A/N This goes out to Keydazy who wanted a little Luke little Ryan show-down so I hope this is does it for you!

DISCLAIMER—the oc is not mine

Ryan sat quietly at the lunch table eating the lunch Rosa had packed him. As soon as he finishes he roots around to find the surprise Kirsten always left in their lunch bags on Fridays.

"Hey Seth what did you get?" Ryan asks over Summer's head. Seth holds up a chocolate bar identical to Ryan's and they share a smirk before Seth goes back to pulling Summer's hair. Ryan didn't understand why the boy always hung around Summer if her cooties were as bad as Seth said they were.

"Thanks for the chocolate loser." Luke says grabbing the bar from beside Seth. Seth looks down despondently accepting the bullying without a fight.

"Give it back Luke" Summer growls.

"What are you gonna do if I don't"

"I'll tell my Daddy." She says haughtily crossing her arms.

"Just give it back Luke, please." Seth says softly, embarrassed Summer has to stick up for him.

"Make me you big baby…Aww look at this 'hope you have a good day I love you loads Mom. Isn't that cute." Luke mocks causing group of boys behind him to start giggling. Ryan fingers his own note which says exactly the same thing substituting 'Kirsten' for 'Mom' and flushes red.

"Stop it!" Seth whines on the verge of tears as Luke slowly unwraps his chocolate bar.

"Make me! You gonna cry to your mommy." Luke sneers again.

"Leave him alone!" Ryan says angrily. He knew Seth didn't like it when Ryan stopped the bullies but he didn't want his brother to get humiliated. For once Seth shoots Ryan a thankful look.

"Don't talk to me." Luke says walking over. "My mom says you're from Chino and my cousin says that people from Chino are like rats, they're dirty and will take everything you own."

Ryan's anger bubbles to the surface at Luke's comment.

"Yeah you're poor." Another boy mocks sensing Ryan's embarrassment.

"No he's not!" Seth says sensing Ryan's discomfort. "Ryan has as much money as me." Luke snorts and shoves Seth out of the way and heading over to Ryan.

"No he doesn't My cousin says that your Mom and Dad just keep Ryan around cause he's a charity case and that they'll send him back with his real mom once she gets out of the sewers." Ryan kicks Luke hard in the shins.

"Take it back my mom isn't in the sewers." Ryan says angrily. Luke, angry that Ryan got the first kick sneers at his.

"Yah she's really poor and doesn't even like you anymore so she gave you away to the Cohen's and now the Cohen's are gonna give you away too when I tell Mr. Murphey you kicked me." Ryan suddenly feels the fear wash over him like ice water. Luke was going to tell the Cohen's and then they are going to hate him.

"Now get out of my way." Luke says with a little shove. Ryan firmly stands his ground like Trey used to do when people told him to move.

"I said move." Luke repeats giving Ryan a hard shove.

"Ryan just move" Seth mumbles nervously when Ryan doesn't back away.

"Sandy says you mommy's a vulture." Ryan says with a cold smile to Luke. Luke's face turns beat red and he runs, full force, at Ryan tackling him on the cement. The two boys grapple roughly as Summer starts to cry and Seth starts to try and pull Luke off of Ryan.

"Mr. Atwood, Mr. Ward what is going on!" Mrs. Murphey had been dragged across the playground by the meek Marissa Cooper. Mrs. Murphey immediately untangles the grappling children.

"Mrs Murphey!" Seth runs up with tears in his eyes. "You can't tell me my parents. Luke says they'll send Ryan back." Mrs. Murphey feels badly for the little boy and knows that the possibility of Ryan being sent back is very real. People are capable of handling the failures of their own children but not of others. She smiles sadly at Seth but knows she has to tell the child's parents.

Both Luke and Ryan get lectured by the principal and patched up by the nurse as the parents are called in from work.

Ryan listens as the sound of high heels stops and Kirsten's worried voice drifts through the door. Luke smirks as tears immediately form in Ryan's eyes.

"Told you they're getting ready to send you back right now, even Seth thinks so." Ryan doesn't reply but starts slowly going over the alphabet like his brother taught him when Ryan used to cry easier.

"Ryan you got in to a fight?" Kirsten says anger laced in with her worry. Refusing to meet her eyes Ryan stares down at his lap desperately trying to stop any tears from leaking out. Gently, Kirsten raises his chin and brushes his bangs sideways to view the damage.

"Did you tell the nurse everywhere it hurt?"Ryan nods obediently hoping that if he's really good and really quiet and doesn't complain at all then maybe they'll let him stay.

"You don't think I need to take him to the hospital?" Kirsten asks the nurse, still crouching in front of Ryan.

"No m'am both boys sustained only minor injuries. The principal is ready for you both." The nurse says casting a glance at the Wards who are also fussing over Luke.

"Kid's can't live with 'em." Mr. Ward jokes to Kirsten.

"Sorry about this Carson" Kirsten says reaching down to take Ryan's hand. Ryan acquiesces shyly feeling bad he made Kirsten want to live without kids. What if she sends Seth out too? Kirsten continues to joke with Carson as Ryan walks beside silently feeling hugely guilty.

Kirsten nods along as the principal talks about respect, morals and zero tolerance for bullying. The way the principal's eyes slide over to Ryan in poorly disguised disdain make Kirsten's blood boil.

"Well I'm sure both boys are to blame." Carson says uneasily seeing the prejudice as well.

"Right well Ryan did start the fight." Ryan remains tight-lipped even though his head is screaming about Luke picking on Seth and making fun of Kirsten's chocolate bars which Ryan happens to love.

"Ryan is this true?" Kirsten asks.

"Yes mam." He whispers still not meeting his eyes.

"Ryan, honey, was there a reason why you kicked Luke?" Ryan knows she'll only be madder if he starts making up excuses.

"No mam." Ryan feels the disappointment radiating off Kirsten and he drops his head even lower.

The principal and parents deliberate for longer and Ryan's stomach churn as Kirsten promises punishment.

"Ok well Ryan has to spend recess indoors all week and Luke gets a warning does that seem fair to everyone." Both Kirsten and Carson nod hesitantly and Luke looks slightly guilty as they all leave the room.

"Ryan honey I need you tell me what made you start a fight with Luke. Fighting isn't ok you know that." Kirsten says patiently as Ryan sits rigidly on his bed.

"It was my fault." Kirsten throws her hands up in frustration

"I suggest you come up with a better reason before Sandy gets home." Kirsten warns without thinking the comment through. "You are on time-out until then understand. No leaving the room." Ryan nods in agreement waiting until Kirsten leaves before crawling under the bed with his pillow and hugging it tightly.

"He just kicked him for no reason?" Ryan hears Sandy's voice boom up the stairs and immediately gets out from under the bed. It would make everything worse to show weakness.

"Ryan?" Sandy knocks on the door and Ryan tenses up as it opens. "Hey kid. You wanna tell me what happened at school today?"

"I kicked Luke." Ryan mutters refusing to meet Sandy's eye. Sandy notices the kids tense posture and wisely stays in the doorframe putting a large distance between them.

"Why would you do that? You know that it's not nice to kick people'.

"Sorry."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to kid." Sandy says firmly. Ryan clenches his jaw wishing they'd just kick him out already.

"Daddy!" Seth runs up breathless from running up the stairs his backpack still on. "Daddy you can't kick Ryan out it wasn't his fault I don't want him to live in sewers!" Sandy looks at Seth with disbelief.

"Ryan isn't going anywhere, especially not to live in a sewer Seth who gave you that idea." Ryan opens his mouth to shut Seth up but Seth blasts on.

"Luke stole my chocolate bar, which was mean because I was going to give half- to Summer and then he started making fun of the note that Mommy wrote on it and then Ryan asked him to give it back and then Luke called Ryan a charity case." Seth stumbles over charity case obviously unsure of the meaning before realizing it's not important and continuing. "And then Luke said that Ryan was poor and his mom lived in sewers and that you were going to send him back and then Ryan said take it back but Luke didn't and then Summer said he was forced to fight to defend his honor." Seth says the last part with the care of someone obviously repeating a quote verbatim

"Seth go downstairs and order dinner with your mother please."

"Daddy you can't send Ryan away." Seth cries hysterically grabbing his father's pant leg.

"Seth it's ok." Ryan says softly. Sandy notice's Ryan's packed bag for the first time and his expression turns more grim.

"No one is going anywhere Seth ok now go downstairs." Satisfied he'll get his way Seth runs down the steps calling for his mother.

Ryan tenses immediately once Seth leaves and he is alone with an obviously angry Sandy.

"That wasn't very nice what Luke said." Sandy says softly wishing, not for the first time, he could protect his foster son from the prejudice and evil of the world.

"Did it hurt your feelings to have him say those things?" Sandy asks trying desperately to get a verbal answer out of the kid. Ryan just shrugs feigning nonchalance.

"Did you think Luke was telling the truth?" Ryan shrugs again and Sandy realizes he's going to have to find a way to not ask yes or no questions.

"Look at me kiddo." Sandy says softly waiting till Ryan hesitantly raises his head. "Being from Chino is nothing to be ashamed of. All through your life you are going to meet a billion Luke Wards who think they are better then you for no reason at all besides the zip code they were born in. Those kids don't know you and you're a big boy now you don't let people make you feel bad about yourself ok?" Ryan nods in an agreement trying to get Luke's words out of his head.

"Second of all no fighting." Sandy says firmly. "I will never lay a hand on you and I expect that you won't lay a hand on anyone else. If someone picks on you or Seth you tell a teacher ok, especially if they say things as hurtful as Luke." Sandy can tell Ryan is finally listening and though he doesn't really believe that Ryan will never ever fight again he hopes this will clean up his act.

"Third and most important thing" Sandy continues cupping Ryan's neck forcing the kid to make eye contact. "Kirsten and I will never, ever, ever kick you out. There is nothing in the world you could do to make us stop loving you. You're a kid you're going to make mistakes we know that and that's ok. Seth makes mistakes, Kirsten makes mistakes, even I have been known to make an error or two in judgement and don't even get me started on your Grandpa Caleb." Ryan smiles slightly as Sandy takes advantage of Ryan's relaxation to put a comforting arm around the small boy. Ryan tenses momentarily then relaxes.

"Uh-oh it's the wicked witch of the west." Kirsten glares at Sandy good-naturedly before leaning down to be eye-level with Ryan.

"Seth told me what happened with Luke." Kirsten says gently. "Sweetheart why didn't you say anything?" Ryan squirms uncomfortably under Kirsten's gaze and offers a shrug.

"Words please Ryan." Kirsten says firmly. She knows how important it is for Ryan to verbalize his feelings and his thought processes or they'll never get anywhere with him.

"The principal already made up her mind. I didn't want to get in more trouble by disagreeing with her." Ryan mumbles.

"You have to stand up for yourself sweetheart. If I had known I would have stood up for you too ok?" Kirsten kisses the top of head and lays a gentle hand on his bruised cheek. "I want you to let me know if it hurts more ok?" Still getting over the surprise they are being nice Ryan just nods and blinks up at her in confusion.

"Tomorrow you apologize to Luke for kicking him." Even Sandy gives Kirsten a slightly incredulous look but sighs in agreement when her face offers no room for negotiation. "No play station and no friends after school for a week understood?"

"Yeah." Ryan mumbles knowing that a grounding is better than a hitting. Seth calls for them to hurry up and Sandy and Kirsten get up to leave.

"Kirsten?" Ryan asks softly before she leaves the room. "Is it true that my mommy gave me away because she doesn't love me anymore?" Ryan looks up to Kirsten with childish eyes, tears being to percolate. A lump forms in Kirsten's throat and she sits down beside him.

"No sweetheart I'm sure you mother loves you very, very much." Kirsten answers fighting to keep her voice level. She didn't know how to explain to Ryan that Dawn had left a drunken message on their answering machine saying that the little twerp was no longer her problem and that she never wanted to see Ryan again. Somewhere in there she knows Dawn loves Ryan.

"You gave me a birthday party and took me to school and let me sleep in your bed." Ryan says still confused. "If my mommy loved me why didn't she do that? Why did she let them take me away?" His voice breaks at the end as he sniffs back a sob.

"Sweetheart I don't think your mother ever meant to hurt your feelings." Kirsten says unsure of how to answer such a difficult question. "Mother's make mistakes too, and I think that when your Mom started making mistakes that hurt you and your brother it hurt her heart. Sometimes when people's heart hurts they get so focused on their own pain they don't notice the pain they are causing the people around them does that make sense?" Ryan considers for a moment and then nods.

"And your mom didn't have a choice about Child Services taking you away." Kirsten says putting an arm around Ryan and running a gentle hand up and down his arm. "Child Services won't let you go back until her heart feels better and she can show you how much she loves you." Kirsten has a feeling this great moment of healing will never happen for Dawn but that is not a conversation to have with a 5-year old boy.

"What if her heart never gets better?"

"Then you stay with us." Kirsten says with a smile pulling Ryan on to her lap. "You will never have to go away from here Ryan I promise. If one day your mommy gets better and you want to live with her then Sandy and I will support you and love you anyways but if that doesn't happen you will stay right here." Kirsten says pulling him close to her body. Comforted by the soft promise Ryan swipes at the stray tears leaking from his eye and sets his head on Kirsten's shoulder.

"Want to go get dinner sweetheart…I hear there is chocolate cake." Ryan smiles tentatively and nods before running down the hall to food and Seth's chatter

Please review and let me know if you want to see the cohens+1 in any situation

Thanks to all reviewers