Summer comes back after taking Marissa home and after saying goodnight to her father she goes to her room to find Seth brushing Princess Sparkle's hair while humming a Death Cab song. She climbs into bed besides him and kiss his cheek.
"Hi Cohen"
"Hi my Summer angel, is Marissa safe and sound?"
"Yeaah, I still can't believe that she is living in a palace, that house is huge, your grandpa always play big I suppose" Summer wraps her arms around her boyfriend's neck and kiss him "You know? I totally loved all your presents but there's one that I would really...really...like to open"
Seth looks at her confused
"I... don't have more presents for you Sum, I am short on money after our trip" Summer kiss his neck "Uh, that's...that feels good"
"My present is right here, Cohen! Sometimes you are soooo dense"
"Oh, Oh, well my little angel, you can unwrap your present whenever you want, for you I am free to open all the time" Summer takes his polo shirt off and unzip his pants "We can do this 24/7, always, fore..." While he keeps talking Summer is taking her top off, followed by her bra and Seth is losing concentration fast, like every time Summer takes her clothes off in front of him "Ok, I would shut up this moment"
An hour later, after recovering, Seth calls his parents to let them know that he would be staying at Summer's house and Sandy just tell him to be careful and he is careful, yes, because to him, Summer is the most precious thing in his life and he would go to hell to be with her.
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"We start school in five days and no sign of Ryan" Seth says to Sandy one morning of early September "I mean, when we went to see him the other day I saw a flicker there of the old Ryan, the brooding Ryan that would come out of the Pool House with his wifebeater and greet us all with a nod but no, here we are with no signs of him at all. When I told him of the couple of times I went with Sum and Marissa to the beach or the dinner I thought I got him there"
"Seth, you should start realizing that he would not come back but everything would be ok at school, you would have Summer and Marissa by your side, you have friends now kid"
"Yes, I would totally enjoy having Marissa and Summer there, don't get me wrong, but I just miss him dad"
And because of that conversation they couldn't believe their luck when the phone rang early a couple of mornings later and Kirsten picks it up while Seth and Sandy keeps eating breakfast.
"Cohen residence?"
"Kirsten?"
"Ryan, what happens, is everything all right?"
Seth and Sandy stands up as soon as she says the first syllables and are very focus on what Kirsten says on their side of the phone.
"Well, doctors told Theresa yesterday that she has lost the baby when she went to the appointment with her mother and after helping her cope, well, I have no other duty here because we were not together and...well, can I come back home?"
Kirsten looks at his boys and smiles "Your father would be there in over an hour, get ready, I would have the pool house ready for you"
Sandy practically runs to his room to change clothes so he can go and picks up his son while Kirsten explains Ryan's words to Seth who get sad because of Theresa but can't help but feel relieved that his brother is coming back home.
"Mom, you should call Dr. Kim and tell her that Ryan would also be back so we can enroll in a couple of days, I am going to get his welcome beck starter pack ready!"
Kirsten stays still on the kitchen for five long minutes, just smiling at the thought of her two sons back home and her husband happy again because of their blonde Chino boy. She just can't imagine her life without Ryan, not when the fridge has his grades and the last Chrismukkah photo of all of them on it and not when she goes grocery shopping and sees his favorite cereals and definitely, she can't imagine a life without her son in it, the son who made her realize how important family is. Once Sandy left to Chino, she goes to the pool house and changes the sheets, put some clean towels on the closet and do some laundry with Ryan's clothes on it, the ones he left behind when he left and when she finish, she just sits there, on his bed, realizing that this place wouldn't be as empty anymore.
Meanwhile Seth is preparing a welcome back package: a Journey CD, some comic books that Ryan should read for his education in comic world and the new sport magazine that he bought just for Ryan. He wraps it in colorful blue paper, his favorite color, and left it on his bed at the pool house.
After an hour has gone since his father left to pick him up, Seth is anxiously walking from one side of his house to the other, until the bell rings and he finds his perfect excuse to stop pacing the room.
Summer is the one at the door, she pecks his lips and he wraps her in a hug.
"Hey Cohen, do you want to go swim on the beach some more and then grab a bite together?"
"Um, Sum, I can't"
Summer cross her arms "Why?What is happening Cohen? I know when you are trying to hide something and this is something"
"Well, Ryan is coming back home today, my dad just arrived at Chino and would be back in an hour with him"
"OH MY GOD COHEN! That's fantastic, we should give him a welcome back party, I would call Coop"
"Sum, Summer, wait. Don't call Marissa yet, I... maybe Ryan would not be comfortable if she is here when he arrives, he has to get used to everything again and then we can tell her, maybe tomorrow or in two days when we go to school"
"Ugh Cohen, you are right but... I don't like to lie to my best friend, I would see her tomorrow and what I am supposed to do?"
"It is not lying, it is...omitting the truth for a couple of days until he is prepared to face Marissa again and be friends or whatever they want, even if I think that they can never be friends but anyways, we would make him feel like he had never gone"
"Ok, well, I suppose I would go so you can greet him properly as a family, maybe you can come later with him to my house? Dad is in a conference in L.A until tonight and I get bored in that big house alone"
"Sum, you can stay here, you can make me company while they arrive"
"No Seth, it's a family moment, I am going to Marissa's to sunbath and swim on the pool, I would see you later because she has plans with D…a friend"
Seth looks at her suspiciously but she distracts him with a make out session before leaving the house and get into her car. Seth realized that he has been talking with Summer for twenty minutes so Ryan and his dad would be there in over half an hour. He goes to his room, takes a shower and go downstairs to help her mom with cleaning the pool house. Five minutes in the kitchen and they hear the front door open so the both of them run to the living room and they see him there: his dirty blonde hair is now longer than when he left and he has gained muscle and his skin is darker, what Kirsten suppose is due to working in the sun all day.
And when he smiles at her for the first time in three months, his smile, to Kirsten, was the brightest she has seen in a long time and she runs to him and wraps him in her arms pressing his head to her shoulder and kissing his long hair multiple times until he is laughing and hugging her tighter.
"Oh Ryan, I am so glad you are here again, you are even more handsome now than three months ago" Kirsten gives him one final kiss "You have clean sheets and towels in your room and the clothes you left here are in the laundry"
"Honey, let the boy breathe, he should be tired, why don't we let him take a shower and we meet later at the kitchen for lunch?"
"Yes, but…Thank you Kir…Kirsten"
Ryan goes to the pool house and Seth and Kirsten looks at Sandy expectantly, but he takes his time, first he goes to his office to drop his wallet and then goes to his room to change into more comfortable clothes but when he comes back thsy sre still there so he sighs and explain.
"Theresa and her mother where there when I arrived, they were very pissed but thanked Ryan a lot and then said thank you to me and made me promise that I would take care of him and he was silent like always but seemed relieved to come back" Sandy pulls his hair back in a nervous manner "I think he missed us"
Seth waits for over an hour before he is invading Ryan's privacy at the pool house what, surprisingly, makes Ryan smile and hug his brother to them sit down on the bed and signaling for Seth to sit on one of the seats.
"Oh, I missed Seth-Ryan time dude"
"Yes, I missed them too, we have to talk a lot"
"Well Ryan, just tell me your news so we can move on to the interesting topic that it is obviously me"
Ryan can't help but feel like he is in another world, a brighter world where he can be a normal teenager that goes to school, fall in love and get in trouble with his brother because these three months, for Ryan, have been like if the world was in a grey color and he couldn't see a piece of hope in all the darkness, he felt trapped and utterly alone, missing his family a lot and yesterday he had for the first time thought about Sandy and Kirsten as his parents and not just as his legal guardians and he was in the process of feeling comfortable enough to call them by those terms.
But he tells Seth something completely different, he tells him about his funny moments at the construction site and about the projects he helped with and he also tells him that he missed home. And when he says that, Seth looks at him as if he understands the true meaning behind his words but that he also understands that he is not ready yet to say anything.
"So tell me all about your trip with Summer, with Sandy there we never can really talk"
"Ryan, it was amazing, freaking amazing dude, Summer Roberts went with me on a boat trip, I couldn't believe it for the first few days even if we have been dating for months and she spent lots of time sunbathing, it was a very pleasurable view for my eyes and the sex Ryan, I mean, I thought she didn't wanna because she was afraid of Theresa's pregnancy" Seth makes a pause and see the grimace on Ryan's face "Sorry, too soon but well, the first evening at the hotel she decided that yes we would have sex and Ryan, I had to buy a new package of condoms after the first week, I was in heaven..."
And they keep talking and talking while Sandy and Kirsten watch them from the kitchen's door and smiles, finally seeing their two sons in happiness and they don't want to interrupt but the lunch issettleby one and the fourth of them eat it on the kitchen tablewhile they talk abouteverythingthey missed on the others life and Ryan have the time of his life. After lunch they put on a movie andwatch it together in the family room.
When the film is coming to an end Seth tell Ryan that they would go to Summer's house after the movie to swim on the pool and have dinner with her and that Marissa would not be there because Ryan's face was one of horror when he associated Summer to Marissa.
Once on the car Seth can tell that Ryan is nervous.
"Man, is only Summer, I promise Marissa would not be there but you would see her in a couple of days when we have to go to school again" Ryan says nothing so Seth does what he does best, rumbling "I mean, it has been three months and maybe she has moved on and you can be friends even if you were never friends…oh, we are here"
Seth parks on Summer's driveway and pats Ryan's back, waiting for his brother to say something.
"I am glad to be back Seth, I am and I can't wait to be normal, back in school, hanging out with you guys and even see Marissa man…but I am scared because I think I already lost her when I left and broke her heart"
"You just had to say sorry and be there for her, like last spring with everything that happened with her mom and Luke and shit"
Ryan pats Seth's back and leave the car so Seth follows his path and takes the stairs to her girlfriend's front door. Ryan rings the doorbell and after two minutes a petite brunette in pigtails and a sundress open the door. When Summer sees Ryan her whole face broke into a smile.
"Atwood!" Summer throws her arms around Ryan the minute she see him on her front door and rub his hair in a playful manner "Oh, you look handsome! You missed NewPort uh?"
"Hey Summer and yes, totally missed NewPort and its fake citizens"
He receives a shove on the arm from Summer
"Ey, I am one of its citizens and definitely not fake" She lets them enter the house and once she closes the door she feels Seth arms around her waist and his lips on her cheek, always respecting her hate for PDA even if it is their best friend "So, let's go swimming and then we can watch a movie while waiting for the pizza!"
Ryan chuckles at her enthusiasm but can't help but feel bad because he feels like something is missing and by something he means a tall, lanky and blue-eyed blonde that used to be with them all the time but he tries to have as much fun as he can and he does because he loves to swim and to tease Summer with tickles even if he then receives her fury.
His fun ends when they are watching the movie and eating the pizza because Summer use that moment to ask questions.
"So Atwood, you returning to school in two days with us, right?"
"Yes Sum, of course I would"
"Oook, are you excited?"
"Eh...as much excited as a teenage boy should feel at returning to school"
"He shouldn't be excited; Harbor is a piece of trash" Summer slaps the arm that is around her shoulder "Ok, Harbor has good things like you and...Marissa"
And that's Summer's clue to ask the most important question "You and Marissa, you would be friends or what? Because I don't want things to suddenly be awkward between the four of us. All of us will be at the same school for two more years and we should, at least, be friends"
Ryan smirks at Summer whom send him a murderously look and he immediately explains "You spend too much time with Seth, you have started rumbling like him"
And even if he is expecting an angry response from Summer, the brunette just looks at Seth sweetly, kiss him on the lips and the both of them laugh, their laugh gets to Ryan, that joins immediately and then sighs in happiness at finally being home.
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A few days later they are back at Harbor to enroll and grab their schedule for the semester. They drive on Kirsten's car and goes directly to the administration office, that is at the far side of the campus and once they arrive there Seth tells Ryan that they are safe, that there's no sight of Marissa. And that's right, at least while they are talking with their advisor about the subjects that they should take this year. When Ryan tells Danna about his love for architecture, buildings and construction and she sees that he is good at Maths she immediately changes Philosophy for Advanced Maths and add technical drawing "so you can understand how to draw construction plans" and he is happy with technical drawing but Advanced Maths? That's too intelligent for me. And Carson listens to Seth rumbling about how he loves to draw and to read every book you can throw his way, even if he reads comics most of the time during school time because he has enough with text books and about his dream of being as big as MARVEL studios one day even if Carson doesn't know what MARVEL is but he changes Physics and Advanced Maths for Art History and artistic drawing what makes Seth very happy.
Once they are out of the office and into one of the benches outdoor, they check their schedules to see if they are together in any of their classes because last year, they had the same subjects and went together to all of them except for two.
"We are not that lucky this year man. We share English, Biology and American History. Oh god, I hope Summer takes Algebra or World History because if not I would be totally alone on those"
Ryan's subjects this year are English, French, Biology, Physics, American History, Algebra, Calculus, P.E, Advanced Maths and technical drawing while Seth's subjects are English, French, Biology, American History, Global History, Algebra, P.E, Plastics and visuals arts, First aid class, Art History and artistic drawing
"Yeah dude but you got the good one on Algebra though with Professor Thomas and how cool it is that you got artistic drawings?"
"Yeah man, Carson agrees that I would be a good artist one day when I showed him my drawings, look" he takes his sketch book out of his bag and gives it to Ryan "You are the only one that is seeing this apart from him, while Summer was sleeping on our trip and I was not tired yet so I draw her" Ryan takes to the last one of the drawings of Summer "That's my favorite, it's from her birthday and her face was so peaceful. Go to the end, I have more drawings for an idea for a comic"
Ryan goes to the end and there is Marissa in all her beauty and in one of them she is wearing a costume and then there's Sandy with a pile of files on his back or Kirsten with her phone in one hand and ice coming out of her mouth and finally, him, three drawings of him: one with his wifebeater and bag, other with his grey sweatshirt and metal punches and the last one with Seth where he is riding his bike and Seth is on his skateboard.
"Wow Seth, those drawings are brilliant, I didn't know you had that much talent. This one is my favorite" he points to the one of he and Seth down the pier "It was a very great time, last summer and it feels like ages ago"
Suddenly someone's on Seth's lap and a shadow is hiding the sun to Ryan. Summer pecks Seth's lips and then kiss Ryan's cheek but Ryan is in a kind of trance seeing Marissa for the first time after all this time. She is even more beautiful than three months ago because to him her eyes are a deeper shade of blue and her face looks stunning.
"Marissa, hi"
Marissa smiles, leaving that trance too, because to her he is also more handsome and had a sudden impulse of kissing him as Summer has done with Seth but refrains herself and gives him a smile instead.
"Hi Ryan, how was your summer?"
"It was cool working in construction again but I am glad to be back"
"Is Theresa ok?"
"Well, no, she lost the baby and that's why I am back because we weren't a couple and well, my only purpose there was gone"
"Oh god, I am sorry Ry and I am sorry for her too, that had to be hard"
And the conversation isn't as awkward as it could have been because the four friends goes together to grab some lunch and keep talking about expectations for this year and nothing is wrong for Ryan and Marissa except that they are not together and that's wrong for everyone except for them.
And Ryan finds out that Marissa shares Algebra with him, they share French and American History with Seth and Summer and Marissa is in Global History and P.E with Summer and Seth so he would share less subjects with her than last year but at least they would be together in some of them.
When lunch time arrives they let Sandy knows that they would share it with the girls and then they would go to Marissa's house to swim in the pool. And they do just that without any trace of resentment or weirdness except when they see Seth and Summer making out in a corner of the pool.
Ryan would just have to wait to see if something would happen again between them or there would be new adventures to come.