Discl. I own nothing than my hangover
To all my lovely reviewers: Please don't hate Seth! He only has good intentions! Anyway, thanks again Leentje, Liz, I-Believe-In-The-Butterflies, GalootMaster, Kym, Maddy-sparkles, purse-fanatic, rainygal, the-oc-roxmysox, you make my day!
Chapter 11
"What's the matter?" Colin asked after a few moments of silence.
"Your mother is crazy, kid" Seth answered sighing, directly looking at the boy beside him.
"What?"
"Don't worry Colin, I know Marissa... You could say I am one of her oldest friends, so I guess I may call her a fool if she's acting like one."
"Where do you know my mum from, Mr. Cohen?"
"Oh please, call me Seth, Mr. Cohen is my Dad" the graphic artist laughed, slowly regaining self control and his humour.
"Actually... Me and my wife went to school with Marissa... long time ago..." Seth suddenly shuddered when an idea crossed his mind.
"Oh boy, I just realised that Julie Cooper Nichol is your grand-mother!"
"She is... but I barely see her, I don't really like her"
"Good boy, you're definitely your Dad's son" Seth grinned, before realising what he had just said.
"YOU KNOW MY DAD?" Colin nearly screamed in shock.
"Oh my... Seth, just shut up..." the adult rebuked himself, his mind racing, trying to find a way out of this mess.
"Colin, listen... I may know Marissa but I don't exactly know who your father is" Seth lied, desperately looking at the excited boy next to him, trying to find out if he was believing him.
"Please, calm down, ok? Can you do me a big favour? Please don't tell Ryan what we just talked about, not your name or who your mum is, he's got enough problems already and I don't want him to worry too much. I promise I'll find your Dad, but you gotta give me some time, alright?"
Colin nodded, his eyes sparkling, amazed by his luck. He was sitting next to his idol, the man he had been adoring since he was little, who now revealed that he knew his mum and by any chance even his Dad. Colin knew that he would promise anything, if in return he would find out who his Dad is. Although he had never met Seth before, he trusted him completely, like he had trusted Ryan right from the start.
"So, let's talk comics, shall we?" the graphic artist continued, when he was sure that Colin would keep their little secret to himself.
When Ryan returned, the two comic addicts were already in a deep conversation about the latest Superman edition, hardly being aware of the fact that Ryan brought drinks.
The adult was happy to see that Seth had found back to his normal self, babbling and rambling about his favourite topic. Colin looked completely amazed and relaxed, being able to talk about his opinion and thoughts with someone who was at least as fascinated about graphic novels as was he.
The three of them talked for two hours, spending nearly half of the day on that bench. At 4 pm Colin got a call from his Nanny, telling him to come home for dinner. He left with Seth's phone number and a pile of Seth Cohen novels, all signed by the master himself.
Walking back to the hotel, Seth knew it was time to face the topic the two of them had been avoiding.
"So... how are you buddy?" he asked softly, trying to find out if Ryan was in the mood to talk.
"Honestly?" his brother answered, glancing over the ocean as they were wandering along the beach.
When he didn't continue, Seth quietly told him:
"Honestly... I know it's hard to talk about it Ryan, but you can't let it eat you from the inside."
"I know Seth, I know... I think I kinda had a break down before you joined us today... It's weird, but I feel this connection with Colin. He can see right through me and we understand each other without much talking... "
"What happened?"
"I was thinking about Alyssa... how I could never replace Bernadette, she needs a mother to grow up Seth..."
"What about Marissa?" Seth asked, knowing that he was skating on thin ice.
Ryan sighed, his body stiffening, his gaze fixed on the sand.
"What about her?"
"I don't know man, you tell me... Do you want her in your life again?"
"That's not the point at the moment Seth! Bernadette is still alive! And she's my wife for God's sake! I didn't marry her for pity, I married her because I love her, she's the mother of my kid and I'm not giving up on her that easily, you understand?" Ryan hissed, his voice husky and dangerous.
"I'm sorry Ryan..." Seth replied, raising his hands in defeat.
"You know I love Bernadette and I understand that this situation is shit, but Marissa didn't know about Bernadette when she received the letter, she definitely didn't come back to ruin your marriage or your life, and all she wants now is to see if you could still be friends..." Seth tried again.
"Would you trust her?" Ryan asked, looking at his brother.
"I... I... I've never known Marissa as good as you have, but I believe that she had her reasons to leave and I think it was hard enough for her to return, so... maybe she deserves another chance" the black haired adult carefully said. He knew very well that he was in a difficult situation. Knowing, that his brother was about to lose his wife and trying to understand what this meant for him, he still had to praise Marissa, since he knew about Colin. Seth guessed that it would probably be Alyssa and Colin who could save Ryan from going crazy once Bernadette was gone. What he didn't know was, how Marissa would fit in, as Ryan was at the moment clearly not ready to trust her again.
The dark blonde man nodded silently, absorbing what Seth had just said.
"For years I have been praying for her to come back... It's not that I hate having her in my life again, I just have to take it very slow... I can't trust her anymore..."
"Listen Ryan, whatever happens, you know that myself and Summer, as well as Mum and Dad, will always be here for you, no matter what. You won't be standing alone with two kids, ok?"
"Thanks Seth..."
"No problem man, we're family, right?"
"And that's all that matters in the end..." Ryan repeated what Colin had told him today.
"Exactly! So let's get back to the hotel and grab something to eat. By the way, this Colin kid is amazing, I love him!" Seth laughed, trying to lighten up the mood.
"You only love him because he adores you... so technically... you love yourself"
"Tell me something new" the graphic artist smirked.
"At least you can joke about it now that you're all 'mature'... Ryan grinned sarcastically, lightly pushing the black haired adult into the side, glad for the distraction and for having his brother on his side.
When they arrived at the hotel, Seth excused himself, pretending to look for something at the store. As soon as Ryan was out of sight, Seth grabbed his mobile and dialled his home number.
"Yes?"
"Summer, honey it's me" he whispered.
"Cohen! Why are you whispering?"
"I don't want Ryan to hear... considering that he's not even around and I'm standing in the middle of a store with all the people staring at me, it maybe wasn't such a good idea" he rambled.
"SETH! Darling calm, what's going on?" Summer called, close to losing her temper.
"Well, Ryan befriended this boy the other day at the pier. He thinks he has some connection to him, wants to help him. So we met the boy today, he's a big fan of me, by the way, he's so cool, he knows all my novels, even the one I wrote under a pseudonym and..."
"Point, Cohen!" his wife interrupted.
"Oh, yeah, right... Anyway, I met him today and let me tell you, I was shocked when I first saw him. He has dark blond hair, is rather tall for his age, but the most special thing were those eyes... I've only seen one person with such eyes in my life. Remember the picture Ryan once showed us of the time when he still went to school? Colin looks exactly the same!"
"Oh my God! Are you telling me Chino befriended his own son!"
"Yep, Colin Cooper... I told Colin that I know Marissa and that I'll help him find his Dad, 'cos he has no idea who it could be. We're lucky he hasn't figured it out yet, he's damn smart for his age... I asked him not to tell Ryan anything and I think he understood, as he knows about Ryan's situation. What are we gonna do now?"
Summer stayed quiet for a few seconds, trying to absorb the news she had just heard.
"Honey? Still there?" Seth finally asked.
"Yes, sorry... I'm speechless, the second time this week..."
"I know how you feel"
"I highly doubt that" Summer replied unamused, taking a deep breath.
"Hey! Well ... actually you are right..."
"Ok, Seth, this is what we know: When Ryan finds out about his son by himself in his momentarily state, he's gonna be so pissed and hurt that it will put him over the edge... But if Marissa told him about Colin, he might be able to start thinking about another relationship with her... of course it will take a while with Bernadette sick and everything, but I can see hope there. Marissa on the other side hasn't had a proper relationship since Ryan and as she told me, she still loves him. So what would make more sense than bringing those five people together as one family? Nothing! Except that the three adults involved managed the make a mess out of their lives and left it up to us to clear it out..."
"Darling... I don't wanna disturb you but now you're rambling..."
"I'm not! I'm stating the facts!"
"Oh, ok" Seth replied, knowing better than to disagree with Summer when she was close to a rage blackout.
"So... we gotta make sure that Marissa tells Ryan the truth... in the meantime, we must protect Ryan from finding out the truth by himself. I want you to spend some time with Colin. You promised him to find his Dad, so do anything to make it look like you're searching, but destroy every evidence you can find that points to Ryan... This whole story is a mess and it's in our responsibility to do the best we can to let it have a happy end. Understood?"
"Yes, M'am" Seth replied, not joking at all, but understanding the difficulty of the situation.
"So, I'm gonna take care of Ryan and you... talk to Marissa tomorrow" Seth continued.
"Sounds like a plan... ok, have a good night... and Seth...I Love you"
"Love you too Mrs. Vixen" the man with the dark, curly hair told his wife, before ending the call, thoughtfully walking back to their room, trying to figure out how to bring Ryan and Marissa back together.
"SETH! Wake up man, pick up your phone!" Ryan grumbled loudly, glancing at his watch, after Seth's cell phone had been constantly ringing for 5 minutes.
When Seth didn't move, he grabbed the pocketbook which was laying on his night stand and threw it onto the bed next to him, trying to wake his brother up.
"Ouch! Hey! What the fuck!" Seth cried out when the book hit him right on the chest.
"Phone. 3am! Pick-up!" Ryan explained, taking his pillow and placing it's over his head, trying to ignore the annoying ringing.
"Oh... right..." Seth mumbled, opening the cell phone and saying:
"You better be Stan Lee..."
"Shut up Cohen!" Summer answered, her voice full of fear, sobs escaping from her mouth.
Immediately Seth was fully awake. Sitting up in bed he felt sweat building on his hands.
"Summer? Honey, what's wrong?"
Now Ryan was alerted too, immediately jumping out of bed, walking over to Seth and placing himself next to him, he nervously glanced at his foster brother, fearful of what was going on.
"It's Bernadette... we're at the Newport County hospital... it doesn't... it doesn't look good... the baby..." Summer cried, fully losing control over herself.
"We'll be there in a few minutes, hold on darling, everything will be fine..."
"I'll drive" was all Ryan said, his face pale and his voice husky and quiet.
"I'll call Mum and Dad to bring the kids..." Seth told him, his face white, a shocked expression in his eyes. They silently got dressed, both of them thinking the same - would they make it in time?
A/N: I'm not finished with the next chapter, it's kinda difficult to write (esp. with a hangover), so next update probably Wednesday or Thursday... Don't hang me if you get it later, though