fic - 1/3 - Seth makes a new friend.
For anne35. I adopted this plotbunny from the Plotbunny community and wrote a little one shot. Here's half of it.
Completely AU where Sandy wasn't Ryan's PD.
PG.
“What are you doing down here, Queer? Haven’t we told you that your kind isn’t welcome here?”
Seth sighed. He just wanted to pick up the new X-Men. Was it his fault the only comic book store in Newport was on the pier?
Luke and the other massive jocks that had been getting their rocks off torturing him for years formed a circle around him.
“Oh come on, you guys don’t have anything better to do than hassle me?” Seth asked. But once the first fist connected with his stomach, he knew he’d gotten his answer.
He hated Newport so much sometimes. In his head, he knew he’d be better off in another town, another state. He loved his parents, but he hated this town.
He wasn’t sure why the guys stopped hitting him, all he knew was that they did and when he opened his eyes, he was startled to see Luke lying on the ground a few yards away and the other thugs running away.
A hand appeared in front of him, knuckles bloody but definitely for him. He used it to get to his feet and glanced over at the boy beside him. “You all right?”
Luke grunted from the sidewalk.
“Yeah, thanks,” Seth said, surprised.
“No problem. I see these guys being assholes all the time, thought you could use a hand.”
“And who are you, unmasked avenger?” Seth asked.
The kid smiled at his lame joke. “Ryan.”
“Well, Ryan, I think you’ve just been nominated to escort me to the comic book store,” Seth said.
The kid lifted a backpack onto his shoulder and fell into step beside him.
------- ------------- ----
“Mom?” Seth called, walking into the kitchen.
She was immediately startled by the large smile on his face. Seth never smiled unless he wanted something or was in some kind of trouble. “Yes, Seth?”
“I invited someone for dinner, I hope that’s okay, and no, it’s not a girl or a random serial killer that likes skinny emo boys, he’s a kid my age and he really helped me out today and I thought it would be nice to have him over for dinner….”
“Seth, slow down. You invited a boy for dinner? That’s fine, you know you’re always welcome to have friends over,” she replied.
“Yeah, right, like I have any friends,” Seth snorted.
“How’d this boy help you out?” she asked. She knew that some of the bigger boys had been hassling him all summer but he would never tell them who it was. The only reason she knew was because she’d seen his bruises when he was swimming in the pool one day. He didn’t swim anymore when she was there.
“He….he told off these guys that were teasing me. He’s really nice. And he doesn’t read comics and I promised that I’d show him some of the ones I have because he seemed really intrigued when we were at the comics store,” Seth continued.
“And you’re sure he’s not a serial killer,” she asked. Seth glared at her before catching her joke.
“I’m sure, Mom. Can you just…. Not cook and order something good tonight?”
“Sure, Seth. Do you want to borrow the car to pick him up?” Kirsten asked.
“I’m going to meet him down by the beach,” Seth shrugged. “I’m going upstairs to get my best comics in order.”
Kirsten watched him hurry out of the kitchen. She was glad that Seth had made a new friend but seeing how excited he was, she could only pray that he wasn’t going to get his hopes up just to be disappointed again.
------- ------------- ----
Sandy put his briefcase down and ran a hand through his hair. Kirsten had told him that Seth had invited a friend over and he’d tried his best to be on time, but the traffic gods were against him.
He was surprised to hear Kirsten and Seth’s laughter from the dining room. That was a good sign.
“Hi, Dad,” Seth grinned when he walked in.
“Hey, Seth,” he replied, leaning down to kiss Kirsten on the cheek.
“Sandy, this is Ryan, he’s a friend of Seth’s,” she introduced.
Ryan offered his hand, shaking it firmly with a respectful nod. He lowered his gaze almost immediately and folded his hands in his lap.
“Ryan was telling us about how the bus drivers all swore off coffee for a day and it was the highest rate of accidents in the local area in years,” Seth said, bouncing with anticipation.
Sandy was disappointed when he sat down that Ryan got up to put his dishes in the sink. He’d wanted to spend some time with his family but he was too late.
“Ryan, you don’t have to do that,” Kirsten said, clearly surprised.
“We don’t even do that and we live here,” Sandy agreed.
“We’re going to go upstairs for a while,” Seth said, taking his plate to the sink for what must’ve been the first time ever and joining Ryan by the sink.
“Thank you very much for dinner,” Ryan said politely before following Seth out of the kitchen.
“Seems like a nice boy,” Sandy remarked.
“Smart, too. He took one look at my model home over there and saw the problem the contractors have been searching out for months. The skylights are too big for the space allotted in the roofing codes. There’s something strange about him, though. He won’t commit to where he lives.”
“Probably a little overwhelmed by the McMansion here,” Sandy replied. “But still, it’s good that Seth has a new friend.”
“I think so, too,” Kirsten agreed.
------- ------------- ----
The next few days were like heaven to Seth. Ryan was quiet, but actually seemed to get his jokes and even laughed at them. Seth took him sailing and they had ice cream and Ryan came over for dinner almost every night.
Despite the fact that Ryan wouldn’t tell Seth anything about himself and that he never seemed to have any money, let alone a wallet, Seth knew that there was something special about him.
“Seth?”
He turned and greeted his friend by the marina. He’d been worried that Ryan wouldn’t show since he didn’t seem to like sailing that much, but Ryan was the most punctual teenager ever. “Hey, Ryan...whoa, what happened to you?” he asked, seeing the fresh bruises.
“Fell down. Look, man, I can’t hang out with you today…or anymore.”
“What?” Seth asked, confused.
“I was just passing through Newport and…I have to keep moving. It’s nothing personal, god, I stayed way longer than I should have…” he muttered, staring at the ground.
“So, your family’s moving?” Seth asked.
“Something like that. Look, I’m really sorry. I…I liked hanging out with you. A lot. But I can’t stay in Newport anymore,” Ryan said. He picked up his backpack and put it on his left shoulder even though Seth knew that he always carried it on his right. Ryan was hurt.
“Dude, wait, you can’t just leave, can I call you or something, like, you’ll have a phone, right?” Seth asked.
Ryan shrugged and immediately winced. “I don’t know anything yet, Seth. Just that I’m leaving. I wanted to tell you in person and thank you for the last few days. You’re a cool guy.”
“But Ryan…”
“There’s nothing I can do, man. I’m really sorry,” Ryan apologized.
Seth felt like the air had been sucked out of his lungs. His life was going to suck again. When he looked up again, his friend was gone.
------- ------------- ----
“God, you know how these cases are, Sandy, I’m afraid if I don’t get there soon that the kid will run off again, it was pure luck that the cops picked him up this afternoon,” Sharon chirped in his ear.
“All right, Sharon, I’m on my way down there now…” Sandy agreed. He’d taken the day off since the waves were outrageous today and he wasn’t due in court and just his luck, Sharon had a client at the Newport police station that she couldn’t get down to pick up because of a pileup on the freeway.
“I owe you one, Sandy. I can be at my office quicker than I can be at the Newport PD and I already told them that they could release him to you.”
“I’m going to remember this favor, Sharon,” he replied, hanging up and changing out of his beach clothes and into his ‘work attire’. He glimpsed Seth running up the stairs but didn’t have time to talk to him. He’d been like a whole new kid the last few days and Sandy was enjoying the new Seth.
It was a short drive to the small Newport police station and he made it in record time. Traffic wasn’t really a problem in Newport.
“Mr. Cohen, they told us you were coming, the kid’s back there, I’ll get him for you,” the cop at the front desk that recognized him from surfing offered. Sandy gave him a thankful smile and waited patiently.
He was surprised, to say the least, when the man returned with Seth’s friend Ryan - cuffed and sullen.
“He’s been camping out under the pier for a few days, at least. We caught him going through the garbage and hauled him in, saw that he hasn’t reported to his PO since he was released from juvie.”
Ryan seemed to recognize him for the first time and asked immediately, “What are you doing here?”
“Shut up and go with him,” the cop snapped before returning his attention to Sandy. “You want to bring the cuffs back later?”
“I don’t think they’ll be necessary,” Sandy replied. He waited until the man uncuffed him before leading him outside. “Your social worker is stuck in traffic and asked me to give you a ride back to Chino.”
Ryan was silent, but nodded that he understood as he reluctantly got into the car.
Sandy took a deep breath and pushed down his instincts as he got into the car. “Does Seth know?”
“No, sir,” Ryan said. He lowered his voice, glancing at him. “Any way I can talk you into letting me go?”
Sandy gave him a glare and watched as Ryan seemed to push himself further toward the door. “It’s a long ride to Chino - why don’t you tell me what you were doing with my son?”
“Nothing…he was just…nice to me. He was a friend - I never took anything from you or Seth - I…I wasn’t doing anything with him,” Ryan replied quietly.
“And you’ve been living on the streets, hiding from the cops…” Sandy stated, waiting for Ryan to agree. But he didn’t say anything, he wouldn’t even look up. “Don’t you have anything to say for yourself?”
“Does it matter? I’m going back to juvie, you don’t have to worry about me messing with your son anymore,” Ryan muttered.
“What were you going to do, just live on the streets? Eat garbage?” Sandy asked, slowing down as he came up to an intersection. He saw Ryan’s hand move to the seat belt before he reached for his arm.
He wanted to stop the kid, not make him whimper in pain. “Ryan…”
“Let go of me…” Ryan whispered pulling himself away and cradling his arm against his chest. “I won’t go anywhere…”
“What’s wrong with your arm?”
“Mr. Cohen, can you just take me wherever you’re going to take me?” he whispered.
“Ryan…” Sandy started, trying to think of Ryan as his son’s friend and not the delinquent he just picked up from a police station.
-------------
“What’s wrong, honey?” Kirsten asked, finding him in the kitchen moping.
“Ryan’s gone. He said goodbye to me this morning. I don’t know what’s going on - I just know that he had to leave. And it sucks because he was actually making this town tolerable and I was so stunned that I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye,” Seth replied.
“Did he leave you a number? A forwarding address so you could keep in touch?” Kirsten asked as her phone buzzed on her hip.
“No, he said that they didn’t have anything figured out yet,” Seth replied.
“You’ll make new friends.”
Seth looked up at him mournfully. “But there was something about him, mom. Like…like, we hit it off so quickly - it just had to be something special…”
Kirsten ignored her buzzing phone and comforted Seth, pulling him into a hug.
Completely AU where Sandy wasn't Ryan's PD.
PG.
“What are you doing down here, Queer? Haven’t we told you that your kind isn’t welcome here?”
Seth sighed. He just wanted to pick up the new X-Men. Was it his fault the only comic book store in Newport was on the pier?
Luke and the other massive jocks that had been getting their rocks off torturing him for years formed a circle around him.
“Oh come on, you guys don’t have anything better to do than hassle me?” Seth asked. But once the first fist connected with his stomach, he knew he’d gotten his answer.
He hated Newport so much sometimes. In his head, he knew he’d be better off in another town, another state. He loved his parents, but he hated this town.
He wasn’t sure why the guys stopped hitting him, all he knew was that they did and when he opened his eyes, he was startled to see Luke lying on the ground a few yards away and the other thugs running away.
A hand appeared in front of him, knuckles bloody but definitely for him. He used it to get to his feet and glanced over at the boy beside him. “You all right?”
Luke grunted from the sidewalk.
“Yeah, thanks,” Seth said, surprised.
“No problem. I see these guys being assholes all the time, thought you could use a hand.”
“And who are you, unmasked avenger?” Seth asked.
The kid smiled at his lame joke. “Ryan.”
“Well, Ryan, I think you’ve just been nominated to escort me to the comic book store,” Seth said.
The kid lifted a backpack onto his shoulder and fell into step beside him.
------- ------------- ----
“Mom?” Seth called, walking into the kitchen.
She was immediately startled by the large smile on his face. Seth never smiled unless he wanted something or was in some kind of trouble. “Yes, Seth?”
“I invited someone for dinner, I hope that’s okay, and no, it’s not a girl or a random serial killer that likes skinny emo boys, he’s a kid my age and he really helped me out today and I thought it would be nice to have him over for dinner….”
“Seth, slow down. You invited a boy for dinner? That’s fine, you know you’re always welcome to have friends over,” she replied.
“Yeah, right, like I have any friends,” Seth snorted.
“How’d this boy help you out?” she asked. She knew that some of the bigger boys had been hassling him all summer but he would never tell them who it was. The only reason she knew was because she’d seen his bruises when he was swimming in the pool one day. He didn’t swim anymore when she was there.
“He….he told off these guys that were teasing me. He’s really nice. And he doesn’t read comics and I promised that I’d show him some of the ones I have because he seemed really intrigued when we were at the comics store,” Seth continued.
“And you’re sure he’s not a serial killer,” she asked. Seth glared at her before catching her joke.
“I’m sure, Mom. Can you just…. Not cook and order something good tonight?”
“Sure, Seth. Do you want to borrow the car to pick him up?” Kirsten asked.
“I’m going to meet him down by the beach,” Seth shrugged. “I’m going upstairs to get my best comics in order.”
Kirsten watched him hurry out of the kitchen. She was glad that Seth had made a new friend but seeing how excited he was, she could only pray that he wasn’t going to get his hopes up just to be disappointed again.
------- ------------- ----
Sandy put his briefcase down and ran a hand through his hair. Kirsten had told him that Seth had invited a friend over and he’d tried his best to be on time, but the traffic gods were against him.
He was surprised to hear Kirsten and Seth’s laughter from the dining room. That was a good sign.
“Hi, Dad,” Seth grinned when he walked in.
“Hey, Seth,” he replied, leaning down to kiss Kirsten on the cheek.
“Sandy, this is Ryan, he’s a friend of Seth’s,” she introduced.
Ryan offered his hand, shaking it firmly with a respectful nod. He lowered his gaze almost immediately and folded his hands in his lap.
“Ryan was telling us about how the bus drivers all swore off coffee for a day and it was the highest rate of accidents in the local area in years,” Seth said, bouncing with anticipation.
Sandy was disappointed when he sat down that Ryan got up to put his dishes in the sink. He’d wanted to spend some time with his family but he was too late.
“Ryan, you don’t have to do that,” Kirsten said, clearly surprised.
“We don’t even do that and we live here,” Sandy agreed.
“We’re going to go upstairs for a while,” Seth said, taking his plate to the sink for what must’ve been the first time ever and joining Ryan by the sink.
“Thank you very much for dinner,” Ryan said politely before following Seth out of the kitchen.
“Seems like a nice boy,” Sandy remarked.
“Smart, too. He took one look at my model home over there and saw the problem the contractors have been searching out for months. The skylights are too big for the space allotted in the roofing codes. There’s something strange about him, though. He won’t commit to where he lives.”
“Probably a little overwhelmed by the McMansion here,” Sandy replied. “But still, it’s good that Seth has a new friend.”
“I think so, too,” Kirsten agreed.
------- ------------- ----
The next few days were like heaven to Seth. Ryan was quiet, but actually seemed to get his jokes and even laughed at them. Seth took him sailing and they had ice cream and Ryan came over for dinner almost every night.
Despite the fact that Ryan wouldn’t tell Seth anything about himself and that he never seemed to have any money, let alone a wallet, Seth knew that there was something special about him.
“Seth?”
He turned and greeted his friend by the marina. He’d been worried that Ryan wouldn’t show since he didn’t seem to like sailing that much, but Ryan was the most punctual teenager ever. “Hey, Ryan...whoa, what happened to you?” he asked, seeing the fresh bruises.
“Fell down. Look, man, I can’t hang out with you today…or anymore.”
“What?” Seth asked, confused.
“I was just passing through Newport and…I have to keep moving. It’s nothing personal, god, I stayed way longer than I should have…” he muttered, staring at the ground.
“So, your family’s moving?” Seth asked.
“Something like that. Look, I’m really sorry. I…I liked hanging out with you. A lot. But I can’t stay in Newport anymore,” Ryan said. He picked up his backpack and put it on his left shoulder even though Seth knew that he always carried it on his right. Ryan was hurt.
“Dude, wait, you can’t just leave, can I call you or something, like, you’ll have a phone, right?” Seth asked.
Ryan shrugged and immediately winced. “I don’t know anything yet, Seth. Just that I’m leaving. I wanted to tell you in person and thank you for the last few days. You’re a cool guy.”
“But Ryan…”
“There’s nothing I can do, man. I’m really sorry,” Ryan apologized.
Seth felt like the air had been sucked out of his lungs. His life was going to suck again. When he looked up again, his friend was gone.
------- ------------- ----
“God, you know how these cases are, Sandy, I’m afraid if I don’t get there soon that the kid will run off again, it was pure luck that the cops picked him up this afternoon,” Sharon chirped in his ear.
“All right, Sharon, I’m on my way down there now…” Sandy agreed. He’d taken the day off since the waves were outrageous today and he wasn’t due in court and just his luck, Sharon had a client at the Newport police station that she couldn’t get down to pick up because of a pileup on the freeway.
“I owe you one, Sandy. I can be at my office quicker than I can be at the Newport PD and I already told them that they could release him to you.”
“I’m going to remember this favor, Sharon,” he replied, hanging up and changing out of his beach clothes and into his ‘work attire’. He glimpsed Seth running up the stairs but didn’t have time to talk to him. He’d been like a whole new kid the last few days and Sandy was enjoying the new Seth.
It was a short drive to the small Newport police station and he made it in record time. Traffic wasn’t really a problem in Newport.
“Mr. Cohen, they told us you were coming, the kid’s back there, I’ll get him for you,” the cop at the front desk that recognized him from surfing offered. Sandy gave him a thankful smile and waited patiently.
He was surprised, to say the least, when the man returned with Seth’s friend Ryan - cuffed and sullen.
“He’s been camping out under the pier for a few days, at least. We caught him going through the garbage and hauled him in, saw that he hasn’t reported to his PO since he was released from juvie.”
Ryan seemed to recognize him for the first time and asked immediately, “What are you doing here?”
“Shut up and go with him,” the cop snapped before returning his attention to Sandy. “You want to bring the cuffs back later?”
“I don’t think they’ll be necessary,” Sandy replied. He waited until the man uncuffed him before leading him outside. “Your social worker is stuck in traffic and asked me to give you a ride back to Chino.”
Ryan was silent, but nodded that he understood as he reluctantly got into the car.
Sandy took a deep breath and pushed down his instincts as he got into the car. “Does Seth know?”
“No, sir,” Ryan said. He lowered his voice, glancing at him. “Any way I can talk you into letting me go?”
Sandy gave him a glare and watched as Ryan seemed to push himself further toward the door. “It’s a long ride to Chino - why don’t you tell me what you were doing with my son?”
“Nothing…he was just…nice to me. He was a friend - I never took anything from you or Seth - I…I wasn’t doing anything with him,” Ryan replied quietly.
“And you’ve been living on the streets, hiding from the cops…” Sandy stated, waiting for Ryan to agree. But he didn’t say anything, he wouldn’t even look up. “Don’t you have anything to say for yourself?”
“Does it matter? I’m going back to juvie, you don’t have to worry about me messing with your son anymore,” Ryan muttered.
“What were you going to do, just live on the streets? Eat garbage?” Sandy asked, slowing down as he came up to an intersection. He saw Ryan’s hand move to the seat belt before he reached for his arm.
He wanted to stop the kid, not make him whimper in pain. “Ryan…”
“Let go of me…” Ryan whispered pulling himself away and cradling his arm against his chest. “I won’t go anywhere…”
“What’s wrong with your arm?”
“Mr. Cohen, can you just take me wherever you’re going to take me?” he whispered.
“Ryan…” Sandy started, trying to think of Ryan as his son’s friend and not the delinquent he just picked up from a police station.
-------------
“What’s wrong, honey?” Kirsten asked, finding him in the kitchen moping.
“Ryan’s gone. He said goodbye to me this morning. I don’t know what’s going on - I just know that he had to leave. And it sucks because he was actually making this town tolerable and I was so stunned that I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye,” Seth replied.
“Did he leave you a number? A forwarding address so you could keep in touch?” Kirsten asked as her phone buzzed on her hip.
“No, he said that they didn’t have anything figured out yet,” Seth replied.
“You’ll make new friends.”
Seth looked up at him mournfully. “But there was something about him, mom. Like…like, we hit it off so quickly - it just had to be something special…”
Kirsten ignored her buzzing phone and comforted Seth, pulling him into a hug.