Five Times Ryan Heard Kirsten Say, "Don't Tell Sandy" [The OC; Ryan/Kirsten]
TITLE: Five Times Ryan Heard Kirsten Say, "Don't Tell Sandy"
PART 4/5: Happy Accidents
FANDOM: The OC
PAIRING: Ryan/Kirsten
SPOILERS: Series
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY:
*****
04. Ryan finished scrubbing his short-cropped hair dry with his towel before securing it around his waist. He swiped a hand across the foggy mirror and took a good long look at himself. He expected he'd look different at this moment. Stressed... ashamed... guilty... disgusted. But no, instead he looked... happy. It was the oddest sensation.
It had been an accident. Falling off the roof, first of all, with Taylor... and then, what happened after he was released from the hospital. Sandy'd had to go to work, as did Seth. So Ryan and Kirsten dropped Taylor off at Summer's house before heading home. Ryan had intended to get a little more rest, but not long after he had entered the poolhouse, Kirsten came in behind him. "I didn't think you would wake up," she had confessed from behind him.
He had slowly turned to look at her. "What?"
She stepped toward him swiftly, reached for his hands, gave them a tight squeeze as if to reassure herself that he was really there, really alive. "I didn't think you would wake up." That time, her voice had been clogged with unshed tears. "You have no idea how worried I was, Ryan."
"I'm sorry." He hadn't known what else to say.
Kirsten had shaken her head. "This made me realize I can't lose you. Ever."
"Kirsten..."
"Ryan, what you mean to me is--" She'd shaken her head again, face crumpling while she struggled for speech. Finally, she sighed out tearfully, "Do you have any idea what you mean to me?"
"Yeah," he'd nodded, and meant it. It was written clearly across her face. "I do. Almost as much as you mean to me." He had been dangerously close to telling her he'd been in love with her for four years...
"Ryan," she'd sobbed, and then she was in his arms. Ryan couldn't remember if he had pulled her close or if she'd flung herself at him. It didn't matter. She had been in his arms, tight against him, sobbing into his neck.
He'd always been distraught around a crying woman. He had never known what to do... whether to hand them a kleenex and let them work it out on their own, or pat their back and give them the cliched, trite response of, "It'll be okay."
With Kirsten, it was instinctual. He knew what to do. He held her tight, buried his face in her hair and stroked his hands over her back, making shushing noises to calm her down as if she were a small child waking from a nightmare. He continually reassured her in a whisper, "I'm here. I'm right here."
"Don't leave me," she had begged tearfully, while clinging to him almost desperately. "I need you, you can't ever leave me."
"I'm not going anywhere," he had assured her repeatedly, pressing errant kisses to her hair, her cheeks, her jawline, while whispering against her, "I need you, too."
And then it had just... happened. He had been kissing away the tears on her cheeks, she'd turned her head up to him, and their lips had connected, like so many times before. Only that time, it had been so much different. Memories of what had almost transpired just months before came screaming back to both of them. Passion surged, desire took over, and they found themselves once more entangled in his bed.
It had all happened so fast. Before Ryan had known what was really happening, their bodies had joined... they'd moved together, pushed each other over that edge into glorious nothingness. He only vaguely remembered calling out her name and confessing his love for her just before everything had gone black.
Now he was looking at himself in the mirror, expecting to see some kind of guilt over what they'd done... but there was nothing. Just a sparkle in his sleepy blue eyes, and a feeling of overwhelming happiness. Kirsten... his angel, his queen, his salvation... had been just his for one brief, shining moment.
He sighed and glanced down at the towel around his waist, making sure it was secure, before he opened the bathroom door and emerged, stopping in his tracks immediately. There sat Kirsten, back turned to him, on his bed. She was coccooned in a fluffy white robe with damp curls cascading halfway down her back, obviously having just showered herself. She turned over her shoulder, having heard the door open, and smiled briefly. "Hey."
"Hey." His eyes flicked over her, knowing all-too-well now what she looked like underneath her robe.
Ryan was pleased to note that Kirsten's eyes were busy tracing over him as well. He smirked halfway and raked a hand through his short hair. "Uh..."
"Ryan, let's not even attempt to chalk this up to some bogus excuse, like stress or vulnerability or whatever."
He shook his head. "No. We both know it wasn't either of those things."
Kirsten nodded once and stood up. "Right." She took a few steps toward him, playing with her own fingers in a way that was so uniquely Kirsten. "We both wanted it, we needed each other, so..." She sighed and threw her hands up in the air briefly. "There ya have it."
"Yeah." He watched as she came closer, never tearing his eyes from hers until she had stepped right up to him.
Her head tilted in that 'Kirsten' way he so adored as her large blue eyes searched him. "Did you mean what you said?"
It took Ryan a split-second to decipher what she was talking about before he nodded reflexively. "Yes." He loved her, of course he meant it.
She laid a hand on his bare chest and Ryan's heart jumped into his throat at the touch. She took one more step into him and smiled when he instinctively put his hands on her waist. "Because Ryan, I wouldn't hold it against you if it was something that just... came out at the height of--"
He cupped her face with one hand and kissed her before she could finish the sentence. Kirsten gasped against his lips and he captured hers over and over again... passionately, hungrily. When he'd stolen all her breath, he broke away and rested his forehead on hers, breathing against her lips for the second time, "I love you."
It was his turn to gasp then as Kirsten gripped his towel and smiled at him almost seductively. "Show me again."
Ryan didn't need to be told twice. He kissed down her neck as he untied the sash of her robe, sliding it off her shoulders to plant tender kisses on her bare skin. "Kirsten..." he breathed into the hollow of her shoulder, "We didn't use a--"
"I know," she nodded against him. "We don't need to, it's fine."
"You're sure?" He pushed the robe off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor, then backed her toward the bed.
"I'm sure." She yanked the towel away from him just before they fell onto the bed together, and Ryan proceeded to (slowly) show her just how much she meant to him.
His lips slid down her body and as she gasped and writhed beneath him, he heard her breathe, "Don't tell Sandy."
Ryan grinned and laid his chin on her stomach briefly. "Don't tell him I'm in love with you, or don't tell him about this?" He pulled the sheets over them both and crawled over her.
Kirsten gave him a beautiful smile -- she loved him too, he could tell without her saying a word -- and cupped the back of his neck to bring him down to her lips. "Both," she murmured, and kissed him again.
Ryan smiled back and pulled her close, more than willing to keep this secret.
CONTINUED IN PART 5/5: Baby Steps
{x-posted to rystenlove}
PART 4/5: Happy Accidents
FANDOM: The OC
PAIRING: Ryan/Kirsten
SPOILERS: Series
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY:
*****
04. Ryan finished scrubbing his short-cropped hair dry with his towel before securing it around his waist. He swiped a hand across the foggy mirror and took a good long look at himself. He expected he'd look different at this moment. Stressed... ashamed... guilty... disgusted. But no, instead he looked... happy. It was the oddest sensation.
It had been an accident. Falling off the roof, first of all, with Taylor... and then, what happened after he was released from the hospital. Sandy'd had to go to work, as did Seth. So Ryan and Kirsten dropped Taylor off at Summer's house before heading home. Ryan had intended to get a little more rest, but not long after he had entered the poolhouse, Kirsten came in behind him. "I didn't think you would wake up," she had confessed from behind him.
He had slowly turned to look at her. "What?"
She stepped toward him swiftly, reached for his hands, gave them a tight squeeze as if to reassure herself that he was really there, really alive. "I didn't think you would wake up." That time, her voice had been clogged with unshed tears. "You have no idea how worried I was, Ryan."
"I'm sorry." He hadn't known what else to say.
Kirsten had shaken her head. "This made me realize I can't lose you. Ever."
"Kirsten..."
"Ryan, what you mean to me is--" She'd shaken her head again, face crumpling while she struggled for speech. Finally, she sighed out tearfully, "Do you have any idea what you mean to me?"
"Yeah," he'd nodded, and meant it. It was written clearly across her face. "I do. Almost as much as you mean to me." He had been dangerously close to telling her he'd been in love with her for four years...
"Ryan," she'd sobbed, and then she was in his arms. Ryan couldn't remember if he had pulled her close or if she'd flung herself at him. It didn't matter. She had been in his arms, tight against him, sobbing into his neck.
He'd always been distraught around a crying woman. He had never known what to do... whether to hand them a kleenex and let them work it out on their own, or pat their back and give them the cliched, trite response of, "It'll be okay."
With Kirsten, it was instinctual. He knew what to do. He held her tight, buried his face in her hair and stroked his hands over her back, making shushing noises to calm her down as if she were a small child waking from a nightmare. He continually reassured her in a whisper, "I'm here. I'm right here."
"Don't leave me," she had begged tearfully, while clinging to him almost desperately. "I need you, you can't ever leave me."
"I'm not going anywhere," he had assured her repeatedly, pressing errant kisses to her hair, her cheeks, her jawline, while whispering against her, "I need you, too."
And then it had just... happened. He had been kissing away the tears on her cheeks, she'd turned her head up to him, and their lips had connected, like so many times before. Only that time, it had been so much different. Memories of what had almost transpired just months before came screaming back to both of them. Passion surged, desire took over, and they found themselves once more entangled in his bed.
It had all happened so fast. Before Ryan had known what was really happening, their bodies had joined... they'd moved together, pushed each other over that edge into glorious nothingness. He only vaguely remembered calling out her name and confessing his love for her just before everything had gone black.
Now he was looking at himself in the mirror, expecting to see some kind of guilt over what they'd done... but there was nothing. Just a sparkle in his sleepy blue eyes, and a feeling of overwhelming happiness. Kirsten... his angel, his queen, his salvation... had been just his for one brief, shining moment.
He sighed and glanced down at the towel around his waist, making sure it was secure, before he opened the bathroom door and emerged, stopping in his tracks immediately. There sat Kirsten, back turned to him, on his bed. She was coccooned in a fluffy white robe with damp curls cascading halfway down her back, obviously having just showered herself. She turned over her shoulder, having heard the door open, and smiled briefly. "Hey."
"Hey." His eyes flicked over her, knowing all-too-well now what she looked like underneath her robe.
Ryan was pleased to note that Kirsten's eyes were busy tracing over him as well. He smirked halfway and raked a hand through his short hair. "Uh..."
"Ryan, let's not even attempt to chalk this up to some bogus excuse, like stress or vulnerability or whatever."
He shook his head. "No. We both know it wasn't either of those things."
Kirsten nodded once and stood up. "Right." She took a few steps toward him, playing with her own fingers in a way that was so uniquely Kirsten. "We both wanted it, we needed each other, so..." She sighed and threw her hands up in the air briefly. "There ya have it."
"Yeah." He watched as she came closer, never tearing his eyes from hers until she had stepped right up to him.
Her head tilted in that 'Kirsten' way he so adored as her large blue eyes searched him. "Did you mean what you said?"
It took Ryan a split-second to decipher what she was talking about before he nodded reflexively. "Yes." He loved her, of course he meant it.
She laid a hand on his bare chest and Ryan's heart jumped into his throat at the touch. She took one more step into him and smiled when he instinctively put his hands on her waist. "Because Ryan, I wouldn't hold it against you if it was something that just... came out at the height of--"
He cupped her face with one hand and kissed her before she could finish the sentence. Kirsten gasped against his lips and he captured hers over and over again... passionately, hungrily. When he'd stolen all her breath, he broke away and rested his forehead on hers, breathing against her lips for the second time, "I love you."
It was his turn to gasp then as Kirsten gripped his towel and smiled at him almost seductively. "Show me again."
Ryan didn't need to be told twice. He kissed down her neck as he untied the sash of her robe, sliding it off her shoulders to plant tender kisses on her bare skin. "Kirsten..." he breathed into the hollow of her shoulder, "We didn't use a--"
"I know," she nodded against him. "We don't need to, it's fine."
"You're sure?" He pushed the robe off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor, then backed her toward the bed.
"I'm sure." She yanked the towel away from him just before they fell onto the bed together, and Ryan proceeded to (slowly) show her just how much she meant to him.
His lips slid down her body and as she gasped and writhed beneath him, he heard her breathe, "Don't tell Sandy."
Ryan grinned and laid his chin on her stomach briefly. "Don't tell him I'm in love with you, or don't tell him about this?" He pulled the sheets over them both and crawled over her.
Kirsten gave him a beautiful smile -- she loved him too, he could tell without her saying a word -- and cupped the back of his neck to bring him down to her lips. "Both," she murmured, and kissed him again.
Ryan smiled back and pulled her close, more than willing to keep this secret.
CONTINUED IN PART 5/5: Baby Steps
{x-posted to rystenlove}