Seth tried to fight down his nervousness but he wasn't succeeding very well. He was going home. He should be happy. What was he nervous about?
It had been a couple of days since he'd woken up. Dr. Singh had given him the all clear. Apart from his general weakened state, he was good to go. Oh, but there was the little fact that he couldn't remember practically the last third of his life. At least he could still do the math. Maybe he should be grateful for that. He hadn't become a vegetable. If you were a vegetable, what kind of vegetable would you be?
"Here we are," Sandy announced, pulling into the driveway. "Home sweet home."
Seth climbed out of the vehicle. He was still a little wobbly but he tried to hide it. Although they were talking in low voices, he could hear his parents' subdued discussion as they got out of the car.
"Isn't that...?" Sandy began.
"My father's car. Uh huh," Kirsten finished.
"Didn't you tell him...?"
"Not to come. Oh, yeah."
Seth stared at them with a mixture of annoyance and fascination. "How do you do that?" With a shake of his head, he started walking up the path. When Sandy tried to assist him, he shook off the hand. "Don't, Dad. I'm fine."
Going through the front door, he heard a high-pitched voice floating from somewhere. "Oh, that must be them!" A group of people converged on him, but all he could see was a red-haired woman in heels and lots of make-up as she came flying towards him. A little frightened, he took a step backwards but that didn't stop the assault. She took hold of his head in both hands, kissed his cheek and strangled him in a hug. "Seth, welcome back!" She finally pulled away and continued to speak animatedly. "My God, you're just skin and bones. We'll have to fix that. You look confused, sweetie. You really don't remember me? It's Julie."
He took a good look at her face. Okay, he did remember her. Next-door neighbour. "Mrs. Cooper?"
"Right." She looked pleased. "Only it's Mrs. Nichols now."
Seth's gaze flickered to his grandfather, who gave him a small smile and patted his shoulder. "How are you, Seth?"
"Okay, I guess." He was having a hard time grasping this particular concept. "So you two are...?"
"Married, yes," Caleb filled in.
"Nobody told you?" Julie asked in an accusing tone, as she focused on Kirsten.
"We were going to, of course," Kirsten replied through narrowed eyes.
Seth was mildly surprised that daggers didn't come shooting out of her pupils, by the look she was giving her stepmother. Julie Nichols. Stepmom. He choked back a laugh at the thought. "But we didn't think you would be here," Kirsten continued. She now turned her pointed gaze towards her father.
"Julie thought it would be nice to welcome Seth back," he stated. "And I agreed."
"Hey, Seth."
The soft voice caught his attention and he turned to look at the tall, pretty girl that was smiling at him almost shyly. "Remember me?"
Mary. Marie. He snapped his fingers. "Marissa. Marissa Cooper."
She broke out into a grin. "That's right." Stepping closer, she gave him a quick hug. "I'm glad you're okay."
"You mean, except for the unfortunate memory loss?" He spoke without thinking and actually felt badly when she winced, looking embarrassed.
"Yeah, except for that," she said quietly.
Seth finally faced the last person that seemed to be hanging around the perimeter of the group. He looked terribly uncomfortable. Funny, that's exactly how Seth felt. "And correct me if I'm wrong, but you must be Ryan," he found himself saying.
"Yeah," Ryan confirmed. He came forward and made a move as if to hug Seth as well. Why not, almost everyone else had. But then he came to an awkward halt and held out his hand instead. Seth shook it, studying the guy. He did not remember Ryan Atwood at all. Zip. Nada. According to his parents, this was his best friend for the past year. His pseudo-brother. The main reason he'd taken off on some insane sailing trip. If he was all that important, why couldn't he recall a single thing about him?
"Okay," Sandy said, a little too loudly. "Now that we're all reacquainted, let's give Seth a chance to settle in." He hesitated and looked at his wife. "Should we...order some lunch, maybe?"
"Oh, I've already taken care of it," Julie spoke up brightly. "Everything's set up back there." Her gaze slid to Ryan. "We might be short one plate, though."
Seth didn't miss the biting iciness of her tone. Interesting.
"Thank you, Julie. You thought of everything." Kirsten flashed a fake smile. "Well, let's all relax, then."
Seth waved them on. "You go on ahead. I'm just gonna...check out my room."
"But you'll come down, won't you, Seth?" Julie asked.
"Yeah, later," he lied. He had no intention of being at the centre of this freakshow.
As everyone started moving off, he began to head for the stairs when his mother touched his arm. "Sorry, honey. Ryan was supposed to be the only one here."
"I know. It's not your fault."
"But you should eat something."
"Later."
"I could bring something to your room," she offered.
"Mom!" he exploded. "Stop fussing. I'm fine. Go have some brunch."
He ran for the stairs before she could have a chance to respond to his outburst. Safe in his room at last, he shut the door behind him. He stood there with his back against the door for a while, taking in the view and waiting for his memory to come whooshing back to him. But it didn't happen. Weird. Everything was just so damned weird. He slowly began to walk around, picking things up and putting them back down again. The funny thing was, he couldn't seem to remember exactly what his room had been like. It made everything strange yet familiar, like Alice down the rabbit hole. The posters on the wall were definitely different. He didn't recognize any of them. Comic books were strewn around haphazardly. Man, he still liked comics? He pressed 'play' on the stereo and jumped a foot in the air when the cacophony of sounds threatened to implode his eardrums. Fumbling for the 'stop' button, he was enveloped in silence once more, heart beating erratically. Nice. Released from the hospital, only to die of a heart attack at home.
He sat on the edge of his bed and finally spied something familiar on the bedside table. A plastic horse. Captain Oats. He still had that? And it wasn't like it was thrown in some dark corner of his closet; it was on prominent display right beside his bed. Like it was still important to him.
Closing his eyes, he flopped backwards and bounced slightly on the mattress. "Please, God. Don't let my life be as pathetic as I think it might be. Thank you."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Marissa was currently fighting a war with her emotions. Half of her was rejoicing the fact that Ryan was back with the Cohens and thus back in Newport. She wanted to throw her arms around him and kiss those amazing lips. The other half was warning her to calm down and play it cool. He had ignored her for far too long. She was still angry about that. She was, however, glad that she had chosen to wear a new dress. It was white, with tiny embroidered flowers and made of a soft material that made her feel feminine.
Julie had set up the food buffet-style. Marissa went along and filled up her plate. When she reached the end, she saw Ryan standing with a drink in one hand, plate in the other, looking as if he didn't know what to do next.
"Want to go sit outside?" she asked.
He smiled, looking a little relieved. "Sure."
"Marissa, where are you going?"
She halted at her mother's demanding voice. "We're just going outside to eat." Her back was to Julie, so she felt safe in rolling her eyes at Ryan. He pretended not to notice.
"But it's...too hot out today. You should stay inside."
Her mother was so transparent. She'd been giving Ryan the cold shoulder since they'd arrived. "I don't care. I want to get some air," she stated.
They went outside and found a shady spot to sit down. It really was quite warm today, but there was a nice breeze that kept it from being too stifling.
There was so much she wanted to say and ask but she didn't know where to start. She concentrated on eating her salad first and then buttered her roll before speaking. "So, do you think Seth is going to come down?"
"I doubt it," Ryan replied. "Would you?"
"No, I suppose not. My mother set up this whole ambush. Sorry." When he didn't comment, she went on. "That was pretty weird back there, huh. With Seth not remembering things."
"Very weird. He was looking at me like I was a stranger. I guess I was to him. He remembered you, though."
"Well, Caleb said it's the last few years he can't remember. I lived next door to him for practically forever. Funny, though. Until last year, I didn't even think he knew my name. I guess he did. We just never talked."
"So, uh, how are things with you and Caleb?"
She pushed around some pasta with her fork. "Fine, I guess. We pretty much just stay out of each other's way."
"And your dad?"
"He's good. Still with Hailey. I like her, actually. And she makes my dad happy." She chewed thoughtfully, trying not to rush ahead. But she couldn't stand it any longer. She just had to know what happened in Chino. "So, you said you've moved back here. Is it because of Seth?"
He put down his fork and sat up a little straighter. "No. It's over with Theresa. She's back with Eddie."
Easy, Marissa. Don't look too happy. "Oh. And the baby?"
"Not mine."
She watched his expression carefully. "You sound...upset. Are you sorry the baby's not yours?"
"Not exactly. I mean, I did kind of get used to the idea of being a father. I think I could be a good one." He gestured towards the pool and house. "I couldn't give the kid anything like this but I would have taken care of him. Or her. The kid would've had a better life than I did, anyway. But I guess I'm mostly relieved. It's, uh, it's good to be back."
His speech touched and softened her heart. But she still had to know. "Why didn't you ever call me, Ryan? Didn't you...wonder how I was?" she asked, her voice small.
"I did call you. Once."
"You did?"
"Yeah, about a week after I left. Your mom answered..."
"My mother!" she burst out, cutting him off. "I knew it! God, I hate her."
He held out a hand towards her. "Whoa, Marissa, calm down. You weren't home, okay? Your mom and I talked, sort of, and we agreed it would be better if I didn't call at all. If the baby was mine, I was going to start a new life with Theresa. It wouldn't have been fair of me to keep you hanging on."
"But...you agreed with my mother, like it was some sort of arrangement?" She could feel herself getting angry again, no matter how hard she tried to push the emotion aside.
"I wouldn't say 'arrangement'. Okay, she suggested it, but I thought she was right too. I thought I was doing the right thing. Shit." He ran a hand over his face. "Every time I think I'm doing the right thing, it ends up blowing up in my face."
Great, now he was upset too. She made a decision. What she hoped was a mature decision. "Let's just stop right here. Let's call a truce and...and start with a clean slate. Can we do that?"
She held her breath and didn't let it go until he nodded. "Yeah," he agreed. "A fresh start."
"Right." She gave him a tentative smile. "We'll just take it slow and see what happens. We've got another month and a half of summer left." Her smile faded a little. "Poor Seth. We have to help him."
He gulped some lemonade. "How?"
"I don't know. We'll think of something." She paused. "Ryan?"
"Mmm hmm?"
"Welcome home."
A/N: Ryan's back where he belongs. Yea! Thank you for those reviews. I'm really thrilled you're all enjoying this so much.