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Thank you so much Joey51 and famous99 for editing for me. Without your skills and friendly heart I have no idea how I would've managed. Thank you :) I also want to thank everyone that have reviewed this story so far, it makes me so happy.

Merry X-mas Ryan Atwood - Chapter 3

"Hey kiddo."

Looking up from his book Ryan nodded slightly at Sandy who entered the kitchen. "Hi," he mumbled before turning his attention to the book again.

"What are you doing?" Sandy asked, opening the refrigerator.

"Pre-calculus. I have the final exam tomorrow."

"Oh that's right; I almost forgot. In any case, I'm sure you'll do great, son." Scanning the shelves Sandy picked up a beer. "You want something? A soda?"

Ryan shook his head, "Nah, that's all right. I'm fine."

"Okay." Taking a swig from his beer, Sandy leaned against the kitchen counter. "So, tell me, how did shopping with Seth go at the mall today?"

Ryan groaned at the mention of the shopping spree. It had been nothing but an disaster and when he'd got back, he was so tired that it felt like he could fall asleep instantly. Yet, he had to force himself to do the homework or he was sure he would flunk tomorrows exam. "Please don't remind me."

"That bad, eh?" Sandy chuckled, taking another swig of his beer.

"Yeah." Ryan sighed. "I had no idea that Newport had that many stores." That was true. Wherever he'd looked there had been stores and just when he thought they were done for the day Seth had dragged him on to yet another one.

"It does. Sometimes I think that all they ever do here is shop. You see…Seth takes after his mother when it comes to shopping. Have you ever heard him say, 'Just one more store, please?'" Sandy mimicked his son's voice fairly well.

"Uh huh." Ryan smiled weakly. "I think I've heard it about a thousand times today. It was terrible."

"I know." Sandy laughed. "Now you can imagine how I have felt all my life. You have no idea how many hours I've killed following those two shopping."

"I can just imagine."

"Well I tell you...even if it's like hell on earth, it's worth enduring, if just to keep the peace around here." Sandy went on, rolling his bottle between his hands.

Ryan nodded. "I guess." He didn't feel very talkative, even if he sensed Sandy was trying to have an conversation with him.

"Anyway," Sandy put his beer bottle on the counter. "I hope you're hungry since we're having barbeque tonight, and the way Kirsten ordered, it's enough meat to feed a whole army."

"Mmm." Ryan forced a smile. "That sounds great. I'm starving." This was nothing but a small lie. Food was the last thing he had on his mind, and it was not high on his list of priorities either. Telling this to Sandy, however, would only cause problems, besides, his own predicament was much too embarrassing to reveal to anyone.The stomach-ache was still there and his gut felt like a boiling kettle. To his embarrassment he had endured several hasty trips to the bathroom all evening, all because of his nerves for the upcoming exam. To say he was hungry would be an overstatement.

"That good." Sandy patted Ryan lightly on his shoulder on his way to the door. "If Kirsten asks where I am, I'm out at the grill."

"Okay." Deep inside Ryan knew that Barbeque food wasn't what his stomach needed, yet he didn't want to spoil Sandy's good mood so, therefore, he held his mask. With a sigh of indifference, Ryan turned his attention back to his books. He didn't get to study long before Kirsten walked into the kitchen.

'God, what is this?' he thought, 'Grand Central Station?'

"Oh there you are," Kirsten smiled. "I've been looking for Seth. You know where he is?"

"No." Ryan shook his head. "I haven't seen him since we came back from the mall. Isn't he in his room reading comic books?"

"I thought so too." Kirsten sat down beside Ryan. "How is the study coming along?"

"Okay." Ryan bit his pen before asking, " You wanted to talk to him about something special?"

"Yeah." Kirsten nodded. "It's about tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow night?" Ryan frowned. "What about tomorrow?"

Kirsten let out a deep sigh before she explained, "Julie called me today and she needs my help. You see she is hosting this Christmas Charity party over at Hoagland ballroom tomorrow night and apparently the firm that is taking care of the practicalities have experienced problems and now she is all stood up. " Kirsten draw a hand through her hair. "She really needs me to help her out."

"Oh." Ryan stopped studying for a moment. He had no idea why she was telling him this and he hoped that it wasn't because she wanted him or Seth to either attend or help her out. Not that he had anything against helping Kirsten, no it was not that, it was more that right now he didn't feel doing anything but study and then go to sleep. Not wanting to act rude he forced a smile on his lips. "That sounds nice."

"Oh I don't know if nice is the right world," Kirsten said, "Anyway I've talked to Sandy and we're going to help her out. That's the least we can do since we're all family and if Julie fails then dad gets dragged along too."

"Okay." Ryan shot her a nervous glance since there wasn't a word if he had to attend or not.

As if she was a mind reader she went on, "You don't have to worry Ryan. You and Seth get to stay home."

Involuntary, Ryan let out a sigh of relief. He didn't have to go. His prayers had been answered. "That sounds cool. I'm sure Seth will be happy too." To his surprise he saw Kirsten put on a worried face.

"Seth, yes." She bit her lip. "I'm not so sure about that. That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Huh?"

Kirsten had a troubled look on her face. "You see, tomorrow is a very important day for Seth. The day before Christmas eve is the day we always eat together and watch movies and play games. We also decorate the Christmas tree and it's something we've done ever since Seth was a small child. You remember that, don't you? From last year?"

"Mmmm." If he'd remembered. That had been everything Seth had talked about for months, that and Christmukkah, and when the day finally arrived he'd been like a kid on Christmas Eve. Seth had been directing what to do, what to eat, what program to watch and what game to play. By the end of the evening Ryan had been so sick and tired of family time that all he wanted to do was to hide out in the pool house. Seth, however was as if he was in heaven.

"I know that he's going to be really disappointed when he finds out that we can't spend this important evening together." Kirsten sighed. "I don't know how to say this to him without hurting his feelings."

Inwardly, Ryan felt like groaning. It was always about Seth. Even if he knew that this was a day that meant a lot for his brother he still felt that Seth often stepped over his boundaries when it came to holidays. But then he came to realize that holidays and tradition was very important for the Cohen's. "Can't you just spill it out to him? I mean Seth is a teen, not a small kid and I'm sure he can handle it."

"I hope so." For a moment Ryan thought that Kirsten would either have a fit or start crying, but then she steeled herself. " Ryan, I know that this is maybe too much to ask but...but I was wondering if you could do something special with him instead."

Ryan frowned. "Like what?" The last thing he wanted to be was Seth's babysitter.

"I don't know…" Kirsten looked troubled. "Maybe you could ask your friends over… and then you can order in pizza, or maybe rent a movie." She was desperately searching for alternatives. "I'm sure you'll think of something."

Ryan didn't have a chance to answer when Seth entered the room.

"Something for what?" The dark boy asked. Looking at his mother and then Ryan, he went on. "What are you talking about? Not me, I hope."

"You wish," Ryan shot back.

"So you were talking about me then. I was right. What gives you the right to talk about me behind my back?" Ryan could see the hurt expression on his brothers face, when Kirsten placed a hand on his shoulder. Calming him down.

"Honey, we were only talking about tomorrow night and –" She didn't have a chance to finish her sentence before Seth interrupted her.

"Ah…good choice of topic, mom" Seth smiled widely. "I have some stuff to say too, and I've been thinking and I know this really great movie that we could watch. It's about this dude who is getting killed by his old grandma who has no head and…."

Ryan listened while Seth was going through all the gory details of the movie and the way this conversation was going he started to become nauseous. His stomach churned, and in an attempt to calm it down he rubbed a hand over his tee. If this went on too long he feared he would have to make an hasty excuse to leave the room again. And it wasn't just because of Seth's rambling.

Kirsten cut him short. "Seth, honey, I've got to tell you something about tomorrow night…."

Obviously not listening to a word his mother said, Seth went on, "Mother, Ryan, I'm sure that you will so love this movie. I know that it might sound crazy with the headless woman and all, but it's really not that bad and I'm pretty sure that each and every one of you will find scenes that you will like. Mom, you and Dad can...."

Ryan could only shake his head at Seth's constant talking. Kirsten, as always, was the one to break into her son's rant.

"Seth!" she demanded.

"What?" Seth looked annoyed over being interrupted.

"There will be no movie tomorrow. At least not with your father and me…."

With a sigh Ryan noticed that Seth didn't catch the drift. Instead his brother went on talking about that they could always rent another movie and maybe that headless one wasn't so great after all.

"Seth!" Once again Kirsten had to cut her son short. "I'm trying to tell you about tomorrow night and you keep interrupting me with all these movies. Will you listen to me for a second?" Ryan could hear the annoyance in her voice.

"But mom…I just want to you to know what I have prepared for this special night and….," Seth pointed at Ryan who looked like he wanted to sink through a hole in the ground, "I'm sure he wants to know too what movies were going to watch. Don't you Ryan?"

Ryan shrugged. Somehow he didn't feel like his opinion was worth very much in this situation.

"There won't be no tomorrow night." Kirsten's words were hard, much harder than she intended too and they could both see the disappointment flare up in Seth's eyes.

"There won't? Why?" Seth raised his voice a knot.

"Julie called and she desperately needs me to co-host her Charity event at the Hogaland ballroom tomorrow and your dad and I will...." Kirsten didn't have a chance to continue; Seth loudly interrupted her.

"Tomorrow? But why tomorrow? Mom, don't you know what day it is tomorrow? It's Pre- Christmas day, the time of year when all we do is eat together and watch movies and play games. And we decorate the Christmas tree." Seth paused." It's the day when we spend time with each other and no one else."

"Honey, I know but we can do all of that another day. Any day." She smiled gently. "Pick a day and we can...."

"There's no other day." Seth's voice was firm. "Tomorrow is the only day when we can do all of that. We can't just change it to another day just because you guys are going to some stupid party."

Ryan watched in silence as Seth got all worked up. It was all a little bit weird the way Seth could be so upset about small things that – in Ryan's own opinion – didn't mean all that much. Back in Chino, he rarely ever spent any time with his family and Christmas was usually a day he'd try to get over with quickly and do his best to forget as soon as possible.

Cutting in, Ryan said, "Seth, if you want we can do something while they're gone. We can have pre-Christmas." The idea wasn't as successful he'd hoped.

"Ha ha ha. How much fun is that? Ryan Atwood, being my baby sitter?" There was blatant sarcasm in Seth's voice. "You and I sitting at home alone when every other year it's been the one day we spend together as a family." Glaring at his mother, he went on. "I hope you're satisfied that you've managed to destroy this Christmas for me."

Seth had a flare from drama and even if Ryan could understand his brothers disappointment he couldn't stand to see the sadness in Kirstens eyes, so he jumped in. "Really, Seth, it won't be that bad. You and I can do something fun."

"Oh yeah, like what?" Seth spat, not sounding too thrilled. "Enlighten me."

Biting his lip, Ryan stressed his brain, trying to come up with something that would make Seth happy as well as helping Kirsten out. "I don't know, like I said we can order pizza, maybe, or we can invite someone over, or we can….we can watch a movie?"

Seth stared dumbly at him and for a moment, Ryan feared that he was going to get shot down. Then, suddenly, Seth's face lit up and he started talking fast. "I know what we can do. Let's have a comic night."

"Comic night?" Ryan frowned. Already he wasn't too fond of the idea. He liked reading comics, but having to spend a whole night doing just that wasn't exactly what he had in mind.

"Yeah! You know we can watch the movies, play video games and read comics. Listen. First we watch that movie I was talking about or…" Seth thought for a couple of seconds, "or we watch Batman's Return, or even better one or two Superman videos. And then…." Now he was talking so fast that Ryan wondered when – if ever – Seth planned on breathing next. "And after that we can read comics and you...." He pointed at Ryan.

"Me?"

"Yes you….You can stay in my room and we can read comics all night and then…."

OK ok, this was starting to sound too weird even for Seth Cohen. Ryan held up his hand, wanting to back out. "Hold on. What do you mean I can stay in your room? I have my own perfectly fine bed over at the pool house." Looking at Seth, he added, "We're not five, you know."

"Yes, I know." Seth said with a hurt expression on his face. "But you said that we would do something fun and this is fun! You're backing out now?"

Kirsten, who had been silent up to this point, started in carefully. "Seth, sweetie, don't you think that you're taking this a little too far?"

"No." Seth looked sternly at them. "No, I'm not. Besides, I don't think that it's a bit too far…." He folded his arms. "Mother, you're the one who's not staying at home to carry on the tradition."

Ryan knew it was blackmail and it worked.

"Seth, you know that I would stay here if I could but it's really important that I help Julie with this Christmas charity party since there will be very important investors over there and it's for a good cause. The money goes to build shelters for the homeless."

"Oh how noble of you." Seth snorted. "I really think it would be better if you paid attention to your own family instead of…."

Feeling that the situation was starting to get out of hand again, Ryan cut in, "Kirsten, you don't have to explain yourself and…." He turned to Seth "All right, buddy, I'll do it. We'll have all comic night tomorrow….if that's what you want." It would be a bit of a sacrifice to pull this off, but he could handle it. Besides, spending time with Seth rarely proved to be boring. Uninteresting, even wierd sometimes, but never boring.

"Cool, dude." Seth's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "You're really doing it?"

"Yeah, man."

"You're actually going to read comics with me all night?" Seth looked at him as if he thought his brother was joking.

"Yes, I said I would, didn't I? Now get out of here before I change my mind." He grinned teasingly when he saw Seth's tensed expression. "Dude, I told you I'm not backing out, but I really need to concentrate on studying so I don't fail my test."

"Cool. Then I'll go and see if Dad is done with the meat." Seth stood, walking towards the patio.

"You do that, honey." Kirsten smiled and once Seth was out the door, she leaned over to Ryan, whispering a sincere, "Thank-you, I couldn't have done it without you. "

"No problem." Ryan was glad to finally be able to help with something. The Cohen' s had always been there for him when he needed their help, and now he could return the favor. After all, they were his family and Seth was – in a strange way – his brother. Besides, he wasn't opposed to reading comics for one night.

Seth stuck in his head through the door. "Dinner's ready. Come and get your plates and let's eat. I'm starving."

"I wish I could say the same," Ryan muttered to himself, as he picked up a plate from the top of the pile and followed Seth out into the yard. 'God, I hope I don't regret this,' he thought as he piled meat, gravy and potatoes onto his plate.