AN: I'm very interested to see what kind of reaction I'm going to get from this one...but, in my defense, someone said that I needed to give Summer something to do. So I did.

After dinner, Lindsay suggested a game of pool.

Ryan wasn't sure what to make of her continued presence. She kept touching him for no reason and standing too close to him. He knew that when they had been dating that she'd been a very, physical person but he thought he'd made it clear that he wasn't ready to start their relationship up again.

But even more concerning was the activity across the pool table.

Ryan felt like he was watching a mating ritual.

Even though Summer was already an accomplished pool player, she was feigning ignorance and had asked Trey to teach her.

Trey was behind Summer, guiding her arms and murmuring in her ear.

He would scold his brother under normal circumstance, but he could see that Summer was flirting back.

"Ryan? It's your turn," Lindsay said, brushing her fingers across his arm.

Summer giggled and nudged Trey playfully.

Ryan sighed. "Lindsay, let's talk."

"Okay," she chirped. She took his hand and pulled him downstairs to his room.

He hadn't expected her to take the lead but before he could say anything, she closed the door to his room and pushed him backwards onto the bed.

"Lindsay," he started.

"Shh…" she giggled, pulling off his shirt and kissing his neck.

"Lindsay, stop it…"

"Come on, Ryan, it's not our first time, and I know you missed me…" Lindsay murmured, straddling him suddenly with an oblivious smile.

"I want to talk and not fuck," he snapped, irritated as he tried to sit up. Sex was the last thing on his mind. And sex with her would only complicate things in his head.

"Come on, Ryan…"

"Just stop, Lindsay, damn," he said, getting to his feet quickly and leaving her on the bed.

"Ryan…"

"I don't want to do this with you. God…why are you doing this?" he asked.

"I want you back. I'll do whatever it takes…" she whispered, confused.

"Why does every girl try to win me back with sex?" Ryan snapped. "I loved you because you were my friend, you seemed to care about me, you tried to get to know me and you accepted me and all my baggage after…Seth…and you think that this is the way to win me back? Throw all the intimacy and love out the window and focus on making this strictly physical?"

"Ryan, I'm sorry…" she started, stunned.

"I know you are," he sighed, his anger drying up, at least externally. "But apparently our relationship meant something different to you…"

"Ryan…"

"I want you to leave," he said before she could go on.

"We have to talk," she whispered.

"Not right now. I want you to leave," Ryan said again.

She straightened her clothes and hurried from the room.

He took a deep breath. What now? He cared about Lindsay. He did. She…she was trying. What was he doing?

He turned and slammed his fist into the wall. The plaster crumbled as he pulled his hand out of the gaping hole he'd just created.

"Everything okay, Ryan?" Kirsten's voice filtered in from the kitchen.

"Fine!" He called back. He quickly pulled the motorcycle poster off the wall and rearranged the nail quickly so he could move the poster. Everything in the room looked off center but it would work for now. He closed his door and sat down on his bed.

He needed to think. If all he made were mistakes, then would another one really matter?

"So, what's up with the redhead? Ry says she's Kirsten's sister," Trey asked the hot little brunette that was currently kicking his ass at pool.

She'd been playing him all night. Acting like she was an amateur but now that Ryan was gone and it was just the two of them, she was letting his little brother's lessons show. And since Trey had taught Ryan, he could recognize them.

"God, talk about a long story. They hooked up before the whole paternity thing came out. Kirsten's dad had an affair and an illegitimate daughter, who happens to be Lindsay," Summer said flippantly.

Trey studied her. She was putting on an act for him. A sultry act. She couldn't be like this all the time, even his little brother would have a hard time controlling himself with a hottie like her around all the time.

She met his gaze suddenly. "If you hurt him, I'll kill you."

She was serious. "Okay. I don't plan on hurting him. I'm just here…to help."

"To help?" she whispered, pursing her lips.

"Yeah," he said as she walked over to him, laying the pool stick on the table with a thump.

"Mind helping out a friend of the family?"

"Depends…" he replied, falling into the part she was creating for him.

"Let's get out of here. I trust you can keep your mouth shut?"

He nodded, leading him down the stairs.

God, what the fuck was she doing? She definitely wasn't using her credit card to pay for a hotel room and the fucking Mermaid Inn. She definitely didn't have Trey Atwood's hand on her ass. She definitely hadn't bought a box of condoms from the drugstore on the pier.

She definitely wasn't going to do this.

So why was she taking the keys from the old bald man and smiling at Trey? Why was she here at all?

Because. She needed this.

She needed not to be numb. She needed not to be sad.

She needed to be beautiful again. She needed someone to want her.

She needed to get over Seth. If not emotionally, at least physically.

"You still sure?" Trey whispered, his breathy voice different from Ryan's but laced with the same tentative concern. God, what was it about Atwood boys that made girls' panties want to fall off?

She didn't answer him, but kept his hand in hers, leading him to room number seventeen.

"That number reminds me of something," Trey said as they stepped in.

"Yeah?" she asked, taking off her coat.

She needed this. She wasn't doing anything wrong. She wasn't cheating because you couldn't cheat on someone that was dead. She needed this.

"How old are you, honey?" he asked, his eyes taking her in again. She liked the way he looked at her. Hungry.

"Old enough," she answered, unbuttoning her shirt.

"Are you sure you want to do this? Like…"

"Do you usually question people that are trying to fuck you?" she asked. The curse word startled him and he smiled at her with a laugh.

He held his hands up. "Look, you're hot and I definitely…want you, but you're my kid brother's friend, and from what little info I have, I think you're…you were Seth's girl, weren't you?"

"Don't," she said. Saying his name would shatter her purpose. No sad.

"I'm just making sure that…"

"Nobody's going to get hurt. I'm not in love with you, guy, I just…I need this. I need to do this."

"But tomorrow…"

"We'll be friends tomorrow. No regrets and no…talking," she said evenly. She walked over to him and put her hand on his crotch as captured his lips with her mouth.

"I want to go to school. I need to go to school," Ryan said the next morning. He was sitting in the kitchen with Rosa when she came down.

"Honey…"

"It's time," he said. Rosa patted him on the back and left them alone.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I called my therapist this morning, asked her if I could change my appointment times and she said that she'd talk to Dr. Kim today and see what they could do," Ryan said.

"Where is this coming from?"

"I can't keep hiding. I can't keep staying in this…comfort zone. I have to reassimilate back into society. I need…I need to go back to school."

"Okay, Ryan. We'll talk to your doctor and to Dr. Kim and see what we can work out. But…I don't want to move too fast and have you getting into trouble again," she said, sitting down beside him.

"How are you doing?"

"Better," she answered honestly. "You look better, too."

"I feel…not better, but clearer. Seth's gone…but I'm not. And I can't keep wallowing, you know?" Ryan asked.

"I know. Have you already had breakfast?"

"No, Rosa's going to make it today, I'm going to go surfing. I'll see you in a little while," Ryan said, giving her a patient smile.

Kirsten watched him walk outside and grab his surfboard before disappearing across the beach.

"Morning," Sandy said, fresh from his shower.

"Ryan wants to go back to school," she said, kissing him and wrapping her arms around him.

"Yeah?"

"That's good, right?"

"It's time. He's…he's going to get better. He's had a lot of trauma in his short life but I think he's ready to get over this one."

"What about us?"

"We're going to get over it, too."

Kirsten sighed and inhaled his familiar smell. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he murmured, kissing the top of her head.

"Have you seen Trey today?" she asked.

"Actually, no. But there's a note on Ryan's door saying that he had to take care of some things. It's been there since last night," Sandy replied.

"What do you think that's about?"

"I don't know but I don't think we should jump to any conclusions. He's a grown man, he's okay."

Trey knocked on Ryan's door around lunchtime. Sandy and Kirsten had both gone in to work and Ryan had heard from his therapist that he could start back to school. Half-days for the remaining 3 days of the week and then full time the next week. He was trying to gather up the assignments he hadn't turned in to his teachers yet via email.

"Hey, little brother," Trey said.

"Hey," Ryan nodded.

"What's on your agenda today?"

"Trying to get my stuff together. I'm going to try going to school and not punching anyone this time," Ryan replied.

"I imagine that could be tough," Trey snorted.

"Where've you been?" Ryan asked. He studied Trey as he sat down beside him on the bed and picked up one of his papers. He looked normal apart from a fresh hickey peeking from under his t-shirt.

"I had to take care of some things. I got me a hotel room so I won't have to keep cramping your style but I can still stick around."

"How'd you pay for that?" Ryan asked, surprised.

"Remember that kid, Damon, from down the street?" Trey asked.

Ryan nodded. "Yeah? So?"

"So, he owed me about five grand when I got arrested, but he was AWOL so I couldn't collect. Long story short, the kid's been in rehab and found God and he showed up at the house before I came to Newport. He gave me a bible and my money. He said that he had to make his amends. So..."

"Wow, I thought things like that only happened in the movies," Ryan smiled.

"Yeah, me, too. But of course, you live here," Trey grinned.

Ryan could tell that Trey wasn't telling him everything but he wasn't in the mood to try and read between the lines. He just hoped that Trey wasn't in any trouble.

Summer started hanging out with Trey during the day when Ryan and the Cohens weren't around.

He didn't talk much, he just watched her.

They had sex a lot, but he never used her name and she never used his. After the third day, they were comfortable around each other.

He'd ask her about Ryan. He'd listen to her talk about Seth.

She didn't ask him about anything.

She didn't want to know. He was sexy and fuckable and that was what she needed now.

She had enough friends.

Ryan walked into physics and paused to speak to the teacher for a few minutes as the rest of the class filtered in. He'd spent the last few days of the previous week in the guidance counselor's office filling out paperwork and studying.

He caught sight of Lindsay's red hair as she did a double take as she recognized him.

"You're not behind, I read over your emails this morning. You should pick it up fine and just let me know if you have any problems with the material, okay?" the teacher asked him.

"Thanks." He turned and headed for the back of the room where he knew there was an empty desk.

"Hey. My partner's in rehab. You want your seat back?" Lindsay offered, stepping into his vision. She had tied a piece of white cloth to her pencil and waved it solemnly. "Truce?"

"Sure."

"Thank god," Lindsay said as he sat down beside her in the empty seat. "Mr. Reynolds had me partnered with this girl, 'Larin' and she was a total flake, turned out she had a pretty serious coke problem and they took her out of school," Lindsay said.

"Only in Newport," Ryan nodded.

"So, I'm sorry about…everything. We're friends, we have always been friends and if it's meant to be more…then it'll work itself out. But we will always be friends, right?"

"We can do that," Ryan conceded, relieved.

"Good," she nodded, smiling shyly. "Just…don't start dating right away, okay?"

"I don't think you have to worry about that," he laughed.

Sandy came into the house and put his briefcase down beside Kirsten's by the door. Usually there was a stack, since Ryan and Summer always dropped their backpacks there, too, it was a good indicator of who was home.

"Hi, honey," Kirsten said, her hair tied back in a loose ponytail. She was standing by the counter with all the delivery menus splayed across the counter.

"Hungry?"

"Yeah. What are you in the mood for?"

"Why don't I grill something tonight?"

"You grill every night," she muttered.

"No I don't, I only grill when you don't order takeout," he corrected. He put his arm around her and kissed her.

"Mmm…" she murmured, turning into his embrace.

"Want to go out?" he asked when they came up for air.

"You think?"

"Well, we had fun last time, maybe we should try going out…in Newport. It might not be that bad," he suggested.

She chewed on her bottom lip. "Can I get dressed up?"

"Of course."

"Maybe we should invite Dad and Julie…" she said, turning to leave.

"Oh, don't ruin a good idea like that," he groaned, but he was internally relieved that she had made the suggestion.

"It'll soothe Dad's mind and it's the least we can do after all they've done for us lately," she said.

He sighed dramatically and she walked over and gave him the puppy face, "Okay…" and he got just what he wanted, a kiss to show her gratitude.

"Buy you have to call them, I have to go get dressed," she said, turning and leaving before he could argue.