Disclaimer: Not mine…just borrowing…
A/N: A bit shorter than the last, but school is insane so forgive me…please!
Chapter 10 – Big Brothers
"Morning," Lee mumbled to Seth as she made her way into the kitchen with one thing in mind. She reached the coffeemaker and found it empty.
"Looking for this?" he held up the empty carafe.
"You better not tell me you drank the last cup," she glared.
"Nah, I just poured it," he handed her his mug, "You're hung over so you need it more than I do."
"I am not hung over," she gratefully grabbed the mug.
"Right."
"I'm not," she took a long sip, "I just need caffeine to function."
"Potato, potahto," he laughed and turned to the sliding door, "And how are you this morning, Ryan?"
"Fine," he noticed the lack of coffee, "No coffee?"
"She took the last cup," Seth happily placed the blame on Lee.
"Sorry," she shrugged, "I think we should invest in a bigger coffee pot."
"Or you could just try to avoid the hangover," Ryan opened the fridge.
"Seth!" Lee snapped, "Did you?"
"He didn't have to," Ryan emerged from the fridge with a carton of orange juice.
"So he did?" she glanced at Seth who looked a bit guilty, but shook her head deciding that Seth was the least of her problems, "Nevermind."
"What were you thinking?" Ryan asked her, his tone serious.
"I wasn't thinking, I was reacting."
"By knocking back drinks?" he snapped louder than he would have liked, he gave Seth a worried looked, "Are your parents here?"
"Mom's at the club dealing with some Cotillion planning stuff and Dad's at the beach," he told them, "So you can discuss last night's indiscretions to your heart's content. I'm going to give you two some privacy."
"Thanks for the support Seth," Lee rolled her eyes as he went outside with his bagel and the newspaper. Her eyes became steely when she faced her brother, "Before you start, I just want to say I'm a big girl and I can make my own decisions. More importantly, I know how much is too much and I did not have too much last night."
"I know that," he sat down at the table.
"Good," she sat opposite of him.
"But you need to realize this is different than back in Chino," he continued seriously, "The Cohen's will notice and they will call you on it, whether you are acting 'drunk' or not, and trust me, their lecture will be worse than mine."
"Got it," she paused, "And are you going to hold yourself to the same standard?"
"I'm going to try," Ryan shrugged, "But to be perfectly honest, I don't have to. I live in the pool house, which significantly decreases the odds of Kirsten or Sandy smelling alcohol on my breath."
"Not fair," she smirked and stood up, "Are we done?"
"Yeah," he told her, "But you should probably go talk to Seth."
"Fine," she sighed but listened to him and went outside. She found Seth flipping through the Arts & Leisure section of the paper, "Hey."
"Hey," he folded it closed, "Did you and Ryan have a nice chat?"
"It was swell," she sat down next to him at the table, "I wanted to apologize for last night. I shouldn't have jumped down your throat when you threw out my drink. You were doing the right thing, and I'm sorry."
"Apology accepted," he smiled, "But only because you got Summer to dance with me."
"So if I get you a date with her does that mean I can steal away to Tijuana?" she laughed, happy that Seth was cool with everything.
"I think I'll need to consult Ryan before I support any boarder crossing adventures."
"What he doesn't know won't hurt him," Lee grinned mischievously and Seth gave her a concerned look, "Kidding."
"Just checking."
"Jeez, Cohen, lighten up," she stood up to go back inside, "The girls will like you more."
"I don't care about the girls," he called after her, "Only Summer."
"Whatever."
"Hey Seth, what time is it?" Lee looked over at the guys who were playing video games. She sat sideways in an armchair reading and was unable to see the clock.
"Uh," he paused the game quickly and checked his watch, "Almost four."
"Thanks," she slipped the bookmark in between the pages and stood up, "I need to start getting ready. See you guys later."
"Bye," Seth unpaused the game only to have Ryan pause it, "What?"
"I'm not going to Cotillion."
"Yeah right, my mom will flip."
"Let her," Ryan set down his controller, "If I go, there will be a fight, and I really don't want to cause more problems."
"Come on, Luke wouldn't try anything at Cotillion," he paused to reconsidered, "Wait, what am I saying, of course he would. So even though you could kick his ass – you could kick his ass, right?"
"Yeah."
"Just making sure," he smiled, "You just have to hold back for a few hours."
"Seth, I'm not going."
"Well, what about Kat?" he tried another angle, "You don't want to her leave her White Knightless."
"Actually, I think she would be pleased with the outcome," Ryan shrugged, "She's only doing Cotillion because of her grandmother. So would you tell her…"
"Wait, you want me to be the messenger? Because that's just not cool."
"Hey, you owe me. I went to that party."
"I guess," Seth sighed, "But you have to tell my mother you're not going."
"The party where I got punched."
"Right, I'll tell her then, but that's it."
"Yeah," Ryan unpaused the game and they went back to playing.
Lee stood in her room staring at the mirror. Kirsten had helped her with her hair earlier and now she stood there in all of her junior deb glory. The dress was lavender with a fitted bodice and a flowing satin and iridescent organza skirt. The neckline was sprinkled with rhinestones that lead up to five delicate, silver-lined strips that made up the single strap on the right shoulder.
"You decent?" Seth voice carried over through the door.
"I've sinned, but overall I've led a morally upstanding life," she called back.
"Funny. Can I come in?"
"Yeah."
"It's locked," he jiggled the knob.
"Hold on a second," she made her way to the door.
"You don't say someone can come in if the door is locked," Seth grumbled as he walked in, "You say coming."
"I'll try to remember that," she shook her head.
"You look nice."
"Thanks," she smiled, "So do you."
"Thank you," he bowed dramatically.
"Where's Ryan?" she looked behind Seth, hoping to catch a glimpse of her brother in tails.
"Uh, he's not coming."
"What you mean?"
"Ryan's not going to Cotillion."
"He's getting out of it?" Lee's jaw dropped, "Because that just is not cool. Why should he get to stay home?"
"Because Luke is perpetually goading him into fights and Ryan doesn't want to do anything to cross my mom."
"That's ridiculous," she shook her head, "If anyone should be avoiding Luke it should be me. I am the one who punched him."
"You punched Luke? Where? When? Why?" he shot of the questions rapidly.
"First, you have to swear not to tell Ryan or Marissa. Well, Marissa only because I just don't want to get in the middle of that, but mostly Ryan," she walked passed him to close the door, "You cannot tell him because he will flip out and it will be ugly."
"What are you getting at?"
"It's not anything to get your newfound big brother ideals worked up over," she assured him, "Ryan would just overreact. So do you promise not to say a word?"
"I promise, but if it's bad…"
"It's not."
"Okay," he locked his lips closed with an invisible key.
"After our dance, I went out to the beach to find Matt and I found his brother instead," she bit her lip, "Luke clearly was drunk and wanted to 'welcome' me to the O.C."
"Oh."
"Yeah," she nodded and continued quickly, "It was implied, nothing more, but we both know that the implication alone would send Ryan into fight mode."
"I can see that," Seth agreed, "Um, if Luke didn't try anything, why did you hit him."
"He made some comments."
"Comments?"
"Seth."
"What?"
"You're getting the 'big brother' tone."
"I'm not," he denied, "Okay, a little. What'd he say?"
"Nothing I haven't heard in Chino," she shrugged, "I overreacted, really."
"I doubt it," he looked at her expectantly, but she just stared at him coolly, "What about Matt?"
"What about him?" she countered icily.
"Did you ever find him?" he immediately sensed her change in demeanor.
"Seth, there's something else you need to know about this big brother thing?"
"Yeah?"
"Some things little sister will keep to herself," she forced a grin and walked past him, leaving him alone in her room.
"I just can't win," he threw his hands up in the air dramatically.
A/N: So I know still no real cotillion, but I needed to do some of the whole sibling-bonding stuff and I want to get all of the Cotillion-y goodness into one chapter. Please review!
Ansy Pansy aka Panz – Thanks I'm glad you like it!
Leentije – Thanks! And don't worry, the whole Matt & ex-girlfriend isn't everything that it seems. It just wouldn't be realistic for Matt and Lee to meet and fall in love…you gotta have conflict!
Kursk – Don't worry, I will be fast tracking Ryrissa too…Lee may not want to get in the middle of the Luke/Marissa relationship yet, but word of Luke's 'wandering eye' is sure to get out soon.
Jhhhhjfjk89 – I'll try…thanks for the review!
Hanselel – Yay! I'm glad to see that you're in for the long haul in terms of the shipping…it won't take forever, but the romance is always in the build-up!
Slimkay – Thanks for reading and thanks for the review!