Check it out a fic from me!
I can even revise my year in fic Meme to add something in December!
Title: All About Family
Rating: PG
Summary: S4 with spoilers up to last week's episode. And I'd summarize, but I'd lose some of the shock value of this chapter.
Thank you to chazper for beta duties. And I must give credit to brandywine421's hurting Ryan fic: http://brandywine421.livejournal.com/369537.html. The first line in her story gave me my muse and then the episode helped me carry it to - hopefully - some sort of story.
I'll also admit that I have no idea where I'm going with this.
They grounded Seth first. It seemed ridiculous to Seth that he be grounded at the age of eighteen and a high school graduate, nearly a college student. He made a point of informing his parents, but that didn’t seem to faze Sandy and Kirsten. They were worried about Seth’s behavior - he hadn’t come home drunk since high school - and the whole marijuana thing had sailed right over their heads. So this was their intervention to make sure Seth didn’t fall into the abyss. It was bad enough he was deferring college for a semester to stay in Newport with Summer, but at the very least it was time for Seth to start acting responsibly.
Even after Seth had listened to his parents’ reasoning, he didn’t quite believe they were serious. Until he tried to leave the house Saturday morning to meet Summer at the pier. But Kirsten stood impassively at the door, arms crossed against her chest, and an icy stare to go with it. It was reminiscent the Kirsten during her Newport Group days, cold and tough, not the Suzie Homemaker she had become after rehab.
“You’re really serious, aren’t you?” Seth had marveled, shaking his head and going back up to his room trying to figure out how he was going to explain this to Summer.
Ryan had watched from afar, chewing on his lips, to hide his amusement. He teased Seth mercilessly, always out of Sandy and Kirsten’s hearing. All the while, he had never imagined that he would fall victim to Sandy and Kirsten’s new Dr. Spock mode of parenting. But he had failed to let them know he’d be out all night at the Korean film festival with Taylor and they had worried when they realized the pool house was empty and the bed not slept in.
Considering how many times Seth had successfully covered for him while in high school, (Theresa and Sadie came to mind immediately), it was surprising that they would bother noticing now - when he was legally an adult and no longer their ward. Ryan tried to point this out to them, but Kirsten had crossed her arms and pursed her lips to show her displeasure. Sandy had rebuked him and reminded him that no matter what he was their son and part of their family. He’d blushed, embarrassed, because of course, he knew this. Somehow, over the summer while trying to find a way to deal with Marissa’s death he’d become more Cohen than he’d ever allowed himself to be in the three years of attending Harbor High and living in their house.
Grounded.
Seth wouldn’t stop teasing him. Not even a death glare or an idle threat about losing an appendage would stop the ribbing.
Then Ryan’s father showed up in Newport.
Asking Julie surreptitious questions about him and the Cohens.
Inching his way closer and closer to Ryan and hoping to make up for his ten year absence.
Threatening his relationship with Sandy Cohen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sandy didn’t know what to make of Frank Atwood’s arrival in Newport. He knew he had to tell Ryan immediately. Their relationship was built on trust and truths. Keeping something of this magnitude from Ryan, would set their relationship back years. Yet, Sandy wanted to know what Frank’s intentions were. Why was he in Newport and using another name? Why hadn’t he contacted Ryan immediately upon his release? Why hadn’t he contacted Ryan all those years in jail? It wasn’t like Frank didn’t know where Ryan was. The courts had insisted Frank know where Ryan was being placed when Dawn first abandoned her son.
It was around the New Year and the discovery of Frank Perry Atwood - whatever his name was - that he and Kirsten had started to discuss the boys’ behavior. Despite the fact that they were legally adults, both boys still had a lot of growing up to do. Many of their actions were more worrisome now that they weren’t in high school.
Sandy knew it was natural for kids Seth’s age to drink, even though it wasn’t legal. His college years were deeply ingrained in his memory. But he and Kirsten had agreed they wanted to let Seth and Ryan know that they were watching and aware and that they cared. Perhaps they hadn’t been watching, caring and aware enough when the boys were still in high school. But it was never too late.
And while Sandy tried to deny it, he couldn’t ignore the little niggling thought in the back of his mind that said he wanted to assert his paternal role in Ryan’s life before he told him about Frank’s release from prison.
~~~~~~~
“You’ve been a very bad boy,” Taylor teased over the phone.
Ryan was stretched out on his bed, fully dressed, except for his boots, which he had kicked off before calling Taylor. He smiled at the coquettish tone on the other end of the phone, trying to ignore the stirrings in his pants, but unable to. Did grounding mean he couldn’t invite Taylor into the pool house? It would otherwise be a very long weekend and a very inauspicious start to 2007.
“I should come over to show you my displeasure,” she continued.
Ryan could picture the way her tongue lolled in her mouth and over her lips, when she teased him like that. He imagined her playing with the ends of her hair, twirling it around her fingers, as she absently did in the rare moments when her mouth wasn’t running off faster than her mind.
“Is that a threat or a promise?” Ryan teased.
“Both,” she retorted.
“What time should I expect you?”
“Oh, naughty boys should never know what time their punishment will come. I’ll be there when I come.”
“Just do it soon,” he begged, trying to push the dirty thoughts out of his mind. Otherwise, he would have to spend the rest of the afternoon, until Taylor came, under a cold stream of water.
Ryan hung up the phone, wondering how long Taylor would keep him waiting, when he saw Sandy lurking at the pool house door. He wondered if he was in for another lecture. He thought he’d heard more than enough considering the minor offense, but sometimes Sandy needed to espouse and he wasn’t going to deny his foster father. Besides, he’d learned to tune out Sandy as effectively as he tuned out Seth.
“Sorry to bother you,” Sandy said as Ryan motioned for him that it was okay to enter the pool house. “I just had something to discuss.”
The first thing Ryan noticed was how uncomfortable Sandy looked. It usually took only a moment for Sandy to find the chair he wanted to sit in or the vantage point in which he wanted to lecture. Instead, Sandy was looking at his feet and avoiding Ryan’s gaze.
“Is everything okay?” Ryan’s stomach dropped to his toes. “Did you hear something? About my mom? Or Trey?” He wasn’t sure why his thoughts turned to them immediately.
“Actually,” Sandy faltered, relieved to have an opening, “It’s about Frank, your father.”
Ryan stood stone still until the words registered in his mind and took shape. He screwed up his face in confusion. “My father? I haven’t heard from him or about him in years.”
“I know. But I’m pretty sure I met him at Bullitt’s New Year’s party. He introduced himself as Frank Perry.”
It felt like everything around Ryan had stopped. He even thought he had skipped a breathe. “My dad’s out of jail?”
“I made a few calls, using some of my connections with the PD office and it seems like your dad was released last month. He’s out on parole. I put in a call to his parole officer, but the guy never called me back.”
Ryan drummed his fingers against his jeans. Thoughts of Taylor were long gone from his mind. It suddenly felt if like a heavy weight was pressing on him and he was walking under water. Everything was just confused and muddled. His dad was out of prison and in Newport.
“What does he want?”
“I don’t know.” Sandy finally pulled up a chair and sat down. He motioned for Ryan to take a seat, but didn’t press when his ward refused. “What do you want? Do you want to see him? I - I never really asked you about your father.”
Ryan looked at Sandy with a vacant stare. “Yeah, I want to see him. He’s my dad.”
“Okay.” Sandy swallowed hard, trying to push away his disappointment and slapped the tops of his thighs as he got up. “I’ll call up Bullit and see if he can help me find Frank. I’ll make sure you see him.” What had he expected that Ryan deny his father simply because Sandy had tried to assume a paternal role in Ryan’s life? Neither he nor Kirsten had asked Ryan to deny his family when he had entered theirs.
As it turned out, there was no need for Sandy to make any calls. Frank showed up at the Cohen’s door before they sat down to dinner.
Title: All About Family
Rating: PG
Summary: S4 with spoilers up to last week's episode. And I'd summarize, but I'd lose some of the shock value of this chapter.
Thank you to chazper for beta duties. And I must give credit to brandywine421's hurting Ryan fic: http://brandywine421.livejournal.com/369537.html. The first line in her story gave me my muse and then the episode helped me carry it to - hopefully - some sort of story.
I'll also admit that I have no idea where I'm going with this.
They grounded Seth first. It seemed ridiculous to Seth that he be grounded at the age of eighteen and a high school graduate, nearly a college student. He made a point of informing his parents, but that didn’t seem to faze Sandy and Kirsten. They were worried about Seth’s behavior - he hadn’t come home drunk since high school - and the whole marijuana thing had sailed right over their heads. So this was their intervention to make sure Seth didn’t fall into the abyss. It was bad enough he was deferring college for a semester to stay in Newport with Summer, but at the very least it was time for Seth to start acting responsibly.
Even after Seth had listened to his parents’ reasoning, he didn’t quite believe they were serious. Until he tried to leave the house Saturday morning to meet Summer at the pier. But Kirsten stood impassively at the door, arms crossed against her chest, and an icy stare to go with it. It was reminiscent the Kirsten during her Newport Group days, cold and tough, not the Suzie Homemaker she had become after rehab.
“You’re really serious, aren’t you?” Seth had marveled, shaking his head and going back up to his room trying to figure out how he was going to explain this to Summer.
Ryan had watched from afar, chewing on his lips, to hide his amusement. He teased Seth mercilessly, always out of Sandy and Kirsten’s hearing. All the while, he had never imagined that he would fall victim to Sandy and Kirsten’s new Dr. Spock mode of parenting. But he had failed to let them know he’d be out all night at the Korean film festival with Taylor and they had worried when they realized the pool house was empty and the bed not slept in.
Considering how many times Seth had successfully covered for him while in high school, (Theresa and Sadie came to mind immediately), it was surprising that they would bother noticing now - when he was legally an adult and no longer their ward. Ryan tried to point this out to them, but Kirsten had crossed her arms and pursed her lips to show her displeasure. Sandy had rebuked him and reminded him that no matter what he was their son and part of their family. He’d blushed, embarrassed, because of course, he knew this. Somehow, over the summer while trying to find a way to deal with Marissa’s death he’d become more Cohen than he’d ever allowed himself to be in the three years of attending Harbor High and living in their house.
Grounded.
Seth wouldn’t stop teasing him. Not even a death glare or an idle threat about losing an appendage would stop the ribbing.
Then Ryan’s father showed up in Newport.
Asking Julie surreptitious questions about him and the Cohens.
Inching his way closer and closer to Ryan and hoping to make up for his ten year absence.
Threatening his relationship with Sandy Cohen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sandy didn’t know what to make of Frank Atwood’s arrival in Newport. He knew he had to tell Ryan immediately. Their relationship was built on trust and truths. Keeping something of this magnitude from Ryan, would set their relationship back years. Yet, Sandy wanted to know what Frank’s intentions were. Why was he in Newport and using another name? Why hadn’t he contacted Ryan immediately upon his release? Why hadn’t he contacted Ryan all those years in jail? It wasn’t like Frank didn’t know where Ryan was. The courts had insisted Frank know where Ryan was being placed when Dawn first abandoned her son.
It was around the New Year and the discovery of Frank Perry Atwood - whatever his name was - that he and Kirsten had started to discuss the boys’ behavior. Despite the fact that they were legally adults, both boys still had a lot of growing up to do. Many of their actions were more worrisome now that they weren’t in high school.
Sandy knew it was natural for kids Seth’s age to drink, even though it wasn’t legal. His college years were deeply ingrained in his memory. But he and Kirsten had agreed they wanted to let Seth and Ryan know that they were watching and aware and that they cared. Perhaps they hadn’t been watching, caring and aware enough when the boys were still in high school. But it was never too late.
And while Sandy tried to deny it, he couldn’t ignore the little niggling thought in the back of his mind that said he wanted to assert his paternal role in Ryan’s life before he told him about Frank’s release from prison.
~~~~~~~
“You’ve been a very bad boy,” Taylor teased over the phone.
Ryan was stretched out on his bed, fully dressed, except for his boots, which he had kicked off before calling Taylor. He smiled at the coquettish tone on the other end of the phone, trying to ignore the stirrings in his pants, but unable to. Did grounding mean he couldn’t invite Taylor into the pool house? It would otherwise be a very long weekend and a very inauspicious start to 2007.
“I should come over to show you my displeasure,” she continued.
Ryan could picture the way her tongue lolled in her mouth and over her lips, when she teased him like that. He imagined her playing with the ends of her hair, twirling it around her fingers, as she absently did in the rare moments when her mouth wasn’t running off faster than her mind.
“Is that a threat or a promise?” Ryan teased.
“Both,” she retorted.
“What time should I expect you?”
“Oh, naughty boys should never know what time their punishment will come. I’ll be there when I come.”
“Just do it soon,” he begged, trying to push the dirty thoughts out of his mind. Otherwise, he would have to spend the rest of the afternoon, until Taylor came, under a cold stream of water.
Ryan hung up the phone, wondering how long Taylor would keep him waiting, when he saw Sandy lurking at the pool house door. He wondered if he was in for another lecture. He thought he’d heard more than enough considering the minor offense, but sometimes Sandy needed to espouse and he wasn’t going to deny his foster father. Besides, he’d learned to tune out Sandy as effectively as he tuned out Seth.
“Sorry to bother you,” Sandy said as Ryan motioned for him that it was okay to enter the pool house. “I just had something to discuss.”
The first thing Ryan noticed was how uncomfortable Sandy looked. It usually took only a moment for Sandy to find the chair he wanted to sit in or the vantage point in which he wanted to lecture. Instead, Sandy was looking at his feet and avoiding Ryan’s gaze.
“Is everything okay?” Ryan’s stomach dropped to his toes. “Did you hear something? About my mom? Or Trey?” He wasn’t sure why his thoughts turned to them immediately.
“Actually,” Sandy faltered, relieved to have an opening, “It’s about Frank, your father.”
Ryan stood stone still until the words registered in his mind and took shape. He screwed up his face in confusion. “My father? I haven’t heard from him or about him in years.”
“I know. But I’m pretty sure I met him at Bullitt’s New Year’s party. He introduced himself as Frank Perry.”
It felt like everything around Ryan had stopped. He even thought he had skipped a breathe. “My dad’s out of jail?”
“I made a few calls, using some of my connections with the PD office and it seems like your dad was released last month. He’s out on parole. I put in a call to his parole officer, but the guy never called me back.”
Ryan drummed his fingers against his jeans. Thoughts of Taylor were long gone from his mind. It suddenly felt if like a heavy weight was pressing on him and he was walking under water. Everything was just confused and muddled. His dad was out of prison and in Newport.
“What does he want?”
“I don’t know.” Sandy finally pulled up a chair and sat down. He motioned for Ryan to take a seat, but didn’t press when his ward refused. “What do you want? Do you want to see him? I - I never really asked you about your father.”
Ryan looked at Sandy with a vacant stare. “Yeah, I want to see him. He’s my dad.”
“Okay.” Sandy swallowed hard, trying to push away his disappointment and slapped the tops of his thighs as he got up. “I’ll call up Bullit and see if he can help me find Frank. I’ll make sure you see him.” What had he expected that Ryan deny his father simply because Sandy had tried to assume a paternal role in Ryan’s life? Neither he nor Kirsten had asked Ryan to deny his family when he had entered theirs.
As it turned out, there was no need for Sandy to make any calls. Frank showed up at the Cohen’s door before they sat down to dinner.