Try It 'Till It Hurts
Main Characters: The gang really. Seth, Ryan, Summer, Marissa, Luke and the
Cohen and Cooper parents.
Plot: Marissa makes a new friend, who wants to keep her all to themself
I do not own any part of Fox or The O.C.; I'm just a kid who loves writing
about it and a slightly obsessed fan of the show. So don't sue me!
Also, i've added some slight Easter Eggs in the story, which link with the show. See if you can find them!
- - - - - - - - - -
"I'm sorry, but we can't let you do that."
"All I want is a phone call. Why are you denying me that?"
"It's for your own safety, you'll thank us in good time."
"The only thing I will thank you for is for bringing the end of my life
that little bit closer, and making me realize I have no one to spend it
with. Thank you, nurse. You're sure doing a good job of regaining my self
esteem."
"I don't have time for this. I'll check on you in an hour. Goodbye."
- - - - - - - - - -
Ryan packed his bag, getting ready to go to school. The summer had been
really hard for him. His relationship with Teresa took a turn for the worst
when the baby was born. He felt he had to be there, even knowing it wasn't
his. After the DNA tests were taken, it was confirmed to be Eddy's. This
was both a relief and a downer for Ryan. He felt he could take on the role
of being a parent, felt like he knew the baby. So Teresa worked things out
with Eddy, and the two started planning their wedding. This, of course,
left Ryan in the blue, on his own. He regularly saw the baby, looked after
it some nights when the happy couple needed to escape parenthood. But the
visits started getting less frequent. Ryan grew apart from Eddy and Teresa,
and one day, he went over to their house to say goodbye. He felt he had no
purpose for being in Chino, and left with nowhere to go.
So Ryan started jumping on random trucks that stopped for him, going
wherever fate led him. He ended up working in a small restaurant in a small
town, and gained a few friends there. He quickly got adjusted and began to
forget Newport or Chino ever existed. But in a freak accident, his boss
died. The police and hospital said he had died in a robbery, but Ryan knew
something was up. His boss had regular visitors, who he paid off every
month. But one month he never paid, and they kept coming back insisting on
the money. Ryan, luckily, wasn't working the day of the death, and he never
worked there again. Mortified by the recent events, Ryan was again,
jobless, and soon after homeless. He decided to call it a day. He wanted
everything to go back to normal. He wanted to have his family back. He
wanted someone to be with him.
And then, he resorted to going back to Chino. He didn't want to. He had
left to get away from the family life there, a life which he never had. His
mom had already left Chino, and had moved up north. Ryan lived in his old
house for a while, looking desperately for work, but with no luck. He met a
girl when he hitchhiked, and convinced her to come back with him. But after
a string of bad luck, she had had enough. Ryan was abandoned again, a felt
that feeling again. The feeling of a thousand people around you, and you
can't talk to any one of them. The feeling that got him every time
something started to look good for Ryan.
And that's when he saw Seth.
Ryan still had his mobile phone Sandy had lent him, in case Ryan needed
anything after he moved out. He had stayed in touch with them once the
Cohens found out about Seth's disappearance. Ryan rang everyday to see if
he was safe, to see if he was home. But soon, he started expecting what was
going to be on the other line, and in the end, stopped calling.
But then, an unexpected call awaited him on the phone. Seth. Seth rang Ryan
about 8 weeks after he left. He called to tell Ryan about his successful
sailing trip. Everything was going fine for him, and the long trip to
Tahiti gave him time to think. Ryan and Seth talked quite a bit while Ryan
was still working in the restaurant, and eventually met up. They talked a
lot about what had happened to each other, and adventures they had had.
And now, Ryan was the one calling Seth. Ryan explained everything that had
happened. His boss's sudden death, his trouble with finding a home, his
girlfriend issues and his unsuccessful job-hunting. He knew Seth was the
only one who he could talk to, and not feel guilty about leaving Newport,
about having to go. So Seth told Sandy, who told Kirsten, and the three
agreed. Ryan could come back and live with them. Ryan was blown away by the
news. He had a home; he had people around him to protect him.
"Hey c'mon, man! We're gonna miss our ride. Oh, wait, that's right. We
don't have one! Which means we have to get up an hour earlier to make our
way to school and back!" Seth was clearly in a happy mood. They'd stopped
getting lifts with Marissa after the whole Teresa thing. In fact, she had
no idea Ryan was back in town. Marissa spent all summer with, well, Summer.
Marissa was still pretty depressed. She and her mom never had a good start
living in the Cooper/Cohen mansion. Julie found out that Marissa was still
drinking, and immediately sent her to the San Diego rehabilitation
hospital. However, Marissa put up a good fight not to go there, but in the
end, couldn't take it. She came back feeling better about herself, and not
in the need to drink. Marissa tried to get along with her mom, but still
felt she couldn't be around her everyday again. So a lot of nights in the
holidays, she spent them at Summer's house.
Summer was pretty much like Marissa. She found it hard to cope with Seth's
disappearance, and after she heard the news that he'd left she never came
out. Marissa couldn't even talk to her; her dad couldn't get to her. She
excluded herself from the outside world because Seth left Newport. But then
Marissa came back, feeling much happier and not so depressed. And this hit
Summer. She decided to invite Marissa round one day, and poured her heart
out about Seth. And the two comforted each other through the hardest times
of the holidays, and enjoyed the best times.
"I'm coming! God, you know how I have to read the comics everyday," replied
Ryan, giving Seth a cold stare as he hunted for the newspaper.
"Yeah, I never got that. You, Ryan Atwood, was superstitious so bad, that
you have to view them everyday to "keep the Atwood curse away." You have it
so bad!" Seth decided that, if he ever wanted to go to school, he'd have to
help, and within minutes found the newspaper in the living room and tossed
it to Ryan. "So, what are you gonna tell Marissa? You gonna say what
happened?"
Ryan scanned the black and white pages, and stopped on the Arts and Leisure
page. He quickly stared at the cartoon, and gave a brief smile, then closed
the newspaper and looked up.
"I dunno. I mean, what am I going to tell her? That I was a bum?" Seth was
busy pouring himself some orange juice while Ryan was reading the comic,
and after hearing the sentence, he gave a brief smile like Ryan. "So, what
are you going to tell Summer? You going to say what happened?"
"Please, what is so interesting about the fact that I sailed for 42 days? I
didn't even do anything out there; I just thought and thought about
Newport." Seth swigged down the last of his juice, and then looked up
again. "It sucked!"
Seth stared at Ryan, who gave a thumbs-up, and the two left the house. Ryan
ran over to his bike, while Seth grabbed his skateboard, and after Ryan
unlocked it, Seth hung onto the back seat while Ryan pedalled as hard as he
could, as they ventured into the life of school once again.
- - - - - - - - - -
"Oh Coop, you have to see this!" Summer ran over to Marissa as fast as she
could, who smiled and wondered what it was about. "You like it?"
After Summer modeled her new outfit, Marissa grinned and hugged Summer.
"So, it looks like your in a happy mood."
"Totally. This summer was, well. It was weird. And I just want to move on.
I think Seth is at school today, so hopefully I can talk to him, we can
catch up on old times and... Coop?" Marissa stared blank-faced over the
other side of the playground, as Ryan caught her eye. "Hello!?"
"I don't believe it..." Marissa's voice trailed off as she walked toward
him. Summer eventually realized what was going on, and ran to catch her up.
"Oh my God! I totally cannot believe this! What's he doing here?"
But Marissa didn't notice. She walked further toward him, and then haulted.
"Summer, you need to talk to me while we're walking so I don't seem
desperate."
"What? That sounds like a game to me. I play games." Marrisa gave Summer a
cold look, and Summer just looked away.
"Look, guys like to be chased by girls who aren't into them," Marissa
replied, and eventually won Summer over and they continued on.
While the girls talked and made their way closer to Ryan and Seth, the boys
were discussing what they should tell Marissa and Summer if they met them.
"I dunno, I just think that if I don't tell her about the fire, then, you
know; she'll just be less concerned."
"You ran away, Seth. No matter what you say, she's going to be concerned."
Seth and Ryan continued chatting, while walking on towards the main doors.
And then they collided. Marissa bumped into Ryan, and tried to make a
surprised face, while Summer nudged Seth, and immediately hugged him.
"Cohen!" Summer trapped Seth with her arms and gently kissed him, then let
go and punched him lightly. "Where the hell did you go!"
"Yeah, nice to see you too, Summer."
"Well? Where did you go?"
"I just had to get away from Newport. It was just so hectic and chaotic, I
felt frustrated being here. But I got away for a while, thought things
over. And now, I feel a lot better, thank you."
While Seth and Summer caught up, Marissa questioned Ryan.
"So, how come you're back?"
"I don't really want to talk about it here, if you don't mind. It's kinda,
embarrassing." Marissa nodded after Ryan's sentence, and the four walked
through the school doors. And then they reached their lockers, where
everything went silent. The smallest pin could be dropped, and could be
heard by everyone.
"Hey, did you tell Summer about the fire?" Seth sharply turned round to
face Ryan, who shrugged his shoulders and looked away.
"Fire? What fire?"
"Erm, yeah. There was a tiny fire on the boat and..."
"Boat? You sailed away from Newport! God, you could've been killed in a
storm! Or, or eaten by a shark! Or taken over by pirates or something!"
Summer gave Seth another slight nudge, whle Ryan laughed at Seth's
predicament.
"Yeah, that's pretty bad. Hey, Ryan, tell Marissa about the robbery
incident?"
"What? There wasn't a robbery, Seth! If there was I would've told you."
Ryan turned to face Marissa again, who was reaching into her bag to put
books in her locker. "Seriously, there was no robbery."
"Oh c'mon, man. You said one of them had a glass eye!" Seth joked on, and
Ryan turned and gave him a cheesy grin.
"Look Marissa, nothing like that happened when... Marissa?" Marissa dug
deep into her bag, and pulled out a piece of paper. She hadn't put it
there, and she turned to Summer, who shook her head. She opened it to read
what it said.
"I still want you Marissa, I need you. And you need me. I can't let you go
again. The last time we were together, I knew we were supposed to be like
that forever. Just you and me. And then I couldn't see you. I wanted you so
bad, I felt like I was incomplete when I couldn't have you. But now,
everything is going to be OK. I'm coming for you, Marissa. And this time,
I'm not letting you go."