Ryan wasn't sure how long he'd been walking around. He didn't have his watch on so he had no idea what time it was. It was dark out so he knew it was getting late.
When he first left Teresa's house, he had planned on going down to the corner and calling Sandy. Then he realized he needed to calm down first and not call when he was so angry. Besides, he really didn't know what to say. All he really wanted to say was that he was tired and lonely and missed them. He wanted to admit that he made a mistake and just wanted to come home. But that didn't sound very mature, and besides that, Ryan wasn't really sure if they'd want him back. He hadn't spoken to them in over two months. He had no idea how they would feel if he just called out of the blue to say he wanted to come home. Ryan figured there was a good chance it wasn't his home anymore and the Cohens didn't want to be his family anymore, and once again, he'd have no one.
So Ryan just walked. Walked off his anger at Teresa and at the mess that had become his life. After walking around for hours, Ryan found himself at the park, and decided it would probably be best if he crashed there for the night. In the morning, he'd go back to Teresa's, and they would figure out what they should do because Ryan knew they couldn't continue the way they were. He'd also call Sandy in the morning. He wanted to call Sandy now, but it was late. He didn't want to wake anyone up, and he knew the phone ringing so late would scare them. And he didn't want to scare them, not for nothing. It could wait.
Ryan reached into his pocket for a cigarette. It would help calm him down. Unfortunately from behind him, he heard a familiar voice say,
"Well, looky here. If it ain't Ryan Atwood."
Ryan turned around to face the voice. The voice belonging to Eddie, and three of Eddie's friends. Ryan knew his night was about to get worse. A lot worse.
"Eddie," Ryan said, trying to stay calm, "Hey. What's up?"
"Hey yourself, Atwood. What brings you here?" Eddie snidely said, "Hum? Things not going so good with my girlfriend?"
It was obvious that Eddie had been drinking. Hell, he was still holding a half empty beer bottle. Ryan knew when Eddie drank, he was violent. Really violent. Ryan also knew his options were severely limited as Eddie's three friends circled around him, making any chance of escape impossible.
"Things are fine, Eddie," Ryan said, "How you doing man?"
Ryan thought if he could get Eddie to talk, maybe he could get Eddie to remember that they were once good friends. Ryan was Trey's little brother. They used to all hang out together.
Eddie snickered and then spat at Ryan,
"Oh, things couldn't be better. Let's see, I lost my job, my apartment, my car, and oh yeah, my girlfriend. I lost my girlfriend. To you. And now I hear you two are going to have a baby. You know, she and I should be married now. We were supposed to get married last month. That should be my baby. Not yours. You just couldn't stay away. Let us be happy. No, you had to come back and ruin it for us."
"Eddie, man," Ryan tried to explain, "I didn't ruin it for you. You did. You hit her. She left you because you hit her. I didn't have anything to do with that."
"Shut up!" Eddie shouted as he smashed his beer bottle across the side of Ryan's head. "I warned you that if you ever came home, I'd kill you."
Ryan was dazed and started to fall forward from the force of Eddie's blow, but two of Eddie's friends caught him and held him up. Eddie had talked about nothing else but getting even with Ryan for months, and they wanted to make sure Eddie enjoyed every minute of his revenge and Ryan didn't.
Eddie looked Ryan over for a minute, trying to decide where he should start. He finally decided on punching Ryan in the face a number of times. He was tired of Ryan's pretty boy face, and wanted to make it not so pretty. He wanted it to be a face Teresa would no longer love. After breaking Ryan's nose and splitting open his lip, Eddie then began punching Ryan in the stomach. He wanted to make the kid puke. But Ryan never did. He didn't even moan or groan. He quietly took every punch Eddie threw at him, until Eddie was done and his friends let Ryan go.
Even then, Ryan quietly fell to the ground. Eddie still couldn't make the kid cry out or moan or even groan. And that made Eddie mad, again. He began to kick Ryan, in the ribs, in the gut, in the back, anywhere he could, just to get Ryan to make a noise. Any kind of noise. Just to let Eddie know that he had won, that Ryan was sorry for what he had done. But damn if the kid didn't utter a sound. Even a year in fancy Newport Beach didn't soften Ryan Atwood.
After one last hard kick to Ryan's back, Eddie spat on him and left. His friends followed him, congratulating him for kicking Ryan's ass so thoroughly, and leaving Ryan in an unconscious heap in the middle of the park.
When he woke up, Ryan wasn't sure how long he'd be down on the ground. He tried to get up, but he couldn't. Everything hurt like hell. He knew he had some broken ribs and his nose was broken. Besides that, he wasn't sure what else was broken. He could taste the blood in his mouth from his lip, and he knew the blood was running down the side of his face from his head. He knew he was hurt, but he didn't know how he was going to get help. It had to be the middle of the night or early into the morning. No one was in the park and wouldn't be until the sun came up. Ryan didn't know what else to do but lie on the ground trying to get the strength to get up and out of the park. He closed his eyes, and passed out again.
Ryan suddenly became very aware of a lot of movement around him. He was afraid Eddie and his friends were back so he tried to get up and fight, but he heard a man's voice say,
"Hey, kid. Calm down. We're here to help you. Ok. Can you hear me? We're here to help you. Can you open your eyes?"
Ryan opened his eyes to see two police officers leaning over him. For the first time in his life, Ryan was really happy to see the police.
"Are you Ryan Atwood?" the one officer asked. He was holding Ryan's wallet, trying to identify the picture of Ryan in his driver's license to the kid laying in a bloody heap on the ground.
Ryan could only nod his head and moan. He tried to get up so he could answer the policeman's questions, but the other officer stopped him.
"Just stay put, Ryan. We've called for an ambulance. It should be here soon. Can you tell us what happened? Who attacked you?"
"No, no ambulance. I'm ok. Just need to get up. Not Eddie's fault. My fault. Need to go home." Ryan moaned. He was having some trouble breathing.
The one officer put his hand on Ryan's shoulder, trying to calm him as well as keep him from trying to get up.
"No, kid. Don't try to move. You need to lay still until the ambulance gets here. You need to go to the hospital. Don't worry. It's going to be ok. You'll be ok. Now, can you tell us who Eddie is? Did he do this? What's Eddie's last name?"
All Ryan could say was "No." He couldn't answer any more questions. He didn't have any more strength and as he began to slip back into the darkness, he heard the ambulance in the distance. He hated hospitals, but he knew he was going. Now he wasn't going to get the chance to call Sandy. Now he'd have to wait even longer to see if they even wanted to hear from him.
When he first left Teresa's house, he had planned on going down to the corner and calling Sandy. Then he realized he needed to calm down first and not call when he was so angry. Besides, he really didn't know what to say. All he really wanted to say was that he was tired and lonely and missed them. He wanted to admit that he made a mistake and just wanted to come home. But that didn't sound very mature, and besides that, Ryan wasn't really sure if they'd want him back. He hadn't spoken to them in over two months. He had no idea how they would feel if he just called out of the blue to say he wanted to come home. Ryan figured there was a good chance it wasn't his home anymore and the Cohens didn't want to be his family anymore, and once again, he'd have no one.
So Ryan just walked. Walked off his anger at Teresa and at the mess that had become his life. After walking around for hours, Ryan found himself at the park, and decided it would probably be best if he crashed there for the night. In the morning, he'd go back to Teresa's, and they would figure out what they should do because Ryan knew they couldn't continue the way they were. He'd also call Sandy in the morning. He wanted to call Sandy now, but it was late. He didn't want to wake anyone up, and he knew the phone ringing so late would scare them. And he didn't want to scare them, not for nothing. It could wait.
Ryan reached into his pocket for a cigarette. It would help calm him down. Unfortunately from behind him, he heard a familiar voice say,
"Well, looky here. If it ain't Ryan Atwood."
Ryan turned around to face the voice. The voice belonging to Eddie, and three of Eddie's friends. Ryan knew his night was about to get worse. A lot worse.
"Eddie," Ryan said, trying to stay calm, "Hey. What's up?"
"Hey yourself, Atwood. What brings you here?" Eddie snidely said, "Hum? Things not going so good with my girlfriend?"
It was obvious that Eddie had been drinking. Hell, he was still holding a half empty beer bottle. Ryan knew when Eddie drank, he was violent. Really violent. Ryan also knew his options were severely limited as Eddie's three friends circled around him, making any chance of escape impossible.
"Things are fine, Eddie," Ryan said, "How you doing man?"
Ryan thought if he could get Eddie to talk, maybe he could get Eddie to remember that they were once good friends. Ryan was Trey's little brother. They used to all hang out together.
Eddie snickered and then spat at Ryan,
"Oh, things couldn't be better. Let's see, I lost my job, my apartment, my car, and oh yeah, my girlfriend. I lost my girlfriend. To you. And now I hear you two are going to have a baby. You know, she and I should be married now. We were supposed to get married last month. That should be my baby. Not yours. You just couldn't stay away. Let us be happy. No, you had to come back and ruin it for us."
"Eddie, man," Ryan tried to explain, "I didn't ruin it for you. You did. You hit her. She left you because you hit her. I didn't have anything to do with that."
"Shut up!" Eddie shouted as he smashed his beer bottle across the side of Ryan's head. "I warned you that if you ever came home, I'd kill you."
Ryan was dazed and started to fall forward from the force of Eddie's blow, but two of Eddie's friends caught him and held him up. Eddie had talked about nothing else but getting even with Ryan for months, and they wanted to make sure Eddie enjoyed every minute of his revenge and Ryan didn't.
Eddie looked Ryan over for a minute, trying to decide where he should start. He finally decided on punching Ryan in the face a number of times. He was tired of Ryan's pretty boy face, and wanted to make it not so pretty. He wanted it to be a face Teresa would no longer love. After breaking Ryan's nose and splitting open his lip, Eddie then began punching Ryan in the stomach. He wanted to make the kid puke. But Ryan never did. He didn't even moan or groan. He quietly took every punch Eddie threw at him, until Eddie was done and his friends let Ryan go.
Even then, Ryan quietly fell to the ground. Eddie still couldn't make the kid cry out or moan or even groan. And that made Eddie mad, again. He began to kick Ryan, in the ribs, in the gut, in the back, anywhere he could, just to get Ryan to make a noise. Any kind of noise. Just to let Eddie know that he had won, that Ryan was sorry for what he had done. But damn if the kid didn't utter a sound. Even a year in fancy Newport Beach didn't soften Ryan Atwood.
After one last hard kick to Ryan's back, Eddie spat on him and left. His friends followed him, congratulating him for kicking Ryan's ass so thoroughly, and leaving Ryan in an unconscious heap in the middle of the park.
When he woke up, Ryan wasn't sure how long he'd be down on the ground. He tried to get up, but he couldn't. Everything hurt like hell. He knew he had some broken ribs and his nose was broken. Besides that, he wasn't sure what else was broken. He could taste the blood in his mouth from his lip, and he knew the blood was running down the side of his face from his head. He knew he was hurt, but he didn't know how he was going to get help. It had to be the middle of the night or early into the morning. No one was in the park and wouldn't be until the sun came up. Ryan didn't know what else to do but lie on the ground trying to get the strength to get up and out of the park. He closed his eyes, and passed out again.
Ryan suddenly became very aware of a lot of movement around him. He was afraid Eddie and his friends were back so he tried to get up and fight, but he heard a man's voice say,
"Hey, kid. Calm down. We're here to help you. Ok. Can you hear me? We're here to help you. Can you open your eyes?"
Ryan opened his eyes to see two police officers leaning over him. For the first time in his life, Ryan was really happy to see the police.
"Are you Ryan Atwood?" the one officer asked. He was holding Ryan's wallet, trying to identify the picture of Ryan in his driver's license to the kid laying in a bloody heap on the ground.
Ryan could only nod his head and moan. He tried to get up so he could answer the policeman's questions, but the other officer stopped him.
"Just stay put, Ryan. We've called for an ambulance. It should be here soon. Can you tell us what happened? Who attacked you?"
"No, no ambulance. I'm ok. Just need to get up. Not Eddie's fault. My fault. Need to go home." Ryan moaned. He was having some trouble breathing.
The one officer put his hand on Ryan's shoulder, trying to calm him as well as keep him from trying to get up.
"No, kid. Don't try to move. You need to lay still until the ambulance gets here. You need to go to the hospital. Don't worry. It's going to be ok. You'll be ok. Now, can you tell us who Eddie is? Did he do this? What's Eddie's last name?"
All Ryan could say was "No." He couldn't answer any more questions. He didn't have any more strength and as he began to slip back into the darkness, he heard the ambulance in the distance. He hated hospitals, but he knew he was going. Now he wasn't going to get the chance to call Sandy. Now he'd have to wait even longer to see if they even wanted to hear from him.