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Merry X-mas Ryan Atwood - Chapter 2
" Oh Noooo….Not again. Not another one" Ryan groaned, as Seth pushed him toward yet another shop. He'd been dragged all over the mall for what seemed like endless hours, going in and out of stores that he'd never even knew existed. If he had known what he'd been in for when Seth had asked if he'd join him on a shopping expedition to buy "Christmukkah" presents", he would have declined.
"Just this one, please. I promise this will be the last one." Seth begged, then pouted with his lip.
Not buying his brothers pitifull look, Ryan reminded him, ""You said the same thing like an hour ago."
"I know. It's because I haven't found anything to buy yet," Seth sighed. Looking at his friend with a pleading tone he went on, "It won't take long."
"Whatever." Ryan stuck his hands in his pockets. "Just make it fast, okay?"
"I will, don't worry." With those words Seth rushed into yet another store while Ryan stayed outside, leaning casually against the shop window. Looking at his watch, ten minutes later, he thought that Seth was really taking his time. Usually this would not have been too big of a problem but today, Ryan wasn't feeling his best. His stomach still felt a bit uneasy and the headache he'd been nursing all day had only gotten worse. It would probably reach at least an eight on the Richter Scale. It didn't help that there was a Christmas rush at the mall and there were people everywhere, pushing to get into lines and buying all kinds of gift. All the activity was making him dizzy.
Looking up he saw Seth staring at him with concern in his eyes.
"Um..Uh yeah." Ryan draw a shaky breath. "I was spacing out I guess." God, he'd spaced out so many times that day, that he'd lost count.
"Okay.." Seth looked like he didn't believe him. "I talked to you and you acted like you didn't hear a thing I've said. Either I was boring you badly or something's wrong." He paused for a second. "Come to think of it you looked like you might pass out there for a while. You sure you're all right?"
"Yeah. Yeah I'm fine. It's nothing, just a bit stuffy in here. Lots of people you know." Ryan smiled weakly to prove his point.
"Tell me about it." Seth immediately picked up the topic. "I've been standing in line for what seems like forever, waiting for a clerk to come and help me, and what do you know; no one shows up." Annoyed he continued with his declaration that female clerks had no sympathy for men that were trying to get gifts for their girlfriends…"
The last word had Ryan pick up his ears. " Girlfriends? So this is what it's all about. You're getting a gift for Alex?"
"Alex? No!" There was disgust in Seth's tone. "Do I look like the guy that she would be dating? Be serious, will ya. This is me, Seth Cohen, not some kind of freak that got tatooes all over his arms." He shook his head, "No no..that's a definitive no."
"Then what?" Ryan was having a hard time following Seth, nothing unusual there, but today more so than ever.
"I'm getting it for…" Seth bit his lip nervously.
"Huh?"
"Getting a gift for Summer!"
Ryan raised his eyebrows. "Summer? But, she's not your girlfriend, Seth. She's with Zack, if you haven't forgotten that.
"Oh, hit a man when his down, won't ya'." Seth made a face. "Don't you think I know that? Heeeeelllooooo!!! If you haven't forgotten, I'm the one that dated her on and off for the past year!"
"Uh huh…how could I forget something like that?" Ryan's voice dripped with sarcasm.
It was all Seth talked about for months. At first he'd thought it was funny, then it became boring, only to end up annoying him so much that there were times when Ryan could have given him a shiner in an attempt to shut him up. But no such thing's occurred. To him Seth was much more important, and he tolerated hearing endless monologues about how fantastic this girl was for days and nights.
Ignoring that last comment Seth, sighed. "I know… I know. God don't you think I know that she's Zacks now and that I have lost her forever?" He ran his hand through his hair in a desperate gesture. "After all, she's the one that I've been dreaming of for practically my whole life...Ever since I was a toddler."
Ryan frowned. "A toddler?"
"Okay, maybe not since I was a toddler…but at least since fifth grade." Seth held up his hands in defeat. "Oh you know what I mean."
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with everything?" His brother's words could really tire him out sometimes.
"Even tough she isn't my girlfriend anymore , I still want to get her something so that she is reminded of what a great guy I can be and that I'm not the one that is upset at her dating other guys."
"But you are upset."
"I'm not."
"Yes you are. Ever since you came back you've been talking about how she and Zack have been dating and now you're just trying to get her back again." Suddenly Ryan felt very tired. "That's not a fair call and you know it."
Seth, never getting really upset, thought for a while before nodding. "Point taken my friend, but since she and Marissa will be spending Christmukkah, Christmas eve that is, over at our house, I think that I need to come up with something special for her. The great guy that I am. This, by the way is why I need you, my brother, and womanizer." he pointed at Ryan who rolled his eyes.
Ignoring this gesture Seth went on. "I need you to come and help me to find the ideal gift for her."
"Me?" Ryan shook his head. "And here I thought you were trying to find something nice for your mom and dad." There were a mixture of disappointment and irritation in his tone.
"You did? Oh don't worry; I'll get them something too. But first I need to focus on finding Summer a "never forget me Christmukkah present."
"And'never-forget-presents' don't come easy as we all know." Glancing down at his watch again, Ryan sighed, "So how long are you planning of staying here then? Until tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow? Gawd no." Seth shook his head. "Actually let's get to some more stores and then we call it a day. Is that okay with you?"
"Sure. It's been a long day though and I've got plenty of stuff to do at home, so don't take too long. You know, gotta study for that last pre-cal test for tomorrow."
"Pre-cal Yuck! How can you even do that thing?"
"Don't have much choice, besides it's not that bad." Feeling that they were totally off topic, which happened all the time with Seth, Ryan went on. "So, should we get going then? So we can go home sometime in the near future?" He knew that he was pressing on, but truthfully, his legs and back hurt from walking around all afternoon and now all he wanted to do was to get back to the house and take a nap before it was time to get on with his studies.
Seth, always having flare for drama, feigned a hurt expression. "Here I've asked you to come and spend some quality time with your own brother Seth Cohen, shopping at the finest store there is for Christmukkah all you've done since we came here beg to go home. This leads me to ask you the ever ending question; Ryan, buddy, what's wrong with you today? "
"Nothing. Can you just buy that present for Summer now?"
The last thing Ryan needed right now was Seth finding out that he was feeling a bit sick. If this would turn into a full blown flu, which Ryan suspected by now, it would only lead to that all the Christmukkah celebration, which was the only thing his brother ever talked about these days, would be cancelled and he didn't want to do that to Seth. It would only lead to more people being miserable and that was not something he intended to do.
" Jeeze….I swear that you're starting to sound like dad."
"Speaking of Sandy, did you tell your parents that we're staying out late after dinner?
"Uh huh?"
"I mean did you call them?" Suddenly Ryan found a brilliant excuse to get home.
"Yes I did call them." Seth rolled his eyes. " Dude chill out. We're at the mall for crying out loud. It's not like we're at some strip club you know." He giggled at his own comment. "Although that would have been fun, wouldn't it? All these girls with big breast that are just waiting to attack you. It would be so cool and then we could all…" He was totally engrossed in his daydream when Ryan interrupted him.
"Seth!"
"Okay, okay. I'll get going…" His brother then rushed into another store.
More than one hour later, they were still at the mall, much to Ryan's dismay. . His head was pounding something fierce, and he was so tired that he felt like a walking zombie. Even though Seth had promised it would be the last store they went into, Seth had dragged him around to all these designer's stores, where he couldn't even afford a thing. Ryan swore that if he'd known how many stores they were going to visit, he would have ended this shopping spree a long time ago.
"What do you think of this then?" Ryan held up a triangle shape bottle of perfume. "You think Summer will like this?" He'd decided to help his brother out with the purchase so they would be able to finally leave the store. Seth was showing just as much disinterest as he did now and he had no idea why they were going on with this charade.
"Put that bottle down. I've got something to show you." Seth's face suddenly lit up. "Come on let's get out off here."
This action was unexpected, and feeling too tired to object Ryan did as he was told and followed Seth to what he thought was yet another store. To his surprise he noticed that his brother was leaving the mall and that they soon turned onto a side street. For the first time that day Ryan actually felt curious as to what Seth had in mind.
"Where are you dragging me to now?"
"You wait and see." Seth grinned. "I just came up with the ideal gift for Summer, as well as for myself."
Frowning Ryan was just about to ask where they were heading when his brother stopped in front of a small shop where "The Cartoon shop" was written with crooked letters.
"I wanna check out if they have the 1977 issue of Superman. That and '79 are the only issues I'm missing and when I called them earlier, and they said that they might get a batch before Christmas. Some old dude was going to sell the comics and I would really like to get my hands on that," Seth informed him, before stepping inside.
The Cartoon shop was a small, and didn't look like much from the outside, but was packed with comic books from the inside. The shop was old and the air was a bit on the stuffy side, and it smelled like mould, but that didn't seem to bother the owner off the shop, an old man with a white beard as well as the rest of the guys that did seek their retreat to his ocean of fantasy.
But what caught Ryan's eye was the way Seth strolled into the store, acting like he practically owned the place, saluting each and every one by their name. The owner looked very pleased to see the youngest member of the Cohen clan walk through the door. This got Ryan thinking that his brother was one of their more frequent costumers and was probably one of the people that had purchased a lot in the past.
"Hi Seth, I'm so glad to see you. It's been a long time seen you last visited us."
"Well I've been kind off busy."
"Girls?" The old man smiled a toothless grin.
"Eh..Yeah." Seth blushed, and then he motioned towards Ryan, "I want you to meet my brother. Ryan…Ryan Atwood."
"So you're Ryan." The old man shook his hand slowly. "Seth has been talking so much about you."
Feeling a bit awkward over the attention he had suddenly attracted, Ryan cleared his voice, "Hi, well then we are two…" He smiled. "Seth has been talking about you too."
The man chuckled. "Yes, I bet." Then he turned towards Seth, who was just standing there in silence, apparently enjoying the atmosphere. "Seth, you have to come and see here what I've got for you," the owner said, waving with his hand towards the back of the store.
"Oh my God don't say that it's the 1977 issue of Superman!" Seth's voice was thrilled with delight. "You have no idea how much I wanted to see Superman fight against Goliath like he did in the October issue of that year." He kept rambling, which left Ryan smiling. His brother looked like a small kid stuck in a candy store. It was the total contrast to how he'd been acting before and Ryan decided that he'd seldom seen him so happy and relaxed.
"Can Ryan come too?" Seth asked quickly, but Ryan felt it was better to stay in the store. Shaking his head he mumbled, "Nah you go on, I'll wait out here."
"Okay." His brother stopped for a moment. "Ryan?".
"What?"
"You're not leaving, are you?"
Surprised over this sudden comment, Ryan frowned. "Leaving? No, why?
"Nothing, just wondering." Satisfied with that answer, Seth went off with the older man, leaving Ryan, sitting outside on a wooden chair, all alone. He shook his head. There were some things he could never seem to figure out. Seth seemed to alternate between being extremely self-confident and the exact opposite. It was as if he was a kid one minute and an adult the next. 'Maybe it wasn't so easy growing up in a rich family after all,' Ryan debated while he glanced at a series of comics. But Ryan couldn't concern himself with Seth's problem at the moment. He had his own to worry about.
The rumbling in his stomach for instance. If he hadn't known better he would have thought it was hunger, but the uneasiness told him something else and his need to find a bathroom suddenly flared up.
"Excuse me," he said to one of the guys that were totally engrossed in a bunch of comics.
"Yes?" The skinny youngster looked up.
"Do you know where I can find the bathroom.?"
"Sure." The young man pointed towards the back where Seth had left fifteen minutes earlier. "Go in that direction, then turn left and you'll see it further down. Second door on the right.
"Okay. Thanks man." Not wasting any time, Ryan followed the directions he'd been told and ten minutes later he was back in the store again. Feeling tons better.
"Where were you?" Seth immediately questioned his whereabouts. This surprised him. It almost seemed like his brother was upset to find him gone upon his return.
"Just had to hit the can. No big deal."
Seth looked at him. "I thought you left."
"Left? Why would I do that?" This was whole conversation was very confusing.
"I thought that you got tired of me dragging you around all over the place."
"Um..No I wouldn't do that." Noticing the relief in his friends brown eyes Ryan couldn't help but add, "But I can't say that it has never crossed my mind."
"I'm sure." Seth let up a wide smile and so did Ryan. All the previous annoyance that they had felt towards each other was gone and was replaced with mutual understanding. After all they were brothers even if they weren't blood relatives.
Feeling that he had to lighten up the tension in the room Ryan asked, "By the way how did it go? Did you find the comic books you wanted?"
"Oh yeah." Seth's face lit up like a glowing stick. "I'm getting every magazine from '77 and Bailey here," he patted the old man on his shoulder, "is giving me a good price too. But do you know what the best part is?
"No?" Ryan frowned, not coming up with any solutions.
" I found the perfect gift for Summer!"
"You did?"
"Yup! Look at this!" Holding out from his back was a worn out copy of a woman with dressed in a red and blue costume with stars "It's an issue of Wonder Woman from 1945."
Ryan rolled his eyes. "Wonder woman? Why would you give that comic book to Summer?"
"I have my reasons," Seth said with a wide smile…