"Ryan? Are you awake?"
Sandy Cohen knocked once more on the door of his son's room. He really wanted to clear things up with his son and let him know that they really didn't have any options. They had to send Seth back. He knew that Ryan had become good friends with Seth, but they weren't his family. As flawed as the system was and as reluctant he was to place Seth into that system, his wife has put her foot down and he knew that when The Kirsten wanted something to happen, it happened. So he knocked again.
"Ryan?"
"Ryan?"
Ryan could hear his dad knocking on the door to his room and knew that he only had a couple seconds before he gave up waiting for Ryan to answer and entered anyway. He stuffed a few more necessities into the bag; toilet paper, spare toothbrush, first aid kit, and matches, just in case. He threw the bag quickly under his bed, jumped in and covered himself with his covers just as his father walked in.
"Hey, can I talk to you," Sandy asks, walking over to Ryan's bed. He turns on the light and Ryan shields his eyes as if waking up. "You were asleep?"
"Yeah, you know, early morning tomorrow. I want to be rested so I can say good-bye to Seth properly."
"Since when do you do sarcasm?"
"I don't."
"Sorry. Seth does and it's hard to tell the difference sometimes. Can't you just talk to me? I know you're upset. Your mother and I are upset, you know. But our responsibility is to, is to our family."
Ryan just turns out the light and rolls over in bed, pretending to fall back asleep.
"I'm here if you ever want to talk kid." Sandy leans over and pats his son on the shoulder. "Goodnight, son." He leaves the room and shuts the door behind him. The second the door closes, Ryan gets out of bed, grabs the bag, and climbs out of his window.
Out front
Seth is dressed in all black, hiding in the bushes in front of the Cohen residence when Ryan comes up looking for him.
"Seth," Ryan loudly whispers. "Seth!"
"Dude, I'm right next to you," Seth whispers popping out from the bushes.
"You scared the crap out of me. You ready to go?"
"Yeah, I have all my stuff. Where's the car?"
"I can't drive. We'll get popped for sure. We have to get there on manual power." Ryan wheels his bike out and points at Seth's skateboard.
"I hope this magical sanctuary isn't too far away," Seth mumbles.
"Hey boys," a voice says from next door.
"Hey Cooper. You going over to Luke's?" Ryan tries to hide his bike.
"Hey! Where are you guys going? I thought Luke said you guys weren't feeling good and couldn't come over tonight," Marissa says, noticing the bike and skateboard.
"Crap. Way to take forever Ryan."
"We needed supplies. I'll bet you didn't grab TP or anything remotely necessary."
"I'll bet I didn't know that I needed to get TP. Does this mean we're going camping? I don't do nature."
"Boys," Marissa yells at them.
"Shhhhh," Seth says. "The thing is, Sandy is taking me to Child Services in the morning and I don't really feel like going into the system. Ryan seems to know of a place where he can put me up, but it's kind of a secret."
Ryan looks contemplative.
"Actually, this works out pretty good. You think you can drive us Cooper? It would save some time."
"I don't see why not. Let me just call Luke and tell him I'm running a little late." Marissa takes out her cell phone and begins to dial
"Just don't tell him what you're doing," Seth whispers. "This is kind of top secret, GS-13 classified."
Marissa looks at him strangely. "You're a little weird, you know that?"
"Yeah and apparently I talk a lot too. It keeps people on their toes."
"So where exactly are we going," Marissa asks, turning down the radio.
"We're going to one of my mom's developments. It's built but the company they contracted to finish it for the open house just disappeared so it's empty."
"Is that the same development that your mom had the model of on the counter tonight?"
"One and the same," Ryan answers, turning the radio back up.
They ride in silence for awhile, but Ryan can see Seth fidgeting in the back. He lets him go on for a bit but Seth finally breaks.
"What kind of music are we listening to," Seth asks. "I feel like my brain is literally going to explode."
"It's Journey," Marissa says. "Ryan got me listening to it when we were kids. I've loved it ever since."
"Journey? Dude, you like Journey? That's a little minty, don't you think?"
"Hey," Ryan turns and points at Seth, "do NOT insult Journey, ok?"
"Sorry, man."
Marissa decides she might need to broker a little peace between the two. "So what kind of music do you listen to, Seth?"
"I like lots of old punk rock, like The Ramones, The Clash, and The Sex Pistols. I also like newer stuff like Death Cab, The Shins, and Bright Eyes."
Ryan turns to look at Seth. "Are those bands?"
"Sacrilege!"
"Hey I like those first few bands. I'm into the whole punk rock thing right now." At Seth's incredulous look, "What? I'm angry."
Ryan points off to the right. "Turn here. This is it."
Marissa parks the vehicle and they get out.
"It looks dark in there. Did you guys bring any flashlights?"
Ryan and Seth just look at each other. "I brought matches," Ryan says with a shrug.
Marissa digs through the emergency kit in her trunk and comes up with two flashlights. "It's a good thing you guys brought me or you'd probably end up burning the place down with your matches."
Ryan unlocks the door with the key he took from Kirsten and the three go into the model home.
"So what happened here," Marissa asks. "Why did those contractors just take off?"
"Who knows? All Mom said is that they put the open house on hiatus until they could locate them. I figure it would make a good base of operations until we figure out what to do."
"Thanks for setting me up with this, Ryan."
"No worries. I wasn't quite ready for you to leave yet anyway. From what I saw the other night at the party, neither is Summer." Ryan winks at Marissa.
"Yeah, well, I don't see that happening now, not with me leaving and all. I hope I didn't ruin everything with you and Luke and water polo by the way."
"Nah, it's cool. I got tired of shaving my chest all the time."
Marissa starts laughing. "That was probably the worst thing about you and Luke playing water polo. You two looked like Abercrombie models."
"Now THAT is definitely minty," Seth says, joining Marissa in laughing.
Seth and Ryan set up the tent and Seth rolls out a sleeping bag. Ryan begins unpacking the supplies. He pulls out the TP and Seth flashes him a thumbs up. Seth grabs the roll and walks downstairs.
A couple minutes later he yells up, "Hey, you guys have to come see this!"
"Oh, gross!" Marissa looks ill.
"Dude, there is no way I'm coming down there to look at that!"
"It's not that. I never made it that far. It's something different. Just come check it out."
Ryan and Marissa walk downstairs hesitantly, still unsure if Seth is going to gross them out.
"This place is so much better than some group home. And the best part?" Seth swings the back doors open.
"It's an empty pool," Ryan says.
"To some people."
Seth drops into the pool and begins skateboarding while Ryan and Marissa pass out the fast food they picked up on the way.
"So what is the story with you two," Seth asks, picking his board up. He walks over and grabs a cheeseburger and joins Ryan and Marissa on the edge.
"What do you mean," Marissa says and takes a drink of her soda.
"I mean, you guys grow up next door to each other, you've known each other all of your lives. You never dated, hooked up, whatever the kids are calling it these days?"
Ryan and Marissa look at each other and begin to laugh.
"What, did I say something funny?"
Ryan puts down his burger. "No, no, it's just like you said, Marissa and I have been friends forever. My mom and her dad even used to date in school. We were raised together. She's like a sister to me."
"And Ryan is like a brother to me. An uglier, not as fashion forward brother." She laughs as Ryan throws a fry at her. "Seriously? It would be kind of weird. I've always known Ryan. We've been around each other so much over the years, we may as well be related."
Ryan looks down at his watch. "Shit! It's getting late. I've got to get home before Mom or Dad make another unscheduled check of my room. And you," he points toward Marissa, "need to get over to Luke's." He turns back to Seth. "I'll come over and pick you up tomorrow and we'll do breakfast."
"You guys aren't going to tell anybody right? I mean, if your dad found out, he'd be pretty pissed."
"Well, I'm sure Summer will ask where you went off to. What should I tell her," Marissa asks.
Ryan answers for Seth. "Don't tell her anything, yet. We'll talk about it at breakfast tomorrow."
"Can I bring Luke?"
Ryan shrugs. "I don't see why not. I'm bringing Taylor."
"Guys, I thought this was a top secret mission here. GS-13 classified, I could tell you but I'd have to kill you, the whole bit!"
"Not quite, but don't worry. Nobody else will find out."
Seth is outside skateboarding again when Ryan and Marissa show up the next morning.
"Nice trick," Ryan says as Seth lands a particularly tricky looking maneuver. "I was never really into the whole skateboarding thing. I was more of a bike kid."
"Yeah, I guess I could see that about you. You're not really built like a skater."
"You mean I'm not as skinny as a bean pole like Cooper over there," Ryan says, laughing. "You may want to limit your outside activities to nighttime so you don't get noticed by anyone."
"We're in the middle of nowhere. The only way someone could even find this place is if they followed you here. So what happened to breakfast? I was stuck with jerky and Mountain Dew. Not the greatest breakfast foods in the world."
"That had to get pushed back to lunch. The cops came over," Ryan says.
Seth stops his skateboard. "The fuzz? What did they want?"
"Kirsten called the cops when she couldn't find you this morning."
"Great. I'm now officially on the run. What a great start to the day." Seth picks the board up and walks over to Ryan. "So what did you tell them?"
"Nothing. I think Mom and Dad are used to me not saying much by now." Ryan shrugs. "I've got my jeep today so we're good to go. You ready?"
"Hell yeah. I have to use the bathroom so bad."
"You haven't gone? That's why I brought the TP."
"No running water, man."
"Oh."
The three walk up to the door leave but are stopped by the murmur of voices coming from inside the model home.
"It's my mom," Ryan says, peeking through the glass pane, "and…Jimmie Cooper?" He looks over at Marissa, who shrugs. "What the hell are they doing here?"
Ryan strains to hear the conversation through the door. He hears enough to gather that the Coopers are in a spot of financial trouble. Jimmie apparently has lost a lot of money due to some bad investments. He hears his mom agree to loan Jimmie 100,000. He also hears that new contractors have been hired and will be resuming work on the house tomorrow morning.
Jimmie and Kirsten leave and Ryan relates what he has heard to Marissa.
"Guess that means I'm gone."
"Can we keep this between us?" Seth and Ryan both nod and Marissa stuffs her hands in her pockets. "Let's just go get some lunch."
The Diner
Ryan crawls into the booth at the diner, claiming the seat next to Taylor. Marissa slides in next to Luke. Seth walks straight towards the bathroom.
"Where's he going," Taylor asks.
"No running water at the model home," Ryan answers. A collective 'oh' issues from everyone at the table.
Seth soon returns and is followed to the table by a waitress. Lunch orders are placed and casual lunch talk turns to what they are going to do.
"So the contractors start up again tomorrow," Ryan says morosely. "We have to figure out something to do for Seth."
"That blows Corona. So what are you going to do?"
"I've always wanted to do that pancake tour of North America. And the hobo thing is back in style again. I'm sure I can find odd work to do to make some money as I go on my travels."
"Le vagabond. Très romantique," Taylor says with a dreamy look in her eyes.
Seth snaps his fingers and her. "Hey, Earth to Taylor. What does that mean?"
"Taylor takes a lot of language classes. A lot," Ryan explains. "One of which is French."
"It means that I think it's so romantic traveling the country, riding the rails, going wherever the wind takes you. Not for me, but it makes for a very interesting story. 'On the Road' is one of my favorite books."
"She's got good taste," Seth says to Ryan.
Ryan kisses her on the forehead. "I know."
"Not to interrupt this romantic moment," Luke says, "but what are we going to do for Corona here?"
"Seriously, you guys don't have to do anything for me. You've already done so much just by hanging out with me this weekend."
Marissa lets out a surprised "Oh," and almost chokes on her club sandwich."
"Apparently Cooper has an idea."
"Yes I do. We can all pool some money together and get you a bus ticket. Anywhere, you want to go. Whatever is left over, you can use to start your new life as a 'vagabond.'"
Taylor crosses her arms and glares at Marissa.
"That actually doesn't sound like a bad idea," Ryan concedes, "but I think I can do you one better. How about we send him out in style? Summer's birthday is tomorrow, right?" At everyone's nod, he continues. "Well, I was thinking surprise birthday party at the model home. What do you think?"
Everyone agrees that it sounds like a great idea. Taylor and Marissa are excited because it will give them an opportunity to get in a warm up before kick-off carnival. Luke is excited because any excuse to drink beer is a good one. Ryan is excited because he'll get to hang out with Seth one last night before he takes off for good. Seth's excitement is made obvious with his next comment.
"So should I get her something? I mean what do kids these days get other kids for their birthday?"
"Yo, Cohen," Luke says, laughing, "Tell Corona to take a chill pill."
Ryan looks at Seth. "I'm pretty sure she'll be happy just to see you there. She's obviously got a thing for you from the way she was looking at you at Holly's party."
Taylor nods in affirmation. "Marissa and I talked to her last night. She thinks you're cute and she was asking us all about you. We didn't really know anything so we just told her what you told us at the party. Is that ok?"
"No, that's perfect. I'm a bad boy and a drug dealer. I'm troubled. She can save me."
Everyone laughs at Seth and they get up to pay and plan the party for that night at the model home. Nobody notices that, a few booths away, the captain of the water polo team is fuming over a cup of coffee.
"Dr. Roberts, how nice to see you!"
Zach walks in the front door, greeting his girlfriend's father with a strong shake of the hand.
"Zach. Always a pleasure. Are you here to see Summer?"
"Oh, yes sir. I was intending on taking your daughter out to dinner this evening for her birthday."
"Well, that sounds nice. You do know that her birthday isn't until tomorrow, right?"
"Yes, sir. I just wanted to get a head start on her day. You know how birthdays are important to girls," Zach says, winking at the older man.
"Yes, well, that only lasts until their thirties. Summer is upstairs if you'd like to go talk to her."
"Thank you, sir. It's nice to see you again!" Zach waves to the older man as he ascends the stairs. If that senile senior citizen knew what he wanted to do to his little bitch of a daughter for how she acted at Holly's party, he would have been greeted at the door by a shotgun and not a handshake. Must be why I'm so good with parents, he thinks to himself with a smile.
Reaching Summer's room, he knocks and, without waiting for an answer, enters.
"Zach! I could have been naked!"
His girlfriend is, in fact, laying out on her bed reading a book. Fully clothed. Prude, Zach thinks. He says instead, "Don't tease me, baby," and kisses the back of her neck.
"So I really wanted to apologize for what happened at Holly's party the other night. I really want to make up for beating up your friends. What do you think about dinner at the yacht club tonight? We can celebrate your birthday a little early then hit up Holly's again. She's having another party tonight."
Summer eyes him suspiciously. "I guess its ok," she relents. "I've got to meet Taylor and Marissa in a few hours but you can pick me up later, when I'm done. I should only be with them for an hour or so."
"Why don't you bring them to the party? You can celebrate with them there."
"That's probably not a good idea seeing as how you beat up their boyfriends and kicked them off of the team." Zach begins to apologize again but Summer cuts him off. "I get it, you're sorry. Make it up to me tonight and we'll see. I'll call you when we're done."
Zach says good-bye and leaves the house. Walking to his car, he flips open his cell phone and dials a number.
"Nordlund? Go pick up Saunders and meet me at my place. We've got plans tonight."
"Ok Coop, Townsend, one of you better spit out where we're going or I'm cracking some skulls. We've been driving for like an hour and we're still not there."
"We've only been driving for like 15 minutes, Sum. We're almost there."
"Well where are we going? You didn't answer that question."
"It's a surprise Summer! You love surprises," Taylor says.
"I hate surprises, Townsend. Remember the 'surprise' you gave me for my birthday three years ago?"
"Of course. That stray little kitty was sooo cute!"
"It also had fleas Townsend. You're lucky I covered for you with my dad. He about had a seizure. I told him it must have crawled into my room by itself."
"Don't worry Sum. This surprise is much better." Marissa pulls into the gravel driveway of the model home. "Ta dah!"
"You got me an unfinished house for my birthday," Summer asks, looking confused.
"Get with it Summer! We're throwing you a surprise party. The boys are up there already. We've got drinks and cake and-"
"Presents?" Summer looks hopeful.
"Not really, Sum. But there is someone here that was looking forward to seeing you."
"Is that guy Seth here? Because, if he is, then you do really know what a girl wants for her birthday."
None of the girls notice that they've been followed to the model home by an SUV containing three occupants, none of which were invited to the party.
Inside the model home
"Surprise," the boys yell as Summer and the girls walk into a large, spare room. It's decorated with lots of pictures of Summer; ones with the boys, ones with her girls, ones of young Summer, ones of older Summer. Mood lighting is established with some candles, thoughtfully picked up by Taylor and Marissa.
"Coop! Townsend! This is awesome! You guys did all this for me?"
"You bet," Marissa answers. "Now enjoy it. That's an order."
Summer mock salutes. "Yes, ma'am!"
Drinks are passed around, cake is handed out and good times are had by all. Ryan and Luke have a push-up contest, the girls perform karaoke on the machine Taylor brought from home, and Seth regales the group with stories of growing up all over the east coast. Luke and Marissa leave to go get more beer, closely followed by Ryan and Taylor, who make some excuse about cups and napkins before leaving.
Seth turns to look at Summer. "So do you get the feeling that was just a poorly constructed excuse to leave us alone together?"
"Absolutely. Do I care? Not particularly. Actually, I'm glad they did that because I've wanted to get you alone for awhile."
"I knew it. It's my bod, isn't it," Seth says and tries to flex the small amount of muscle on his body.
Summer tries to hold in her laughter and ends up making a strange honking noise.
"A simple 'no' probably would have sufficed."
Summer stops laughing and wipes away the tears that formed. "I'm sorry. I think you're really cute but nobody is going to confuse you with a Venice Beach bodybuilder."
"I'll settle for cute I guess."
"So what's up? I thought you were leaving?"
"I am actually. Tomorrow morning. I'm catching a bus up to San Fran and from there, it's off to parts unknown. I just have to try and stay off of the government's radar until I'm 18."
Summer looks disappointed. "That sucks. I was kinda hoping you'd stay around here. So we could all hang out and stuff."
"Well what happens when you go back to school in the fall? I just hang around here? No, I think it's better if I just take off now."
"I wish you didn't have to leave. I'm just getting to know you. You seem like a pretty nice guy. I…I've never really been with someone like you. A nice guy. I've always been with the jerks."
"Like Zach?"
"Yeah. Like Zach."
They both sit in silence for awhile.
"So, what did you get me for my birthday?"
"Uhm, well…you never told me what you wanted."
"It's ok. You've already got it. You just have to give it to me."
Seth looks confused. "What is it?"
"One birthday kiss." Summer smiles at him.
Seth smiles back at her, takes her head in his hands and gently kisses her on the lips.
"Get your hands off of my girlfriend, fucker!"
Seth breaks the kiss off in surprise and takes Zach's fist to his head, knocking him down.
"Zach, you asshole. Go away!"
"You two," Zach points to Chip and Doug, "get her out of here. I'm gonna teach this faggot what happens when you mess with another guy's girl."
Chip and Doug grab Summer and drag her, protesting, out of the room.
Zach turns back towards Seth and gets tackled into a rack of paint cans. Some of the very-flammable paint hits the lit candles, which cascades the room in a fiery curtain of flames. Zach regains the upper hand and begins to pummel Seth to an inch of his life.
Outside
"Dude, what's going on in there," Doug asks Chip.
"Who knows? Zach's probably beating on that kid from Corona. But look what we've got out here." Chip checks out Summer, currently being held in a bear hug by Doug. "She's looking fine tonight."
"Hell, yeah!"
"I say maybe we have a little fun with her. Maybe not tell Zach about it."
Summer has heard enough. She stomps on Doug's foot with her three inch long heel, causing him to give up his hold on her and fall to the ground. She swings her leg back and kicks Chip square in the groin as hard as she can, unintentionally making up for Chip kicking Seth in the groin at Holly's party. She runs out toward the street, dialing into her cell phone as she does.
"Hello, 911?"
Back inside
The flames are about ready to overtake the entire room. Zach delivers one last punch to a battered Seth, and leaves. Seth begins to crawl out of the room, barely making it out before a beam collapses, blocking what would have been his only exit. He army crawls down the stairs only to pass out in the foyer, fire all around him.
Luke and Ryan pull up simultaneously, having picked Summer up near the road. They run into the building and see Seth passed out in the foyer. The pick him up and carry him out just as the entire building goes up in flames. Ryan begins to give him CPR and heaves a sigh of relief as Seth starts coughing.
"Oh my ribs," Seth mumbles.
"Figures the first thing out of Corona's mouth is a complaint," Luke says, breaking the nervous quiet that had settled over the group. Everyone looks up at the sound of approaching sirens and see police squad cars, fire trucks and ambulances on their way towards the burning building. Sandy and Kirsten pull up at the same time, running over to Ryan.
"Oh my God," Kirsten cries, "are you all okay?"
"We're okay mom. I'm sorry."
A police officer comes up. "Is this boy okay," he asks pointing at Seth.
Ryan speaks up. "I think so. He might have a broken rib. He was coughing and complaining of pain in his chest."
"Were you boys involved in this fire," he asks Ryan.
"No they weren't," Seth says quietly. "It's my fault."
The officer picks him up and places him in handcuffs. "We're going to need to ask you some questions."
"Wait!"
Everyone looks over at Summer.
"He wasn't the only one there. I saw Zach Stevens here too."
The officer tells another policeman to send a unit over to the Stevens residence to pick up the boy. He places Seth into the back of the cruiser.
"Officer, I'm Mr. Siefman's attorney. Please don't ask him any questions unless I'm present. Seth... keep your mouth shut."
The cop closes the door to the squad car and drives away, everyone's eyes watching it leave with Seth in the back.
A/N: So most of you know by now that I have been appropriating some phrases from canon and twisting them around for my own personal enjoyment. No intellectual infringement intended to the writers of The OC or anyone else. Random fact of the chapter: Vagabonds are not bums, as bums are not known for traveling but preferring to stay in one location. Cool, huh? Never knew that. Please Review!
AZ
