Author: miss suga
Rated: PG13
This story was written for runawaylover29 for the OCSFC. The sentence originally came from Joey51. The sentence was:
"Seth seriously injures Eddie."
Disclaimer: I own absolutamente nada. Translation? I own nothing.
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Seth Cohen hugged Captain Oats close to him as he got used to being back in his own bed.
Well, he hadn't really forgotten it, seeing as he was only gone for a week before the coast guard picked him up, but still.
He lived in the wild of the ocean for seven days. That had to count for something.
His father said things would be better in the morning.
He believed him.
"Hey, kid."
Sandy pat his son on the back and went to get some toast.
"Hi dad."
"I was thinking. How would you like to go visit Ryan? He's been dying to hear from ya. He helped us look for you, you know."
Yes, he did know. He heard all about it from his mother. All about how Ryan had been a hero and guided his parents while they tried to find him.
He heard all about his fucking mission to "help" his friend.
"Here are the keys."
Seth watched Sandy hesitate to hand his own son the keys to the car. He wouldn't hesitate if it was Ryan.
"Thanks, dad."
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Seth felt as though his parents had gotten used to not having him around in that week and were trying to get things back to how they liked them.
Without him.
The smarter part of him was telling him that Sandy was going to get in a lot of trouble for letting him go to Chino on his third day back from his little trip.
Sandy thought he was being understanding. Letting Seth see his friend.
He was wrong.
Seth wanted to be as far away as possible from Ryan. He hated Ryan right now.
Still, it wouldn't be all that bad to see him.
Chino had always seemed desolate in the descriptions he had heard from his father, but never had Seth seen a place of such poverty. The rickety steps leading to Theresa's house were falling apart, and the door was scratched and old.
He almost knocked, but that was before he heard it.
A yelp of pain that came from within the house.
His first thought? That Ryan was hitting Theresa. He didn't know why, and he felt terrible for it later, but it seemed like the right assumption at the time.
A crash, a yell of something muddled by the thick door, and then another crash.
Seth reached for the doorknob with trembling hands and turned it.
The door creaked open to reveal Theresa in the corner, shaking like Seth's hand was shaking.
Seth opened the door a little bit more. Now he could hear the bitter words being spat out. He couldn't see the blows being dealt, but he could hear the screams of hatred and the whimpers of pain.
He opened the door a little bit more, and he could swear that his heart stopped beating for one, painful moment.
Ryan was getting his head smashed into the wall, and little pieces of plaster flew into the air, along with droplets of blood from Ryan.
From Seth's friend. His real friend.
"I'll kill you!"
Seth opened the door a lot more, seeing the man who was giving out the blows to his only friend.
Eddie. Eddie was hurting Ryan. Theresa was in a corner, yelling something that Seth couldn't-- and didn't want to-- hear.
Eddie's fists seemed attracted to Ryan's face. His ribs, his torso. He seemed to enjoy watching Ryan slowly change from a human to a monster.
"Leave him alone!"
Now he heard what was being said. Theresa was screaming that.
She kept on screaming. Eddie seemed to hear her, and he turned to look at her.
His eyes were savage.
Ryan, showing more strength than Seth would have given him credit for, grabbed for his ankle and pulled him down.
Seth stood there, absolutely still, watching his friend get his head slammed into the wall again.
His heart wouldn't stop its hummingbird rhythm within his chest.
"You took her away from me."
Finally, Seth took a step into the house. Theresa seemed to notice him, but she didn't say anything.
Seth's mouth was hanging open, and his eyes were wide as he saw Ryan realize where his friend was.
"I'll kill you, you son of a bitch!"
Eddie held Ryan up against the wall, and he struggled to keep Ryan still as he tried to get something out of his pocket.
Ryan fought back weakly, pulling at the two rough hands. He wriggled around in Eddie's grasp, and he reminded Seth of the fish he caught on a fishing trip that one time.
Seth took two steps forward and slammed the door.
His presence was now known.
"Get away from him."
Eddie looked him over and let Ryan go.
The heap that lay half held up against a wall and half on the ground was not Ryan. It was a shadow of Ryan.
"Seth..."
Seth ignored the desperate whimper of a word that escaped Ryan's lips.
Eddie was standing near Seth now, but he wasn't in front of Ryan. Seth could still see Ryan.
"Who the hell are you?"
Eddie snarled at Seth, and took his hand out of his pocket. There was nothing in it. Seth took that to be a good sign.
"I'm Seth."
Words said carefully, without a hint of sarcasm, without a hint of wittiness.
Eddie curled his hands into merciless fists, but Seth ignored that.
"Seth..."
He ignored that too. That little whisper that came from the wall. The wall that was now bleeding profusely.
"Leave him alone and get out."
Seth loved how he said that. As though he were a police officer, enforcing goodness in the world.
"Please, Seth... Please leave."
Ryan was trying to get up now, but without a moment's hesitation, Eddie kicked him back down.
Seth took a short, angry breath and got a step closer to Eddie.
The man looked at the curly haired boy and shoved him. It was a gentle shove. This kid did not deserve to be involved in this. It wasn't worth getting hurt over.
Ryan wasn't worth getting hurt over.
"Move."
Seth's voice was low and menacing, and when Eddie didn't comply, he took a quick step to the side and ran over to his friend.
"Buddy... Hey..."
For a few seconds, everything was good. Everything was fine.
Seth was taking Ryan's hand and patting it gently, and Ryan was looking at him with pleading eyes.
"Seth, please... Please don't..."
And then the little hourglass of hope was empty, and Eddie's rough hands pulled Seth back and shoved him to the ground.
Seth supported himself with a nearby table. It was pretty. Decorated with a cute little tablecloth.
"Get the hell out, kid. I mean it. Get out or get hurt."
Seth purposely dusted himself off, even though he saw no dust on himself.
He strode over to Ryan's side, not deterred when Eddie shoved him back again.
And again.
And again.
Seth stood up again, faltering just a little bit.
"Seth!"
Ryan Atwood was actually crying. Small tears were exploding from his eyes like those bombs that Seth heard about. The ones that had never gone off, for all those years? Just waiting for someone to touch them, and then...
Bam?
Like that.
"Hey, Ryan. It's alright, man. It's gonna be cool."
Seth gave Eddie a glare and ducked down to sit next to his friend. His best friend.
He had learned all about ducking from the jocks. You ducked your head and maybe that way, you could avoid a punch to the face.
"I'm sorry..."
Seth clasped his friend's hand and told him to shut up.
Everything was gonna be ok.
And then Eddie turned him around and punched him in the face.
"Get the hell out!"
The scream was much too despondent to be coming from a man who had everything in control, and so Seth responded to the empty threat by punching back.
The two were brawling in no time, and it surprised Seth how much damage he could do with his two hands.
And, well, his foot.
"No, don't... Please Eddie... Please don't hurt him."
That was all Seth could hear when Eddie had his forearm over his throat.
It was all he could hear when he saw him fumble with a pen knife in his pocket.
"Kill me instead! That's what you..."
This was all wrong. There wasn't supposed to be a pen knife. Ryan wasn't supposed to be held up by a wall. Theresa... well Theresa was supposed to be calling the cops. That was good.
"He's just a kid... Don't hurt him."
That was what he heard. Did he hear that correctly? He was older than Ryan, and he was calling him a kid.
Eddie disputed with his original idea of what to do with the knife.
Just a kid? Seth was not just a kid. He was not.
Would a kid take the pen knife away from Eddie? I think not.
"Seth... What..."
Now everything was wrong. Now Seth's heart was beating much too hard. Now everything was moving too quickly. This was definitely not supposed to happen.
The knife wasn't supposed to slide into Eddie.
No. No, this was wrong. This was all wrong. Eddie's eyes were wide, and he fell on top of Seth.
The handle of the blade dug into Seth, and he whimpered in pain.
"Oh god."
Seth pushed the unconscious man off him and fell to the ground.
From his spot on the cold, cold floor he could see Ryan, eyes formed into small slits, looking at nothing in particular. Then they closed.
They closed, and Seth wobbled over to his friend.
"Ryan?"
When he got no response, his own eyes welled with tears.
"Ryan? Ryan, buddy, wake up. It's ok now."
A grunt, a small whimper, and a shaking hand. But no open eyes.
They were swelling shut.
One of them was, anyways. Oh, this was not good. Definitely not good.
"Seth..."
Seth nodded and smiled. He rested Ryan's head in his hand and on his lap and tried to wipe some blood away.
He yelled at Theresa to make sure Eddie was alright. She nodded.
"You ok?"
That seemed an odd question for Ryan to ask, considering.
Ryan closed his eyes again, and Seth smacked him lightly.
"Don't you go falling asleep on me or anything. This isn't like one of those boring movies you start snoring over."
A small chuckle. A groan, and a look from left to right.
"This isn't right."
"Tell me about it."
"What's going on?"
Seth didn't answer that. The police were taking way too long. Theresa was looking for something.
A pen knife on the ground was covered from the end of the handle to the very tip of the blade. With blood.
Theresa had a wad of towels, and she put them over the patch of blood on Eddie's torso. Seth shuddered and turned back to his friend.
His brother. Ryan Atwood. No, Ryan Cohen. That didn't sound right. Ryan Atwood-Cohen.
This was retarded. Why was he thinking about this now? Where the hell were the cops?
"Seth?"
Ryan seemed alert now. He seemed to notice Eddie on the floor and he looked at him.
Piercing blue eyes that seemed to understand what was going on.
"Eddie? What..."
Seth told him to shut up and to not pay attention to Eddie. He asked him where it hurt, and Ryan laughed, grimaced.
"Everywhere, man."
So his little stint with the knife made him a man, huh?
"...And I think my nose is broken..."
Seth realized he'd been looking at nothing for the past minute.
Where the fuck were the damn cops?
Wait a second. Seth didn't want the cops. He'd stabbed someone. He was going to go to jail. This was definitely not good.
He looked at Ryan.
"Yeah, that's too bad, kid. 'Cause your nose was so nice to begin with."
Another few seconds of laughter from Ryan. He didn't seem to mind being called a kid.
The laugh ended with a sharp intake of breath, and Ryan clamped his eyes shut.
"Dizzy..."
Seth brushed some of his hair away from his bloodied forehead and nodded.
"Everything's fine though, Ryan. Don't worry."
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More soon? Yes. Hopefully.