Ten minutes later Kirsten met Sandy outside, where he was already taking furious laps around the pool.
"Jesus, I didn't know you were actually going to be 'unwinding.' I assumed that was...code." She stepped into the hot tub and smiled at him as he watched her from the edge of the pool.
"Oh, yeah. Me and my codes. We're unstoppable. What can I say?"
"No, it's fine," she smirked. "You keep training for the triathlon and I'll just be over here by myself."
"Oh, that's so not fair." She laughed.
"I'm like three feet away."
"But...I like both kinds of unwinding. Unwinding-unwinding and code- unwinding."
"Your call, Sandy." She leaned her head back and closed her eyes.
"Code-unwinding totally works," he decided, climbing out of the pool. He joined her in the hot tub, wrapping his arms around her when she leaned against his chest. "Are you okay?" She nodded. "Okay-okay or code-okay?" He teasingly played with her hair and she sighed.
"I don't know." She paused, then turned to face him for a moment. "No, I do know. I'm not okay at all. I lost my kid. Or my...almost-kid. I have absolutely no idea where he is, and...it's my fault that he left Teresa in the first place."
"How the hell is that your fault?"
"I...encouraged abortion."
"No. No, I'd say that you did quite the opposite."
"She told me that my life was perfect and I told her that I'd had an abortion. Thus, proof that one can make a huge mistake and still end up living in Newport with a great job, an amazing husband and a fantastic son. Two fantastic sons."
"Kirsten, do I even need to tell you how ridiculous you're being?"
"I just want him to come back."
"Me too," he whispered into her hair. "He'll come home."
"How do you know?" she asked restlessly.
"Because we're his family and he wouldn't do that to us." This answer seemed to satisfy her and he felt her relax.
"I love that you always say the perfect thing," she smiled. "I would have gone crazy ages ago if you weren't around."
"I really am the greatest man alive," he confirmed, grinning. She turned around to face him, straddling him with her legs.
"We still have to work on the massive ego," she kissed him.
"Who can blame me? I rule." He returned the kiss with more vigor.
"Jesus Christ," she ran a hand through his hair. "You're on the verge of making yourself very undesirable." He held her head in his hands and engaged her in a very elaborate kiss.
"Did I just get off the verge?"
"Mm...definitely."
She offered to retrieve towels for them awhile later, and she paused a moment in front of the pool house. It hadn't really been "the pool house" for months. She entered almost hesitantly and went straight for the towel closet, finding the spotlight outside to be enough to light up the inside. This was her first mistake. She was pulling out a towel when she heard a loud,
"Fucking A!"
She screamed. Not only wasn't she fond of the particular phrase, but there was someone in their pool house. With her. Alone. Suddenly the spotlight was no good; she could barely see a foot in front of her.
"Oh my god oh my god oh my god," she cowered in the corner, clutching her towel shield with dear life. "Take anything you want!"
"Kirsten?" Jesus. The assailant knew her name! And she was barely dressed! Oh, god. Of all the times to be robbed, it had to be while she was wearing a bikini. She wrapped the towel around her, her eyes tightly shut. She didn't want to witness her own murder.
"There's a safe behind the picture on the east wall. There's not much in it, but the combination is--,"
"Kirsten!" Hands were planted firmly on her shoulders. She finally opened her eyes, and her breath caught in her throat.
"Ryan." Her initial terror was instantly forgotten and she threw her arms around him. "Oh my god..."
"Sorry I scared you," he said, secretly appreciating the inane length of the hug. "I got here this afternoon and everyone was gone. I assumed maybe...family vacation or something. I thought I'd crash here. I'm sorry."
"No, no, no," she said, her face buried in his shoulder. "This is your home, Ryan. It's not your fault that I'm...psychotic."
"We really need to work on your self-defense skills, hon." Sandy stood in the doorway, having witnessed the entire scene following her scream with great amusement. He looked at Ryan, grinning.
"Welcome home, kid."
"I'm sorry to just come back. It's...kind of a long story."
"We know," Kirsten smiled sympathetically. "We went to surprise you with a visit today and...we ended up getting the surprise, I suppose."
"You went to Chino?"
"Yeah, we left this morning." Ryan turned to Sandy for clarification.
"Kirsten went to Chino?" Sandy shrugged.
"She's a trooper."
"Sandy! Stop! I was! I thought your hometown was very...nice, Ryan. The houses and...the people and the...foliage. Everything was very nice."
"She got a little claustrophobic," Sandy explained jokingly. "And she brought some pepper spray along for safety. Aside from that, she did as well as could be expected." Ryan smiled.
"Thanks."
"For what, sweetie?"
"For coming. Both of you. I mean...I don't know...it's just nice to know that...uh..."
"We've got your back, Ryan," Sandy smiled.
"All the time," Kirsten added quickly.
"Thank you," he looked down, staring intently at the floor. Kirsten remembered her attire, or lack thereof, and started out the door.
"I'm going to go change." She glanced back at the bare mattress. "And get you some new sheets." She disappeared out the door, leaving Sandy and Ryan alone.
"So, hey, I'm sorry about what happened," Sandy said. "You need me to go back there and kick anyone's ass for you?" Ryan laughed, shaking his head.
"Naah. I just want to forget about it."
"Well...I've been in the same position as you more recently than you'd think. So if you need to talk, I'm around." Ryan glanced up curiously.
"Who beat you up?"
"I was talking about Teresa. The baby." His expression grew more inquisitive and Sandy shrugged it off. "The details...aren't exactly important. Maybe I'll tell you some other time. But if you feel like talking about anything, I've been there."
"Thanks, Sandy."
Okay. And the award for Most Awkward Leave-Off EVER goes to...ME! I just wanted to get a couple chapters out and I wasn't sure how to end this one. So I'll continue more soon. Please don't hate me for sucking ass. And please review!!! You guys are awesome!
xoxo
"Jesus, I didn't know you were actually going to be 'unwinding.' I assumed that was...code." She stepped into the hot tub and smiled at him as he watched her from the edge of the pool.
"Oh, yeah. Me and my codes. We're unstoppable. What can I say?"
"No, it's fine," she smirked. "You keep training for the triathlon and I'll just be over here by myself."
"Oh, that's so not fair." She laughed.
"I'm like three feet away."
"But...I like both kinds of unwinding. Unwinding-unwinding and code- unwinding."
"Your call, Sandy." She leaned her head back and closed her eyes.
"Code-unwinding totally works," he decided, climbing out of the pool. He joined her in the hot tub, wrapping his arms around her when she leaned against his chest. "Are you okay?" She nodded. "Okay-okay or code-okay?" He teasingly played with her hair and she sighed.
"I don't know." She paused, then turned to face him for a moment. "No, I do know. I'm not okay at all. I lost my kid. Or my...almost-kid. I have absolutely no idea where he is, and...it's my fault that he left Teresa in the first place."
"How the hell is that your fault?"
"I...encouraged abortion."
"No. No, I'd say that you did quite the opposite."
"She told me that my life was perfect and I told her that I'd had an abortion. Thus, proof that one can make a huge mistake and still end up living in Newport with a great job, an amazing husband and a fantastic son. Two fantastic sons."
"Kirsten, do I even need to tell you how ridiculous you're being?"
"I just want him to come back."
"Me too," he whispered into her hair. "He'll come home."
"How do you know?" she asked restlessly.
"Because we're his family and he wouldn't do that to us." This answer seemed to satisfy her and he felt her relax.
"I love that you always say the perfect thing," she smiled. "I would have gone crazy ages ago if you weren't around."
"I really am the greatest man alive," he confirmed, grinning. She turned around to face him, straddling him with her legs.
"We still have to work on the massive ego," she kissed him.
"Who can blame me? I rule." He returned the kiss with more vigor.
"Jesus Christ," she ran a hand through his hair. "You're on the verge of making yourself very undesirable." He held her head in his hands and engaged her in a very elaborate kiss.
"Did I just get off the verge?"
"Mm...definitely."
She offered to retrieve towels for them awhile later, and she paused a moment in front of the pool house. It hadn't really been "the pool house" for months. She entered almost hesitantly and went straight for the towel closet, finding the spotlight outside to be enough to light up the inside. This was her first mistake. She was pulling out a towel when she heard a loud,
"Fucking A!"
She screamed. Not only wasn't she fond of the particular phrase, but there was someone in their pool house. With her. Alone. Suddenly the spotlight was no good; she could barely see a foot in front of her.
"Oh my god oh my god oh my god," she cowered in the corner, clutching her towel shield with dear life. "Take anything you want!"
"Kirsten?" Jesus. The assailant knew her name! And she was barely dressed! Oh, god. Of all the times to be robbed, it had to be while she was wearing a bikini. She wrapped the towel around her, her eyes tightly shut. She didn't want to witness her own murder.
"There's a safe behind the picture on the east wall. There's not much in it, but the combination is--,"
"Kirsten!" Hands were planted firmly on her shoulders. She finally opened her eyes, and her breath caught in her throat.
"Ryan." Her initial terror was instantly forgotten and she threw her arms around him. "Oh my god..."
"Sorry I scared you," he said, secretly appreciating the inane length of the hug. "I got here this afternoon and everyone was gone. I assumed maybe...family vacation or something. I thought I'd crash here. I'm sorry."
"No, no, no," she said, her face buried in his shoulder. "This is your home, Ryan. It's not your fault that I'm...psychotic."
"We really need to work on your self-defense skills, hon." Sandy stood in the doorway, having witnessed the entire scene following her scream with great amusement. He looked at Ryan, grinning.
"Welcome home, kid."
"I'm sorry to just come back. It's...kind of a long story."
"We know," Kirsten smiled sympathetically. "We went to surprise you with a visit today and...we ended up getting the surprise, I suppose."
"You went to Chino?"
"Yeah, we left this morning." Ryan turned to Sandy for clarification.
"Kirsten went to Chino?" Sandy shrugged.
"She's a trooper."
"Sandy! Stop! I was! I thought your hometown was very...nice, Ryan. The houses and...the people and the...foliage. Everything was very nice."
"She got a little claustrophobic," Sandy explained jokingly. "And she brought some pepper spray along for safety. Aside from that, she did as well as could be expected." Ryan smiled.
"Thanks."
"For what, sweetie?"
"For coming. Both of you. I mean...I don't know...it's just nice to know that...uh..."
"We've got your back, Ryan," Sandy smiled.
"All the time," Kirsten added quickly.
"Thank you," he looked down, staring intently at the floor. Kirsten remembered her attire, or lack thereof, and started out the door.
"I'm going to go change." She glanced back at the bare mattress. "And get you some new sheets." She disappeared out the door, leaving Sandy and Ryan alone.
"So, hey, I'm sorry about what happened," Sandy said. "You need me to go back there and kick anyone's ass for you?" Ryan laughed, shaking his head.
"Naah. I just want to forget about it."
"Well...I've been in the same position as you more recently than you'd think. So if you need to talk, I'm around." Ryan glanced up curiously.
"Who beat you up?"
"I was talking about Teresa. The baby." His expression grew more inquisitive and Sandy shrugged it off. "The details...aren't exactly important. Maybe I'll tell you some other time. But if you feel like talking about anything, I've been there."
"Thanks, Sandy."
Okay. And the award for Most Awkward Leave-Off EVER goes to...ME! I just wanted to get a couple chapters out and I wasn't sure how to end this one. So I'll continue more soon. Please don't hate me for sucking ass. And please review!!! You guys are awesome!
xoxo