Hello again. Here is another chapter but the end is coming closer...:) Also thank you so very much for all the wonderful feedback. It's you that makes it worth writing. Thank you. Also the biggest shout out to Misty who has made this chapter possible with her terrific beta reading. Thanks girl. swenglish

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to OC. This is purely fiction and not intended to hurt anyone

Chapter 5

Seth was bored out of his skull. He tossed his controller on the sofa and sighed heavily. Time seemed to move so slow, looking at his watch he noticed that it was only ten past two and he'd been playing videogames for what seemed like hours even though he'd just started. One of the reasons why he'd lost his interest was that Playstation should be at least a two man thing (playing alone reminded him too much of the old days). The days before he'd met Ryan. That was just a year and a half ago yet it seemed like an eternity, he didn't want to go back to the old Seth Cohen, the one that was considered a nerd, the one that watched Summer from a distance and the one that you only talked to when you wanted something. That was the Seth that he'd left behind and hoped he would never return to; even though he had to admit that sometimes he'd missed it.

Looking out through the window, out to the pool house Seth decided that maybe he should go and ask Ryan if he felt up playing a game or two. Hadn't his brother said that he was feeling a bit better and that the puke feast seemed to be over? Not that Seth had thought it looked like that but at least that was what Ryan had made him believe and he could always ask. All he could get back was a no.

His mom had said that she would try to make it back a bit sooner than usual and that meant that his babysitting day would soon be over. He felt a bit remorseful over the fact that he hadn't spent much time with Ryan at all, even if his parents had been specific that should be the case. But then who would want to spend their time with someone who had their head stuck in a bucket when you could make out with your girlfriend? Not someone in their right mind at least.

Kirsten hadn't called since that time when Summer had answered, which was about two hours ago, and that was weird because usually his mom called almost every hour to see how they were doing, if they happened to be home all alone. She could be such a mother hen and there were times when Sandy and Seth teased her about it. Ryan, however, never did something like that. In a weird sense Seth almost thought that Ryan enjoyed the attention he would get. Even if he would never said it out loud.

A high pitched sound caught his attention and with a groan he reached out to pick up the phone. His mom was on the other end. Seth frowned. Talk about having a strong connection. He opened his mouth to tell her what a strange coincidence it was that she had called just when he was thinking of her, when she cut him short and started to ask questions about Ryan and his health.

This whole "caring about Ryan" deal was starting to get on his nerves and he couldn't help it if he felt a little jealous. Ok not over the sickness, but over the comforting issues that his parents seemed to have over his foster brother.

"Hi Mom…no…she left…Oh I don't know…maybe an hour or so ago. Why? No…No…he hasn't…I don't know, you know it's been a while and he…yeah he has been sick; I told you so didn't I? Okay…sure…You want me to what?" Seth shouted out with surprise. "You want me to do that? Nooo…I can't…I just can't…" Kirsten wanted him to go and check on Ryan to see if he had any fever. She wanted him to take his temperature like he was some kind of baby. Ryan that was!

"Mom I don't want to…No way! I don't even know what end to put it in." Seth knew he sounded whiny yet he didn't care. This was taking the task of looking after Ryan a bit too far. "Ok that was suppose to be a joke…you know ha ha ha." He could tell that his mother wasn't too amused. He decided to try to play on her guilt, all to get out off the task at hand. "Why can't you do that when you come home? I'm sick too you…ok…Yeah I know it was stupid but…" Kirsten was on his case about Summer and he had to bite his tongue. Why did he have to mention that he was sick? Another stupid move by Seth Cohen.

"Can't dad do it then? I mean if he comes home earlier than you? No?" Seth sighed. No matter what he said she was insisting that he was the one to stick the thermometer somewhere where the sun didn't shine. Ok maybe not figuratively but literary at least. This was not something he looked forward too and he knew that neither would Ryan. His foster brother had declared more than once that he wanted his privacy and he didn't think it would be very appreciated if he stuck the device in any kind of orifice, besides wasn't that a parental thing to do?

Seth could feel himself loosing ground and knowing when a battle had been lost he said with a sigh, "All right, all right I'll do it then!" Kirsten chuckled on the other line and she promised to bring his favourite dish of Thai food as a thank you. He tried to act like he didn't care, but she could see right through him and soon he had a smile on his face again.

Seth Cohen was never one to brood.

Just before she hung up she wanted him to call back as soon as he'd found out how much of a fever his brother had and this request made him guess that Ryan's health had been on her mind all day. But what he didn't understand, and what bugged him, was that if she was having that hard a time concentrating why didn't she come straight home and looked after them?

Ok they weren't kids, but there were times when his mother had been so overly protective that Seth didn't think he could stand being at home another day. One time he even fled to school with a fever, just to be away from his mothers embrace.

Kirsten never acted like that towards Ryan. Okay, he knew that she loved him like her own son but she often gave him privacy, privacy that Seth never got. Whenever he'd mentioned this in the past she always said that Ryan needed to be on his own and this comment bugged him more than he could ever express. Didn't she think that he needed to be alone too? Heck Ryan, who wasn't even her own flesh and blood, got to live in the pool house, while him; the master of the house, was the one that had to sleep across the hallway from his parents. If anything was unfair in his book that was it!

He'd just hung up the phone when it rang again. Thinking that it was just his mom again having forgotten to tell him something. Either that or she was going to repeat how important it was that he checked up on Ryan.

He said with an irritable tone; "I told you I would do it, didn't I?" Upon hearing who it was on the other line he immediately changed his tone. "Dad? No..No I didn't mean it like that…I'm sorry." Sandy was chewing him out real good for behaving badly and Seth listened while biting his lip. He felt like he had to produce a better explanation than he had for his mom. "It's just that mom called and asked me to..." Seth didn't have a chance to end his sentence before he burst out, "You want me to what?" Once again he couldn't believe his ears. What was this?

A conspiracy?

The-try-to-get-Seth-to-change-his bedside manner-conspiracy? Whatever it was, it wasn't working?

This time it was his dad turn to call and ask him to go check on Ryan. What was this? Did they think that they had adopted a five year old kid? This concern was starting to get a little out of hand and Seth guessed that it was because they had a guilty conscience over being at work and not looking after their precious teenage sons. "I don't know dad…yeah it's been one hel...heck of a puking feast…No I didn't cuss…I said heck and that is hardly considered a swear word in the National Encyclopdia is it? "

Once again Seth felt that he'd lost a battle and he surrendered. "Ok I will do that then." He sighed. "Yeah I know…Okay see ya then. Byeeee." He hung up as fast as he could. Parents could sometimes be a tad too much, at least his own folks.

Gathering his Playstation as well as some games Seth hurried over to the pool house. It was still raining cats and dogs outside and even though he wasn't particularly fond of the rain it beat having to go into the pool house and smell the stale air that surrounded Ryan. He didn't think that the sauna heat was too nice either and he prayed desperately to God that he wouldn't be the next one to fall victim to this particularly nasty bug. Ryan seemed to be having one heck of a time and he wouldn't want to be in his brother's shoes at the moment, even if he was paid to do so.

Being with Ryan when he was being healthy was hard enough sometimes, that was nothing compared to when he was sick. Not that he was whiny or anything, it was just that he had a sort of aura about him warning others that he wanted to be left alone and Seth knew that his mere presence was making his brother feel annoyed.

Peering into the dusk pool house Seth noticed that Ryan was fast asleep and for a moment he hesitated, should he go inside and wake him up or if he should take refuge in the main building again? Then he remembered his parent's words and he knew that he would be in deep shit if he didn't go check up on his brother. At least he could look for life signs coming from the bed. Trying to sneak in as quietly as possible he failed when he hit his toe against the chair and in the process dropped the videogames he held in his hand onto the wooden floor. It made a clattering sound and to his dismay he noticed the games scatter all over the floor. At least he'd been fortunate enough not to drop the Playstation because that would have given one heck of a bang. Not to mention hours of his games saved being lost.

"Shit!" Sticking his hand into his mouth prevented him to yell out even more nasty X-rated words and hopping on one foot, since his toe hurt and he was certain he'd broken it. Since he was at home he'd been wearing toe slippers and angry with himself for being so clumsy he did his best to act as civil as he could. If Ryan, who had probably recently fallen asleep, were to wake up he knew that there would be no end to the lecture his parents would give him when or if they found out that he'd deliberately woken his sick brother.

To his relief he noticed that no such thing happened and Ryan seemed to sleep on peacefully.

Thinking that this day most have been cursed Seth sank down on the floor and gathered up the videogames.. A plan had formed inside his mind and it was that he would play videogames and then Ryan would wake up naturally and his parents wouldn't have anything against him. Then he would do his deed, check for a fever and be out of the pool house in one move. Hopefully not getting contaminated in the process.

Putting the Playstation into the TV he started to set up the game. The annoying music blared through the speakers and he quickly turned it down when he noticed the figure in bed starting to move restlessly. He was just done when a weak voice caught his attention.

"Turn that off."

"Ryan…hey man, you're awake?"

"You woke me up."

"That's true but you know I just wanted to spare you the bore of having to sleep the whole day when you were out of school. Actually I thought we could do something…like play a game or two?" Seth knew that it sounded lame and he had no idea where he got such stupid lines from. It would've been better if he'd come out and say that he or his parents were concerned over Ryan and that he wanted to see how he was doing. Plus that he was feeling lonely and wanted some company. That wasn't a crime, was it?

"I'm sick. I want to sleep. I need sleep. Sleep is good. " Ryan burrowed his head into the pillow only to wince seconds later and move his position again.

"Oh..Okay, but could you at least let in some light. This is darker than the dungeon and I can't see what I'm doing. Also did you know that sunshine is supposed to cure all ailments?" He could've slapped himself for saying something so stupid.

Ryan squinted up at him from under the covers. His forehead in a deep frown. "I don't want any sunshine, besides it was raining the last time I looked. Can you please shut the TV off, it hurts my eyes."

"It does? Are you sure that it's not only…" Seth didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before Ryan cut him short.

"NO…Now get out of here. I've got a headache and you talking isn't making it any better." Ryan rubbed his temples furiously.

With a sigh Seth turned off the TV. "I'm going to open up a blind at least. It's so dark that I can't see what I'm doing and it smells like dog breath in here! Gosh Ryan when was the last time you took a shower? Or brushed your teeth?" He settled for turning on the lamp on the bedside table.

"Seth I told you. I'm sick." There was annoyance in Ryan's voice.

"Yeah maybe so, but you could at least take care of your personal hygiene. Mom used to tell me that you're never so bad off that you can leave your hair unwashed."

"Seth!"

"Okay...Okay I was just trying to make your more comfortable. It doesn't smell like dog breath in here …It smells like dog poo. Let me at least open a window?" He grinned at Ryan who didn't seemed amused. "Okay I agree. Bad joke. Anyway dude you want something? Like water? Some Crest maybe? You want me to help you into the shower?" Hopefully his brother would take the hint. The room smelled so stale that Seth was certain he would get an asthma attack if he stayed here for long. And he wasn't even asthmatic.

Ryan sighed. "No." He'd moved his hand from his forehead to his stomach.

Noticing the bucket still placed beside the bed Seth felt a little bad for teasing him about the smell. So Ryan wasn't done puking? Seth didn't want to let on how bad he felt when he saw his friend looking so miserable so instead he settled for an, "I thought you said that your stomach had calmed down."

"It did."

"But you're still feeling sick?"

"Mmmm…a little." Ryan looked at him. "You know how it is. It comes and goes."

"Yeah." Seth nodded. This time he had no wise cracks to say back and instead he looked his brother over. "Man you look even worse than the last time I saw you. You're totally red in the face. Totally flushed." Before Ryan had a chance to react he moved over to his friend, feeling his forehead. "God, you're hotter than a stove. I honestly think that you can fry an egg on that." He pointed at his brother's head.

All he got back was a groan.

"Okay, okay I understand." Seth held up his hand. "You want me to leave but I won't. Not until I've done something that I promised mom and dad."

Ryan looked up with a mix of curiosity and fright in his eyes. "What thing? What did you promise?"

"Mom called. She wants me to take your temp since she didn't have time to do it this morning before she left for work. She wants to make sure that you're doing all right."

"Uh huh."

Seth had expected Ryan to jump backwards instead he just looked at him with bleary eyes. He felt he had to clarify his mission. "She wants me to take your temperature man, you know stick it up where the sun don't shine." Ryan looked at him like he was crazy, yet he said nothing to object. This made him conclude that his brother had to be feeling worse than he let on. "Just kidding…she wants me to take it…in your mouth. I mean put it in your mouth or…" He started laughing since he heard how stupid it sounded. "That came out weird…you ready?"

Ryan shrugged.

Feeling that things were getting a bit too easy Seth started to explain his purpose when Ryan cut it short. "Hurry up and do it then." His voice was a cacophony of pain and Seth could tell that whatever was bothering his brother it was starting to catch up with him again. Without wasting much time Seth stuck the device into Ryan's mouth, sat down and waited for the signal to beep.

There was a long silence where Seth just stared at Ryan who lay there with his eyes closed. If it wasn't for the thermometer moving up so slightly when he breathed, he wouldn't think he was alive at all. The flushed appearance had at once changed to a pale one and he wouldn't be surprised if, when this procedure was done, Ryan would move his head over to the bucket, finishing off with another task. That was how bad he looked.

They both jumped when the signal went off and before Seth had a chance to react Ryan had taken the thermometer out off his mouth and was reading the figures with squinting eyes.

"What does it say?"

"It's just a little elevated that's all." Ryan was just about to push on the off button when Seth beat him to it.

"A little elevated. My ass!" Seth spat reading the digitals. "102.8 is a lot more than being elevated. No wonder you're feeling like shit today."

"Well I'm prone to getting high temperatures," Ryan defended himself, but Seth could see that he was just as shocked over the news.

Seth, feeling himself transforming into a super nanny mood, said, "Buddy that is one heck of a high fever and you need to do something to get it down." He had rarely been around sick people in the past but spending half of his life's watching dramas like ER had him realise that Ryan was sicker than he let on. "I'm going to have to call mom and…"

Ryan cut him short. "Why?"

"Because I've promised her I'd call and tell her how you're doing and this is something that is a cause for an emergency. A parent's emergency and if I tell her she will cancel whatever meeting and come home straight away and then…"

Ryan took his hand with a warm but surprisingly strong grip. "You do NO such thing, you hear," he wheezed.

Startle over this Seth frowned. "Why not?"

"Because I say so." His brother lay down again. "Don't disturb her at work. I can manage on my own." The stubborn side was back again and Seth couldn't help but wonder why he was acting like this.

"It's no big deal. I'm sure she can cancel the…" Seth started when Ryan interrupted him, this time much weaker than the last.

"I told you NO. I'm use to taking care of myself and when I'm sick I usually sleep it all off and then I'm better in no time." He winced before adding, "And I do that alone."

Seth didn't know what to say. This was not something he thought would happen. Okay, he knew that Ryan wanted his privacy but wasn't this stretching it all a bit too far? After all he wanted to do was helping for crying out loud. Looking at Ryan, who seemed to be more and more miserable by the minute he decided that it was best to end that kind of stupidity at once. He thought what his mom and dad would've done but came up with blank. He had to bite back a smart remark that if that was what Ryan wanted his wish would be granted when a thought struck him.

What if the way Ryan acted was because he was never used to getting the attention? What if the reason wasn't that he wanted to be left alone, but that his mother hadn't cared for him hard enough and left him alone against his will? What if this was some kind of self persuasion that had him acting like this? What if he was afraid to get hurt again?

The questions welled up inside Seth's head and the more he thought about the more things were becoming clearer. This had to be the case and looking at Ryan he had one thing to say; "Okay buddy, but this time you're not alone. You're with us, and you better get used to it."