The Girl and The Bodyguard II Chapter Five
Title; The Girl and The Bodyguard
Fandom; The O.C.
Pairing; Ryan/Summer. Hints of Luke/Taylor.
Rating; M
Warnings; Alternative Universe
Summary; After the disappearance of Marissa Cooper has everyone in Newport worried about the safety of their own children, Neil Roberts decides to hire a bodyguard to watch over his daughter, Summer Roberts. Summer instantly dislikes Ryan Atwood but that will soon change as the two begin to discover the truth about one another.
Author's Note; A shorter chapter to last time, I changed a few things as well. Originally, Dawn was going to be a mess etc. but then i decided that I liked Dawn too much to do that!
Chapter Five
“It will be fun!” Summer Roberts whined to her bodyguard, as she pulled him along by his crisp black jacket.
“Summer-“ Ryan halted, half-attempting to break free from the young girls surprisingly hard grip. Summer stopped walking and turned around to face him.
“Its just a milkshake, Ryan and some fries! What, that too much fun for you Atwood?” She grinned, poking him playfully. Ryan laughed, cupping his chin. He wasn’t really meant to just ‘hang out’ with her, his job was to protect her whilst she hung out with other people. People who weren’t him.
“Summer, you know my job-“ Ryan began before Summer cut him off.
“Yeah, yeah. You’re not supposed to be my friend, you’re my bodyguard. Blah, blah whatever.” Summer rolled her eyes. She had heard Ryan tell her that drivel for the last couple of weeks. Luke and Taylor were back tomorrow and Seth was obsessed with the waiter still and she hadn’t felt like hanging out with Holly all that much. That pretty much left Ryan to being her closest thing to a friend. “Why don’t you stop being a bore and have fun. With me. And a milkshake and some fries!” She winked and walked away, heading straight into The Crab Shack. Ryan stood there, watching as she walked away with a rather baffled look on his face. Summer didn’t even turn around. “Now, Atwood!”
Ryan quickly followed after her.
Summer immediately found herself a secluded spot in the back corner. She was already sitting in the booth as Ryan made his way over. They had decided to downplay his clothes a little so he didn’t stand out as much, especially as Summer seemed to be such a huge fan of these little hang outs. Though Ryan had refused to get rid of the jacket, he had forgone the tie and the black pants, he swapped them for jeans which Summer, after a little face, seemed to accept.
The waitress headed over to them, Summer was sure she recognised her from Harbour. She certainly dressed like she went to Harbour, she was in the year above, had bleach platinum blonde hair and overly plumped lips. Daddy obviously paid for that, along with her fake breasts. Ugh. Summer scoffed at her, not that she seemed to be paying her any attention. Oh no, the bitch was too focused on Ryan.
“What can I get you?” She grinned, eyeing Ryan up and down. Ryan looked a little embarrassed, glancing up at Summer. Does she look…jealous? No…she’s just annoyed the waitress isn’t giving her the time of day. Yeah…that’s definitely it. He thought. He cleared his throat.
“Strawberry Milkshake. And fries. Thanks.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder and licked her lips. She leaned slightly forward towards him, giving him a clear view of her ample cleavage.
“Chocolate, Atwood!” Summer interrupted. Strawberry? Pfft.
“Anything else?” The waitress asked, completely ignoring Summer.
“We’re fine.” Summer interrupted, shooing her away. “Thanks. Skank.” She muttered beneath her breath, Ryan chuckled. That was humiliating.
Just as Ryan and Summer were tucking into their fries and milkshake- a male waiter had brought it over this time, much to the chagrin of the previous waitress - Ryan felt his phone vibrate in his left pocket. He didn’t usually answer his phone when he was ‘on duty’ - basically out with Summer - but the Caller ID was Sandy Cohen. Ryan looked at Summer for the okay, he was meant to call Sandy yesterday but got roped into watching some soppy chick flick with Summer.
“Go ahead.” Summer said, a mouth full of fries. She eye rolled. She didn’t know why Ryan was all that bothered about answering his phone. She answered her phone all the time. The man took his job way too seriously, though she supposed that was kind of a benefit for her if she did ever get herself into trouble. Which she wouldn’t. I’m not stupid.
After a moment of silence had passed, Summer had run out of fries, she glanced up at Ryan who seemed to have a tense look on his face. Summer felt a rush of worry overcome her, in just a short amount of time, Ryan had become a pretty cool guy to hang around with. A really good friend, Summer felt she knew him well enough to know that something was up.
Ryan quickly gestured to Summer that he needed a pen whilst grabbing the nearest napkin, Summer rooted through her purse, sure that she had a pen in there somewhere. She pulled out a hot pink gel pen, slightly embarrassed considering the importance of the situation, Ryan didn’t even notice. Summer watched him write down a series of words.
“Thanks, Sandy. I’ll let you know how it goes. Really, thank you.” Ryan put the phone down and was just about to pick up the napkin before Summer swiped it off the table. She looked at it, slightly confused before she glanced at Ryan.
“Its an address.” Summer rolled her eyes.
“I could tell that! The question is, who does the address belong to?” Summer asked, she was well aware that she was prying into something that was obviously personal to Ryan but she didn’t seem to care. Ever since that day at the beach when she told him that Marissa had been her best friend before she went missing, it felt as if he knew so much about her and yet she knew next to nothing about him. Ryan fidgeted, looking uncomfortable. He avoided Summer’s eyes as he stared down at the table.
“It belongs to my mom.”
--
“Atwood, will you wait up? Seriously!” Summer Roberts whined as she followed her bodyguard out of the restaurant. She didn’t know anything about the relationship between Ryan and his family - because he never told her anything, he was very good at pushing the topic of himself into another direction. Ryan wasn’t normally one to react so strongly but this was his mom.
He hadn’t spoken to her in over a year, when he finally had the courage to give her an ultimatum. Several. AJ or him. Drugs or him. Alcohol or him. She had never chosen him. And yet here he was running after again, just like the little boy years ago.
“Summer please; let me drop you off home. Stay home. Don’t go out. There’s somewhere I need to be and I can’t protect you so just for once do me a favour and don’t go anywhere.” Ryan asked, pleading with her to understand. His mom…she sounded sober. She hadn’t been sober since before he could remember.
Summer didn’t say anything as she made her way into the car. She put her seatbelt on whilst watching Ryan out of the corner of her eye. His shoulders were tense, his grasp on the wheel tightening the closer they got to home.
Ryan pulled up outside the Robert’s house. He suspected maybe he should take Summer into the house himself, do something to make sure that she actually planned to stay put. He was being completely unprofessional, he knew this. But he needed to see his mom. He needed to see if things had changed. He hoped that things had changed. And hope, Ryan Atwood had learned, was very dangerous.
He glanced at Summer, she didn’t make eye contact with him immediately and it was the first time he realised that Summer hadn’t said anything since they stepped into the car and for that he was thankful. He wasn’t a good talker in stressful kind of situations. He hoped that this meant she was being co-operative.
“Summer?” Ryan asked, tentatively. This was really unlike Summer to keep quiet for so long. Summer looked at him, she smiled softly and shrugged. She knew what he wanted from her. “Do you want me to take you in?” He gestured to the house; Summer followed where he was looking, sighed and shook her head.
“I’m not going inside, Atwood.” Ryan looked at her confused then slowly his eyes began to harden. Christ, she isn’t going to make this easy for me.
“Summer, I need you-“
“Atwood, you told not to go anywhere. And I’m not. I’m staying here. With you.” Summer smiled, hoping he would understand that she wasn’t trying to be difficult, she was just trying to be there for him. Like he was for her at the beach. Ryan bit his lip. He didn’t say anything, didn’t argue, he just switched on the car and began heading to Chino, all the way back home.
--
Ryan hesitantly knocked the door on his old house. His mom hadn’t moved and he hadn’t suspected that she would. Though he remembered AJ attempting to force her at one point or another, he wondered if AJ was still around, his mom hadn’t mentioned him on the phone and he hadn’t asked. He had always made it well aware how he felt about AJ. What a waste of space he was. Is.
He glanced at Summer, who was standing next to him. He’d never noticed how tall he was or how short she actually was. It made her rather adorable. He wanted to protect her because he wanted to, not because it was his job. Of course she had refused to stay in the car, he was sure she was intent on driving him crazy.
He heard movement as he momentarily prepared himself to come face with his mother or worse, AJ. He wasn’t sure he knew what he was going to do if AJ was standing behind the door. He would have to calm himself, for Summer’s sake.
Dawn Atwood opened the door, unable to contain the happiness she felt as she saw her youngest son, stand proud in front of her. And he was wearing a suit! Well a jacket, he looks so smart, so grown up…
“Ryan!” She beamed, should couldn’t contain herself any longer as she threw her arms around him, pulling him close and hugging him tight. She pulled back, getting a good look at his face. “You look so different.” Ryan blushed, remembering that Summer was witness to this entire scene.
“Mom. Its been like a year, I don’t look that different!” He playfully argued, still grinning. She looked well. Her eyes weren’t bloodshot like they always seemed to be, her posture was normal, she wasn’t falling over the place. She looked really good.
Dawn smiled as she still clutched onto her son’s face, she glanced to the side and noticed a young brunette standing next to him. She let go of Ryan’s face and wrapped her arms around the young girl.
“I’m Ryan’s mom. Dawn.” She laughed. Ryan was baffled, she just seemed so…happy. Ryan was so grateful to Summer in that moment, here she was being hugged by a complete stranger to her and all she was doing was grinning and hugging her back. Could she be any more perfect?
“I’m Summer. Its nice to meet you.” Dawn grinned a little wider as she glanced back and forth between the two.
“Ryan! You never said that you had a girlfriend!” She looked back at Summer. “And she’s so pretty too!” Both Ryan and Summer stayed silent as they blushed, avoiding the gaze of one another.
“She’s not my girlfriend, mom.”
“Oh. Well that’s a shame. There’s always room for change.” There was a slight pause. “Come in! I have some drinks in the fridge chilling and I have a roast in the oven.” She turned to head into the house, it was quaint and looked a lot better than Ryan remembered though the house had still seen better days after all these years. Ryan took a chance to glance at Summer, her cheeks were crimson, he gestured for her to go in before him. This was going to be a long day.
--
Ryan and Summer waited outside the Robert’s house in pure silence, just like earlier that day. Ryan hadn’t expected the day to go so well. Truth be told, he had no idea how he thought the day was going to go. His mother had not been what he was expecting but she was so different. He had never seen her like this, so full of happiness, so full of life. He prayed it would last.
He hadn’t expected how amazing and right it was to have Summer along for the ride either. Summer was surprisingly warm to Dawn, the two sure as hell talked a lot whilst Ryan more sat there, observing the two. He was thankful for that as he was sure that had it just been him and his mom, there would have been an awkward silence.
“Thank you, Summer.” Ryan began, looking at her. Summer looked back up at him, he could tell she was surprised, her eyes were wide and the tips of her lips were threatening to form a smile. “I’m really glad you came.”
“Anytime, Atwood.” She smiled and placed one hand on a shoulder. “I just wanted to be there for you. Like you were for me.” Ryan grinned as he leaned over and placed one soft kiss on her cheek.