Title: The Sit-Down

Summary: "Ms. Fisher called to tell me that she wants us all to sit down and start talking about colleges for you, Ryan."

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to The O.C..

Ryan sat down in an empty chair in Ms. Fisher's office, opposite Sandy and Kirsten. He was not looking forward to this. He hadn't discussed college with Sandy and Kirsten yet. They didn't know anything about his college plans, or lack thereof.

And he was a little annoyed at Ms. Fisher for going behind his back and talking to Kirsten. After he told her that he wasn't planning on going to college, and wasn't going to let the Cohens pay for it. She just totally ignored him. Obviously, she didn't care what he wanted. She was going to make sure that he was going to go to college, any way that she could. Ryan didn't understand why she would care so much, though. It was his life.

Ryan snapped out of his thoughts when Ms. Fisher began.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cohen, thank you for coming."

Sandy told her, "It's our pleasure."

Ms. Fisher looked through some thick brochures on her desk. "I've taken the liberty of getting together some information about universities in California that offer programs in Architecture --"

Both Sandy and Kirsten looked at Ryan, surprised.

Sandy said, "Ryan? You're interested in becoming an architect? That's great! Why didn't you tell us?"

Ryan opened his mouth, but he didn't know what to say. Before he could figure out how to tell them why he didn't say anything to them, Kirsten jumped in.

"Wait, isn't that what you told me? Last summer, right? That you used to want to be an architect?" Ryan gave her a little half-smile and a nod, confirming it. "Ryan, I think it is fantastic that you are reviving your old dream."

Ryan quickly glanced at Sandy, then looked down and away. He wasn't sure if Sandy would remember what he told him the first time they met, in juvie.

"Where I'm from, having a dream doesn't make you smart. Knowing it won't come true, that does."

There was a reason why, last summer, that he no longer had the dream to be an architect. It was a pipe dream. It could never come true. Not for a kid from Chino.

"Ryan."

Ryan looked over at Sandy. He was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and looking hard at Ryan. Ryan could tell that Sandy remembered.

"You're not from there any more, Ryan. You're from here now. You can have a dream. You can make it come true. We're here to help you with that in any way we can."

Ryan knew what Sandy was implying with that. He shook his head. "I'm not going to let you guys pay for it, Sandy. You've done too much already."

Sandy smiled. "Well, we're not going to let you not let us. We insist. As a member of our family, we're not going to let you miss out on college. It's for your future."

Ryan looked at Sandy, incredulous. "You're not going to let me not go to college? Last week, I wasn't even going to finish high school. You didn't seem to care about that --"

Sandy was about to respond, but Kirsten put a calming hand on his arm, before things could get out of control between him and Ryan.

She told Ryan, "Of course we cared, Ryan. We hated it. But you had to do what you had to do, for Theresa and... um..."

Kirsten looked over at Ms. Fisher, unsure if she knew about the baby, or if Ryan wanted her to know.

Ryan didn't care if Ms. Fisher knew, so he finished Kirsten's sentence. "And the baby."

"Right. But now there isn't a baby, and you're back here with us. You're free to have a real future, and that includes college. You can do, you can be, anything you want."

"OK, all right, I get that. But I'm not letting you pay for it. There are scholarships, loans, I can work..."

Sandy asked him, "Why go through all that? I can tell you first hand, it's not easy. Come on, Ryan, college would be a great opportunity for you, just like Harbor is. You're letting us pay to send you here, why not college?"

Ryan nodded thoughtfully. "You're right." Sandy smiled, thinking he had a victory. But Ryan continued, "I shouldn't be letting you pay for Harbor, either. I should be going to public school. It's free. And Newport Union High is a good public school."

Sandy was alarmed. "What? No! That's not what I meant --"

Ms. Fisher finally jumped into the family discussion, seeing that things had gotten out of control.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Why don't we all calm down?"

Ryan, Sandy, and Kirsten all took a deep breath, sat back in their chairs, and looked at Ms. Fisher.

She looked at Ryan. "Ryan? You came to Harbor last year, right? And the Cohens paid for it?"

Ryan nodded.

"What factors went into your decision last year to allow them to pay to send you here?"

Ryan thought for a moment. "Well, mostly I wanted to go to the same school as Seth and Marissa." Ryan glanced over at Sandy and Kirsten. "And the Cohens kept saying that it was this great opportunity. It just seemed easier to go along with it."

Ms. Fisher nodded. "OK. That's fair. Are all those factors the same this year?"

"Pretty much."

He didn't really care so much this year about being in the same school as Marissa, since they weren't going out any more, but other than that, yeah, things were the same.

"So maybe you can agree to keep going here, and letting the Cohens pay for it?"

Ryan glanced at Sandy and Kirsten again. "Yeah, I guess."

"OK, good." Ms. Fisher took a deep breath. "Maybe we should table the discussion about colleges while we let everything calm down. Ryan, why don't you take these..."

She leaned over her desk and handed Ryan the college brochures.

"And let's plan on meeting next week. Same time?"

Sandy and Kirsten looked at each other, then Sandy responded, "That would be fine."

Sandy then stood up and shook Ms. Fisher's hand. "Thank you, Ms. Fisher. Sorry about the family drama."

"That's quite all right, Mr. Cohen."

The End.