Chapter 7

Ramon understood what happened between the boy and everyone else, and why the other told him that they were leaving earlier than the others. But what surprised him was the big secret the team leader had been hiding from everyone else - even his family.

Who knew that the same boy everyone in town looked up to, also had a bad side? He sure didn't. And, even though being enemies with the boy for a long time, couldn't help but feel… happy. He now has something in common with the kid. After all these years of insulting the boy for being perfect, he now knows the truth that it was the exact opposite.

The mighty Ryder wasn't perfect!

Ramon smirked in delight as he sat behind the boy driving his ATV. They had left right after the boy limped over to him and told him that they were leaving, then sped off into the night like no tomorrow. They were already back in town and no one has spoken since.

They suddenly pulled into a neighborhood and stopped in front of a house. Ramon took this queue to get off.

"Thanks for the ride," the teen nodded in appreciation, but the boy didn't respond. He was about to drive away when the older one spoke again, but more awkwardly. "And, uh, thanks for, uh, defending me back there."

Ryder only nodded a bit before zooming off to the main road, leaving the teen standing there. Soon enough, he arrived at the Lookout. Realizing that no one arrived yet, he quickly put his ATV away before heading inside and going up to his room. After he reached the second floor, he moved to a panel that connected to the elevator and switched something off.

Once that was done, he moved to get his clothing and went to the bathroom. As he took his shower, he closed his eyes and felt the water cover his body. He winced when it touched his wound. Opening his eyes and looking down, he looked at his long scars.

It was bearable pain, but it wasn't compared to how he felt emotionally.

Now, what he dreaded most, was confrontation. With his pups. He wasn't prepared for it. What was he supposed to say? 'Yeah, I know I drank alcohol and never told you, so it may look like I never trusted you, but I do! But I also have suicidal thoughts too. So, we're good, right?' Terrible. He wouldn't need to even think about this yet if it wasn't for Conner.

Even thinking about his name Ryder felt his blood boiling. The name now held so much venom that even a snake would feel jealous. He had no right to have done what he did! That kid crossed the invisible line. Not only did he tell his pups, but as well as the others. Now they know his secret and won't ever look at him the same way again.

Getting angry, he barred his teeth and punched the wall in front of him. His skin broke and blood started mixing with the water. He pulled back his hand and closed his eyes. 'Calm down… just breathe in and breathe out… don't lose your cool, Ryder, you can hold on a little longer' he thought. He sighed before reopening his eyes and continuing his shower, biting down his scream when soap entered his wounds.

The pups, after dropping off Conner at home, finally arrived back at the Lookout. Based on the turned on lights inside, they assumed their owner had already returned. The first thing that they did, other than park their vehicles, was walking up to the elevator to head up to the observatory. However, they became confused when the automatic doors didn't open.

"Does the elevator not work?" Rubble tilted his head. Rocky walked up to the hidden panel to the side of it and sighed.

"It does work, but Ryder disabled it," the eco pup told them. "We can't go up there as long as he has it off."

"Can't you change it to not be disabled?" Zuma suggested.

"No, Ryder has all the controls up there. There's nothing I could even do," Rocky shook his head. He sat back down and looked at the elevator. "We can break it open-"

"No." They turned to Chase, who was looking straight up the elevator to the observatory. "If he wants to be alone, we will leave him alone. But that won't mean he will escape the inevitable. He'll talk to us, whether he likes it or not."

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Skye questioned. Finally, the German shepherd looked at them.

"No, I don't think it's a good idea, but it's going to have to do for now," he said. "Ryder needs us and we need him."

"Right!" The pups exclaimed. They each separated and went to their pup houses, then falling asleep fairly quickly.

Rubble, the last one awake, had one final thought before his mind went into dreamland; 'What does inevitable mean?'

For the next week, everything changed for the Paw Patrol. It was unorganized and stressful, especially for the pups. Ever since the incident at the forest, Ryder hasn't talked to anyone but only a few people.

Even the eleven-year-old barely spoke to his pups, only doing so when giving out orders for rescues. Because of this, the pups needed to adjust to their abnormal leader. Since the boy was in charge, his behavior controlled his actions, but more so affected others.

Away from work, the boy hasn't been doing any better in school. His grades plummeted, but he couldn't focus. His relationship with Zoe and Katie went out the window, but he just couldn't hold in his temper anymore. Especially around Conner. His reputation changed dramatically, from being a town savior to the scary loner, but he just was tired of being so fake all the time.

However, what shocked the school more than anything, was that the boy became friends with the school's bully, aka Ramon. The teen wanted the boy's 'friendship' so he could take the other under his wing. Just imagine what he could do now being friends with the leader of the famous recuse team. He could go out on a joyride with no license and not get into trouble! Of course, he hasn't tested the thought of theory just yet.

Speaking of friendship, Katie and Zoe had learned what had happened during the trip made earlier. They were incredibly upset to what Conner had done, but it wasn't as important. What was important was getting their friend to talk to them again. Katie was especially worried since she was, after all, Ryder's nonofficial girlfriend.

So, like how it has been for the past week, the day began at school. Instead of meeting up at the front of the school, only the three best friends stood there, watching the last one go in with the group of bullies. Like how it had been, they each went to their classes until they had Algebra together.

Awkwardly, the four kids happened all to be sitting next to each other, or more like sitting in a line. First Conner, then Katie, next was Ryder, and finally Zoe. As the class began, Katie and Zoe shared a glance. It was only a matter of time before their plan to take action, but they needed a good 'distraction' for it to take fold.

"Good morning class," the teacher began. "Today we'll be working in pairs. You and your partner will go around the class and answer the math problems I posted on the wall. Answers are on the back. Once you have finished all twenty, you may be seated and work on something quietly until your classmates finish. Any questions?"

No one spoke.

"Good. Now find your partners." At once, people started moving. Ryder, who normally would pair up with his friends, just got up from his seat and walked to one of the math problems posted on the wall, notebook in hand, and started writing.

"Alright, Katie. Good luck," Zoe nodded to her before partnering up with Conner. The shop owner nodded to herself in determination before turning to the boy and walking over.

"Hey, Ryder," she greeted with a smile, but it immediately disappeared when he didn't respond. Though, what she considered as progress, was the small grunt that came from him, a sign that meant he acknowledged her presence.

"So, do you understand the question? I'm having a little trouble on it," she continued, scratching her head a bit to emphasize her point. "I don't get how to make the graph with that equation."

"Plug the equation using the quadratic formula to get the 'x' and 'y' variables, then use it to make the graph," the boy informed her, his tone devoid of anything.

"Oh. You explain it way easier than Mrs.-"

"Why are you talking to me?" He cut her off, though his eyes continued to be on his page. "Is the only reason why you came here was to make me talk about what happened over the last weekend?"

The girl sighed, knowing there was no past the boy. "Listen, Ryder, we want to help. The pups and Zoe want to help. I want to help. But we can't exactly do that if you don't let anyone in."

"I'm done letting people 'in'," he told her. "Everyone wants to know how I'm feeling but once they find out, it somehow causes more problems. So just leave it. There's nothing for you to do anyway… You can't fix what's already broken."

"Ryder," she started with worried eyes. She grabbed his hand and was mildly surprised when he didn't pull away, but rather squeeze it a bit. "You're not broken, just stressed and conflicted. But you need to know; we're all here for you. The pups, Zoe, Conner, and I."

She felt his hand clench hers when she named the other boy.

"You can get through this, but you cannot hide from your problems forever, Ryder. You need to face them eventually. If not, it'll build and get worse until you can't handle them anymore and might hurt yourself… like you are now. Please, Ryder, don't push the ones that care about you away," she said sincerely, before finalizing with a kiss on his cheek and walking away.

Ryder finally looked up to see her walk away. He missed her, a lot. He missed her presence with him wherever he was. He missed her everything. But he needed to keep his wall up, to protect his secrets from everyone and reduce problems, so no one can think any less of him.

"Ryder?" He turned, to see the teacher walk up to him with a worried look. "You've been at this station for almost ten minutes. Do you understand the question?"

"Uh, yes, I do. I was just lost in thought," he told her with a forced smile. When she nodded, he dropped his facade and turned to the equation. He knows he could do the problem, he's smart enough to work it out, but something in his brain is shutting down making him stare at it like it was an alien.

The boy flinched, feeling his pup pad vibrate in his back pocket. He took it out and looked at the caller ID. It was Farmer Yumi and Farmer Al. He looked at his teacher, who had been staring at something else but he happened to be in her line of view, and shook his pup pad in the air. She nodded to his signal and let him leave for the emergency. As he stepped out of the classroom, he answered the call.

"Ryder here," he said professionally.

"Ryder, my farm animals! They have all escaped their pens and a storm is coming in. They need to get inside before something bad happens to them," Farmer Yumi exclaimed in worry. 'Finally, an easy rescue' he thought in relief.

"Don't worry, Farmer Yumi, we'll get them back. No job is too big, no pup is too small," he said his catchphrase with not enough enthusiasm as he used to. He hung up and made his way to his ATV, already pulling out the multicolored button and pressing it. "Paw Patrol, to the Lookout!"

As he got to his ATV, he drove out to the farm. Not too long later, his pup pad turned on to show his lined up pups.

"Paw Patrol, ready for action, Ryder, sir!" Chase exclaimed.

"Farmer Yumi and Farmer Al need help herding their animals back into the barn before a storm rolls in, so we need to do this quick," he informed them. "Rubble and Rocky, you'll search around a one-mile perimeter."

"Rubble on the double!" The bulldog happily said.

"Green means go!" Exclaimed the mix breed.

"Zuma and Skye, you both will search up in the sky and near the mountains," the boy continued.

"Ready. Set. Get wet!" The chocolate labrador grinned.

"Let's take to the sky!" The cockapoo giggled.

"Finally, Chase and Marshall, you both will search for any leads that might help us find the animals," the leader informed.

"Chase is on the case!" The German Shepherd smiled with determination.

"I'm fired up!" The dalmatian grinned.

"Alright, Paw Patrol is on a roll!" He told them before hanging up. Not a few minutes later, he had arrived at the farm with his pups coming in a minute later. They split up to work on their assignments, leaving Ryder, Chase, and Marshall with the farmers.

"I'm glad you're here, Ryder. It's good seeing you," Farmer Al smiled. Ryder nodded, unintentionally not smiling back.

"How many animals are missing?" The boy asked either one of them.

"Six; three chickens, two pigs, and-"

"A partridge in a pear tree!" Marshall cut off with a grin. The farmers and pups chuckled, the only one not laughing was the leader.

"And one what?" Ryder cut off their fun. Farmer Yumi cleared her throat.

"And one cow." Ryder nodded and turned to the police pup, who understood the silent command and started sniffing.

"We'll get your animals here safe and sound," the boy told the worried ones before heading off when he received another call. "Skye? Did you find anything?"

"Sure did. Two pink piggies are here with me now," the cockapoo reported. "It's Northeast of the farm."

"Got it. Nice going, Skye. I'll send Marshall to pick them up," he praised before hanging up. He turned to the dalmatian. "Alright Marshall, you're up. Head Northeast from here and you'll find two pigs waiting for pick up."

"On it, Ryder," the pup nodded before riding off in his fire truck.

"Ryder, I have a sent for the cow and chickens, but it's starting to rain," Chase reported. Right at that moment, it started sprinkling. "I might lose the scent!"

"Then let's track it down until we get to a basic area of where we will search," Ryder instructed. When his pup nodded, they rode off deep into the forest. Not too long later, another call came in. "Talk to me."

"Ryder, we found three chickens near the lake, we'll take them back to the barn now," Rocky reported.

"Good to hear. Stand by while Chase and I find the last animal. Share the news with the others," he told the other.

"Okay, Ryder!" The mixed-breed hung up. Not too long later, they found a missing cow. When they returned it to the cow's owners, the rain became heavier.

'We need to talk to him now' Chase thought as they all pulled away from the farm. 'There's no way he could get away. We're out in the open. I'm sorry, Ryder, but it's now or never'

"Ryder!" Chase exclaimed over the rain, since using his pup tag wouldn't make a difference. He sent a look to everyone else, who seemed to catch on his drift.

"Yes, Chase?" Ryder yelled back.

"Ryder, sir… we need to talk!" The boy took a while to respond.

"Later. We need to get to the Lookout now before the rain gets worse!" The leader finally answered. Angered and worried, the pup didn't let up.

"No! Ryder, we need to talk now!" Chase shouted.

"Chase, we need to get ba-"

"RYDER, STOP!" Chase screamed so loud that the thunder that came right after didn't compare. Everyone screeched to a stop. The pup continued in a slightly quieter tone. "Stop running! Stop running from us! Do you not trust us? Is this what this is? You don't trust us to help you when you are hurting?"

The boy's shoulders became tense as heavy raindrops fell on them.

"We don't care what you did, Ryder! We don't care what risk you took to lessen the pain! But we care how it has affected you! We care how it has changed you! We care because we are a family!" Chase yelled through the rain, but the pups noticed that he was crying as well. It didn't bother them, they were crying too. "We are here for you, but you keep pushing us away!... Just answer me this, Ryder; why?"

"Because I couldn't take it anymore!" The boy finally admitted with a sob. Another crack of thunder. "I wanted for the pain to stop! I didn't want any more problems! It's always… it's always been the same. I-I didn't want it to go this far. I was going to tell you all but… what would you think of me? Would you trust me? Would you… leave me?" The last part was barely audible but they heard it.

The pups rushed out of their vehicles and approached the weeping boy. They sat around his ATV and laid their paws on him. The rain continued to pour, but it was only tears that heavily rushed down their cheeks.

"Ryder, we're sorry for not realizing what you have been feeling, but just know that it won't happen again," Rocky comforted the boy.

"And we wouldn't think any less of you for what happened," Marshall nodded.

"Like Chase said, we awe family, and we stick togethew no mattew what," Zuma followed.

"We trust you with our lives, Ryder, and much more," Rubble encouraged. "You had been there for us when we needed it most, let us return the favor."

"And most importantly…" Skye began.

"We would never leave you," the pups said sincerely. Ryder finally looked at them through his folded arms on his dashboard. He sees sincerity in their eyes. He feels like… something being lifted from his shoulders, but only half of the weight was gone.

"I love you all so much," he mumbled with a small smile. They smiled back and attacked him with hugs every which way.

"We love you too, Ryder," they responded. They continued to hug, not realizing that the heavy rain lessen and the storm clouds began to fade away into the sky.

To be continued...