You guys are amazing! Oh my gosh, the amount of reviews! I loved them all, please keep it up. Now, everyone is a little freaked by who'll be leaving. If you want a hint, tell me in your reviews, and next chapter, I will give you a clue. Then you guys have to wait until like the fifth chapter. Oh well. Here's the next chapter. Please review!
Seth stood outside Harbor High, waiting for Marissa. He had immediately noticed she wasn't drinking. Marissa was a lot nicer than usual, and she didn't disappear to the bathroom to drink.
John was hanging outside near Seth with his buddies. They hadn't been shot at, but the one water polo player lost a brother. And a team member died. So they had a lot of anger built up in them. They needed their punching bag. Seth Cohen was it.
"Hey Cohen," John announced as he and his friends hovered over Seth. He felt sick. Seth ignored them again, knowing already he lost. "Now, where were we earlier? Oh right, you were standing up, ready to hit me. So, let's finish it off. Come on, get up Cohen."
"I don't want to fight," Seth doubted he could take them. Why did they all have to be bastards?
"Of course you do. You've got so much pain in you. Let's see it," John wasn't gonna stop it.
"No," Seth argued.
"Whatever. We'll let you off for a little bit, this time," John warned and they left. And John saw someone he was glad to see. Marissa.
Marissa and one of her boyfriends would always go to parties with John and Summer. Marissa would always just sit there and drink.
Right now, she was looking for Seth and found John. Seth watched as John started to hassle Marissa, who probably could take him. She was small, but strong.
"Mind your own fucking business," Marissa remembered a long time ago Luke telling her that John's dad had left and everything fell apart for the guy. That was when John became an asshole. Marissa still couldn't believe Summer dated him.
"Nah, not feeling it," John argued and Seth got it. John was doing the same thing he did to Summer.
"Lay off her," Seth stood behind John. What was he doing? He was gonna get the crap kicked out of him.
"So now Cohen wants to fight," John turned around to see Seth standing there. "Okay, Cohen, you can have it," And John pushed Seth. Seth stumbled back and John advanced. Shit.
Marissa gasped as Seth was punched. It was feeling good to John. Marissa tried to help, but the other guys were blocking her in. Seth stood up straight again and punched John, so John punched him back as hard as he could. Seth flew down, landing on his side. Marissa pushed her way through the guys. John started to kick Seth as she tapped on his shoulder. He turned around to see who it was. Marissa punched John.
He stumbled and Marissa knelt down to Seth. She helped him p and they raced to her car.
"Thanks," Seth told Marissa as she shut the door and began to drive to the Cohens.
"No problem. But I should be thanking you. You saved me from that asshole," Marissa commented.
"Oh yeah, I really helped you. You punched him. I mean, I did, but it didn't work as well," Seth corrected Marissa. He tried not to show he was in a lot of pain.
"But it felt good. You know, to punch him," Marissa replied. Her knuckles hurt a bit, but she didn't mind it.
"That it did," Seth agreed. Hitting John was the highlight of the day.
"I don't think I've ever punched someone," Marissa knew there had been moments when she wanted to punch someone, but she never went through with it.
"The only person I remember punching would be...Ryan," It felt like forever ago when Seth punched Ryan, yet it was only yesterday.
"I don't think you wanna be bragging about that," Marissa told him.
"Eh, well, we'll have matching shiners," Seth joked as they headed into the gated area where the Cohens lived. Marissa wished she still lived there, life was good there. She could run to Ryan if things were too hectic. Marissa parked the car and Seth got out. "You should come in. See Ryan," He proposed.
"But Ryan doesn't want me to see him," Marissa pointed out.
"I can get ice for your knuckles," Seth tempted her.
"Okay," Marissa couldn't pass up ease for her knuckles.
So Seth and Marissa headed to the house, Marissa right to the pool house. Seth walked in the front door, scanning for his parents. He could let them see him hurt. So far he was safe.
He walked into the kitchen, and found no one there. Seth knew his mother was on the prowl, so he had to be all stealth, capture the flag, Camp Takaho. He took out two bags and began shoving ice in them.
"Oh Seth, you're home," Seth froze as he began to walk into the pool house
"Yep," Seth answered his mother without turning around.
"How was your day?" Kirsten pulled out a glass.
"Oh fine," Seth knew he wasn't gonna get out of this.
"What's that on your arm? Were you hurt?" Kirsten saw Seth was bruised on his right arm. Seth looked down and saw that too.
No," He lied.
"Seth, are you sure? Because it does..." Kirsten began to walk closer.
"You know, this is just makeup, I'm an extra in the school play, and I get stabbed in the arm," Seth told his mother as she came next to him to inspect it. "Ow," Kirsten had touched it.
"What happened?" She asked.
"Nothing," Seth really wanted to leave.
"Look at me when you're speaking," Kirsten knew her son was hiding something.
"I can't," Kirsten would make a fuss if Seth did.
"Why not?" She wanted to hear Seth's grand excuse.
"Because...Ryan and Marissa can't read my lips then. It's all the rage in school. You watch people talk and guess what they're saying and bet and then the conversationalists come and tell you what they were talking about, and how can Ryan and Marissa play if they can't see what I'm saying?" Seth knew his mom wouldn't believe that.
"Seth, you never followed the 'rage' in school. Turn around. Now," Seth realized his mistake. Why couldn't he have left that out? He growled and followed orders. "Oh my gosh, Seth, what happened?"
"Nothing, just a little fight, no big deal. Now, can I please go see Ryan?" Seth begged.
"Fine. But we'll talk about this later with your father," Kirsten informed him as he left the house.
As Seth had been checking the house for his parents, Marissa had walked into the pool house to find a sleeping Ryan. She tiptoed over to the bed and whispered "hey" into his ear.
Ryan woke up immediately. It had been the longest time he had slept in a good month. A full two hours.
"Hey," Ryan greeted his girlfriend.
"How was your day?" Marissa knew she had to take care of the time she was with Ryan. Because as much as she hated it, she knew it wouldn't last.
"Crap. How about yours?" Ryan had been stuck in the pool house all day. Kirsten had refused to let him leave.
"Well, you'll never guess what I did today," Marissa's knuckles were still in pain from punching John.
"What?" Ryan was intrigued.
"I punched John Grant," Marissa was proud of this.
"Wow. Now we have a punching victim in common," Ryan never saw Marissa as the punching type of person.
"And with Seth. He punched John too," Marissa added.
"So you beat the crap out of John," Ryan was a little mad that he missed all the action.
"Not exactly. Seth was the one who got beat up the most," Marissa told Ryan.
"Figured. So what happened?" Ryan asked.
"John and his friends were bugging me, Seth came over and tried to help, but John hit him. Then Seth hit John and John returned the punch. And then I punched John," Marissa explained.
"Interesting," Ryan commented.
"How do you feel?" Marissa changed the subject.
"Okay, for now," Ryan informed her. His stomach was finally calming down, it wasn't revolting.
"Well, that's good," Marissa still had to admit, she did sometimes feel a little strange with Ryan. But she doubted that would ever go away.
At that moment, Seth walked in and threw an ice pack over to Marissa.
"So, what'd I miss?" Seth asked the two as he sat down and looked over.
"Nothing. I heard about your fight. Nice shiner," Ryan tormented his brother.
"Yeah, it hurts like hell," Seth applied the ice to his eye.
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Later that night, Kirsten sat in the kitchen, waiting for Sandy to come home. The day had barely took anything out of her, yet she was exhausted.
She still couldn't believe Seth got in a fight. The three teens hadn't come out of the pool house. Kirsten could hear the door opening and soon she saw Sandy walk into the kitchen.
"Hi," She greeted him and didn't get up.
"Hi," Sandy kissed his wife and sensed something was up. "What's wrong?" He looked over.
"Seth got in a fight," Kirsten announced to him.
"Well, that's normal. He used to get beat up everyday. At least once a week, he'd call me from some hiding place, telling me to pick him up. The one time I found him in the janitor's closet, some kids put him in there, and boy, was he going insane. Hyperventilating and everything. Kinda cute, until he fell out of the closet. Then it was pretty funny. I don't think he talked to me for a week after that," Sandy reminisced. "And then there was the time he was in the nurses' office knocked out cold. So adorable, and sleeping with his black eyes and the bruises on his arms. I think he was sucking his thumb..."
"Sandy," Kirsten tried bringing Sandy back to the present.
"Sorry. Now, what's really bothering you?" Remembering the times before, Sandy often wondered what he did to make Seth what he was. It got Sandy in too deep and so he decided never to really think about those times now.
"We got sent the hospital bill for Seth's stay. My dad's gonna pay for it," Kirsten argued with her father for almost an hour about that.
"When did you talk to your dad?" Sandy asked.
"I had to tell him I wouldn't be at work," Kirsten informed her husband.
"What'd you say?" Sandy and Kirsten hadn't really had a talk between them that didn't involve Seth or Ryan. Kirsten was still bothered by the fact that Sandy didn't want to go after Ryan.
"I said Ryan was sick. You didn't actually think I'd tell him the truth? He's married to Julie Cooper, I'm not that stupid," Kirsten commented.
"Just making sure," Sandy smiled, but Kirsten didn't. "You're still mad about something. What's up?"
"Nothing," Kirsten didn't want to talk about it.
"Come on. Tell me," Sandy walked over and sat next to Kirsten.
"Do you really think we're through everything?" Kirsten asked him.
"What do you mean?" Sandy an inkling of what she was talking about, but he doubted he was right.
"I mean, every time we try to be happy, everything falls apart. Are we through everything? Done with all the drama? I'm scared that something's gonna happen that'll be a hell of a lot worse than what we've been through," Kirsten doubted her family was through everything.
"It'll be okay Kirsten," Sandy had no real clue how to help. He was afraid of the same thing.
"I doubt it will," Kirsten got up and left Sandy. She didn't want to talk anymore.
Sandy felt incredibly distant from his wife. He thought everything was okay between then, but he was wrong. It had started when he didn't look for Ryan.
It wasn't that he didn't want to, it was just that he was sick of going after those two boys. He never ran away nearly as much as Ryan and Seth didn't when he was younger. And when he did, his mom never went after him. He had to come back on his own.
Kirsten laid on her bed. She was worried about what would happen once Ryan got through withdraw. This was getting too intense. Her family was falling apart.
She knew something would come along and ultimately break them all apart. It was only a matter of time.
Kirsten missed the carefree days of fun and laughter. Where had they gone? It wasn't that long ago that they were in the kitchen making quips. They could all smile, and the boys' only dilemma was Summer and Marissa.
She remembered when Seth and Ryan almost attempted to date other girls. Neither relationship worked out.
Most of the time after the summer and before the shooting, Ryan and Seth would talk about who Summer and Marissa were dating. Ryan barely brought up Marissa, and slowly Seth did the same thing with Summer. Except everyday he woke up with renewed hope, only for it to be squashed twenty minutes later. They had given up.
Everyday, Kirsten wondered what all of their lives would be like if there was no shooting. It would be so drastically different. Were they better off with the shooting?
"Kirsten?" Sandy brought his wife out of her thoughts. She looked up at him, not ready to leave the sanctuary of her room. "Why don't you come to the kitchen and we can eat?"
"I'm not hungry," Kirsten let her head fall back on the bed. She was comfortable.
"You sure?" Sandy was worried.
"Yeah," Even with a ton of disturbing thoughts, Kirsten was content. She didn't want to get up, because if she did, she'd have to deal with everything again. Here, she was safe.
Seth, Marissa, and Ryan finally came out of the pool house. Ryan hadn't been allowed out all day. Sandy gave in with Kirsten and headed back to the kitchen.
"Is it all right if Marissa stays over?" Ryan asked Sandy.
"Oh that's fine. I was just about to call Chinese. What do you want?" Seth and Marissa told him their orders, but Ryan didn't say a word. "Ryan? What do you want?"
"Nothing," Ryan knew he wouldn't be able to keep it down.
"Maybe something small?" Sandy hated not getting anything for Ryan to eat.
"It's fine," Though Sandy ended up getting him something.
Twenty minutes later, all four of them were sitting at the table, eating separate packages of food.
"Oh Seth, I wanted to tell you. I got a call from Willow Creek. Next week, Summer's having an interview on her stay. She could get out earlier," Sandy knew this would cheer up his son.
"Really? Awesome," Seth was happy, but when he thought of Willow Creek, he thought of Ryan. Seth's brother hadn't mentioned his stay at all to them. A lot now Seth wondered how his whole family hid this from him. They had done a damn good job.
"Yeah, I don't have to go, but I can," Sandy knew he wouldn't be able to help if Summer got in longer.
"What day is it?" Seth asked.
"Next Tuesday," Sandy replied.
Ryan looked away from everyone. He felt incredibly awkward. Why had they found out? He hated hearing about Willow Creek, he hated being there. All Ryan wanted was to forget that memory.
He could hear everyone talking but none of it was registering. It was lost in his head. He was beginning to get sick again.
Ryan left the house without a word.
Marissa began to follow him out, but Sandy stopped her. He understood Ryan needed to be left alone.
After the rest had eaten, Seth and Marissa played a ninja game while Sandy headed back to Kirsten. She was still lying on the bed, trying to trick her husband into thinking she was asleep. He didn't buy it.
"So...how do you feel?" Sandy asked his wife as he sat down next to her.
"Exhausted," Kirsten couldn't understand where her fatigue was coming from.
"Well, why don't you close your eyes?" Sandy stated the obvious.
"I can't," Kirsten hadn't had a decent sleep since October. The last weekend of October. When she fretted very little of Seth and Ryan going to a party.
She remembered when they came back home, Summer and Marissa-less. Mostly they had given up, Seth kept persuading himself and Ryan that they could win over the girls.
Kristen still remembered the conversation they had when they got back. Seth kept rambling about how a fight broke out. She tried to keep up, but only could she remember names. John, Jack, Mitch and Nick were mentioned a lot.
"Why can't you?" Sandy wanted to get to the bottom of this.
"I just can't," Kirsten didn't have an exact answer.
"So what's bothering you?" Sandy knew it was something about Seth or Ryan. It had to be. Her father didn't cause her a lack of sleep like this. Not unless he did something horrible, like cheating on his first wife, and having some illegitimate child. It was completely wrong, but he wouldn't put it past Caleb Nichol.
"I don't know, I'm just worried about..." Kirsten started.
"The boys?" Sandy assumed.
"Yeah," Kirsten replied.
"We're always worrying about them. Someday we won't. I wish it was soon, because man, they're killing us. Who is bothering you the most?" Sandy explained to her.
"Haven't the slightest clue," Kirsten didn't get up, she was so tired.
"Well, emotionally, Seth is the one to worry over. But medically, Ryan wins hands down. Seth has some medical needs, but Ryan is just... a lot of padding to a doctor's paycheck. For now. Seth will pull it back to himself somehow. He always does," Sandy said.
"I'm glad this is funny," Kirsten commented as Sandy laughed at his own explanation.
"I'm sorry. Which one is annoying you?" Sandy asked her.
"Can you just leave me alone for a little while? I'm not in the mood to talk really," Kirsten didn't want to hurt Sandy's feelings, but she felt she did.
"Oh, sure. I'll go, uh, check on Seth and Marissa..." Sandy felt even more distant with his wife, but he knew it would be okay. Right?
"Thanks," Kirsten was so tired, but she couldn't sleep.
"I love you Kirsten," Sandy told her as he began to leave the room. He stopped and stared, seeing more tears glisten her pale face.
"I love you too," She returned the gesture, and couldn't understand, that maybe, just maybe things could pick themselves up.
Kirsten remembered her first reaction to learning about Ryan's bout. She almost kicked him out right then and there. No recovering drug addicts in the Cohen household. She already was unsure of him by the events that occurred after the fashion show, but she couldn't let Ryan go when Sandy told her.
When her husband had informed Kirsten of the drugs, she already arranged Ryan was going to stay with them. so it was quite hard to get over it. Ryan had begged Sandy not to tell Kirsten and Seth and then begged both not to tell Seth. It took all their might.
Had a lot changed since then? Not much, yet too much. The Cohens had gone through every possible thing. They needed a break. A vacation from it all.
But there was no doubt that the drama would follow them. It always did.
Kirsten laid in the giant bedroom, it felt so big and she was so small. It was swallowing her. She didn't mind. If she could get away from it all, for just a tiny bit, it'd be heaven. She could breathe without worry.
And? What do you all think? Please review, you know you want to! And tell me if you want that clue! I have one planned all out. It'll limit it down really well, at least I think. PLEASE REVIEW!