Thanks for all the great reviews!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Fox's O.C. Just fooling around a bit. I know a lot of stuff has happened on the show, but I'm probably not going to include Oliver and that entire storyline.
Ryan couldn't believe how much stuff he had accumulated in the six month since he had moved in with the Cohens. It was hard to believe he had come to them with a backpack and a rusty old bike. But he and Seth had made the trip from the pool house to his new bedroom on the second floor four times with full hands and they still had at least two more trips to go.
Some of the stuff he had bought with his own money that he had earned during the summer at the Crab Shack, but Kirsten and Sandy had bought most his new things. There was the new clothing and shoes, a CD player, which was a Christmas gift from Sandy as well as a bunch of CDs.
Kirsten came to the door of the room and softly knocked, while Ryan was busy alphabetizing his CDs and Seth was sitting on his bed rambling about Summer. "Can I come in?" she asked.
Ryan looked up. "Sure."
Seth caught his mother's meaningful look. "I'll go and well I'll go do something useful or not so useful in the other room. Basically, I'll get out of your way."
Ryan watched Seth go.
"Listen Ryan, I wanted to talk about this morning."
Ryan looked up.
"I told you that Sandy and I wanted you to move your room up here, but I made it sound like it was a punishment and it isn't."
Ryan shrugged. "I know that."
"No," she said shaking her head. "First I made it sound like I was kicking you out and then I made it sound like we wanted you up here to keep a closer eye on you."
"It's okay."
"No it's not. Ryan, the pool house was for the boy Sandy brought home from jail. The kid I wasn't sure of. The pool house was a way to protect my family from you. But you're not that kid anymore, you never were, and you're part of our family. Family doesn't sleep in a pool house. Unless they're my sister Haley."
"Thanks," he said.
Kirsten sighed. She was never sure of what Ryan was thinking. He was so quiet and reserved. She knew from looking at his eyes that there were thoughts racing through his head, but it felt like pulling teeth to get him to express any of them. Did Ryan really understand how much she and Sandy cared for him? Did Ryan realize that if he ever left them, he would leave a gaping hole in their hearts? She and Sandy had never seriously considered having another child. One had filled their hearts with joy, but Ryan had filled a chasm that they hadn't even known was there. It was as if before Ryan had come they were all sleepwalking and now they were wide-awake.
Kirsten surveyed the room. "It could use a paint job," she said. "I'll call one of my workers tomorrow. Do you have a color in mind?"
Ryan shook his head. "I can paint it myself. I've done it before. It's not a big deal. You don't have to spend the money. You and Sandy have already spent enough." Every time he thought about the tuition bills to Harbor he felt like he would throw up. One year at Harbor was most of Dawn's yearly income.
"It's not the money. But maybe it's a good idea. Jimmy and I had fun painting his apartment. How about tomorrow we go pick out pain and then this weekend we can all roll up our sleeves and paint."
"Sure," said Ryan. He looked up from the CDs he was holding in his hand and smiled nervously. "That sounds good."
"Painting?" said Seth as he walked into the room. "Do I look like a painter to you?" Seth asked, pointing to himself.
"Seth, were you eavesdropping again?"
"Yes, Mother," he admitted. "I was particularly touched when you reminded Ryan that he was my brother."
Kirsten swatted Seth's arm. "Stop eavesdropping. Didn't your parents teach you better?"
Seth studied Kirsten with mock seriousness. He opened up his mouth as if he was about to say something, the closed it again. He glanced over at Ryan with a smirk on his face and then turned back to Kirsten and said, "No."
Kirsten laughed and shaking her head she left the two boys alone.
"So you paint too?" asked Seth.
"Too?"
"You're multitalented. You're king of that sultry stare. You have ways with women that I can only dream of and now I find out that you paint. And if I know Mom, she's going to make this a big family-bonding thing." Seth slapped Ryan on the back. "Thanks, man."
"Come on Seth," Kirsten said, pulling her son's quilt off of his head. "Rise and shine. Time to start painting."
"It's Saturday. The Jewish day of rest. It's immoral to wake me up at the crack of dawn."
Seth rolled over, but Kirsten was having none of that. She tugged at the covers until Seth was splayed across his bed with just his shorts and tee shirt.
"You're the only one who isn't up. Come on get out of bed or I'm going to take a pitcher of water and dump it on your head."
Seth sighed, but sat up, his long gangly legs hanging over the side of the bed. His hair was disheveled and his eyes were heavy with sleep.
"There must be laws against this. It's religious persecution and by my own mother!"
"Breakfast in five minutes. And if you don't get moving, I might cook it."
Seth jumped up. "Please don't do that."
Five minutes later Seth joined his family dressed in a different tee shirt and a ratty pair of cargo pants. "Are we really doings this?" he asked. "You know, we're rich. We can hire people to do this."
Ryan peered at Seth over his mug of coffee.
"Don't give me that look Ryan. If it weren't for your big mouth-"
"Did I hear big mouth and Ryan in the same sentence? That's an oxymoron if I've ever heard one," said Sandy as he came into the kitchen. He walked up to Kirsten and kissed the back of his neck. "Are we ready to paint?"
"Breakfast first," she insisted. "We'll need the nourishment. And don't worry, Ryan cooked."
An hour later they had pushed all the furniture to the center of the room and covered it with drop cloths. Seth was busy running tape against the molding. Sandy opened the can of paint while Ryan and Kirsten prepared the rollers and brushes.
"Nice color," Sandy commented.
"Kirsten picked it out," said Ryan.
"I thought this was supposed to be your choice."
"I couldn't decide," admitted Ryan. "I asked for blue, but apparently there are about a thousand shades of blue, so I let Kirsten do the rest."
Ryan started to roll the paint on, but Seth decided to paint a smiley face instead. "I like the look," he told his brother. "You don't smile enough, this wall should remain here to remind you –"
"Seth, paint," demanded his father. But he walked up behind Seth and reached over added curls to the smiley face's head.
"An earring maybe?" Seth added one to the side of the head.
"A moustache too."
"Boys," Kirsten said, "Stop playing around," and she came over and painted over the face.
"Mother! How dare you deface a work of art? Ryan, do you see what I've been dealing with all my life. She's been stifling my artistic streak."
"I'll stifle a lot more," Kirsten threatened with a grin, "If you don't get to work."
With a chuckle, they all did get to work. It wasn't a very large room and within a couple of hours they had a coat of paint on. They were about to break for lunch before putting on the next coat, when Kirsten swayed from the second step of the stool she was climbing. Ryan was right behind her and caught her before she could fall the floor.
"You okay?" he asked, his brows furrowed with concern.
"Fine. Just woozy for a minute."
"Seth, go get your mother a drink of water," commanded Sandy. He walked over to his wife and peered into her eyes. "You okay, honey?"
She looked up at her husband and nodded. "Don't worry. I'm fine. Just a moment of vertigo. We'll eat lunch and I'll be fine." She gratefully took the water Seth brought her and sipped it while her family watched. "I'm fine, really," she insisted. "Stop worrying!"
Kirsten sat for five minutes and then got up, insisting that they all break for lunch. By the time they finished eating, they had all forgotten about Kirsten's fall and they went back to work painting the room.
Ryan slept in the room that night, even though the room was heavy with paint fumes. They tried to convince him to sleep in another room or to bunk with Seth, but Ryan didn't want to risk them hearing his nightmares.
Ryan sat on a tool stool by the kitchen counter that doubled as a table. He sipped coffee from a mug, while Seth sat next to him reading the metro section of the newspaper. Sandy marched into the kitchen and poured coffee into a cup and Kirsten whirled into the room, her silk robe flying behind her.
The usual bustle of the morning started. Sandy told them about his schedule, Kirsten gave a rundown of hers and Seth of his. No one asked Ryan what he planned after school. They walked around him and talked around him, it was as if he wasn't in the room. Then Kirsten twirled out of the room, her robe sailing behind her. Seth walked out and Sandy disappeared right before his eyes.
"Where'd everyone go?" asked Ryan. "Sandy! Kirsten! Seth," he shouted. "Where'd you go? Sandy!"
Someone was shaking Ryan hard out of his sleep. "Ryan! Wake up. It's Sandy."
Groggily, Ryan opened his eyes. Sandy was sitting beside him on his bed, and Kirsten was hovering behind him, while Seth lingered by the door. He sat up in bed and looked around the room.
"What happened?" he asked in a dazed voice.
"You were calling for us in your sleep, asking us where we went."
"Sorry," he said, sliding under his covers. "I didn't mean to wake everyone."
"Did you have a bad dream?" Kirsten asked.
"I guess," He said, "I really don't remember. I'm sorry for disturbing your sleep. I'll be fine."
Both Kirsten and Sandy hesitated.
"Really. I'll be fine."
When they left, Ryan got out of bed and rummaged through his things until he found what he was looking for. He didn't notice Seth, who still remained by the door.
"You okay, man?" He asked with a shaky voice.
"I'm fine. Really. It was just a bad dream or something."
"What have you got there?" Seth asked, pointing his chin to what Ryan was now holding in his hand.
"Nothing. Look, Seth, go back to bed. I'm just going to splash some water on my face and I'll do the same."
"Okay. If you're sure."
"It was a nightmare. That's it. It was probably the paint fumes."
"You're sure."
"Go to sleep Seth," Ryan said as he walked past him to the bathroom. With a glance over his shoulder he watched Seth went back to his room. As soon as Seth's door was closed, Ryan went down the stairs and out the back door.
On the patio he took out a lighter and pulled out a cigarette from his last remaining pack. He had promised Sandy he would stop smoking when he moved in and for the most part, he had kept his promise. But every so often, he needed the nicotine to steady his nerves. He took a long drag and exhaled trying to erase the nightmare from his head. He didn't hear Kirsten come out.
"The tar in those cigarettes can seriously do damage to your lungs."
At the sound of her voice, Ryan quickly dropped the cigarette and ground it out with his shoe. He bent down to pick up the butt from the floor.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
"How much do you smoke?"
"I don't really. Not since I moved in here."
"So how often do you have those nightmares?"
Ryan shrugged as he looked out at the pool.
"Is that why you kept falling asleep on the couch."
Ryan looked at her and slowly nodded.
"That's what's keeping you so tired that you're falling asleep in class?"
"Seth told you?"
"He let it slip. You know how he can ramble."
"They're just dreams," Ryan finally said after a moment of awkward silence.
"Are they the same?"
He shook his head.
"What are they about?"
"I'd rather not talk about them. I just try to forget about it, so I can go back to sleep."
"Ryan," said Kirsten, putting a hand on his shoulder. But Ryan flinched from her touch. She tried not to feel hurt and remember that Ryan had a lot of hurt in his life and wasn't used to affection. "Ryan," She said again, this time without touching him. "If you want to talk, Sandy and I are here for you."
He turned to face her. "Thanks. I'll go back to bed now. I didn't mean to wake everyone up."