(no subject)
Short ficlet, based on one of the pics from my image prompt table/gallery (I'm gonna make smaller sized versions and actually make a table for them sometime soon) images. It's still very open ended and feels somewhat unfinished, but I like the universe enough I may go back to it eventually.
Features Ryan and Trey, appearances by Kaitlin, Julie, and Bullit.
Brother's Keeper
"What's up, Trey?" Ryan asked as he walked into the kitchen and leaned over his brother's shoulder to see what he was doing. As he looked down at the book his brother was working on, he tried not to burst out laughing. "Did you give seriously give Porky Pig tattoos?"
"She gives me fuckin' Disney shit to mess with, I gotta make it tough," Trey replied, his swearing in complete opposition to the fact that he was working on a coloring book and he was looking up at Ryan with a childlike grin.
"I think it's Warner Brothers," Ryan said with a laugh as he walked into the living room to talk to Angie, the woman who kept an eye on Trey while Ryan was working. "Why are you in here watching soaps and he's alone in the kitchen?" Ryan asked, the easy going guy he'd been with his brother vanishing as he walked around to stand between the woman and the TV. "Along with the knives, and the stove, and, oh yeah, the backdoor that was unlocked?"
"He's coloring, it's not a..."
"He gets bored, that's why I hired you to be here when I can't be," Ryan said through gritted teeth. "Just... get out," he continued, pulling the $50 he owed her for the day out of his wallet. "And don't bother coming tomorrow, I'll find someone else."
Angie scoffed. "Like you can find anyone who'd want to sit and watch the brain damaged freak color like he's fucking 5 years-old," she said as she snatched the money and walked out.
Ryan felt like screaming, like yelling that his brother wasn't a freak, that he was fine, he was just... different now. Different since the prison riot and the guard who'd turned on him, even though he'd been doing what he was told, and slammed the heavy cell door on Trey's head repeatedly, cracking it like an egg. Ryan shook his head to clear away the thought of what he'd seen when he'd demanded to see the surveillance tapes of the riot and saw what had happened to Trey.
"Ry?"
Ryan turned and pasted on a smile to reassure his brother. "No problem, Trey," he said. "Hey, guess what? I'm gonna play hooky from work tomorrow. How about we go down to the beach and get some sun, check out the girls..."
"Am I a freak?" Trey asked, for once not being deterred by Ryan's attempts.
"No," Ryan said firmly. "You were just... hurt... so you're not the same as you used to be. But different isn't bad. You're still my brother, okay?"
"Are you gonna get tired of me like Ma did?"
Ryan felt his false smile slide away, wondering not for the first time exactly what Dawn had said to Trey while he was getting coffee and she had been alone with the older boy. It had to have been more than her just walking away and not coming back that had left Trey so sure he was going to get left behind by Ryan, too. "Never," he said after a long moment. "You're my brother, and I'm always gonna be here."
"Even when they're mad at you?" Trey asked quietly.
Ryan flinched, remembering the last time he had spoken to the Cohens and Sandy had told him that he was being 'insensitive' to take care of Trey after what the older boy had done to Marissa, that Julie and Kaitlin would never be able to forgive him for it. But Trey was his brother, and he couldn't leave him alone and helpless like he was now. "They made their choice, and I made mine," Ryan concluded. "You're my family, and I'm not going anywhere."
"Except when you gotta work," Trey said, smiling with pride that he'd remembered the codicil Ryan had added after the first time he'd gone to work and Trey had thought he'd been abandoned.
"Except when I gotta work," Ryan agreed, smiling again. "What do you want for dinner?"
"Pizza," Trey replied immediately.
"You always want pizza," Ryan argued, laughing. "How about I make us spaghetti? Homemade sauce and everything?"
"Can I stir the sauce?" Trey asked.
"Sure," Ryan agreed, getting out the ingredients. He made this work, even though it wasn't easy, and the one good thing was that Trey was still... there... enough to know that there was something wrong with him and that Ryan was the one in charge. It didn't mean he wasn't still protective of Ryan, but he had accepted that he couldn't rush off to kick ass anymore, he had to let Ryan handle things. And Ryan had forced himself to be more level headed when it came to idiots. He couldn't beat the hell out of people who made fun of Trey, no matter how much he wanted to, because Trey needed him to be there and not be in jail. "How about, after dinner, we go get some ice cream or something for desert?"
"Yeah," Trey agreed, nodding.
~~~
They were walking along the boardwalk with their ice cream, not really talking, just enjoying the fresh air, but Ryan could feel it all about to explode when he spotted a familiar face in a crowd of girls heading their way. He tried to steer Trey in the opposite direction, but the older boy was insistent that he knew Ryan wanted to go to the bookstore and get a couple new novels that were out so he refused to be deterred again. "You are a stubborn SOB," Ryan muttered.
"Yeah, so?" Trey replied, the attitude so out of place with the innocent smile.
"Ryan?"
Ryan turned to look at Kaitlin, who was staring at him and Trey like she wasn't sure what to do. "Hey, Kaitlin," Ryan replied, moving slightly between her and Trey. He missed the girl he'd grown close to in the year between Marissa's death and Trey's injury, but Trey was his priority, he wasn't going to let her do or say anything to upset him.
"Is that..." Kaitlin began, gesturing at Trey.
"Yeah, my brother Trey," Ryan said. "Trey, this is Kaitlin..."
"Marissa's sister..." came Trey's pained whisper. "I'm sorry I hurt her," he added.
"I forgive you," Kaitlin replied, nodding. "So does my mom."
"She does?" Ryan asked.
"When our choice was hate him forever or forgive him and maybe get you back, we chose to forgive," Kaitlin said.
"Sandy knows where to find me, and I haven't heard anything," Ryan pointed out.
"He wouldn't tell us. We thought you might have moved out of town."
"Nah, we got a place on Hawthorne, little two bedroom house."
"Good."
"How are you?" Ryan asked.
"Good. I graduated from Williams last year. Degrees in Social Sciences and Mathematics."
"That's great," Ryan said, relaxing slightly and smiling. "I'm proud of you."
"Can I... can I have your number? Call sometime?"
"Yeah, okay," Ryan said, rattling it off as she programmed it into her phone. "And... if Julie wants it..."
"I'll make sure she gets it," Kaitlin promised. Then, impulsively, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Ryan's neck, hugging him tightly. "I missed you," she whispered. "So did my mom."
"Being around me means being around Trey," Ryan told her firmly. "Package deal here."
"We can deal with that," Kaitlin promised. "I'll see you soon, okay, Trey?"
"Okay," Trey replied. "Thanks for not hating me."
~~~
It was weird, but Kaitlin and Julie coming back into his life actually made things go more smoothly. Kaitlin had been struggling to figure out what she wanted to do with her life, so she had volunteered to watch Trey during the day, at least until she figured it out. And since Julie had finally married Bullit, she didn't need the money, so Kaitlin flat out refused to let Ryan pay her for it. He was still worried the day he came home and found a strange car in the driveway, so he rushed in to find Julie and Bullit sitting on the couch with Trey, the three of them watching a movie. "Uh... hi," Ryan said.
"Kaitlin got sick," Julie said. "So I came instead and Bullit decided to join me."
"Okay..." Ryan said.
"We're watching a movie," Trey said, gesturing at the TV.
Ryan walked around to look at the screen and smiled when he saw, of all things, 'The Pacifier' with Vin Diesel. "Seriously, dude?" he asked his brother as he crouched down behind the couch, arm resting on the back of it and head beside Trey's.
"I like the duck," Trey said in his own defense.
Ryan laughed, glancing at Julie and mouthing 'Thank you' when she looked over.
Julie smiled and shifted to put a hand on Ryan's elbow and squeeze it. "We had fun hanging out," she said. "We were actually thinking that you and Trey might want to come over to the house this weekend, meet Jake."
"Julie said he's our brother," Trey said, looking back at Ryan. "And that Frank was an ass to them, too."
"Yeah, he was," Ryan agreed. "I'd like to see him," he added to Julie.
"We'll have a cookout this weekend," Bullit said. "Just the four of us, Kaitlin, and Jake."
"Sounds good," Ryan agreed.
The End
Trey still remembers everything, but the connections don't work as well as he's become this odd combination of the man he was (the cussing, the proectiveness of Ryan) and an unsure and scared kid (the coloring, the ice cream). He gets distracted easily (Ryan's worries about the backdoor being open, and that if he tried to make himself food he'd get hurt), but overall he's capable of taking care of himself as long as someone is there to keep an eye on him just in case.
The way I figure it, Trey turned himself in to the police sometime during/shortly after Seaosn 4 of The OC. During the riot Trey stood against the wall, away from the fighting so no one would think he was involved in it. A gaurd came over, and Trey raised his hands up to show he wasn't going to fight because he and Ryan had been talking and he wanted Ryan to be proud of him, which meant not getting in trouble. The guard was already amped up and pissed, so he grabbed Trey and shoved him towards a cell. Trey stumbled when they were bumped into, and he fell. The guard over reacted and assumed Trey was trying to cause trouble, and he slammed the door shut against Trey's head twice. This caused the braindamage, and it was ruled that because of the circumstances, Trey shou7ldn't be kept in prison, and he was released into Ryan's custody.
Features Ryan and Trey, appearances by Kaitlin, Julie, and Bullit.
Brother's Keeper
"What's up, Trey?" Ryan asked as he walked into the kitchen and leaned over his brother's shoulder to see what he was doing. As he looked down at the book his brother was working on, he tried not to burst out laughing. "Did you give seriously give Porky Pig tattoos?"
"She gives me fuckin' Disney shit to mess with, I gotta make it tough," Trey replied, his swearing in complete opposition to the fact that he was working on a coloring book and he was looking up at Ryan with a childlike grin.
"I think it's Warner Brothers," Ryan said with a laugh as he walked into the living room to talk to Angie, the woman who kept an eye on Trey while Ryan was working. "Why are you in here watching soaps and he's alone in the kitchen?" Ryan asked, the easy going guy he'd been with his brother vanishing as he walked around to stand between the woman and the TV. "Along with the knives, and the stove, and, oh yeah, the backdoor that was unlocked?"
"He's coloring, it's not a..."
"He gets bored, that's why I hired you to be here when I can't be," Ryan said through gritted teeth. "Just... get out," he continued, pulling the $50 he owed her for the day out of his wallet. "And don't bother coming tomorrow, I'll find someone else."
Angie scoffed. "Like you can find anyone who'd want to sit and watch the brain damaged freak color like he's fucking 5 years-old," she said as she snatched the money and walked out.
Ryan felt like screaming, like yelling that his brother wasn't a freak, that he was fine, he was just... different now. Different since the prison riot and the guard who'd turned on him, even though he'd been doing what he was told, and slammed the heavy cell door on Trey's head repeatedly, cracking it like an egg. Ryan shook his head to clear away the thought of what he'd seen when he'd demanded to see the surveillance tapes of the riot and saw what had happened to Trey.
"Ry?"
Ryan turned and pasted on a smile to reassure his brother. "No problem, Trey," he said. "Hey, guess what? I'm gonna play hooky from work tomorrow. How about we go down to the beach and get some sun, check out the girls..."
"Am I a freak?" Trey asked, for once not being deterred by Ryan's attempts.
"No," Ryan said firmly. "You were just... hurt... so you're not the same as you used to be. But different isn't bad. You're still my brother, okay?"
"Are you gonna get tired of me like Ma did?"
Ryan felt his false smile slide away, wondering not for the first time exactly what Dawn had said to Trey while he was getting coffee and she had been alone with the older boy. It had to have been more than her just walking away and not coming back that had left Trey so sure he was going to get left behind by Ryan, too. "Never," he said after a long moment. "You're my brother, and I'm always gonna be here."
"Even when they're mad at you?" Trey asked quietly.
Ryan flinched, remembering the last time he had spoken to the Cohens and Sandy had told him that he was being 'insensitive' to take care of Trey after what the older boy had done to Marissa, that Julie and Kaitlin would never be able to forgive him for it. But Trey was his brother, and he couldn't leave him alone and helpless like he was now. "They made their choice, and I made mine," Ryan concluded. "You're my family, and I'm not going anywhere."
"Except when you gotta work," Trey said, smiling with pride that he'd remembered the codicil Ryan had added after the first time he'd gone to work and Trey had thought he'd been abandoned.
"Except when I gotta work," Ryan agreed, smiling again. "What do you want for dinner?"
"Pizza," Trey replied immediately.
"You always want pizza," Ryan argued, laughing. "How about I make us spaghetti? Homemade sauce and everything?"
"Can I stir the sauce?" Trey asked.
"Sure," Ryan agreed, getting out the ingredients. He made this work, even though it wasn't easy, and the one good thing was that Trey was still... there... enough to know that there was something wrong with him and that Ryan was the one in charge. It didn't mean he wasn't still protective of Ryan, but he had accepted that he couldn't rush off to kick ass anymore, he had to let Ryan handle things. And Ryan had forced himself to be more level headed when it came to idiots. He couldn't beat the hell out of people who made fun of Trey, no matter how much he wanted to, because Trey needed him to be there and not be in jail. "How about, after dinner, we go get some ice cream or something for desert?"
"Yeah," Trey agreed, nodding.
~~~
They were walking along the boardwalk with their ice cream, not really talking, just enjoying the fresh air, but Ryan could feel it all about to explode when he spotted a familiar face in a crowd of girls heading their way. He tried to steer Trey in the opposite direction, but the older boy was insistent that he knew Ryan wanted to go to the bookstore and get a couple new novels that were out so he refused to be deterred again. "You are a stubborn SOB," Ryan muttered.
"Yeah, so?" Trey replied, the attitude so out of place with the innocent smile.
"Ryan?"
Ryan turned to look at Kaitlin, who was staring at him and Trey like she wasn't sure what to do. "Hey, Kaitlin," Ryan replied, moving slightly between her and Trey. He missed the girl he'd grown close to in the year between Marissa's death and Trey's injury, but Trey was his priority, he wasn't going to let her do or say anything to upset him.
"Is that..." Kaitlin began, gesturing at Trey.
"Yeah, my brother Trey," Ryan said. "Trey, this is Kaitlin..."
"Marissa's sister..." came Trey's pained whisper. "I'm sorry I hurt her," he added.
"I forgive you," Kaitlin replied, nodding. "So does my mom."
"She does?" Ryan asked.
"When our choice was hate him forever or forgive him and maybe get you back, we chose to forgive," Kaitlin said.
"Sandy knows where to find me, and I haven't heard anything," Ryan pointed out.
"He wouldn't tell us. We thought you might have moved out of town."
"Nah, we got a place on Hawthorne, little two bedroom house."
"Good."
"How are you?" Ryan asked.
"Good. I graduated from Williams last year. Degrees in Social Sciences and Mathematics."
"That's great," Ryan said, relaxing slightly and smiling. "I'm proud of you."
"Can I... can I have your number? Call sometime?"
"Yeah, okay," Ryan said, rattling it off as she programmed it into her phone. "And... if Julie wants it..."
"I'll make sure she gets it," Kaitlin promised. Then, impulsively, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Ryan's neck, hugging him tightly. "I missed you," she whispered. "So did my mom."
"Being around me means being around Trey," Ryan told her firmly. "Package deal here."
"We can deal with that," Kaitlin promised. "I'll see you soon, okay, Trey?"
"Okay," Trey replied. "Thanks for not hating me."
~~~
It was weird, but Kaitlin and Julie coming back into his life actually made things go more smoothly. Kaitlin had been struggling to figure out what she wanted to do with her life, so she had volunteered to watch Trey during the day, at least until she figured it out. And since Julie had finally married Bullit, she didn't need the money, so Kaitlin flat out refused to let Ryan pay her for it. He was still worried the day he came home and found a strange car in the driveway, so he rushed in to find Julie and Bullit sitting on the couch with Trey, the three of them watching a movie. "Uh... hi," Ryan said.
"Kaitlin got sick," Julie said. "So I came instead and Bullit decided to join me."
"Okay..." Ryan said.
"We're watching a movie," Trey said, gesturing at the TV.
Ryan walked around to look at the screen and smiled when he saw, of all things, 'The Pacifier' with Vin Diesel. "Seriously, dude?" he asked his brother as he crouched down behind the couch, arm resting on the back of it and head beside Trey's.
"I like the duck," Trey said in his own defense.
Ryan laughed, glancing at Julie and mouthing 'Thank you' when she looked over.
Julie smiled and shifted to put a hand on Ryan's elbow and squeeze it. "We had fun hanging out," she said. "We were actually thinking that you and Trey might want to come over to the house this weekend, meet Jake."
"Julie said he's our brother," Trey said, looking back at Ryan. "And that Frank was an ass to them, too."
"Yeah, he was," Ryan agreed. "I'd like to see him," he added to Julie.
"We'll have a cookout this weekend," Bullit said. "Just the four of us, Kaitlin, and Jake."
"Sounds good," Ryan agreed.
The End
Trey still remembers everything, but the connections don't work as well as he's become this odd combination of the man he was (the cussing, the proectiveness of Ryan) and an unsure and scared kid (the coloring, the ice cream). He gets distracted easily (Ryan's worries about the backdoor being open, and that if he tried to make himself food he'd get hurt), but overall he's capable of taking care of himself as long as someone is there to keep an eye on him just in case.
The way I figure it, Trey turned himself in to the police sometime during/shortly after Seaosn 4 of The OC. During the riot Trey stood against the wall, away from the fighting so no one would think he was involved in it. A gaurd came over, and Trey raised his hands up to show he wasn't going to fight because he and Ryan had been talking and he wanted Ryan to be proud of him, which meant not getting in trouble. The guard was already amped up and pissed, so he grabbed Trey and shoved him towards a cell. Trey stumbled when they were bumped into, and he fell. The guard over reacted and assumed Trey was trying to cause trouble, and he slammed the door shut against Trey's head twice. This caused the braindamage, and it was ruled that because of the circumstances, Trey shou7ldn't be kept in prison, and he was released into Ryan's custody.