Hey. Here is the second chapter of Melissa and Ryder. I've set this in the sixth episode of the first season of the show, when Ryder began giving his things to a friend who's family was impacted by Ryder's parents dishonest investment. I've changed the plot a little so that Ryder actually got bullied. Hope you like it! xx


His phone went off as soon as he entered his home. The only place where he could escape the physical abuse. The cyber bullying kept going on. It'd been going on for a while, ever since he started his new school. His ankle was killing him and he had bruises all over his head. He couldn't tell anyone. It'd only make it worse. He read the text he got. It was another mean text from his so called 'friends'. He put his phone on silent so nobody could suspect anything.

"Hey Ryder how was school?" Mel asked casually.

"Yeah it was good." He lied, quickly limping up the stairs, tears falling down his face. Mel suspected something was wrong with him and she had been for a few weeks now. He was acting especially strange today. She decided she was going to talk to him, after having a glass of red wine.

Mel went to Ryder's room. He was in the shower, so she decided to wait for him in his room. His phone started going off just then. Mel checked it to see who was texting him. She was horrified to see the amount of abuse that was being sent to him. She then looked at a link from a previous message and was totally outraged at what she saw. A whole 'I hate Ryder Scanlon' website had been set up with endless abuse on the site. This was the last straw. Nobody messed with her nephew. She was very protective of him, even more than Lennox. He was so much more vulnerable to everything. The vulnerability was clear in his eyes. Just then, he came out of the shower. He came into his room, jumping when he saw Mel.

"Hey Ryder, do you have anything you need to tell me?" Mel asked, looking at Ryder seriously. Ryder shook his head, putting weight on his now excruciatingly painful ankle. "Where are those shoes I bought you?"

"I...er...lost them." He hated lying through his teeth.

"I know your lying. I saw your phone." Mel got up and walked over to Ryder, who turned around, covering his face with his hands to cover the bruises under his fringe and to hide the fact that he was now sobbing. "Ryder, are you being bullied?" She went over to him, sounding worried and very serious. He nodded and began openly crying. Mel put her arms around his shoulders and pulled him into a big hug. He calmed down after a while. Mel held the back of his head, making Ryder crying out in pain.

"Let me see that" she put her hands through his hair, glaring at the many cuts and bruises on his skull. The largest one was on his forehead, and it was fresh.

"Is anything else sore?" She asked him.

"My ankle is sore." He sat on the bed. Mel took his shoes and socks off and examined his ankle. It was quite swollen but it didn't look broken.

"I think you've sprained it. I'll get you some ice and some pain killers. Get into bed for me and stay there." She tucked him into bed and went to the kitchen. There was an ice pack in the fridge that Joe kept for emergencies and there was some paracetamol in the drawer. She took them upstairs. She bumped into Lennox in the way.

"Who's the ice pack for?" Lennox asked

"It's for Ryder. I think he got beaten up at school. He's being bullied and I'm gonna put a stop to it tomorrow when I have a word with your principle."

"He's being bullied!" Lennox was shocked at the news. Mel nodded.

"I'm going to go give this to him." Mel and Lennox walked off in different directions. Mel went into Ryder's room and put a few pillows under his right ankle. She put the ice pack on it and gave him the paracetamol.

"If it doesn't get any better tell me and I'll take you to the doctors." Mel told him. She didn't want him feeling upset or anything. Although she was never bullies before, she was aware of how much pain Ryder must've been going through. "I'm going to put some gel on that bump on your head." She rubbed a cold gel on his head to help get rid of the bump. "Get to sleep now, you look exhausted." Mel helped him lie down. "Let me bandage your ankle. I have this ankle support thing that will help you to walk." Mel put a bandage on his ankle covered him with his duvet. He looked exhausted. She kissed him goodnight and left.


The Next Day

"Ryder Scanlon. The tell tale." A group of bullies came up to Ryder as he was going into school after break.

"The boy who got us expelled. I will deal with him." The bully grabbed his head and hit it against the wall a few times. The first two or three were gentle, but the last two were very hard. "That'll keep you in line." Ryder's head pounded. Everything began spinning. The last thing he remembered was a girl, he was certain it was Lennox, yelling 'stop' and putting an arm around him before he collapsed, blood trickling down his forehead.

"Ryder...stay with me." Lennox held his brother in her arms, wiping the blood off his head. He was falling into unconsciousness. "Someone get help!" She yelled. Someone in the crowd rang 911. Lennox stroked her brother's hair. She kept shaking him, telling him to wake up. She then felt a pair of arms around him. The paramedics were here.


Mel got a phone call from the hospital.

"Is this the aunt of Ryder Scanlon?"

"Yes she's speaking. What's wrong?"

"Your nephew is currently in the hospital."

"What's happened to him?" Mel asked the doctor.

"There was a fight and your nephew had his head bashed into a brick wall very hard. He's got a moderate to severe concussion but there are no signs of brain damage. He has a nasty bump on his head but he will be fine." The doctor explained. "We are going to keep monitoring him just to be safe. We ask that you bring an overnight bag with you. He's still in the emergency room. We will send somebody to the reception to escort you." The doctor hung up. Mel got some things from Ryder's room and got her pyjamas and drove to the hospital. She got out and ran to the reception. There was a nurse there who walked her over to Ryder. He was asleep, bandages were wrapped around his head and his ankle. Lennox stood by him.

"Is he okay?" She asked Lennox.

"He's concussed but he should be fine. It was the bully who did this to him. The one who got expelled because you talked to the principal." Lennox explained.

"I wasn't gonna just watch him suffer..."

"Well he's suffering a hell of a lot now!" Snapped Lennox. "I'm sorry, I'm just annoyed at why they did something this outrageous." She was interrupted by a small moan coming from Ryder.

"What happened? Last thing I remember is having breakfast." He said, looking around.

"You're concussed. Don't try and move." Mel stroked his cheek.

"The jerk who bullies you did this. You've got a pretty cool scar from your stitches. You've also got a pretty badly sprained ankle." Lennox explained.

"I remember the ankle. I don't remember anything from before breakfast." Ryder said.

"You've got a bit of amnesia. Don't worry about it." Lennox kissed his head through his hair. This surprised Mel. She looked at her niece with a surprised face. "He's sick. So this is out of pity." Lennox tried to act like she didn't care about him but she did.

"Hi I'm Ryder's doctor. We've been monitoring him for a few hours now and he is doing really well, so we are happy for him to go home. Let him rest for a week or so and keep a close eye on him. If his condition worsens, then bring him back to the emergency room immediately. We are giving him some co codomol for the pain. The drug is very strong so don't give it to anyone else. We've given him enough for a week and after that paracetamol should be fine. If he's on the co codomol then don't give him any forms of paracetamol. We've made a follow up appointment for next Wednesday and them see where we go from there. Here's the medicine and he's free to go." The doctor explained.

"Thanks" Mel smiled at him as he left. "Come on Ryder, time to go. Lennox help him out and I'll go and get the car." Lennox helped him sit up.

"I'm dizzy" he complained.

"I know. I'll help you." She kept her arms wrapped securely around him as she walked him out of the hospital.


Think I got a bit carried away with this chapter 😂 please review and I hope you liked it xox