Disclaimer: I don't own this. If you recognize this, I didn't create it.

Prologue: Ryan Comes Home

Ryan Atwood had come back home. He looked up at the front of the Cohen home and hitched his bag up higher onto his shoulder. Taking a deep breathe, he reached up and knocked on the door. The door started to creak open and Ryan gave a small smile at the sight of a pale and drawn Kirsten. "Hey Kirsten."

"Ryan?" she asked, tears coming unbidden from her eyes. "Oh my God, this is another dream. I'm going to reach to touch you and you're going to dissipate, just like you always do." She said, reaching out to touch his shoulder.

Ryan remained silent, allowing her hand to make contact. Kirsten's hand collided and then squeezed tightly around the flesh. "You're real." She said, still sounding as though the thought hadn't completely sunk in yet.

Ryan nodded, tears starting to leak from his own eyes. "Yeah, I'm real."

"Oh my son, my baby boy." She sobbed, stepping forward and enfolding him in her arms.

Accepting the embrace, he wrapped his arms around the only real mother he'd ever known and allowed his emotions to take over for the first time since he was a child. The two cried for a long time, both content to just let the tears come. Sandy, Kirsten's husband, came to the door to see what the problem was and smiled at the sight in front of him. "Ryan?"

Ryan disentangled himself from Kirsten, keeping one arm around her waist in order to stay close to her. "Hey Sandy." He said, remembering what Sandy had said the day he'd left.

Sandy smiled at the blond boy who's hair glistens in the sunlight just like Kirsten's. "It's good to have you back, Ryan."

Ryan nods, before Sandy steps forward, pulling him into his arms. The three just stand together, holding each other. Ryan pulls away and notices that his brother, Seth, is missing. "Where's Seth?"

Kirsten's face fell and for a moment, she appeared as though her heart was breaking once again. "He's not here, Ryan. He left the same day you did. He left us a note that said he was going to Tahiti on the Summer's Breeze and he'd be back eventually." Sandy said.

"What?" Ryan asked, thrown by this piece of news. He had expected his brother to be there when he got back, pissed at him, but at least at the house to be pissed.

"I don't know when he's going to be back, Ryan."

"No, he's supposed to be here. He's not supposed to be gone. I have to apologize for leaving." Ryan insisted, looking devastated.

Kirsten understood the boy's distress and reached out, touching his hair gently, secretly pleased when he didn't recoil from the gesture like he usually did. "Come on inside, sweetie. I'm going to assume that you're here for good?"

"I'm back. I'm not leaving again. Theresa's baby belongs to Eddie, not that I really had any doubt. She decided that she couldn't raise a child, or keep me there with her. So she gave the baby up for adoption. And I came home."

Kirsten smiled at the boy she considered a son and then hugged him tighter. "Come on in. I'm sure Marissa will want to hear from you. Tomorrow. However, you're all mine for the rest of the night."

Ryan smiled, nodding in agreement. Following the two into the house, he shut the door on his old life and completely embraced his new one.