OC Fic : Some Things You Might Not Have Known About The Core Four (1/4)
Title : Some Things You Might Not Have Known About The Core Four
Author : Helen C.
Rating : PG-13
Summary : Title says it all.
Disclaimer : The characters and the universe were created and are owned by Josh Schwartz. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Huge thanks to joey51 for beta'ing this!
Thing #1
As Ryan waited by the car, while Marissa said goodbye to Theresa, he found himself thinking about how surprisingly familiar Chino still seemed to him.
Despite the fact that Theresa was getting engaged and hadn't invited him, despite being pushed around and threatened, despite Marissa's crisis, he had almost enjoyed his day here.
Plus, Marissa slapping Luke was a memory he would cherish for a long while.
Too bad the price to pay for that was having to deal with his friends' barely veiled accusations of selling out and enjoying himself while they had to fight to get enough money to get by.
In Newport, he was the kid from the wrong side of the tracks; here, he was the guy who had been lucky enough to escape-as if his old life didn't cling to him anywhere he went.
Every time one of his old friends told him, in a resentful tone, that he was the lucky one, it all came back to him-the disappointment, the aching loneliness, the fear and the anger he had felt on that fateful August evening.
"I did call you, remember?" he wanted to yell at them. "But you were busy partying, getting high, getting laid, and you couldn't be bothered to find a place for me to crash for the night."
He could almost see what their faces would look like-stunned and maybe apologetic.
Or maybe still wary.
Damn it, but they hadn't been the ones who were suddenly alone and homeless. They hadn't been the ones trying to find somewhere to spend the night-a couch, or even a spot on the ground.
They hadn't been the ones reduced to calling a fucking stranger for help.
And sure, Ryan knew they all had their troubles to deal with.
It didn't stop him from being mad.
It didn't stop him from thinking that Trey had been right, after all, when he had told Ryan that helping people wouldn't pay back, that one day he'd need them and they wouldn't come through.
And yes, things had turned out well for Ryan.
But for all Ryan had known back then, Sandy could have been a child molester, or a bully like AJ, and Ryan wouldn't have been in a position to deny him anything.
So, yeah, he had been lucky.
Happy ending and all.
And it had only cost him his family and the life he had always known.
And fuck, but didn't any of his friends see that? Didn't any of them know that sometimes he was so fucking homesick that it was all he could do to hold back his tears?
Didn't any of them that he was worried about Dawn, about Trey, and now about Theresa?
Didn't any of them know that Newport would never be his home the same way Chino had been?
Didn't they know that he was torn between two different worlds, between past obligations and a newfound, tentative sense of belonging?
Didn't they know that he was still petrified that the Cohens were going to change their minds and kick him out, just like Dawn had done. And what would he do then?
But words didn't change anything, and Ryan didn't think for a second that saying all these things would make him feel any better.
So when Theresa pulled him aside while Marissa climbed into the car, and asked him how he was doing, he smiled and said that everything was fine.
Yes, the Cohens treated him well.
And yes, he still missed her.
She hugged him.
Said she missed him too.
Went back to her party, leaving him alone with Marissa.
Ready to go back to his new life.
Thing #2
Author : Helen C.
Rating : PG-13
Summary : Title says it all.
Disclaimer : The characters and the universe were created and are owned by Josh Schwartz. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Huge thanks to joey51 for beta'ing this!
Thing #1
As Ryan waited by the car, while Marissa said goodbye to Theresa, he found himself thinking about how surprisingly familiar Chino still seemed to him.
Despite the fact that Theresa was getting engaged and hadn't invited him, despite being pushed around and threatened, despite Marissa's crisis, he had almost enjoyed his day here.
Plus, Marissa slapping Luke was a memory he would cherish for a long while.
Too bad the price to pay for that was having to deal with his friends' barely veiled accusations of selling out and enjoying himself while they had to fight to get enough money to get by.
In Newport, he was the kid from the wrong side of the tracks; here, he was the guy who had been lucky enough to escape-as if his old life didn't cling to him anywhere he went.
Every time one of his old friends told him, in a resentful tone, that he was the lucky one, it all came back to him-the disappointment, the aching loneliness, the fear and the anger he had felt on that fateful August evening.
"I did call you, remember?" he wanted to yell at them. "But you were busy partying, getting high, getting laid, and you couldn't be bothered to find a place for me to crash for the night."
He could almost see what their faces would look like-stunned and maybe apologetic.
Or maybe still wary.
Damn it, but they hadn't been the ones who were suddenly alone and homeless. They hadn't been the ones trying to find somewhere to spend the night-a couch, or even a spot on the ground.
They hadn't been the ones reduced to calling a fucking stranger for help.
And sure, Ryan knew they all had their troubles to deal with.
It didn't stop him from being mad.
It didn't stop him from thinking that Trey had been right, after all, when he had told Ryan that helping people wouldn't pay back, that one day he'd need them and they wouldn't come through.
And yes, things had turned out well for Ryan.
But for all Ryan had known back then, Sandy could have been a child molester, or a bully like AJ, and Ryan wouldn't have been in a position to deny him anything.
So, yeah, he had been lucky.
Happy ending and all.
And it had only cost him his family and the life he had always known.
And fuck, but didn't any of his friends see that? Didn't any of them know that sometimes he was so fucking homesick that it was all he could do to hold back his tears?
Didn't any of them that he was worried about Dawn, about Trey, and now about Theresa?
Didn't any of them know that Newport would never be his home the same way Chino had been?
Didn't they know that he was torn between two different worlds, between past obligations and a newfound, tentative sense of belonging?
Didn't they know that he was still petrified that the Cohens were going to change their minds and kick him out, just like Dawn had done. And what would he do then?
But words didn't change anything, and Ryan didn't think for a second that saying all these things would make him feel any better.
So when Theresa pulled him aside while Marissa climbed into the car, and asked him how he was doing, he smiled and said that everything was fine.
Yes, the Cohens treated him well.
And yes, he still missed her.
She hugged him.
Said she missed him too.
Went back to her party, leaving him alone with Marissa.
Ready to go back to his new life.
Thing #2