Disclaimer: Not mine, borrowed and nurtured. A/N: I promised you a college au, so here.
The Berkeley Series
v.
Berkeley
2006
Ryan looked at the Berkeley Art Museum with newfound faith, he was on his own journey. Sandy and Kirsten had met at Berkeley. Seth called from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) every few days and Ryan kept tabs on Summer's blog updates on GEORGE. He and Taylor agreed to see each other on Thanksgiving and Chrismukkah, as she studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. This meant 3am phone calls whilst he dosed in the library, until he was almost shut in.
He smiled over his coffee in the cafeteria whilst she ranted. He remembered when she pretended to be his sleep therapist after he signed her divorce papers. She was as Sandy put it 'a bit eccentric'. Taylor meant well, she always meant well. After Marissa's funeral, he lost himself, diving into cage fighting so he could feel something. He felt numb, like he was drowning…
Taylor saved him from despair.
Once she surprised him at Berkeley, and he had to put a sock on his dorm door to warn his roommate. She still had his lingerie. Seth showed up every few months with bagels and coffee, and copies of Atomic County 2.0. Most of the time Ryan would give advice, except for those rare occasions he needed advice, like that time he bought Taylor anime for her birthday, or that time he wanted to get her perfume but didn't know her favourite scent.
Sometimes Summer would join them in person and by phone.
But on this day, his mind weighed heavy with academia, and he stressed over his current workload. The Cohens had paid his tuition, after he chose Architecture as his double major. Inspired by Kirsten's remodelled homes from which he squatted in his second night at Newport Beach, Ryan could still smell paint and wood chippings and hear Death Cab Cutie from Marissa's mixtape she'd made him. He was a different person back then, a kid.
He had undergone so many emotions in one night; hope for a new life, joy for making friends, and fear of Luke discovering them. Ryan had escaped his family's destructive cycle of violence and alcohol abuse when adopted by The Cohens. He strove to make them proud of him, in his mind, he owed them this. He barely attended college parties, preferring to read than mingle. If he wasn't working or going to classes, he was asleep.
Taylor kept him centred in a new world.
Berkeley wasn't like Newport. Sandy and Kirsten shared memories of the Campanile clock tower where they sang karaoke and participated in humanitarian protests. Ryan texted Seth a photo of the famous mail-truck he discovered in a 1984 yearbook when he was supposed to be studying for finals. He admired how they were still together after all these years, and how their family had grown.
He and Taylor met at train stations along the West coast and were supportive of each other's future goals. "C'est la Vie," Taylor shrugged after thanksgiving. He hugged her, knowing their emails would become shorter, and words, fewer, such was life. He wondered if she'd made friends with anymore Frenchmen… Taylor's long wavy hair framed the spark in her eyes, "Au revoir, Ryan."
She wore a red dress like the one which had taken his breath away at Sandy's benefit.
That's how he'd remember her, a friend in his time of need.
He tried to fill her absence with others, none who touched his soul, like she had.
When he returned for Seth and Summer's wedding six months later, the emails and calls had stopped. He thought he'd moved on, until he saw her and Summer together at the airport. He was completely thrown by her reappearance, and Seth's nudge in the ribs didn't help matters.
"Hey," Seth nodded at Summer, who eyed their overnight back packs with suspicion.
"Where are you two off to?" Nothing got past Summer Roberts.
"Ryan," Taylor said, as though his name was a cockroach beneath her foot.
Maybe he deserved it, he probably hurt her feelings more than once by ending it the way he did.
"Taylor," he answered, ignoring the jump of his heart against his chest.
"We're off to Berkeley, it's a long story, I'll call you." Seth said, leaning in for a kiss.
Ryan had once told Sandy, being with Taylor was like being on a rollercoaster… unpredictable.
She had made a peach torte for their first date, and he'd sat through Asian cinema on their second. They survived an earthquake together, and despite his best efforts to sabotage his own happiness, she was the one who always found him.
Fuck, he still loved Taylor.
A/N: Stay tuned for more! Coming soon. Review if you care.