into another laughing fit. Once she'd recovered she handed me a mug.
"Thanks," I muttered quietly.
"Welcome," We sat down and turned the TV on. Morning news. We sat watching it in silence for 10 minutes. I occasionally glanced over to her. She had curled up, her legs underneath her. "So, what time do you have to pick up Louise?" She asked.
"Whenever. She'll probably refuse to leave anyway," There was another awkward silence. "I'm sorry about sleeping over; I just thought it would be dangerous driving when I was that tired,"
"No it's fine, really. You sure there wasn't any alternate motives?"
"I guess the morning news is always better when you have someone to watch it with," I turned my head and smiled at her.
"I guess it is," She smiled back. My phone started ringing. Perfect timing as always.
"Sorry," I mumbled. I flipped it open. "Hey Seth,"
"And Summer," A woman's voice replied.
"Am I on loud speaker?"
"Yep," Summer and Seth both spoke at the same time.
"Did you guys...want something?"
"I was just ringing to see how your after date coffee went," Seth answered.
"Erm...I'll have to get back to you on that one,"
"You're still there?!" Seth exclaimed. "OW! SUMMER!"
"I told you not to interrupt them! I knew they'd still be together!"
"It's 10 in the morning!"
"For most couples that's EARLY!"
"Ok, guys, can we not have domestic violence down the phone?" I couldn't help laughing.
"OMG RYAN LOUISE AS CRACKED HER HEAD OPEN!" Seth shouted. "YOU'VE GOT TO GET HERE NOW!"
"Seth..."
"He's just trying to get you here so you guys can talk." Summer said.
"Is that all you wanted?"
"We were also wondering if you wanted to get out of bed and..."
"I'm not in bed Summer,"
"Really?" Summer exclaimed surprised. "Just get up?"
"Yeah, from the sofa."
"From the...why were you on the sofa?" Seth was being slow as usual.
"They obviously didn't sleep together you DWEEB!"
"I'm a dweeb? When did that word come into play? You've never called me a..."
"Guys. What did you want?"
"We were wondering if you guys would like to come watch the Louise's soccer game...but I mean if you're too busy,"
"Shit. I totally forgot about that. I'll be right there,"
"What's the rush?"
"I'm not late?"
"No, you've got like 2 hours dude,"
"Why the hell are you calling me then?"
"I was just cheeecking!" Seth said.
"Sorry, Chino, I couldn't stop him," Again, I couldn't help laughing.
"It's fine. I'll have to get her kit and stuff so..."
"No you don't,"
"I don't?"
"We packed everything. We hoped your date would go well,"
"Maybe it would be going better if you got off the phone, Seth,"
"Maybe, though I doubt that. What relationship is complete without Seth Cohen? Face it Ryan, you need me."
"I don't need you. What I need is some really strong coffee before I have to be energetic at a soccer game. I have some sitting right in front of me. Don't deny me my coffee, Seth,"
"Morning Ryan without coffee...that's quite scary...I'll let you go,"
"That's greatly appreciated,"
"Oh, and don't think this means I don't want a full update on everything that happened last night,"
"Trust me Seth. Nothing happened,"
"Sure it didn't...,"
"Seth. Bye,"
"Ryan, don't hang up on a bro..." But I had snapped my phone shut by then and returned it to my pocket.
"Sorry,"
"It's ok. Although you did miss the story on the attempt to make the world's biggest cookie,"
"Damn," I said sarcastically.
"But you have got back just in time, there's a story about the oldest dog in the world up next,"
"Sounds gripping,"
"I know, right?"
"Is it like world records week or something?"
"Something like that," Marissa began flicking through channels. "Ooooh, Hannah Montana,"
"What's that?"
"You have an 8 year old daughter and you don't know what Hannah Montana is?!"
"Erm...should I?"
"Seriously?"
"What!? Louise watches soccer non-stop! I don't get chance to watch anything!"
"It's not something you should watch, silly! It's something you'd expect Louise to watch!"
"How do you know about it then, huh? You're not a little girl,"
"I have a LOT of spare time on mornings,"
"Spare time on mornings...hmmm...a distant memory,"
"Well...you've got spare time today," Marissa said, quite suggestively.
"Are you...trying to flirt with me?" I asked, amused. I hadn't been hit on in a long time.
"Depends...is it working?" I slowly repositioned myself and began to lean over her body, careful not to put any weight on her. Gently, I pressed my lips against hers. My phone began vibrating in my pocket. I groaned.
"2 seconds," I said before quickly sitting back up and flipping my phone open. "Seth, if you call me again in the next 2 hours I swear I will rip your head off and...oh...hi, Hannah..."
"Hannah as in...ex-wife Hannah?" Marissa mothed. I nodded quickly.
"Am I busy?...kinda, I...erm...no, she's at Seth's...where am I?...I'm...I know I'm not at home...look it doesn't matter where I am...why are you calling?...just to speak to Lou?...well, she's not with me...phone Seth... I told you, it's none of your business where I am...why does it matter?...because it involves your daughter?...you don't need to worry about her...look, we'll be free in a few hours...sure...yeah, I know...why don't I just call you...well, she's got a soccer match...yes, she still plays...of course I do, you know what, let's do this another time...well, you'll just have to find some..." I hung up, not caring that I had been totally impolite...it was Hannah after all...it made a change that I was the impolite one.
"Assertive Ryan...there's a new one," She smiled.
"Oh, that guy? He just left," I joked.
"Coinciding with the time you hung up?"
"How did you guess?" She laughed. "I should probably go home...shower, clean clothes..."
"Good idea," She smiled at me sweetly.
"I'll...see you,"
"Yeah," She led me to the door and as I walked down the driveway I stopped. Was it odd to ask her? It couldn't be, I mean, we might have been on one date...but we'd been friend's way before...so, it would be perfectly fine? Right? I sucked at the whole dating thing. I took a deep breath and then turned around.
"Erm...er..." I closed my eyes. I might have been on a date with her, but I hadn't asked her. The first time I asked a woman out in...9 years...wow...that's way too long...how sad am I? Was this asking her out? It wasn't really a date...or was it? "Do you...do you want to come watch Lou's play soccer?"
"Summer's already booked me," She says. I felt slightly upset... "She said there was no way she was watching soccer without another female to talk to...so..."
"Oh, you're already going?"
"Yeah," I think for a while.
"Well...erm...I'll...see you there,"
"Bye, Ryan,"
"Bye,"
