There must be some kind of planet
For all the people who can manage
All of us who can handle it
With all of this damage
The Dandy Warhols
***
After Ryan and Theresa got dressed, they followed Arturo and Seth to look for Marissa. Even though the house was packed, if she was still there, it shouldn't take too long to find her.
After searching all over, Arturo noticed that the bartender was also missing. Jack was an asshole and Arturo didn't trust him. He then saw that the door to the laundry room, which lay just beyond the kitchen, was closed and there was light coming from underneath the door. As he started towards the door, he noticed the remains of a broken glass on the kitchen floor just in front of the door.
"Ry' get the fuck over here man." Arturo hissed, as he picked up his pace towards the door.
He tried the handle and it was locked, and then started banging on the door. "Jack, are you in there?"
Ryan and Arturo started working the door handle to see if they could bust through. Seth and Theresa stayed back behind them.
"I'm a little busy in here man." Jack yelled from the other side of the door.
Ryan and Arturo started kicking at the door simultaneously. It clattered open instantly, splintering on it's hinges.
Just beyond the doorway, on top of the washing machine, Marissa was half sitting and half leaning up against the wall. It was as if she was asleep.
Startled at the sound of the door exploding off of its hinges, Jack had backed up against the far wall wearing nothing but a pair of jeans.
"What the fuck man?" Jack yelled as he grabbed for his jeans.
Ryan and Arturo rushed into the room. "No man, what the FUCK are you doing?" Ryan yelled as he grabbed Jack.
Theresa didn't know what to think. She couldn't believe what was happening. She should have known that Ryan wouldn't have broken up with Marissa. After all, she and Ryan weren't back together for good, only when and if Ryan could get out to Chino. He didn't live here anymore.
She looked over at the unconscious girl. The same one she and her mom had talked to about Ryan's musicals in the kitchen. At the time she had hated her, hated her for what she represented: Ryan's new life in Newport. Now she just felt sorry for her. No one deserved this.
Theresa walked over to Marissa. "Come on." She pulled Marissa towards her and half lifted her off of the washing machine.
Ryan and Arturo started beating the shit out of Jack, as Seth helped Theresa get Marissa into her bedroom. When they got to the bedroom, Theresa looked over at the messed up bed sheets and Ryan's jacket and looked pleadingly at Seth.
Understanding the look, Seth walked over to the bed and threw the covers back into place and shoved Ryan's jacket into her closet.
***
Jack became a crumpled heap on the floor while Arturo just kept kicking him in the ribs.
"Don't you think he's had enough?" Ryan asked. He was out of breath. He was still wired from the coke, and his adrenaline was pumping. They'd pretty much beat the crap out of Jack, who was unconscious.
Arturo looked up at Ryan with fury in his eyes. "Why'd you come tonight man? Why are you here? You're livin' large in Newport now, why come slinking back around here, getting into trouble? You don't fit in here any more!"
Ryan reeled back from the statement. "I…I dunno. I just thought, I just needed…I dunno."
Standing directly in front of him Arturo responded, "look man, you keep crawling back here, fucking with Theresa's head, and it's just over man. Enough. Go back to Newport. I'm happy for you man, I really am, but just move on. Let my sister go."
Remembering the girls and not sure what else to say, Ryan turned to leave. "I've gotta go, I'm gonna go check on them."
***
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Theresa had gotten Marissa partially awake and was trying to help her drink some cold water. Seth paced back and forth, trying to figure out whether or not to call 911. On one hand, Marissa might need her stomach pumped, but on the other hand, it had only been a few weeks since she'd overdosed in Mexico. They might send her to a treatment program even though this time it wasn't her fault.
Furthermore, he was still trying to figure out who everyone was. This girl and the short Mexican guy were obviously related, but he wasn't sure how they fit into Ryan's life.
Almost as if she knew he was staring at her, Theresa turned around to Seth. "I'm Theresa. You've gotta be Seth. I've heard a lot about you. Ryan and I…well, we go way back."
Ryan had never mentioned Theresa. In fact, he had never really mentioned anyone from his past.
"Is she…you know, going to be okay…you think?"
"Well, I'm no doctor, but she doesn't seem to be waking up really. She may need to go to the hospital."
They looked at each other, each thinking the same thing.
"If I can get her and Ryan out of here, I'll drive to the hospital myself so you guys don't get involved."
Theresa gave him a long look. "Why in the hell were you two here to begin with?"
"We knew Ryan was lying about something. I don't know how, but I think that Marissa knew about the two of you. We followed him here."
***
Ryan walked into the bedroom, the effects of the coke seemed to be wearing off. He saw Marissa lying on top of the bed, propped up by pillows. The same bed he and Theresa had just been on. Seth was over by the window, and Theresa was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding a glass of water for Marissa.
"Is she okay?"
"We're not sure. She's somewhat coherent. I've already told Theresa that I wouldn't call 911 from here." Seth said coldly, glaring at Ryan and then looking over at Theresa and Marissa.
"How did you guys get here?"
"We followed you Ryan, and Marissa seemed to know about Theresa."
Seth walked towards Ryan with a look of disgust. For the first time he didn't see the cool older brother that he had always wanted, he saw a scared, fucked up teenager, who didn't have all the answers after all.
Ryan sat down at Theresa's dresser. "Oh shit. I'm so sorry. I really fucked everything up." He put his head in his hands not wanting to look at Seth, Marissa, or Theresa.
Turning her back on Ryan, Theresa got up and leaned over to check Marissa's breathing, "I think you guys need to get going to that hospital."
***
Despite the party that continued to rage on in the rest of the house, everyone in the bedroom was silent. Theresa had wrapped a blanket from the bed around Marissa and Ryan reached down and picked her up. It was like TJ all over again, except this time, he was the villain, not the hero.
He looked at Theresa. What could he say?
She half smiled at him even though she looked like she was on the verge of tears. "Goodbye Ryan, good luck," she whispered as she touched the edge of the blanket.
He then looked at Arturo, who only nodded at him, and then back to Seth, who was ready to go.
Ryan looked at Theresa. There was so much he needed to say once again. "I'm sorry." It seemed to summarize all of the apologies he'd never had a chance to say before.
With that, he carried Marissa out to the truck and laid her down in the backseat, fastening the seatbelt around her the best he could.
Seth continued being icy towards Ryan. After Ryan loaded Marissa into the backseat of the truck, he asked, "So how should we do this?"
After the night's events, Ryan had completely sobered up and felt okay enough to drive. "You drive Marissa to Hoag, and I'll follow right behind you in Kirsten's car."
Seeing the disagreeing look on Seth's face, he continued, "Really man, I'm okay to drive. I'll be right behind you. And I'll explain everything…later."
Seth had kept his eyes glued to the rearview mirror the entire way back to Newport Beach. He thought for sure Ryan would wreck Kirsten's car, but they'd made it to Hoag in one piece.
Seth somehow got Marissa to the front desk of the emergency room and said that she was a friend who'd gotten drugged on a blind date. They'd admitted her immediately and started her on medications. Ryan had stayed back at first in case he still looked wired. He didn't want to raise the suspicions of the ER staff.
Seth called his dad from his cell phone. He didn't want to scare Sandy, so he kept the details short, he'd explain the rest later. Sandy said he'd call Jimmy Cooper and get to the hospital immediately.
***
When Marissa came to, Ryan was the only person in the room with her. She was hazy on the night's events, but they were starting to come back to her in jumbled pieces.
"How could you do this to me?" She whispered, emotion catching in her throat.
Ryan had been thinking that very same thing. Seth had already told him to fuck off after Ryan had tried to tell him what was going on. He was waiting in the visitor area for his dad and Jimmy Cooper. He was alone to face Marissa for what he had done.
"Marissa, I'm so sorry. I don't know what to say. I just felt… I dunno. I got all fucked up inside. Scared that I didn't really fit in here, that everything was going to fall apart. I felt like my life wasn't real, so I just ran. Ran before I had a chance to see this all come crashing down around me. Now you're in a hospital and it's all my fault."
He turned and punched the wall behind him. "Fuck!" He yelled, slouching against the wall and burying his face in his fists. "I blew it. I always blow it. I am nothing but a screw up!"
Marissa sat up in bed and looked fearfully at him. He was scaring her.
Not willing to look at her, he asked, "Marissa, will you ever forgive me?"
"I don't know Ryan. Right now, I don't even know who you are."
***
Back at the Cohens' house, Seth had escaped up to his room. Sandy and Kirsten told Ryan to wait for them in the living room so they could get to the bottom of what was going on.
When they walked in, he was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands.
"Ryan, Seth told us as much as he knows: you'd been acting weird, so he and Marissa followed you, then someone had slipped something in Marissa's drink. He also said that you'd been cheating on Marissa with some other girl, and that you were using." Sandy watched Ryan's face for his reaction as he spoke.
Ryan sat frozen on the couch. This was it, they were going to kick him out and he deserved it for all that he had put them through.
Sandy continued, "Ryan, I can understand that living here may be a bit overwhelming to you. It certainly was when I moved here from the Bronx, but you need to talk to us and let us help you instead of going back to Chino and using drugs."
Ryan stood up from the couch, but looked down at the floor. "Well this is it. I blew it and I'm sorry. I screwed up again. I know I'd promised not to get into any more trouble and I did. I'll be gone by morning."
"Ryan, don't you get it yet? Don't you understand that when we took you in we did it because we care about you? We want to help you, not kick you out. But you've got to let us help you." Kirsten said.
Ryan couldn't believe what he heard. Back home with his mom, A.J. would have beaten his ass and then thrown him out. His mother would have sat on the couch, saying nothing and certainly not crossing A.J.
"I don't know what to say. I felt like I wasn't myself anymore. I've never been an honor role student, or a boyfriend to the social chair, or a mentor, or a team player, or… any of those things. I've always just been an idiot and a loser, never going to amount to anything. I don't know how to be anything else. It felt like all the pressure was building and I couldn't take it anymore."
"Well, talking about it is the first step." Kirsten said as she got up from the chair and walked over to give him a hug.
"Now I need to go face Seth. He's pretty pissed off at me."
"Yeah he is. He's hurt and he's scared. But you guys can work it out."
When Ryan got to the bottom of the stairs, he saw that Seth had been sitting on the top step and had heard the entire conversation.
***
While he and Seth had found peace, Marissa was another story. She wouldn't take him back, and it was probably for the best. Ryan needed to get his shit together first. He'd tried to call Theresa once, but she said that she didn't want him coming back to Chino, "this place is bad for you Ryan, you were meant for more than this."
Hopefully he was.
THE END.