Kirsten knew Sandy was wrong. Ryan still wouldn't look at them, and his answers now consisted of only one word or a nod or a shrug.
"Sandy," Kirsten said after coming down from bringing Ryan his breakfast, "He's not okay. He still isn't saying much, and he still won't look at me."
Sandy nodded. He saw it, too.
"I know," he told her, "I went up last night, but he pretended to be asleep. Or I think he was pretending. Either way, I couldn't get him to talk. I figured I'd give him until this afternoon. When I get back from court, I'll talk to him. But you know, it is okay for them both to be a little upset."
"But Ryan is more then a little upset." Kirsten told him, "He's..." and then she struggled with her words, trying to express exactly how Ryan was,
"He's really upset." was all she could come up with.
"Really upset?" Sandy laughed, "He's Ryan. Of course he's really upset."
"Sandy...." Kirsten warned.
"I know. I know." Sandy told her, "I'll talk to him. Don't worry. I've got to go. Let me know what the doctor says."
Sandy passed Seth on his way out of the kitchen, and gave him a quick pat on the back as he walked out. Yeah, Seth knew, they're getting over it already. He and Ryan were back home, were sorry for what they did, and were subjected to the lecture and the grounding. Now to get back to the way it was.
"Morning, Mother," Seth said, as he went to grab his cup of coffee, "What time do we need to leave?"
Kirsten just made a face at him. Seth wasn't going anywhere. "We?" she asked.
"Yeah. Doesn't Ryan have a doctor's appointment? What time do we need to leave?" Seth asked.
"Not we. Me and Ryan." she told him, "You stay here. Clean the pool."
"Clean the pool?" Seth repeated. "But I thought I was supposed to help take care of Ryan?"
But Kirsten told him, "No. I'm not at work. So I can take care of Ryan. You clean the pool. Just consider yourself lucky I didn't say the pool house!"
It was Seth's turn to make a face back at Kirsten. It was a look of disgust as he told her,
"No way. Have you seen the pool house lately? For someone who is never here, Hailey is a real pig. At least when Ryan had the pool house, it was always clean."
"Well, now Ryan can keep his room clean. He doesn't need the pool house." Kirsten told Seth, with a definite tone in her voice. She wasn't about to go through the pool house argument again, this time with Seth.
Seth only laughed at that mean mother tone Kirsten sometimes attempted to use.
"No, I agree." he said, "I'm just stating a fact about Hailey. As for Ryan being upstairs, I like having my partner in crime upstairs with me. You know, makes it easier to plan for our world domination."
"Well, you and your partner in crime are in enough trouble. I'd hold off on the plans for world domination for now." Kirsten advised him before asking, "Speaking of, have you talked to Ryan at all?"
"No, not really," Seth told her, "He's not up for talking right now. I think he may be mad at me."
"Mad at you?" Kirsten asked. She had no idea what Seth was talking about, and was briefly worried that maybe the two of them had a fight that she wasn't aware of.
"Yeah, mad at me," Seth said, "for pointing out to you that your original plan only had me as grounded and not him, too. You know, we always promised to have each other's backs and I sold him out to the 'rents. So I'm guessing he's mad at me."
"He's not talking much to us, either. So I don't think he's mad at you. I just think he's upset." Kirsten said, looking out the kitchen window. "Really upset." she added.
Seth just smiled. It helped him to know that they didn't think Ryan was mad at him. He hoped to get that from Ryan, but all in due time he thought. So he just told Kirsten,
"Come on, Mom. You know Ryan. He's like Mighty Mouse. Always running around trying to save the day. And when he can't, when he realizes he screwed up trying then he gets all moody and broody, but then he gets over it. Have no fear. After you and Dad both finally go back to work and stop babying him so much, it's all Seth/Ryan time. He'll be over being upset in no time."
Kirsten just shot Seth a look as she told him, "We aren't babying him. We're following the doctor's orders."
But then Seth noticed that Kirsten had turned and was walking out of the kitchen. She was already dressed and was still drinking her coffee so he could guess where she was going.
"Yeah. And where are you going?" he asked.
Kirsten just shrugged. Not that it was any of Seth's business, but she told him, "I told Ryan I'd help him so he can take a shower."
"Excuse me?" Seth snorted, "You're helping Ryan take a shower? Does Dad know?"
"Funny, Seth." Kirsten told him, "His chest is wrapped to protect his ribs. I need to remove that so he can shower."
Kirsten attempted to walk out of the kitchen again. She knew that Ryan would not want her helping him in that way, but he needed help, so he would have to just deal with it.
"Mom, you can't be serious," Seth told her, "The guy doesn't need you to help him get undressed."
"Someone has to remove the bandage," Kirsten explained, "And yes, he may even need help to get undressed and dressed. I doubt he can even take his own shirt off. Have you seen his chest, his stomach, his back? Seth, he's very, very bruised. He can't do it on his own."
Seth just shook his head. He only saw the bruises on Ryan's face, nowhere else. He didn't want to think about what happened to Ryan, didn't want to know exactly what Eddie and his friends did to him. But he also knew he couldn't let his mother help the guy get ready to shower. That would be way too hard for Ryan to swallow.
"Mom, I'll help Ryan." Seth told her, "He'll feel less weird if I help him."
"Maybe you're right," Kirsten sighed, "Just don't let him tell you that he can do it himself. Help him with his shirt. And don't let him put another tee shirt on. A button down shirt will be easier for him to take off at the doctor's, and get his sandals out of the closet. He'll tell you no, but don't listen. If he argues too much, come get me. Also, you don't need to put the ace bandage back on. The doctor will need to examine his chest. Just tell him to be careful."
"God, Mom!" Seth said, "And you don't call this babying? Next thing I know you'll be spoon feeding him."
"Seth. Go." was all Kirsten said.
Seth just laughed as he walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Poor Ryan. Mom was all over him like white on rice he thought as he got to Ryan's door. He knocked, but since the door was partially open, he didn't wait for Ryan to invite him in. He was shocked to see that not only was Ryan out of bed, but he was attempting to make the bed.
"Hey," Seth asked, "what are you doing?" He knew his mother would have killed Ryan if she walked in and saw him making the bed.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Ryan asked, ignoring Seth's question.
"Well, it was either me or Mom." Seth explained, "And do you really want Mom helping you take a shower? Besides, if she saw what you were doing, you'd be in a whole lot of trouble."
"I'm just making the bed," Ryan said defensively, "I don't need anyone's help."
"Mom says you do." Seth told him as he pulled Ryan away and finished making the bed himself, "I'm supposed to help you take your shirt off and then unwrap your ribs."
"Seth, I can do it myself." Ryan snapped.
Seth just threw up his hands. He wasn't going to argue with a moody Ryan.
"Yeah ok, Mighty Mouse. Let's see you do it yourself."
Ryan just glared at Seth as he headed for the bathroom, ignoring Seth's Mighty Mouse comment. He didn't want to know what it meant. Unfortunately, after he closed the door, he realized taking off his shirt was more painful then he thought it would be, especially after trying to make the bed. He just opened the door and didn't say a word as he waited,
"Can I help you now?" Seth asked.
Ryan nodded and told him, "Fine. Just do it and be quiet."
Ryan just looked away as Seth helped him pull off his shirt and then unwrap the ace bandage that was around his chest. He didn't want to see the look on Seth's face when Seth saw the bruises. It took a minute after Seth was done before Seth could say anything.
"Ryan, man. You're. This is messed up." Seth finally said. "I can't believe this. You're more black and blue then you are white. No wonder Mom and Dad are so freaked out."
"Seth. Just go." Ryan told him, "You did what I needed. Thanks. Now, let me take a shower."
"Look, I'm sorry I got you in more trouble yesterday." Seth told him, "I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry."
Ryan just shrugged and told him, "Don't worry about it. I got what I deserved."
Seth just pointed to Ryan's chest and said, "Yeah, and did you deserve all of this?"
"What are you getting at, Seth?" Ryan asked, "I don't have a whole lot of time to get ready, so can you make it quick?"
Seth was quiet for a minute. He wanted to choose his words carefully. He didn't want to make Ryan any more upset then he already was.
"I'm just saying." Seth started. "Look, we both screwed up this summer. Ok, you wanted to help Teresa. We all get that, but you know, you can't help everyone all the time, especially if something like this is going to happen. It's not worth it and it's not fair to you. You can't always be the one who saves the day."
Seth paused for a minute before he continued, "And I can't always think about myself. I got bent out of shape because you left, so I left. But look, now we're both back. We can get passed this. You can start thinking about yourself a little more and everyone else a little less. And I can try to do the opposite."
Ryan just nodded and looked down. He then told Seth,
"I have to take a shower so if you don't mind, get out. Please."
"Fine." Seth said, "You don't want to talk. Just glad to know you don't need help with your pants."
Ryan's only response was a glare.
"Yeah, ok." Seth said as he stepped out of the bathroom, "I'll go get your clothes."
"Seth!" An exasperated Ryan said.
But Seth just laughed, slightly. "Mom said so." he explained, "She gave me explicit instructions on what you're supposed to wear. Mom says no tee shirt and wear your sandals. And if you don't listen, I'm supposed to get her, and neither one of us wants that. So you shower, and I'll get your clothes, and I'll see you later."
"Bye Seth." Ryan said as he shut the bathroom door.
He didn't want to think about what Seth had said. Ryan just wanted to take a long hot shower, and forget about what he said. Ryan knew he shouldn't have been short or nasty to Seth. He wasn't mad at him; he just wasn't in the mood to talk. Right now, he didn't want to even think, let alone talk. Except Ryan kept right on thinking about what Seth said.
I'm just like Dawn, Ryan thought. How am I supposed to get passed that? It was a fact that he had already proven to all of them. There was no moving passed who he was.
Mighty Mouse? Ryan thought. Where the hell did Seth get that one? He couldn't help anyone. Hell, he couldn't even take off his own shirt, and Seth was accusing him of trying to save everyone.
After Ryan got out of the shower, he was relieved that Seth had left. But he couldn't believe the outfit that was on his bed. A button down shirt, with no tee shirt for underneath, shorts and sandals. I look like Seth, he thought after he got dressed. Seth dressed me to look just like him. That's just sick. He wanted to change, but heard Kirsten calling him, asking if he was okay. He knew if he took the time to try and change, she would come up to see if she could help him. He'd rather be dressed like Seth then have Kirsten help him dress.
"Sandy," Kirsten said after coming down from bringing Ryan his breakfast, "He's not okay. He still isn't saying much, and he still won't look at me."
Sandy nodded. He saw it, too.
"I know," he told her, "I went up last night, but he pretended to be asleep. Or I think he was pretending. Either way, I couldn't get him to talk. I figured I'd give him until this afternoon. When I get back from court, I'll talk to him. But you know, it is okay for them both to be a little upset."
"But Ryan is more then a little upset." Kirsten told him, "He's..." and then she struggled with her words, trying to express exactly how Ryan was,
"He's really upset." was all she could come up with.
"Really upset?" Sandy laughed, "He's Ryan. Of course he's really upset."
"Sandy...." Kirsten warned.
"I know. I know." Sandy told her, "I'll talk to him. Don't worry. I've got to go. Let me know what the doctor says."
Sandy passed Seth on his way out of the kitchen, and gave him a quick pat on the back as he walked out. Yeah, Seth knew, they're getting over it already. He and Ryan were back home, were sorry for what they did, and were subjected to the lecture and the grounding. Now to get back to the way it was.
"Morning, Mother," Seth said, as he went to grab his cup of coffee, "What time do we need to leave?"
Kirsten just made a face at him. Seth wasn't going anywhere. "We?" she asked.
"Yeah. Doesn't Ryan have a doctor's appointment? What time do we need to leave?" Seth asked.
"Not we. Me and Ryan." she told him, "You stay here. Clean the pool."
"Clean the pool?" Seth repeated. "But I thought I was supposed to help take care of Ryan?"
But Kirsten told him, "No. I'm not at work. So I can take care of Ryan. You clean the pool. Just consider yourself lucky I didn't say the pool house!"
It was Seth's turn to make a face back at Kirsten. It was a look of disgust as he told her,
"No way. Have you seen the pool house lately? For someone who is never here, Hailey is a real pig. At least when Ryan had the pool house, it was always clean."
"Well, now Ryan can keep his room clean. He doesn't need the pool house." Kirsten told Seth, with a definite tone in her voice. She wasn't about to go through the pool house argument again, this time with Seth.
Seth only laughed at that mean mother tone Kirsten sometimes attempted to use.
"No, I agree." he said, "I'm just stating a fact about Hailey. As for Ryan being upstairs, I like having my partner in crime upstairs with me. You know, makes it easier to plan for our world domination."
"Well, you and your partner in crime are in enough trouble. I'd hold off on the plans for world domination for now." Kirsten advised him before asking, "Speaking of, have you talked to Ryan at all?"
"No, not really," Seth told her, "He's not up for talking right now. I think he may be mad at me."
"Mad at you?" Kirsten asked. She had no idea what Seth was talking about, and was briefly worried that maybe the two of them had a fight that she wasn't aware of.
"Yeah, mad at me," Seth said, "for pointing out to you that your original plan only had me as grounded and not him, too. You know, we always promised to have each other's backs and I sold him out to the 'rents. So I'm guessing he's mad at me."
"He's not talking much to us, either. So I don't think he's mad at you. I just think he's upset." Kirsten said, looking out the kitchen window. "Really upset." she added.
Seth just smiled. It helped him to know that they didn't think Ryan was mad at him. He hoped to get that from Ryan, but all in due time he thought. So he just told Kirsten,
"Come on, Mom. You know Ryan. He's like Mighty Mouse. Always running around trying to save the day. And when he can't, when he realizes he screwed up trying then he gets all moody and broody, but then he gets over it. Have no fear. After you and Dad both finally go back to work and stop babying him so much, it's all Seth/Ryan time. He'll be over being upset in no time."
Kirsten just shot Seth a look as she told him, "We aren't babying him. We're following the doctor's orders."
But then Seth noticed that Kirsten had turned and was walking out of the kitchen. She was already dressed and was still drinking her coffee so he could guess where she was going.
"Yeah. And where are you going?" he asked.
Kirsten just shrugged. Not that it was any of Seth's business, but she told him, "I told Ryan I'd help him so he can take a shower."
"Excuse me?" Seth snorted, "You're helping Ryan take a shower? Does Dad know?"
"Funny, Seth." Kirsten told him, "His chest is wrapped to protect his ribs. I need to remove that so he can shower."
Kirsten attempted to walk out of the kitchen again. She knew that Ryan would not want her helping him in that way, but he needed help, so he would have to just deal with it.
"Mom, you can't be serious," Seth told her, "The guy doesn't need you to help him get undressed."
"Someone has to remove the bandage," Kirsten explained, "And yes, he may even need help to get undressed and dressed. I doubt he can even take his own shirt off. Have you seen his chest, his stomach, his back? Seth, he's very, very bruised. He can't do it on his own."
Seth just shook his head. He only saw the bruises on Ryan's face, nowhere else. He didn't want to think about what happened to Ryan, didn't want to know exactly what Eddie and his friends did to him. But he also knew he couldn't let his mother help the guy get ready to shower. That would be way too hard for Ryan to swallow.
"Mom, I'll help Ryan." Seth told her, "He'll feel less weird if I help him."
"Maybe you're right," Kirsten sighed, "Just don't let him tell you that he can do it himself. Help him with his shirt. And don't let him put another tee shirt on. A button down shirt will be easier for him to take off at the doctor's, and get his sandals out of the closet. He'll tell you no, but don't listen. If he argues too much, come get me. Also, you don't need to put the ace bandage back on. The doctor will need to examine his chest. Just tell him to be careful."
"God, Mom!" Seth said, "And you don't call this babying? Next thing I know you'll be spoon feeding him."
"Seth. Go." was all Kirsten said.
Seth just laughed as he walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Poor Ryan. Mom was all over him like white on rice he thought as he got to Ryan's door. He knocked, but since the door was partially open, he didn't wait for Ryan to invite him in. He was shocked to see that not only was Ryan out of bed, but he was attempting to make the bed.
"Hey," Seth asked, "what are you doing?" He knew his mother would have killed Ryan if she walked in and saw him making the bed.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Ryan asked, ignoring Seth's question.
"Well, it was either me or Mom." Seth explained, "And do you really want Mom helping you take a shower? Besides, if she saw what you were doing, you'd be in a whole lot of trouble."
"I'm just making the bed," Ryan said defensively, "I don't need anyone's help."
"Mom says you do." Seth told him as he pulled Ryan away and finished making the bed himself, "I'm supposed to help you take your shirt off and then unwrap your ribs."
"Seth, I can do it myself." Ryan snapped.
Seth just threw up his hands. He wasn't going to argue with a moody Ryan.
"Yeah ok, Mighty Mouse. Let's see you do it yourself."
Ryan just glared at Seth as he headed for the bathroom, ignoring Seth's Mighty Mouse comment. He didn't want to know what it meant. Unfortunately, after he closed the door, he realized taking off his shirt was more painful then he thought it would be, especially after trying to make the bed. He just opened the door and didn't say a word as he waited,
"Can I help you now?" Seth asked.
Ryan nodded and told him, "Fine. Just do it and be quiet."
Ryan just looked away as Seth helped him pull off his shirt and then unwrap the ace bandage that was around his chest. He didn't want to see the look on Seth's face when Seth saw the bruises. It took a minute after Seth was done before Seth could say anything.
"Ryan, man. You're. This is messed up." Seth finally said. "I can't believe this. You're more black and blue then you are white. No wonder Mom and Dad are so freaked out."
"Seth. Just go." Ryan told him, "You did what I needed. Thanks. Now, let me take a shower."
"Look, I'm sorry I got you in more trouble yesterday." Seth told him, "I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry."
Ryan just shrugged and told him, "Don't worry about it. I got what I deserved."
Seth just pointed to Ryan's chest and said, "Yeah, and did you deserve all of this?"
"What are you getting at, Seth?" Ryan asked, "I don't have a whole lot of time to get ready, so can you make it quick?"
Seth was quiet for a minute. He wanted to choose his words carefully. He didn't want to make Ryan any more upset then he already was.
"I'm just saying." Seth started. "Look, we both screwed up this summer. Ok, you wanted to help Teresa. We all get that, but you know, you can't help everyone all the time, especially if something like this is going to happen. It's not worth it and it's not fair to you. You can't always be the one who saves the day."
Seth paused for a minute before he continued, "And I can't always think about myself. I got bent out of shape because you left, so I left. But look, now we're both back. We can get passed this. You can start thinking about yourself a little more and everyone else a little less. And I can try to do the opposite."
Ryan just nodded and looked down. He then told Seth,
"I have to take a shower so if you don't mind, get out. Please."
"Fine." Seth said, "You don't want to talk. Just glad to know you don't need help with your pants."
Ryan's only response was a glare.
"Yeah, ok." Seth said as he stepped out of the bathroom, "I'll go get your clothes."
"Seth!" An exasperated Ryan said.
But Seth just laughed, slightly. "Mom said so." he explained, "She gave me explicit instructions on what you're supposed to wear. Mom says no tee shirt and wear your sandals. And if you don't listen, I'm supposed to get her, and neither one of us wants that. So you shower, and I'll get your clothes, and I'll see you later."
"Bye Seth." Ryan said as he shut the bathroom door.
He didn't want to think about what Seth had said. Ryan just wanted to take a long hot shower, and forget about what he said. Ryan knew he shouldn't have been short or nasty to Seth. He wasn't mad at him; he just wasn't in the mood to talk. Right now, he didn't want to even think, let alone talk. Except Ryan kept right on thinking about what Seth said.
I'm just like Dawn, Ryan thought. How am I supposed to get passed that? It was a fact that he had already proven to all of them. There was no moving passed who he was.
Mighty Mouse? Ryan thought. Where the hell did Seth get that one? He couldn't help anyone. Hell, he couldn't even take off his own shirt, and Seth was accusing him of trying to save everyone.
After Ryan got out of the shower, he was relieved that Seth had left. But he couldn't believe the outfit that was on his bed. A button down shirt, with no tee shirt for underneath, shorts and sandals. I look like Seth, he thought after he got dressed. Seth dressed me to look just like him. That's just sick. He wanted to change, but heard Kirsten calling him, asking if he was okay. He knew if he took the time to try and change, she would come up to see if she could help him. He'd rather be dressed like Seth then have Kirsten help him dress.