Author's Note: This is the sequel to "A Life Better than Expected". It
takes place about a month and a half after the season finale.
XXX
"Hey Ryan," the voice was warm and friendly. "You're up late." Kirsten Cohen was standing in the blackness of the summer night dressed only in her thin nightgown. In the backyard of her sprawling Newport estate, she stared at the seventeen year old boy she had adopted. He was currently trying to hide the cigarette in his left hand. Seeing that she already noticed it, he sheepishly shrugged.
"Sorry." He said the word but the expression wasn't in his face or his tone. In fact, there was no expression on hip at all. He was just there.
"Ryan," she was ready to tell him off, explain the house rules and the health consequences all over again. But she didn't. Instead, she picked the cigarette from in between his fingers and took a drag herself. She grinned slightly as the boy's mouth fell slightly, in a look of slight shock. Kirsten wasn't actually a smoker and never had been, but like most people, she had gone through some serious partying as a teenager. This was the first time since Seth started grade school that she had a cigarette to her lips. The dark taste lingered on her tongue, invading her pearly whites and delicate throat. It was exactly what she needed now.
"I didn't know you-"Ryan tried to explain his shock, but Kirsten wouldn't let him. She just shook her head, letting the mass of blonde-brown hair collapse around her shoulders. Returning the cigarette, she crossed her arms across her chest, protecting herself from the light breeze. Though the summer heat was ever present, the ocean still brought relief in slight ways. The breeze was one of them.
Kirsten didn't know what to say at that moment, her eyes were so concentrated on the black abyss in front of her. The night was her time when neither her son nor her husband could interrupt her thoughts. It was only on nights when she couldn't stand all the many notions in her head that she stood out in the backyard and watched the night. Feeling silly, she never told anyone of this habit. But when she suffered setbacks in her work, Seth troubled her and Sandy didn't understand, Kirsten turned to the night to save her sanity.
"Are you okay?" Ryan expressed his worry for his guardian.
"Just had a lot on my mind."
"I know the feeling." He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his worn blue jeans. "Theresa." That was all the explanation Kirsten needed. It had been over two weeks since Ryan and his girlfriend had lost their child. It had been that long since Theresa moved to Atlanta. That long since Ryan moved back into the pool house. That long since the house was full of silent sad looks and perpetual "are you okay"'s.
"Me too." That brought Ryan his second surprise of the night. He knew that he had not stopped worrying about his girl- wait, they were no longer dating, but he worried anyway. Each time he looked at a watch or a clock, he quickly added the time difference and imagined what she would be doing. She left two weeks ago and he had received only a single phone call. It wasn't even a meaningful call. She merely announced that she was okay and settled. She said she missed him, but she didn't include an "I love you" not even after Ryan had said the three solid words.
Kirsten, on the other hand, received quite a few calls from Atlanta in the first days after Theresa had left. Though she didn't want to admit it, Kirsten was Theresa's only confidant in the whole pregnancy. Theresa's own mother rejoiced when the baby was lost- there would be no illegitimate grandchild to be ashamed of. Kirsten was open, accepting and in Theresa's eyes, perfect. Shuffling her feet slightly to the left, Kirsten stood as close to Ryan as she could without touching. They were connected. Both scared and worried. Both missing a girl across the country. Both desperately wanting Theresa to come back.
XXX
"Hello?" Summer Roberts answered her cell phone impatiently. She was sitting on a bathroom floor in her Waldorf-Astoria suite in New York City. Though she only planned a two-week trip, the incessant pleadings of her best friend forced her to extend her trip another week. Summer, though always willing to prove her friendship to the lovely Marissa Cooper, was annoyed at the idea of having to spend another seven days with her increasingly drunk friend.
"Summer? Hey, its me."
"Cohen!" Seth's face began to fill with a slight pink color as he heard his ex-girlfriend happily exclaim his name. On the other end of the line, Summer scolded herself for saying his name so excitedly. She dumped him less than a month ago for the unforgivable sin of running away to Ecuador and only leaving a single hurried hand-written note. But the sound of his voice, now more than ever, brought a comforting warmth to her, like hot cocoa after a long day in the snow. She wanted so much to see him. To be able to rush to JFK Airport now and take the first flight back to Newport. But she couldn't. Marissa needed her.
"How are you? How's New York?"
"It's..." Summer turned to her right, where Marissa was vomiting about a gallon of various alcoholic beverages into the toilet. "Good!" She plastered a fake smile on her face just to prove herself right. The smile soon disappeared when she realized Seth couldn't see her.
"Really?" His face mouth began to turn more and more into a pronounced frown listening to her joyful voice. He was happy that she was happy. But, Jesus/Moses, why couldn't she be happy there with him?
"Uh, yeah. You should seriously consider coming here sometime. It's completely fab!"
"Yeah? Well, I'll think about that so-"he hear an abnormal groan in the background before Summer cut him off.
"Really, that's great. Think about it, Cohen! Gotta go. Bye!" Summer said all in one breath. Seth's frown grew even more at the rushed brush off. What was going on? Before the dial tone began to beep in his ear, Seth could make out the muffled sound of Summer's voice saying, "C'mon Coop, it'll be okay. Puke more."
XXX
"Hey Ryan," the voice was warm and friendly. "You're up late." Kirsten Cohen was standing in the blackness of the summer night dressed only in her thin nightgown. In the backyard of her sprawling Newport estate, she stared at the seventeen year old boy she had adopted. He was currently trying to hide the cigarette in his left hand. Seeing that she already noticed it, he sheepishly shrugged.
"Sorry." He said the word but the expression wasn't in his face or his tone. In fact, there was no expression on hip at all. He was just there.
"Ryan," she was ready to tell him off, explain the house rules and the health consequences all over again. But she didn't. Instead, she picked the cigarette from in between his fingers and took a drag herself. She grinned slightly as the boy's mouth fell slightly, in a look of slight shock. Kirsten wasn't actually a smoker and never had been, but like most people, she had gone through some serious partying as a teenager. This was the first time since Seth started grade school that she had a cigarette to her lips. The dark taste lingered on her tongue, invading her pearly whites and delicate throat. It was exactly what she needed now.
"I didn't know you-"Ryan tried to explain his shock, but Kirsten wouldn't let him. She just shook her head, letting the mass of blonde-brown hair collapse around her shoulders. Returning the cigarette, she crossed her arms across her chest, protecting herself from the light breeze. Though the summer heat was ever present, the ocean still brought relief in slight ways. The breeze was one of them.
Kirsten didn't know what to say at that moment, her eyes were so concentrated on the black abyss in front of her. The night was her time when neither her son nor her husband could interrupt her thoughts. It was only on nights when she couldn't stand all the many notions in her head that she stood out in the backyard and watched the night. Feeling silly, she never told anyone of this habit. But when she suffered setbacks in her work, Seth troubled her and Sandy didn't understand, Kirsten turned to the night to save her sanity.
"Are you okay?" Ryan expressed his worry for his guardian.
"Just had a lot on my mind."
"I know the feeling." He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his worn blue jeans. "Theresa." That was all the explanation Kirsten needed. It had been over two weeks since Ryan and his girlfriend had lost their child. It had been that long since Theresa moved to Atlanta. That long since Ryan moved back into the pool house. That long since the house was full of silent sad looks and perpetual "are you okay"'s.
"Me too." That brought Ryan his second surprise of the night. He knew that he had not stopped worrying about his girl- wait, they were no longer dating, but he worried anyway. Each time he looked at a watch or a clock, he quickly added the time difference and imagined what she would be doing. She left two weeks ago and he had received only a single phone call. It wasn't even a meaningful call. She merely announced that she was okay and settled. She said she missed him, but she didn't include an "I love you" not even after Ryan had said the three solid words.
Kirsten, on the other hand, received quite a few calls from Atlanta in the first days after Theresa had left. Though she didn't want to admit it, Kirsten was Theresa's only confidant in the whole pregnancy. Theresa's own mother rejoiced when the baby was lost- there would be no illegitimate grandchild to be ashamed of. Kirsten was open, accepting and in Theresa's eyes, perfect. Shuffling her feet slightly to the left, Kirsten stood as close to Ryan as she could without touching. They were connected. Both scared and worried. Both missing a girl across the country. Both desperately wanting Theresa to come back.
XXX
"Hello?" Summer Roberts answered her cell phone impatiently. She was sitting on a bathroom floor in her Waldorf-Astoria suite in New York City. Though she only planned a two-week trip, the incessant pleadings of her best friend forced her to extend her trip another week. Summer, though always willing to prove her friendship to the lovely Marissa Cooper, was annoyed at the idea of having to spend another seven days with her increasingly drunk friend.
"Summer? Hey, its me."
"Cohen!" Seth's face began to fill with a slight pink color as he heard his ex-girlfriend happily exclaim his name. On the other end of the line, Summer scolded herself for saying his name so excitedly. She dumped him less than a month ago for the unforgivable sin of running away to Ecuador and only leaving a single hurried hand-written note. But the sound of his voice, now more than ever, brought a comforting warmth to her, like hot cocoa after a long day in the snow. She wanted so much to see him. To be able to rush to JFK Airport now and take the first flight back to Newport. But she couldn't. Marissa needed her.
"How are you? How's New York?"
"It's..." Summer turned to her right, where Marissa was vomiting about a gallon of various alcoholic beverages into the toilet. "Good!" She plastered a fake smile on her face just to prove herself right. The smile soon disappeared when she realized Seth couldn't see her.
"Really?" His face mouth began to turn more and more into a pronounced frown listening to her joyful voice. He was happy that she was happy. But, Jesus/Moses, why couldn't she be happy there with him?
"Uh, yeah. You should seriously consider coming here sometime. It's completely fab!"
"Yeah? Well, I'll think about that so-"he hear an abnormal groan in the background before Summer cut him off.
"Really, that's great. Think about it, Cohen! Gotta go. Bye!" Summer said all in one breath. Seth's frown grew even more at the rushed brush off. What was going on? Before the dial tone began to beep in his ear, Seth could make out the muffled sound of Summer's voice saying, "C'mon Coop, it'll be okay. Puke more."