Summary: In the middle of the Oliver situation. Sandy and Kirsten, fed up with Ryan's actions, decide on a tough love approach. Will he do what they say, or push them away?
Disclaimer: See first chapter.
AN: Here's another chapter for you guys. I would've had it out sooner, but I decided to tweak it a little. And I have a new idea about where this story will go. It will take an interesting turn within the next few chapters. Anyway, on to the story! Please R&R!
Chapter 4: Give It A Try
Sandy finally pulled up to a building and shut off the engine.
"What is this place?" Seth asked.
"More punishment for me." Ryan mumbled as Kirsten opened his door.
"It's not punishment." She assured him. "Hopefully, this will help you."
"Like I'm the only one who needs help here." He reluctantly climbed out of the car and they led him into the building.
"Hi. We're the Cohen's." Sandy approached a woman that was stationed behind a glass window. She had a name tag pinned to her shirt as she picked up a clipboard nearby.
"Newbies." She smiled at them as she scanned the list. "You have a family therapy session in the main conference room first."
"Thank you." Sandy led them down the hall and into a room.
"Seriously, what is this place?" Seth asked as they all sat down, Ryan far away from them.
"It's a support group meeting for foster kids and their new families." Kirsten told him. "It will be good for all of us."
"According to you." Ryan mumbled.
"So where are all the other foster families?" Seth asked.
"In other rooms doing other activities."
"Hello. My name is Nicole. I'll be your family counselor." A woman around Kirsten's age came in. "You're the Cohen's?"
"I'm Sandy, this is my wife Kirsten, and our sons Seth and Ryan."
"Hello, Ryan." Nicole saw him recoil when Sandy addressed him as his son.
He mumbled something incoherent under his breath as Kirsten and Sandy looked exasperated. Nicole noticed this, but decided not to push anyone yet.
"First I would like to say that whatever is said here is private and confidential. I do not discuss anything with any of my colleagues." Nicole told them.
"Thank you."
"Second it should be agreed upon that no matter what any of you say in here, there should be no punishment or repercussions of any kind at home."
"Agreed." Kirsten spoke up.
"Now why don't we start small tonight," Nicole turned to look at Ryan. "What are your feelings towards the Cohen's?"
"I don't know." He mumbled.
"Yes, you do." Nicole urged him. "Anything you say here, stays here."
"Until we get back to the house."
"There will be no repercussions." Kirsten told him. "We're all here to help you."
"You mean to gang up on me."
"We want to make things better." Sandy looked over at him.
"Let's start this again." Nicole interrupted them. "How do you feel about the Cohen's? No punishment, no judgment."
"I-I don't like them right now." Ryan finally said.
"Would you care to elaborate?"
"They disappointed me. They made false promises."
"What do you mean by false promises?"
"They said things would be different than they were for me before. And at the first sign of trouble, they start to bring back everything."
"Ryan, we have never raised a hand to you." Sandy told him.
"So you think the only kind of abuse I suffered was physical?"
"Explain what you mean, Ryan." Nicole urged, "Take your time."
"I could never talk to my mom or my brother or my mom's revolving door of boyfriends that she had. You claimed I could talk to you whenever I needed to. But that's not true. You're too busy with your fancy jobs."
"Ok. That's how you feel about Sandy and Kirsten. What about Seth?"
"I used to be able to talk to him. He used to have time. Before he was involved in this bizarre-o Anna/Summer love triangle."
"Dude-"
"At this point, I don't even care that you don't believe me." Ryan told Seth as he glared over at him. "You should've had my back from the beginning; just like I've had your back from the moment we met."
"Ok. I think that's enough family session for tonight." Nicole told them. "I'd like to talk to Ryan in private for a little bit. The other families are down the hall in room C. Ryan will meet you there in about fifteen minutes."
The three of them stood up and walked out, leaving Ryan alone with Nicole. He avoided her stare as they waited for the Cohen's to walk down the hall.
"I imagine that was intense; for all of you." She stated and Ryan shrugged. "We won't get into too much since this is your first session here. But I would like to know one thing: Who are you?"
"Um, Ryan Atwood." He looked at her blankly.
"And who is Ryan Atwood?"
"Me?"
"What I mean is there has to be more to you than your name. So who are you?"
"I don't know."
"And why not?"
"Because I'm just a teenager. Like I'm the only teenager who doesn't know who they are."
"Wouldn't you like to know once and for all who you are or who you can eventually become?"
"Maybe." He shrugged.
"I know you're not very good at expressing yourself out loud, but maybe I can help you with that."
Ryan watched as Nicole got up and went to a metal cabinet in the corner. She rummaged around and came back with a spiral-bound notebook.
"This is something we give all the foster kids that come here. It can be a journal; or not. You can just write down your feelings in list form. There are suggested subjects on a print-out inside. I would like you to do the first two suggestions before you come back, and we'll discuss it. It's not an assignment. You won't get graded on it or even have to tell the Cohen's." she explained to him.
"But I'll have to tell you what I wrote." He looked up at her as she held out the notebook in front of him.
"We'll discuss some of the things that you write. If you're not comfortable sharing something, then that's fine. As long as you do it."
"Fine." He took the notebook from her.
"Now if you ever feel like you need someone to talk to and no one else is there, I want you to call me." She gave him her card with her number on it. "That's my cell and my pager. You can call me anytime."
"So you're like my sponsor?" he retorted.
"I guess you can put it that way." She smiled as she stood up. "Now let's go find the Cohen's and see what they're doing."
"Fine." Ryan reluctantly followed her out of the room and down the hall.
Sandy, Kirsten, and Seth walked out of the group therapy session and found room C. They looked around the room at all the other families standing around talking with each other as they had the coffee, punch, and various snacks that were set up on a long table.
"We're going to try to start up a conversation with one of the parents." Sandy told Seth. "Why don't you do the same with one of these kids?"
"They're all little kids." Seth told them.
"There's a kid that looks around your age." Kirsten pointed to a kid sitting on the floor near the back wall. "And he's by himself."
"He looks like he plays water polo." He mumbled as he noticed the letterman jacket he was sporting.
"Just go." Seth grumbled to himself as he slowly made his way to the other side of the room and sat down near the kid.
"Hey." The kid looked up at him. "Thank goodness, someone my age. Do you have a foster brother or sister?"
"Brother." Seth mumbled.
"Me, too. How old is yours?" the kid scooted closer to Seth.
"Sixteen. Same as me."
"Mine is twelve. Is this your first time here?"
"Yeah. My mom and dad are kind of at their wits end with Ryan. I think this is our last resort with him."
"It's a good thing for you all. My parents were about ready to send Lucas back to the group home, but I begged them not to. I've been wanting a little brother for so long."
"What's your name anyway?"
"Oh, sorry. It's Wyatt."
"I'm Seth."
Sandy and Kirsten smiled as they watched Seth start to converse with the other teenager as they went to get some of the stale coffee.
"Are you guys new?" a couple came up to them.
"Sandy Cohen," he introduced himself. "This is my wife, Kirsten."
"I'm Ellen Thompson. This is my husband, Ted."
"Nice to meet you."
"That's our oldest over there; Wyatt." They gestured to the boy that was talking to Seth.
"That's our son he's talking to; Seth."
"Wyatt's probably happy that he has someone his own age to talk to." Ted told them. "So how old is your foster kid?"
"Ryan's sixteen; same age as Seth."
"Lucas is twelve. We got him when he was ten."
"Ryan's only been with us a little more than six months."
"Here they all come." Ellen pointed to the door of the room as some of the counselors came out with their charges.
Ryan came in, spotted them, and headed straight for the bleachers so he wouldn't have to talk to any of them. Kirsten sighed as she started to walk over to him.
"Give him some space, Mrs. Cohen." Nicole intercepted her. "The first visit is always the hardest."
"You're right." Kirsten sighed as she went back to Sandy.
Ryan sat on the bleachers glumly as he waited for this torture-fest to be over. He looked up as he saw Seth approaching him with someone else.
"Ryan, this is Wyatt." Seth told him.
"Great." Ryan mumbled.
"Would you like to hang out with us and his little brother Lucas?"
"No, thanks. Just come get me when we can leave."
"Come on," Wyatt pulled Seth away. "It's only the first meeting for you guys. It took us at least five of these meetings before Lucas started to open up."
More than an hour later, they all headed back home. When the car was turned off, they all went into the house. Ryan immediately went up to the guest room, wanting to be left alone for the rest of the night.
"Well, I think it helped him a little." Sandy said. "What do you think?"
"I think it'll be good for all of us if we keep going." Kirsten told him.
"Me, too." They headed up to their room for the night.
AN: So what'd you all think? By the way, if anyone has SoapNet, do you know why they stopped playing reruns of the OC? Anyway, please R&R!