Thanks for all the reviews, and heres the next chapter. I'll try to get 'some' SS in this chapter, but I cant make any promises. This might be really long, but oh well...enjoy
Chapter 10
The Cohen's
"Man, I thought you said you 'owned' at the ninja game?"Ryan questioned as he beat Seth again for seemingly the millionth time. It was now Tuesday afternoon, and they were still going at it in the Ninja game. Seth opted to pass on school, and instead chose to hang with Ryan some more.
"Well, I own all of the Newport kids at it, but I guess fighting games are right in your wheelhouse.." Seth set his controller down, trying to hide his hurt.
"Funny..."Ryan shrugged it off and turned the tv off. They were waiting for Sandy to give them some news on what Ryan was going to do next.
Little did Ryan know, his mother actually skipped town and abandoned him completely. So Sandy was now working on a place for Ryan to stay. It was starting to get difficult, as not even Ryan's closest siblings or friends wanted to take him in. Really, who wants to take in a troubled teen?
Sandy entered the poolhouse almost on cue, and gave Seth a suspicious look.
"Isn't in Tuesday..."Sandy asked as he checked his watch, hoping to find the date there.
"Yes it is father, but I decided not to go in today...so I could you know, hang with Ryan and make him comfortable in our humble home." He didn't have the time to get in an argument with his son at the moment, so he just nodded then directed his attention towards Ryan.
"Oh, I almost forgot, how was everything in Chino last night?" Sandy asked, and Ryan grew silent. He was all choked up for words.
"It was unadventurous ..." Seth shot in, taking Ryan off the hotseat.
"Thats good..." Sandy gave a genuine nod, then proceeded on toward Ryan.
"So anyways, Ryan, as you know I've been trying to sort everything out regarding your case..." Sandy sat on a chair near the door and continued. " so I haven't exactly had time to figure out what your going to do for the time being. But how about you stay with us for a few more days, just until we can get this all sorted out."
Ryan dejectedly nodded his head and then Sandy stood and left the room. Ryan really wanted to get back to Chino. Not necessarily his home life, but to his actual life. The people in it that made his experience in Chino worthwhile. Theresa, Trey, Arturo..all those guys. He missed them.
Sandy entered the kitchen, and saw his wife carrying groceries in. He forgot that she had the day off today, so he walked over and gave her a peck on the cheek.
"Hello honey, how's Ryan doing?" Kirsten asked as she proceeded to put the groceries away. She knew Sandy had the tough task of telling Ryan that his mother abandoned him, and that he probably had to go into a foster home.
"About that..." Sandy was cut off by Seth and Ryan entering the room, it appeared they were still bickering about their recent gaming duel.
"-Ryan, you must've cheated, thats the only logical explanation..." Seth froze when he saw Kirsten.
"Mother, long time no see, ummmm me and Ryan were just going to head out now, and just so you know, School was great today!" Seth lied, he hoped his mother didn't know he skipped. "Bye mom!" Seth sprung out of the room.
"Uhhh Bye Mr and Mrs. Cohen, and thanks again for everything..." Ryan spat out then ran to join Seth outside.
"Well, judging from his reaction, he seemed to take the news well.."Kirsten stated as she finished the last of the groceries.
"See thats the point honey, I didn't exactly tell him about his mother..."Sandy rubbed his head and looked everywhere but his wife. "I told him he could stay a few more days, until we get everything figured out."
"Sandy! You did what?" Kirsten shot him a glare.
"Gee. What do ya know? Look at the time, my lunch break's over already...does time ever fly..." Sandy glanced at his watch. " Gotta run honey, bye I love you!" he pecked her cheek and bolted for the door.
"Well talk about this later Sandy!" she yelled but to no avail, he was already out the door.
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It was now Friday morning, Seth and Ryan were already up and dressed, because today Seth said they'd go sailing. Seth led the way down the pier, with Ryan trudging along behind him.
"Here she is buddy, The Summer Breeze..." Seth motioned for Ryan to join him on the dock.
"You call your boat a 'she'? Thats kind of creepy..." Seth hopped on the boat.
"Sure dude, it is named after a girl dumbass. I'm not gonna call it a guy, I gotta defend Summer's honour." Seth began plugging away at untying the boat from the dock.
"Oh, I'm sorry man, so is she like your girlfriend.." Ryan asked as he joined Seth on the boat.
"Uhhh...yeah sort of..." Seth got tongue-tied.
"Did you guys...umm..break up?" Ryan asked with a concerned look on his face.
"Not exactly...I uhh...haven't really spoken to her since before this past week...She never knew I existed a few weeks ago..." Seth lowered his head in dejection.
"Oh...I'm sorry..." Ryan didn't know why he was apologizing, but felt it was needed.
"Hey man, its okay, I'm over it now..." Seth lied. How in the world could ever get 'over' Summer Roberts. She was gorgeous, funny, smart. She was perfect, that summed everything up. Well maybe she wasn't exactly 'smart', but Seth knew underneath her bitchy exterior, that she was actually smart.
"I'm sensing tension, so what happened in the last few weeks man?" Ryan broke Seth's trance.
"Well, I went to this party, hoping I'd get her to talk to me, which she didn't...she shot me down quickly..." Seth sighed then continued. " so I later on at the party, I heard this scream. It came from the beach, so I rushed over there, and there she was. It wasn't on the best of times to see her, because she was getting raped right in front of me...so I intervened, got my ass kicked, but I saved her life man..."
"What did she do afterward, she still act like a bitch to you?" Ryan already was categorizing this girl as a bitch.
"I'm not quite sure, because I just woke up from a coma a couple weeks ago..." Ryan's jaw dropped.
"I'm sorry...I had no idea-
"It's alright man, I don't regret saving her...Let's get going then.." Seth gestured toward the ocean, then started off for the high seas, with Ryan still in shock over what he heard.
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It was about 6:00, and Seth finally came back and docked the boat. They'd been out almost all day. Seth still had bitter thoughts in his head about the Summer issue, which he never had since Ryan made him put everything out in the open. Maybe he did need to get over Summer, after all, she wasn't showing any sign's of attraction to him. Even if he was the one who saved her life. She had Justin now.
Seth's POV
"I think I'm gonna throw in the towel now, its been 5 days since I ran out on her in science, and if my actions affected her at all, she would've come by to see me...which she didn't...I haven't even been to school since that faithful Monday, so obviously I was the last thing on her mind.
I just wish there was a way I could show her how badly she's hurt me, even if she never knew it. But nonetheless, she has hurt me, whether knowingly or not.
Seth and Ryan were now heading back to the car, when Seth stopped suddenly and dropped his jaw as he looked down the pier. It was Summer. Even if he was 'over' her, she still had the jaw-dropping affect on him.
"Ryan, Ryan, dude there she is..." Seth pointed down the pier to the girl.
Ryan turned to look down the pier, and spotted a short brunette, and a tall, lanky, but stunningly beautiful girl. Ryan peeled his eyes off her for a second, the back to Seth. He hoped and prayed that Summer wasn't the girl he was looking at.
"Which one? That one?" Ryan openly pointed down the pier at the tall one.
"The tall one? Oh please, that's just Marissa, and she's...uhhh...Marissa!" Seth shot a evil glare at the girl who happened to be his neighbor, and who happened to ignore him. Ryan grew a huge grin all over his face, but It saddened quicker then it appeared. He knew he'd never have the chance to talk or get to know her, since Ryan's time in Newport was limited.
"Yeah, she's my neighbor, and isn't exactly..." Ryan ignored the rest of Seth's comment as he was too happy to care what bashing came from Seth's mouth. She was Seth's neighbor. This is too good to be true, things this good don't happen to Atwood's..Ryan thought.
"So man, what do you think?" Seth asked as he saw Summer and Marissa exit a shop and turn for the parking lot.
" about what?" Ryan seriously didn't know what he was supposed to be looking at.
"SUMMER!" Seth screamed a little too loudly, causing the girls to turn their heads.
Seth's face got red in a hurry, he looked away from the girls in embarrassment. The girls were now heading their way.
Summer and Marissa stopped in front of the boys and just eyed them up, Seth had a pair of dickies, a band tee and of course his chuck's on. While the Ryan, had a wife beater, and some jeans on.
"What do you want Cohen?" she glared at him. She was still slightly bitter about they way he'd been blowing her off this past week.
"Sorry Summer, I forgot what I called you over here for.." Seth lied, he needed an excuse out of this embarrassing talk. Summer shot him a death glare then turned to leave.
"Yeah I forgot what I was going to say, probably still post-coma symptoms..."Seth shot at her. He knew this would get under her skin. And so it should Seth thought.
Now Summer was the one on the embarrassed side, she needed a way out of this. She still had an extreme amount of guilt towards the whole Seth situation. She was trying her hardest to be his friend, even though she knew that her newly acquired boyfriend didn't help much.
"I'm so sorry about that Cohen, and sorry about they way I acted..." She peered up at Seth, and saw him smile at her, dimples and all. " but me and Coop really gotta get going, party at Holly's..."
"Ahhh, another one of those..." Seth quipped. Summer blushed, because she knew damn well what happened at the last one. As did Seth.
"You should come!" Marissa finally spoke up, but It appeared she wasn't even talking to Summer or Seth. She was still eyeing Ryan up, and she knew he'd been checking her out ever since she'd got there.
Summer's eyes shot open instantly, and she gave Marissa a nudge on the side.
"Coop! Let's go now.." Summer dragged her friend away.
"Bye Summer..." she turned around, and Seth was still grinning at her. She rolled her eyes, then turned back and started off for the car.
Once she was out of Seth's sight, a huge smile came over her face and she couldn't contain it, not that she wanted to anyways. Seth had that affect on her, and she couldn't stop it. Seth had no clue about what he was doing to Summer, so he took her eye-roll at him, as another shutdown.
"See? There you have it, Summer must have, like no heart...I saved her freaking life man, and things still haven't changed.." Seth shook Ryan's shoulders back and forth. " But you know what?" Seth released Ryan and continued. " We should go to that party...and it'll be better than the one in Chino...no offence..."
"None taken.." Ryan said sarcastically.
"Hey! Sarcasm! It appears our roles are changing Ryan...does that mean theres room for me to become the brooding badboy?" Seth asked as they both started off for the car. Ryan just shot him a look and rolled his eyes.
"Right, right got it, you got your style and I got mine...even though I think I can pull of the wife beater maybe better then you.." Ryan punched Seth's shoulder with a fierce blow.
"OWW jeez man, it was just sarcasm, remember...it is after all, my style!" Seth grimaced and held his shoulder.
"Whatever man, are we gonna go to that party." Ryan had been dying to see Marissa again.
"Yeah of course, its gonna be awesome, and it'll be on my turf..in Newport.." Ryan stopped in front of the passenger door, and gave Seth an unconvinced look.
"Okay, maybe turf is a little bit of an overstatement, but if I did have turf, this would be it.." Seth entered the car, followed by Ryan. " But first, we have to get the Sandy-Kirsten stamp of approval, before you go off and swoon over Marissa." Ryan whipped his head around and stared at Seth with a shocked look. How could he have known he'd been pinning for Marissa ever since he first laid eyes on her.
"Yeah I can tell you got a thing for her, its good because she's seems to be the type attracted to bad boys.."
"Don't make me punch you again..." Ryan rose his fist in the air, threatening Seth and then Seth spotted the fist in the corner of his eyes.
"Hey if you punch me, I'll crash this thing into the nearest building.." Seth shot right back.
"That's a good point..."
"Just trying to spare casualties man.." Seth retorted then continued the drive towards the Cohen home.
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Sandy and Kirsten had been treating Ryan like their own son now since their discussion on Tuesday. Kirsten was even beginning to soften up to him. They both had seen the bond Seth and Ryan had. They were acting like brothers, or in Seth's case, best friends. Friends was a word that didn't shoot out of Seth too often.
The boys entered the house, and went straight for the kitchen. They figured Sandy and Kirsten would be in there, probably topping off their second bottle of marlot. After all, everyone in Newport was a borderline alcoholic.
"Seth, Ryan there you are..." Sandy took another sip from his drink. Sandy then proceeded to cover the papers that were on the table. He and Kirsten both had been going through them before the boys got home.
"Mother, father, whats that?" Seth pointed at the papers on the table, they didn't do a good job at hiding them. Kirsten's face started to blush, as it dawned on her that this whole conversation was coming a lot sooner then expected.
"Seth, honey, could we talk to Ryan for a second..." Kirsten rubbed her neck so she could hide the expression on her face.
"Mother, don't call me 'honey' save that for Al Pacino over here..." Seth gestured at Sandy, then he heard him laugh. Ryan too was laughing. Seth grabbed some pudding, before leaving the room. He had a feeling about what they were going to talk about.
"Ryan, we have some news for you, bad and hopefully good...but its your choice.." Sandy gestured for Ryan to sit, and he obeyed.
"I'm sorry I haven't told you this earlier, but your mother skipped town...thats why we haven't been able to sort everything out...I am so sorry..." Sandy weakly gave him a smile.
"Figures..." Ryan lowered his head squinted his eyes. He would not cry, not even in the worst of times. " I'm assuming thats the good news..." Sandy chuckled briefly at this rare humor from Ryan.
"No...well the other news, is up to you to decide...you've been living with us for quite some time now. You've become a brother to Seth, and a son to us. Now child services would be up our ass for this but we still wanted try it and see if you'll agree...we want to adopt you." Sandy finished. Then both he and Kirsten stared at him, in hopes of a good reaction.
Ryan blinked his eyes twice, then rubbed them repeatedly. Could this even be possible?
"Now of course, if you say yes, we heard about your track record in Chino.." Ryan's eyes darted back down to the floor. He thought they didn't know about his home life.
"Hey it's a good thing, don't worry.."Kirsten replied reassuringly. "No more fights, comprende?" Sandy interrupted, oblivious to the fact Ryan hadn't actually said 'yes' yet.
"Yeah, no more fights..." Ryan choked out, he thought this whole thing was unreal.
"Well, from all of us...Welcome to the family..."Kirsten gave him a hug, followed by Sandy.
After they broke apart, Kirsten yelled. "You can come out now Seth.." to her surprise, he darted around the corner before she even finished. Her and Sandy then both left the kitchen, so Ryan and Seth could talk.
"You knew about this the whole time didn't you.." Ryan pointed playfully at Seth.
"Didn't wanna jinx it man..." he lifted his hand in the air for a highfive.
Ryan smacked it. " Dude...You're a Cohen now, welcome to a life of insecurities and paralyzing self doubt..."
"Now, just have to stay out of fights..." Ryan sat back down in his chair.
Seth choked on the pudding he'd still been eating.
"Yeah...that could be...difficult..."
Sorry, I didn't get much SS in this chapt, but next chapt is the party, so there'll be lots there...the whole ryan thing mightve been rushed, but I did'nt feel like draging it out for 3 chapters... please R/R