Disclaimer: Don't own any of it.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews - they really help to get the story out of my head and into the computer! The quote at the start of this chapter is actually part of my horoscope from yesterday (Taurus). Seemed scarily apt so I thought I'd use it to start this chapter. Enjoy.
"It's an instant replay of yesterday, complete with every last stumbling block, barrier and impediment you could possibly have imagined as well as a couple you hadn't."
Ryan woke up in the pool house to the sound of his cell phone ringing. He covered his head with a pillow and waited for the repetitive high-pitched ring to stop. Lindsay was leaving and all he wanted to do was lie in bed and forget the world existed for a while. Finally the ringing stopped. He sighed and rolled over.
"You seriously need to answer your phone. Man, is this rain ever going to stop?" Seth exclaimed as he barged through the pool house door. He looked over at Ryan's duvet covered form. "You're still in bed?"
The sound of Seth's voice cut through the sleepy haze in Ryan's mind. He removed the pillow slowly from his head, taking in Seth's wet hair and shoulders, the sound of the rain on the roof. He looked over at his alarm clock: 7.13.
Seth barely acknowledged Ryan's movement and carried on regardless. "So, Alex gave me my job back and an advance. Operation Summer Breeze is all go." He started rambling on about how all he needed was this one last grand gesture.
The exact same words. The exact same sequence of events. The exact same day. A hint of a smile crossed Ryan's lips. Just a hint, nothing more. A second second chance.
Seth only noticed the fact that Ryan was still in bed. "Ryan!" He exclaimed again. "Get out of bed. We need to go and buy my boat back!"
But Ryan wasn't listening. All he could hear was Lindsay's voice over and over: 'As sorry as it is to leave you, I can't leave my mom.'
"Okay. I'm giving you 5 seconds to get up and then I'm taking your covers away. Five, four, three – You're not naked under there are you? Two –You'd better not be naked under there-"
Ryan threw off his covers and stood up.
Seth flung his hands to his face, covering his eyes. "Dude! I know we're practically brothers and all, share a lot of stuff, but that-" he removed one hand from his face and gestured blindly at what he assumed was Ryan's naked form. "That I don't need to see!"
"Go get your boat back," Ryan told Seth, making his way to the bathroom. "I've got some stuff I need to do but I'll be about later so you can go over your plan one more time."
Seth parted his fingers slightly, catching a glimpse of boxers before Ryan closed the bathroom door.
Ryan cycled as if his life depended on it. He barely noticed the soaking material of his clothes sticking to his skin. It was only when he reached Lindsay's house and saw all the blinds closed that he realised just how early it was. Ryan leant his bike against the porch steps and then sat himself down out of the rain. He looked at his watch. 7.58. That was okay. That was good actually. That gave him some time to work out exactly what he needed to say to Renee. Today he was going to do it. Today he was going to fix this. Today Lindsay was going to stay.
Ryan saw the lights come on through the blinds and jumped up to knock on the door. Renee Wheeler opened it slowly, her bathrobe tied firmly around her waist.
"Ryan. Hi," she said to the wet and slightly shivering boy standing on her porch. "Lindsay's still sleeping."
"Actually I wanted to talk to you Ms. Wheeler," he explained, resisting the temptation to jump straight into the speech he'd been preparing for the last hour or so.
Renee nodded slightly and opened the door fully to let Ryan through. "I was just about to make some coffee if you want some."
"Yeah," he replied. Sitting out on the porch it had all seemed so simple. Talk to Renee, convince her to stay, Lindsay stays too. Now that he was actually in their house it didn't seem quite so easy.
"Why don't you go and dry yourself off while I make it. There are towels in the bathroom," Renee suggested, as she made her way to the kitchen.
He dried himself off the best he could and then went to the kitchen. Renee sat at the table nursing a cup of coffee. Another cup sat across from her and Ryan took the seat in front of it. "Lindsay told me about Chicago," he began.
"It's for the best Ryan. This whole Caleb saga has been hanging over my head for too long. We should have moved years ago."
"Lindsay needs the chance to get to know her father."
"If Caleb is her father," Renee replied quietly.
Ryan knew Caleb was. "Then Lindsay deserves the chance to get to know him," he repeated.
Renee looked at Ryan quizzically. "You don't even like Caleb."
"True." That he couldn't argue with. In a perfect world Caleb wouldn't be Lindsay's father. He wouldn't even be Kirsten's father. Hell, in a perfect world Caleb wouldn't be in any of their lives. But he was. "I know what it's like not to have a father Ms. Wheeler, and if Lindsay has the chance to get to know hers – even if it is Caleb – then she should have the chance to."
She looked him in the eye. "I'm not going to make Lindsay come with me if she doesn't want to. If she wants to stay I won't stop her."
After talking to Ms. Wheeler, Ryan excused himself and went to see Lindsay. He felt confident that even if Ms. Wheeler still decided to go to Chicago she wouldn't take Lindsay with her. Still, he wanted to talk to Lindsay and try and get the idea out of her head too. Just to be on the safe side. He knocked gently on her door, not really wanting to wake her if she was still asleep. She peered out from behind the door, her hair falling around her shoulders as she yawned slightly.
"Ryan. I thought I heard your voice. What are you doing here?" She ran a hand through her hair in an attempt to make it more presentable.
Ryan took in her blue vest and shorts then pulled her towards his damp body. "I missed you," he whispered as he went to kiss her.
Lindsay pulled away slightly, self-conscious at still being in her pyjamas. "I haven't brushed my teeth yet."
Again, Ryan went in for the kiss. "I don't care." This time his lips brushed hers and she let him. "Don't go to Chicago. Stay here. Stay with Caleb. You have people here that care about you. I care about you. Don't go to Chicago."
Lindsay looked into his sparkling blues eyes and smiled. She ran her hand through his damp hair, "I told you yesterday. I can't be without you. Whatever happens, I'm not going anywhere."
After leaving Lindsay's he'd helped Seth with the boat and gone with Kirsten to get the DNA test results. The doctor came into the room, picked up a file on the desk and explained, "Our results demonstrate we have a match. Caleb Nichol is the father of Lindsay Wheeler Gardner."
Caleb rose to hug Lindsay. "I knew you were my daughter."
Ryan caught Renee's eye across the room. She nodded at him slightly as if in reference to their earlier conversation. Ryan looked at Lindsay, trying to tell if she looked different compared with the last two versions of these events. Was she taking the news of Caleb being her father better this time? He couldn't be sure. But Renee had acted differently and that was the important thing.
Ryan returned to the house with Kirsten, promising Lindsay he would be over later to help her move her stuff to Caleb's. The sounds of Boyz2Men could be heard from the driveway. Time to indulge Seth in his moping. Ryan grabbed an apple from the kitchen then made his way up the stairs. Everything had gone according to plan so he had time for a little Seth banter.
"Ah, Boyz2Men huh?" Ryan began as he entered Seth's room and settled into the chair next to the music system. If he heard that song one more time it was going to become permanently etched into his brain. Seth didn't have bad taste in music -Ryan didn't have a clue who any of it was most of the time- but it wasn't bad. It was obviously someone's idea of a sick joke that the day Seth decided to listen to 'End of the Road' on endless repeat would be the day Ryan had to relive. Vocal harmony groups? One step too far. "Guess it didn't go well." Guess? He knew for a fact that hadn't gone well. But then, if you looked at the remaining events that would happen to Seth that day then maybe it had gone well.
"I just hope they get the sex over with early. Just join the mile high club over the Atlantic or something."
"I'm sorry man."
"What happened with Lindsay?" Seth asked, propping up his pillow so he could look at Ryan.
Ryan had to resist a smirk at that question. Where the hell should he start? He actually contemplated telling Seth but decided it would take too long and they both had places to be. He answered simply, "She's Caleb's daughter."
"Hey, that's great." Seth paused. He shared Ryan's less than enthusiastic opinion of Caleb. "Wait, I don't know. Is it?"
Ryan shrugged. It wasn't great but it was all he had to work with. He went on to explain, "She's moving in with him. She went home to talk everything over with her mom. You wanna…" In the previous versions of events Ryan had asked Seth if he had wanted to help move Lindsay to take his mind off Summer. Now the words caught in his throat. What had he just said?
She went home to talk everything over with her mom.
"Fuck," he muttered aloud, realising what he had just said. He'd been so sure at the doctor's office that he'd managed to change things by talking to Renee that he'd ignored the fact they were going home to talk. He knew Renee wouldn't force Lindsay to leave but a mother-daughter chat could definitely persuade Lindsay she should.
"Want to what?" Seth asked, watching Ryan get up from his chair suddenly.
Ryan glanced over at Seth on his way out of the room. "I gotta do something. Don't sit here and mope."
Seth shrugged his shoulders at Ryan's exit. "Sherman Oaks it is then," he muttered to himself as he covered his head with his duvet.
Renee Wheeler opened the door to Ryan for the second time today, only this time she looked guilty. "Ryan. Hi. Lindsay's in her room."
He caught the look on her face and knew. "She's going to Chicago with you," he stated, pausing in the entrance hall.
Renee smiled almost apologetically. "I think you should talk to Lindsay."
Anger swelled within him. She had told him she wouldn't make Lindsay go. She had agreed that Lindsay needed to get to know her father. He just managed to keep the anger out of his voice when he stated again, "She's going to Chicago with you."
Renee nodded slowly. With those movements Ryan's anger turned into defeat. He had failed again. Still, he went through the motions, went to Lindsay's room, heard her explanation again. As she hugged him goodbye he stood there rigid. All he wanted to do was get away. He'd failed and all he wanted was to stand on the pier and feel the rain coursing over him again. Washing him clean. Washing the day away.
TBC