Ryan/Seth

"Hey, man." Ryan said, standing in the doorway.

Seth, lying on his bed pretending to read a comic book, didn't answer or acknowledge his presence.

"Look, I wanted to apologize."

Still no answer.

"And explain. My behaviour. Sort of."

Seth still didn't say anything, but he lowered his comic book and looked at Ryan. Ryan took this as a permission to enter and did so, though he didn't sit down.

"Okay, so here goes." Ryan started, studying Seth closely while continuing. "A few years ago my mom had this boyfriend. He didn't live with us, but he came over frequently. Sometimes he'd be okay and he and my mom would have a great time, but sometimes he'd.."

Ryan fell silent, and wondered what Seth was thinking. He turned his face away, but still glanced at Seth from the corner of his eyes.

"He'd decide I'd done something, mostly when mom was drunk, I had 'driven her to the bottle' again. And he'd chase me around the house. Because that's what I did those years, run away, bolt through a door or a window, but after the first few times he'd make sure the doors were locked and I couldn't get near any windows. And there was no place to run. But for a long time, I'd try anyway. And he'd chase me."

Seth was still staring at him, paler now. Uncomfortable, wondering if he'd said too much, Ryan continued.

"So what happens is I recognize the feeling, the excitement, only I confuse it with fear. I guess chemically it's the same anyway, adrenaline or whatever. So I have to stop, before I panic and turn on whoever gets too close."

Seth had definitely freaked out, Ryan decided. He wouldn't stop staring, and he wouldn't start talking.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you that." he said, mentally kicking himself for putting Seth in this situation. "I just wanted you to know I didn't mean to be such an ass. I just don't know what else to do. I'm sorry."

"No, dude, I'm sorry. Seriously, I can't believe I could be so childish, you know, whining when I didn't get it my way when you-"

"No, you didn't know, Seth." Ryan interrupted.

Hewas relieved Seth seemed back to normal, at least judging by the words/second ratio. He still looked a little pale though, shaking his head.

"I should have known. Maybe not, like, the details, but I should have known you had a reason and didn't do it out of spite or mere selfishness. Which I thought you did. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"It's okay Seth, not your fault."

"We okay?"

"I don't know. Are we? You seemed a little.. bothered by what I told you."

"Surprised, mostly. And, you know, the usual; pissed off at those people being mean to you. You and me, we're okay, but if I ever meet that bastard I'll kick his ass. No, I wouldn't, but I'd want to. What did you say his name was?"

"I didn't. It's Jack."

"What I'd probably do is to have him tied to a chair so he couldn't get away, and tell him: 'Now Jack, you'll have to listen very closely, and I'll tell you every single thing I know about Summer.' And then I'd start, and he'd scream in pain – or possibly out of boredom – before I was halfway through."

Ryan couldn't help but smile. Relieved he realized Seth wasn't going to act differently now he knew.

"Because even I realize thatdays and days of constant talk about nothing but Summer could be painful to some ears."

"Really? So why do you keep torturing mine?"

"I don't. You get it in small doses."

"If what I get is small doses I can't imagine what Jack would be going through."

"But he'd deserve it. Right?"

"Yeah, I guess." Ryan replied, quietly.

They both were silent for a while, then Seth asked, hesitantly: "What did he do to you? When he caught you?"

"Different things. Mostly he'd just beat up on me. Sometimes he made me do stuff."

"Not like that." he added hastily when he realized what Seth was thinking. "Once he made me kneel in front of him and beg him to save my mother from me."

Quietly he continued, not looking at Seth.

"When I woke up the next morning she was gone. She returned by nightfall, but in the meantime, I thought she'd left with him. She'd just been out for the day, and not even with him. I was so relieved when she returned, and she laughed at me and said I was stupid to believe him. I suppose I was."

"He was a bastard." Seth said.

Ryan shrugged.

"How old were you? I mean, the way you look, I didn't think anybody could make you do anything."

"I was thirteen. And afraid. People can make you do almost anything, no matter how strong you are, if only they scare you enough."