Title- Aftermath
Author- Monica
Disclaimer- All the wonderful characters and plots belong to the people of FOX. I own nothing! Sadly!
Summary- Post Season Finale
Spoilers- Dearly Beloved
Genre- Drama/angst
Rating- PG-13, not any worse than on the show
Author's Notes- Ok, I'm hoping to actually get some plot in this chapter! I was blown away... 3 reviews before the chapter had even been up for twenty-four hours! You guys totally rock! Sorry it took me awhile to update. Really hope you enjoy it. And please review! Even if you hate it! I'm hoping for 20 before next chapter (What? I can dream!)
Chapter 2.
" Not this time, son."
California was always bright. Summer Roberts used to enjoy the sunlight, but now it seemed as if it was just cruel; tormenting her with it's cheerfulness. She groaned and placed the pillow over her head.
" Sum, are you up?"
Summer held back a second groan and rolled onto her back. Marissa was sitting at the edge of Summer's bed. Summer checked her clock lying on her bureau. 8:30. Yuck.
" Hey. How long have you been up?"
" Haven't gone to bed yet," Marissa admitted solemnly. She was still wearing her clothes from the night before and her hair was pulled into a sloppy bun at the nape of her neck.
" You need to sleep-"
" I can't. Every time I close my eyes I see, well, I just can't."
Summer frowned sympathetically. She sat up, facing Marissa. " Wanna talk about it?"
" No. Listen, no offense, I just can't. Not yet at least."
" I understand, Coop," she placed her hand on Marissa's cheek. " How long was I out?"
Marissa looked at Summer's clock and squinched her face up. " Maybe six hours?"
" Sorry, didn't mean to fall asleep on you last night."
" Oh God no, don't worry about it. Look, do you have anything I can borrow? I don't really feel like going home and answering hundreds of questions."
" Yeah, sure. Pick out anything." Summer looked down at herself and wrinkled her nose. " I think I'm gonna go take a shower..."
" A shower? You've already taken three since last night!" Marissa said laughing.
Summer stopped at the door and turned. " Yeah, surprisingly vomit doesn't smell as pleasant as you'd think."
" Hmm, I'll keep that in mind."
" Um, Coop?"
" Yeah."
" Mr. Cohen wants you to go over later. You were a little bit out of it last night and he thought it would be better to give you time." Marissa looked uneasy. " This isn't going to go away, Marissa."
" I know. I know," Marissa lowered her head and started to cry.
Summer ran over to her and hugged her, resting her chin on Marissa's shoulder. " Oh Coop, I'm sorry. I didn't want you to cry!"
" No, it's not your fault. I just want this to go away!"
" I wish I could make it, Marissa," Summer whispered flattening out her hair, trying to think of something comforting to say. " We'll get through this."
" This isn't tennis season or some clothes crisis! I killed a man, Summer! On my- Summer I killed someone!" She started to sob harder. Summer was crying now too.
" Marissa, you can't start freaking out now because I, I I can't handle this! It's it's-"
" Ryan is going to hate me! How could I? I, oh no. No, no, no!" Marissa jumped out of Summer's embrace and started pacing the room. " Sum, I'm going to jail!"
" No, no you're not-"
" It isn't fair! Just as my family was getting back together! Me and Ryan we're, we were in lo... It's just not fair!" Marissa collapsed back on the bed as it all sank in once again.
" I know." Summer fell to her back and they both stared at the ceiling. " It's not going to happen though. Mr. Cohen will pull one of those amazing lawyer miracles! Like he did for your dad, and Caleb!" Her eyes shone with excitement as she started to convince herself.
" But they didn't shoot someone," insisted Marissa.
" Okay, well you're not even eighteen, so how bad can it be? Besides your little thing at the mall you have a perfect record, and if worse comes to worse I will personally buy you a plane ticket to Guam where we will run away to! Ok? So stop freaking me out."
" You're right."
" Good, so stop worrying, alright?"
" No, I meant about needing to take a shower!" Marissa stared laughing as Summer grabbed her pillow and threw it at her.
" Alright, I'm going! You can turn on the t.v. or something if you want."
" Actually, I think I need to talk to my parents. I want to beat the police and everything."
" Ok, Coop, not funny!"
" Sadly, I don't think I'm joking. Thanks, Summer! For everything!" Marissa pecked her on the cheek and began to leave. " Yeah, especially for letting me borrow your car!"
" You shouldn't be driving in your condition! And you're not alone!" She shouted after her, but doubted that she heard anything. She sighed and glanced over at her little, plastic horse. " Princess Sparkle, my life sucks!"
oOoOoOo
Seth slowly padded his way down the stairs. He paused at the landing, listening for any noise in the kitchen. He sighed when he heard nothing and continued on. He halted at the doorway when he saw Ryan sitting at the kitchen table, staring deeply into his coffee cup, and his dad leaning against the counter, reading the paper. Ryan had hand prints across his neck, and a large gash on his lip, along with a couple other impressive bruises.
" You guys seem to be embracing the whole 'early bird' aphorism with open arms," Seth mentioned while opening various cupboards, looking for cereal.
" Not yet, son," Sandy sighed placing down his paper. He tilted his head at Ryan and resumed reading the newspaper.
" Right," agreed Seth, sitting down opposite of Ryan. He started to say something a couple of times, but controlled himself and quietly ate his cereal. " Well, this couldn't be any more awkward," Seth blurted out finally.
" Seth."
" What? It is!"
" It's alright, Sandy. Seth, I'm fine."
" Of course, you are. I mean your brother was just... well you know," Seth answered with a sarcastic shrug.
" Seth!"
" Again with the name!" Seth sulked into his cereal. Sandy looked like he was ready to slap him upside his head. " Look, man, can we get out of here? Maybe hit the pier or something?"
" No, thanks," Ryan politely declined. Too politely.
Sandy's objection surprised them both. " I think you should, Ryan." They both gave him a curious look but Ryan nodded his head and went back to the pool house to change.
" Well that was... unexpected."
" I asked for Marissa to come over today- to, you know, go over her testimony. I think it would be better if Ryan wasn't here when she did."
" Right. Has Ryan said anything...?"
" He's been up all night. So far the only thing he's said to me is 'do you want some coffee'?" Sandy said running his hand through his hair.
" Have the police called?"
" No."
" Is there a chance that we could just hide it all? You know, like toss the body and this all disappears?"
" Not this time, son. Not this time." The doorbell rang as Seth cleared away his bowl.
" I've got it," Seth said dragging himself to the front door and opening it.
" Hey, Seth," Marissa Cooper greeted nervously. Seth looked from her to her father, who was resting his hand on her shoulder protectively.
" Now, this is going to be interesting."
oOoOoOo
" So, Ryan, what do you think? Frank's Franks or Billie's Franks? Both are juicy, both are delicious, and both are made of 100 of unknown processed meat." Seth explained as he and Ryan came closer to the pier.
" It doesn't really matter."
" Matter? It doesn't matter? Why it certainly does! I am ashamed to be seen with you," Seth exclaimed over-dramatically. Ryan feigned being hurt.
" Now Frank's wieners are burnt but twice as big. And with enough mustard you won't taste the charcoal anyways."
" Right, than Billie's it is," Ryan said indifferent.
" Oh not so fast, Ryan Atwood. Billie's has stale buns AND chlorine tasting soda."
" Then we should go to Frank's," he reasoned again.
" Aha! We would if Frank's wasn't fifty cents more!" Ryan glared at him. " Granted it doesn't really matter because money shouldn't be an issue. It's all about the taste."
" So we're going to Frank's."
" Mmm, no. Sorry. It's like a five minute longer walk. Plus he has that glass eye that gives me the willies." Ryan gave an exasperated sigh and followed Seth over to Billie's Franks.
" You really are insane," Ryan concluded as they found an outdoor table and began to eat their hot dogs.
" Most likely," Seth agreed, unwrapping his frank and smothering it with mustard, mayonnaise, and onions. Ryan looked away in disgust. " So what should we do now?" Seth asked through a mouthful of food.
" Well we've already been to the mall, the pier twice, and the IMAX theater," Ryan ticked off on his fingers, wrinkling his nose at the last one.
" Hey, I liked those sharks!" Seth debated, chewed onions spraying out of his mouth.
" How about some video games-"
" No!" Seth interjected too quickly. Ryan siled to himself.
" Wow, Seth Cohen turning down a video game challenge? Pigs do fly!" Ryan challenged sarcastically.
" I'm not turning you do- Look, I just think that it's too nice of a day to, to, you know..." stumbled Seth.
" Play video games?" Ryan finished.
" Yeah, exactly."
" Well, if it's such a nice day, how about a float in the pool?"
" The pool? No, no, not the pool. It's all wet and chloriney. Completely bad for your skin."
" Chlorine-y?" Ryan raised his eyebrows watching as Seth squirmed uncomfortably.
" Yes! You know the whole... You know, don't you?"
" That Marissa is over? Yeah, I know," Ryan finally admitted laughing. Seth threw his trash wrapper at Ryan. " I kind of figured after you dragged me all over Orange County and your dad wanted me out of the house."
" Well, did he need to? Are you and Marissa still together?"
Ryan shrugged. " I haven't talked to her. I mean if I was her I would hate me. After all this whole mess is my fault. I knew my brother was bad news and I should've known I couldn't have taken him. It's my fault Marissa had to kill him. I shouldn't have placed her in that position. Damn it she must hate me." Ryan pounded his fist against the table. Seth was staring at Ryan, his face screw up in confusion. " What?"
" Well, no offense, but I was kind of thinking you would be mad at her," Seth tried to explain.
" Why would I be mad at her?" Ryan asked his face completely serious.
" Are you kidding me? She killed you brother!"
" Because he was choking me! He tried to rape her, Seth! What would you have done?" Ryan hadn't realized he had been shouting until everyone around them stared at him.
" Let's get out of here," Seth whispered as he grabbed his skateboard and left. As he boarded and and Ryan biked, he whispered " You still surprise me sometimes."
" Well you didn't think my accomplishments only extended to punching people now, did you?" Ryan asked, jokingly.
" Actually, yeah," Seth considered. Ryan shoved him so that he fell off his board. " Now where do you think I would've gotten that idea from?" Seth shouted after him.
oOoOoOo
" Where's Julie?" Sandy asked as he sat down at the kitchen table across from Jimmy and Marissa.
" She was... preoccupied?" Jimmy lied.
" She's too ashamed of her daughter that she can't even look at me, let alone come to here my confession." Marissa spat viciously.
" That's not true, sweetie," Jimmy tried to comfort. Sandy nodded sadly as he looked at this destroyed teenager. Her eyes were still puffy from crying and she looked as if she had gotten about as much sleep as Ryan. He couldn't believe any parent could turn away their child in this condition.
" Okay, Marissa, I'm going to ask you to tell me everything you remember about last night. Any little detail may help. Take your time." Sandy explained, taking out a notebook.
Marissa explained about getting the phone call, seeing Ryan's car, walking in on Trey choking Ryan to death, pleading with him and getting slapped across the face (Sandy noted a dark red mark across her cheek), and then picking up the gun and shooting him. During this part she heard her dad inhale sharply. She had purposely avoided mentioning anything about what Trey had done to her when Ryan was at Miami. She couldn't admit that in front of her dad, or in front of Sandy for that matter. It made her fell unclean and ashamed.
" Why was Trey attacking Ryan?" Sandy asked, the concern about Ryan's well-being apparent.
" I don't know," Marissa lied.
" Could Trey have been drunk? High?" Sandy questioned again.
" I don't know. Maybe," She bit her lip. " Honestly, I was more focused on Ryan than Trey."
" Alright Marissa, I'll talk to Ryan and we can get the full story." Sandy said in a gentle voice, but Marissa could tell he was disappointed.
" Is he here?" Marissa asked in a panicked tone.
" No, he and Seth went out for the afternoon. Do you want to go out back while I talk to your father?" Marissa knew it wasn't really a request.
" Sure," she replied in false cheerfulness. She tugged off her sneakers and socks and dipped her feet in the pool. Ryan's pool house was sitting directly in front of her. Before she could stop herself, she could stop herself she started to cry. She had messed up. Big time. She killed Ryan's only family, and now she was sitting here like a blubbering fool. More than anything, she wanted Ryan to wrap his arms around her and tell her that it'd be okay, that he didn't hate her. But he did. He had to. How could he not? She quickly wiped her eyes as Jimmy stuck his head out the back door.
" Ready to go, kiddo?" Jimmy called.
" Sure, Dad," Marissa answered grabbing her shoes and hurrying inside. She was in such a rush that she didn't notice Jess poking her head out from behind the pool house. She smiled to herself and disappeared among the bushes. This could turn out to be easier than she thought.
TBC...
A/N MWAHH how dare I leave it there? LOL. Hope you guys are still fans.