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.

Chapter 4 - "Talking with Joan's Dad"

Ryan and Joan walked hand-in-hand from her bedroom upstairs, down the stairs, and into the living room. Ryan spotted some Girardi family pictures and stopped to look at them. The one which really caught his eye contained Joan's father in a police uniform. Joan saw him looking at that one. She hadn't mentioned that her father was a cop, because she hadn't wanted to scare him off. Well, the secret was out now.

Ryan said, "Your father is a cop?"

Ryan spoke in a tone of voice that sounded strange to Joan's ears. She wasn't sure what it meant. She answered, "Yeah. Actually, he's the Chief of Police here. That's why we moved here, when he got the job."

Ryan continued to stare at the picture. Joan could see that he was all tense now. She hoped it didn't mean what she thought it did. Because she really liked this guy and didn't want her father's job to drive him away.

Will had been waiting to talk to Ryan. He heard them coming down the stairs and went over to the livingroom to intercept them. So he heard the entire conversation and saw Ryan tense up when he saw the picture of him in his uniform. Will was more convinced then ever that Ryan had been in some trouble before.

At this point, Will decided to make his presence known. "Ryan?"

Ryan turned and looked back at Joan's father, the cop. He could see from the way he was looking at him, that he knew. And Will could see from Ryan's reaction that he knew that he knew.

Will continued, "Can I speak to you?"

Ryan swallowed, and nodded. He turned back to Joan and let go of her hand. He gave her a little smile and ran his hand down the outside of her upper arm. Then he turned and walked towards Will. Joan could see that something was going on between her father and Ryan, but didn't know what it was.

Will led Ryan to the den and let him go in first. As he slid the doors closed, he told Ryan, "Have a seat."

Ryan sat down on the couch and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. He lowered his head. Will sat down opposite Ryan. He watched him for a few seconds. He seemed like maybe he was a good kid who just made some mistakes, ones that he was ashamed of. He wasn't acting like a tough guy with an attitude.

So Will said gently, "Why don't you tell me about it?"

Ryan looked up at Joan's father. He tried to figure out where to start, and how much to tell him. He knew that as a cop, he could look him up on the computer, and maybe he already had while he was upstairs with Joan. Ryan took a deep breath, and began.

"I'm currently on probation."

Will nodded, not very surprised. "For what?"

"I went along with my brother while he stole a car. We got caught. Since it was my first time, my lawyer got it down to a misdemeaner. Probation."

Will noticed that Ryan said that it was his brother who stole the car, not him. He hoped that it didn't mean that Ryan wasn't taking responsibility for his own actions.

"Anything else?"

"I was arrested one other time. The charges were dropped."

Will gave Ryan a look like he should continue.

"There was a fire. It was an accident."

"How did you accidentally start a fire?"

"I was fighting with this other guy. Some candles got knocked over..."

"You get into fights too?"

Ryan just closed his eyes, realizing that this sounded really bad. He fully expected that Joan's Dad at this point would just say that there was no way that he could go out with Joan. To Ryan's surprise, he kept asking questions.

"All this happened in Newport Beach?"

Ryan opened his eyes and looked back at Joan's Dad. "Uh, no. I used to live in Chino. The car happened in Chino. The fire happened in Newport."

"Chino? You moved from Chino to Newport Beach?"

Ryan lowered his head again. He didn't really want to go through what happened, but he did really want to go out with Joan, so he figured his only chance here was to be completely honest. Will saw Ryan look upset and lower his head. He instantly regretted asking the question. Knowing what things were like in Chino, he knew there was probably a really nasty story behind the move. But before Will could say anything, like to nevermind answering that particular question, Ryan started to answer.

"After I got arrested the first time, for the car, my Mom threw me out. My lawyer took me in. Now I live with him and his family in Newport." Ryan said all this without ever looking up.

Will did appreciate the honesty, even though it obviously upset Ryan to talk about it. As it should. He decided that was enough probing into Ryan's past. He knew enough. His first assessment was right. He was a good kid who had made mistakes and had bad things happen to him. But he still wasn't completely convinced that this was the kind of kid he wanted his daughter to go out with.

"Does Joan know about any of this?"

Ryan looked back up at Will. "No. Well, she does know that I used to live in Chino and I now live in Newport. We just met."

"You really just met at the party tonight?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well, she brought you home to meet the parents, and you two were holding hands. I just thought that maybe you'd been secretly going out for a while. Huh, I guess you two hit it off right away."

Ryan got a faraway look in his eye that Will interpreted as love at first sight. This kid had it bad. Maybe he could give him a break.

"You said you live with your lawyer?"

"Yeah. He and his wife are my legal guardians."

"What's his name? Maybe I know him."

"Sandy Cohen. He used to be with the public defender's office."

"Sandy Cohen? Public defender's office? Hmmm... Sounds familiar. Tell you what, I'll talk to him, and then make up my mind if I want my daughter to go out with you. Does that sound fair?"

Ryan couldn't believe what he was hearing. He thought for sure that there was no way with his past that Joan's Dad would let him go out with Joan. Now it sounded like he hadn't made up his mind yet. And he offered to talk to Sandy. Ryan knew that Sandy would tell him that he was a good kid, so this was great.

Ryan replied, "Yeah. Thanks."

"Would he be home right now?"

Ryan had to think for a second, what was Sandy doing tonight. "Hmm... There's no charity thing this weekend, so I think he should be home. I'll give you the house number and his cell, just in case."

Will got up and went over to his desk and took out some paper and pen and gave them to Ryan to write down the phone numbers. Ryan wrote them down and handed the paper and pen back to Will. Will went over to the phone, and Ryan went over to the door. He was going to find Joan. She deserved to know everything that he just told her father. He didn't have to go looking for her, because when he slid the den doors open, she was right outside waiting.

When the doors opened, Joan stepped forward and looked from Ryan to her father and back. "Is everything OK?"

Ryan replied, "There's some stuff I have to tell you. Let's go to your room."

Joan looked over at her father, who just smiled and nodded at her, and went back to the phone. Ryan took Joan's hand and led her upstairs to her room.

To Be Continued