There's still quite a bit in this story. I had the intention of making it short, but then I went crazy and typed for forty minutes straight. When I tried to make it shorter, I didn't really like it. Tell me if you want me to get to the point and shorten it. A note:

NaijaChiqa- Well thank you! You're very kind. ;)

To everyone else (except of course, the ever so mysterious "u suck") thank you for the comments. They really keep me going and are incredibly nice to read, especially after a long night of babysitting.

Hope you enjoy it!

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"This hotel is repugnant." Seth wiped the dust off of the T.V. screen.

"Repugnant?" Sandy raised an eyebrow at his son.

"What? I can't say smart words, now?" Sandy raised an eyebrow in response.

Seth looked at the ground and pointed at a calendar on the wall.

"Word of the day?" His father laughed and patted his head. "Very cool, son."

Seth mouthed his father's words, eyes closed and his lip curled.

"Ok. Now we need to get serious. We'll let him cool off and go back in a day or two." Seth's eyebrows raised at the mention of two days, but Sandy raised a finger and made a face, signaling him to wait his turn. "We'll go back and talk to him. I mean really talk. You, me, him, Theresa, and Pilar. We'll talk as long as we have to to resolve this thing. We are going to get him back, or--" He didn't finish his sentence.

"Or what?" said Seth, biting his bottom lip.

"We're going to get him back."

"I hope so." Seth looked out of the window and looked down. Sandy touched the top of his head as he leaned over to get his cell phone.

"Who you callin'?" asked Seth, looking up again.

"Your mother. I need to tell her how long we'll be stayin'." Seth nodded.

"Why don't you ask her to come over?" Sandy shook his head.

"No. We still need her at the home front." He said, smiling slightly. "Alright. Fix yourself some food and when you come back, we'll talk about what our plan is gonna be." he added with a sigh.

Seth gave him a look. "I believe I already had a plan."

"Our revised plan."

Seth nodded dramatically. He eyed the food on his plate suspiciously and then looked at his father. "Dad? Do you wanna go out for breakfast?"

"Good idea."

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Theresa was glad that the mechanic had finally gotten her car fixed, even though it had cost her more than it should have. She no longer had Arturo to do all her necessary car fixing. She had taken a few mechanics classes, but she was in no way a wiz.

She suddenly missed Arturo. He had to go and get busted for stealing that car. That one damn car. She knew how it felt to be missing family. First her father, then her brother. The only thing she had left was her mother. Ryan didn't even have that. But he did have people who cared about him. And she realized that she was making a mistake in making him stay with her.

"You should've gone with him." said Theresa quietly as she drove him to work. He shrugged the question off.

"Why didn't you go with him?" She knew it was unwise to keep on pestering him, but she wouldn't leave it alone. Not this time.

"You don't get to do this." he snapped.

"Do what, Ryan?"

"You don't get to just ask me to come with you and change your mind. You made up your mind. You wanted me here, I'm staying here. There's no taking it back."

She frowned and shook her head. Those damn Atwood men were always so stubborn. Even when Ryan was small, he was hardheaded. When Theresa found him trembling outside in the rain at the age of eight, she had asked him what was wrong. He told her nothing. She asked him if his had mother kicked him out.

"No. I just felt like sitting outside. To get some air." he hadn't looked up at her when he said it.

She had snorted and sat down beside him, ignoring the fact that her new pants were going to get wet. She had hugged him carefully, making sure that he knew she was going to.

"You know your parents aren't supposed to hit you Ryan." she had said, flinching at his sneer.

"That's what you said before and that didn't help very much, did it."

She looked away. She was the reason he had gotten sent to the hospital the first time. Before that, she hadn't even known what a hospital was. She didn't know that people died there. After that, it all went downhill. Her father got sick and they were there all the time. Between visiting her father and visiting Ryan, her eighth year in the world had been spent primarily in the hospital.

Theresa put her eyes back on the road, mentally chastising herself for letting her thoughts wander.

Beside her, Ryan sighed and coughed slightly, obviously bored of waiting for an answer from her. Theresa narrowed her eyes at him. He was probably feeling sick from his stay outside in the rain when Sandy came over. She would have to buy him some cough syrup and sneak it into his food. She laughed and he gave her a curious look.

She thought about asking him if he was feeling alright, but she could tell by his pale skin and bloodshot eyes that he wasn't. He probably had the flu or something, and here he was, going to work. He probably felt like shit.

"Quit lookin' at me." he said tiredly, a hint of annoyance and suspicion in his voice. "You're gonna crash the car or something."

She turned away from him. "Newport made you really pessimistic."

He gave a mirthless chuckle and looked at her. "I've always been pessimistic. You just never noticed because you were too busy being happy."

Theresa pulled the car over roughly, regretting it when Ryan's seatbelt pushed against him and he made a face. She dismissed the thought and turned to him, anger in her voice.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" she asked, not caring that he looked a little scared.

"Nothing! It's just that you had a nice childhood and I-- I didn't." Although it was hard, he maintained eye contact. Her anger still present, though slightly subsiding, Theresa found it hard to answer.

"You think my childhood was nice? You think it was nice to see you in the hospital every few months, with a broken arm or a bruised collarbone? You think it was nice to find you all alone in your shithole of a house and see no one there to help you when you were hurt? Do you actually think that I liked spending all my free time in the hospital with you and my father?"

She was in tears by the end of her rant. Ryan sat, startled by her words. He unbuckled his seatbelt and bent over to hug her. She didn't protest, letting him comfort her with his soft words.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean it like that..." he slid his hand up and down her back as her body racked with sobs.

"Shh... I'm sorry..." Her sobs subsided, but they didn't pull out of the hug for more than a few minutes.

Ryan wouldn't tell her that he had overheard her mother trying to negotiate the bills. He wasn't about to tell her just yet that he was planning on moving in with his mother, or that she had agreed and he was going to move in with her tomorrow. And he sure as hell wasn't going to tell her that he had talked to Pilar about it, and she had agreed.

He knew it had been a bad idea to live with Theresa and Pilar. He was a walking curse, destroying everything in his path. His mother, his father, Trey, the Cohens... and now Theresa.

"Shh... I'm sorry..."

She had no idea how sorry he really was.

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"Hello?" asked Kirsten, twirling the phone cord around her finger. It was the only phone with a cord in the whole house, and it was there for a reason. When they first moved in, it had been their only phone. Both Sandy and Kirsten felt it was necessary, so as to keep their old lives in their hearts. Or their phone. They never quite narrowed it down to one or the other.

"Hey sweetie, it's Sandy."

"Hey!" It was nice to hear his voice. That night had been boring and depressing without her husband or sons to keep her company. She ran through all possible solutions to their problem, coming up with more than she could count. She also went through all the things that could go wrong, and all the things that could happen to all three of the absent family members. Most of them ended with crying or hospitals.

Yes, last night had been quite a crappy night.

"Well, I just called to let you know that we're gonna be staying a little longer than planned, and that Seth says you should still stay at the homefront." Kirsten frowned.

"Dad, you're lying! Stop lying!" She laughed at the sound of Seth's voice.

"Yeah, Seth thinks you should stay home, and you can't argue with Seth."

"You really think she's gonna believe you? You really are sad."

Kirsten heard Sandy tell Seth to be quiet or he'd blow their cover.

"Your cover's already been blown, darling." she said, still giggling.

"What was that, sugar plum?"

"Oh, you can cut the niceties, Sanford Cohen. You are in big trouble when you get home. I mean that." She hoped he couldn't tell she was smiling.

"Alright. Hopefully we'll have Ryan by then and you'll be so proud of me you'll forget all about me leaving you at home. Am I correct?"

"You probably are."

"I thought so."

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"Ryan? We're here." Theresa gently shook him, trying to wake him from his slumber. He stirred and fluttered his eyes open with a yawn.

"You alright?" she asked, giving in to the desire to take care of him.

"Fine."

But he just always had to ruin it for her.

"You look like crap." she joked.

"Thanks."

"No problem. I'm here to tell the truth." He gave a half smile at her words. "So, uh..." She paused, looking at him. "Are you sure you wanna go through with this?"

Ryan frowned. "Go through with what?"

"You know, work. You look a little sick."

"I gotta go to work. It's my first day. And really, I feel fine. I little tired, but fine."

Wow. She had actually gotten him to admit he was tired. That was quite the feat.

"Well. Ok. But take some Tylenol or something, alright?"

"Yeah. Whatever."

She narrowed her eyes at him and shoved him playfully.

"Fine. Get all sick. I don't care. I won't take care of you." She stuck her tongue out at him, amused when he stuck it back at her. God, he was cute when he was playful.

"I'll see you later, Theresa. Thanks for the ride." he said, getting out of the car.

"Oh, Theresa?"

"Yeah?"

"I, uh-- I gotta talk to you later."

"Uh, ok." she said, looking at him curiously.

"Well, see ya' later." said Ryan, waving and slamming the door.

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"I think we should go see him now." said Seth through a mouthful of pancake.

"Yeah, I don't."

"Why not?" Sandy had a distracting thought that he should perhaps teach Seth not to talk with his mouth full.

"Because he's probably still mad at me. I told you, we need to give him time to cool off."

"And why would he be mad at you?" Sandy had almost forgotten that he hadn't told Seth about his little conversation with Ryan.

"I said some things that I guess he got mad at-- I don't know exactly why, I mean, it was the truth, but he just shut down on me."

"Dad, what exactly did you say to him?" asked Seth, concern building in his voice.

"Nothing! I mean, nothing mean or anything. I just told him I wanted him back with us. And-- and that we needed at least one of you guys here."

Seth nodded in understanding, seemingly convinced. After a few seconds he stopped nodding and looked up at his father.

"How did you say it?" he asked seriously.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, did you say it, 'Oh Ryan, kiddo, we love you so much and need you so much and you're so important to us!'" He clasped his hands together, swooning to some imaginary object.

"Or did you say it, 'Ryan, you need to get here right now or I'm coming to get you myself and you'll be grounded!'" He pointed an accusatory finger at his father and frowned.

"I-- I didn't say I'd ground him..." said Sandy guiltily.

Seth threw his hands in the air in defeat. "Good lord, dad. You know Ryan doesn't react well to anger.

"I wasn't angry! I was frustrated."

Seth released a quick breath and shook his head.

"It doesn't matter to Ryan. All he heard in your tone was anger, and at that moment that was all he could process. The memory must have slipped his mind, so later on he'd just think you were angry at him, and he wouldn't be able to tell if you were angry and frustrated, or maybe tired because at that one moment, all he could tell was anger." He waved a piece of pancake in front of Sandy's face as he spoke.

"So know he's thinking that you're mad at him because he won't come back. He feels the need to stay here, n'est pas?"

Sandy nodded.

"Right. So he's staying here and now he finds out that you're mad at him."

Sandy opened his mouth to stop Seth, but Seth waggled a finger at him to stop him.

"He finds out you're frustrated, and he doesn't precisely know why. He has doubts and all you're doing is reinforcing those doubts, causing him to face a dilemma." Sandy frowned.

"Seth?" he asked, confused by his son's knowledge.

"What? I spent two days with absolutely nothing to do but think. Think and read." Sandy nodded in comprehension.

"So we'll give him until tomorrow to cool it, like you said, then we'll talk to him. We won't get Kirsten to phone in and talk to him though, because that'll make him think we're guilting him into coming with us." said Seth, taking a moment to drink his milkshake. He grabbed the straw and sucked on it for a whole minute, causing Sandy to give him an incredulous stare.

"What are you, pregnant, Seth? You're eating like a pig!"

Seth took the straw away from his mouth and stuck his tongue out at his father.

"Would you rather I not eat, like Princess-- like Marissa?"

"Come on now, Seth. That's not very nice."

"Yeah, well she's not very nice."

"What has she ever done to make you not like her?" asked Sandy, knowing full well that Marissa had not been the greatest influence.

"Uh, she ignored me for half my life, took Ryan away from us and insulted me in front of Summer." Sandy raised his eyebrows in shock.

"She insulted you?"

"Well, actually, I insulted her first. And she insulted me back."

"Ah, well then she defended herself."

Seth frowned, suddenly angry. "And since when have you cared more about Marissa than me?"

"It's not like that, son, I'm just saying that if you insulted her first then why shouldn't she defend herself?"

"Because I was telling the truth!" yelped Seth, attracting some stares from the customers.

"Seth, ok, I'm sorry. What did you say to her?" Seth looked down at his plate, which now contained nothing more than a few bites of pancakes.

"I said that if it wasn't for her and Oliver, then Ryan wouldn't have hooked up with Theresa and Ryan wouldn't have left. And I said-- I said that all she ever did was drag Ryan into her stupid, messed up life."

"Seth..."

"And I don't regret it. You-- you don't know everything that she did to him. Everything that she put him through."

Sandy sat back in his chair and put his hands on the table. "So enlighten me."

Seth sighed wearily. "How much time d'ya got?"

Sandy lent forward. "Son, we got all day."

Seth smirked.

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"Hello there, can I help you?" said Ryan, his voice making him sound like a sleep deprived homeless person. He yawned into his hand.

"Hey Ryan!" said a happy voice. Jayne's voice. He looked up. Well, she certainly had no reason to be happy, what with her bruised face and cut up cheek. She caught his stare and looked away.

"What happened?" he asked, taking the Tylenol she had in her hand and running it through the checkout.

"Nothing."

"Jayne, this is not nothing. Come on, you can tell me." He looked at her pleadingly, taking the ten that she handed him.

"I know I can, just- not here. Can you meet me outside at your next coffee break?"

"Sure, of course."

She smiled and left, taking the change that Ryan gave her. He looked her over carefully, noticing that she was skinnier than she used to be. Then again, the last time he saw her was when he was fourteen. Her mother finally made something of herself and she moved away. All the way to L.A. Ryan had considered visiting her when he, Seth, and the girls had gone to Grady Bridges' birthday party, but then everything with Hailey happened, and he suddenly had other things to take care of.

"Excuse me? I'd like to pay today." said a brown haired woman, her face etched with annoyance.

"Yeah. Sorry."

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"Well, remember when Ryan tackled Luke on the soccer field?"

Of course he did. Kirsten had been scared that he'd be taken away from him, but as Ryan had once told him, Atwood luck didn't always have to be a curse.

"Yeah, yeah I remember."

Seth looked to the side for a second and then looked back at his father.

"Well that was because he overheard Marissa making up with Luke and he thought they were back together. It all could have been avoided if Marissa had just told Ryan, but she went on lying. And that pissedRyan off."

Sandy nodded in understanding, watching as Seth had an epiphany.

"Ah! Remember when we had the Nana going on and Ryan was no where to be found?"

Sandy nodded, his curiosity getting a hold of him.

"Well, he was looking for Marissa because she had run off again. She was so busy whining about the fact that Luke slept with Julie that she--"

Sandy's face fell. Seth put his head in his hands.

"Oh shit. God, Ryan's gonna kill me. He's gonna kill me."

"Seth, repeat what you just said." said Sandy, paling considerably.

"Ryan's gonna kill me?"

"No, no, before that."

"What do you mean? I didn't say anything before that. I said Ryan tackled Luke. I- I said that Marissa was too skinny."

"No. Seth, you said that Marissa was whining about Luke sleeping with Julie. Am I correct?"

Seth nodded.

"Oh god, he could be her son. He's young enough to be her son. And she slept with him. I think I'm gonna throw up." Sandy lay his head on the table over his crossed hands, ignoring the disgusted stares of customers putting down their forks.

"That's about the same reaction I had." said Seth.

Sandy lifted his head off of the table and looked at Seth. "How many people know about this?" he asked.

Seth counted on his fingers. "Well, there's Marissa, Ryan, me, Luke, Julie, and, uh, you. So six."

Sandy shook his head in disgust. "And that's the reason Marissa ran off." Seth nodded in response. "Wow. I had absolutely no idea."

Seth nodded again. "Yeah, well it came as quite the shock to us as well. And when Marissa found out, she ran away. I told Ryan to come back and give her some time alone, but you know Ryan. He actually got that bad scratch on his elbow from trying to help her."

Sandy raised his eyebrows again. Ryan had told him that was from falling off his bike. He hated it when Ryan lied to him.

"He told me one of Eddie's goons shoved him when I asked him about it. Don't worry about it dad," he said when he caught his father's face.

"I swear, that kid is attracted to trouble." said Sandy with a sad smile.

"Dad, come on. You know that's not true. Ryan's not attracted to trouble, he's a magnet for it. He tries, you know he does."

Sandy nodded. "Of course I know that. Tell you what. Let's change the subject." Seth looked at his plate again. It was empty.

"You wanna talk about Luke and Julie?" he said, smiling a little as his dad shook his head violently.

"Dear lord, no."

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"Hey Ryan." Jayne was smoking a cigarette and took a long drag before throwing it on the ground and squishing it with her shoe.

"I thought you quit." said Ryan, sitting down beside her.

"Yeah, I quit a lot of things back in the day. Doesn't mean I didn't start them up again."

Ryan looked at her, confused by her confession.

"So. You wanna know how I got all beat up?" asked Jayne, staring at Ryan through equally blue eyes. Ryan looked at them. No, hers were darker than his. Sadder. They, shockingly, had been through more than his had. They had seen more than his had.

"Yeah. 'Course I wanna know."

Jayne smiled and looked at the ground. "I got in trouble with a guy because I didn't deliver."

Ryan suddenly felt ill. He wasn't sure if it was the cold drafty air or what Jayne had just said to him.

"Didn't deliver? Deliver what, Jayne?"

Jayne stayed silent, closing her eyes.

"Jayne? What didn't you deliver?"

She finally looked at him, fear in her eyes. "10 grams of coke."

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"Hey mom. How was your day?" asked Theresa, walking over to her mother and giving her a kiss on the cheek. She was packing a duffel bag full of clothes.

"What, you leaving?" she asked, only half joking.

"No, sweetie. This is for Ryan. Didn't he tell you?"

Theresa shook her head. "Tell me what?"

Eva sighed. It looked like Ryan had lost his nerve. She would have to tell Theresa for him.

"He's moving in with his mom, Dawn. He found her in the grocery store yesterday and called her today because-- because I can't afford to take care of both of you."

Theresa felt tears build in her eyes and she blinked them back, shaking her head.

"What? Mom, no, he got a job, I'm getting a job, everything's fine! We'll make enough money, don't worry. There's no need to kick him out." She knelt on the ground next to her mother, the noise of her knees cracking dismissed.

"No, Theresa. He wanted to move out. And he told me not to tell the Cohens. He said he wants to end his relationship with them."

"Why?!" cried Theresa, louder than she had intended.

"Because he doesn't want to depend on them. Theresa, he'll still take care of you, don't worry. He just needs to be alone, away from the Cohens. He explained it all to me, and although I don't agree, I respect his choice. You need to do the same."

Theresa sat down on the ground. "You're not going to tell the Cohens, are you Theresa? Because that would betray Ryan's trust in you, and lord only knows that poor boy needs someone to trust."

"He has someone to trust! He has the Cohens. He loves the Cohens."

"He can't be with the Cohens right now, Theresa. And he can't be with us. Just let him go. I'm sure it'll only be for a few months, if not weeks."

Theresa nodded slowly, taking in the information. "I'll be in my room." she said quietly, using her hands to stand up and walk away.

Ryan was leaving her. She had asked for it, of course, but it still hurt. She asked him to go live with the Cohens, not with his no good mother. She asked him to be happy, not stupid. But Ryan had always been lured by women like his mother. Theresa had actually been surprised when Ryan kissed her that first time. She was different from his other "friends". She wasn't an alcoholic, she hadn't done many drugs in her lifetime, and she had a loving family.

Theresa had always known why Ryan was so drawn to Marissa. Marissa was just another damsel in distress, and although at this moment, Theresa was one as well, she simply found it annoying how needy Ryan's girlfriend was. Ryan had told her all about Oliver and Luke. Not only was the girl dependant, but she was stupid. Even Theresa had figured it out at the beginning that Oliver must have been bad news, and Theresa hadn't exactly gotten straight A's, nor was she the sharpest crayon in the box.

Then again, she guessed all the fat had been sucked out of Marissa's brain, making her slightly stupider than the average damsel. She scolded herself for being so bitter, but took it back when she thought about the skinny bitch. As long as no one knew her thoughts, she didn't have to take them back, did she?

--------------------------Flashback-------------------------------------

Chris Murray looked at the bills in front of him on the desk. Light, electric, and that little boy's medical bill. His wife came up behind him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "How goes it, sweetie?"

"Great." he said, smiling at her.

"Do you mind if I look at Ryan's medical bill?" she asked, pointing to the open envelope. He shrugged, handing it to her.

She sneered at it. "He fell down the stairs? And fell out of a tree? God, this is ridiculous." She threw it back down on the desk and sat next to her husband.

"Hey, the tree one actually happened. There were witnesses." He looked over his glasses at his wife, who shook her head.

"So not only is he getting beaten, but he's accident prone? That poor kid is gonna die before the age of fifteen."

Her husband looked at her and touched her hand delicately. "Honey, don't say that."

"Did he come by the library today?" he asked after a long pause.

"Yeah. He came to return that book about Astronomy. Such a smart kid."

"I know."

"It's really a shame that an intelligent child like him has to go through all this crap."

Chris looked down at the table, focusing on the grain of the wood. But the words flew at him. "Bruised ribs". Every month it was a different one. "Bruised collarbone" once, "broken arm" the next time. It really pulled at his heart because the only thing he could do to help was pay for the damn bills.

"We have some books down at the library that we don't need anymore. I think I'll give them to him the next time he comes over."

Chris nodded. "That's nice, dear."

"Look at this." she said, pulling out a ratty sketch book from her purse and laying it in front of him. "He lent it me because I saw him drawing in the library. I told him I'd give it back to him the next time he came."

Chris opened it and stared at the beautiful drawings. A rose etched perfectly, and surrounded by what he assumed was pain and suffering. All around the flower was grey, swirling emptiness.

He flipped the page, intrigued. A tree. A simple, yet captivating drawing that filled his mind with ideas. He noted that beside the tree there was a boy sitting down, his head lowered and his hair falling over his face.

He flipped the page. A crudely drawn picture of a woman with long, curly hair. She was actually quite stunning. He guessed the drawing was made after Ryan's arm was broken, because it looked unbalanced, as though it had shifted around while being drawn. He was unexpectedly glad that Ryan had broken his left arm and not his right. It would have been a shame if he was denied his passion. He frowned.

Maybe art wasn't his passion. Maybe cooking was. The boy knew how to make anything from any cookbook, and even though he didn't always have all the right ingredients, his wife Kelly told him that everything he made tasted wonderful.

He was so glad that Ryan had someone to trust in. Especially since that someone was his wife. What he felt for this kid wasn't pity. It was more than that. It was a task he needed to fulfill. He felt it was his duty to help this poor kid. He didn't know exactly why, but it seemed to take over him.

He flipped the page. This was going to take all night...

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Damn. That was long. Oh well. I'll update soon, and don't forget to tell me what you think, people! I love hearing what you think!