Okay, so have I said how fabulous your reviews are? I really enjoy getting them. Thanks so much. I thought I would update again, being that I had a day off (it was so kind of the country to get together and celebrate my birthday this year. It was extremely unnecessary). Tomorrow it's back to the grind. So the update will be slower in coming.
Just a note as you read below. I'm not a lawyer. I have no knowledge of the law. I don't know any lawyers. Therefore, if you find any technical problems with what I've written below, please chalk it up to the willing suspension of disbelief. As usual, I don't own the O.C. or any of its characters. I own some of mine and took the liberty of dropping them into Josh Schwartz's fiction.
Enjoy!
Kirsten sat in the kitchen cradling a cup of coffee in her hands when her husband ambled in and gave her a peck on the cheek. She smiled wanly, and rubbed his arm as he headed for the coffee maker to pour his own cup.
"It's decaf," she warned.
Sandy shrugged. "The caffeine isn't good for me anyway." He sat down across from his wife and stared at her. She was tired, but it wasn't just about the new baby anymore. Now it was about Seth. It had been two days since he had wandered in at three a.m. without a plausible explanation and despite the constant imploring and demanding Seth stuck to his story.
"Maybe Seth is telling the truth," Kirsten said, while Sandy was sitting down. Lately, there was no need to segway into this topic. It just popped up and they always knew what they were talking about.
Sandy shook his head. "I don't know. The story doesn't hold water."
"Maybe he's just exaggerating it a bit, but maybe this friend of his — Mitch — was really depressed. Maybe this kid needed a friend that night."
Sandy rubbed his chin. He wanted to believe Seth so badly; the story just didn't make sense.
"Seth always owned up to the truth when he was in trouble before," Kirsten continued. "Remember when he helped Ryan runaway and the model home burned down? As soon as he was caught, Seth admitted the truth. He didn't try and stick to his lie."
"I know," agreed Sandy. He took a long sip of his coffee.
"Maybe Ryan knows what's going on."
At the mention of Ryan, Sandy glanced at his watch. "Ryan and I have to meet with the judge today. I'll try and talk to him."
Kirsten smiled. "So his probation is over."
Sandy returned the smile. "It will be. He can finally breathe a little easier."
"We should do something to celebrate."
"I'm taking him out to eat after we meet with the judge."
"But we should do something more. Maybe a party?"
"It'll be up to Ryan." Sandy kissed the top of his wife's head. "It'll be okay. You'll see. Seth will come around." Sandy walked over to the counter and grabbed a bagel. "I'm not used to seeing you up and dressed so early," he said changing the topic.
"My dad's coming by to pressure me into going back to work."
"You'll go back when you're ready. He's got to understand that. It's his granddaughter we're talking about!"
Kirsten sighed. "He wants me to host a dinner party for a potential business partner." She toyed with the edge of the runner. "I'm just too tired to start calling the caterers and dealing with decorations."
"So don't do it."
"But if I do, then maybe I can get him off my case about going back full time. At least for a while."
"Why can't your new stepmother handle the party?"
"Don't call Julie my stepmother!" But Kirsten laughed. Sandy missed her laugh. It had been a few days since anyone in the Cohen household had cracked a smile. "Daddy said something about the house not being set up for it," she explained. Like her house was. No matter where they went, someone was bound to trip over some baby paraphernalia. "I think I might do it."
Sandy leaned over and kissed her full on the lips. "Whatever you decide. I better go rustle up Ryan or we'll be late to court. And I'll put a burr under Seth to get ready for school," Sandy added, continuing his western metaphor.
Even though Ryan kept rubbing his hands on his slacks, he couldn't get them to stay dry, they were sweating so badly. He knew the court date should go smoothly, but for some reason, he was convinced that something would go wrong. Didn't it always? Wasn't that the Ryan Atwood luck? He looked into the mirror one last time, decided the tie wasn't cutting it, and it would be okay to enter the courtroom with a light blue button down dress shirt and slacks. It was still dressier than a prison jump suit.
He turned away from the mirror and took a deep breath. You're not just Ryan Atwood anymore, he reminded himself. You're Ryan Atwood-Cohen. Everything would work out fine.
It didn't work out fine, but not in the way Ryan imagined. Court went smoothly. The judge congratulated him on completing his probation without incident. He admonished Ryan to stay out of trouble and to make sure this was the last time he stood on that side of the courtroom, unless he became a defense lawyer. Ryan couldn't help but grin at that. Before he had met Sandy, being a lawyer would never have been an option. Now Ryan was worrying about his SATs and looking over college applications. Finally, the judge concluded by signing off on the paperwork and Ryan was free to go.
The celebration Sandy promised him turned out to be an interrogation about Seth. Did Ryan know where Seth had gone that night? Why had he returned so late? Who was he with? What was he doing? Since Seth had stopped talking to Ryan after their argument, he could only answer Sandy truthfully. He didn't know. But Sandy never asked why the boys weren't talking anymore. It seemed like his adoptive father hadn't noticed that every time Ryan walked into the room, Seth walked out.
"I'm sorry, Sandy," Ryan said for the umpteenth time during their late lunch, "But I just don't know."
"You don't have to cover for him," Sandy assured.
"I'm not. Really. Seth won't tell me. He keeps saying that he was with his friend Mitch and that Mitch was on the brink." Ryan toyed with the straw in his drink. He had ordered a coke, but with Sandy's barrage of questions, he wouldn't have minded adding some rum to it.
"Do you think Seth could be telling the truth?"
Ryan hesitated. "Sure," he said, but Sandy didn't miss the slight pause before Ryan answered.
"That's what I was afraid of."
Sandy finally changed the topic from Seth to what colleges Ryan was looking at. He was surprised that Ryan was only considering local colleges, but glad that he wanted to stay close to home. By the time the food came, Sandy had been diverted from the topic of Seth.
"Where's Dad?" Seth asked, coming into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and pulled out a carton of orange juice.
Kirsten warily looked up from the papers she was looking over. Seth hadn't sounded even mildly pleasant to either her or Sandy since they had grounded him. "He and Ryan had court today," she answered.
"I know that. But they're not back?"
"Your father took Ryan out to celebrate after."
"Oh." Seth tried not to look or sound as disappointed as he felt. When Sandy had first told Ryan about his court date and the celebration, Seth had hoped he might be included. He knew there was no chance of that now that he was grounded and he really didn't feel like dealing with Ryan, but there was a queasy, left-out feeling in the pit of Seth's stomach.
Kirsten put her papers aside, hoping to have a few more minutes of pleasant conversation with her first-born-son.
"How's school going? How much longer will you have to serve detention?"
"School's fine and I have two more days of detention," Seth responded automatically, turning his back to his mother. He didn't want to talk and pretend everything was normal. But even with his back to his mother, he could see her mouth starting to open to say something else, but Seth heard his sister cry. "I'll get her," he said and walked out of the room, ending their conversation.
Seth leaned back on the grass and placed his headphones over his ears and closed his eyes, shielding them from the strong California sun. It was his lunch hour, but Mitch was in the library pulling some research together for a report he had due the next day. He had promised it would only be a couple of minutes.
He didn't hear the footsteps approach, but felt the shadow fall over him. His eyes popped open and sat up abruptly at the sight of Summer.
"Hey," he said, pulling off his headphones. "Don't you have class?"
She held up a slip of paper. "Pass to the nurse," she said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. She doubled over and clutched her stomach. "I had terrible cramps," she claimed in a chocked voice. "It's that time of month." Giggling, she dropped down beside him. "Coop will get my things for me after class."
"That is so devious of you. So tell me, why is it that you chose to use your feminine wiles today?"
Summer pushed her boyfriend down on the grass and rolled on top of him. "That's why," she said, planting a kiss on his lips. She ran her tongue over his lips and gently prodded until Seth's lips parted and thrust his tongue into her mouth.
"Jeez, I've missed you," he moaned.
"Any chance of a reprieve?" she asked. "Do you think your parents will cave with this grounding?" She rolled off of him, lay on her side, and propped up her head with her elbow.
Seth ran his fingers through her lush black hair. "No," he said, shaking his head. "I doubt it. They're pretty pissed at me."
"It was a pretty dumb thing to do," she said.
"Yep. Lately dumb is my middle name."
"Why'd you do it?" She asked, raking her nails through his hair.
Seth shrugged. "Mitch called. His plan sounded like fun. I'm just sorry I didn't include you." He leaned in and kissed her again. "I love you Summer Roberts. I'm sorry I don't get to see you more often."
She kissed him back. "Well just make sure you behave. Maybe you'll get time off for good behavior."
He laughed. "I doubt it. But I'll try."
In the distance they heard the jangle of bells, signaling the end of the period.
"I should go," she said, stealing one more kiss.
"Yeah. So should I." He didn't let go, but kept on kissing his girlfriend.
"Okay, okay, no sex on the lawn," a voice from above came.
Seth and Summer hastily pulled apart and looked up.
"Mitch! You prick," cried Summer. She stood up, brushed off her capris. "Cohen, I'm going back to class. Don't be late."
"Yes Mom."
He waved good-bye and looked longingly at Summer's receding figure. Rolling onto his back, he said, "I don't want to go home."
"That bad? Huh?"
"I don't know. I just wish I had something to get through all those endless hours." It wasn't like he was talking to any of his family members except Hope. And she was too young to talk back.
"Will some pot help?"
"It would. But I don't have any."
Mitch shrugged. "I can give you some." He opened his backpack and rummaged through it. Finally he pulled out a small Ziploc™ bag. Inside was some loose marijuana and three or four rolled joints.
"It's all yours," he said.
Seth looked at the bag and hesitated for a brief moment before taking it and stuffing it into his own bag. Maybe he wouldn't need, but at least it was there for him just in case.