The sun was setting and casting a warm golden light into the pool house. Lindsay pushed a strand of her hair out the way , it looked bronzed in the late afternoon light. They were almost done with their assigned homework. He could tell Lindsay had been on edge for most of the afternoon, and he felt bad, but he didn't know what he could do to make her feel better. The truth was, he trusted her, more than he could trust Marissa. Lindsay might be a little awkward and a little whiney at times, but she could be so sweet and innocent. She had taken extra detailed notes, made copies, and highlighted key points all so Ryan wouldn't feel like he had missed much in class.
He could tell she felt bad about not believing him yesterday because today she did everything she could to try and make him comfortable. She went and got him an extra pillow to put under his ankle. Refilled his soda glass. Fetched a different notebook. Marissa had been nice when she had stopped by, but she had made no effort to try and make him more comfortable. Okay, he needed to stop comparing them in his mind. He had chosen Lindsay. He had already made up his mind. He wanted a nice calm relationship free from drama and craziness. And Lindsay could give him that. Not to mention that she seemed to understand him.
Like him, she didn't come from money and thus always felt a little uneasy surrounded by Newport's rich kids. She didn't have a father to speak of. Although she did have a mother who was willing to make great sacrifices for her daughter, unlike Ryan's mother, her family was still on the lower end of the OC socio-economic scale and Ryan appreciated that she seemed to have a better grip on reality than most people he met.
Lindsay for her part, seemed to think the same of him, although he could tell she was hesitant about getting involved with someone. She wanted to focus on her school work, an attribute Ryan could appreciate, although she was wound a little tight, it probably wouldn't kill her to relax a littleā¦
Still, as he looked at her, bent over her notebook, diligently writing out every step of the complex formula, he couldn't help but smile.
A/N: So there seems to be a lot of Lindsay hate goin' round so I just wanted to write a little fluff so we all remember why Ryan and Marissa aren't together
