Title: Just May Be Enough
Rating: PG
Genre: General
Pairing: some Seth/Summer but mostly Ryan/Seth friendship
Summary: A short fic from Seth wondering if he's a good enough friend to Ryan. Takes place after The Gamble. Inspired by discussion on the TWoP boards.
Disclaimer: Believe me, I don't own anything. Not even Ryan or Seth. [pause] Dammit.
It is just occurring to Seth how inept he is at this friendship thing. Not that anyone could really blame him—after all, he hasn't had much practice—but still.
A better friend—or just someone who was good with words—could come up with something more to say than inane chatter about his contact with Summer last night. But Seth knows his limitations, and if he actually tried to broach the bigger issues, he'd end up saying something idiotic like, "Hey, dude, sorry your mom abandoned you. Again."
No, definitely not a good idea for Seth to talk about that.
So Seth figures the best thing he can do is distract him. Distract Ryan from the magnitude of what has just happened, because Seth can barely process it himself, so imagine how Ryan feels.
Ryan is staying.
For good.
Which is freaking incredible and he cannot believe how casually his mom said it—"Ryan's going to be staying with us now." Eight simple words, and like that, it was done.
Unbelievable.
"So now I'm a good luck charm," Seth finishes. "How great is that?"
Ryan's mouth curls into a smile. "That's good." A beat. "Does she know your name?"
"Not yet, but dude, it's all about the baby steps." If anything else, Seth is an optimist. "And I've got a nick-name: Rabbit-foot."
He hears a soft snort. Encouraged, he continues.
"It's not a cool nickname, but who cares? She gave me a nickname, and she knows my real name starts with an S. It's a start."
Ryan shakes his head, and Seth is relieved to see that the strangeness in his face is disappearing. "Glad to hear it, Seth."
"Hey, you wanna watch some T.V? I think Spongebob is on," Seth suggests, and Ryan shrugs. Seth reaches for the remote, but is stopped by the sound of Ryan's voice.
"Just keep talking, Seth." Ryan's voice is oddly hollow.
Seth looks at Ryan and gulps. Ryan's eyes are glittering strangely and his mouth is tight the way his dad's gets whenever he talks about his childhood or his parents.
"About?"
"Anything. Just—keep talking." Seth hears the implied 'please' and complies.
If somehow his babbling helps Ryan get over—or blot out—what has just happened, then that's just fine with him.
"I have to warn you, when school starts up, you may actually be forced to help with school events. Because our principal? Yeah, he's a complete maniac."
Ryan's mouth twitches.
"No, dude, seriously, he is. The man is obsessed with students 'showing the proper school spirit'. And every time he says that stuff I just want to say to him, 'Okay, I'm just waiting until graduation so I can go off to a collage where I can hopefully forget everything about high school, or as it is otherwise known, Purgatory.' How can he think I would have any school spirit whatsoever?"
And as he babbles on, the tightness around Ryan's mouth slowly fades away.
Maybe Seth's not a pro at the whole friendship thing. Or even saying the right thing. But he is trying to do the right thing, which just may be enough.
End.