Our Choices Chapter 3: The Attempt, an o.c. fanfic

A/N

Hi everyone…I thank you for all your reviews, however short they always mean the world to me. I'm sorry to say that I did lose a reader due to the fact of my lack of proof reading and that makes me disappointed. I know that reader won't be reading this, but I will try and work on my spelling and grammar etc. I have never been great with those

MUST READ…

Like I said at the end of the chapter I will be moving away from the plot line from the OC and trying to follow my own. But I will stick to some of the same things. Please bear with me as I have school work I need to do and I don't have a heap of time for my Fanfic, but I try and put in as much time as I can. I making an apology for any time errors I make, like dates in the show, I'm not so good with them, just try and bear with me. Ohhh, and I think I may end up cutting a whole lot of the parental Sandy Caleb, and Kirsten stuff. My focus is just the "kids".

Chapter Three: The Attempt.

The Sunday morning sun rose and shone over the Cohen household. Seth awoke with a smile on his face, he and Summer had found their peace, and they'd danced all night before she left. He walked briskly down to breakfast. The Kitchen was empty; he shrugged it off and made himself a cup of coffee. He flipped through the Newspaper while he sipped his morning kick start. As he poured himself his second sup his father came in.

"Morning dad, and a fine morning if I do say so myself." Seth said chipper. His father gave him a look and Seth got a little worried. "What happened?" Seth asked slightly worried.

"I had an argument with Ryan last night; I think I was a bit rough on him." Sandy said full of worry. "I'm ganna bring him a bagel and some coffee.

"I have said this before; when Ryan wants to talk he'll come to you…" Seth said trying to comfort his father. "Besides, I want to talk to him." Seth said poring another cup of coffee, he left with the two cups and knocked on the door, when he got no answer he spoke.

"Hey man, I hope your decent cause I'm coming in." he pushed open the door only to find it empty. The bed sheets were ruffled but it didn't really look like someone had slept in it. He set Ryan's coffee down and went to look in the bathroom, empty. Seth sipped his own coffee and look at one of the draws of Ryan cloths. He wouldn't…would he? Seth thought to himself. Slowly he walked to the draws and opened it very slowly, empty. His hands went limp and the coffee mug came crashing down, he jumped back, fighting back tears. Sandy came quickly in.

"I heard…" Sandy started but when he saw Seth leaning against the draws fighting back tears he stopped dead in his tracks. Seth violently flung an empty draw at his father, who deflected it, but then he through another and another till there were no more to throw. Tears welling in his eyes he ran quickly back to his room. He flung himself on his bed and pulled saw Captain Oats staring at him from his bed side dresser.

"I guess he didn't really like it here, hey Captain Oats you'll never leave me right? ...nah I didn't think so, I mean were you ganna go?" Seth said to himself.

Sandy didn't know what to think; he ran after Seth but stopped when he saw his wife.

"Sandy what's going on?" She asked tiredly. Her eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep.

"Ryan, he…he's gone again." Sandy said sadly.

"No…" Kirsten said pushing past him, towards the pool house. But Sandy stopped her.

"There's nothing left…all his stuff is gone." Sandy said pulling his wife into a hug, she sobbed more and fell to her knees. He just held her while she let out her pain.

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Ryan rode his bike all night just riding; he got to a bus stop and decided the bike wasn't working for him. He had saved money from working he had some from presents, and he found some lying around, he grabbed it with the full intention of paying it back someday. When he was living in Chino, he had acquired a fake ID he hadn't told anyone about. Now his name was, Colin Sanders. He pulled up to the ticket box.

"Good morning Sir, how can I help you?" The ticket clerk asked happily.

"Ah…is there a bus leaving for Austin, Texas, soon?" Ryan asked nervously.

"There is a direct bus to…Texas but it doesn't leave till tomorrow." The clerk said.

"Umm, is there anything that leaves today that can connect me to Austin?" Ryan asked hopefully.

"Let me check…" She typed away at her computer for a few minuets. "There is a bus which leaves in two hours and goes to Nevada, then you can get a connecting bus to Austin…but…I know I shouldn't say this but the booking is late notice and its ganna be very pricy. I think you would be better off catching a plane." The girl whispers to Ryan.

"Thanks…" Ryan says leaving quickly. He pulled his bag over his shoulder and bikes in the direction of the airport. He reached it, his legs aching from the ride, and puts his bike in the bike racks. He walked into the airport and went to the ticket desk.

"Hello, how may I help you?" The desk clerk asked.

"When is the next flight to Austin?" Ryan asked. The clerked typed at his computer.

"Ahh, you just missed one the next one isn't till later tonight...at 7 o'clock."

"How much?" Ryan asked.

"$450" The clerk said. Ryan got out his wallet. "And I'll need to see some ID."

"Yeah…here." Ryan handed him the money and his fake ID.

"Thank you Mr. Sanders, your check in time is at 6:15pm. Will you be checking in any baggage? " The clerk said handing him his ticket and ID.

"Can I get a bike on?" Ryan asked.

"You can but it would require a fee of $200." The clerk informed Ryan.

"Oh never mind, Thank you anyway…" Ryan said. He put the ticket into his backpack and headed towards the bathroom; he took a piss and then splashed his face with water from the taps. His eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep; he figured he needed some sleep. He decided to wait outside the terminal, he wasn't aloud to go through the metal detectors yet so he decided to find a nice corner to sleep in. He sat alone in the corner and drifted off to a light sleep.

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Kirsten sat in the kitchen dressed tears in her eyes; Sandy was on the phone with a Private detective he knew, he had already called the hospital and police station. Sandy hung up the phone and Seth walked in.

"Seth, how are you?" Sandy asked. Seth just ignores him and gets himself a cup of coffee. "Seth come on, you can't just ignore me…"

"Sure I can…you drove him out, now I have no real friends anymore…" Seth said, the cabinet was slammed shut by Sandy's hand.

"I didn't…it was…" Sandy tried to explain.

"An accident…hardly, he's gone now…I'm going out…" Seth said putting his coffee down. He picked up the car keys from the counter and left.

He pulled out of the drive way and drove to Summer's. He parked out front and jumped out. He walked up to the door; it was answered by a woman who seemed to wobble a little when she opened the door.

"Yes?" she asked impatiently. She took a sip of her drink, what looked like a long island tea.

"Is Summer home?" Seth asked taken aback.

"In her room." The woman said walking away from the door. Seth entered the house and made his way to Summer's room. He knocked on the door.

"Come In!" a voice yelled from the other side.

"Hey Summer…" Seth said glumly.

"Cohen? What's the matter?" Summer asked sitting up from her bed.

"Ryan's gone." He said hugging her.

"Like gone out for take out or gone, gone?" Summer asked slightly confused.

"Like run away gone, he and my dad had a fight last night and now he's gone. Nothing is left in his room; you wouldn't know he had ever been there." Seth said clinging to Summer.

"Oh god, Cohen…dose Marisa know?" She asked hesitantly.

"No, can we not, just lie down for a while?" Seth asked.

"Sure…" Summer said making room on her bed. They lay down and Summer put on some soft music.

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"What are we going to do Sandy?" Kirsten asked sipping Seth's deserted coffee.

"Well, if someone sees him they call, so I think we could take a drive see if he's around." Sandy answered vaguely.

"You don't think he would…no." Kirsten just brushed her thoughts off.

"Would what?" Sandy asked intrigued.

"Go to one of the model homes…" Kirsten said tentatively.

"No, no, he learnt his lesson last time." Sandy said.

"I guess, I just don't know what to do." Kirsten said holding back tears.

"Let's just see if we can find him…" Sandy said.

"But what if we can't, what if he doesn't want us to find him. I guess we weren't ever enough for him…" Kirsten said looking at the floor.

"How can you say that, Ryan…he just doesn't know how to cope. He'll come back, he's a good kid." Sandy said trying to believe his own words.

"So you keep saying." Kirsten said.

"Let's go and look for him." Sandy said turning to leave, wordlessly Kirsten followed him.

Sandy and Kirsten drove around for an hour or so, looking…hoping. Seth stayed with Summer, he couldn't leave and she didn't want to leave him. They lay there listening to music and just holding each other.

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"Mummy why is there a boy sleeping in the corner?" A small girly voice asked. It jolted Ryan from his sleep; he looked around and realized I was about 5 O'clock.

"Sorry...she can be a bit impolite sometimes." A woman said sincerely to Ryan. "Come on now Dawn, let's go and get a snack." The woman said leading her daughter away. Ryan just sat there now awake, his eyes were sore and his back ached from his sleeping position. Suddenly the little girl was back.

"Hey Mister do you want an M n' M?" She asked holding out a packet of candy.

"No, its ok…thanks." Ryan said slightly shocked.

"Dawn! Stop annoying the nice young man!" her mother shouted from across the room.

"See ya mister." The girl said running off to her mother.

Ryan went to the bathroom and washed his face again hoping it would wake him up. He looked at his watch and saw it was 5:30. He had 45 minuets to kill. He grabbed something to eat and a soda and sat down and ate. When he had finished it was just getting to six O'clock. Ryan had been going over the idea of calling the Cohen's, he still wasn't sure. He walked in the direction of the payphones and picked up the receiver. He started dialing and hung up…then walked a little way from the phone and then he walked back to the phone, he did this three times before he dialed and placed all the money. It rung and rung. No one picked up from the other end. Suddenly it clicked and the answering machine picked up. Hi you've rung Sandy, Kirsten, and Seth Cohen. If you would like to leave a message please speak after the tone. Sandy's voice said.

"Flight 444 for Texas is now boarding." A voice said over loud speaker.

"I gotta go, I'm sorry for the things I have done…your better off without me." Ryan said and hung up. His head hung low Ryan made his way to the gate.

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Sandy and Kirsten were got in at 6:30, and realized there were two calls for them on the answering machine. Sandy pressed the button and Kirsten sat down.

"Hi, I was after Ryan…its Theresa, but if you could ask Ryan to give me a call at…" She gave the number and thanked them again then hung up. Both Sandy and Kirsten shared a look. Then the next message started playing

"Ah, hi, it's me…ahhh, I'm sorry about everything…and I will pay you back for the money I took. Don't worry about me; I can take care of myself. And Seth…ahhh you'll be fine, at least now you have Summer." The voice on the other end said, there was a pause and they could hear faintly. "Flight 444 for Texas is boarding now." Then Ryan came on again. "I gotta go, I'm sorry for the things I have done…your better off without me." There was a click and his voice was gone. Sandy and Kirsten looked at each other.

"Let's get to the airport. He might be there still." Sandy said. They both left quickly and sped down to the airport.

They burst into the airport and looked frantically around. They both ran to the cashier, who happened to be the same one Ryan had talked to.

"Have you seen this boy?" Kirsten asked quickly.

"Yes…ahhh Mr. Sanders I think his name was." The clerk informed.

"Is he still around?" Sandy asked slightly shocked at the name.

"Ahh, I'm afraid he will have bordered his flight by now, and it is taking off in a few minuets." The clerk said looking at his computer.

"Where is he flying?" Sandy asked.

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say…" the clerk said.

"Can you stop the plane?" Sandy asked.

"Not without sufficient reason." The clerk explained.

"Is a run-away good enough?" Sandy asked hastily.

"I'll see what I can do…" the clerk said picking up a phone. "Hi, this is Mark from the front desk, I have here the…" He looked up at Sand y and Kirsten. "Parents?" it was more a question to Sandy and Kirsten, the both nodded hesitantly. "…the Parents of a Mr. Sanders, a passenger on flight 444 to Texas. Apparently he is a run-away, I was wondering if you could delay the flight and get him off the plane." There was a pause and then he spoke again "umm, he should be in seat…24A…thank you." He hung up. "They are going to get him off now; he should only be a minuet or so." The clerk said. Sandy and Kirsten looked around.

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Ryan got on the plane, he was freaked out slightly, he had a thing for heights and now he would be cruising very high at a very fast speed. He found his seat and made himself comfortable. Someone shut an over head locker and the sound rung through his head, he couldn't get the sound of the gun out of his head. He sat back trying to clear his mind, and calm down, he had been sitting for a while now when he saw a flight attendant point at him. Two men in uniform came forward.

"Mr. Sanders?" one of them asked in a low voice.

"Yeah?" Ryan asked nervously.

"Come with us please." The other said. Ryan didn't want to object so he packed his stuff up and followed them. He didn't know what to think; they lead him out of the plane and out through the metal detectors. Then he saw them, Sandy and Kirsten; both looking tiered and exhausted. His gaze turned to the floor, he couldn't meet their eyes. Great I'm even crap at trying to run-away… he thought to himself.

"Is this him M'am?" one of the guards asked.

"Yes…" Kirsten said holding back tears.

"Thank you officers, I'm sorry for your trouble." Sandy said formally.

"Don't worry about out it…" The two officers said walking off.

"Let's go home shall we?" Sandy said turning towards the front door. Silently Ryan followed. The Car ride back was completely silent. When back in the house Ryan trudged in. Kirsten went to hug Ryan but he just backed off and turned and walked to the pool house.

"Ryan, your not sleeping in the pool house tonight…" Sandy called out. Ryan stopped dead in his tracks. "You can sleep in the guest room."

Ryan turned around pushed passed the two; he walked up to the guest room and dropped his bag. He didn't feel like talking, he found a chair in the room and jammed it under the door handle into the room, Just like Chino, Ryan thought to himself. He walked into the bathroom splashed his face then, heaved his lunch into the toilet bowl, and sat back on the bathroom floor, his head spinning.

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A/N

Well how was that? Please review and again I apologies for any spelling or grammar errors that may occur. Well thank you to my loyal readers and I hope to hear from you!

Hey I was wondering if people knew the birthdays of Ryan, Seth, and everyone on the OC??? If you do could u put them in a Review?? That would be greatly appreciated