I know this was supposed to be a one shot, but I was inspired by many of the comments to continue. Again, a little bit of humor and a little bit of angst. No beta. Sorry.
I don't own any of the characters of the O.C. though I wouldn't mind owning Ben, Adam or Peter for a day or maybe a week. :)
"Just in time." Sandy smiled as he stood at the back of the Range Rover. "You've come to schlep groceries." He took two overflowing brown paper bags and dumped them into Seth's open arms.
"Oommph," Seth cried as the weight of the bags hit him. "Hungry much?"
Ryan ambled to the back of the van and hefted another two bags in his arms. He smiled shyly at Sandy, so that his guardian would know that everything was okay. Sandy smiled back and put a hand around Ryan's shoulders.
"We'll get through this kid," he said quietly and took the last three bags as he followed the boys into the kitchen.
"Are we expecting a hurricane? Tornado? Tsunami?" Seth teased as he started to unpack. "What's with the food overload?"
"Just because your mother doesn't mind doing a food run twice a week, doesn't mean I have to do it that way. This should last us for a while."
Ryan pulled out a giant jar of peanut butter. He stuck out his lip and raised his brows. "This will last us until the next millennium."
"Peanut butter," Sandy insisted, "is foods for the gods."
"I thought that was cream cheese."
"Don't be a smart ass, Seth."
Seth grinned, and unpacked some more of the groceries. He stole a glance over his shoulder and pointedly looked at Ryan. He didn't want to ruin the easy atmosphere in the kitchen, but Ryan had to tell his dad about the night before. He had seen Sandy uneasily studying Ryan, trying to gauge his mood.
"So, um, Sandy," Ryan faltered.
Sandy's head jerked, immediately distracted from the circular he'd been glimpsing through. "Yeah, kid."
"About last night."
Sandy closed the circular and leaned forward giving Ryan his full attention.
Ryan took a deep breathe. "I told you, I wasn't doing anything wrong. I was just embarrassed to let you know what it was I was doing."
Sandy quirked his brow, but said nothing.
Ryan stared down at his hands, but soldiered on. "I went to the Harry Potter release party," he mumbled quickly so that the words ran together in an unintelligible sentence.
"Pardon?"
"I went to the Harry Potter release party at the book store."
"Oh." Sandy arched his brows. "Did you have fun?"
"That's it?"
"You didn't just confess to going to one of those rainbow parties."
"I was expecting you to react a little more like Seth."
"And how did Seth react?"
"He — was — having — a lot of fun with it."
"Did you hit him?"
Seth, still in the background, squealed in protest. But Ryan ignored him and arched his brows. "I thought I wasn't supposed to fight."
"Well, when Seth gets all smart assy we can make an exception to the rule."
Ryan grinned, relieved that Sandy was joking with him, no longer upset or disappointed that he had lied the night before. Maybe he had been ridiculous to hide the fact that he enjoyed the Harry Potter books. It was just that back in Chino when he and Theresa had first started reading them together they knew they had to hide the books from Trey, Arturo and their gang or else the mocking wouldn't end. He slid his eyes sideways at Seth. He wasn't sure he'd ever hear the end of it from him.
"Thanks dad. I feel the love," Seth called from his perch at the island counter.
Sandy walked over to Seth, tousled his hair and landed a great big kiss on the top of his son's head. He didn't miss the scrunched up face and the melodramatic wiping of the slobber that he had left on top of Seth's head.
"Watch the Jewfro dad. It's one of a kind."
Sandy couldn't help but laugh and just nudged Seth on his stool.
"Listen, both of you," Sandy's voice took on a serious edge. "There is nothing you can't talk to me about. You can always confide in me and I will keep your secrets. You don't have to lie to me. All it does is cause worry and right now that's the last thing we need. Capiche?"
"Yeah. I'm sorry Sandy."
"It's okay." Sandy walked back to the bag of groceries and continued unpacking. "So what are the plans for today? More Harry, Ryan?"
Ryan laughed. "Yeah."
"Why don't you come with me?" Seth offered. "I'm going to help Summer mark and arrange items for the hospital's Chinese Auction and if you're up to it you can visit Trey."
Ryan's stance immediately went rigid, losing the relaxed happy pose he had a minute ago. "I don't think so."
"It's not so scary, you know. I've been to his room. The tubes and pipes are sort of disconcerting at first, but he kind of just looks likes he's sleeping and he looks peaceful."
"Seth. I don't want to go," Ryan snapped and stalked out of the kitchen.
"You tried." Sandy squeezed Seth's shoulder. "He'll come around. This has got to be difficult for him."
Seth shrugged. "I guess." He slid off the stool and added, "I better get going. Summer will be waiting." The joviality was gone from his voice.
Sand was left standing in the kitchen looking from the back door that led to the pool house to the door that led out of the house. Seth or Ryan. Ryan or Seth. He buried his head in his hands and wished Kirsten was standing beside him.
Most of the bruises on Trey's face, the cuts and scratches, were fading. The doctors claimed that Trey's internal injuries were healing too. He'd come out of his coma in no time. "It's just the body's way of mending," they had assured Seth and Sandy on one of their visits to HOAG.
Seth wasn't sure why he visited with Trey every day. Maybe it was because Ryan wouldn't and he didn't think Trey should be alone. Mostly he just sat and talked. It was easy for him to do and Trey didn't seem to mind Seth's incessant rambling. He'd tell him about Ryan, sometimes making things up so that Trey wouldn't worry. He filled him in on things that were happening at home. He had told Trey about Kirsten's drinking problem and her stint at rehab. He had divulged things to Trey he didn't have the courage to tell his dad, or Summer or Ryan; about how he thought Kirsten's drinking problem was partly his fault. He was worried how Kirsten's drinking affected Ryan, given that this wasn't the first time he was dealing with a mom or mom-like figure that turned to the bottle for comfort.
That afternoon, as soon as there was a free minute, Seth lightly kissed Summer on her cheek and told her he was going to visit Trey. The staff in ICU recognized him and waved as he passed through. Carol, Trey's day nurse called out a greeting and told him there was no change.
"Hey Trey. It's me. Seth." He sat down in the vinyl-covered chair next to Trey's bed, scanning the monitor overhead. Carol had explained which numbers measured Trey's heartbeat, and which numbers indicated blood pressure and which indicated blood oxygen level and when he had to be concerned that the monitors beeped and when he didn't. They alarms were always going off and it had becomes like a background noise, much like when he played music in his room while working on homework. He heard it. It was there. But he didn't pay much attention to it.
"Ryan really wanted to come today, but he's all tied up." A devilish grin spread on his face. Ryan had threatened the life of Captain Oats so that Seth should take his secret to the grave. But Trey was unconscious. Even if he could hear everything that Seth said, it would probably stay buried in his subconscious. He stifled a giggle. "You see Trey, last night Ryan went to the Harry Potter release party. Did you know your brother likes to read Harry Potter? He not only reads the latest book in the series, but rereads the old ones before the new one comes out."
Ryan sat in the pool house, with the large oversized book sitting in his lap. He couldn't concentrate on the words on the page, but his mind kept wandering to Seth and Trey. His thoughts and feelings about his brother were so muddled; he didn't know how to make sense of them. He thought going to see Trey in the hospital would just confuse him more. But how crazy was it, that Seth his pseudo brother was the one visiting his own blood brother.
It was all screwed up.
Letting out an exasperated sigh, Ryan cast the book aside and jammed his feet into his boots.
"Hey, Sandy." A minute later he was knocking on Sandy's office door. "Is it okay if I take the car?"
"Well, Seth took the Rover." Sandy chewed on his lip and glanced at his watch. "You know, I won't need it for a couple of hours. Do you think you could have it back by then?"
Ryan nodded. "You sure? I could bike over."
"To where?"
"The hospital. I'm going to go visit Trey."
Sandy dug in his pocket and fished out his keys. Tossing it to Ryan he said, "Take the car. Do you want some company?"
Ryan shook his head. "I think I need to do this alone. Thanks," he said, holding up his hand and backing out of the room.
Sandy looked on grateful for the small steps Ryan was taking. Maybe he'd be able to convince Ryan to visit Kirsten after all.
Ryan stood outside of Trey's cubicle listening to Seth spill his secret to Trey. He closed his eyes and clenched his fist, laughing to himself. He knew Seth couldn't keep a secret if his life depended on it.
He waited for Seth to leave, staying out of sight, before going to see his brother. Swallowing hard, he surveyed the cubicle, studying the machines and avoided landing his gaze on Trey.
"Hey." He finally said. "Seth said the doctors said it was a good idea to talk to you. But you know I'm not good with talking." Ryan stood behind the chair, tapping the back of it. "I see Seth spilled my secret." He laughed. "He's in for it now. I told him I'd mess with him if he told anyone." His ass is mine, thought Ryan. He sighed heavily again. "I really don't want to see you anymore. I don't want to talk to you. I don't want you for a brother. Your nearly raped my girlfriend and then you tried to kill me." He smacked the back of the chair, the vinyl stuck to his hand. "This was a mistake. We can't make peace Trey. It's over. I'm sorry."
He turned on his heels and left, expecting Trey to call out to him. Of course he couldn't. He wasn't sure if Trey even heard. And if Trey woke up, he'd probably have to go into it again. But it didn't matter. Ryan knew he still had a brother. It just wasn't Trey. It was Seth. Seth who always had his back. Even if he ran off at the mouth a little bit too much.
Ryan was glad to see that the Rover wasn't in the drive-way when he got back home. It meant it gave him time to put his plan into action. He returned the keys to Sandy, said he wasn't ready to talk about it and set about getting revenge on Seth.
Seth didn't even see his room until it was close to midnight. He and Summer had gone out for dinner and a movie. When he got back home, he went out to the pool house and cajoled Ryan into abandoning his world of wizards and magic for a round of ninja battles. They had only turned in at Sandy's insistence, though they had reminded him that it was summer break and it meant they could sleep late.
"But the noise from the game and your running commentary are driving me insane."
Ryan, who hardly ever argued with Sandy, admitted he was ready to go back to his books. Defeated, Seth went up to his room.
The note was in middle of his bed on a large piece of construction paper. Letters had been cut out from newspapers and magazines. It said, "You'll never see your horse again."
Seth looked over at his night table. Captain Oats was gone. Frantically, he jumped to the floor, and lay flat on his stomach, checking under his bed. No horse. He opened up every drawer in his dresser, pulling out all his clothes. He rummaged around his computer desk, checking behind the pencil holder and sharpener and other paraphernalia he kept there. He searched his closet and every inch of the room. One hour later despondently Seth sat in the midst of the blizzard that had hit his room, with his hands in his laps and his chin hanging down to his chest. Captain Oats was really gone.
