Title: Ryan and Joan

Summary: Ryan meets Joan from Joan of Arcadia.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to The O.C. or Joan of Arcadia.

Author's Notes: I know that Joan of Arcadia is set in Arcadia, Maryland. For the purposes of this story, I'm pretending that it is set in Arcadia, California, which is located to the east-north-east of L.A., next to Pasadena. According to mapquest, it is about 1 hour's drive from Newport Beach.

Chapter 3 - "Meeting the Parents"

Ryan started the car, looked over at Joan, and asked, "OK. So. Where do you live?"

Joan gave him the address. Ryan said, "I don't know Arcadia, so you'll have to direct me."

Ryan followed Joan's directions to her house. While they were driving, they talked.

Joan started off. "Before I introduce you to my parents, I think we should know a little more about each other."

It hadn't crossed Ryan's mind that he would get introduced to her parents, but now that he thought about it, since he was going inside her house, he should have expected it.

Joan continued, "So like I said, I'm Joan. Joan Girardi. I'm 16. I'm a junior at Arcadia High. My brother Luke here is 15. We also have an older brother, Kevin, he's 19. I don't think he's home tonight, but just in case, you should know that he's in a wheelchair. He was in a car accident last year."

Ryan hadn't been around many people in wheelchairs, so he was glad that she had warned him, so he could be cool about it when he met him.

Ryan replied, "Ryan Atwood. Also 16. Also a junior. Like I said, I don't live in Arcadia. You may not believe this, but I live in Newport Beach and go to a private school."

Ryan looked over at Joan and as he expected, she was looking at him like he was pulling her leg. Ryan laughed.

"It's true. It's a long story. I'll tell it to you sometime. Basically, I used to live in Chino. I grew up there. I lived there until a couple of months ago. The person I was at the party back there is the person I used to be in Chino."

"And you're different now?"

"Kind of. Although I guess people never really change that much."

By this time, they had arrived at the Girardi house. Ryan parked along the curb out front. Ryan saw a nice middle-class house. Two stories. Probably had like four bedrooms. Two car garage. It was in between the houses in Chino and the houses in Newport.

The three kids got out of the car, walked up the front walk, and went in the front door. As soon as they were inside, Luke ran up the stairs, leaving Joan and Ryan alone. They looked at each other, each knowing that Luke had set this up for them to be together.

Joan started leading Ryan towards the kitchen. "I'm going to get a Coke. Do you want something?"

"Coke is good. Thanks."

They walked into the kitchen, and Joan went over to the refrigerator and took out two cans of Coke. She handed one to Ryan. Before they had a chance to talk or even sit down, Joan's father Will walked into the kitchen.

He said to Joan, "You're home early. Is Luke home too?"

"He's upstairs."

Will nodded. He looked over at Ryan, put out his hand, and said to him, "Hi. Will Girardi. I'm Joan's father."

Ryan shook Will's hand, and said, "Ryan Atwood."

"Are you a friend of Joan's from school?"

Before Ryan or Joan could reply, Joan's mother Helen came into the kitchen. She also said to Joan, "You're home early."

Helen looked at Ryan a little confused. She said to him, "Are you new? I don't recognize you from school."

Ryan was confused himself, until Joan turned to him and said, "My mother works at the high school."

Joan said to her mother, "Mom, this is Ryan. He doesn't live in Arcadia. We met at the party tonight."

Will asked Ryan, "Where do you live?"

"Newport Beach."

Joan could see this turning into a third-degree from her parents, so she decided to duck out before it got worse. She grabbed Ryan's hand and started to lead him over to the stairs. "Mom. Dad. We'll be up in my room."

Helen called after her daughter, "Remember the rules. If you have a boy in your room, you have to leave the door open."

Joan let out an exaspirated sigh. "Yes, Mom."

Will watched Joan and Ryan go up the stairs and out of sight. His policeman's instincts were telling him that there was something about this kid Ryan. He decided to let Joan have some time with him first, then go and try to talk with him and find out what it was that was nagging at the back of his mind.

Helen said to her husband, "That Ryan kid seemed nice."

Obviously, Helen didn't have cop's instincts.

When Joan and Ryan reached her room, they went in and sat on the bed. Joan said, "Sorry about my parents..."

"Ah, don't worry about it. They seemed nice. You know, like, they were just being parents."

"Yeah, I guess. And sorry about Luke, you know, how he invited you to come in and hang out with him, then he just took off..."

Ryan smiled. "I don't think he really wanted me to hang out with him, do you?"

Joan smiled too and ducked her head, because it was true, and they both knew it. After a moment of awkwardness, they started talking. About school, and music, and movies, and her family, and other stuff. Ryan tried to steer the conversation away from talking about his family or his current complicated living situation or how it got that way. He also didn't want to get anywhere near his problems with the law. Joan noticed that he was avoiding certain subjects, but she didn't want to push it since they just met and were just getting to know each other.

After they'd been talking for a while, there was a lull in the conversation as they'd pretty much exhausted all normal getting-to-know-you subjects, and neither one was a big talker. During their conversation Ryan had been watching Joan and liked what he saw. He took this opportunity to lean forward and indicate that he wanted to kiss her. He went slowly so that if she didn't want to also, she had plenty of opportunity to back out. She didn't, so Ryan kissed her. Just a quick first kiss type kiss.

Ryan backed off and said, "Was that OK?"

Joan smiled, and blushed, and ducked her head, and said, "Yeah."

So with that encouragement, Ryan decided to take the next step. He reached out and gently put his hand below her ear on the side of her neck. He leaned forward and gave her a deeper, longer, French kiss. This was really getting him excited, but he knew that she wasn't that kind of girl, so he broke it off sooner than he wanted and made himself calm down.

He gave her a questioning look, trying to ask her if he'd just gone too far for her. Or maybe not far enough. She was glowing. She smiled and ducked her head again, and was blushing furiously. He judged that was as far as he could take it for tonight anyway.

Ryan watched as Joan composed herself. She looked back up at him and said, "How about we go downstairs and watch some TV?"

Obviously, Ryan had been right. "Sure."

Ryan took Joan's hand and they headed downstairs.

To Be Continued