Thanks for all the wonderful reviews. I'm so glad you're all enjoying it. A little less humor. A little more angst. But Captain Oats is still at large.
This is unbetad. All mistakes are mine. Though characters belong exclusively to the O.C and Fox and WB.
Ryan ran his tongue over his teeth, trying to block out Sandy's words. It didn't work. They kept repeating over and over in his head with images of Kirsten the last day, before she went to rehab, flashing before his eyes. He could feel her arms around him as she said good-bye. It wasn't the hug of someone who hated him. Yet he couldn't shake Kirsten's words. I let you into this house.
He scrambled off the bed and rummaged through the pile of clothes that Seth had left in middle of his room and pulled out a wifebeater and a pair of shorts. He needed to run. He needed to clear his head. He quickly changed and darted into the kitchen, where he found Sandy sitting at the table with his head bowed.
"Sandy," he said softly. "I'm going to run on the beach."
Sandy looked up. "Okay. Take your cell."
"Sure thing. See you in an hour or so."
He went back into the pool house and found his cell in his pants pocket. He clipped it onto the waistband of his shorts and then remembered Captain Oats. His shorts didn't have any pockets, but there was no way he was leaving Captain Oats where Seth could find him again. He was having too much fun playing with Seth's head. He'd have to just run with the horse in his hand. He'd worry about what people would think some other time. Keeping Seth away from Captain Oats was the only thing keeping him sane these days.
He was out the door, when he remembered his ipod. Music, especially one of Seth's mixes, would drown out his thoughts. The running would keep the images away as he concentrated on his breathing and the pain he was sure to feel. He didn't run often enough to think he wasn't going to be in pain.
He followed the path down to the beach, stopping only to stretch his legs before reaching the sand. He hopped slightly and set off, sprinting through the sand, which was much harder than the movies made it look. Music pulsated in his ears and his shins started to burn almost right away and a stitch started to form in his side, but Trey and Kirsten and Sandy and even Seth permeated his mind. He couldn't shake them.
Had he done the right thing with Trey? Could he really cut off his brother from his life? They were blood after all. Kirsten wasn't his blood. She wasn't his mother. Though sometimes he liked to pretend she was. He didn't have a right to expect anything from her. Not trust, respect or love. He was living in her house, going to a fancy private school on her dime, and he was treated like a part of her family because of her kindness and because of Sandy's trust. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that at the very least he owed it to Sandy to try and make things okay for them. To put aside his hurt feelings and to try family therapy so Kirsten could come home again.
He focused on the jogger just a few meters ahead of him and inhaled sharply, putting on a burst of speed to overtake him. He pumped his arms, Captain Oats swinging wildly at his side. He went ahead of one jogger and then another. His sides felt like they were splitting. Sweat dripped from his head and into his eyes, blurring his vision and leaving a burning sensation in his eyes. If Kirsten came home, then Seth would have his family again. He would go to family therapy for Seth and Sandy so that they could have their family again.
"Yo. Atwood. Hey. Come on. Slow down."
Ryan skidded to a halt, his heels grinding against the grainy sand. He turned around and was taken aback to see Luke Ward standing just a few yards away from him.
"Luke," he panted.
"You look intense."
Ryan bent over to massage his legs, hoping to hide his heavy breathing. It was embarrassing that he was so out of shape. No point in lying to Luke about still being on the soccer team. There was no way he'd be breathing so heavily if he was doing the coach's drills on a daily basis.
"Trying to clear my head." He looked up. "What are you doing back in town?"
"Visiting my mom and brothers. Dad and his… boyfriend went on a couples cruise."
Ryan cocked his brow. "How is your mother?"
Luke smiled, grateful that Ryan had not harped on his obvious discomfort. He was getting used to his father's lifestyle, but it was still new and strange to him. "She's okay. I heard about… well… everything. Marissa filled me in."
"You spoke to Marissa?"
Ryan straightened up and gazed out at the ocean.
"I went to visit her yesterday." Luke fell in step with his one time nemesis and they started to walk amicably along the beach. The waves lapped onto shore, licking their feet and knocking their ankles. "She's… well…"
"I know. I saw her today. She's messed up and it's my fault."
"From what I hear, it's your brother's fault."
Even though they weren't touching each other, Luke could feel Ryan stiffen beside him. He bit his tongue, wishing he could take back his words. Ryan was loyal to those he cared about, what was he thinking bad mouthing his brother?
"Yeah. I guess. But it's my fault Trey was here."
"Actually, from what I hear, it was Mr. Cohen who insisted that Trey stay with you."
Ryan stopped walking, tilted his head to the side and cocked his head to the side. "You sure are caught up."
"Yeah, well welcome to the O.C."
"Bitch," Ryan concluded and laughed.
Luke's eyes fell to Ryan's hand. "Um. Ryan. Why are you holding a plastic horse?"
Ryan's face flushed. It figured he would be caught by Luke in some sort of embarrassing position. "Um." He scratched the back of his neck. "It's Seth's."
"Okay," Luke drawled. "Cohen would have a plastic horse. But why are you running with it? In public?"
"It's a long story. This is my revenge."
Ryan wished he could bury his head, so Luke wouldn't notice the color rushing to his face. Realizing he had no choice, Ryan filled Luke in on the kidnapping of Captain Oats, careful not to offer any details about why he was seeking revenge on Seth. Luke listened, asking a few questions, trying to goad Ryan into spilling the whole story. He should have known better. Ryan only offered small tidbits of his life and was careful to keep most of it close to the vest.
Ryan continued, explaining his intent was to slowly torture Seth with pictures of his plastic horse in precarious situations and ominous threats.
"I'm just running out of ideas. Actually," he admitted. "I didn't have that many to begin with."
Luke looked around. "Drown the horse."
Ryan stuck out his lip. "I don't have a camera with me."
"My phone has a camera." Luke shrugged his shoulders. "I'll e-mail it to you when I get back to my mom's place."
Ryan grinned. "I'm game, but are you sure?" When Luke reassured him that he had nothing better to do, Ryan stuck Captain Oats in the sand, making sure the horse was firmly in place. He didn't want the water to wash it away. Luke focused the camera and snapped a few shots.
"You know, Cohen is way too easy to toy with."
"I agree."
"Is he going out of his mind?"
"You should come see my room. He ransacked it."
"If one of my brothers did that, they'd be eating through straws for a month."
"You're such a big talker." Ryan knocked into Luke's side. Luke just laughed and was interrupted by the jingle of Ryan's phone.
"Journey?" Luke raised his brows and then shook his head. "That I even know what group that is, is just wrong."
Ryan ignored Luke's jibe and pulled out his cell phone, seeing the Cohens' number on the caller ID. "Hey," he said. He listened to Sandy's worried voice on the other end and glanced at his watch.
Luke watched as Ryan's demeanor changed. His back grew rigid. His cheek muscles twitched. His fingers went white.
"Sorry, Sandy. I met Luke on the beach. Luke Ward," he explained. "Yeah. He's in town visiting his mom. Okay," he said after a short pause. "I'll ask." He covered the mouth piece. "Can you come for dinner? Sandy wants me home."
"I've got to get home too. But we'll hang? Maybe hit a couple of parties?"
"Sounds good." He turned back to the phone. "I'll be home soon, Sandy. Sorry for not calling. Oh and Sandy," Ryan called before he lost courage. "I've thought about it some more and if you really want, I'll come with you and Seth." He didn't wait to hear Sandy's response, but instead pressed the end button and flipped the phone close before clipping it back to his waistband. "It's been tough for Sandy without Kirsten," Ryan explained apologetically. He bent over and picked up the horse, drying it off on the bottom of his tee shirt and shorts.
"Yeah. I heard about that too," Luke replied. "She'll be okay."
"I hope so."
Later that night, after another forced family dinner and after he and Seth cleaned the pool house — Sandy had insisted it get done before Rosa came in the morning — Ryan sat down with his laptop. He checked his e-mail and true to his word, Luke had sent the pictures. He sucked in his cheeks, hiding the laughter bubbling inside of him. One of the shots was perfect. Luke had snapped just as a wave had crashed over the plastic horse, but Captain Oats was clearly visible.
He inserted the picture into MS Word and changed the font into large block letters. Next time, he typed, the horse goes out to sea. Ryan glanced over the document was satisfied with his results and briefly wondered what he could do with some photo editing software. Pushing the thought aside, promising he'd play with it next time, he pressed print and watched the paper come out.
He glanced around to make sure no one was watching and stood on a chair to get to the air conditioning vent. Luke had suggested the hiding place so he wouldn't have to carry Captain Oats around with him all the time. Satisfied that the horse was well hidden, Ryan stuffed a roll of scotch tape into his pocket, and went into the big house.
Seth was slumped in front of the T.V. mindlessly flipping through the channels, not stopping long enough to know what the programs were about. Ryan crept by and went up the stairs to Seth's room.
"Why are you skulking around, Ryan?"
Ryan stopped in his tracks, his eyes open wide, looking as if he had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He turned slowly and faced Sandy.
"Oh. Hey. Hi, Sandy."
Sandy grinned wide. "We've already established you're the world's worst liar. So tell me why you're being all sneaky and secretive."
"I'm just leaving Seth something."
"There's something going on between the two of you."
"We're okay."
"Seth looks pretty upset."
"Well, as soon as I put this down in his room, I'll go play some videogames with him." He held up his paper, but made sure to hide the text from Sandy.
"You know, I'm here, ready to listen."
"I know. Really. Seth and I are okay. I'm just having a bit of fun at his expense."
Sandy seemed satisfied, so Ryan turned back to Ryan's room.
"Oh. Ryan. Thanks for agreeing to do the family therapy. It wouldn't be complete without you."
Seth found the note after an hour long marathon of PS2 with Ryan. They'd skirted around the issue of Captain Oats. Ryan didn't admit to having the horse and Seth didn't admit to needing the horse. And he did need Captain Oats, his one constant since he had been a little boy. It had been a gift from his grandmother. One she gave him when she was sick with the cancer. At the time, he had been too young to notice that she was becoming very frail. That if he just breathed too hard in her direction, he could knock her over. When she had died, Seth had found the horse a great source of comfort.
When he got older and the jocks had taunted him at school and when he had no friends to turn to, Seth had turned to Captain Oats. On the rare occasion his parents would argue, and he wasn't sure how they would ever make up, because their voices were so loud and angry, Seth had held Captain Oats wishing the fury away. Since Ryan had moved in, Seth had made light of his dependence on Captain Oats, but in truth, with Kirsten in rehab and his family slowly falling to pieces, Seth needed his little plastic horse close to his side. Ryan thought he was having fun, but Seth was going out of his mind.
He heard the television set still going down the stairs so Seth tiptoed down the stairs, making sure Ryan was glued to the set. He carefully walked out to the pool house to conduct another search. He wouldn't tear it apart like he had done before. Even with Ryan's help, it had taken them hours to put everything back the way it was. At least Ryan hadn't seemed upset by it, though he couldn't say the same for Sandy. It was futile. Ryan had hidden the horse well.
He left the pool house and heard noises in the kitchen. He looked up and saw Ryan and realizing that he was about to come out, Seth ducked behind one of the lounge chairs. He watched Ryan go inside and move about the room, grabbing sweats and an undershirt before heading into the bathroom. He knew it was creepy to stalk his brother like this; watch him through a window, but Seth was determined to get back his horse.
He wasn't disappointed when Ryan emerged from the bathroom, dressed for bed. He dragged a chair over to the door near the bathroom and reached up with something in his hand. It took Seth a moment to realize what Ryan was doing, but it clicked, like a light bulb going on in his head. Ryan was hiding Captain Oats in the air conditioning vents. Not a bad hiding place, he thought. Obviously, Ryan watched Veronica Mars too.
