I don't own anything from the O.C.

Chapter 1 Flight Preparations

Ryan gripped the arm of his seat and closed his eyes. He flinched as he felt Seth's hand landing heavily on his shoulder. "Dude, we aren't even on the airplane yet." Ryan opened his eyes and stared around the departure lounge of John Wayne Airport. He saw parents and their children all anticipating a vacation away from sunny California. Ryan turned back to his brother, "I know man. I'm just preparing myself. Quit bugging me."

"Whatever man." Seth turned up the volume on his ipod and nodded along to the beat. Sandy and Kirsten were both visibly engrossed in a crossword puzzle. Ryan went back to his flight preparations.

The previous night at the Cohen's they had all packed their suitcases. Kirsten was frantically running through the house double-checking locks on windows and doors. She inspected both her and Sandy's suitcases twice before tearing into Seth's room and ripping open his to ensure he hadn't forgotten anything.

Ryan saw Kirsten charging through the kitchen and then out toward the pool house. He knew what was coming. "Kirsten, I have everything I'm gonna need. I promise."

"I know, I know but I just wanna check that you have enough underpants and stuff." She explained. Ryan smirked, "Kirsten, don't say underpants." Kirsten laughed and flipped open the lid of his almost empty suitcase apart from three white wifebeaters and two pairs of black jeans. Kirsten sighed and looked up at Ryan who was shuffling about nervously. "Well this is never gonna work."

Seth sat defiantly in his seat, "I still don't know why we can't just borrow Grandpa's jet!" he moaned

"Seth." Sandy said warningly. Kirsten sighed and began, "We've been through this Seth. Your Grandfather is using his jet in Paris and then he's taking Julie to Milan for a shopping trip. Now quit being a snob. We're flying coach and that's that. Suck it up."

"Point to The Kirsten." Sandy laughed and ruffled his Seth's hair who tried desperately to swat him away. Seth slumped back in his seat defeated and rolled his eyes. Ryan groaned, "Bahamas here we come!"

Ryan breathed steadily in and out before fastening the metal seatbelt belt around his waist a little too tightly. He decided to loosen it a bit since he was beginning to have trouble breathing. The four of them sat in the middle row with Sandy and Seth at the aisle and Kirsten and Ryan in the middle. "Stuart Little and ... Shrek." Kirsten said triumphantly. Ryan turned to look at her perplexed, "Huh?"

"The in-flight movies. We're getting to see Stuart Little and Shrek." Ryan looked at her blankly before asking, "How are we supposed to watch a movie on an airplane?" Kirsten smiled remembering that this was Ryan's first flight. "If you look up you'll see little squares on the ceiling above your head. Those flip down and you can watch the movie there. To hear it you just plug your earphones into the arm of your seat." Kirsten stopped noticing Ryan's embarrassed expression before reaching into her bag and pulling out a handful of comic books, "These should keep you both occupied while we're waiting to take off."

Ryan looked up from his copy of Legion and turned to Seth, "We're moving!" He said panicked.

"Well Ryan I know that this is your first flight but I have to tell you that the process of flying does involve some movement... hey man are you okay?" Ryan again clutched the arm of his seat and closed his eyes. He heard the engine revving and he was forced back into his seat. He swallowed hard as he felt the plane lift into the air. His stomach wretched and his chest tightened. "Ryan sweetie you've gone kinda green. Are you gonna throw up?" Ryan heard Kirsten's voice faintly and he shook his head vigorously immediately wishing that he hadn't. He squeezed his eyes tight. He began to break into a cold sweat and his chest constricted even more. He felt Kirsten's hand on his forehead and he couldn't breathe, "Ryan relax. Trust me just breathe." She soothed. He tried to take a breath but it made him feel dizzy as he watched the cabin twirl around him. Kirsten saw Ryan's eyes roll begin to roll and she thrust his head between his knees and rubbed his back. His dizziness subsided and his chest loosened. Oxygen suddenly flooded into his lungs and he threw himself back onto the seat. He opened his eyes to find that Seth had gone very white and Sandy was rummaging around in Kirsten's bag. Kirsten was smoothing his hair back and checking his temperature with the back of her hand. Sandy found what he was looking for and handed it to Kirsten. When Kirsten turned back to him she was unscrewing the cap off of a bottle of water. She handed it to him and kissed his forehead. "See? It's not that terrifying. We're up in the air now."

"I haven't seen this movie in ages man. You should totally watch this. I'm telling you Stuart Little is NOT just for kids." Seth said excitedly while chewing some dry chicken. Ryan ignored Seth and leaned over to Kirsten, "Now I know why people bring their own snacks on flights." Kirsten smiled and popped a baby potato into her mouth, "It's not so bad," she replied, "the cheesecake's pretty good." Kirsten motioned to the space on her tray that used to hold the square of strawberry cheesecake, which was now empty except for a few crumbs. Ryan stared and then looked over at her chicken and potatoes that had barely been touched. Ryan looked up at her sternly, "What do you always say about dessert before dinner?" Kirsten merely laughed and protested that the chicken was far too dry to possibly eat. Ryan looked at her sceptically before pointing out, "You'd think that you'd be used to it by now considering your cooking skills... hey!" Ryan ducked as Kirsten attempted to smack him.

They were now two hours into the flight and Shrek was just starting. Seth sat back in his seat happily and sang the opening tune. Sandy's head was flung back in his seat asleep and he was snoring softly. Kirsten was singing along to her CD player, "Now I'm... Now I'm sh...sh...shakin' sh...shakin I'm sh...sh...shakin...sh...shakin'"

"MOM!" Seth said outraged. Kirsten jumped and pulled the earphones off.

"What?" she said panicked, "What's wrong?"

"Okay. First of all. Shhhh! There are people present. They don't really wanna listen to you wailing along to your Walkman and most importantly... Rooney? Have you been going through my CD collection at all?"

"Seth this is my CD!" Kirsten replied indignantly, "I actually got it from you! In your Seth Cohen starter pack. Remember? It was my Chrismukkah gift? It's your own fault that I've grown quite accustomed to your music." Kirsten finished triumphantly and popped her earphone back in and continued to sing even louder than before. Seth stared around exasperated, "Mom! Do you live to torture me?" Sandy who had woken up and listened in on their conversation leaned over and whispered to Ryan, "That's why I love her."
Later on in the flight, mid-way through Shrek and after the rubber chicken had been cleared away, Ryan leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes deciding that flying 90,000 feet in the air wasn't so bad when he felt someone's head resting on his shoulder. He opened his eyes to find Kirsten on his right mumbling slightly in her sleep. Ryan tilted his head to see Sandy again with his head flung back on his seat and his mouth wide open asleep and then to Seth who was so engrossed in a joke in the movie about onions that he was entirely oblivious to his surroundings. Ryan turned back to Kirsten who had now laid her hand on his chest and he leaned on hers and dozed silently off to sleep.

Sandy grimaced at Ryan's pale complexion, "It's not as bad as taking off. Landing is a doddle. Honestly." He raised his massive eyebrows as if to reassure him but Ryan put his head back onto his seat feeling much less than convinced. Ryan chewed hard on the gum that Seth had given him. It was a thick pink bubblegum and Ryan hated it but it kept his mouth occupied and he thought that the longer he did that the less chance of him throwing up. Ryan tightened his grip on Kirsten's hand.

"Well you didn't pass out this time. That's an improvement. "Sandy tried to reassure as they waited for the keys to their rented Jeep. Ryan acknowledged his comment with a grimace as his stomach lurched again and he walked out side to find Seth doing tricks on his skateboard. "I can't believe you brought that thing man." Ryan teased. Seth flipped his board into his hand and said simply, "Until I get a car. This is my baby."

When the Jeep was loaded Sandy sat in the drivers seat and turned on the engine before turning to Kirsten and asking, "How do we get to our hotel?" Kirsten turned to Sandy and laughed, "I think you'd better let me drive."

When they pulled up outside their hotel Ryan thought it looked less fancy than he had expected. Sandy noticed his surprised expression and said, "We don't come on vacation to stay in our hotel room all day so we don't see the point in paying thousands of dollars for a bed for a fortnight." Ryan looked at him unconvinced and Sandy confessed, "It's clean and it's all we could get last minute." Ryan thought that this was a more believable answer and he got out of the car and helped unload the suitcases.

R&R whether you like it or not and i'll be glad to take any pointers on where you want this to go. Thanx for reading!