Written for Melanie39
Thanks to Brandywine421 for beta-ing this for me. She's a star.
Disclaimer- I own nothing.
TruceHailey sat up at the counter drinking her third cup of coffee of the morning. The house seemed strange without Kirsten but the family stood by her decision not to return home until she knew she had a handle on her drinking. It did seem odd to be stepping into her sister's shoes but she was enjoying it. It made her realize that there was more to life than 24-hour parties and hedonism.
She smiled as Sandy hurtled in and grabbed a bagel and hurried out again. She had noticed that his surfing sessions grew longer and longer in the mornings but she guessed that a big part of that was filling the gap until Kirsten came home.
Seth sleepily wandered in next, headed straight for the coffee pot as he did every morning and took his first slurp as if it was pure nectar.
"Where's Ryan?"
Hailey shrugged.
Seth walked out to the pool house.
Hailey realized that Ryan hadn't made an appearance yet. He was always the first one up and always in the kitchen first. She still felt awkward around him. She didn't quite know why but they just rubbed each other up the wrong way, they spent most of the time sniping at one other. She thought he was an uptight prig and she knew that he thought she was a spoilt bitch.
She couldn't understand how he'd suddenly sandwiched himself into the family. She just didn't get him at all.
He was also someone who had stolen her pool house.
Seth came back into the kitchen.
"He's sick and he's not coming to school today."
"Yeah right… anything to get out of school…well he's going, I don't want him underfoot all day I've made plans."
Seth snorted at her and said she really didn't know Ryan well, if he admitted he was ill then he was ill. Summer beeped her horn outside and Seth made his way out of the house.
Hailey was pissed, the last thing she wanted was to have Captain Sensible around to spoil her fun, she'd invited a few girlfriends over for a mid morning cocktail and gossip session…she did not need Ryan making the place look untidy and giving her disapproving looks.
She strode to the pool house and flung open the door. She poked the lump in the centre of the bed with her foot.
"Out…you're going to be late for school!"
"I'm not going in today." Came the muffled reply.
"Yes you are…you're not missing school just because you want to lay in bed." She nudged the bed again.
Ryan emerged from beneath the covers, his hair stuck on end; he did look kind of pitiful.
"Typical …I suppose you're dying or have you got the man-flu…one sniffle and you think its pneumonia?"
"Leave me alone Hailey, I'm not in the mood today."
"What's wrong with you anyway?"
Hailey peered at him; he did look a strange shade of green. In response to her question Ryan launched himself out of the bed and ran to the bathroom. The door slammed behind him and she heard the unmistakable sounds of someone throwing up.
Great…so he was ill. What was she meant to do? She decided the best thing would be to just leave him alone… she certainly wouldn't be rubbing his back or fussing over like she'd do to Seth… no, she'd let him get on with it. This wasn't her problem.
Hailey wondered why she didn't enjoy her cocktails as much as she should have. The gossip went over her head and she kept looking at her watch.
She had called a halt to the gathering when surprisingly, she realised that guilt was setting in. The poor guy was chucking his guts up and she had just left him alone all morning.
She tentatively opened the door and saw that his bed was empty and the bathroom door was shut, she heard the toilet flush. A pale and wan Ryan emerged a few seconds later.
"You still being sick?"
Ryan responded with a grunt.
"Can I get you anything?"
"Nope."
"You sure…I could make you a ginger tea, my mom always used to do that for us when we were sick. It helps to settle the stomach."
Ryan crawled back into bed.
"Look Hailey, I don't need anything O.K. You don't have to be nice to me just because I'm ill."
"Come on Ryan…. there must be some Atwood family remedy that I could get you…"
Ryan snorted.
"The only Atwood family remedy I remember was being told to be quiet and not make a mess otherwise my nose would be rubbed in it."
Ryan pulled the covers over his head.
Hailey walked back to the kitchen, he'd been joking right?
She sat down with a coffee and tried to think of what she actually knew about Ryan. For some reason it was not very much, she'd never asked, never been interested. When she had first arrived back in Newport all Kirsten had said was 'Ryan lives with us now.' and left it at that. She'd never had any in depth conversations with Sandy as to what Ryan was doing here and Seth was just a puppy dog trailing around after him.
What she did know was that he felt like he had to save any damsel in distress according to Seth and he had helped her out in L.A when she'd been stripping but who the heck did he think he was, he had made her feel like a child and what right did a kid have to make her feel like that. She also knew her father had hated Ryan for some reason but Hailey reflected that Caleb had taken a dislike to so many people in his lifetime it had never warranted any real thought. So she knew diddlysquat about him really.
In her defence she hadn't been around that much and she'd been distracted by Jimmy, then she had left again.
She always figured that he was a friend of Seth's who had just had a falling out with his parents or something, a car theft had been mentioned but that had always seemed at odds with the studious, uptight boy she saw. It was only after the shooting that she realized Ryan's background was not Newport. She would admit that she was a little self –absorbed, and she just had never been interested in the intense interloper in the family except to goad him on occasion.
With that one muttered comment from him she felt the feeling of unease.
She got up and put the kettle on…. whether he wanted it or not she'd make him some tea. She added some plain rice crackers on the tray and made her way to the pool house. Ryan was asleep in a tangled mass of bedding. Hailey put the tray down by the bed and wondered what to do next. He did look kind of sweaty, she remembered her mom checking her forehead when she was sick, maybe she should do that. She reached over her hand and it hovered over Ryan's head …this was weird, she was only touching his head but she felt like she was invading his space. She mentally kicked herself, she was Kirsten by default whilst she was away and Kirsten would have no qualms about checking his temperature. She laid her palm down flat on his brow.
She didn't know who jumped the highest.
"Jesus…what the fuck are you doing Hailey?"
Ryan was breathing hard, and he looked around the room as if he was trying to figure out what was going on.
"Sorry…I didn't mean to wake you. I thought you might have a temperature…"
"So you thought you'd scare the shit out of me?" Ryan scowled at her.
Her voice trailed off, she was sure Florence Nightingale hadn't had this problem.
"I made you some tea."
Ryan face softened slightly and he picked up the cup and took a sip.
"Thanks…you didn't have to...so what's the verdict?"
"Huh?"
"Do I have a temperature?"
Hailey laughed.
" I don't have a clue…I'm not very good at stuff like this."
Ryan raised his eyebrow at her.
"I'm sure I'll live. I'm feeling a bit better now."
"You don't look better!"
"Thanks Hailey…you have such a soothing sick bed manner. Seriously I don't feel like I'm going to upchuck all my internal organs anymore, which is an improvement on an hour ago. The tea's good…thanks."
"You should try and eat something."
Ryan eyed the crackers on the plate; he picked one up, took a small bite then put it down again.
"I think I'll pass."
He made a face.
"They have all the texture of eating polystyrene."
"Hey a thousand Newpsie's who live on them can't be wrong!"
"Believe me they are wrong…I'd get more nutrition from chewing cardboard."
"But they are healthy and fat free. How can you not find them yummy?" Hailey laughed.
"Thanks but I'll give them a miss, I'm not so sure my stomach is up to anything at the moment…even something as bland as those."
Hailey put her hands on her hips.
"You've got to eat something Ryan."
Ryan smirked at her.
"I thought you said you weren't good at this 'cause you are doing a freakishly good impression of Kirsten at the moment."
"And there's me thinking we'd called some sort of truce…then you accuse me of being my sister…that's harsh Ryan." Hailey smirked at him.
Ryan looked serious.
"That was a compliment Hailey…your sister is quite a lady. She let me into this family and let's face it not many people around here would let a screw up fresh out of juvie into their homes."
"Can I ask…where are your parents…what happened?"
It was a simple enough question Hailey thought and they were having for probably the first time a conversation that didn't involve just sniping at each other…that maybe they could be friends instead of people who took pot shots at each other. She hadn't banked on him shutting down quite so much at the genuine enquiry. He just blanked it like she had never asked it. He put his cup down and got up, not looking at her.
"Thanks for the tea…it was great. I'm …I'm going to take a shower now."
He grabbed some fresh clothes from the storage unit and shut the bathroom door behind him. Hailey stood feeling like she'd somehow just made the biggest social faux par in history and she didn't know why. She heard the shower start to run and slowly walked back to the kitchen. She wondered why she suddenly cared that she might have upset a boy that up until six hours ago she didn't give a shit about.
For a half an hour she held the phone before she dialled.
"Kiki, how are you?"
"Hailey, I'm good and I'll ignore that you just called me Kiki...how are things at home…Sandy not making you watch all the musicals on cable every night? How are the boys?"
"No things are good…well… Ryan's home sick." Hailey felt awkward.
"Sick! What's wrong…Ryan's never sick." Hailey was surprised at the panic this created in her sister's voice.
"He's fine, stomach flu but he's feeling a bit better now, he's just had some of mom's special ginger tea that she used to make for us when we were sick…do you remember?"
"Mmm, I used to pretend that I felt ill just so she'd make it for me…you sure he's O.K."
"Yeah …except I think I've just upset him…." Hailey twisted her hair around her finger.
"Ohh Hailey…what did you do...are you two still rubbing each other the wrong way?"
"No…I thought that we were getting on for the first time ever and then I think I screwed up."
Kirsten sighed down the phone.
"Go on."
"I asked him about his family."
There was a long pause the other end of the phone before Kirsten answered.
"Hailey…it's not you. It's just that he doesn't really speak to any of us about his family or home life before he came here."
"Why?"
"Let's just say that it wasn't the best…the few things he has let slip haven't been exactly heart warming. I think Sandy knows more than he lets on but we keep waiting for Ryan to open up to us. I don't think he ever will now to be quite honest. I will tell you this Hailey…it might make you understand, his own mother moved and left him a note saying he was on his own…he was just sixteen…he had nowhere to go, that's how he ended up with us."
They had talked for a while and Hailey had promised to ring her later with an update on how Ryan was.
Hailey tried to imagine what that must have felt like, to be kicked out on the street at that age with no money…she had been pretty free spirited when her mother had died. She had left home but she had always had her families love and …she smiled ruefully at herself her fathers credit cards…Ryan was right, she was a spoilt rich bitch. It made more sense now why Ryan treated her like she had just thrown away life's opportunities on having a good time.
It made more sense on why he was so uptight and intense all the time. She had a vision of him as a snot nosed kid, living in a trailer park waiting to be rescued. She felt depressed. She felt embarrassed.
It was an hour later when she was dozing in front of the Tivo, a blanket wrapped around her legs when Ryan sat down next to her; he was spooning yoghurt into his mouth. He did have more color in his face now but he still looked pale.
"What are you watching?" He asked quietly.
"A TV movie from the other night...it's a real life drama about a woman's struggle to get away from her abusive husband."
Slick, Hailey thought but she had to bring it up.
"I think I'll give it a miss." Ryan got up.
"Look Ryan I'm sorry for before…. it was none of my business."
Ryan looked at her through his bangs. He bit the inside of his cheek and seemed to ponder before he answered.
"No…I'm sorry, I was rude…it's just that things aren't always black and white Hailey…I don't like to talk about my past because it's that…the past. Some people want their lives turned into a movie of the week…. I prefer to forget about it… O.K."
Hailey nodded. Ryan turned to go.
" So I taped a Monty Python marathon…wanna watch that instead?"
Ryan smiled.
"Yeah…yeah that would be great."
She flipped the blanket up.
"Room for two…"
Ryan paused before he sat down next to her. He slumped down and tucked the blanked around his body.
"I don't suppose 'The Life of Brian' is on there."
He gave a shy smile to Hailey.
"Ohhh yeah."
Fin...maybe... maybe not