Title: Unexpected

Author: David Le, cartooncraze605@hotmail.com

Date: August 14th, 2003 9:04am

Characters: Ryan, Seth, Mr. and Mrs. Cohen, Dawn?

Category: General/Drama

Rating: PG or maybe PG-13

Summary: What happens when Ryan returns to the Cohens house after the model home incident. May be an episode 3 spoiler because the story is loosely based on the synopsis of episode 3 of "The O.C."

Unexpected

Ryan had just gotten out of jail for the little model house fire incident. He was taken back to the Cohen's residence because he had no other place to go or did he. The police car drove past the gates of the Cohens and signaled them to come out and greet Ryan once again. As soon as Ryan left the confinement of the police car it disappeared. Ryan was greeted first by Seth with a still, very awkward hug.

"Hey man, welcome back!" Seth said in excitement.

Then came Sandy and Kristen Cohen, but Ryan called them Mr. and Mrs. Cohen.

"Hello, Ryan," said Mrs. Cohen in a not completely welcoming manner.

"Hey, Ryan!" said Mr. Cohen making up for his wife's dull salutation.

Ryan replied in a simple, "Hey." He felt so uncomfortable under the gaze of Mr. and Mrs. Cohen. After all he had done, he didn't deserve to live with the Cohens. There eyes pierced his soul with guilt. Before he made himself feel even worst though, Mr. Cohen broke Ryan's train of thought and said, "Come on in!"

Ryan entered the Cohen's residence once again. It was all the same, the light beige color of the house, the sparkling water in the pool, and his bed in the pool house. Mr. Cohen looked at the teens scanning blue eyes and realized how much Ryan would miss all of this once his mother was found, or when he gets foster parents and moves away. Mr. Cohen saw so much pain in the boy's eyes, it was almost unbearable. Mr. Cohen wanted to confront Ryan about the foster parent issue again.

"Ryan." Mr. Cohen said.

"Hey Ryan! Let's go play some games." Seth interrupted purposely.

Seth quickly grabbed Ryan's hand and pulled him away from a conversation with Mr. Cohen. Mr. Cohen sighed, understanding his son's actions. He would discuss this topic another time. Mrs. Cohen was still feeling terrible.

"He ran away," She thought, "he was abandoned by his mother, his father." She just didn't know what to do.

Seth climbed the stairs eagerly, guiding Ryan to his room. As soon as they were in, Seth shut the door, he would have locked it, if he had a lock on his door. Inside, Seth exploded in sorries.

"I'm so sorry Ryan. If I hadn't been caught up with my dad or if I had gotten the ticket to you sooner, none of this would have ever happened." Seth said in an apologetic tone.

"It all right man, no problem." Ryan replied.

They talked for a while, about life, about Marissa, about Ryan, about Summer, about everything. Mrs. Cohen interrupted with, "Dinner's ready." The boys got up and left for the kitchen. They entered, seeing a wide selection of take out laid out on the dinner table. Everyone said down and ate in silence. Ryan felt horrible because he was the central cause of the awkward silence. Dinner began and ended with the same awkward silence. After all the eating utensils and dishes were loaded in the dishwasher, Mr. Cohen decided that it was time to confront Ryan about his issues.

Seth tried to intrude once again with "Dad." but this time Mr. Cohen had the upper hand and instructed Seth to go to his room. Seth obeyed, leaving Ryan and Mr. Cohen alone for a well needed conversation. Mr. Cohen motioned Ryan to sit on the couch, which he did.

"Ryan." Mr. Cohen began. Then, his phone rang. "Damn," he said, "Ryan just one minute."

Ryan nodded in agreement. He sat on the couch imagining different scenarios for what was to come.

Scenario #1:

Mr. Cohen: Ryan, we found you foster parents. They are a nice family, well off, they have one son, and they are known as the Cohens.

Scenario #2:

Mr. Cohen: Ryan, we are going to child services tomorrow to find you some foster parents. Ryan told himself that he would never get adopted.

Scenario #3:

Mr. Cohen: So, Ryan how is life. etc etc He imagined a normal conversation ending with him going to his pool house room.

Ryan wanted more than anything for scenario one to happen, but he knew it wouldn't. He also wished for the passiveness of scenario three, but he was just kidding himself. He was expecting something on the lines of scenario two. The wait was killing him.

"If you're going to hurt me then just do it quick instead of letting it drag along," Ryan thought.

Mr. Cohen came back and looked Ryan straight in the eyes, "Your mother is back."