Disclaimer: All characters are the property of Warner Brothers and Fox.
The author has only borrowed them to torture them for a while.
Note: This story is unbeta'd, sorry! The beta'd version was eaten by my computer when my hard drive crashed. I'm reconstructing from memory. Thank you, Lisa, for giving it a go the first time around!
This is my first attempt at OC fanfic. Please, let me know if I've done the characters justice or if I've screwed up royally. Feedback of any kind is a wonderful thing! Thank you for taking the time to read this! Later chapters will probably be longer.
Anna
The Judas Touch
Chapter 1
"Get out, Ryan." Her words rang though his mind like the reverberation of a gong. It had been one hell of a fight. She'd been drunk ... again...despite her promises to quit or let her therapist help her. Promises laced with tears and guilt; that's what Marissa was good at, just like his Mom. This time, Marissa wasn't the only one angry. He was so pissed he couldn't think straight. His heart beat so fast that the blood swelled his eardrums and muted the world. He couldn't hear her pleas for forgiveness.just one more time. One last time and she'd never do it again.
Betrayal, recriminations and fear all swirled through his mind in a pounding storm that just rumbled in his ribs and struck lightening through his heart. 'Alcoholism is a disease, not a choice, said the so-called experts.' Yeah, right. She had to seek out the booze, open it and choose to chug a whole bottle of vodka right before their date-just because she was angry at her mother. She knew she had to meet him. She knew they were going out to dinner to celebrate Valentine's Day early. Still, she took out all of her frustrations, her fears and her hatred on him; lost in a slurring haze of Vodka and orange juice. Screwdrivers, but he was the one who got screwed. He'd had one woman beat him emotionally for most of his short life; he wasn't sure he could allow another woman to do it for any significant length of time. The thought terrified him; that he'd have to live with another version of his mother forever.
Even as the hateful thoughts spun through his head for the thousandth time, he was embarrassed and ashamed by them. Maybe Marissa didn't have a choice in her addictions. Maybe he was being unkind, uncompassionate, even hurtful in his anger. But, dammit, didn't her promises mean anything? Didn't his feelings mean anything to her? How could he stay with a girl he couldn't trust?
He pedaled faster on his bike, determined to put as much distance between himself and Marissa as he could, at least until he could calm down and chase away the demons of his mother's alcoholism that seemed to superimpose themselves over Marissa's face right now. The cool wind from the ocean howled in his ears. He didn't pay attention to the road, cared only about getting home. Tears blurred his eyes until the scenery sped by in a fuzzy downhill race. He rode down a long straight stretch of deserted street, paralleled by a sidewalk and deep ditch. The houses were well back from the street, hidden behind tall manicured bushes and trees. A gulf of lawn stretched between sidewalk and housing perimeters like a moat. He kept his gaze locked on the gutter he rode in, glancing up only long enough to ensure he didn't run a stop sign or hit any cars backing out of the rare driveway. The burn of exercise in his thighs felt wonderful, the surge of endorphins numbing some of the pain in his heart. He inhaled deeply the tang of sea air. The stiff breeze whistled in his ears as he gained speed.
He sensed something approach an instant too late.
He didn't have time to glance over his shoulder. No time to swerve. No time to scream.
In a flash of red, a car sideswiped him, caught his left handlebar and flung him, bike and all, into the air like a dog's shaken toy. Ryan hit the sidewalk on his shoulder, rolled, slid, smacked against a fire hydrant, and caught a glimpse of Luke's pals gaping out the window of the departing car just as he teetered on the brink of the ditch for one slow-motion second.
He tumbled into the ditch and sloshed onto his back in two inches of grimy water. As he heard the car speed away, the stench of rotten leaves made his nose itch and the world went dark.
**
Note: This story is unbeta'd, sorry! The beta'd version was eaten by my computer when my hard drive crashed. I'm reconstructing from memory. Thank you, Lisa, for giving it a go the first time around!
This is my first attempt at OC fanfic. Please, let me know if I've done the characters justice or if I've screwed up royally. Feedback of any kind is a wonderful thing! Thank you for taking the time to read this! Later chapters will probably be longer.
Anna
The Judas Touch
Chapter 1
"Get out, Ryan." Her words rang though his mind like the reverberation of a gong. It had been one hell of a fight. She'd been drunk ... again...despite her promises to quit or let her therapist help her. Promises laced with tears and guilt; that's what Marissa was good at, just like his Mom. This time, Marissa wasn't the only one angry. He was so pissed he couldn't think straight. His heart beat so fast that the blood swelled his eardrums and muted the world. He couldn't hear her pleas for forgiveness.just one more time. One last time and she'd never do it again.
Betrayal, recriminations and fear all swirled through his mind in a pounding storm that just rumbled in his ribs and struck lightening through his heart. 'Alcoholism is a disease, not a choice, said the so-called experts.' Yeah, right. She had to seek out the booze, open it and choose to chug a whole bottle of vodka right before their date-just because she was angry at her mother. She knew she had to meet him. She knew they were going out to dinner to celebrate Valentine's Day early. Still, she took out all of her frustrations, her fears and her hatred on him; lost in a slurring haze of Vodka and orange juice. Screwdrivers, but he was the one who got screwed. He'd had one woman beat him emotionally for most of his short life; he wasn't sure he could allow another woman to do it for any significant length of time. The thought terrified him; that he'd have to live with another version of his mother forever.
Even as the hateful thoughts spun through his head for the thousandth time, he was embarrassed and ashamed by them. Maybe Marissa didn't have a choice in her addictions. Maybe he was being unkind, uncompassionate, even hurtful in his anger. But, dammit, didn't her promises mean anything? Didn't his feelings mean anything to her? How could he stay with a girl he couldn't trust?
He pedaled faster on his bike, determined to put as much distance between himself and Marissa as he could, at least until he could calm down and chase away the demons of his mother's alcoholism that seemed to superimpose themselves over Marissa's face right now. The cool wind from the ocean howled in his ears. He didn't pay attention to the road, cared only about getting home. Tears blurred his eyes until the scenery sped by in a fuzzy downhill race. He rode down a long straight stretch of deserted street, paralleled by a sidewalk and deep ditch. The houses were well back from the street, hidden behind tall manicured bushes and trees. A gulf of lawn stretched between sidewalk and housing perimeters like a moat. He kept his gaze locked on the gutter he rode in, glancing up only long enough to ensure he didn't run a stop sign or hit any cars backing out of the rare driveway. The burn of exercise in his thighs felt wonderful, the surge of endorphins numbing some of the pain in his heart. He inhaled deeply the tang of sea air. The stiff breeze whistled in his ears as he gained speed.
He sensed something approach an instant too late.
He didn't have time to glance over his shoulder. No time to swerve. No time to scream.
In a flash of red, a car sideswiped him, caught his left handlebar and flung him, bike and all, into the air like a dog's shaken toy. Ryan hit the sidewalk on his shoulder, rolled, slid, smacked against a fire hydrant, and caught a glimpse of Luke's pals gaping out the window of the departing car just as he teetered on the brink of the ditch for one slow-motion second.
He tumbled into the ditch and sloshed onto his back in two inches of grimy water. As he heard the car speed away, the stench of rotten leaves made his nose itch and the world went dark.
**