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Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews I've recieved, it really warms my heart and it's for you guys that this story is written. I also want to thank Joey51 and famous99 for being my beta readers and have helped me so much with the grammar. Without you this wouldn't be possible. Thank you :)And now on to the fourth chapter....

Merry X-mas Ryan Atwood - Chapter 4

Two hours later, while Ryan subconsciously clutched his pillow in his fists, he knew he'd made a mistake...and now he was paying the price.

Lying in bed, he desperately wished he hadn't eaten that last portion of the grilled steak. The meat sat like a heavy lead ball inside his stomach, rolling around, and now his gut screamed for his attention. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead as he released his pillow and wrapped his arms around his abdomen. The nausea lurked in the back of his throat and he knew that a trip to the bathroom wouldn't be such a bad idea. He just hoped he could stall it as long as possible.

It was probably nothing but a bad bout of indigestion, but he still felt miserable. He couldn't afford to be sick now. Not when he had a final exam coming up tomorrow as well as that comic night he'd promised to participate in with Seth. Not to mention the promises he'd made to Kirsten so she could host that charity party.

Whimpering, Ryan rolled to his side again. Another cutting pain shot through his abdomen, causing him to moan in discomfort. It was hot and sweaty in the room and moving restlessly, he kicked the sheets into a pile at the end of his bed, only to pull them up minutes later when a sudden chill shook his body. Rolling out of bed, Ryan walked barefoot over to the bathroom. Once he was inside, he was surprised to find that the pain had lessened and the nausea was also retreating. Grateful for small favors, he rinsed his face off with cool water and then sat down on the toilet lid, waiting to see if the pain and nausea were actually passing, or if he would be in for another bout soon.

When nothing of the sort happened, he shuffled back to bed, and soon felt exhaustion set in, pulling him into sleep, which was what his body so desperately needed.

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"Nooo...no, don't!" Ryan woke up with a jerk from the nightmare that had been holding him in a tight grip. Confused, he'd noticed that it was after midnight and that he hadn't been asleep for more than an hour, tops. The stomach ache was still there, lingering, but what caught his attention was the coolness in the room. The air conditioner, however, was actually off, so all he could do was to pull his blanket tighter around his body, hoping that it would provide the warmth he craved. It worked, and 15 minutes later, Ryan was fast asleep again.

The second time, about an hour later, it was his stomach that woke him up and he had to run to the bathroom. While battling his upset stomach, he'd been wracking his brain trying to come up with what to do, or what to take to feel better, when a thought struck him. Pepto Bismol had to be the solution. That pink stuff was what he used to take in the past when his stomach had been giving him trouble and usually it helped. After suffering through his ordeal, he went over to the kitchenette, searching for the much-wanted bottle, but to his dismay, found none.

Reluctantly, Ryan went back to bed.

At 2:34 a.m., he woke up again, this time turning up the air-conditioning since it was sweltering hot in the room. After tossing and turning for a while, hands gripped tightly around his belly, he decided that he had to get something for the stomach-ache, but all he could find was aspirin. He popped two pills into his mouth, downed a full glass of water and hoped that it would do the trick and kick the sickness out of his system.

It didn't. Roughly 30 minutes later, Ryan was sure he was going to throw up. Scrambling out of bed, he sat in front of the porcelain bowl for what seemed like forever, waiting for the inevitable to happen. It was a false alarm again, and with nothing accomplished, he went back to bed, still plagued by the burning nausea. It crossed his mind that asking Kirsten or Sandy for something to calm his stomach wouldn't be such a bad idea, but after second thought, decided against it. It would only stir up things in the household and the last thing Ryan wanted to be was a nuisance.

It would be better to try and sleep the bug off, provided he could manage to rest long enough for sleep to kick in.

Less than an hour later, he woke up again. The stomach-ache still lingered, even if the nausea had calmed down a notch. Feeling chilled, he put on a sweatshirt and then crawled back to bed. While covering himself up with a couple of blankets, he debated whether it was any use to try and sleep, or if he should just admit defeat and spend his time going through his calculus notes one last time. He figured he might as well do something useful while he was waiting for another bout to kick in, which hopefully would help him kick whatever was bothering him out off his system. With that in mind, he picked up the book only to discover that trying to read made him even more nauseous than before.

Suddenly the idea of staying home sick didn't seem so bad and he would have considered it, but he knew Kirsten would cancel her plans and, in turn, that would cancel Seth's special plans. Ryan had had enough spoiled Christmases in his past and one more was the last thing he or the Cohen's needed. It was best to play his little charade, pretending everything was fine and dandy, even though he felt like he'd been run over by a Mac truck. That way he wouldn't let anyone but himself down.

When he finally managed to catch a couple hours of undisturbed sleep, it was time to face another day, and when the alarm clock went off, Ryan was almost dead to the world.

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"Ryan, get up, man. You're going to be late for school." Seth's voice cut through his sleep like a drill.

Groaning, Ryan rolled to the side, putting his head under a pillow, hoping to drown out all unwanted sounds. It was unbelievable how tired he felt. While Seth kept pushing him to get up, he tried to assess how his stomach was holding up. To his relief, he noticed that the fierce stomach-ache that had been torturing him all night had settled down and was replaced with a dull ache in the pit of his belly.

Ryan was grateful that whatever had been plaguing him was seemingly out of his system, and even without having to endure something as nasty as having to throw up. Hopefully this would be the last he felt from this virus. It was starting more and more to look like a bad case of nerves combined with eating too much at dinner last night. Sandy was an excellent cook which led Ryan to eat more than he'd intended to.

"Come on, we've gotta hurry." Seth gave him a rough shake before snatching the pillow away from him. "Holy crap. Dude, what did you do?"

Confused, Ryan frowned. "Huh?"

"Did you party, man?"

"No." Seth was acting strange.

He crooked his eyebrow. "You sure? I mean you look like you've been partying for a month straight!"

"Yes, of course I have. I was partying all night." Ryan snarled.

"You were?" Seth's face was one big question mark. "I thought you said you were tired and went to bed."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "What do you think? I've been asleep here…in the pool house."

"Okaaaaayyyy." Seth gave him a searching look. "Then why do you look like total and utter crap then? I swear Mom and Dad would freak if they saw you now. You would be sent straight to detox."

Not listening, Ryan rolled out of bed and strolled over to where his pants lay in a pile on the floor. The sheer movement made hi stomach hurt and as he bent over, he felt another searing pain hit him. Crap! Out of reflex, he held his stomach.

Seth stared at him, arms folded over his chest. "You're sick!" The statement was short and to the point.

"What?"

"Just say it. You're sick."

"I'm not sick."

"Well you look it and you're sure acting like it too. Dude, seriously, you look like you're about to blow any sec."

"I'm not gonna blow. I'm just tired. That's all." Ryan ran his hand tiredly over his face.

"Nah-ah, I'm not buying that." Seth shook his head, arms still folded. "Dude, have you looked in the mirror lately? A zombie would look better than you do now."

"You're not exactly a poster boy either, you know."

"Me? You must be kidding. I always look good." Seth grinned. "It doesn't matter what time it is in the morning. Seth Cohen always looks good." There was a mixture of sarcasm and reality in his voice. When Ryan refused to smile, Seth went back to the topic at hand. "You, however, buddy, you look like you haven't slept in days."

Ryan sighed. If Seth had only known how close he was to the truth. The previous night had been the night from hell and one thing was for sure, sleep was highly underestimated. "Quit bothering me so I can get dressed. I need to get ready for breakfast." Ryan ushered Seth the door. "Go on. Go."

Seth made no movement to leave. "You sure you don't want me to get Mom?"

"Kirsten?" Ryan widened his eyes. "No. Why would you do that?"

"Because you look sick, and you know…moms are usually the ones who take care of those things."

Ryan frowned. This was partly true. But in the past, when he'd first arrived at the Cohens', it was Sandy who had been there for him. He supposed the reason for that was because Kirsten thought Ryan would feel more comfortable with Sandy, especially in critical and stressful situations. The past few months, more so since Ryan returned from Chino, everything had changed. He and Kirsten were spending more and more time together. She was also asking him all these questions about how he was doing, if everything all right and she had started to become the mother hen that Seth had warned him about. It could be annoying, but at the same time, comforting.

"I told you it's nothing." Ryan defended himself, walking with hunched posture toward the bathroom door.

"Okay." Seth looked at him with disbelief. "And that is why you look like an old man?" He pointed at Ryan. "Dude, you can't even stand up straight! I'm getting Mom."

Afraid that Seth was actually going to follow through on the threat, Ryan quickly replied, "You don't need to do that. I'm fine."

"Oh?"

It was more than obvious that Seth wasn't buying it, and Ryan scrambled to come up with another excuse. "I just didn't sleep very well last night." He wasn't about to tell Seth why he had slept so badly. It was way too embarrassing and it would probably just result in Seth calling Kirsten for help and that was not what Ryan needed now. No, he was a big boy and could handle his own problems.

"Wet dreams, eh?" Seth grinned, but his eyes remained serious.

"No! And get out now or I'll kick your ass." Ryan pointed toward the door.

"Okay. Okay. I'm going." Seth held up his hands. "Just don't be late. Dad is taking us."

"Don't worry. I won't" Slipping into the bathroom, Ryan found that he needed a clean t-shirt, and when he came out, he saw Seth standing in the doorway.

"I thought you left."

"I did, but I came back."

"'Kay." Ryan ruffled through the drawers.

"Dude. There's something I've gotta ask you." Seth's voice indicated that he had something serious on his mind.

Groaning inwardly, Ryan hoped that it wouldn't be another relationship question about Summer or Alex. Not feeling up to being a counselor, he bit back his feelings. "Shoot."

"You sure you want to go through with comic night, tonight?"

Surprised by the question, Ryan stopped his search. "Huh?"

"I mean, if you don't feel up to it, that's okay too. I know that you're not really into comics and stuff like that and if you want to get out at all, just let me know and I can deal with it." Ryan swore that he could see the disappointment in Seth's eyes. "Correction, I can learn to deal with it."

"Don't worry. I have no intention of canceling Comic night. As a matter of fact, I look forward to it." He forced a weak smile to reinforce his statement. "Really, Seth it's okay."

"Coolness." Seth smiled as he let out a breath of relief. "I'll go and make sure that we have the Superman movies at home." With that, he hurried off toward the house.

As soon as Seth left, Ryan went into the bathroom to finish getting dressed. It was no easy task, because each move he made caused a jolt to his stomach. When he was done, Ryan took one last look in the mirror. It gave him quite a scare. Seth was right. He did look like shit.

The face staring back at him was ghostly pale, with blue - almost black - bags under his eyes, and a serious case of bed hair sticking up in all kinds of directions. It was no wonder Seth had thought he'd partied hard. He looked just like his mother did after she went on a drinking binge and was suffering from a hangover.

But Ryan wasn't hung-over. He was sick.

He sighed, knowing that there was no chance of getting past Kirsten's hawk eyes. She had a knack for knowing when something was bothering a family member. What bugged him was that she was always right. She always knew when one of them was just beginning to suffer from a cold, a fever, or like now; the flu. When Ryan was new in the family, she had let him be, but now, more than one year later, he knew that he would never get away with it.

This only left him one option; he had to stay out of the main house.

Not two minutes later, there was a soft knock on the bathroom door. "Ryan? Are you all right, honey?"

Kirsten. So much for that plan….

"Yeah." He cleared his throat, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I'll be out. Just a sec."

"I was coming to see if everything is okay. Seth told me that you looked a bit off. Pale."

Great. Seth had ratted him out.

"It's nothing. I'm fine," he called through the door. God, how many times did he have to say those words? Deciding that "just tired" wouldn't cut it, he instead added to his repertoire, "It's just nerves."

"Nerves?" Kirsten sounded doubtful. "Because of your exams?"

"Yeah." He hoped she believed him.

To his relief, he heard her backing away from the door. "You want me to get you something to take? Some pepcid?"

His first thought was to say no, but then he decided that maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea. Instead, he hoped that she would fall for his act since the last thing he wanted was for the evening's festivities to be in jeopardy. "Sure."

When he emerged from the bathroom, he was met by Kirsten who was sitting on his unmade bed, glass in hand. "Here," she said, handing him the glass. "It'll settle your stomach."

Feeling embarrassed that she had to see him in a situation like this, Ryan mumbled a short, "thanks," before accepting the glass with the white liquid in his hands.

"You're welcome." Watching him down the liquid, she went on, "The Christmas tree is coming today and I was wondering if you could help me carry it in after school." She looked a bit apologetic. "Sandy will be at work and, as you know, I can't count on Seth to help."

Ryan nodded in agreement. Seth had a habit of hiding when there was work to be done, and he had a knack of finding the most imaginative excuses. "Sure." It felt good to be able to do something to help out in the household.

"Great. I thought we could decorate the tree on Christmas morning instead, since as you know, Sandy and I will be at the charity event tonight." She smiled nervously. "You think that will be all right?" Before he had a chance to answer, she went on, "I know that it will be yet another disappointment for Seth, but I know a few families that decorate their tree on Christmas Eve." Kirsten was mostly talking to herself than to Ryan.

Feeling that he had to find a way to ease her mind, Ryan mumbled, "I'm sure it will be just great." Placing his empty glass on the night stand, he bent down to pick up his jacket, when another stabbing pain cut through his middle, making him wince in the process.

Noticing this, Kirsten was instantly by his side. "Are you all right?" The deep wrinkle on her forehead showed him that she was concerned for his well being. "D'you need to sit down?"

"No, I'm fine." He shrugged off her helping hand. "It's nothing." Feeling his cheeks getting warm, he added, " It's just a cramp. Nerves tend to do this to me."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." He bit his lip as he did his best to stand up straight. "It will go away once I've done the exam. It always does."

"Okay if you say so." Kirsten's blue eyes told him that she didn't believe him. "But you know if you don't feel well, just say so and you can stay at home. I'm certain that if we talk to Doctor Kim, she will arrange for another exam time when you're feeling better."

For a second, Ryan didn't think that the offer sounded too bad. It would have felt so good to crawl back to bed, sleep the day away and give in to the sickness that he was doing his best to fend off. Yet he knew that wasn't a possibility. Not today.

"Thanks for the offer, but that's not necessary." He smiled as reassuringly as he could. "I'll be fine. Besides, I've gotta get going so Sandy isn't kept waiting."

Kirsten nodded slowly. "You do that; but remember if you start to feel worse, just give me a call and we will come and get you from school."

"Okay." He opened the door and was just about to leave when she called out for him again.

"Oh, and Ryan?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't worry. You'll do fine on the exam. I just know it."

"Thanks." Ryan let out a brief smile of gratitude, before closing the door to the poolhouse behind him. Kirsten's words alone had him feeling better already.