A/N: Again, what I know of California I learned from Google. I only wish I were Josh Schwartz.

They got back in the car with Ryan driving for the afternoon. "That was a nice walk in there," he commented.

"I can't believe all the wildlife we got to see," Kirsten said.

"Did it make you hungry?" Ryan laughed.

"No!" Kirsten responded indignantly. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm not going to live that down, am I?"

"No, probably not," Ryan admitted. "And you probably don't want to order quail in front of me either."

"I'll keep that in mind." Kirsten wanted to change the subject. "Shall we pull another Seth card?"

"Sure. At this point, I've become game for anything," Ryan replied.

Kirsten read from the next card. "Just a bunch of random questions for you to answer." Kirsten looked up from the card. "He's not kidding. There's a whole list of questions here. Here's the first one: What's the type of music you dislike the most?"

"Harry Chapin," Ryan quickly replied.

"Hey, you said it wasn't that bad. Come on, there must be music you don't like more than him."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "All right, let me think. Um, I'll say opera then. I really can't stand opera music. The high women's voices, the foreign language. Is that an acceptable answer?"

"Whatever you say is an acceptable answer," Kirsten said. "It's your opinion."

Ryan couldn't believe it. "But you wouldn't let me say Harry Chapin!"

"That's because I know you don't really dislike him; you're just saying him because you know I like him. Because really, who can't love Harry Chapin?" Ryan opened his mouth to respond but Kirsten quickly added, "Don't answer that."

Ryan gave up. "OK, then what's your least favourite type of music?"

"I'd have to say rap," Kirsten responded. " I just don't understand the appeal. And the things they sing about…"

After hearing Kirsten say that, Ryan was happy he decided against playing Eminem earlier. Though she did make him sit through a whole CD of Harry Chapin. But no, he'd refrain from playing Eminem if he decided to put more music on.

"What's the next question?" Ryan asked.

"Have you ever gotten a parking ticket?" Kirsten read. "Gosh, I get them all the time. I have a bad tendency of parking in a no parking zone while running in to get the take-out from restaurants. Every time I get one, I tell myself I won't do it again, but then I think of my poor starving boys at home…"

"Hey, don't blame it on us!"

"Well, I can't blame it on me. How about you? Did you ever get a parking ticket? Is Seth trying to rat you out?"

"No, I've never had a parking ticket," Ryan replied. "Though I did get arrested for stealing a car once." Ryan grinned but Kirsten didn't think it was funny.

"If you never have to deal with the police again, it'll be too soon for me."

"But it turned out all right in the end," Ryan said as he glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes.

Kirsten relented. "Yes, but generally speaking, it's not the best way to improve your lot in life."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"You'd better." Kirsten looked down at the card. "Next question. Do you think you're a good cook? Oh, Seth should know better than to ask this!"

Ryan was trying not to laugh at Kirsten. "Well, I can't make a lot of things, but what I can make, I think I'm good at. Generally when I cook, the food is edible."

"Are you implying that it's not edible when I cook?" Kirsten asked.

"I never said a word."

"Well, I could cook if my family didn't always distract me while I was trying. Or make fun of me for trying. Besides, I'm a busy career woman – I don't have time for cooking."

"It's all right that you can't cook, Kirsten. Not everyone can do everything."

"Then how come everyone always teases me about it?"

"Because you insist on trying." He glanced over at her. "If you could accept that you can't cook, the fun would go out of the teasing."

"But mothers are supposed to be able to cook."

"Mothers are supposed to be able to do a lot of things that they can't always do," Ryan said without looking at her. "If not being able to cook is your worst offence? Well, I'm not complaining."

Kirsten appreciated what Ryan was trying to say. "Thanks, Ryan."

Ryan just shrugged. "What's the next question?"

"What's the furthest place you've traveled? Hmm, I guess it was when I went to Europe for spring break in high school. Taryn and I went to Paris and Rome and Barcelona. That was a fun trip. How about you? What's the farthest you've traveled?"

Ryan looked embarrassed. "Well, Las Vegas is in a different state, but it's only about 4 hours away; San Francisco is still in California, but it's over 6 hours away, so I guess this trip is the furthest I've ever traveled."

"Really, Ryan? If I had known how little you'd traveled…"

Ryan grinned. "You'd what? Plan a whole lot of stupid touristy things to do? Yeah, I don't think it would have changed the trip a whole lot."

Kirsten laughed too. "No, I guess you're right. But we should send you and Seth on a trip for Spring Break this year. Anywhere you want to go. Oh, that's if you have Spring Break the same week. We'll have to look into that."

"I think we'll probably have the same Spring Break," Ryan told her. Since he was planning to be at USC with Seth, he was pretty sure they'd have the same Spring Break. He had been enjoying the day so much he forgot that he hadn't told Kirsten about CCA. Now just wasn't a good time to bring it up. He was enjoying his time with Kirsten. Telling her he didn't want to go to CCA would change the mood.

"Well, if not, next summer then. And don't let Seth talk you into somewhere you don't want to go," Kirsten admonished.

"We don't have to plan it this minute, do we?"

"No, you're right. We don't. But promise me you'll think about it, OK?"

"OK," Ryan agreed.

"All right, next question. What's the best thing in the world? Oh, that'd have to be soaking in the hot tub with my husband, listening to Solomon Burke."

"OK, that was too much information. If Seth were here right now, he'd be covering his ears and saying 'I can't hear you' over and over again."

"But isn't it nice to know your parents are in love?" Kirsten asked.

"To know it, yes," Ryan explained. "To know the details, not so much."

"Point taken. Well, what's the best thing in the world for you?"

Ryan thought for a minute. He glanced at Kirsten before turning his eyes back to the road. "I'd have to say the best thing in the world is to have a home that you aren't afraid to come home to."

Kirsten smiled. "I'm glad you don't have to be afraid anymore." She paused and tried to lighten the mood. "But that still doesn't make stealing cars a good thing."

Ryan just nodded. He knew stealing was wrong, but no one would ever be able to convince him that going with Trey that night wasn't the best decision of his life. "What's the next question?"

"Chips or popcorn?"

"Chips," said Ryan.

"Yeah, I'd have to agree," said Kirsten.

"Orange or apple juice?"

"Apple juice," said Ryan.

"Really?" asked Kirsten. "We never have apple juice in the house. Why haven't you ever said anything?"

Now Ryan got embarrassed. "I like orange juice too. It's not that big of a deal. We just always had apple juice growing up. It's what I was used to."

"It's not that big of a deal to buy apple juice when we're at the store either. I wish you had said something sooner."

"Kirsten, it's just juice. Don't worry about it."

But to Kirsten it was more than juice. To Kirsten, it was the fact that Ryan had lived with her for two years and she didn't know he preferred apple juice to orange juice. And she was sure there were more things that Ryan preferred that he had never told them. She realized she should have taken a road trip with Ryan when he first moved in so she could have found out about him. But she also realized that it probably took the two years of living with them for Ryan to tell her the things he was telling her on this trip.

Kirsten noticed a road sign. "Oh look, Cambria's coming up soon. It's got some great galleries that I'd love to stop and see. Are you up for it?"

"Sure, sounds good." Ryan really didn't care about seeing some galleries, but it would be a good chance to stretch their legs again and take a break from driving.

TBC