Hi, this is my first fic and please review!

Trouble

Marissa giggled. She was obviously drunk. "Come on, Ryan, just let me get another bottle for us."

"No, Marissa, you've had enough. Let's go. The salesman is gonna notice us," Ryan muttered, trying to pull her away.

Marissa shook his hand off. "Aww, you're no fun, Ryan. Didn't you guys steal all the time in Chino?" She walked into the convenience store once more, snuck behind the shelves and put a can of beer into her bag just as the salesman's back was turned.

"Whatcha doing, kid!" The salesman wheeled around. Caught red-handed.

Sandy was silent all the way back home. It was lucky the store owner didn't want to press charges, so the police had just settled with a warning, or Ryan would have been back in Juvie now. Ryan stared out of the window, trying to look nonchalant about the whole thing, but deep in his heart, he felt both ashamed and scared. Honestly, what on earth had possessed him steal the beers with Marissa? He had a good life here, living in an infinity poolhouse with his lawyer, and it was just like him to mess everything up. Screwed up like a true Atwood.

Ryan left the car as soon as Sandy pulled over. Sandy quickly caught up with Ryan in the living room. Ryan turned around fearfully, starting to apologize. "I'm…" he said just as Sandy dealt him a sharp slap across his face. Ryan gulped. He really had to shut up now or he'd only piss Sandy off even more. That was rule no. 1 back at home with AJ. No backtalk.

Unfortunately, Sandy had just taken his silence as a mutinous one, thinking that he wasn't willing to apologize. He slapped him again. Man, he really needed to bring this kid to his senses. "Stealing again, Ryan? You really want to be like your big brother, huh? A thief?" He was yelling now. Ryan winced but Sandy didn't notice. "I'm telling you, I do NOT tolerate a thief in my house, got that?"

That was it. Of course he got that. He didn't hear the rest of what Sandy was saying. Of course Sandy was telling him to leave, who would tolerate a piece of trash like him staying around and bringing nothing but trouble? "Yeah, um, ok," he whispered and ran off to the pool house, his face still red and burning, both from his shame and from Sandy's slaps. Alright, he'd pack his bags and leave.

Sandy watched as Ryan ran off, refusing to listen again. So he was going to hide away again without even a bit of remorse at what he'd done. But Sandy had to admit to himself, he shouldn't have lost control there. This was one of the few times when he actually raised a hand his sons actually. There was this once when Seth was in fifth grade and Sandy had caught him smoking. Seth had actually cussed at him that time when he ordered him to put it out, and he got so angry that he just couldn't stop himself from dealing Seth a sharp slap across his face. Although Sandy did feel bad about it afterwards, at least Seth had definitely learnt his lesson after that. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Everyone was too emotional now anyway. He'd talk to Ryan in the morning.

The next morning Sandy got up at five, deciding that a good surf would probably help clear his head a bit to get him ready for his talk with Ryan, apologize about his outburst last night and address the issue of stealing in the house. As he went downstairs however, he was startled to hear muffled yells coming from the poolhouse in the distance. Wondering what on earth was wrong with Ryan; he put his surfboard down and went to the poolhouse in annoyance.

By the time he'd reached the poolhouse, the yelling had subsided and Sandy peered in. The sight that met him at the door was definitely not what he had expected. He found Ryan alone in the poolhouse, sleeping, but there was a backpack by his bedside and a note on his desk that he had probably written the night before. He picked it up and read it.

"Dear Sandy,

I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused. Please don't be angry. I know I don't deserve to be here, and I'll be going. Thank you for all you did for me, and sorry once again.

Ryan."

Sandy couldn't believe his eyes. That kid had actually planned to run off? At that moment, Ryan started thrashing in his bed again, getting himself tangled up in his sheets. "Noooo! Please! Please," he yelled hoarsely. It soon became apparent to Sandy that Ryan was trapped in a nightmare. He bent down and shook Ryan by his shoulders. "Ryan, hey, wake up… It's ok…" he attempted to calm the boy. Ryan woke up from his nightmare, gasping hard. He looked up and found Sandy over him, his hand on his shoulder. His eyes grew wide with fear and he flinched away immediately. Shit. He must've slept right through the alarm on his watch. Oh, why had he been stupid enough to wait till the morning to run? He should've taken off the first thing last night, when Sandy wasn't coming after him. Now was payback time for his idiocy. What would he use? His belt? His hand? Shit. Shit. Shit. Calm yourself, Ryan, you're gasping. Don't let him see you're scared. Deep breath now. He took a deep breath but he couldn't drag the air into his lungs somehow. He choked. "Please, no… no… Please!" he pleaded desperately and shielded his arms over his face.

Sandy was startled. He hadn't expected Ryan to be scared of him. He immediately regretted his actions last night even more. Of course Ryan would assume he was going to get a beating; after all the abuse in Ryan had suffered in Chino, he'd just confirmed it for him last night that he was no different from all the men who had tortured him his whole life. He held his arms up to show the terrified boy that he wasn't going to hurt him. Instead of calming down, Ryan seemed to be having a full-blown panic attack instead. Perspiration was breaking out across the boy's forehead and Sandy could see that he was trembling uncontrollably even in the dim light. Ryan didn't seem to recognize him and his eyes were glassy and unfocused. He couldn't even breathe and was gasping and choking all at the same time. Sandy didn't know what to do. Not even knowing what he was doing, he did what he would have done with Seth if he was in distress – he put his arms round him and hugged him, whispering soothingly all the while. Ryan struggled against him in even greater terror, but Sandy maintained his grip around the boy, wanting desperately to reassure the boy that he was safe. He should've known better than to hit him with Ryan's history.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Ryan," he whispered, holding the boy against him. Ryan's body was all tensed up and he was still trembling, but Sandy noticed that his gasps were becoming wet. Ryan was clutching at his shirt in a white-knuckled grip, and he had actually broken down into sobs. "Shhh, shhh… Take it easy, Ryan…I'm right here," Sandy rubbed his back gently. "Alright, deep breaths, Ryan. Here, breathe in, nice and deeply," he coaxed. "Good boy… You're doing well… Yes," he encouraged as Ryan drew in a shuddering breath. Gradually Ryan's trembling subsided and his breathing rate slowed. After letting Ryan cry into his chest for a little while more, he gently lowered him back into the bed and smiled reassuringly at his young charge who was now all red-eyed.

A little while later, he came back with a steaming basin of water and a small new towel. Ryan had calmed down a lot by now, and he stared up at Sandy blankly, confused and fearful. Sandy rinsed the towel in the basin and proceeded to wash Ryan's face with it, gently wiping away the mess of tears and sweat. Ryan looked surprised at the touch, but the warmth was strangely soothing for him, and he relaxed slowly. Sandy dipped the towel into the basin again and cleaned his face again. "'m sorry. Are you angry?" Ryan murmured, avoiding Sandy's eyes. "It's ok, kid. Just promise me it's not going to happen again," Sandy replied gently. "Can I stay?" Ryan whispered in an even smaller voice. Sandy put the towel down and brushed the bangs out of Ryan's eyes. Gosh, how he regretted losing his cool earlier. Ryan was still scared that he was going to kick him out after all that? "Yes, Ryan," he spoke to the boy earnestly. "Yes, you're staying. We will never, ever kick you out, you understand that?" Ryan looked away and gave the slightest of a nod.

"And, uh, I'm sorry for my outburst too. I apologize for hitting you, Ryan. I shouldn't have done that. Will you forgive me?" Sandy pressed on.

"It's ok, Sandy. I'm sorry too."

"Good boy. Now get some sleep first and we'll discuss more on this later. You're tired," Sandy patted his head. Ryan smiled tentatively and nodded. "Ok," Sandy said, reverting back to his cheerful voice and tucking the covers around the boy.

As Sandy closed the door behind him, he finally felt that Ryan and he was making some progress. Maybe this was going to work out after all.

So, how was that? Leave some comments pls!