Notes from the author: Wow, this is the fastest I think I've ever updated a story. Like, ever. And it's because of the amazing response I got to the previous chapter. Nine reviews in two days? I was shocked, I still am shocked. I never thought that my writing would be so popular. Thanks so much guys, and it just goes to show that reviews really do inspire me.

So, about this chapter. It's one of the longer chapters of this story, and there's a lot of flashbacks, sorry to those who are annoyed by them. I'm not actually a fan of flashbacks, and I find it really amusing that so much of my story is told in them. I'm just trying to get to Trey's death scene, which will be in the next chapter. And after I get that flashback done, I don't think there will be as many in later chapters. So that's enough from me, on with chapter six!

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

Ryan pulled the Range Rover up to the crumbling apartment building, Seth peering anxiously out the window. As soon as Ryan put the car into park and pulled out the keys, Seth's hands reached for the door handle, like an overly excited kid. "Wait," Ryan said, and Seth glanced over his shoulder at him.

"Don't worry dude," Seth said, smirking playfully at Ryan before he had a chance to speak. "I'll be cool."

Ryan sighed, getting out of the car and making sure he locked the door securely before sliding the keys into his pocket. You never could be too careful in this part of town.

"Seth, calm down," Ryan called, the corners of his lips twitching up as Seth bounded towards the front doors. Seth paused, waiting for Ryan to catch up before opening the door.

The cheap air conditioning did little against the sweltering California heat and Ryan could feel the beads of perspiration on his hairline as he climbed the stairs. As they passed floor after floor, snippets of conversations, mostly arguments, made their way through the thin walls into Ryan's ears.

"- YOUR LAZY ASS -"

"...the mustard? I thought you said it was in the fridge!..."

" - YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME LIKE THIS! WHAT ABOUT -"

"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU BASTARD!"

"The fucking cable's out again! I thought you called the...!"

Finally they reached the sixth floor. Seth had become unusually quiet, a dark contrast to the excited child he had been moments before. Ryan led to way to Trey's apartment at the end of the hall, pausing momentarily to glance at Seth. The two locked eyes for a second, Ryan silently telling Seth that this was his last chance to back out. When Seth said nothing, Ryan turned away and gave three hard knocks on the door.

There was no answer.

"Trey?" Ryan called. "It's Ryan, open up." He leaned slightly towards the door, trying to hear any sounds from inside. Behind him, Seth shifted his weight from foot to foot. Ryan knocked again.

"Maybe he's not home," Seth offered. A small crash from inside answered him, immediately followed by a grunt before the door swung open.

Ryan's eyes roamed his brother's face. Trey looked at him with a lopsided grin, his eyes slightly bloodshot, and Ryan couldn't help but notice the slightly dilated pupils. Ryan felt his stomach tighten slightly, why had he let Seth come along?

"Hey bro," Trey grinned, reaching out a hand to pull Ryan inside. His eyes landed on Seth, standing nervously behind Ryan. "Who's this?"

Ryan glanced over his shoulder at Seth. "Trey, this is Seth, Seth, Trey." He turned back to fix Trey with a stern look, lowering his voice dangerously. "Look, I'm going to come back later -"

"Naw man, right now is fine," Trey laughed, grabbing Ryan's arm with one hand and the front of Seth's shirt with the other and yanking them both forcefully into the room. Seth stumbled slightly as Trey flung him towards the couch and kicked the door shut.

Ryan watched Trey as he hurriedly tried and failed to tidy up by re-adjusting the two pillows on the sofa and putting some empty beer cans from the coffee table next to the sink in the 'kitchen'. He seemed to have forgotten the smoking joint still sitting on the table. Seth caught Ryan staring at it, and slowly let his brown eyes follow his adopted brother's gaze, widening with realization.

"Seth, right?" Trey had appeared at Seth's side.

"Uh, yeah," Seth squeaked.

Trey barked a laugh, causing Seth to jump slightly, as he walked past him, flopping down on the couch and grabbing the joint off the table. He raised it to his lips, taking a long puff. Seth and Ryan glanced at each other before staring at Trey. Feeling their eyes on him, the oldest Atwood glanced up and held the joint out to Seth, then Ryan, and then Seth again. "Want some, man?"

"No Trey, he doesn't want some," Ryan snapped distastefully. He had seen his brother high before, hell, he'd even joined him once in a while, but now that Seth was here, it was different.

"Chill out dude," Trey snorted.

Ryan clenched his fists, feeling rage spark somewhere inside him and not knowing why. Seth caught his eye, looking uneasy, and Ryan saw the boy's eyes flicker towards the door for an instant, as if plotting a quick escape and Ryan knew that this was enough.

"Let's go," he nodded to Seth, striding forward and yanking open the door.

"Ryan, wait," sounded Trey's voice from the couch, but Ryan ignored him, holding the door open for Seth to pass by. One hand on the door, Ryan glanced over his shoulder for a brief second to see Trey's doped-up form struggling to get off the couch before slipping out the door and pulling it closed behind him.

"No…Trey…please…" Ryan hovered over his brother's bruised and bloody body, pressing his hands against the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Trey's eyes were glazed as they tried to focus on Ryan's face. "Just stay with me Trey," Ryan continued, panic taking over his voice, "It'll be fine, d –"

Dadada dadada dada da da da, dadada dadada dada da da da

The William Tell Overture chimed from Ryan's nightstand, awakening him from his dream … nightmare ...

His hand shot out from under the blanket, groping around on the tabletop until it finally rested on the vibrating cell phone. Ryan kept his eyes shut as he flipped it open, pulling it back under the covers and holding it to his ear. "…Hello?"

"Ryan?" The voice on the other end was hoarse and shaking.

"...Mom?"

"Yeah, baby, it's me, it's Mom."

He pushed himself out from under the blanket, blinking a few times to focus his tired eyes on the digital clock that sat on the night table. The glowing red numbers told him it was twenty-four minutes past one in the morning. The moon shone brightly outside, its light seeping in through the blinds and making patters on Ryan's bedspread.

Ryan stifled a yawn. "Mom, it's one thirty in the morning." He didn't want to deal with this right now.

"Why couldn't you save him?" Dawn whimpered on the other end, and it was then that he noticed her words slurring together. When Ryan didn't answer, she continued. "Trey was your brother, Ry, why couldn't you save him?"

Ryan felt a lump form in his throat. Dawn was obviously drunk, or stoned, or both. He told himself not to listen to her, that she didn't mean it. She had told him when they made the funeral arrangements that she didn't blame him.

When he spoke, his voice was thick and didn't sound like his own. "Mom, I -"

Dawn cut him off, her voice now coming out in a high-pitched yell. "Why didn't you save him Ryan, huh! He was my first born and now he's gone!" Ryan's stomach twisted in knots as he gripped the phone tighter in his fist. He heard a choked sob, followed by a hiccup. "He's dead! He's dead! HE'S DEAD RYAN BECAUSE YOU COULN'D SAVE HIM! YOU -" Ryan slapped the phone shut, staring at it in fury with half a mind to chuck it across the room.

It was just Dawn's drunken blabber... she didn't know what she was talking about... right?

The car ride home was silent, the tension in the air thick enough to cut with a knife. The sun was just starting to set when the Range Rover pulled back up into the driveway. Ryan and Seth sat in silence.

"So that was Trey," Seth finally spoke, staring straight ahead. Ryan couldn't help the small smirk that slowly appeared on his lips. "Yeah."

Seth chuckled and the silence returned. Ryan took the keys out of the ignition.

"I won't tell my parents," Seth said and Ryan turned to glance at him. "I mean, if you don't want them to know about Trey, I'll tell them that we were hanging out with Summer and Marissa."

"Thanks," Ryan said after a second. Seth nodded. "No problem, man."

Ryan lay back down, rolling onto his back under the covers. His mother's voice echoed in his mind. "Why couldn't you save him?" Ryan groaned, rolling onto his stomach and burying his face into the pillow. The Cohens pressuring him, his mom calling him, his own overwhelming guilt – he couldn't take it anymore.

Even after the circumstances that Seth had first met Trey, Ryan brought him back again, and much to his surprise, the two clicked. Sure, Trey thought Seth was a bit more than bizarre and Seth was a bit more than intimidated by Trey, but they put up with each other for Ryan's sake.

Weeks passed, with Seth and Ryan going to visit Trey on the weekends. Trey never came to Casa Cohen, in fear of Sandy and Kirsten finding out about him. But after a month and a half of them questioning the boys on where they went every Saturday, Ryan decided it was time to fess up. Surprisingly though, they didn't seem to mind very much.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Sandy asked, setting down his fork to look at Ryan after he had casually broken the dinner table silence with the statement that Trey was out of jail and Seth and Ryan had been visiting him.

Ryan shrugged, "I thought you guys wouldn't want me to see him or something."

"Oh, Ryan, we would never not want you to see your brother," Kirsten said, sounding very surprised and almost a little hurt that Ryan would ever think that. "I think it's good that you two can be together again."

Sandy nodded in agreement. "And you've met him too Seth?"

Seth nodded and then shrugged. "He's cool."

Sandy made a small 'imagine that' noise before going back to his dinner. Ryan and Seth glanced at each other. That was easy.

---

A lot of reviews to reply to this chapter. So, here we go…

selly1987: Lol, don't we all love angsty Ryan? And you'll have a lot to look forward to, the next chapter will be very, very, angsty. Thanks so much for reviewing!

skankyxxinnuendo: Yeah, that might be something hard to change, lmao. I never intended to make Kirsten overly-motherly, but I somehow did. Am I the only one that finds it really annoying? Haha. And lmao about Marissa, I don't love her either and I'll definitely take your suggestion into consideration, hehe.

princesssparkles8: Glad to hear it! Thanks so much for taking the time to review, I hope you keep reading!

princess89: Heh, I liked the Star Wars reference too, it seemed like a very Seth-thing to say. Thanks for your review!

jhhhhjfjk89: Thanks! And might I say, you have a very odd screenname, lol.

Jackie: Ah, you were one of my old readers? I'm so glad you like it, thanks for reviewing!

iheartsethcohen: Thanks so much, it's fun to write angst because I'm really not an angsty person. I just hope I'm doing it right, hehe.

swenglish: Thanks for being a loyal reviewer! And yes, the reviews really perk me up, when I logged on and saw how many I had, I immediately started writing this chapter. Glad to know that you like it!

BlueAngelEyes: Lol, thank you so much. I find Seth the one of the easier characters to write for, in comparison to Ryan, who's really hard to keep in character. But I really have a lot of fun trying to make Seth as cute and quirky as he is in the show. Thanks for reviewing!

And that's all the reviews I have to respond to, thanks so much to every one of you, it really means so much to me. And double thanks to everyone who has put this in their favorites or story alert, I'm really surprised that you all think it's good enough, lol.

Keep up the reviews you guys! Because, remember, a reviewed author is a happy author!