Thank you for all the awesome reviews. Pyrinsomniac, you will see that you read my mind!
Chapter Eight
Ryan tossed and turned in the strange bed for what seemed like hours. His mind was too busy and overburdened to sleep but his body cried out for rest. He and Seth and Marissa had held a huddled meeting in his room just after they had met with Caleb earlier. The emotions of that conversation, which had swung erratically from dread to anger and back again, spun around in his head, traveling ever faster but going nowhere. Seth was scared that he may not get to Italy in time, that despite what Caleb said, his parents may suddenly take a turn for the worst and die before he got there, but at the same time he was outraged that his grandfather was not going to allow Ryan to accompany him. Ryan had done his best to pretend he didn't care, that he thought it was really all for the best but inside he just wanted to jump on that plane and see for himself that the Cohens were ok.
"I can't believe that bastard won't let you go with Seth to Italy," Marissa spat.
Ryan shrugged, laying his head back on the pillows.
"He's right, I don't have a passport, I'd just slow everything down while they sorted one. Seth needs to go now…"
"I still wish you were coming with me man. It doesn't feel right. Mom and Dad are going to be so pissed with Grandpa…"
Ryan sat up urgently, frowning at Seth from under his heavy bangs.
"No Seth, I don't want you going over there complaining about Caleb. That's the last thing your parents will need. Keep your mouth shut."
"Well, they're gonna wonder where you are…"
Ryan sighed.
"I don't know what you're going to say to them. Make something up, use the passport thing as an excuse. Pretend I can't get one because…because I don't know where my birth certificate is…anything. Just don't let them worry any more than they will be already."
"Ryan's right Seth. Your parents won't need any extra worries…"
Seth and Ryan both turned to look at Marissa simultaneously, their faces quizzical. She squirmed uncomfortably under their gaze.
"OK I know that sounds a little strange coming from me…"she trailed. The boys laughed for the first time since they'd arrived.
Seth changed the subject.
"Are you going to be OK here dude? I mean, I hate to say it but you're staying in the house of the two people in Newport who hate you the most…" he began.
Ryan scowled. "Yeah, don't remind me…"
Marissa linked her arm through Ryan's. He gave her a sideways glance, slightly disconcerted.
"Don't worry Seth, I'll take good care of him." The two boys caught each other's eye and Ryan flushed slightly, shifting position so that Marissa was forced to move. She sat up awkwardly." I need to go to bed, it's late. I'll see you both in the morning."
Ryan and Seth waved their hands in gestures of goodnight and then slumped back on the bed.
"What's going on with you two dude?" Seth asked suspiciously.
"Nothing!" Ryan answered, a little too vehemently.
Seth sniggered.
"Could we be working our way back to the Fantastic Foursome?" he teased.
Ryan leaned forward threateningly.
"Nothing is going on with Marissa and me. And nothing will be either. Got it?"
Seth backed off, laughing. "OK, OK man, I get the message. But does Marissa?" he added tentatively.
Ryan scowled. "I probably need to spell things out to her huh? Living under the same roof isn't going to be easy. I don't want it any more complicated than it already is I guess…"
"Yeah right. And if I were you, I'd spell it out soon. Because if Julie Cooper gets a sniff of you and Marissa getting back together you can bet your ass she'll have you out of this house quicker than Superman can fly to the top of the Empire State Building…"
Ryan let out a heavy breath. He felt adrift, disconnected. Without the Cohen family as the anchor, what did he have to keep him in Newport? If Sandy and Kirsten were as badly hurt as Caleb made out, what was going to happen to him? He couldn't stay with Caleb and Julie indefinitely, not that he would want to anyway, but there was no way he wanted to go back to Chino either. Ryan felt as alone now as he had felt when his mother kicked him out. He looked at the clock and groaned. It was past two. He would be wasted come morning. Impulsively he kicked off the covers and shuffled over to his backpack. He delved into its depths and retrieved his physics textbook. If anything could help him sleep, this was it. He lay back and turned to a particularly inspirational chapter on Rotational Kinematics. Within minutes, the words on the page became blurry and his eyelids began to obey the laws of gravity. The book fell from his grasp and the sleep that had eluded him finally came.
When Ryan woke up early the next morning, his neck stiff and sore from sleeping at an odd angle all night, he was vaguely disorientated. He couldn't quite remember where he was, the unfamiliar furnishings that surrounded him failing to provide a clue. But the telltale clenching in his stomach soon reminded him of the events of the previous evening. He got up quickly, showered in the adjoining bathroom, and then pulled on his jeans before throwing on a clean t-shirt, slightly creased from being folded up in his backpack all night. He opened the door to his room cautiously and looked out. Seeing Caitlin's door wide open at the end of the hallway, he padded down to see if Seth was still in there. Realizing swiftly that he wasn't, Ryan trotted down the obscenely large staircase, adorned with matching life sized portraits of the Master and Mistress of the house, and into the kitchen where he found Seth and Julie eating breakfast and Caleb leaning against the stove, talking on the phone.
Julie stopped cutting up grapefruit and acknowledged Ryan.
"Oh Ryan, you're up, good. Come and have some breakfast. Marissa will be down soon and you can go to school with her…"
Ryan smiled politely and sat down at a vacant setting at the table. Helping himself to cereal, he glanced at Caleb. The guy looked like he'd been up all night. Ryan had never seen him looking so disheveled.
He nudged Seth.
"Any news?"
Seth nodded. "Yeah, Hailey just called. It's early afternoon now in Italy. She's been with Mom and Dad all morning. She says they're doing pretty well."
"That's great man," Ryan nodded encouragingly. "So what time are you leaving?"
"Uh, my flight's at two from LAX, so I guess I'll need to leave pretty soon, you know how early you have to check in these days…and first I have to swing by the house and locate my passport…"
Caleb finished his call and joined them at the table. Sitting down wearily, he pulled out his wallet from his back pocket. Peeling off several bills, he waved them under Ryan's nose.
"Here, I expect you'll need some lunch money…"
Ryan looked uncomfortable.
"That's OK, Sandy left us with plenty…"he began. Seth gave him a dirty look. He scowled back, his eyes flashing warningly. Seth might be able to take hand outs from his grandfather but he wasn't about to.
Caleb put the notes back into the wallet mildly puzzled.
"Well, if you need any more, just ask Julie or me…"
Ryan bit his lip as he nodded his thanks. He wasn't about to take any money from these people. It was bad enough that he had to sleep in their bed, eat their food. He didn't want to feel any more of a charity case than he did already and he certainly wasn't about to give Caleb Nichol any more ammunition to suggest that he was a gold digger.
Half an hour later Ryan and Seth stood awkwardly in the driveway waiting for Marissa to fetch the car.
"So…call me when you get there huh?" Ryan began uncertainly.
Seth dug his hands in his pocket, his clouded brown eyes betraying the guilt he was feeling. Guilt that he was going and Ryan was not, guilt that he hadn't fought his grandfather more vehemently about Ryan coming to Italy, guilt that he was leaving Ryan to the mercy of the Gruesome Twosome with no one to have his back. He had at least called Summer and elicited a promise from her that she would watch out for Ryan, invite him over for a meal with her stepmother and father so that he wouldn't have to suffer the Cooper Nichol "dining from hell" experience too often. He eyed Ryan anxiously. Without thinking, Seth suddenly drew his hands from his pockets and pulled Ryan into a fierce hug. For once, Ryan didn't flinch at the unexpected contact. He patted Seth on the back and they pulled apart sheepishly.
"I wish we were going together dude…" muttered Seth.
"Me too…" Ryan sighed heavily.
Impulsively, he dug his hand in his pocket and withdrew some tatty ten-dollar bills. He offered them to Seth shyly.
"Here, can you buy your mom some flowers…from me? She likes roses I think, if you can get them.."
Seth looked down at the money.
"Dude, that's your lunch money.."
Ryan shrugged. "So I'll eat cheaply…"
"You know you could ask Grandpa for…"
"No!" Ryan surprised even himself with the force of his answer.
"Well, if you need anything, ask Summer ok?"
Ryan nodded. He had no intention of needing anything or asking anyone for anything, but if it made Seth feel better then he'd pretend to agree.
Marissa pulled up in her shiny red Mustang. Ryan swung his backpack off of his shoulder, opened the door and settled himself inside. Marissa leaned over to talk to Seth.
"Tell your mom and dad I said 'Hi' Seth…"
"I will, thanks," waved Seth.
"Marissa honey!" Seth turned to see Julie racing down the steps.
"What is it Mother?" Marissa answered testily.
"Just don't forget Cardio Bar after school today. I'll meet you there, say four?"
Marissa rolled her eyes.
"I can't," she answered shortly. "I have to bring Ryan home."
Julie twisted her face into the politest smile she could manage through her gritted teeth.
"I am sure that Ryan can…." she began.
Ryan glanced from mother to daughter with an uncomfortable feeling of deja vu.
"I'm sure I can get a ride from someone," he interrupted, receiving a surreptitious kick to his ankle for his trouble. "Or not" he finished under his breath.
Julie shrugged her shoulders resignedly as Marissa flicked a switch and shut the windows, rendering any further conversation impossible.
"I'm sorry," Marissa apologized. "That wasn't fair on you. But she just gets to me you know?" Ryan rubbed his ankle. "Yeah I get that.." he answered, "Now can I say goodbye to Seth?" Marissa flushed guiltily and ran down the window again. Ryan waved a hand towards his friend.
"See you buddy…"
Julie stalked angrily into the kitchen, her body bristling with indignation. Her husband eyed her with mild amusement over the top of his newspaper. As she stood waiting for him to acknowledge her presence, he sighed, folded up his newspaper and studied his wife.
"What's the matter now Julie?" he asked, with as much tolerance as he could muster.
"You know I had hoped that now Marissa was back home and her little lesbian fling is over, that she and I could start to get along better, do some mother/daughter bonding or something.."
Caleb smirked.
"I think when you divorced her father and began sleeping with her seventeen year old ex boyfriend, you rather ruined your chances of that my dear…"
All color drained from Julie's face. She sat down weakly.
"You know about that?" she whispered in disbelief.
Caleb got up nonchalantly and refilled his coffee cup.
"Julie, there is nothing you've done that I don't know about!"
Memories of another inappropriate liaison she had engaged in over the past few months crowded into Julie's mind, causing her to shudder inwardly. Just how much of her life did Caleb know about?
Caleb took pity on her.
"Cheer up Juju. Give her some time and space to settle back into family life.."
Julie laughed mockingly.
"Family life? This isn't family life…. And it doesn't help having the only boy she's ever really cared about living under the same roof," she added bitterly.
"You're right. Having Ryan here is in nobody's best interests. But be patient Julie. I have two of my associates on their way now to 'talk' to Ryan's parents."
Julie looked at him sharply.
"Really?"
Caleb smiled benevolently. "Really. We'll have Ryan Atwood out of our lives sooner than you think…"
Ryan sat on a bench in a quiet corner of the school in the noon sunshine, trying to ignore the hunger pains gnawing at his stomach. He wished he'd eaten more at breakfast. He glanced at his watch. Seth would be at the airport now, he supposed. He'd already sent Ryan three text messages during the course of the morning, all completely rambling and unnecessary. Ryan had moved from a feeling of mild concern for his friend, traveling to see his injured parents, to the more familiar one of irritation. It was kind of reassuring. A swift thump to the side of his head shocked him back to the here and now.
"So this is where you've been hiding out Chino!"
Ryan winced at Summer and rubbed his ear, which had received the full force of the assault from her purse. She parked herself next to him, oblivious to his pain and the fact that she was disturbing his peace and quiet. Summer and Seth had no idea how alike they were.
"My God Chino, I swear I was starving in the cafeteria but now I just absolutely cannot manage this second bagel.." She held out a paper wrapped parcel. Ryan eyed her skeptically.
"You spoke to Seth, he told you I gave him my lunch money…" he replied dryly.
Summer's laughing eyes dimmed with disappointment. "Guess I'm not very stealth huh?"
"Nowhere near," he laughed, accepting the bagel gratefully.
"Can I get you anything else? A coffee, a soda?" He shook his head and smiled at her warmly. "This is great, honestly." Summer leant back, enjoying the sunshine and they sat in companionable silence while Ryan ate.
Maybe he'd been wrong to think that without the Cohens he had no place in Newport, he thought idly. After all, both Summer and Marissa had been looking out for him all day, several of his teachers had expressed their condolences, alerted by Seth's absence, and even Dr Kim had called him into her office to say she'd heard about the Cohens and to let her know if there was there anything she could do for him. Ryan began to feel a little better. If he kept his head low and tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, maybe Caleb and Julie would tolerate him, at least until the Cohens were well enough to come home.
tbc
