The next morning, Ryan made his way down the stairs slowly. It wasn't that he was all that sore and unable to move quickly. After yet another parental imposed day of bed rest, Ryan felt better. He just wasn't really sure if he was risking yet another lecture by coming downstairs, but he was bored upstairs. He never developed that fever that Kirsten kept checking for, over and over with that stupid thermometer. At least he knew enough not to tell her he was fine. To Kirsten, fine was now a four letter word, so Ryan quickly learned not to use it.
He heard their voices in the kitchen before he got there. Sandy and Kirsten were both talking to Caleb, and it sounded like they were talking about him.
"I just want to talk to the boy. That's all." Caleb said.
"And I asked about what?" Kirsten told him.
"Come on, Seth," Caleb said, "Help your grandpa out. Where is he?"
Ryan was almost to the kitchen when he heard Seth say, "He's still upstairs. What's going on?"
"Nothing," Caleb answered, "I just wanted to talk to him about Marissa."
As Ryan reached the kitchen, he immediately asked, "What about her? What's wrong?"
"Dad..." Kirsten began to warn, as Sandy told him, "Cal, whatever it is with Marissa, I'm sure you don't need Ryan. It was enough for him to go there yesterday."
As Kirsten handed Ryan a juice and his antibiotic, she said, "Actually it was too much on him going there yesterday." She may have been talking to her father, but she was staring at Ryan.
Ryan understood the look he was getting from Kirsten, and also noticed Sandy looking at him as well, but still turned to Caleb and asked, "What's wrong with Marissa?"
"Nothing is wrong." Caleb finally said, "She came home last night. Right after Jimmy came home to discuss her behavior. She just walked in the door, and we all talked. She said that you two talked earlier. So, I just wanted to know what you talked about. What you said to make her come home."
At first Ryan just shrugged. "I don't know," he told them, "We just talked. Is she going to get help?" He wouldn't be relieved until he knew if she was willing to get help, or if she still wanted to pretend nothing was wrong, that she was still just having fun.
Caleb nodded as he told Ryan, "She says she is. So, whatever you said to her. Thank you."
Ryan could only return Caleb's nod with his own before looking down at the bowl of cereal Kirsten had placed in front of him at the bar. He didn't do anything other then talk to Marissa, so he had no idea what Caleb would be thanking him for. He was just happy that Marissa had agreed to get some kind of help.
"So, do you think that maybe you'll get a chance to call her soon?" Caleb continued.
Ryan could only look up at Kirsten and Sandy unsure of his answer, since it all depended on their answer first.
"In a few days, Cal," Sandy told him, "Ryan still needs time himself."
Caleb actually snickered a little. Marissa had said something about Sandy being really mad that Ryan was at Holly's. "When my kids were teenagers," Caleb said, "We called that being grounded."
"Dad, Ryan's hurt, not grounded." Kirsten told him.
"Not yet anyway!" Seth announced, "First the doctor has to tell Mom and Dad that Ryan is better, then he's grounded."
Ryan only looked up from his cereal long enough to glare at Seth. He really didn't want to discuss any of this in front of Caleb Nichol and definitely not with him.
"Dad," Kirsten said, changing the subject "Why don't you tell Marissa to join us for dinner on Wednesday? We're planning on having Ryan's birthday dinner on that night."
"But why?" Ryan asked, since it was news to him, "My birthday was a few weeks ago."
"Your birthday was three weeks ago," Kirsten said, "And you weren't here. So, unless the doctor has a problem with it, we'll celebrate Wednesday night."
Ryan started to open his mouth and tell her not to worry about it, not to bother going through the trouble, but then decided against it. She still had that tone in her voice. The one that kept telling him not to argue with what she said. He was learning. He hoped. So he just sat there and listened.
"Ok," Caleb said, "Just tell us what time, and we'll be here."
"We'll be here?" Sandy repeated. Not one of them missed Caleb saying that.
"Yes, we'll all be here. Well, except Caitlin. She's still away at camp." Caleb said, "Birthday dinner, right? So that means a family dinner. You know, you should really call Marco; he's doing some wonderful new seafood dishes over at the Crab Shack. I'm sure he'd agree to cater the meal. And don't forget about the white lights. They always look better then those awful colored ones."
"Really," Ryan finally spoke up, "You don't need to. I mean, thanks but it's okay. I don't need. We don't have to have any kind of dinner." Not only did he not want them to go to the trouble, but more then that, he didn't want them to go to the trouble and have Caleb and Julie there as well.
"Nonsense," Caleb said, dismissively, "We'll see you Wednesday night, around seven. And don't forget to call Hailey over at Jimmy's. They're back now."
After Caleb left, Ryan tried to think of a polite way to tell them that he didn't need to have some kind of birthday celebration dinner, definitely not one that included Caleb and Julie Nichol. Unfortunately, Sandy guessed exactly what Ryan was thinking, because he told him,
"Sorry, pal. I told you, when dealing with family, it's the good, the bad and the ugly. So you're stuck with them for dinner as well. I'm sure you can suffer through it, for Kirsten. You know how she loves to throw these parties."
And when Ryan stared blankly at him, and Seth snorted, Sandy corrected himself, "Okay, so she doesn't love to throw parties. But she does like to celebrate birthdays."
"Come on," Kirsten told them, "We'll make it fun. I promise. We can get some lobsters and crabs from the Crab Shack. It'll be great, I promise."
"Can't we just have hamburgers?" Ryan asked. Hamburgers would be a hell of lot cheaper then lobster and crab.
"You want me to serve my dad and Julie hamburgers?" Kirsten asked him.
"Maybe they won't come if we serve hamburgers?" Ryan said, hopefully.
"Yeah, hamburgers and lots and lots of colored lights!" Seth added.
Sandy then suggested, "Maybe one or two carnies."
But Kirsten just shook her head and told all three of them, "No, they'll still come. And make all kinds of comments, and ruin the whole evening."
Ryan just looked down at the bagel Kirsten had placed next to his cereal. He wanted to tell her that just them coming would ruin the whole evening. But he didn't. He would just be pointing out the obvious, so he said nothing, and let Kirsten begin to make her plans for this family birthday dinner that he really didn't feel comfortable with. As he poked at his bagel, he tried to remember all the lines that they had been handing him lately. Let them be the parents, stop fighting them; they know what's best. And on and on. He was trying. If they wanted to do this dinner party, he'd try to keep quiet.
It didn't help keeping his mouth shut when Seth leaned over and told him, "Hey, look at it this way, maybe you can get the doctor to tell them you're still too sick to celebrate your birthday."
Ryan didn't answer, but he did consider it. Maybe if he talked to the doctor, he could at least postpone the party for another week. And in that week he could try to come up with a valid reason for canceling this family birthday dinner.
Unfortunately, two days later as he sat in the examining room of the doctor's office, he didn't wait alone. This time not only was Kirsten waiting with him, so was Sandy. They both wanted to see what the doctor had to say, and therefore, Ryan wouldn't get a chance to talk to the doctor alone.
"Good morning, Ryan." Dr. Andrews said as he walked in, "I see you brought both parents today. I take it you don't mind if they both stay for my examination."
Ryan just shrugged, "I don't really have a choice."
The examination itself didn't take all that long and wasn't very painful so it didn't really matter if they stayed or not. The doctor removed the stitches from Ryan's forehead and lip, then he sent Ryan for x-rays, and then back to the doctor's office. All just to find out that Ryan was healing nicely. The doctor told him that he could slowly start to increase his activities, but to avoid heavy lifting and to rest whenever possible. So after a long morning of testing, poking, prodding and x-raying, Ryan was on the road to recovery, and officially grounded.
The only consolation of the whole morning was on the way home, they were finally able to pick up the convertible. However, one of the many disadvantages to being 'grounded' meant Ryan could only watch Sandy as he drove it home, and he rode home with Kirsten. He kept staring at the car as Sandy drove ahead of them. He couldn't believe how different it looked, how just a paint job could change it so much. It did not look anything like Teresa's car anymore. Kirsten kept waiting for Ryan to say something about the color, and was surprised when he didn't. Seth was the one who finally said something when they got home.
"Um, guys," Seth said as he joined them in the driveway, "I hope you didn't pay for this."
"Why, what's wrong?" Sandy asked. "I think it looks good."
"It looks wrong." Seth told him, "That's not candy apple, I mean fire engine red, that's dark. Dark red. They made a mistake."
"They didn't make a mistake," Kirsten told him, "This is the color I choose. It's maroon."
"Why?" Seth asked.
But Kirsten only answered his question with her own question, "Seth, whose idea was it to paint the car candy apple red?"
"It was the mutually agreed upon color." Seth told her.
"Uh, huh," she said before turning to Ryan, "Ryan, whose idea was it to paint the car candy apple red?"
"Really," he told her, "I said red was fine."
"Well, I didn't think it was fine." Kirsten told them both, "I knew candy apple red was not your idea, Ryan, and I have my doubts that it was even yours, Seth. So I decided on the color."
"So, I see it's begun," Seth joked, "You've painted the car a Ryan color. I am no longer the chosen one. I see you're now siding with your fellow blond. Favoritism is a bad thing, Mother, especially when I'm not the favorite."
"Seth," Kirsten chided him, "I don't play favorites. The car is still red, for you, but a darker shade of red, for Ryan. So stop. It's called compromise. Try it sometime, you might like it."
"And if not," Sandy added, "I'm sure Ryan wouldn't mind keeping the car himself. We would never force you to drive something you hated."
"Yeah, man," Ryan told him, "I'm sure Summer won't mind the color when you tell her it's either riding in this or a piggy back ride on your skateboard."
"I never said I hated it." Seth said, "It's just, you know, Summer and her rage black outs. I'll just tell her that we painted it to match her nail polish and lipstick colors. You know, wouldn't want the car to clash with her pedicure."
Ryan could only shake his head, "You're just. That's just weird."
"Yeah, well weird has served me well while dating Summer." Seth told him, "Keeps her from killing me."
"So Dad, how about them keys," Seth continued, "Let Ryan and me take the car for a spin. I promise, a short spin. Just to try it out, see how it handles."
"So, no." Sandy said, "Seth, you can have your keys in a little more then a week, and Ryan has two weeks. Until then, look at it all you want, but you can't drive it."
"You have a real mean streak in you, Dad." Seth told him.
"Yes, being the parent does have its advantages." Sandy told them both, "Right now, I think maybe your mother and I will take it for a spin."
"We have some things to pick up for Ryan's dinner tomorrow night," Kirsten said, "We won't be long. Ryan, you should probably lay down for a while. Remember the doctor said to rest whenever possible. You don't have to go to your room; you can lay on the couch. Seth, don't bother him. No playstation. We'll have lunch when we get back."
And with that, Sandy and Kirsten took off in the convertible, and Ryan and Seth could only stand there as they drove off.
"They just stole our car." Seth muttered as they went into the house. "So, what do you think, maybe a little Grand Theft Auto in honor of the new wheels."
"Was I the only one who heard no playstation?" Ryan asked.
"But they're not home. Remember, they took our car and left." Seth said.
"Seth, not right now. I think I'm just going to lie down." Ryan told him.
"Suck up." Seth explained, "You know, you only have to follow what they say when they're here, or when there is a chance that they can catch you. But they're shopping. They won't be back for a while. We can play a few games, then put it away and no one will be the wiser."
"Really, Seth," Ryan admitted, "I'm kind of beat. I just want to relax."
"Yeah, okay," Seth said, "Hey, you want anything from the kitchen? I'm starved."
Ryan thought about it for a second, "Yeah, grab me a soda, and get some chips."
As Seth returned from the kitchen, he handed Ryan a soda and threw a couple of bags of chips on the table, and then asked, "I've been meaning to ask you, Ry. How did you know that the baby wasn't yours?"
"I used. We were careful." Ryan mumbled. He really didn't want to have this talk with Seth, but figured he owed the guy some kind of explanation. "But you know," Ryan continued, "Those things are only like 98% effective. There was still a chance it could have been mine."
"Yeah, a 2% chance." Seth snidely said, "You know, you could have said something to me."
"Like what?" Ryan asked, "That it probably, most likely wasn't mine, but I want to go help Teresa anyway. You guys would have thought I was out of my mind."
"Not out of your mind, but definitely on a super hero quest, again. And Mom and Dad would have never let you go." Seth told him.
"Look, Seth, I really don't want to go into this again. Can't we just drop it finally?" Ryan told him, "I wanted to keep Teresa from going back to Eddie. Right or wrong. I'm sorry. Okay?"
"Just don't leave again." Seth said. And then thought about something for a second, "You know, I've always wondered. If you wear two, does that make you 196% safe?"
Ryan could only stare at Seth for a minute before answering, "I really don't know, Seth. Why don't you try it sometime? Just. Don't tell me about it."
"I don't have to worry about that any more. After Teresa, Summer decided to take matters into her own hands, if you know what I mean." Seth told him.
"Hardly ever," Ryan mumbled before saying, "Again, Seth, more information than I really wanted to know. Look, let's just talk about something else. Tell me about sailing to Tahiti and the Coast Guard."
So Seth did. He told Ryan the whole sad story in a Seth kind of way, and then they talked about the car, and what to do with the rest of the summer, and Senior year and just about whatever came to mind until Ryan fell asleep.
A few hours later, Ryan, Seth, Kirsten and Sandy all had lunch on the patio. Just like they used to, before Teresa and Eddie and Chino. It was great to just be with his family. Again.
He heard their voices in the kitchen before he got there. Sandy and Kirsten were both talking to Caleb, and it sounded like they were talking about him.
"I just want to talk to the boy. That's all." Caleb said.
"And I asked about what?" Kirsten told him.
"Come on, Seth," Caleb said, "Help your grandpa out. Where is he?"
Ryan was almost to the kitchen when he heard Seth say, "He's still upstairs. What's going on?"
"Nothing," Caleb answered, "I just wanted to talk to him about Marissa."
As Ryan reached the kitchen, he immediately asked, "What about her? What's wrong?"
"Dad..." Kirsten began to warn, as Sandy told him, "Cal, whatever it is with Marissa, I'm sure you don't need Ryan. It was enough for him to go there yesterday."
As Kirsten handed Ryan a juice and his antibiotic, she said, "Actually it was too much on him going there yesterday." She may have been talking to her father, but she was staring at Ryan.
Ryan understood the look he was getting from Kirsten, and also noticed Sandy looking at him as well, but still turned to Caleb and asked, "What's wrong with Marissa?"
"Nothing is wrong." Caleb finally said, "She came home last night. Right after Jimmy came home to discuss her behavior. She just walked in the door, and we all talked. She said that you two talked earlier. So, I just wanted to know what you talked about. What you said to make her come home."
At first Ryan just shrugged. "I don't know," he told them, "We just talked. Is she going to get help?" He wouldn't be relieved until he knew if she was willing to get help, or if she still wanted to pretend nothing was wrong, that she was still just having fun.
Caleb nodded as he told Ryan, "She says she is. So, whatever you said to her. Thank you."
Ryan could only return Caleb's nod with his own before looking down at the bowl of cereal Kirsten had placed in front of him at the bar. He didn't do anything other then talk to Marissa, so he had no idea what Caleb would be thanking him for. He was just happy that Marissa had agreed to get some kind of help.
"So, do you think that maybe you'll get a chance to call her soon?" Caleb continued.
Ryan could only look up at Kirsten and Sandy unsure of his answer, since it all depended on their answer first.
"In a few days, Cal," Sandy told him, "Ryan still needs time himself."
Caleb actually snickered a little. Marissa had said something about Sandy being really mad that Ryan was at Holly's. "When my kids were teenagers," Caleb said, "We called that being grounded."
"Dad, Ryan's hurt, not grounded." Kirsten told him.
"Not yet anyway!" Seth announced, "First the doctor has to tell Mom and Dad that Ryan is better, then he's grounded."
Ryan only looked up from his cereal long enough to glare at Seth. He really didn't want to discuss any of this in front of Caleb Nichol and definitely not with him.
"Dad," Kirsten said, changing the subject "Why don't you tell Marissa to join us for dinner on Wednesday? We're planning on having Ryan's birthday dinner on that night."
"But why?" Ryan asked, since it was news to him, "My birthday was a few weeks ago."
"Your birthday was three weeks ago," Kirsten said, "And you weren't here. So, unless the doctor has a problem with it, we'll celebrate Wednesday night."
Ryan started to open his mouth and tell her not to worry about it, not to bother going through the trouble, but then decided against it. She still had that tone in her voice. The one that kept telling him not to argue with what she said. He was learning. He hoped. So he just sat there and listened.
"Ok," Caleb said, "Just tell us what time, and we'll be here."
"We'll be here?" Sandy repeated. Not one of them missed Caleb saying that.
"Yes, we'll all be here. Well, except Caitlin. She's still away at camp." Caleb said, "Birthday dinner, right? So that means a family dinner. You know, you should really call Marco; he's doing some wonderful new seafood dishes over at the Crab Shack. I'm sure he'd agree to cater the meal. And don't forget about the white lights. They always look better then those awful colored ones."
"Really," Ryan finally spoke up, "You don't need to. I mean, thanks but it's okay. I don't need. We don't have to have any kind of dinner." Not only did he not want them to go to the trouble, but more then that, he didn't want them to go to the trouble and have Caleb and Julie there as well.
"Nonsense," Caleb said, dismissively, "We'll see you Wednesday night, around seven. And don't forget to call Hailey over at Jimmy's. They're back now."
After Caleb left, Ryan tried to think of a polite way to tell them that he didn't need to have some kind of birthday celebration dinner, definitely not one that included Caleb and Julie Nichol. Unfortunately, Sandy guessed exactly what Ryan was thinking, because he told him,
"Sorry, pal. I told you, when dealing with family, it's the good, the bad and the ugly. So you're stuck with them for dinner as well. I'm sure you can suffer through it, for Kirsten. You know how she loves to throw these parties."
And when Ryan stared blankly at him, and Seth snorted, Sandy corrected himself, "Okay, so she doesn't love to throw parties. But she does like to celebrate birthdays."
"Come on," Kirsten told them, "We'll make it fun. I promise. We can get some lobsters and crabs from the Crab Shack. It'll be great, I promise."
"Can't we just have hamburgers?" Ryan asked. Hamburgers would be a hell of lot cheaper then lobster and crab.
"You want me to serve my dad and Julie hamburgers?" Kirsten asked him.
"Maybe they won't come if we serve hamburgers?" Ryan said, hopefully.
"Yeah, hamburgers and lots and lots of colored lights!" Seth added.
Sandy then suggested, "Maybe one or two carnies."
But Kirsten just shook her head and told all three of them, "No, they'll still come. And make all kinds of comments, and ruin the whole evening."
Ryan just looked down at the bagel Kirsten had placed next to his cereal. He wanted to tell her that just them coming would ruin the whole evening. But he didn't. He would just be pointing out the obvious, so he said nothing, and let Kirsten begin to make her plans for this family birthday dinner that he really didn't feel comfortable with. As he poked at his bagel, he tried to remember all the lines that they had been handing him lately. Let them be the parents, stop fighting them; they know what's best. And on and on. He was trying. If they wanted to do this dinner party, he'd try to keep quiet.
It didn't help keeping his mouth shut when Seth leaned over and told him, "Hey, look at it this way, maybe you can get the doctor to tell them you're still too sick to celebrate your birthday."
Ryan didn't answer, but he did consider it. Maybe if he talked to the doctor, he could at least postpone the party for another week. And in that week he could try to come up with a valid reason for canceling this family birthday dinner.
Unfortunately, two days later as he sat in the examining room of the doctor's office, he didn't wait alone. This time not only was Kirsten waiting with him, so was Sandy. They both wanted to see what the doctor had to say, and therefore, Ryan wouldn't get a chance to talk to the doctor alone.
"Good morning, Ryan." Dr. Andrews said as he walked in, "I see you brought both parents today. I take it you don't mind if they both stay for my examination."
Ryan just shrugged, "I don't really have a choice."
The examination itself didn't take all that long and wasn't very painful so it didn't really matter if they stayed or not. The doctor removed the stitches from Ryan's forehead and lip, then he sent Ryan for x-rays, and then back to the doctor's office. All just to find out that Ryan was healing nicely. The doctor told him that he could slowly start to increase his activities, but to avoid heavy lifting and to rest whenever possible. So after a long morning of testing, poking, prodding and x-raying, Ryan was on the road to recovery, and officially grounded.
The only consolation of the whole morning was on the way home, they were finally able to pick up the convertible. However, one of the many disadvantages to being 'grounded' meant Ryan could only watch Sandy as he drove it home, and he rode home with Kirsten. He kept staring at the car as Sandy drove ahead of them. He couldn't believe how different it looked, how just a paint job could change it so much. It did not look anything like Teresa's car anymore. Kirsten kept waiting for Ryan to say something about the color, and was surprised when he didn't. Seth was the one who finally said something when they got home.
"Um, guys," Seth said as he joined them in the driveway, "I hope you didn't pay for this."
"Why, what's wrong?" Sandy asked. "I think it looks good."
"It looks wrong." Seth told him, "That's not candy apple, I mean fire engine red, that's dark. Dark red. They made a mistake."
"They didn't make a mistake," Kirsten told him, "This is the color I choose. It's maroon."
"Why?" Seth asked.
But Kirsten only answered his question with her own question, "Seth, whose idea was it to paint the car candy apple red?"
"It was the mutually agreed upon color." Seth told her.
"Uh, huh," she said before turning to Ryan, "Ryan, whose idea was it to paint the car candy apple red?"
"Really," he told her, "I said red was fine."
"Well, I didn't think it was fine." Kirsten told them both, "I knew candy apple red was not your idea, Ryan, and I have my doubts that it was even yours, Seth. So I decided on the color."
"So, I see it's begun," Seth joked, "You've painted the car a Ryan color. I am no longer the chosen one. I see you're now siding with your fellow blond. Favoritism is a bad thing, Mother, especially when I'm not the favorite."
"Seth," Kirsten chided him, "I don't play favorites. The car is still red, for you, but a darker shade of red, for Ryan. So stop. It's called compromise. Try it sometime, you might like it."
"And if not," Sandy added, "I'm sure Ryan wouldn't mind keeping the car himself. We would never force you to drive something you hated."
"Yeah, man," Ryan told him, "I'm sure Summer won't mind the color when you tell her it's either riding in this or a piggy back ride on your skateboard."
"I never said I hated it." Seth said, "It's just, you know, Summer and her rage black outs. I'll just tell her that we painted it to match her nail polish and lipstick colors. You know, wouldn't want the car to clash with her pedicure."
Ryan could only shake his head, "You're just. That's just weird."
"Yeah, well weird has served me well while dating Summer." Seth told him, "Keeps her from killing me."
"So Dad, how about them keys," Seth continued, "Let Ryan and me take the car for a spin. I promise, a short spin. Just to try it out, see how it handles."
"So, no." Sandy said, "Seth, you can have your keys in a little more then a week, and Ryan has two weeks. Until then, look at it all you want, but you can't drive it."
"You have a real mean streak in you, Dad." Seth told him.
"Yes, being the parent does have its advantages." Sandy told them both, "Right now, I think maybe your mother and I will take it for a spin."
"We have some things to pick up for Ryan's dinner tomorrow night," Kirsten said, "We won't be long. Ryan, you should probably lay down for a while. Remember the doctor said to rest whenever possible. You don't have to go to your room; you can lay on the couch. Seth, don't bother him. No playstation. We'll have lunch when we get back."
And with that, Sandy and Kirsten took off in the convertible, and Ryan and Seth could only stand there as they drove off.
"They just stole our car." Seth muttered as they went into the house. "So, what do you think, maybe a little Grand Theft Auto in honor of the new wheels."
"Was I the only one who heard no playstation?" Ryan asked.
"But they're not home. Remember, they took our car and left." Seth said.
"Seth, not right now. I think I'm just going to lie down." Ryan told him.
"Suck up." Seth explained, "You know, you only have to follow what they say when they're here, or when there is a chance that they can catch you. But they're shopping. They won't be back for a while. We can play a few games, then put it away and no one will be the wiser."
"Really, Seth," Ryan admitted, "I'm kind of beat. I just want to relax."
"Yeah, okay," Seth said, "Hey, you want anything from the kitchen? I'm starved."
Ryan thought about it for a second, "Yeah, grab me a soda, and get some chips."
As Seth returned from the kitchen, he handed Ryan a soda and threw a couple of bags of chips on the table, and then asked, "I've been meaning to ask you, Ry. How did you know that the baby wasn't yours?"
"I used. We were careful." Ryan mumbled. He really didn't want to have this talk with Seth, but figured he owed the guy some kind of explanation. "But you know," Ryan continued, "Those things are only like 98% effective. There was still a chance it could have been mine."
"Yeah, a 2% chance." Seth snidely said, "You know, you could have said something to me."
"Like what?" Ryan asked, "That it probably, most likely wasn't mine, but I want to go help Teresa anyway. You guys would have thought I was out of my mind."
"Not out of your mind, but definitely on a super hero quest, again. And Mom and Dad would have never let you go." Seth told him.
"Look, Seth, I really don't want to go into this again. Can't we just drop it finally?" Ryan told him, "I wanted to keep Teresa from going back to Eddie. Right or wrong. I'm sorry. Okay?"
"Just don't leave again." Seth said. And then thought about something for a second, "You know, I've always wondered. If you wear two, does that make you 196% safe?"
Ryan could only stare at Seth for a minute before answering, "I really don't know, Seth. Why don't you try it sometime? Just. Don't tell me about it."
"I don't have to worry about that any more. After Teresa, Summer decided to take matters into her own hands, if you know what I mean." Seth told him.
"Hardly ever," Ryan mumbled before saying, "Again, Seth, more information than I really wanted to know. Look, let's just talk about something else. Tell me about sailing to Tahiti and the Coast Guard."
So Seth did. He told Ryan the whole sad story in a Seth kind of way, and then they talked about the car, and what to do with the rest of the summer, and Senior year and just about whatever came to mind until Ryan fell asleep.
A few hours later, Ryan, Seth, Kirsten and Sandy all had lunch on the patio. Just like they used to, before Teresa and Eddie and Chino. It was great to just be with his family. Again.