"What the hell are you doing here?"
The first thing that popped into Ryan's head as he looked at Theresa's eyes, obviously annoyed, was a phrase her mother and brother often muttered in situations like this. Hell hath no fury like Theresa's wrath. It was something heard often enough in their house, Theresa though sweet and calm on the outside had a tendency to explode when things didn't go according to her plan. And unfortunately for everyone, her plans failed quite a lot.
"Ryan, no one told you to come here. Get out of my room!"
Ryan for the first time ever, agreed with Theresa's family's saying. Hell didn't scare him anymore. And without a word, he backed slowly out of the hospital room- in fear.
XXX
Seth fell silent as the big yellow taxi dragged slowly through the New York traffic. There was no air conditioning, all four windows of the vehicle were wide open, giving way to the thick air of the New York summer. Seth was surprised when he stepped through the airport doors, he always though of the East Coast and cooler, in the metereological sense of course. But the humidity of the afternoon grabbed hold of his senses, diving into his breath and seeping into his clothes. And as he sat in the cab feeling the summer and thinking of Summer, he suddenly really wanted to have sex.
"Yo kid." The cabbie interrupted his thoughts before his mind turned any greener. "This is the Waldorf-Astoria. That'll be eighteen twenty six."
Fumbling with his money, Seth managed to give the driver a twenty and with a wide smile told him to keep the change. The cab driver nodded in acknowledgement and sped off as soon as Seth hauled his duffel bag out of the taxi.
He stood for a while. There. At Summer's hotel. Thinking.
Then, he entered.
XXX
Theresa tugged at the hospital gown she currently wore. She was slightly embarrassed that Kirsten had to see her like this, with her face the same color as squash and eggplant salad. But Kirsten had been sitting in the backbreaking discomfort of the hospital chair by Theresa's bed for over an hour now, and as the two talked of women issues and love for a certain blue eyed boy, Kirsten seemed to forget, except for the ache in her back, that she was in a hospital.
The two sat first in discomfort, staring at one another and searching for their voices. Until Theresa apologized of kicking Ryan out of the room, it wasn't that she was unhappy to seem him. She was unhappy to have him see her like this. He already saw her in a hospital gown, attached to machines and bags of fluid. He saw that all before and she still felt that shame.
Kirsten, with a single question, opened a fountain of words and feelings within Theresa. It was the Ryan in her.
It was the racing on their bikes.
The losing their virginities.
The saving her from Jameson.
The keeping her out of trouble by lying for her and taking all the blame himself.
The way he kept quiet.
The way he talked to her.
The way that late at night, when he was afraid of his drunken violent mother, he would climb into her window and the little boy inside him would whimper all his fears to her.
The kiss that never ended.
The promise that he would keep.
It was everything inside her that didn't understand why Ryan would just up and leave and never call. Pain caused by over five months of not hearing a word from her best friend was still ripe and fresh inside her. She carried bruises on her face and a cast on her wrist, but it was her heart that was most covered in scars. How could anyone try to make sense of a disappearance? How could your other half- your other self not call, even once? Theresa wanted to ask that of Ryan. She wanted honest answers.
Theresa could never be honest to Eddie, he would take everything personally. Theresa could always be honest to Ryan and he would take it all in. When they used to lie in bed together, just lying their avoiding girls and guys and parents and siblings, it was as if they were one. Her skin on his skin, limbs over limbs and muscles curving to accommodate each other. In those moments she didn't know where she ended, where he ended, if she ever really began. That was the feeling that stayed. The feeling that came back tap dancing on her skull every time she saw him.
XXX
Seth was whistling happily as he sat in the hotel lobby. Tapping his foot to the beats in his head, he embodied the classic emo-geek. He didn't care though, he was seeing the love of his life in a matter of seconds. With all the confidence he learned from Anna, he expertly asked the concierge to please ring up the room of Ms. Cooper and ask Ms. Roberts to meet him in the lobby. He strutted back to his table and sipped at his lemonade. The drink refreshed him somewhat, giving him at least a little comfort from the deep, protruding heat of the cab ride. But he knew it would be Summer that changed him. That made him feel like a million dollars plus change.
His head snapped in the direction of the elevators every time he heard the little bell ding. But there was still no sign of Summer. The lemonade glass was soon empty, save for melting ice cubes and a disgruntled lemon wedge. The tapping of his foot became more urgent. Where could she be?
Finally, a tap on his shoulder eased his fears of her disappearance. Summer. Finally.
He turned and his face fell. There stood not his radiant, sexy, catty Summer but a mere shadow of that girl. Bags beneath her red and puffy eyes and hair in disarray, Summer's bottom lip shook like a leaf in the wind. Without words, a new practice of Seth Cohen, he wrapped his long lanky arms around her and enveloped her in a firm hug. Surprisingly, she clung onto him.
"They found her. They found her and I don't know what to do." Summer cried into Seth's Hoobastank t-shirt. And although he had no clue what she was bawling over, he hugged her tight and didn't let go.
XXX
When Kirsten finally left Theresa's room on the pretense of getting a drink, she ran straight into Ryan, who was half asleep against the door.
"Ryan Atwood!" she exclaimed, half in shock, half in anger. "Were you listening in?"
A paleness blanketed Ryan's face, as his sad eyes looked up at her with nothing but innocence.
"Kirsten, I just got here now. I promise."
She smiled, knowing that he was telling the truth. But feeling the sad aura that surrounded him, she couldn't help but wonder where he had been for the past hour or so. As she thought, she continued her way down the hall to the vending machine, completely missing the part when Ryan slipped into Theresa's room yet again.
XXX
"Don't get mad," he said before anything else. The door was just beginning to shut behind his form and already Ryan wore his classic sad puppy look- the one that always got Theresa's mind to change. Well, it worked yet again and she didn't open her mouth as the annoyance fled from her eyes.
"How'd you get here?" she asked quietly. Her face turned serious and solemn. Ryan was taken aback by her choice of question. She didn't ask his reason for being there, or what he intended to do there, or even how long he was staying. But his lips spread into a small smile as he realized he had the perfect answers.
"Plane." The word almost caught in his throat. Somehow, Theresa just always had a way of making him forget what he wanted to say. Maybe it was her enthralling eyes. Maybe it was because Theresa wasn't just any girl.
"Ryan? On a plane?" she asked skeptically.
"Yeah. I didn't mind the height. Had a lot on my mind." He forced his eyes to the wall, fearing that if he looked at her again, all coherent thought would be lost. Fearing that if he saw her bruises he would not be able to keep himself from kissing them and promising to never let it happen again- the same way he did when her stepfather beat her.
"What was on your mind that Ryan the Boy who Fell Out of a Tree Atwood didn't notice the heights?" She asked but she already knew the answer. It was simple.
"You."
The first thing that popped into Ryan's head as he looked at Theresa's eyes, obviously annoyed, was a phrase her mother and brother often muttered in situations like this. Hell hath no fury like Theresa's wrath. It was something heard often enough in their house, Theresa though sweet and calm on the outside had a tendency to explode when things didn't go according to her plan. And unfortunately for everyone, her plans failed quite a lot.
"Ryan, no one told you to come here. Get out of my room!"
Ryan for the first time ever, agreed with Theresa's family's saying. Hell didn't scare him anymore. And without a word, he backed slowly out of the hospital room- in fear.
XXX
Seth fell silent as the big yellow taxi dragged slowly through the New York traffic. There was no air conditioning, all four windows of the vehicle were wide open, giving way to the thick air of the New York summer. Seth was surprised when he stepped through the airport doors, he always though of the East Coast and cooler, in the metereological sense of course. But the humidity of the afternoon grabbed hold of his senses, diving into his breath and seeping into his clothes. And as he sat in the cab feeling the summer and thinking of Summer, he suddenly really wanted to have sex.
"Yo kid." The cabbie interrupted his thoughts before his mind turned any greener. "This is the Waldorf-Astoria. That'll be eighteen twenty six."
Fumbling with his money, Seth managed to give the driver a twenty and with a wide smile told him to keep the change. The cab driver nodded in acknowledgement and sped off as soon as Seth hauled his duffel bag out of the taxi.
He stood for a while. There. At Summer's hotel. Thinking.
Then, he entered.
XXX
Theresa tugged at the hospital gown she currently wore. She was slightly embarrassed that Kirsten had to see her like this, with her face the same color as squash and eggplant salad. But Kirsten had been sitting in the backbreaking discomfort of the hospital chair by Theresa's bed for over an hour now, and as the two talked of women issues and love for a certain blue eyed boy, Kirsten seemed to forget, except for the ache in her back, that she was in a hospital.
The two sat first in discomfort, staring at one another and searching for their voices. Until Theresa apologized of kicking Ryan out of the room, it wasn't that she was unhappy to seem him. She was unhappy to have him see her like this. He already saw her in a hospital gown, attached to machines and bags of fluid. He saw that all before and she still felt that shame.
Kirsten, with a single question, opened a fountain of words and feelings within Theresa. It was the Ryan in her.
It was the racing on their bikes.
The losing their virginities.
The saving her from Jameson.
The keeping her out of trouble by lying for her and taking all the blame himself.
The way he kept quiet.
The way he talked to her.
The way that late at night, when he was afraid of his drunken violent mother, he would climb into her window and the little boy inside him would whimper all his fears to her.
The kiss that never ended.
The promise that he would keep.
It was everything inside her that didn't understand why Ryan would just up and leave and never call. Pain caused by over five months of not hearing a word from her best friend was still ripe and fresh inside her. She carried bruises on her face and a cast on her wrist, but it was her heart that was most covered in scars. How could anyone try to make sense of a disappearance? How could your other half- your other self not call, even once? Theresa wanted to ask that of Ryan. She wanted honest answers.
Theresa could never be honest to Eddie, he would take everything personally. Theresa could always be honest to Ryan and he would take it all in. When they used to lie in bed together, just lying their avoiding girls and guys and parents and siblings, it was as if they were one. Her skin on his skin, limbs over limbs and muscles curving to accommodate each other. In those moments she didn't know where she ended, where he ended, if she ever really began. That was the feeling that stayed. The feeling that came back tap dancing on her skull every time she saw him.
XXX
Seth was whistling happily as he sat in the hotel lobby. Tapping his foot to the beats in his head, he embodied the classic emo-geek. He didn't care though, he was seeing the love of his life in a matter of seconds. With all the confidence he learned from Anna, he expertly asked the concierge to please ring up the room of Ms. Cooper and ask Ms. Roberts to meet him in the lobby. He strutted back to his table and sipped at his lemonade. The drink refreshed him somewhat, giving him at least a little comfort from the deep, protruding heat of the cab ride. But he knew it would be Summer that changed him. That made him feel like a million dollars plus change.
His head snapped in the direction of the elevators every time he heard the little bell ding. But there was still no sign of Summer. The lemonade glass was soon empty, save for melting ice cubes and a disgruntled lemon wedge. The tapping of his foot became more urgent. Where could she be?
Finally, a tap on his shoulder eased his fears of her disappearance. Summer. Finally.
He turned and his face fell. There stood not his radiant, sexy, catty Summer but a mere shadow of that girl. Bags beneath her red and puffy eyes and hair in disarray, Summer's bottom lip shook like a leaf in the wind. Without words, a new practice of Seth Cohen, he wrapped his long lanky arms around her and enveloped her in a firm hug. Surprisingly, she clung onto him.
"They found her. They found her and I don't know what to do." Summer cried into Seth's Hoobastank t-shirt. And although he had no clue what she was bawling over, he hugged her tight and didn't let go.
XXX
When Kirsten finally left Theresa's room on the pretense of getting a drink, she ran straight into Ryan, who was half asleep against the door.
"Ryan Atwood!" she exclaimed, half in shock, half in anger. "Were you listening in?"
A paleness blanketed Ryan's face, as his sad eyes looked up at her with nothing but innocence.
"Kirsten, I just got here now. I promise."
She smiled, knowing that he was telling the truth. But feeling the sad aura that surrounded him, she couldn't help but wonder where he had been for the past hour or so. As she thought, she continued her way down the hall to the vending machine, completely missing the part when Ryan slipped into Theresa's room yet again.
XXX
"Don't get mad," he said before anything else. The door was just beginning to shut behind his form and already Ryan wore his classic sad puppy look- the one that always got Theresa's mind to change. Well, it worked yet again and she didn't open her mouth as the annoyance fled from her eyes.
"How'd you get here?" she asked quietly. Her face turned serious and solemn. Ryan was taken aback by her choice of question. She didn't ask his reason for being there, or what he intended to do there, or even how long he was staying. But his lips spread into a small smile as he realized he had the perfect answers.
"Plane." The word almost caught in his throat. Somehow, Theresa just always had a way of making him forget what he wanted to say. Maybe it was her enthralling eyes. Maybe it was because Theresa wasn't just any girl.
"Ryan? On a plane?" she asked skeptically.
"Yeah. I didn't mind the height. Had a lot on my mind." He forced his eyes to the wall, fearing that if he looked at her again, all coherent thought would be lost. Fearing that if he saw her bruises he would not be able to keep himself from kissing them and promising to never let it happen again- the same way he did when her stepfather beat her.
"What was on your mind that Ryan the Boy who Fell Out of a Tree Atwood didn't notice the heights?" She asked but she already knew the answer. It was simple.
"You."