Author's Note: omg, i'm so sorry for the mix-up about this chapter. i had no idea until i read the reviews that i had posted the wrong chapter up. i'm so sorry. :( i promise more chapters soon. sorry, college apps have taken over my life.
He always teased her for snoring, but she never did. She was the vision of an angel to him, even more so when she was asleep. With her dark lashes spread over her pillow soft cheeks and her hands curled across her tiny chest, he felt the need to watch over her forever. To keep her close and safe. To make sure she smiled.
When Ella entered the world, Ryan's heart was being ripped in too many directions.
The Cohens pleaded with him constantly to come back to Newport. To go back to school. To go home.
Theresa didn't plead with him. She never even asked him to stay. In truth, she never asked him to leave Newport in the first place. She never needed to. Ryan would do anything she asked of him, anything he knew she needed. He could always tell- until Ella was born.
That day, Theresa drenched in sweat sleeping soundly on the hospital bed. Ella wrapped in miles of soft pink blankets, fast asleep in her bassinet. Ryan forgot what it meant to be sad. What it meant to be worried or concerned for anything except his blue eyed doll wrapped in her pink blankets.
Ella was everything. Ryan could never tear himself away from her, not when she was with Theresa, not while he was at school. She was the constant face in his mind. The constant laughter that rang in his ears.
So why was it, that with his life's joy asleep in front of him, he was thinking of someone else?
XXX
Summer was never Ryan's favorite Newport person. He first met her as "Seth's Crush". And then she developed into "Marissa's Best Friend". Then she became "Seth's Girlfriend". And soon enough, was "Seth's Ex-Girlfriend".
To Summer, Ryan had always just been "Chino". At first Ryan wasn't sure how to take the nickname. It seemed almost derogatory the first few times Summer mumbled it under her breath. A dirty place that she would never step food in. But in due time, it became just another Summer-ism, as Seth dubbed it. Chino was Ryan. Ryan was Chino. It was simple to her.
Ryan didn't understand many things about Summer- her need for platform shoes and seaweed wraps, why she loved Seth, why she left Seth, why she left Newport- but he understood how some things were just simpler than how everyone perceived them to be. His silence was a simple thing – he didn't like to talk. Everyone else sought deeper meanings to it. But it was simple. The same way that he was Chino. To her it was simple. And he could respect that.
What wasn't so simple right now, was Ryan's anxiousness. He sat on the foot of his own bed, watching his baby girl sleep. To any father, it would have been a relaxing and peaceful activity. Yet his hands twisted unto one another and his leg continuously bounced on and off the ground.
Summer was coming over to his apartment. Summer had just spent the afternoon shopping with him. She spent the afternoon playing with his daughter and livening up his day. Summer was coming over to his apartment. Summer was going to be there soon.
He smiled to himself, shaking his head. Maybe he needed to spend more time with people his own age. One interaction and he was shaking with delight. That wasn't right. Especially since it had been with Summer. Yes, that was it. He was just excited about being someone his own age. His friend. Exactly.
XXX
Halfway to Chino's apartment, she just wanted to speed back unto the freeway and head to San Francisco. But she never did. She just steered the blue BMW down the roads that Ryan had dictated over the phone and searched for the "blue one" as Ryan so articulately described.
His quiet nature had gotten on her nerves back in high school. But at the mall, it had been a great relief. Since she had returned to Newport she was surrounded by nothing but her father's endless lectures and the stepmother's annoying gossip. The malls even seemed loud. Ryan was a huge sigh of relief.
She had glimpsed for a moment, how he spoke with his eyes. It was in the moment that he thought she hadn't been looking that she saw the real Ryan.
Summer had been sitting on a bench, watching as Ryan searched the Disney Store for his daughter. And as he turned to her direction, for just a second, she saw everything he was thinking.
He was twenty two. Her age. He had a four year old daughter. He had an apartment. He was trying his best to continue at college. He was tired of being grown up. He was grown up. He was so many more things than anyone could expect him to be and still he wanted to be more.
His eyes said that.
She saw it and understood it. She knew that Ryan was someone she wanted to be around now. She knew that there was something about him that made her comfortable. She knew that it would be good to be around him. She knew that it would definitely be good.
"The blue one," she scoffed pulling the car over. "Like, that's so periwinkle."
XXX
"So Chino, this is where you live?"
He looked at her and nodded. She had been in the apartment for almost five minutes and asides from "hello" this was the only comment she had made.
"It's nice," she said with a smile, but the wrinkle in her nose made it obvious that there were different adjectives she wanted to use.
"Nice?" he challenged her. He knew she couldn't keep her sweet façade up for long. A Summer-ism would soon emerge.
"Well, like, you totally need a decorator," she said matter of factly. "But as of right now, it's nice."
"Thanks Summer." He gave a half smile. "I think." He hadn't meant to be funny, but she giggled in return. "What is it?" His eyes confused at her laughter.
"You're studying architecture and this place is so Spartan. Kind of ironic, don't you think?"
"Architecture and interior design are two separate things." It was his turn to sound self assured and knowledgeable.
"Oh." He couldn't help but smile as she realized her mistake. "Well, if you're nice, I'll help you decorate."
"What do you mean if I'm nice?" his voice was defensive. "I'm always nice!"
He gestured to the room, in a kind reminder that he had invited her to his home. That had definitely been a nice gesture. He even cleaned up – himself as well as the house. A new black polo shirt sat snugly against his shoulder and his legs were hidden beneath a clean pair of jeans. As always, he looked effortlessly good. And this time, Summer noticed.
"Yeah, yeah." She rolled her eyes. "If you're so nice, you won't mind if I grab a Coke?"
She didn't bother to wait for an answer but made her way from the living room couch which they had been sitting on, to the small kitchenette adjacent to it. Opening the refrigerator she pushed aside boxes of apple juice and a case of beer, poking around for a Coke.
"You don't have Coke?"
He stayed silent. She raised an eyebrow.
"You don't have Coke?"
He looked her straight in the eye and replied, "I'm a bachelor with a four year old."
Involuntarily a fountain of giggles burst through her lips. "Oh, I've missed you Chino."