Disclaimer: I'm still free of worldly possessions so none of it belongs to me.
A/N: First of all a big thank you for the reviews - they really help keep the story ticking over. This is just a quick update while I work on the rest of Ryan and Seth' s day. I had a nice little plan worked out and now the story seems to have taken on a life of its own!
I hope you don't mind the bold. I would put the flashbacks in italics butthey'requitelong and I find that much italic hard to read.
Anyway, this A/N will end up being longer than the story if I keep typing. So read, review, and I hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 6.
"It does you no good to pretend child
You've made a hole much too big to mend
And it looks like you lose again, my friend
Call on your rainy day man."
– Rainy Day Man, James Taylor
Getting Seth's attention had been easy. Keeping it was another matter entirely. Ryan had managed to convince Seth of his Groundhog Day situation but now all Seth wanted to know about was himself and Summer.
Seth was pacing around the pool house excitedly, while Ryan, after pulling on a pair of jeans and grey t-shirt made himself comfortable on the bed.
"So, I get Summer back right? I mean, that's not why you're repeating the day? Because my plan, my plan is going to work right? A little trip on the Summer breeze. How could that not work?"
"You get Summer back," Ryan repeated for the third time, rolling his eyes slightly. He needed to get Seth back on track if he was going to be of any use in getting Lindsay to stay.
"So we need to go and buy back the Summer Breeze. Alex gave me an advance, it's all go."
Ryan couldn't help but smirk. "It's called the Gimme Sex now."
Seth sat down in the chair by the door and threw Ryan a withering look. "She, Ryan. Boats are she." He took a moment to digest the rest of Ryan's sentence, his eyes widening. "Gimme Sex? He renamed her the Gimme Sex? He turned my boat into a slut!"
Again, Ryan didn't want Seth to get sidetracked by his own thoughts. "Two phones calls, that's all you need to get Summer back. Lindsay is the problem." He repeated.
Somehow Seth managed to focus. "Okay, right. Lindsay." He went into typical Seth thinking pose. His fingers flicked against each other rhythmically, held just below his chin, as he thought out loud. "You need to talk to her. Tell her she needs to stay."
Ryan raised his eyebrows. Like he hadn't tried that. More than once. "Tried it."
More fidgeting of the fingers. "Lindsay's mom?"
"Tried it."
"My mom? She could talk to Lindsay?"
"Tried it."
"Just how many times have you done this?"
"Enough times." Ryan replied.
"And you're only enlisting my help -my superior help- now? Hang on; this is the first time we've done this? I mean this is the first time you've told me isn't it?"
"Yeah."
Seth flicked his fingers some more. "Grandpa? Okay, he's not the nicest human being on the planet but we could give it a shot."
"Tried it. Punched him."
"You punched Grandpa?"……….
Ryan had turned up at the Nichol Mansion hoping to somehow enlist Caleb's help in preventing Lindsay from leaving. Caleb was in his office, sitting behind a desk littered with papers.
"Mr Nichol." Ryan greeted him, standing in the doorway.
Caleb didn't even look up. "Ryan. I assume you're helping Lindsay move. Manual labor – how fitting."
"Not exactly." Ryan managed to keep his temper under control. He was used to Caleb's taunts by now. He had bigger things to worry about than Caleb Nichol's smart remarks about his up bringing.
This time Caleb did look up. "Come to challenge me to some more pool then?" He had his usual slightly disgusted look about him. The look he always had when he addressed Ryan.
The comment stirred up anger in Ryan. Here he was trying to fix things, trying to fix the mess Caleb had ultimately started. He knew he should just leave it, try talking to Caleb about Lindsay. "No," he replied simply, his fists clenching unconsciously. "I'm here to talk about Lindsay."
Caleb stood up and walked around to the front of his desk. "My daughter is none of your business."
The dismissive ness in his voice broke any control Ryan had left. He snapped. That was when he threw the first punch. A solid right hook right into Caleb's left eye.
The older man fell back against the desk, fire raging in his eyes. "You little street thug bastard!"
That was when Ryan threw the second punch. "That's for screwing up Lindsay's life." And another. "That's for all the shit you've put Sandy and Kirsten through." And another. That one was for him. That one didn't need an explanation.
During his time with the Cohens he'd learnt that using his fists was not the solution to a problem. Not the first solution anyway. Before, he'd gotten close to hitting Caleb but he'd never followed through. Kirsten would be disappointed. Sandy would be disappointed. Lindsay would be disappointed.
But now?
Now it didn't matter.
He was confident that when he woke up to the sound of his phone ringing again all of this wouldn't have happened. Even if the old man collapsed with a heart attack like he had during the dinner with Kirsten and Lindsay, the next time Ryan saw him he'd be right back as his smug, self-righteous self.
Caleb looked up at the boy his daughter had taken in. One eye was already closing shut with bruising. The other looked almost triumphant. Finally the little gold-digging thug had done enough for him to be able to get him out of Newport. "You will not get away with this. When Kirsten hears about this –"
Ryan just shrugged and turned towards the door. Caleb could call the cops; he could call Kirsten and Sandy. The only consequence of his actions that night would be his own knowledge that he'd finally given Caleb Nichol what he deserved. And the best thing – Caleb would never have the satisfaction of knowing he'd broken Ryan.
Of course, he'd gone back the next "day" and tried again. Caleb was too much of an important factor to not try and get his help just because Ryan disliked him. Remembering the look on Caleb's face when he'd hit him and knowing that Caleb had no idea it had happened made it a lot easier to calmly stand there and try and persuade him that Lindsay needed to stay in Newport. Still hadn't helped make Lindsay stay though……
Not that Ryan explained all of this to Seth. All he actually did was nod slightly to say yes, he had punched Caleb. Before Seth could jump on the story – which would mean he would be talking about it for hours – Ryan brought the conversation back to topic. "Any other bright ideas?"
"You need a grand romantic gesture!"
Ryan gave Seth a 'what the hell?' look.
"Okay, right. Not your thing." Suddenly his eyes lit up. "I'll talk to her!"
"You?"
"Sure. You need someone who's good with words. Remember Chrismukkah? Who persuaded Lindsay that being part of the family was a good thing? Seth Cohen, that's who. I have a way with words, Ryan. I am the man for the job!"
TBC