The Roommate
This story was inspired by a post from the OC Plotbunnies community.
Rating: T
Summary: Ryan’s college roommate is puzzled by the Cohen/Atwood family tree.
Disclaimer: I don't own the O.C. characters or actors. This is a work of fiction and not meant to infringe on any copyrights.
I had already moved in by the time Ryan Atwood arrived.
A man and woman who I assumed to be his parents helped him unload his belongings from the car, and the three of them trekked up the four flights of stairs to the room that we would be sharing for the school year.
There were a lot of heavy-looking bags, and the woman had biceps the size of twizzlers. I considered going down to give them a hand but didn’t want to let on that I’d been spying from the window. That might bring about awkward questions of how I knew what he looked like when this was to be our first meeting. I wasn’t ready to admit that I had looked up my roommate on Facebook the minute he’d been assigned.
I heard someone fumbling with the door handle, and quickly grabbed a book off my desk flopping down on the bed just as Ryan entered the room, his arms filled with boxes.
The man and woman came in too, depositing a myriad of bags and boxes on the floor next to the empty bed.
Ryan shook my hand and told me his name (which I pretended was new information). He then introduced the man and woman as Sandy and Kirsten and the four of us went back downstairs to get the rest of his stuff.
They seemed pretty normal and were very polite. Ryan didn’t say a whole lot but I didn’t get any bad vibes, so I figured he was just quiet- which might not be a bad thing because I talk a lot and there aren’t usually many pauses in which others can speak.
We made the last trip up to the dorm alone, Ryan having said goodbye to his family at the car since they were (understandably) tired from all the trips up the stairs. I was carrying a box of books and Ryan had a rabbit in a cage, which was weird but I didn’t comment on it.
Maybe all the other freshmen had brought rabbits and I was out of the loop. It wouldn’t be the first time.
“So I kind of already took the bed by the window, but we can totally trade if that’s not cool.”
Ryan shook his head, “No, that’s fine man. Oh, and this is Flapjacks.” He gestured to the rabbit which he’d taken out of the cage.
“So…. Your folks seemed nice, do they live in California?”
“Sandy and Kirsten? Yeah, Berkeley actually,” Ryan answered after a minute.
“They are your parents, right?”
“Sort of. Where are you from?” he asked, starting to open the boxes and put his stuff away.
…
He was a good roommate.
He didn’t snore, was almost compulsively tidy and his hygiene was impeccable- more importantly he was a genuinely nice guy. Quiet and athletic- my polar opposite- and yet we got along.
Sometimes we would go out with the guys from my Physics class and shoot a round of pool, or go to a movie- just to get off campus for a while.
One weekend after we’d been sharing a dorm for a little over a month, a girl showed up at our door crying.
Ryan stepped out into the hall, and they talked for over an hour. I couldn’t really hear what they were saying with the door closed (believe me, I tried).
When Ryan came back in he said by way of explanation, “This is Kaitlin, she needs a place to crash.”
He slept on the floor that night, giving the girl his bed. The next morning, I was nearly bursting with questions when he left the room to take a shower.
Who was this ‘damsel in distress’? My interest had definitely been piqued.
I’m not nosy per se, but I’ve learned that wherever Ryan is concerned I will never get the full story- or even a chapter, unless I do some probing.
“So Kaitlin… how do you know Ryan?” I asked offhandedly, as I rescued my paper on the String Theory from Flapjacks, who had yet to win me over with his cuteness.
“I’m Marissa's sister."
"Marissa...?"
There was an awkward pause in which we both stared at each other, neither of us willing to look away first. Eventually I blinked; my contacts make my eyes dry.
"His dead girlfriend.”
I didn’t ask any more questions.
…
I met a girl in my Physics class. She was beautiful and smart, and laughed at my jokes. We went out a few times before I invited her up to our dorm. Ryan had gone to the gym so we were guaranteed at least an hour alone.
I put on some music, and we fooled around for a while.
I sat on the floor by the cd player, fiddling with the buttons until I found the perfect track. Kissing me softly, her red hair formed curtains around our faces as she leaned over the edge of the bed. One thing led to another, and we lost track of time.
She was licking the inside of my thigh, when we heard a key in the lock. Damn.
The door opened, and Ryan came in and took his shoes off. He always took his shoes off in the dorm, even though the carpet was already filthy.
The two of us broke apart, and she used the pillow off my bed as a makeshift fig leaf.
“Lindsay???”
There was an awkward pause in which Ryan and Lindsay regarded one another; I had no idea what was going on.
Probably hearing Ryan’s voice, Flapjacks hopped out from underneath the bed, nibbling a piece of alfalfa (that rabbit is constantly eating, and hasn’t been in its cage since it arrived).
“Oh my god… Ryan!”
Lindsay and Ryan were already babbling away- well Lindsay was babbling and Ryan was bobbing or shaking his head at regular intervals.
I had clearly missed some crucial detail and was lost as a result. I was beginning to feel as though it had been me and not him who had failed to notice the proverbial sock on the door.
“Am I missing something here? Linds, how do you already know my roommate?”
“Oh, it’s kind of complicated…”
“I’m listening.”
“Well, Kirsten and I kind of have the same father… and Ryan and I went out for a while back in high school.”
If Lindsay was Kirsten’s sister, then she was also Ryan’s aunt… if she and Ryan had dated… that was just wrong.
For some reason -although I was brimming with questions- I did what Ryan would have done and just nodded.
Lindsay and I broke up a week later after a heated argument about Sigmund Freud.
At lunch I picked all the carrots out of my salad for Flapjacks.
…
Since all of my family live in Omaha, I get a little melancholy around the holidays.
Back home we go all out on thanksgiving; nobody cooks like my grandmother and her place is always teeming with aunts and uncles and cousins. I knew the cafeteria would likely be serving some sort of poultry by product that would be passed off as turkey, but it just wouldn’t be the same.
Ryan must have noticed me moping around, because he invited me to spend thanksgiving with his family.
I didn’t really want to be a tagalong and knew that seeing Ryan with his family would probably only serve to make me more homesick, but for some reason I accepted. At least I wouldn’t be alone, and Kirsten was pretty… maybe Ryan had some hot cousins. The food at least would be good.
…
The driveway of Ryan’s parents’ house was already filled with cars when we arrived, so we had to park across the street.
I was kind of excited, and not just about the food.
Ryan had become something of an enigma to me over the last couple of months… a blonde woman claiming to be his mother had stopped by just the week before.
Ryan had introduced her as ‘Dawn’ and the two of them had gone for coffee.
I was confused. If Dawn was his mother, then who was Kirsten?
Was Sandy married to Dawn before Kirsten? Was Lindsay his step aunt? Did that make dating her okay? At least it wouldn’t be incestuous… that was good.
My confusion only escalated when we entered the house, and Ryan started making introductions.
Seth had flown in from New York. Ryan had mentioned him a few times and I’ll admit I was curious. I asked him if he was from the east coast and he gave me a funny look, shaking his head.
“I moved out there for school; Ryan and I graduated in Newport,” Seth answered, pointing to a framed photo on the wall. They were both clad in caps and gowns; Ryan staring straight ahead like he was posing for a mug shot, while Seth was hamming it up for the camera.
This guy had curly dark hair, and was tall and lanky- he looked nothing like Ryan. More importantly, they were the same age… They were an unlikely set of twins, but anything was possible…
I had to ask.
The lack of questions on my part had been supremely out of character. Information is my lifeblood, and I was anaemic from months of living with Ryan.
“So you and Ryan are brothers?” I asked doubtfully, hoping I wasn’t being too rude.
Seth nodded.
“There’s a bit of my blood in his veins,” he replied with a smirk, not seeming the least bit offended.
The smoke alarm started beeping, and Sandy appeared, carrying a baby which he handed to Seth.
“Hi Steve, it’s good to see you again. This is Sophie, and I see you’ve already met Seth. Kirsten had a bit of a mishap in the kitchen, so… I hope you like Chinese food.”
Throughout the meal Seth kept up a running commentary, filling me in on how they knew each of the guests.
Trying to figure out how one woman could be both Seth’s ex step grandmother and the expectant mother of Ryan’s half sibling kept me so busy that I barely had time to miss my family.
When I realised that Julie was also Kaitlin’s mother, I forgot about Nebraska entirely.
All in all, it was a pretty good thanksgiving.
True, Ryan didn't have any cousins(hot or otherwise) and the menu was less than traditional, but the company was excellent, inbred or not, and I was happy to have been included- even if no mysteries were solved that night.
The End
Just a bit of silliness. Hope you enjoyed!