Disclaimer: Dude, I own NOTHING related to the OC but rights to Adam Brody, Rachel Bilson, Peter and Kelly…I wish. (A girl can dream!)

A/N: Gosh, I didn't think that I would ever update this story again but since KANDY4EVA was so polite and she rocks even though I've never really met her; I'll try to write a decent chapter. It has been like three months since I updated this and it was my first fic so hopefully you can bare (or bear?) with me while I try to improve it.

So without further adieu…I'm back from hiatus!

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Kirsten was really tired. She desperately wished that she could have stayed up all night and sat in the pool house, caring for her son but having cancer limited you to what you could do. She had woken up in the middle of the night covered in sweat with a splintering headache. She hadn't been able to fall back asleep, even though she was desperately tired. Ryan was still sleeping away in the pool house and Sandy was in court. Seth had tried to think of an excuse to stay home from school but nothing really came to mind. Suddenly the backdoor swung open and a limping Ryan entered the room.

"Hey Ryan," she stood up, a little too quick though. She slowly sat back down and clutched onto her head.

"Are you OK?" he asked her, hobbling over to the couch and taking a seat next to her.

"I'll be fine," she smiled, slowly standing up and heading towards the kitchen.

"Are you having a bad day?" he asked, "I mean in terms of pain and stuff. Not like your mentality or anything."

"Uhh not so much 'bad' but I just have a really bad headache. I mean I could have a headache like this on a normal day. It makes me slightly dizzy and all that but…"

"You don't have to explain," Ryan gave her a small smile, "Can I ask you a sort of…personal-ish question?" Usually Ryan didn't have the guts to say something like that to
Kirsten, or anyone for that matter.

"Sure Ryan, I don't know if I will answer, I mean I can't think of many questions I wouldn't answer. I mean sure I wouldn't answer anything about the sex life of Sandy and I because if somehow Seth found out about our sex life I think that he would run away, maybe jump off a cliff or be scarred for life. Literally he would have a vasectomy," she rambled.

"Wow I've never heard you ramble like that," he laughed, "And you were talking about vasectomies? That will scar me for life!"

"Seth rubs off, anyways, what's the question?" she stood impatiently as he stretched his leg out under the table.
"Are you scared?" he asked quietly, ruining their joking moment.

"All the time, since the day I felt sick, I mean I had to live through this with my mom and I've learned that watching someone suffer is almost as hard as suffering yourself," she responded, "What do you say we have a Ryan and Kirsten bonding day? I don't think we've ever done that."

"No we haven't, and sure we can, what do you want to do? I'm immobile and you will faint if we do anything too strenuous," he joked, taking a sip of his coffee.

"We can break into Seth's DVD collection," she suggested, taking a sip of her water. Coffee was too hard on her stomach and without any food in her stomach she had decided against drinking any type of alcohol.

"We are gonna get in big trouble," Ryan grinned, hobbling into the family room, "Which one do you want to watch?"

"Something funny," she shrugged, "Does he have the first season of the Valley, that show is so good!" Ryan gave her a look of disgust and she shrugged.

"Oh wow, Seth has A Cinderella Story, Raise Your Voice, Freaky Friday, Mean Girls, and the Tigger Movie," Ryan laughed, he was laughing until he cried.

"Maybe Summer keeps her DVDs here?" Kirsten suggested, trying not to laugh at her son's movie collection, "We can watch The Day After Tomorrow." She grabbed the DVD and put it into the player. Kirsten and Ryan both relaxed onto the couch. Somehow having her family around was an immediate medicine that helped control the construction site in her head and stomach.

"God, imagine if a storm like that hit Newport Beach!" she exclaimed as the tornadoes hit down in L.A. Soon enough Kirsten was asleep with her head in Ryan's lap. Movies always made her sleepy. Ryan laughed at the sleeping Kirsten, hoping that she felt OK.

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"Where's Chino?" Summer asked Seth as they walked down the hall of school.

"His leg…?" Seth questioned her, giving her a strange look.

"What about his leg?" she asked, smacking Seth on the arm, "Is Chino OK?"

"He dislocated his knee at soccer, he's staying home with my mom today," Seth answered, continuing down the hall.

"Staying home because of his knee or staying home because of your mom?" she asked, obviously confused.

"Staying home because of his knee!" he exclaimed. Seth didn't have much patience left. The usually funny and light-hearted Seth had taken on the job of being angry at the world.

"Cohen, c'mon you haven't been normal ever since you found out about your mom. I understand how tough that has to be but she wants you to be there for her acting NORMAL. She wants the funny, sarcastic Seth to be there for her. Not the worrisome, boring, angry-at-the-world, Seth," she told him, walking away.

"Wait…Summer!" he called, jogging up to her.

"Yes?" she asked seductively.

"You're right. Let's help my mom live her life to the fullest," he grinned at her, looping his arm through hers.

"Hey guys, do you know where Ryan is?" Marissa came up to the lovebirds.

"He's at home…" Seth answered.

"Why? Is he sick?" she asked worriedly.

"Actually as a matter of fact he dislocated his knee yesterday," Summer jumped in.

"Oh wow! He is OK?" she asked.

"He's chillin' with my mom so it's all good," Seth used a fake "gangsta" tone.

"Just come with us to see him after-school," Summer smiled, leading the two away.

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Kirsten slowly sat up on the couch as Ryan woke her up, "I have a headache."

"Well is there anything in particular that you want to do now?" he asked her.

"Let's…I've got it! We ask each other questions and we have to answer our questions too so I can find out more about the mysterious Ryan Atwood," she suggested, grabbing her head.

"Uh…OK?" he answered, "You've gotta go first though."

"Hmmm…" she sat pensively, "Tell me about a really good time in your childhood."

"Wow," he began, "Well, on my street there was this old black man named Ernie. He was the nicest guy ever. He always wore pin-striped suits and crazy hats and invited all the kids in the neighborhood to gather in his yard and he would referee games and such. He had this thing for Theresa and I and he would always invite us over first and tease us and stuff. Well he just proved to be one of the most influential people in my life. I miss him."

"What happened to him?" Kirsten seemed to be intrigued as she lay on the couch.

"He had heart troubles," Ryan sighed, "His funeral was nice." Kirsten smiled.

"He sounds great," she sat up and lowered herself back down.

"Now what about you?" he asked lovingly.

"Well," she began, "Taryn, the woman with short blonde hair, she and I were…best friends, oddly enough. Anyways, when we were like 10 we decided to try to throw a rager. Big mistake. Well anyways it ended up being really fun because it was a 10 year old rager and…" Ryan was laughing so hard that tears were coming to his eyes.

"Oh, I have a good question that I can't answer!" she piped up.

"What?" he asked.

"What did happen to the Range Rover and the 'Imax' movie vandalism?" she asked as Ryan sighed.

"Well we were in Fresno with this guy that I worked with named Donny. I had a date with Marissa and he invited Seth and I was thinking, 'no don't take Seth to a Rager' so I went and I said 10 minutes but then we heard someone say they had demoed a Range Rover…" Ryan laughed. Kirsten raised her eyebrows and leaned back.

"So let me get this straight, you were at a house party and you took the Rover and…" she stopped, "I don't even want to continue." Ryan laughed as he looked over at Kirsten. She looked a little pale.

"Are you OK?" he asked her.

"Umm…I'm fine," she smiled, hoping that he didn't think otherwise.

"Whatever, I don't believe you," he responded, watching as she quickly jumped off the couch and sprinted to the bathroom. She heaved into the toilet and cried in desperation. Ryan couldn't run to her side but he could get on his crutches and hobble over to her. He went as quickly as he could.

"Hey…shh," he rubbed her back and whispered in her ear, "It'll be OK." She slowly stood up and walked towards the couch. The two both sat down and she set her head in his lap. She pulled the blanket over her shaking body and fell asleep.

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A/N: Yeah, I updated.