Notes from the author: Baaaaad me. I moved this story onto a hiatus and deserted all my readers and so now I have no reason to beg for reviews, so I won't. But it's not all my fault, I will say, because I've been trying to upload this chapter for the past week, and my Document Manager just hasn't been working, I don't know why. Just… yes… here's the next chapter, not much to say about it. It's chapter five – yay, and it's all new material, nothing from this chapter is from the last version, so anyone reading this who read My Elusive Drug version 1 will be happy. Reviews are always welcome and are very much appreciated.
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with The OC, or anything else for that matter. So please don't sue, I don't have much to give except for six tattered Harry Potter books and a fat rabbit.
Pairings: Ryan/Marissa, maybe some Seth/Summer and Kirsten/Sandy – no fluff.
Rating: T for language and violence
Summary: The death of Ryan's brother, Trey, sparks a domino effect that will alter the Cohen's lives forever.
My Elusive Drug
The dinner table was unusually silent that night as the Cohens plus one silently chewed their carryout chicken. Or, at least, as the Cohens chewed their carry-out chicken. Ryan, on the other hand, just sort of moved it around on his plate and made mountains, valleys and rivers out of his mashed potatoes and gravy.
"You're not hungry Ryan?" Kirsten asked, glancing up from her dinner to eye the boy for the seventh time that evening.
"You should be starving," Seth piped in. "You didn't eat anything all day except breakfast."
Ryan shot Seth a half-glare, but the boy didn't notice.
"Are you feeling okay?" Kirsten asked, sounded concerned as she reached her hand out to feel Ryan's forehead. Ryan resisted the urge to jerk away.
"Hmm, you don't feel warm," Kirsten concluded, removing her hand.
"I'm fine," Ryan persisted. He paused, flinching as the words came out harsher than he meant them to. "I'm just going to go lie down," he finally added after a moment of silence as he started to stand up.
"You can just leave your plate by the sink," Sandy offered. "We'll put it in the fridge so that you can eat it later."
Ryan nodded. "Sure." He knew he wouldn't eat it later, but didn't feel like explaining this to Sandy, so he obediently placed his plate on the counter and slid open the door to the patio. Kirsten gave Sandy a pointed glance as Ryan closed the door behind him.
The weeks following the Johnny incident, Ryan had been avoiding Trey. He still hadn't told the Cohens that his brother was out of jail; he had been planning on casually slipping it into the conversation at dinner one night, but now he didn't even know if he wanted to continue a relationship with his brother, who he had been so close to in their earlier years. Trey had been like his rock; they had stuck together through their father going to jail, through Dawn's numerous boyfriends, through it all. What was different now? Had Trey changed?... or had Ryan?
As if to convince himself that Newport hadn't made him soft, Ryan decided to forgive Trey. Whatever he wanted to do, well, that was his business. There was no reason why Ryan couldn't go visit him. And he did, quite a lot actually.
After the eighth time that Ryan had told Seth that he couldn't hang out because he had other things to do, Seth had known something was up.
Ryan retreated into the pool house, flicking on the lights as he shut the door behind him. He stood against the doorframe, his piercing blue eyes staring out the window, across the patio and pool and through the window over the sink in the kitchen. He could see Sandy and Kirsten standing in front of the sink, looking in deep conversation. Kirsten paused, then turned to glance in Ryan's direction. Ryan pulled on the curtain string, letting the blinds fall in front of the window.
Seth wandered into the pool house through the open doors, taking a few steps and glancing around. "Ryan?"
He heard the toilet flush from the bathroom and the running water of the sink, then the door opened and Ryan came out. "Hey," greeted Seth. "You wanna go meet the girls down by the beach? Summer just called and -"
"Actually," Ryan interrupted. "I can't, I sort of have other things to do." He shot Seth an apologetic look as he sat on the edge of the bed and slipped on his tennis shoes.
"Okay, dude, what's going on?" Seth finally asked after staring at Ryan for a second.
Ryan glanced up, "What?"
"You having all these other things to do lately. You've never had anything to do, what do you have to do?"
"...uh..." Ryan's eyes shifted around the room guiltily -- he had never been a good liar and Seth had always been able to see through him. He shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothing specific, you know, just a few errands."
"Errands. Uh huh." Seth nodded, his eyes searching Ryan's face. "What sort of errands?"
Ryan shrugged again, standing up as his eyes flickered around the room, avoiding Seth's. "Just… stuff."
Seth sighed. "Dude, whatever it is, you can tell me."
"Look Seth, it's not a big deal," Ryan sighed. "Trey got out of jail about six weeks ago and I've just been going to see him."
"Trey?" repeated Seth, sounding flabbergasted. "Like… your brother Trey?"
"No Seth," deadpanned Ryan. "A different Trey."
"Oh… okay…well, that's cool. Hanging out with your brother." Seth nodded, sounding almost a little hurt. "So, I'll just go -," he jerked a thumb over his shoulder, "- and, you know, do stuff, and you can…go…do other stuff…with Trey…" He turned to leave and Ryan sighed slightly, knowing Seth was feeling a little jealous. The two had been best friends, brothers in every way but blood, and now Ryan was spending time with Trey instead of him. But what was Ryan supposed to do?
Seth suddenly whipped back around. "Unless, that is, I come with you."
Ryan blinked. "What?"
"What, don't you think Trey will like me?" Seth joked nervously.
"Seth, I don't think –"
"Aw, come on, man. Please? Pleeaasseee? Don't make me do the puppy dog eyes, Ryan, 'cause I will, I really will."
Ryan ran a hand through his hair. "Fine." Seth beamed. "But just don't say anything stupid."
"Me? Please," Seth said, waving a hand dismissively as he followed Ryan out the door. "When am I ever anything but cool?"
Kirsten sighed as she loaded the plates into the dishwasher. Behind her, Sandy placed Ryan's uneaten dinner – now wrapped in cellophane wrap – into the refrigerator. "What are we going to do, Sandy?" Kirsten questioned, glancing over her shoulder at her husband. "He's not eating, he hardly says a word, he's unusually pale and I doubt he's sleeping at all."
"What can we do?" Sandy sighed, turning to face her. "We can't force him to talk, you wanna send him to a shrink?"
"Well… no…," Kirsten said. "I doubt that would do any good. But what can we do to make him come to us? He knows we're here, doesn't he?"
Sandy walked up next to her, resting a hand on the counter next to the sink. "Ryan's a tough nut to crack," he admitted, giving a nod. "But his brother just died. We have to give him time."
"How much time?" Kirsten pressed on, staring into Sandy's eyes. "I don't think I can take this anymore, he's been like this ever since Trey died two weeks ago. He can't go on like this." She turned to look out the window at the pool house and was startled to find Ryan leaning against the doorframe, staring at the window back at her. A moment passed at the blinds fell in front of the glass. Hurt, Kirsten looked down back at the dishes, placing a glass a bit roughly into the dishwasher. What were they going to do?
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I got one review on chapter four, thank you so much to swenglish! I hope you're still reading.
(insert not-so-subtle point to the review button) Remember, a reviewed author is a happy author!