Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 22:04:35
From: Justin's Boy <justins_boy@hotmail.com>
Subject: Ryan's Love 21: 'Tis the Season

     ****This story is completely fictional. It is not meant to imply
anything about the sexuality of the real Ryan Phillippe or about any
of the other people mentioned. Nor is it meant to be representative
of the relationship of the real Ryan and Reese.

     *Well, here's the second part. I hope you'll enjoy it. Thank you to the
people who've written to me about the stories! I'm glad that my update has
introduced new fans to the series as well as letting loyal fans from before
get reacquainted with Ryan's Love. If you want, please write me at
justins_boy@hotmail.com to let me know what you think.



     "Tell again! Tell about Santa!" Ava jumped up and down, looking like a
miniature version of her mother. She was already a little over two years
old, which was impossible to believe. Where had the time gone?

     "Sweetie, I've told you about Santa five times in the last hour. It's
time to get you all dressed up for the party. Are you ready for your bath?"
Reese asked, her face a bit flushed. Getting ready for a party and taking
care of a two year old weren't tasks that should be combined.

     "No bath!" Ava was gone in a flash, running out of the living room
towards her room.

     "I'll never learn," Reese sighed. "Never ask if they're ready for a
bath."

     "You run the water, I'll see if I can lure her out," I smiled.

     "How long until we can send her to boarding school?" Reese called over
her shoulder with a smile as she headed for the bathroom.

     I smiled at that, knowing that Reese would sooner cut off an arm then
send Ava off to school. The child was the light of her mother's life. The
light of all of our lives, for that matter.

     The party was less than two hours from starting and things were still
pretty chaotic. Ryan hadn't been kidding when he said Reese was on the war
path. Ever the perfectionist, she wouldn't be satisfied until things were
exactly right.

     We'd hired a caterer and the food had already been dropped off at the
house. The house looked great, all decked out for the Holidays. Reese had
sent Ryan out with a list of last minute things that had to be purchased,
but other than that all that was left was getting herself and Ava dressed
for the festivities.

     After grabbing a package from under the Christmas tree, I knocked
softly on the door to Ava's room and popped my head inside. Once upon a
time, the room had been Ryan's private gym but we'd converted it into a room
for Ava awhile back. Ryan had bought the house in his bachelor days, when
all he'd really cared about was the huge swimming pool and the huge master
bedroom and bathroom.

     "Ava?" She was sitting on the floor playing with a teddy bear and
didn't look up at the sound of my voice.

     "No bath," she said, her voice clear and defiant in spite of her lack
of eye contact.

     "Hey, I used to hate baths as much as you do. They weren't any fun when
I was a kid. I didn't have any cool bath toys, though," I said, sitting down
on the floor next to her.

     That caught her attention and she looked up at me. "Toys?"

     "Yeah. Baths just aren't any fun unless you've got some cool toys to
play with. I bet if you opened up this present, you'd find something really
cool," I smiled, handing her one of the gifts I'd bought for her.

     Ava needed no further encouragement to rip the package open. Inside
were a pack of erasable bath crayons. Even at two, Ava had already displayed
a passion for drawing. Well, scribbling might be a slightly better word, but
everyone had to start somewhere! I was convinced she'd grow up to be a great
artist.

     "Crayons?" Ava asked.

     "Bath crayons. You can draw all over the bath tub with them!" I told
her. "If I'd had fun stuff like that when I was a kid, I would have loved
baths."

     "Thank you!" Ava hugged me briefly and darted out of the room. As I
turned to watch her mad dash towards the bathroom, I noticed Ryan standing
in the doorway, smiling.

     "You aren't supposed to let her open her gifts before Christmas
morning!" Ryan grinned at me.

     "Desperate times," I smiled, standing up. "Did you get everything?"

     "Everything on Ree's list, yeah. But not the one thing I really want,"
Ryan said with a sigh.

     "And what's the one thing you really want?" I asked, wrapping my arms
around his waist and pulling him against me.

     "Fifteen minutes alone with you, preferably minus any clothing," Ryan
whispered, pressing himself into me and softly kissing my mouth.

     "Fifteen minutes? I'd need at least an hour," I smiled. "I can barely
get enough of you as it is."

     "I've got a surprise for you, after the party," Ryan smiled, his eyes
sparkling.

     "What kind of surprise, Ry?" I asked, thinking of my own surprise for
him which I'd been planning on giving him after the guests had left and we
were alone together.

     "A Christmas surprise, silly. What other kind of surprise would I give
you on Christmas Eve?" Ryan asked, grinning.

     "Seth? Ryan?" Reese's voice broke into our conversation. "Could one of
you finish Ava's bath for me? I've got to start getting ready!"

     "I'll go," Ryan said. "One last kiss to see me off?"

     "Oh, yeah. The bathroom is so far away. Such a long, dangerous
journey," I smiled as I brought my mouth back to his and felt his tongue
meet my own.

     "Hello??" Reese voice cut into our kiss and Ryan pulled back with a
groan.

     "After the party," Ryan said, his voice full of promise.

     "Can't wait," I whispered, softly nibbling on his lower lip before
letting go of him.

                            ***************

     "Merry Christmas!" AJ shouted as I opened the door for her. Throwing
her one free arm around my neck she kissed my cheek.

     "Merry Christmas, AJ. God, it's good to see you!" I smiled at her and
reached out to take the packages she was carrying.

     "I know. I was beginning to forget you had a face and a body. You're
just that disconnected voice on the other end of the telephone these days!"
AJ said.

     "Well, maybe you'll stick closer to L.A. for awhile and we can save on
those long distance bills," I smiled.

     AJ had left the cast of Felicity after the second season and in the
time since she'd been landing film roles that took her to places like New
York and Chicago for long stretches of time. Despite that, we'd kept in
touch, talking on the phone on a regular basis.

     "We can only hope!" AJ laughed. "Am I the first one here?"

     "Yes, you are. And what's with the gifts? You weren't supposed to bring
gifts!" I chided with a smile.

     "Oh, please. Like I'm not going to bring Christmas gifts for my best
friend and his family?" AJ said. "Don't worry, they're mostly for Ava
anyway."

     "Just what my daughter needs, more gifts! She's already spoiled," Reese
smiled as she joined the two of us.

     "How could she not be, with the three of us for parents?" Ryan asked as
he walked in, carrying Ava in his arms.

     "Ava, do you remember AJ?" I asked.

     "Nope," Ava answered matter of factly, earning smiles from the three of
us and a laugh from AJ.

     "Well, I remember you, Kiddo. And I brought you some presents!" AJ
smiled.

     "Open now?" Ava inquired, looking pleadingly at her mother.

     "Yes, you can open them now," Reese smiled. Ryan put the little girl
down and she promptly went to work unwrapping the gifts AJ had brought for
her.

     "I don't know if anything can top her favorite toy. She loves that Pink
Power Ranger,"  I whispered to AJ, earning a playful punch on the arm.

     Once Ava had torn apart all the wrapping and exclaimed over the toys,
AJ and I had a moment alone to talk while Ryan helped Reese clean up the
mess and Ava danced off to her room with a new Barbie clutched in her hand.
We sat down on the sofa and I gave her another quick hug.

     "So, how goes it?" I asked.

     "Great. The movie is going well," AJ smiled. She was currently working
on a horror movie in Long Island.

     "I'm glad to hear it. So, what about the non-professional aspect of
life?" I asked. AJ had dated steadily since her break up with Scott Speedman
a few years earlier, but no one guy had captured her heart yet.

     "Actually, not bad for a change," AJ said, suddenly looking like the
cat that ate the canary. It was obvious she was dying to spill some piece of
news.

     "Oh, don't tell me! You finally met Mr. Right?" I asked.

     "Not exactly," AJ answered, looking mysterious.

     "What?! C'mon! I can't take the suspense!" I laughed.

     "Well, I'm not saying this person is the one for me. I don't know yet.
But it's possible. I haven't felt this way in a long time!" AJ's eyes were
practically glowing with happiness.

     "Okay, so who is it?" I asked. "What's his name?"

     "Lisa Ann," AJ said, looking directly into my eyes, waiting for a
reaction.

     "Lisa Ann?" I asked, at first not quite getting it. Was she joking?

     "Yeah. Lisa Ann Hadley. We're doing the movie together," AJ explained.
"She's an actress. Mostly she's done daytime so far."

     "AJ, you're involved with a woman?" I asked, my mind struggling to
grasp this piece of news.

     "Yeah. Are you shocked?" AJ asked. She was smiling, but I noticed a bit
of worry creep into her expression.

     "Well, yeah. I mean, it's great! If you're happy, then that's great!
But I just didn't know you liked women. I had no clue!" I said.

     "It's strange, Seth. I've always found certain women attractive. I
never really gave it that much thought, though. Probably because I've also
found men attractive. I just sort of dismissed my attraction to women."

     I nodded, understanding what she meant to a degree. I'd never really
been attracted to women, but there had been plenty of times early in my life
when I'd tried to deny or dismiss my attraction to men.

     "I haven't really been seriously involved since Scott. You know that.
No guy has really been able to reach me in that special way lately. Hearing
about Scott and Kerri's relationship all the time really didn't help,
either. I mean, I know that I'm the one who ended things with Scott. And I'm
glad he's happy now, that he found something special with Kerri. But it all
just made me wonder what was wrong with me, that I couldn't love him enough
to make it work between us," AJ said.

     "Do you think..." I hesitated, then plunged on. "Do you think that the
reason you weren't able to make it work was because he's a guy? And deep
down, you knew you wanted something else?"

     "I don't know. Maybe. I mean, I am attracted to guys. I don't think I'd
call myself an out and out lesbian. More bisexual," AJ smiled.

     "Wow. AJ, why didn't you tell me any of this? We've talked on the phone
at least twice a week and you've said nothing!"

     "I don't know. I guess I wanted to tell you in person, gauge your
reaction," she smiled.

     "So, Lisa Ann. Nice name," I smiled. "What's she like?"

     "She's great, Seth. We have so much fun together! I don't want to rush
this at all, but it's really like we just fit, somehow," AJ sighed happily
and I felt a surge of joy for her.

     "That is so great! I can't wait to meet her!" I grabbed AJ into a hug
just as the doorbell rang again.

     Ryan and Reese walked in from the kitchen and Ryan grinned when he saw
me hugging AJ. "Hey, let's not forget that Seth is taken, all right AJ?"

     "You don't have to worry, Ryan. So am I!" AJ declared.

                           ***************

     The guests all began to arrive. Most were industry people that Ryan,
Reese, or I had worked with or gotten to know in some form or another.
Ryan's closest friends, Breckin Meyer and Seth Green were both present,
Breckin with his new wife, Deborah. The two were still newly weds and Ryan
liked to tease Breck about copying him by marrying a screenwriter.

     Deborah and I had struck up a friendship as soon as we met, which was
probably a good thing considering how close Ryan and Breck were.

     "Great party, Seth!" one of the guests called out to me as I made my
way across the room.

     "Congratulate Reese, she's the one who did it all," I called back,
smiling.

     "Seth, it is a lovely party," Kerri Russell said, reaching out to touch
my arm.

     "Thank you, Kerri," I said. Kerri was never someone I'd been close to.
She was a bit too formal for closeness, somehow. But Scott Speedman an I had
developed a friendship when I'd worked on Felicity and now that the two of
them were dating, they were a package deal.

     "Yeah, man," Scott added his agreement with a smile. "Have you seen
Foley? I thought he'd be here by now."

     "No, I haven't. I'm beginning to wonder if he decided not to come," I
said, looking around the room again. So far, Scott Foley was a no show.

     "Amy Jo looks very happy," Kerri commented. I followed her gaze across
the room to where AJ was having a conversation with Reese and Sarah Michelle
Gellar.

     "Yes, I think she is," I smiled, looking back at Scott and Kerri.

     "Isn't it nice to see old friends for Christmas?" Kerri smiled up at
Scott and he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek.

     I smiled at the two of them, glad to see that they were obviously so
much in love. At about that moment, I noticed Scott Foley walking into the
living room. As he stopped to shake Seth Green's hand and exchange hellos
with some of the other guests, I excused myself and made my way back across
the room.

     "Scott! I thought you weren't going to show!" I smiled, giving him a
quick hug.

     "Sorry! We got a little... um... tied up," Scott smiled, blushing a
bit.

     "I see," I laughed.

     "He doesn't mean that literally. He won't let me tie him up for real,
no matter how many times I beg," Josh Jackson came up from behind Scott and
smiled as he shook my hand.

     "Josh!" Scott chided, blushing a bit but still smiling.

     "I'm glad you could make it, Josh! Scott said he wasn't sure if you
were going to be able to be here for Christmas," I said, giving him a quick
hug.

     "Yeah, well, I couldn't spend Christmas anywhere but with the guy I
love," Josh said. "Listen to me, I sound like some kind of cheap Christmas
card! Where's the food?"

     I laughed and pointed Josh in the right direction. He gave Scott a
quick kiss on the lips and headed for the buffet.

     "So, I see that all is right in paradise?" I smiled at Scott.

     "Yeah. Everything is great," Scott said and I couldn't help but notice
that I'd never seen him look happier in his life.

     It had been a rough road for Scott and I was glad that he'd finally got
the happiness he deserved. After a crush on me and then a painful break up
with Simon Rex, Scott's love life had been pretty rocky.

     Six months earlier, Scott had run into his old buddy Josh Jackson. They
knew each other from the early days of Dawson's Creek, when Scott had played
a recurring character on the show in the first season. After that, he'd
gotten Felicity. Since Dawson's Creek was shot in North Carolina and
Felicity was shot in L.A., he hadn't seen much of Josh in the years since.

     We'd actually been having lunch, Scott and I, the day that he met up
with Josh again. I'd been able to see the sparks between them right away
when Josh came over to our table and joined us for a few minutes to catch up
with Scott.

     "He was flirting with you!" I told Scott in an excited whisper as soon
as Josh was back across the room at his own table.

     "No he wasn't!" Scott shook his head, looking surprised at my
declaration.

     "Scott, yes he was! He was totally flirting with you," I insisted,
suddenly feeling like I was back in jr high or something.

     "No way. Josh isn't even gay," Scott said. "When I was on the show, he
and Katie were dating."

     "I don't know about that, Scott. All i know is, that was flirting.
Serious, out and out flirting. The guy is interested in you!"

     "Seth, you're wrong. We were buds down in North Carolina. If he'd been
interested in me, he could have made a move then. He didn't," Scott said.

     I looked over my shoulder and saw that Josh's gaze was on our table.
"Scott, he's looking at you! He likes you!"

     "Seth, stop it! He does not," Scott had started to sound a little
peeved, so I'd backed off and we'd finished up our lunch talking about other
things.

     Just as we were about to call for the check, Josh stopped by our table
again.

     "Man, it was good to see you again!" He'd reached out and grabbed
Scott's hand to shake it, but I noticed that he held it just a second longer
than was necessary.

     "You too, Josh! You'll have to say hi to everyone for me when you go
back to the set," Scott said.

     "Hey, listen. I'll be in town for a few more days. Why don't you call
me and we can go do something together?" Josh suggested, handing Scott a
slip of paper with his number written on it.

     "Oh. Sure, that sounds great man," Scott had shot me a quick glance and
I could see the surprise in his eyes.

     "Great! I'll look forward to hearing from you, dude. It was nice
meeting you," Josh had turned his attention to me for a split second before
smiling at Scott one last time and walking out.

     We sat in silence for a few seconds, neither of us saying a word. I'm
not one to say 'I told you so', after all.

     "I told you so!" Okay, so I am.

     "You really think he likes me?" Scott had sounded both doubtful and
hopeful all at the same time.

     "He couldn't have been more obvious, Scott!" I smiled, excited for my
friend.

     "Maybe. But, he's in North Carolina most of the year. It wouldn't work
out," Scott sighed.

     "Stop it! Don't look for reasons it wouldn't work out before it even
gets started! Just go with it, man. Call him. See what happens from there,"
I advised.

     "I don't know," Scott sounded dubious, but I could tell from the look
in his eyes that he was going to call.

     The rest, as they say, was history. Long distance relationships are
hard work, but Scott and Josh seemed to be making it work.

     "Scott!" AJ had spotted the newest arrival and rushed to join us.

     "Hey!" The two swept each other into a big hug.

     "Here we all are again, the three musketeers," AJ smiled.

     "More like the three stooges," I laughed.

     "How have you been?" Scott asked AJ. I excused myself as AJ took him
off to a corner and began to tell him of the latest developments in her love
life.

     I made my way slowly around the room, talking to our friends and
guests. No matter what I was doing, or who I was talking to, my eyes always
found their way back to Ryan, as his did to mine. There was a sparkle in his
eyes and a small, personal smile that was just for me. A smile that sent a
thrill of anticipation down my spine and made my heart beat a bit faster.

     As happy as I was to see my friends and spend time with them, I
suddenly couldn't wait until they were all gone and Ryan and I were alone
together.