A/N- We looooove the reviews! In fact, we were so inspired by the reviews that we sat down and wrote the whole chapter (including getting ideas and beta'ing) in one weekend. So, keep reviewing and we'll keep writing!

A/N2- Questions! The Luke and his posse problem... will be solved in this chapter. And the whole KirstenRyan thing... also will be remedied in this chapter. Lol. Enjoy!

Just a Ride

Seth stood in front of the full-length mirror in the poolhouse, tugging at his collar in a futile attempt to have it sit properly on his suit jacket. He jumped as he heard a knock on the pool house door, and he looked at the reflection to see Ryan standing on the other side of the window.

"Come in" he called over his shoulder.

"Hey man, you almost ready?" Seth noticed how different Ryan looked dressed up. Ryan stood confidently in his black suit and blue tie, his bangs feathered nicely across his face, and his hands in his pockets. I wonder if I'll ever be that comfortable in one of these things.

"Uhh... almost... gimme a couple of minutes..." He said, still staring at himself in the mirror.

"Alright." Ryan, still having to brush his teeth, turned and opened the door to return to the house.

"Hey, dad," Seth heard Ryan say as he passed through the door.

"Hey, kid. You almost done?"

"Yeah, just have to go brush my teeth."

"Your mother wants to talk to you before you go. She's up in our room."

"Ok..." he paused and considered, "Can I go in without nightmares?"

"Yes, son. She's all dressed and ready to go."

"Ok."

"Hey, kid," Sandy stepped up behind Seth and put his hand on his shoulder. Seth flinched involuntarily; in his experience, adults touching you never ended well. Sandy is not going to hit you. Will you relax! "You look good. Except, where's your tie?"

"Oh, um...Open neck, much more The Killers. Thought maybe I'd add some eyeliner and lipgloss and make the look official." Sandy's face crinkled in confusion, but he chose to move past the comment,

"I see. So it's not because you can't tie a tie?"

"No... Maybe... Yeah."

"That's what I thought. You know, I couldn't tie a tie until I was 25. Here, let me help you." Seth turned around obediently and Sandy leaned forward, reaching for the long red tie hanging on the mirror.

"So who's gonna be at this thing, anyone interesting?" Seth asked, trying desperately to make conversation; he hated empty silences.

"Well, Ryan and Marissa...and the usual group of insane rich people."

"Ooh I can't wait. It'll be just like home. I really know how to deal with insane rich people," Seth mumbled under his breath, though Sandy heard him and laughed. He really liked this kid; Seth had a charisma about him that couldn't be beaten down, despite his rough past.

"Tell me about it. I grew up in the Bronx." Seth smiled. He was glad he had someone he could relate to, for once in his life.

"So you ready?"

"Yup," Seth sighed.

"You only think you're ready. But this is nothing like you've ever experienced." He winked at Seth and left the room, a stunned Seth gaping open-mouthed behind him.

A few minutes later, Seth stood out front of the spacious house, waiting for Ryan to come out. When he finally did step over the threshold, Seth found him scratching his head, a bit perturbed.

"What happened, man?"

"Your mom ever have the sex and drugs talk with you?"

"No... I usually had to give that one to my mom..." He paused and allowed his mind to wander to his mother, wondering what she was doing, for a second. He snapped back to reality and asked Ryan, "Why? What happened?"

"Ryan, I know your friends are all doing things that we'd rather you not do. And we're not stupid enough to think that you won't do them. But please, please be careful about it. Try to resist getting drunk or using drugs or... doing things with Marissa... It's not worth it. And if you really have to, please be safe. Call dad or me if you get drunk and we'll come and get you, no questions asked. And if you and Marissa want to do anything, just please, be safe. I'm too young to be a grandma," Ryan mimicked his mother in a mock-female voice.

"Hey, sounds like she really cares about you."

"Only child," he explained briefly before climbing into the back seat of his mother's black Range Rover.

After a tense car-ride over, in which Ryan only answered his mother in one-word responses, the Cohens and Seth arrived at the fashion show. Ryan quickly spotted Marissa across the room and strode over to her, Seth on his heels, while Sandy and Kirsten headed off in the opposite direction to chat with the other adults.

"Hey, Mariss," Ryan greeted, planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Hey Ry!" she replied happily as his arm snaked around her waist.

"Mariss, this is..." Ryan started, motioning at Seth.

"Seth. Yeah we've already met. Nice to see you again," Marissa interrupted and Seth lifted his hand in greeting,

"Hey."

"And Seth, this is Summer," Ryan spoke up again, pointing at a short brunette who had just appeared next to Marissa.

Seth had an immediate attraction to the girl. She had long, dark hair and beautiful brown eyes. He, later, would almost go as far as to say that it was love at first sight.

"H...h...hi." Seth stammered as his eyes grew wider, taking in the sight in front of him. He was so nervous around this girl and he was terrified that his infamous rambling would soon make an appearance.

"So... Marissa told me that you're Ryan's cousin from Boston?"

"Uh... yeah... Boston ...right. I'm from Boston." He shoved his trembling hand into his pants pocket and smiled shyly at Summer.

Summer stood nervously in front of him; she found herself strangely attracted- even with his rambling. She didn't know what it was. He was cute, but in a different way than the other guys she was usually attracted to. There's something about him... he's not an ass. That's an attractive quality... I don't think I've ever felt this way about a guy before. Not even the guy who I made out with last summer... Matt something... or Mike... Mark?

"Well," Marissa's voice brought Summer back to reality, " Summer and I have to go backstage and get changed- the show is gonna start soon." Marissa gave Ryan a quick kiss on the cheek before walking away with Summer.

As Seth and Ryan turned to look for a table, Seth quickly whispered to his friend,

"I think I have a new favorite season." Ryan chuckled as he scanned the room for somewhere to sit. Seth beat him to it, "Hey Ryan, who are those guys?" Seth pointed to a crowded table overflowing with well-built teenagers; a lot of them were blonde, (though most not naturally, though Ryan was) and once they all glanced at Seth and Ryan, none of

them seemed to be in any rush to welcome the new boy, "Are those your friends?"

"Umm, yeah. Well, sorta," Ryan tried to explain.

"Well then why don't we go and sit with them?"

"Umm, " Ryan stuttered, "I don't think that's such a great idea. Let's just sit...uh," Ryan looked nervously around the spacious room in an attempt to find an empty table, "Over there, near my parents."

"Are you...embarrassed for me to sit with them? Because I could just stay over here or something..." Seth stated, jamming his hands into his pockets.

"What? No! It's just that my friends, well those guys, are just... gigantic assholes. That's all." Ryan tried to explain, and was relieved once Seth put his arm around him,

"Ok. Let's go sit with your parents."

As the show began, Marissa bound confidently onstage and caught Ryan's eye, winking at him from behind her podium. He smiled at her, proud of how beautiful she looked in her long, elegant, light pink silk dress, her hair pulled back perfectly. Everyone applauded as she took the microphone,

"Thank you, thank you. Thank you all so much for coming. Every year we put on a fashion show to raise money for the battered woman's shelter. It's such a good cause, you guys and we couldn't do any of it without your support and the support of Fashion Island and all their great stores. All right, enjoy the show!"

The applause continued as Summer strutted out, giving Marissa a high-five as she passed. Her hair was up in a bun, allowing her colorful dress to be the center of attention.

"Whoa she...she's gorgeous..." Seth said to himself under his breath.

"What was that, Seth?" Ryan asked, unable to control his laughter; he had heard what Seth had said.

"Hmm? What? I... I didn't say anything."

"Uh, yeah you did..." Ryan corrected him, "You have a thing for Summer, don't you?"

"N..No..."

"Mmh Hmm... Hate to say 'I told you so', but..." Ryan lifted an eyebrow.

"Okay, I do. I think I'm in love with this girl, Ryan!" Ryan laughed heartily and punched Seth playfully on the arm as Seth sheepishly looked at his plate.

For the rest of the show, girls walked on and off stage, in different outfits, though nothing caught Ryan's attention unless it was Marissa, and nothing caught Seth's attention unless it was Summer. They spent the majority of the time talking and joking. Before they knew it, the show was over, and they were out front, walking down the building's front steps. They spotted Summer was stalking towards them,

"Oh my god, Ryan! Summer's coming over here!" Seth whispered.

"Um hey guys." Summer said, moving closer towards Seth.

"H...hey...S..Sum..Summer."

"Well, my friend Holly, well, Holly's parents, are letting us have a party at her beach house- you know, for all that good, charity junk we did." Ryan looked away, but all Seth could do was stare, "Anyway, I was wondering if you guys wanted to go, or needed a ride there or something."

"Uhh...give us a second?" Ryan needed to explain some things to Seth.

"Sure, Cohen. I'll be over there." Summer walked towards the big yellow jeep, piled with all of her friends.

"Hey, Seth, look, I know these kind of parties, and believe me when I say that they aren't for us."

"What are you talking about dude! Summer invited me to a party! The most beautiful girl I have ever seen invited me to a party!" Seth exclaimed; he was acting like a child on Christmas morning, "I mean, you are used to girls asking you out- you have Marissa. I have nothing like that. I wasn't exactly popular among the girls in Chino. It's all new for me."

"Hey, that's no fair. I'm half Jewish. I don't deal well with guilt. Besides, you'll have plenty of time to hang out with Summer. But seriously man, these aren't our kinda parties. They're really... hardcore." Ryan tried in vain to convince Seth to go home and play video games instead, but he broke when he saw how much Seth wanted to go. "Fine, let's go." Ryan turned to his parents, motioned that he was going to Holly's and that his cell phone was on, and set off towards the yellow car.

The two boys jumped into the back of the Jeep, and they sped off to Holly's beach house.

Inside the large home, Ryan leaned over to Seth's ear and whispered warningly,

"Welcome to the dark side, buddy." Seth, mouth agape, quickly leaned into his

friend's ear

"If drunk girls in bikinis is the dark side, just call me Darth." Ryan laughed and allowed himself and Seth to wander around the party.

"Hey Ryan, it's those kids that are your friends...sorta...but not really." Seth looked over at the jocks, who Ryan meticulously trying to avoid any eye contact with.

"Uh... yeah. Cool."

"What's the deal, dude? Why are you so...weird...whenever I bring them up!"

"Look, they are just really big jerks, and I don't really like them so much."

"Then why are they 'your friends'?"

"Let's just say it's really hard to fit in around here unless you know the right people."

"Ryan! You're using them! Bad, bad Ryan."

"Yeah well, at least I didn't steal a car." Seth laughed; he was glad that Ryan was so comfortable around him, and Ryan was glad that he could be himself around Seth.

The boys continued walking together throughout the party before Ryan ran into Marissa.

"Hey Seth, Marissa and I are gonna go walk around. You gonna be okay by yourself?"

"Yea, Yea, no... go ahead. I'll just go talk to... that guy over there."

Seth wandered aimlessly, intrigued by the activities he was witnessing. Especially all of the people sitting around a table doing cocaine. He was shocked that Newport Beach was so similar to Chino. He didn't think that the OC was that kind of place. He decided that he was thirsty and wandered out to the backyard to get a drink from the keg, and then walked out onto the beach. Suddenly, he accidentally bumped shoulders with a strong body. He glanced up to find Luke, the jock that Ryan had spoken so badly of.

"Oh, and who is this dork?" Luke said as his gang of jocks laughed. Seth only stood quietly. Growing up, he had learned that fighting was not the way to fix a problem; he had scars to prove his theory, "Come on queer, say something." Seth inhaled deeply and pulled out his strongest weapon- sarcasm,

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I was distracted by the lovely shirt you're wearing" Seth noted.

"Are you hitting on me or something?"

"No, no, you're not my type. I prefer brunettes. I was hitting on your

shirt."

"Oh, you are really funny man." Luke stood tall, attempting to make himself seem more intimidating to Seth.

"Am I, now? Well, thank you. Maybe you can help me get a job on Best Week Ever. You got connections?"

"What is your problem man!" Luke gave Seth a shove.

"My problem? Just that you pushed me..." Seth could tell that he had gone too far, and began to revert into his proverbial shell, "But, you know what, I can deal with that. I'm just going to be quietly leaving now. Nice meeting you."

Seth turned around and walked straight into the other jocks.

"Oh, you're not going anywhere, queer."

"You guys really wouldn't hurt me, because, you know, that'd be so cliché." Seth said as Luke and his cronies picked him up. "Oh, I guess you're fans of the cliché."

"Hey! Put him down!" Seth heard Ryan's voice through the crowd that had gathered, "Leave him alone!"

"Oh, Cohen, is this kid with you?" Luke gave him a weird look. "Why are

you defending this him? I thought we were your friends!"

"Yeah...well, so is he!"

"So then, you're a queer too. Never took you for one, Cohen."

"Luke, put him down."

"Or what, Cohen? You'll get your daddy and he'll get me out of jail like he does with all the other poor assholes?" Luke hadn't meant it as an insult, but Ryan took it

personally for his friend.

Ryan lunged at Luke and hooked him in the jaw. In seconds, the whole water polo team had ganged up against the muscular blonde boy. They began to punch him, collectively, before Seth jumped in and hit one right in the face. Who, he didn't know; the boys all looked the same to him.

"I thought I left this behind," Seth whispered to himself as another teammate of Luke's crashed on top of him, punching him in the eye.

After five minutes, the jocks stopped hitting; they had obviously won. As they began to leave, Luke turned around,

"Welcome to the O.C., bitch! This is how it's done in Orange County!"

"Oh boy do I feel welcomed." Seth muttered weakly; Ryan couldn't help but laugh. As the boys lay on the ground, fighting for air, he simply stated, "Ouch..." Ryan groaned in response,

"Tell me about it."

Twenty minutes later, the boys had gathered themselves and begun the long walk home.

"Nice shiner you got there Ryan"

"Back at ya, Seth"

"I haven't had one of these in a while... like... two weeks..."

"My mom is going to flip"

"Yeah... your mom seems sweet."

"Well, she's very protective."

"At least she cares. My mom...has never cared about me, my mom never cared where I was going or anything. You're lucky to have your mom."

"Yeah, I guess I am. My moms pretty cool." Ryan grinned sheepishly at his new best friend and realized how lucky he truly was.

An hour later, when they reached home, Seth beat a hasty retreat to the pool house; he was exhausted from the night's activities.

Meanwhile, Ryan went into his room and changed into pajamas before entering his parents' darkened bedroom to find his mother asleep. Ryan climbed into bed with her, like he used to when he was a little boy.

"Ryan?" she asked groggily as he lay down in the middle of the king sized bed.

"Can I sleep in here tonight?"

"Sure, sweetie. What happened?"

"Nothing, mom. Go back to sleep."

"Ok. Night sweetie. I love you."

"I love you too, mom."

They both drifted off to sleep; Kirsten glad to have her little boy in her arms, and Ryan thrilled to be that little boy.