Disclaimer: I obviously don't own The O.C. or its characters…that all belongs to Josh Schwartz—brilliant man, that he is!
A/N: Again, thank you all so very much for the wonderful reviews I received on chapter two. I'm open to suggestions as to where you think the story should go. You all rock:0)
KC-Chick- A special thanks to you for your especially kind words!
Ryan lay on his back, staring expressionlessly up at the plain white ceiling. There were so many emotions running through his mind, he couldn't keep track of them. His head felt cloudy, and his body ached from head to toe. He was clearly in shock from what had happened the day before.
He felt numb…his brother was dead…and Marissa had shot him. He cringed as the image of Trey holding the telephone over his head, preparing to smash it into his skull, submerged into his brain. He closed his eyes as his memory drifted back to that night. He was so enraged that he couldn't control his anger. When he had told Seth that he was going to settle things with Trey, once and for all, he took into account Seth's face; fear had encompassed it. As he drove to his brother's apartment, he couldn't seem to make the car go fast enough. He wanted Trey to hurt the way that he had made Marissa hurt, he wanted to make him pay for forcing him into that car heist, for lying to him and The Cohen's, for stealing from the charity auction, but most of all he wanted Trey to beg for forgiveness.
When Seth had first informed him of what his brother had done, he had hoped that it had been a joke—a sick, cruel joke nonetheless, though it was better than it being true. He felt so guilty for leaving Marissa alone with him, he winced as he pictured her fighting him off, she was so fragile and he hated to think about what would have happened if Marissa hadn't been able to save herself. He blamed himself; after all he of all people knew what Trey was capable of. Deep down, he knew that Trey had never stopped using or dealing for that matter. Not only had he been stoned when he tried to rape her, he was also ten times stronger than her. If Ryan had just stayed in Newport, none of this would have happened, was his figuring. He couldn't seem to understand why anyone would want to hurt Marissa. What had caused Trey to act out, the way he had? Did he have feelings for her? Even if he had been attracted her, nothing could justify his actions.
Another part of him wanted to break down and cry, his only blood sibling was dead, gone forever, never coming back. What was he going to tell Dawn? Who was going to handle Trey's funeral? Did he even deserve one? He supposed that even scum like his brother ought to have a decent burial. Would Dawn hate him; blame him? How was he even going to find her…Ryan hadn't even heard from his mother since last August, when she had left him with complete strangers, of course they definitely weren't strangers anymore. It hurt him so badly that Trey had held a gun to his head; would he have really shot Ryan in the back? At first, he really was going to leave, not that he wanted to admit it but it had scared the hell out of him when Trey aimed the revolver at him. Then, his rage got the best of him and he just couldn't let him get away with it. Trey had it coming to him, and he figured he'd set him straight with a few good blows to the face, so that he'd learn his lesson. He had never meant to kill him, although the look on his face when he had lunged for his brother seemed to say differently.
He was also worried about how Marissa was holding up. She was most likely on a guilt trip, and probably blamed herself. He didn't hate her—far from it, she had saved his life. When he heard the gun go off, he froze. At first, he wasn't even sure who had fired it, was it Trey, Marissa, a police officer? Where was the bullet headed? Was he going to die? Then he saw Trey's alarming expression change to that of fear. Dark blood spewed out of his chest, and Ryan instantly realized that his brother was the one who had been shot. Trey's face had filled with pain, and he grabbed his chest, looking hopelessly at Ryan to save him. He had dropped to the ground, clutching the area, which was wounded, and Ryan rolled out of the way as quickly as possible.
Why did things have to end so drastically? The many emotions that Ryan was experiencing made him want to scream. He suffered from an intense feeling of guilt, he regretted initiating such a brawl with Trey—yet at the same time he didn't. For the first time in a long time, Ryan wanted to just curl up and cry. However, he wouldn't allow himself to do that, he was supposed to be strong, invincible, a rock. Instead, he permitted one, single, solitary tear to run down his face, before quickly wiping it away. Things were just starting to get back on track, why did his brother have to show up and ruin it all? His relationship with Marissa was better than ever, school was going well, Seth had already mapped out their entire summer plans for him, and now…everything was ruined…life would never be the same again.
Back at The Cohen mansion, Seth and Summer occupied the pool house. They sat next to each other on Ryan's futon, their hands clasped together. They were still in the clothes that they had worn the day before. Summer hadn't even complained, which surprised Seth immensely because he figured that wearing the same clothes two days in a row, was tacky and in Summer's book, registered as an "Ew!"
"Cohen…" she murmured softly, "how do you think they're doing?"
"Ryan and Marissa? Well, I attempted to talk to Ryan last night and I couldn't get more than two words out of him. He just asked me to leave him alone and go away…so I did," Seth answered.
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe he does want to talk to you, he just can't find the right words? I mean, he's Chino. You're lucky if you can get an entire sentence out of him on a good day, you know? Ryan may be tough as nails, but losing his brother…that's got to be so hard on him. I mean, I'm an only child so I don't really know how he feels, but I can imagine that losing a sibling has got to be like losing a part of yourself," Summer said wisely.
"He'll talk when he's ready. Ryan's got to do things in his own time. I'm not sure what's going through his mind right now…I don't even know what to say to comfort him. We both know that I usually have such a way with words, but when I was face to face with him, I was speechless," Seth responded, lying back on a pillow, Summer following in his suit.
"Well, that's a first Cohen," she teased him playfully.
They lay side by side, a comfortable silence taking over. Summer scooted closer to Seth and rested her head on his chest. He gently stroked her back and they stayed in that position for quite some time. Neither of them had much to say; they both just wanted their friends to be all right. They took comfort in each other's company, wordlessly praying that things would improve.
A/N: Wow, Chapter three is up already! I hope I did Ryan's scenes some justice…it was so hard for me to get inside of his head, and write what he was thinking. He's so quiet and withdrawn. Please read and review, I need feedback to keep going. Feel free to share any of your suggestions or questions with me.