Fire Bad, Tree Pretty (7/15: Caramel)
Angelus angelus1317@hotmail.com
See first chapter for disclaimer, etc.
Author's Notes: To clear up some timeline issues: Ryan and Marissa are an established couple. Seth and Summer kissed by the pool and on the boat, but Seth and Anna are just friends. She has made no secret of the fact that she likes Seth, however, and don't worry - she'll be around in the last few chapters, playing a small but pivotal role.
~*~
Ryan and Seth were halfway through their third bottles of Bicardi Silver when Marissa and Summer suggested Truth or Dare. By this point, they had given up the pretense of pretending to drink, but Ryan and Seth were so hammered that they barely even noticed. The four were spread out on Sandy and Kirsten's massive king-sized bed - they had discovered earlier just how uncomfortable it was trying to squeeze all four of them into Seth's twin-sized one. Ryan and Marissa were sitting up and leaning against the headboard, holding hands. Ryan was definitely beyond drunk, but it had taken quite alot of alcohol to get him that way. Seth, lying on top of Summer with his head pressed to her stomach, was at about the same level of intoxication, but the girls had had to take it easy on him, knowing what a low tolerance he had, so a few of his screwdrivers had been of the water-only variety. Summer and Marissa were excited, knowing that the final phase of their scheme was going to come into play soon.
"Truth," Ryan was saying to Seth. Seth tapped at his lower lip, thinking.
"You think Julie Cooper's hot, don't you?" he asked, after much consideration. Ryan groaned, dropping his head to Marissa's shoulder.
"Ewww!" she and Summer exclaimed at the same time, eyes traveling expectantly to Ryan. He lifted his head.
"No!" he exclaimed. Seth wagged a finger at him.
"Truth," he reminded. "Don't lie." Ryan sighed.
"Fine," he muttered. "She's hot." Marissa looked at him in disbelief.
"Why the hell did you never tell me this?!" she exclaimed. The second she let the question out, she realized just how stupid a question it was. Still, watching Ryan struggle for an answer was downright hilarious. As if it wouldn't be hard enough any other time, the fact that he was totally shit-faced didn't help the situation at all. He raised his head, opened and closed his mouth a few times, then collapsed back against Marissa, defeated. She and Summer giggled.
"Turn?" Ryan asked, and they translated that to him asking whose turn it was. Seth poked Summer in the thigh several times. She sat up to face Marissa. They had been so focused on their ultimate goal that they hadn't truly realized to what extent they could take advantage of them in this state.
"Truth, Ryan?" she asked innocently. Ryan nodded against Marissa's neck, not even bothering to look up. "How many girls have you had slept with?" she asked, beaming, obviously very proud of herself.
"Summer!" Marissa exclaimed. "I don't wanna know that!"
"Oh, relax, Coop," she said, waving her best friend off as she watched Ryan intently. He was trying to count on his fingers, and in his drunken state, it wasn't working very well. He muttered to himself, put fingers up and down, and started over several times before giving up.
"Stop pickin' on me," he complained. Summer grinned.
"I'd say that's about as much of an answer as we need," she said. Marissa rolled her eyes.
"Should we ask Seth?" she suggested. The girls looked at one another briefly before snorting with laughter. Even Ryan joined in, glad to have the focus off of himself.
"Hey!" Seth protested, raising one hand in the air, which he proceeded to flail about wildly before letting it drop back onto his chest.
"Allright, why don't we let you do a truth, then?" Summer said. She and Marissa were silent for a moment in thought, before Marissa began bouncing up and down.
"Ooh, I got it!" she exclaimed. "What was your invisible friend's name in second grade?" she asked. Summer let out a peal of laughter.
"Oh, I had almost forgotten about that!" she squealed. "He used to sit in the corner and talk to him during recess!" She turned curiously to Seth. "What *was* his name?" she asked.
"Mister Giggles," Seth informed. "'N he wasn't 'maginary. 'nvisible." This just set Summer and Marissa off again, however, and by the time they had gotten ahold of themselves, Seth looked like he was about to pass out. Summer leaned down over him, her lips positioned at his ear.
"Hey," she murmured, licking and kissing and nibbling at his earlobe. "Stay awake." Seth groaned, pawing blindly at her. With a grin, Summer sat back up.
"Your turn, Coop," she said mischievously as her best friend watched her curiously. Marissa wasn't dumb - she knew there was something going on between her and Seth. Later, she would ask. Now, however, they had other things in mind.
"Allright, Summer," Marissa said. "Truth or Dare?"
"Dare!" Ryan shouted, and the girls shared a grin. The boys had been helping them every step of the way without even noticing it.
"Dare," Summer agreed. Marissa thought quickly.
"Flash us," she said. Both of the boys immediately sat up, albeit with some difficulty, eager at the chance to see boobs. For the sake of the game, Summer pretended to be slightly apprehensive. In reality, though, she didn't care. Marissa was a girl, so it was no big deal, and Seth had seen her shirtless a few years ago, when her bikini top had come off in the ocean at a beach party he happened to be at. Really, Ryan was the only one seeing anything new, and it wasn't like he hadn't seen quite enough girls' breasts. Summer pulled up her tank top and her bra for a few seconds, rolling her eyes as the guys practically salivated anyway. So predictable. Covering herself once again, she jumped right back into the game, ready for the big moment.
"Ryan," she chose. "Truth or Dare?"
"Truth," he mumbled. Marissa poked him.
"Come on, Truth is getting boring," she goaded. "And Summer just did a dare..."
"Fine." The girls shared devious grins.
"I dare you," Summer announced, "to kiss Ryan." Seth looked over to his friend in disgust.
"No," he said simply.
"You have to," Marissa said, as if she were the queen of logic. "It's a dare."
"But...ewww!" Ryan complained, not even realizing he had just lost major cool points for the use of Summer's infamous exclamation.
"You first!" Seth proclaimed.
Summer and Marissa shared a look. They hadn't expected them to make this request, but actually, it wasn't that big a deal to them. Back in high school, this had always been *the* dare for sleepovers or drinking games. Actually, Marissa had kissed Summer before she had kissed Luke.
"Okay, here are the rules," Summer said, taking charge as usual. "Five seconds, with tongue. Got it?" Both boys nodded slowly, transfixed. Rolling her eyes, Marissa leaned in and kissed Summer.
It had been awhile - after constantly daring each other to do the same thing, the novelty of it all eventually wore off. So it had probably been a good four years since they had done this. The first thing she noticed was that Summer's lips felt nothing like Ryan's. They were small and soft and distinctly feminine. Her tongue was smaller as well, and not quite as hot, and didn't taste like toothpaste and oranges and the barest hint of tobacco. She wasn't a bad kisser, though, and Marissa almost found herself enjoying it. But the bottom line? She was in love with Ryan. And Summer wasn't Ryan. But that didn't mean that she couldn't enjoy it while it lasted. That was what Marissa had always liked about being a girl - that girls were so open about showing affection towards one another. Marissa was a phyisical person that way. She liked to show people she cared by hugging them or holding their hand. This was just a step further. Girls understood things like this.
Boys, on the other hand...
Marissa pulled away from Summer and turned to the two in front of her. "Your turn," she announced sunnily. Seth and Ryan regarded one another with apprehension. Boys were just not equipped to be physically affectionate with one another. But, a dare was a dare, after all. Summer and Marissa grinned and continued to watch. Only in their completely intoxicated state would they agree to this. And that was what they had been planning on all along.
"Go ahead," Summer urged.
Seth was having a serious panic moment. He didn't have very much kissing experience to begin with, seeing as how Summer was the only girl he'd ever kissed, and only a few times at that. And now, he was going to use what little experience he had to make out with his best friend? Something was seriously wrong with this picture. But Seth's barely-functioning brain was having a hard time grasping just what was so wrong with it right at this moment because Ryan, seemingly having no problems with this, was leaning forward, coming closer inch by inch and Seth could smell his breath and feel it against his mouth and then all of the sudden he was kissing him.
Kissing Ryan wasn't like kissing Summer. Summer was forceful, demanding. He had assumed Ryan would be the same way, but here he was, with his hand on the back of Seth's head, fingers twisting in the curls at the base of his neck, tongue gently probing the seam of the other boy's lips, prying them apart effortlessly. Seth's head was spinning and his blood was rushing in all different directions and dear god help him but Ryan tasted so damn good. He tasted like caramel - warm and sweet and dark and gooey. And he wasn't quite sure how a kiss could taste gooey, but it did. It was gooey and sticky. That must have been it. What other excuse was there for the fact that he just couldn't seem to drag his lips away from Ryan's?
Ryan had kissed lots of people in his lifetime. He couldn't even narrow it down to that he'd kissed alot of girls, because there had been several guys as well. Back in Chino, where sex was a cheap and necessary diversion from the fact that life was going nowhere fast, threesomes had been a regular occurence. So, yes, Ryan had kissed plenty of men. Boys, really, because none of them had truly been men at that age. Hell, he didn't even know if he was a man now. All he knew was that the feeling of Seth's lips on his was not one he wanted to get away from any time soon.
He was like a drug. Which was really not cool because Ryan knew better than anybody how little action Seth had gotten in his life, and the fact that someone so inexperienced could taste and feel that good was....well, just not cool. Ryan hadn't been able to get it right his first time - there had been accidental biting and a whole lot of saliva and he had been embarrassed as hell, but Seth just seemed like a natural at all this. His lips were soft, his tongue was moving in just the right direction, and Ryan wasn't sure if he had imagined it or not, but he would have sworn that he felt him scoot a little bit closer to him. That was definetely his hand on his arm, though. Ryan groaned softly.
Summer jabbed Marissa in the side with her elbow, her eyes not leaving the two boys in front of them.
"How long has it been?" she asked softly. She saw Marissa shrug out of the corner of her eye.
"I don't know," she whispered. The pair watched, transfixed.
"Damn," Summer muttered. "That's *hot*." Marissa nodded in agreement. Another moment of silence passed between the two as Ryan and Seth continued to kiss. All of the sudden, Summer seemed to snap out of it, remembering the reason there were two boys sitting across from her making out like there was no tomorrow. From the top drawer of the dresser next to the bed, she pulled out the camera she and Marissa had planted there earlier this morning. Aiming carefully, so that she was sure to get the best view, Summer snapped off several pictures in succession.
Seth was actually enjoying this. Ryan felt solid and firm against him and his hand was now at his cheek, holding his face still as his tongue explored his mouth. It felt *good*. Good in a way that Seth never wanted it to end. All of the sudden, however, he felt as if he were being bathed in light. He drew back away from Ryan in shock and the other boy blinked slowly as Seth turned his gaze to Summer and Marissa, sitting innocently side-by-side and watching them.
Summer's heart was pounding. They had gotten away with it. They had really and truly done it. The camera was tucked safely beneath the pillows on the bed, the pictures imprinted forever on the film. This would teach boys to play dirty.
"Was goin on?" Ryan murmured, swaying from side to side. Seth was staring intently at Summer.
"Who turned out the light?" he asked. "On. Who turned it on? Make it go 'way." He was referring to the flash of the camera that had brought them out of their trance. Marissa looked over.
"Distract him," she instructed. Summer didn't need any encouraging. The sight of Seth and Ryan kissing had her hornier than she had ever been. While Marissa snuggled up to Ryan, she shoved Seth's shoulder, so that he went tumbling backwards, ending up sprawled on the bed, a startled, deer-in-the-headlights look in his eyes. Summer grinned. She straddled his hips, then bent down to smash her lips to his. She kissed him and kissed him and kissed him and he kissed her right back, but she couldn't get enough of him. She wanted him, badly. Then fact that she was admitting it said alot. But, for what seemed like the millionth time this weekend, Summer restrained herself. This was neither the time nor the place. Smiling down at Seth, she kissed him once again, long and soft and slow.
"Soon," she promised, before laying her head down on his chest and closing her eyes.
Angelus angelus1317@hotmail.com
See first chapter for disclaimer, etc.
Author's Notes: To clear up some timeline issues: Ryan and Marissa are an established couple. Seth and Summer kissed by the pool and on the boat, but Seth and Anna are just friends. She has made no secret of the fact that she likes Seth, however, and don't worry - she'll be around in the last few chapters, playing a small but pivotal role.
~*~
Ryan and Seth were halfway through their third bottles of Bicardi Silver when Marissa and Summer suggested Truth or Dare. By this point, they had given up the pretense of pretending to drink, but Ryan and Seth were so hammered that they barely even noticed. The four were spread out on Sandy and Kirsten's massive king-sized bed - they had discovered earlier just how uncomfortable it was trying to squeeze all four of them into Seth's twin-sized one. Ryan and Marissa were sitting up and leaning against the headboard, holding hands. Ryan was definitely beyond drunk, but it had taken quite alot of alcohol to get him that way. Seth, lying on top of Summer with his head pressed to her stomach, was at about the same level of intoxication, but the girls had had to take it easy on him, knowing what a low tolerance he had, so a few of his screwdrivers had been of the water-only variety. Summer and Marissa were excited, knowing that the final phase of their scheme was going to come into play soon.
"Truth," Ryan was saying to Seth. Seth tapped at his lower lip, thinking.
"You think Julie Cooper's hot, don't you?" he asked, after much consideration. Ryan groaned, dropping his head to Marissa's shoulder.
"Ewww!" she and Summer exclaimed at the same time, eyes traveling expectantly to Ryan. He lifted his head.
"No!" he exclaimed. Seth wagged a finger at him.
"Truth," he reminded. "Don't lie." Ryan sighed.
"Fine," he muttered. "She's hot." Marissa looked at him in disbelief.
"Why the hell did you never tell me this?!" she exclaimed. The second she let the question out, she realized just how stupid a question it was. Still, watching Ryan struggle for an answer was downright hilarious. As if it wouldn't be hard enough any other time, the fact that he was totally shit-faced didn't help the situation at all. He raised his head, opened and closed his mouth a few times, then collapsed back against Marissa, defeated. She and Summer giggled.
"Turn?" Ryan asked, and they translated that to him asking whose turn it was. Seth poked Summer in the thigh several times. She sat up to face Marissa. They had been so focused on their ultimate goal that they hadn't truly realized to what extent they could take advantage of them in this state.
"Truth, Ryan?" she asked innocently. Ryan nodded against Marissa's neck, not even bothering to look up. "How many girls have you had slept with?" she asked, beaming, obviously very proud of herself.
"Summer!" Marissa exclaimed. "I don't wanna know that!"
"Oh, relax, Coop," she said, waving her best friend off as she watched Ryan intently. He was trying to count on his fingers, and in his drunken state, it wasn't working very well. He muttered to himself, put fingers up and down, and started over several times before giving up.
"Stop pickin' on me," he complained. Summer grinned.
"I'd say that's about as much of an answer as we need," she said. Marissa rolled her eyes.
"Should we ask Seth?" she suggested. The girls looked at one another briefly before snorting with laughter. Even Ryan joined in, glad to have the focus off of himself.
"Hey!" Seth protested, raising one hand in the air, which he proceeded to flail about wildly before letting it drop back onto his chest.
"Allright, why don't we let you do a truth, then?" Summer said. She and Marissa were silent for a moment in thought, before Marissa began bouncing up and down.
"Ooh, I got it!" she exclaimed. "What was your invisible friend's name in second grade?" she asked. Summer let out a peal of laughter.
"Oh, I had almost forgotten about that!" she squealed. "He used to sit in the corner and talk to him during recess!" She turned curiously to Seth. "What *was* his name?" she asked.
"Mister Giggles," Seth informed. "'N he wasn't 'maginary. 'nvisible." This just set Summer and Marissa off again, however, and by the time they had gotten ahold of themselves, Seth looked like he was about to pass out. Summer leaned down over him, her lips positioned at his ear.
"Hey," she murmured, licking and kissing and nibbling at his earlobe. "Stay awake." Seth groaned, pawing blindly at her. With a grin, Summer sat back up.
"Your turn, Coop," she said mischievously as her best friend watched her curiously. Marissa wasn't dumb - she knew there was something going on between her and Seth. Later, she would ask. Now, however, they had other things in mind.
"Allright, Summer," Marissa said. "Truth or Dare?"
"Dare!" Ryan shouted, and the girls shared a grin. The boys had been helping them every step of the way without even noticing it.
"Dare," Summer agreed. Marissa thought quickly.
"Flash us," she said. Both of the boys immediately sat up, albeit with some difficulty, eager at the chance to see boobs. For the sake of the game, Summer pretended to be slightly apprehensive. In reality, though, she didn't care. Marissa was a girl, so it was no big deal, and Seth had seen her shirtless a few years ago, when her bikini top had come off in the ocean at a beach party he happened to be at. Really, Ryan was the only one seeing anything new, and it wasn't like he hadn't seen quite enough girls' breasts. Summer pulled up her tank top and her bra for a few seconds, rolling her eyes as the guys practically salivated anyway. So predictable. Covering herself once again, she jumped right back into the game, ready for the big moment.
"Ryan," she chose. "Truth or Dare?"
"Truth," he mumbled. Marissa poked him.
"Come on, Truth is getting boring," she goaded. "And Summer just did a dare..."
"Fine." The girls shared devious grins.
"I dare you," Summer announced, "to kiss Ryan." Seth looked over to his friend in disgust.
"No," he said simply.
"You have to," Marissa said, as if she were the queen of logic. "It's a dare."
"But...ewww!" Ryan complained, not even realizing he had just lost major cool points for the use of Summer's infamous exclamation.
"You first!" Seth proclaimed.
Summer and Marissa shared a look. They hadn't expected them to make this request, but actually, it wasn't that big a deal to them. Back in high school, this had always been *the* dare for sleepovers or drinking games. Actually, Marissa had kissed Summer before she had kissed Luke.
"Okay, here are the rules," Summer said, taking charge as usual. "Five seconds, with tongue. Got it?" Both boys nodded slowly, transfixed. Rolling her eyes, Marissa leaned in and kissed Summer.
It had been awhile - after constantly daring each other to do the same thing, the novelty of it all eventually wore off. So it had probably been a good four years since they had done this. The first thing she noticed was that Summer's lips felt nothing like Ryan's. They were small and soft and distinctly feminine. Her tongue was smaller as well, and not quite as hot, and didn't taste like toothpaste and oranges and the barest hint of tobacco. She wasn't a bad kisser, though, and Marissa almost found herself enjoying it. But the bottom line? She was in love with Ryan. And Summer wasn't Ryan. But that didn't mean that she couldn't enjoy it while it lasted. That was what Marissa had always liked about being a girl - that girls were so open about showing affection towards one another. Marissa was a phyisical person that way. She liked to show people she cared by hugging them or holding their hand. This was just a step further. Girls understood things like this.
Boys, on the other hand...
Marissa pulled away from Summer and turned to the two in front of her. "Your turn," she announced sunnily. Seth and Ryan regarded one another with apprehension. Boys were just not equipped to be physically affectionate with one another. But, a dare was a dare, after all. Summer and Marissa grinned and continued to watch. Only in their completely intoxicated state would they agree to this. And that was what they had been planning on all along.
"Go ahead," Summer urged.
Seth was having a serious panic moment. He didn't have very much kissing experience to begin with, seeing as how Summer was the only girl he'd ever kissed, and only a few times at that. And now, he was going to use what little experience he had to make out with his best friend? Something was seriously wrong with this picture. But Seth's barely-functioning brain was having a hard time grasping just what was so wrong with it right at this moment because Ryan, seemingly having no problems with this, was leaning forward, coming closer inch by inch and Seth could smell his breath and feel it against his mouth and then all of the sudden he was kissing him.
Kissing Ryan wasn't like kissing Summer. Summer was forceful, demanding. He had assumed Ryan would be the same way, but here he was, with his hand on the back of Seth's head, fingers twisting in the curls at the base of his neck, tongue gently probing the seam of the other boy's lips, prying them apart effortlessly. Seth's head was spinning and his blood was rushing in all different directions and dear god help him but Ryan tasted so damn good. He tasted like caramel - warm and sweet and dark and gooey. And he wasn't quite sure how a kiss could taste gooey, but it did. It was gooey and sticky. That must have been it. What other excuse was there for the fact that he just couldn't seem to drag his lips away from Ryan's?
Ryan had kissed lots of people in his lifetime. He couldn't even narrow it down to that he'd kissed alot of girls, because there had been several guys as well. Back in Chino, where sex was a cheap and necessary diversion from the fact that life was going nowhere fast, threesomes had been a regular occurence. So, yes, Ryan had kissed plenty of men. Boys, really, because none of them had truly been men at that age. Hell, he didn't even know if he was a man now. All he knew was that the feeling of Seth's lips on his was not one he wanted to get away from any time soon.
He was like a drug. Which was really not cool because Ryan knew better than anybody how little action Seth had gotten in his life, and the fact that someone so inexperienced could taste and feel that good was....well, just not cool. Ryan hadn't been able to get it right his first time - there had been accidental biting and a whole lot of saliva and he had been embarrassed as hell, but Seth just seemed like a natural at all this. His lips were soft, his tongue was moving in just the right direction, and Ryan wasn't sure if he had imagined it or not, but he would have sworn that he felt him scoot a little bit closer to him. That was definetely his hand on his arm, though. Ryan groaned softly.
Summer jabbed Marissa in the side with her elbow, her eyes not leaving the two boys in front of them.
"How long has it been?" she asked softly. She saw Marissa shrug out of the corner of her eye.
"I don't know," she whispered. The pair watched, transfixed.
"Damn," Summer muttered. "That's *hot*." Marissa nodded in agreement. Another moment of silence passed between the two as Ryan and Seth continued to kiss. All of the sudden, Summer seemed to snap out of it, remembering the reason there were two boys sitting across from her making out like there was no tomorrow. From the top drawer of the dresser next to the bed, she pulled out the camera she and Marissa had planted there earlier this morning. Aiming carefully, so that she was sure to get the best view, Summer snapped off several pictures in succession.
Seth was actually enjoying this. Ryan felt solid and firm against him and his hand was now at his cheek, holding his face still as his tongue explored his mouth. It felt *good*. Good in a way that Seth never wanted it to end. All of the sudden, however, he felt as if he were being bathed in light. He drew back away from Ryan in shock and the other boy blinked slowly as Seth turned his gaze to Summer and Marissa, sitting innocently side-by-side and watching them.
Summer's heart was pounding. They had gotten away with it. They had really and truly done it. The camera was tucked safely beneath the pillows on the bed, the pictures imprinted forever on the film. This would teach boys to play dirty.
"Was goin on?" Ryan murmured, swaying from side to side. Seth was staring intently at Summer.
"Who turned out the light?" he asked. "On. Who turned it on? Make it go 'way." He was referring to the flash of the camera that had brought them out of their trance. Marissa looked over.
"Distract him," she instructed. Summer didn't need any encouraging. The sight of Seth and Ryan kissing had her hornier than she had ever been. While Marissa snuggled up to Ryan, she shoved Seth's shoulder, so that he went tumbling backwards, ending up sprawled on the bed, a startled, deer-in-the-headlights look in his eyes. Summer grinned. She straddled his hips, then bent down to smash her lips to his. She kissed him and kissed him and kissed him and he kissed her right back, but she couldn't get enough of him. She wanted him, badly. Then fact that she was admitting it said alot. But, for what seemed like the millionth time this weekend, Summer restrained herself. This was neither the time nor the place. Smiling down at Seth, she kissed him once again, long and soft and slow.
"Soon," she promised, before laying her head down on his chest and closing her eyes.