hackthis_archive | The O.C. - The Apocalypse Has Been Postponed

1. My baby wrote her first dS story. I'm so proud. *gets choked up*

2. I’m confused. Mischa Barton won an award for her acting? What acting? Was this Actress Most Like a Wooden Board? Yeesh.

3. OMG, they're going to have a Flash. I mean MY Flash! My baby, Bart. They're going to have Bart on Smallville. I swear if they fuck this up I will cut them.

4. It's hard to be on holiday when

lalejandra asks for stuff so nicely.

The O.C.
The Apocalypse Has Been Postponed

Most Americans had this overwhelming need to share everything, which Seth didn't even realize was indicative of his culture until he got to Tahiti and wanted to tell everybody about his best friend who, maybe, he was in love with, but who had knocked up this girl from back home even though he already had an alcoholic girlfriend; and had he mentioned that he had a girlfriend, too? So, really, he couldn't be in love with his best friend, and in fact, he was probably just confused, which was why he was in Tahiti anyway; and did they know it took 52 days to sail there from California?

Yeah, people in Tahiti weren't really interested in his life saga, and it kind of sucked. Actually it sucked a lot, and Tahiti was really nice, but it wasn't Newport and there was no Ryan, and Seth really missed Ryan. Tahiti was a lot further away from Chino than Newport, and Seth couldn't even call Ryan because he didn't have Theresa's phone number.

He didn't even know what he would say when he called anyway, but, "Hi, I miss you and pleasepleaseplease come home so I can come home too" might've been a good opening line.

*

He only stayed in Tahiti for four days, but it was a nice four days because he couldn't sail all that way and then not stay for at least a little bit. Tahiti was actually really damp at that time of year, which he totally hadn't planned on. In fact it was really humid and moist, and partly sunny all the time, and he hadn't packed for that. Tahitian heat was nothing like Newport heat, and his sunburn was soggy and damp and it didn't really flake and peel. It was actually pretty nasty.

So he went home.

*

His father met him at the airport, his eyebrows climbing into his hairline with every step that Seth took towards him, and Seth had never seen his dad do the fist-clenching thing that Ryan sometimes did and it worried him. Actually everything his father did until they got home worried him, because he didn't actually say anything and Seth knew the only person who liked to talk as much as him was his dad. But he just hugged Seth until he couldn't breathe anymore, and then he dragged him to the car.

His dad didn't talk in the car either, and the longer he was silent the more Seth babbled on and on, and the more nervous he got until he couldn't breathe for the anticipation of what his dad was going to say and how much trouble he was in. It was like being back in Tahiti all over again with the humidity crushing his lungs until he couldn't breathe at all.

*

His reunion with Ryan was pretty subdued by Seth's standards since there was no shouting or tears or breaking of dishes or guns flailing in his direction -- of course that could've just been because Seth was still numb from having his father rip him several new assholes in under 1000 words, and his mother hugging him until his bones threatened to crack. Seth tried not to notice how strongly she smelled of gin, and he knew he'd be thinking on it a lot more once the blood stopped draining from his face and pooling in his feet, because no one had actually said that Ryan was back; they just sent him to his room, and Ryan was there, sitting at his computer and frowning at the weather report for Tahiti on his iMac.

Seth hadn't fainted since Marcus Walsh hit him the nose during dodgeball and all that blood made him really woozy, but he locked his knees together and leaned against the doorway just to be on the safe side.

"Hey, man, you going somewhere?" he rasped out in a voice beaten down by his mother's tears and too much sun.

Ryan's raised eyebrow said a lot, and it strangely reminded Seth of his dad. Maybe it was true that people were attracted to people who reminded them of their parents -- it was a scary thought, but least Ryan didn't have the Cohen eyebrow.

"I didn't know it ever dropped below 80 degrees in Tahiti," Ryan said, powering down the computer.

Seth shrugged and pushed away from the doorway when he was sure he could walk without falling on his face. "It gets kinda cold at night."

Ryan nodded as Seth crossed his room and dropped down on the edge of his bed. Ryan didn't say anything, but Seth could feel his eyes scanning all over him. He'd missed Ryan's quiet appraisals; he'd missed the quiet that came with being alone with Ryan a lot of the time. He'd talked to himself a lot on the trip trying to fill up the silence, but it never seemed to feel right, like it was always full of Ryan-sized holes.

"Tired?" Ryan said.

Seth didn't even realize he'd closed his eyes until he opened them again, and he gave a small smile when Ryan poked him in the side "It was a long trip, man, I had to do everything myself."

"Don't leave without me next time," Ryan said. "You don't have to do everything on your own."

Seth smirked even as he took in the thin lines around Ryan's mouth and the corners of his eyes. "Next time," he said, "take your own advice."

-end-

For

lalejandra and

serialkarma, like always.