fandom: The OC
title: travelogue
rating: PG? No smut, no violence, possible bad language.
word count:
disclaimer: I don't own anything OC related or any of these pictures that I googled.
author's note: This fic is for
shakespearebint since she commented on my
Pay It Forward Meme a few months ago. I have only finished one promised fic so far, so here's the beginning of yours, hon. Inspired by your amazing pictures of your travels, I decided to send Ryan on a roadtrip.
author's note 2: This is slightly experimental. Light on dialogue and, well, hopefully neat.
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I'm not sure how I feel today. Relieved. Elated. Unsure. I don't know what's going to happen now. I'm 22. A college graduate. What now? Is it just another picture in a yearbook before things crash and burn? How is this graduation different from the last one if it means I have to be on my own again? Can I hold down a job that doesn't involve wiping tables down? Are my designs good enough to actually build outside of a classroom - am I good enough to be more than a student?
I'm not sure how I feel today.
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Ryan had been speechless when Sandy handed him the keys to the brand new SUV and the checkbook to his trust fund.
After their gift of college tuition for four years, he hadn't expected anything else.
But with Kirsten's new hobby of day trading while Sophie was at school, the Cohens were the richest family in town living in the suburbs.
"Don't spend it all in one place, son," Sandy smiled, hugging him without hesitation.
Ryan had learned a lot in college. How to write a twenty page paper in ten hours with a hangover. How to sleep with twins and not feel guilty. How to counsel a brother on a separate coast. How to be a big brother to a little girl.
But he didn't feel ready for life on his own yet.
He wasn't ready to let go of Berkeley.
"Speechless? I should've known," Kirsten smiled, joining them on the porch.
"Thank you. You didn't have to..."
"Hush, of course we did," she said, still smiling. "What are your plans now that you're a graduate?"
"I think...maybe I'll take some time to myself. See the country...before I start working again. I feel like I've always been working," Ryan admitted, looking at the checkbook.
Sandy grinned widely, clamping his hands on his shoulders. "That's a great idea. Roadtrip, or should we be buying you tickets to Paris?"
He winced at the idea of Paris. As much as he loved Taylor, it had started to hurt more than it helped. They didn't work, no matter how much they wanted to. "Roadtrip in the new ride, I think," he said.
"I'll make sure you have Triple A before you do any more planning," Kirsten said.
Once she was inside, Sandy leaned over and motioned to the Mail Truck in the driveway. "I'd offer to let you borrow the mail truck, but I'm afraid it may still be wanted in a couple of states from me and Kirsten's own roadtrip after graduation."
"I think I'm good," Ryan laughed.
He'd make this graduation better than the last.
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I don't know what this place is called, but I had to stop and take a picture. It's just so...beautiful. There aren't any words I can use to describe it so I had to stop and take a picture so I wouldn't forget it.
There are so many things that I wish I could remember. So I'd know if they were real. Like my brother's arms around me after I skinned my knee. Seeing Teresa's laugh the first time I told her I loved her. Kissing Marissa's soft lips on the Ferris Wheel. Holding my Mom's hand when she left me at kindergarten.
I just wanted to remember this place.
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He picked up Luke in Oregon after a solitary drive up the coast.
Seth was still in Rhode Island and since he'd missed Ryan's graduation because of his exams, he'd given Ryan permission to miss his own as long as he could join Ryan's roadtrip at a later date.
He'd kept in touch with Luke over the years, even driven up in his jeep to hang out on his campus a few times, and vice versa. Luke had mellowed even more with age and had gone through a string of relationships with sorority girls but was very like Ryan in his inability to find a long term chick.
They drove the SUV to the beach and sat on the hood with their beers and watched the sunset and got caught up.
"Mom caught Brad and Eric boinking the same girl last week," Luke said on his fourth beer.
"No shit?" Ryan chuckled. "It wasn't Kaitlyn was it?"
"Fortunately," Luke scoffed.
Newport was still the same. He didn't know if he missed it or not.
More...not.
"You still talk to Kaitlyn?" Luke asked.
"Yeah, every couple of weeks. She's got a new boyfriend according to Frank, so less lately," Ryan shrugged. "She was at graduation."
Luke nodded, staring in the distance. "She's really hot now."
Ryan punched his friend in the shoulder.
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I made Luke pull over so I could get this shot. I don't think I set speed right and I don't know if I used the flash, but I hope it comes out okay.
I don't think I've ever been to a city this big. It's like it swallows you whole and if you lose your way, you'll never get out.
It's buzzing and vibrating with life and it's more alive than I've ever been.
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Seattle was fucking crazy.
They smoked pot with this chick that had natural dreadlocks down to her waist and played a guitar with such emotion that she'd made Luke cry into his beer.
Ryan gave him the night alone and found a hotel with free wireless and forwarded the censored pictures he'd snapped so far.
He wasn't the best photographer in the world, but he had a fancy camera thanks to Kirsten and it didn't take much more than a click.
Ocean shots and highway shots. A picture of the turtle they'd pulled over to move out of the road in honor of Summer's cause to counteract the next shot of the ginormous burger Luke had gotten at a diner outside of Washington.
He emailed the Cohens, his Dad, Kaitlyn and Taylor. He sent Seth the uncensored pictures, too, of the strip club and Hooters they'd wandered through.
Summer's GEORGE bus was stopping in Seattle the next morning and she was going to join them so they had to get their manly fun out of the way.
Seth had also forbid him from corrupting his precious fiancée.
When Summer had decided not to go back to Brown, it had caused huge problems between her and Seth. But she had a promising career as an activist and didn't think that college was right for her.
Seth had put off college for over a year because of Summer and it had taken a lot for him to forgive her but they had worked it out, albeit long distance.
He'd proposed over a SKYPE call and had her ring overnight mailed to her.
Summer had used the Cohen's as a home base and Sandy had taken her under his wing and mentored her so she wouldn't break any major laws and still make a difference.
He'd been genuinely surprised when she'd called him and asked if she could tag along on his roadtrip.
But he considered her part of his extended family and she was welcome.
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I like it here. It's so big. And so old. It has so many secrets that it will never tell. I don't want to know them either, but it's weird to stare something so daunting in the face.
I could fall forever if I wanted to. Take a deep breath and just fall in.
Ryan go splat.
But I know how many people would have to stare over that edge holding out their hands.
I know that the canyon doesn't want me anymore. It hides a new secret in its depth from me.
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They camped in the Grand Canyon.
He'd never been camping before. Luke confessed to being a boy scout that quit because of a bad incident with poison ivy and Summer became their guide.
She told them stories about sleeping outside in the rain to save owls and being chased down a snowdrift clutching an endangered fox in a sack.
She glowed with enthusiasm and he didn't see any trace of the girl that had hit on him that first night in Newport.
She was beautiful in the firelight without makeup and Seth's ring sparkled on her hand.
They drank tequila until the fire went out and then they sat in the dark and talked about Marissa.
It was surreal to be sitting with the two other people in the world that may have loved Marissa as much as he had.
He woke up last and heard Summer's rapid fire voice scolding Luke for his request for bacon for breakfast.
He took one sip of the camp coffee and announced he was ready for a hotel.
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