Author's Note: This story takes place during the episode, "The Goodbye Girl." It's my take on something different happening when Eddie pays them a visit during Caleb's Man of the Year party. I have a lot of OC stories in my head, so this will just be the first of many. Enjoy.
"Hey man," Seth said as he came up to Ryan's side, having seen the forlorn look on his foster brother's face. "So, I don't want to jinx it or anything, but I think this party is going pretty good, I mean without the fights and everything." Ryan cast his eyes sideways in a look that told Seth he wasn't thinking the same thing. It was all Seth needed. Caleb was Riviera's Man of the Year and this was his party. Considering the history of parties for Caleb, Ryan was just waiting for trouble to happen. He just hoped this time it wouldn't involve him. "Oh come on," Seth urged. "Just for tonight, nothing is wrong. Tomorrow you can go back to angst ridden Ryan, but tonight, Theresa and Marissa are friends. If anything, you should be happy and I should be the brooding one. You know, switch it up a little?"
"Anna?" Ryan gave a guess.
"Yeah," Seth admitted, his humor instantly gone. "You know, she said she wasn't leaving because of me, but I don't know. Do you think she'd even tell me if it was? I don't think so, that's how girls work, they're schemers."
"Yeah," Ryan answered, looking over to where Marissa and Theresa stood, talking with Summer. Theresa looked good tonight, wearing Marissa's dress. He wasn't sure whether to thank Marissa for helping her out or to tell her to back off. He knew she was trying, but there were hurts that Ryan couldn't get past. Mainly, the whole Oliver thing. He knew he should be able to brush it off, Marissa had apologized a million times and had really meant it, but he didn't know if he could forgive her. He'd tried his best to trust her, but when he really needed her to, she hadn't trusted him. That was what hurt the most.
"Seth," a feminine voice called. They turned and saw Anna. She was underdressed, signaling that she wasn't staying. In her hands was a letter. Seth smiled warmly and gave her a hug, which she only half returned as she fought back the urge to cry. "Can we talk?" She asked.
"Sure," Seth said, nodding towards Ryan who gave him a half smile of encouragement. Seth led Anna into the house. Ryan glanced over to where the girls stood and saw Summer watching her boyfriend go into the house. They made eye contact and Summer smiled at him. He tried to give her a heart felt smile back, but the fact that Marissa and Theresa were standing next to her prevented him from doing so.
Theresa suddenly touched Marissa's arm and excused herself from the girls. She walked towards Ryan, who set his glass down and shoved his hands into his pockets. She came up to him, smiling shyly at him. "So this is what your parties are like," she joked with him quietly.
"Yeah," he said, nodding as he scanned the crowd. He spotted Kirsten and Sandy off to the side. Neither one of them looked too thrilled to be hosting such a party. "All that's missing are the scandals and fist fights," Ryan gave a half chuckle as Theresa smiled. God she was beautiful. She'd been ever since they were kids and he'd always had a thing for her. The girl next door, that's what she was. The beautiful, funny, independent girl next door. How many nights had he snuck into her bedroom through the window just to escape his own life, wanting to be a part of hers? How many times had she comforted him after he'd had an argument with his mom, or after AJ had laid into him? He'd lost count.
"Look," Theresa began and he knew that she was ready to talk about Eddie, her fiancée. He tensed his shoulders, trying not to let his aggravation with the whole situation show through. "I'm sorry that I got you involved in this whole mess. I love Eddie, I really do. It's just…" she struggled for the words.
Ryan helped her through it. "You're not sure you're ready."
Theresa nodded. "Yeah. He's a good guy and he can support me and he loves me, I know, I'm just, it's so early. I shouldn't have come here," she said suddenly, turning to leave.
Ryan reached out and grabbed her elbow. She stopped and turned to look at him. "I understand why you did," he whispered quietly. "I'm not saying it was right or wrong, but I understand."
Theresa nodded when her eyes suddenly widened as they looked pass Ryan. Ryan turned just in time for his face to be met with a fist. He saw stars for a moment and heard Theresa scream out Eddie's name. Ryan was just regaining his senses when he felt Eddie grab the front of his shirt and pull him close. "I said I wouldn't let her go without a fight," he said harshly.
Ryan, not enjoying being roughed up like this, brought his arms up and shoved Eddie away. Eddie didn't take to that very well and tackled Ryan in the midsection. Ryan felt the wind be knocked out of him and then felt the sensation of flying as his feet left the ground. But it was short lived as suddenly the two of them came crashing down onto a table, breaking it as the food and punch went crashing to the floor. The sound of chatter from around the party instantly stopped and was replaced with a shocked silence.
Suddenly angry, Ryan swung out his arm and connected a fist with the side of Eddie's face. Eddie backed off for a second, giving Ryan time to gain his feet before he used his momentum to sack Eddie in the stomach, bringing them both back to the ground. Ryan used the couple seconds he had to get off two punches to Eddie's face before the taller and stronger man rolled, throwing Ryan off. Ryan landed hard on his butt, grunting as he did so. Eddie gained his feet quickly and reached for his belt. What Ryan saw made his heart stop.
Eddie pulled a gun from his belt and aimed it at him. There was a resounding gasp from the crowd and Theresa screamed for Eddie to stop. Ryan sat still on the ground, staring at Eddie's face, a face he had once known was his friend. A face he had once trusted with his life. There was a time when Eddie had protected him, just as Trey and Arturo had. They were both in jail, and Ryan doubted Eddie would be free for long. But those thoughts were instantly thrown away when Eddie let out a scream of anger.
"I told you!" He screamed, his voice shaking as tears formed in his eyes. Ryan heaved in breaths, trying not to panic. He absently noticed Sandy and Kirsten standing off to the side, Sandy getting ready to do anything he could from keeping the deranged man from shooting his foster son. Marissa and Summer stood by Theresa, who looked mortified that this was happening. Seth and Anna had come out to see what the commotion was about and Ryan took the time to look over at Seth, who was shocked beyond belief. He looked frightened, like a little kid watching a scary movie. Ryan instantly felt guilty for putting that fear there. It was times like this when he thought it was wrong to ever move in with the Cohen's. Why did he have to make his problems theirs as well?
"She's my fiancée," Eddie was screaming, bringing Ryan's attention back to the gun that was pointed at him. "But where does she run off to? To you, you little fucker!" Eddie screamed and the gun shook.
"Someone has already called the police," Sandy said from the side of Eddie, holding his hands up as Eddie flashed the gun towards Sandy. Kirsten grabbed her husband's arm.
Ryan had had enough. No more endangering his foster family. He slowly got to his feet, aware that the gun was again pointed at him. He held his hands up. "Eddie, nothing happened," he said quietly. "She was scared."
"And she ran to you! I've known her just as long as you have, why would she run to you?" Eddie had tears streaming down his face now. Ryan knew that wasn't a good sign, it meant Eddie wasn't in his right mind.
Theresa shook her head. "Eddie, please," she begged, but Eddie just shook his head.
"No!" He screamed, stilling the crowd again as he waved the gun around wildly. "No, I won't do this. You are mine!" He said, his head turned towards Theresa. "He can't have you, he can never have you."
Ryan was about to say something but a gunshot cut him off. There were a couple of screams from the crowd and Ryan froze, wondering who Eddie had shot, if he had shot anyone. He distantly noticed that Sandy and Jimmy had tackled Eddie to the ground, the gun having been knocked away. Good, no more hurting. He looked over at Seth, noticing that his foster brother was staring wide eyed at him. Suddenly Seth was running towards him. Ryan tried to call out to him, wanting to know who was hurt, but he couldn't catch his breath. His legs started to feel weak and all of a sudden he was falling.
Seth reached him just as Ryan's knees hit the ground. Seth's face was horror stricken. Ryan noticed Kirsten running to them as well. Someone handed her their jacket and she pressed it against Ryan's stomach. Ryan wanted to protest, that the motion hurt. But when he saw how scared Kirsten looked, he couldn't bring himself to say anything. It was then that Ryan realized who had been hurt.
It was him.