A/N: There were many things in this episode that I didn't like – here's my alternative. In character? Out of character? I think I care, but sometimes, IMO, people need to act out of character when the situation demands it. Oh, and I know that sounds like an excuse.
----
"Hey, Son," Sandy said to Seth.
From the kitchen stool, Seth rolled his eyes and looked away as his father exchanged pleasantries with the two other men in the room. He sighed. If he'd been any smarter, he'd have run out of the house after hearing Luke's father announce that they had "a guest." In the last three months he'd lived with the Wards, Luke's father had let their friends into the house without any fanfare so he kicked himself for not noticing the red flag.
"Hi, Dad, how's it going?" Seth said with far less enthusiasm than he should have – but he didn't care. He was still mad at him for letting Ryan leave without a fight.
Sandy walked up to him and pulled him into a bear-hug. It had been a while since he'd seen his only child and he couldn't believe that he'd let him stay away for so long. From the way his skin glowed and the feel of him, Sandy could tell that Seth was healthy, but his dejected demeanor reminded him of the boy he'd known a year ago and not that semi-man he'd grown to be over the past year. He knew that Ryan's leaving had really affected him, but frankly speaking, enough was enough.
"So, your mother is worried, Seth. When are you coming home?"
Seth smirked and looked at him from the corner of his eye. "Is Ryan going to be there?"
"No."
"Well, neither am I."
"No? Where are you going to be?"
Seth looked at Luke. "I'm going to stay here," he said, hoping to get some reassurance from him.
Luke simply stared ahead without betraying any emotions. His father had okayed it but from the look on Mr. Cohen's face, he knew he was better off staying mute.
Sandy looked from Luke to Seth. "That's where you're wrong, Seth. You're coming back with me. This is killing your mother and I can't stand for it any longer."
"Whatever. You can't make me. You left at my age--"
"Exactly!" Sandy interrupted. "I left home at your age so I know what it's like. And I don't want you to go through what I did. It's really rough out there on your own and the world is much different now. Besides, this isn't the same thing. What do you want to do now that you've left home? Do you even have a plan? Or is your big plan to hide here with Luke's family?"
"Dad--"
"No, let me finish. You said you're not coming back so how do you plan on paying rent and everything else? Or do you want your Mom and me to do that for you? Not that we'll mind. But we'll prefer to do that with you where you belong."
"I didn't ask you for anything, Dad. I can take care of myself – just like Ryan."
"Oh, you think Ryan is working at a construction site for fun? You think he'd be doing that if he had better options?"
"But he does, Dad! He does," he said, waving his arms. "He should be living with us, but you just let him go like that." He emphasized his point by snapping his fingers.
"I let him go because he felt he had to leave – it would have been wrong for me to stop him."
"Well, I felt I had to leave so why isn't it wrong for you to stop me?"
"Because you don't have a choice." Sandy looked around the room and shook his head in disgust. "Well, that's about enough of this."
"I agree," Seth said, folding his arms.
"Hey, Luke," Sandy called, "Could you show me to Seth's things?"
Luke hesitated for a moment then walked towards him.
"Dad!" Seth said, springing to his feet. "What are you doing?" he screamed, attempting to block his path. "Dad, this is ridiculous!
"You're right, Seth, this is ridiculous." Sandy turned around to look at Carson, "Do you know any cab companies I could call?"
Ehm... I can...," he was about to offer them a ride to the airport but thought better of it. Sometimes, families needed to duke it out and having him in the car might bring some unneeded tension. "Sandy," he said, waving him off, "don't worry about it – I'll call one for you." He reached for the phonebook.
Sandy thanked him and smiled. Then he turned around to see his son standing in front of him. "Seth, get out of the way," he said through barely moving lips.
Seth couldn't describe what was in his father's voice but it had been a long time since he'd heard it so he quickly stepped aside.
Seth hovered over and watched his father fill his duffle bag with all this belongings. He tried every conceivable method to convince him to stop; going from accusing him of going against his beliefs and forcing him to do something against his will, to begging him to let him stay. But the whole time, his father focused on the task at hand and simply ignored all the jabbering.
"Seth, it's time to leave," was all he said as he zipped up the bag.
"Dad, please!" Seth begged as he watched his father leave the room. He was still following him and pleading as he heard Luke's father inform them of the waiting cab and up till the time he stepped out of the house and watched Ryan climb out of the yellow car.
----
Ryan didn't know what he could say to make Seth return to Newport. He'd been unable to shake the memory of the look on Seth's face as he left. He wished that things would turn out differently and felt very guilty about the way they had. Choosing to live with Theresa had nothing to do with the way he felt about the Cohens, because if he could, he'd stay with them forever. But being a father meant he couldn't be selfish and he somehow hoped he'd be able to explain that to Seth.
However, watching Seth walk out behind Sandy, his face pasted with a look that was unmistakably fright was the last thing he'd expected – watching him and Luke arm wrestle would have made far more sense.
"Hey, Ryan," Sandy said, pulling him against his chest. "I guess you're going to have to turn around, huh?" Sandy pulled away from Ryan and walked to the trunk of the car. He gestured for the confused cab driver to open it then filled it with their bags.
"Ryan, what are you looking at? Quickly say hello to Luke then come back here – Seth's coming home."
----
The fifteen minute cab ride to the airport seemed twice as long as Ryan's flight to Portland. Sandy joked and laughed while Seth ignored everyone and stared out of the window. Ryan was curious to know how Sandy had managed to get Seth to return back with him but he couldn't bring himself to ask.
They were pulling into the airport when his cell phone rang. Ryan looked at the caller-id and saw that it was Theresa. He groaned then flipped open the phone.
"Theresa, I meant to call earlier – how was the doctor's appointment?" He couldn't believe he'd forgotten to call her.
"Ryan...," Theresa started, her voice cracking.
"Theresa, what's wrong?" The pregnancy had been going remarkably well that Ryan had only just begun to relax and expect everything to go as hoped.
"The doctor..."
"Theresa, what did the doctor say?" Ryan noticed Seth and Sandy staring at him so he mouthed that they should go ahead without him. Neither complied.
"Ryan, our baby..."
"What happened?" He could hear her crying. It was funny what living with someone for a few months could teach you about them. When Theresa thought Ryan was asleep, she sometimes cried herself to sleep and on those nights, Ryan didn't even know if he was allowed to console her, so he reacted by feigning ignorance. But now that she was audibly crying on the phone, he didn't have that luxury.
"R...Ry... Ryan the... I...,"
"Theresa, what?"
"I lost her. The doctor said..." was all Ryan heard before the phone slipped from his grip.
---
Ryan put the key into the hole one more time. And for the eighth time that night, the lock didn't turn. He put his finger on the doorbell and didn't take it off. Theresa had explained that she didn't want him to return, but he couldn't do that. He'd only been able to know the baby through her and he was devastated, so he couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like for her to have something growing inside her die. And he wanted to be there for her. The baby was the one thing that was uniquely theirs and just as they shared her life together, he wanted them to share her loss.
His finger wasn't on the bell for up to two minutes before he heard the sounds of chains and bolts being moved. Theresa's mother quickly stepped out of the house and shut the door behind her.
"Eva--"
"No, Ryan, you have to leave. Theresa doesn't want to see you."
"But I have to see her. I need to know what happened."
Eva shook her head and shrugged sympathetically. "Ryan, it's God's will – you have to accept that."
Ryan sighed. At that moment, he wasn't sure what he felt about God. "How's Theresa doing?"
"She'll be fine.""What can I do to help? Can I see her?"
Eva looked into his eyes and shook her head. "Ryan, it'll be best for everyone if you just left. It wasn't meant to be so there's no need to prolong this." She smiled up to him and slowly caressed his right cheek. "Ryan, we know you were not happy here, so why don't you go back to where you belong, eh? That's the best thing you can do for Theresa. Go home."
Ryan stood in confusion as he watched her walk back into the house. A few moments later, he heard the sounds of chains being hooked and locks being turned. He took his bag off his shoulder, pulled out a shirt, zipped the bag back up then dropped it to the floor. Then he sat on the porch, rolled the shirt into a ball and as he lay down, he placed it between his head and the hard floor. If Theresa wasn't going to let him go to her, he'd have to wait till she came to him.
---
Ryan awoke with his back in knots. Before he looked up and saw Eva staring at him, he'd thought that the combination of the bright sun, cold ground and stiff muscles had kept him from having more than a three hour sleep.
"Hi, Eva," he said, sitting up.
"Ryan, what are you doing?"
"I'm waiting for Theresa to come out."
Eva sighed then stretched her hand down to pull Ryan up. When it was her turn to look up at him, she said, "Theresa said she's not going to come out if you don't leave. We appreciate what you're doing but Ryan, try to understand that this is the best decision for everyone. Please go home."
With a growling tummy, Ryan sat and watched sprinklers turn on, little kids biking on the sidewalk, cars doing 70mph on a 35mph road and about two hours after the sun set, he reached into the front pocket of his bag and pulled out his cell phone.
He flipped it open, looked through his address book for a number, then called it.
After summarizing the previous day's events to Kirsten, he took a deep breath in. He knew what he needed to say but didn't know which words to use. Upon exhaling, he blurted out, "Would it be okay with you if I came back to live at your house?"
"It's not my house, Ryan, it's our home," she corrected. Ryan could hear the smile in her voice. "And, of course, you can come home – do you know how long I've been waiting to hear you say those words?"