Once again, thank you for all the feedback, and muchtvs, you're back! Yay! And you reviewed every single update I did in one night! Double yay! Well, onwards. Oh! I almost forgot, I won't be here from the 12th of July to the 18th, so this might just be the last update for a while, so romie can't threaten me, because I shan't be here. Ew. I just said shan't.
Disclaimer: Because lately I've been forgetting it. I don't own the O.C. or any of the characters except the cops.
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Seth was led into a room with a one-sided mirror.
He was still shaking, and he thought that maybe this time it was because he was cold, seeing as there was definitely no heat in this place.
He zipped up his sweater and rubbed his hands against his arms.
They sat him down in a chair. He drummed his fingers on the table in front of him and stared at the chair on the other side of it.
The door buzzed open and his father entered, completely frazzled. Hair going in every direction, eyebrows wilder than ever, suit in complete disarray.
"Dad..."
Seth stood from his chair, not caring if he got in trouble. He stumbled forward to hug his father, surprised when he returned the hug.
Hands ran through his curly hair and he laid his head on Sandy's shoulder.
"Dad..."
His father hugged him tighter.
Seth wanted to cry so badly that nothing came out. He just shook silently as his father tried to calm him, make him feel better.
"It's ok, Seth... Everything's gonna be ok..."
Seth lost all control he had gained during the past few hours at Sandy's words. Everything wasn't going to be ok.
He had stabbed someone. Things would never be ok.
He'd always see the blade moving away from his neck and into Eddie.
Seth didn't quite remember where he stabbed Eddie.
He always found it funny how everyone in the movies always said things moved too fast when things like this happened.
He thought at first that it had all happened quicker than he wanted it to, but now there it was, replaying in his mind, in super slow motion.
Like the replays on the old basketball games Ryan used to make him watch. ESPN Classics.
Seth hated them, but it was Seth/Ryan time, and any time he could spend with his friend, he would.
He would have given anything to talk to Ryan right now.
"Sit down, Seth. It's alright."
Seth obeyed the simple command, sitting across from his father, looking at him run his hands through his hair.
"I don't know much about what happened. Just that you-- that you stabbed someone."
Seth opened his mouth to add in self defense.
But he stopped himself. No one would believe him. Anyways, he'd rather have his father see him as a cold blooded killer than a coward who couldn't help his friend.
Except he hoped he wasn't a killer. He wasn't sure if Eddie was dead.
His hand quivered at the thought of Eddie being dead. No. He wouldn't be able to handle that.
"I know it was in self-defense. Officer Munroe already told me he thinks so and that you've already got a witness that agrees."
Seth nodded.
Wait. Who was Officer Munroe?
"Officer Munroe?"
Sandy nodded half-heartedly and opened a file which he brought in with him.
"Tim Munroe. He's the police officer who brought you in."
Seth nodded, understanding.
Tim was cool. He got his cut bandaged. Seth rubbed at his neck subconsciously.
"He was nice."
Sandy nodded, not really paying attention.
"You're going to have to tell me everything you can, Seth. Everything. You can take as long as you like."
Seth frowned.
He knew full well that if he wanted to tell the whole story, it would take him quite a while. He suspected breakdowns would be inevitable.
Everything.
"What about visitation limits? I'm sure they're going to have to take me to..."
Why couldn't he finish any sentences with the word juvie in them?
It pissed him off to no end, and it would probably be a problem in trying to explain what happened.
Or what was going to happen.
"Well, seeing as I'm your father, and your lawyer, I have some leeway."
Seth nodded. His dad didn't seem angry, but he might just be hiding it.
"Have you talked to Ryan?"
His father kept his eyes on Seth's file. It was thin, and Seth hoped it would never be as full as Ryan's.
Sandy shook his head.
"At all? I mean, is he ok?"
Sandy looked up and frowned.
"I'm going to tell him eventually, Seth. I don't think he needs to hear about this right now."
Seth nodded. He understood. Or wait, no, he didn't.
"What? He already knows."
Sandy gave a curt burst of laughter and rubbed at his face with his palms, successfully taming his eyebrows.
"Come on, Seth. I'm sure the gossip mill doesn't work that fast."
Seth frowned again. His dad was in some serious denial.
He watched as Sandy read through all the information in Seth's file. He had no idea why he was doing that. He should have been looking at the police report.
"Dad. He was there. And in fact, you should be with him right now, not me."
Sandy's eyes flew up in the direction of where Seth was.
"What?"
Seth opened his eyes, his mouth.
Sandy didn't know. Nobody told him.
So now Ryan was in a hospital, getting poked and prodded. Alone.
Getting asked where his family was. Alone.
Or passed out. Alone.
"Ryan was there, dad. He was-- he was the reason I stabbed Eddie."
He hated how that came out.
Now his dad was going to blame Ryan for something that was completely and entirely Seth's fault.
"I mean, Eddie was the reason I stabbed Eddie, but Ryan was there. Well, of course he was there, I mean-- it's his house. Or it was his house. I don't know if he's going to--"
Sandy frowned. Looked from left to right, then back at Seth. Swallowed hard.
"Ryan was there?"
Seth nodded. He hated being the one to tell this to his dad.
He didn't even understand why his dad didn't know.
I mean, Sandy was legally responsible for Ryan.
"I thought maybe you ran into someone when you were on your way to Chino and they... Where is Ryan now? Is he-- Is he in jail too?"
Seth looked down at the table.
He couldn't do this. Somebody else should've done this. Not him. Not now.
"No, dad. He isn't."
He hoped his dad would get the picture. Ryan wasn't in jail, but he needed help.
He wished his dad would clue in.
"But... why would he be there when you stabbed..."
Seth sighed in frustration. If Sandy made him say, he'd break.
He was fragile.
"Dad, didn't someone call you?"
Seth yelped the end of his sentence and felt his voice tremble.
Sandy searched his pockets, seemed to remember they took his items before he entered, smacked his head angrily.
Seth jumped.
"Shit. I left my cell phone at home. I just ran out of the house when they told me about you."
Seth felt another weight of guilt. It was his fault Sandy didn't know about Ryan.
Just like everything was his fault.
He was about to cry. He knew it.
He couldn't take any more of this. He just couldn't. He wanted to go home and sleep forever.
"Dad. Eddie-- He was-- He was there when I went to visit Ryan, and he was..."
Seth shivered.
Sandy took his hand. He was the parent. He knew how to deal with this.
But the look of despair on his father's face seemed to prove differently.
"He was hurting him, trying to kill him with this knife, and when I tried to help Ryan... then he attacked me-- I didn't know what to do, and I-- I saw him trying to... and... well, he tried to..."
He couldn't say stab or he'd finally snap.
He unzipped his jacket and showed his dad so he wouldn't have to say it.
For once in his life, he couldn't speak. He couldn't utter a single word.
Well, it wasn't really the first time, but it felt like it.
Like his mouth was glued shut to prevent him from bursting into tears.
"Oh my god, Seth. Oh my god."
Seth hadn't realized that Sandy was on the verge of a breakdown as well.
Unfortunately, like hair issues and ridiculous talking skills, Seth noticed that Sandy had the same skill at getting the wrong impression of things sometimes.
At least he thought Sandy was getting the wrong impression.
He couldn't possibly think Seth was the victim here.
He was the stabber, not the stabbee.
Or, actually, he was the stabbee, but not to the same extent as Eddie was the stabbee.
This was confusing.
He grabbed Seth in a crushing bear hug, and instead of Seth being the one breaking down, it was his father.
"I shouldn't have let you go... I'm a terrible father..."
There was that paralyzing self doubt acting up. It was a Cohen tradition.
Sandy wouldn't let go, and it was making Seth dizzier than he already was.
He feebly pushed his dad away, telling him that everything was ok.
Sandy cried, making Seth wonder where his calm and collected father was.
He slumped in his chair and let Sandy cry.
He seemed to be comforting everyone today. He hated it.
He hated being the adult.
He didn't want to be. He thought that being an adult could wait until he actually was one.
Now he knew how Ryan felt his entire life, and it made him sink deep into guilt.
More guilt than he already felt.
"I am never letting you out of my sight ever again, you hear me Seth?"
Seth nodded on his father's shoulder, the weight of the words taking full effect.
Sandy wasn't mad. He was guilty, sad, confused. But angry? No.
Maybe at Eddie, but that didn't make sense. Eddie was the one who got stabbed.
"Your mother is going to kill me. I deserve it too."
Seth hadn't thought about his mother in a few hours.
He missed her.
Missed having her to hug him and cuddle him, even though he said he hated it.
He needed her right now.
"Dad. Dad!"
Sandy finally pulled out of the bear hug, still looking at his pale son.
"Ryan's in the hospital, dad. You need to be with him. Not me."
Sandy shook slightly but calmed himself after a few seconds.
He nodded and sat back down in his chair, resting his head on the table momentarily.
He looked up again, fear in his eyes.
"Is he ok? Do you know if he's ok?"
Seth shook his head.
Tears sprung into his eyes, and he finally lost control.
He didn't know anything anymore. Not who he was, or where he was, or why he was even here.
And his father was beside him again in an instant.
Seth knew he had been wrong to judge his father.
Anger? There was none of that. And now he understood what his father meant when he said unconditional love.
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