He had just gotten caught breaking in to the file room so that he could prove that Oliver was crazy. So far all it had gotten him was in trouble. Big time. But what hurt more then being in trouble was that no one would believe him.
He looked up through his hair as Kirsten and Sandy came walking in. Kirsten went to the counter and got a cup of coffee then held her arms close to her body and began to sip it. Sandy was just standing there and Ryan knew that Sandy was trying to figure out where to start.
"What were you thinking Ryan?" He started and Ryan was surprised at how calm his voice was. "What you did was illegal! I had to do some heavy talking to Dr. Kim so she wouldn't report it to your probation officer!" Sandy said and his voice started to raise with each sentence.
"Ryan, why would you do such a thing?" Kirsten asked in a soft tone. Ryan looked at her for a second then looked down.
"I needed to help Marissa....Oliver is unstable." Ryan said with desperation in his voice. Pleading with someone to believe him. He grew up with people like Oliver and he could sniff them out in his sleep.
"Yea maybe he is! But now you're the one who could be expelled!" Sandy said now yelling. Ryan flinched. Yelling was always a bad sign and he knew that Sandy would never hit him but there will always be something inside of him that will tell him yelling is bad and protect yourself. Ryan looked back down at his hands again.
"So what? Are you going to kick me out now?" Ryan said softly. Sandy leaned in putting one hand on the chair and the other on the counter. Ryan felt he was to close but couldn't back away.
"Don't you get it? You are part of this family. No matter how bad you screw up but I'm gonna make you wish we kicked you out!" Sandy said and left the room. Ryan looked over at Kirsten and saw the disappointment in her eyes. She then went off to follow her husband. Ryan felt himself relax. They weren't kicking him out. He got off the stool and made his way to the pool house. He plopped down on the bed and sighed unsure of what to do.
"Ryan! What did you do?" Ryan looked up from his homework and saw his dad at the door of his room.
"What?" He asked confused. His father came in and towered over the 10-year-old boy.
"You fucking took my money to get shoes!" His father yelled.
"Mom gave me the money." Ryan said fearfully.
"That's not what she says!" He yelled again. Ryan wasn't going to win this argument. His father was drunk and money was gone. His father reached out and hit Ryan across the face knocking him off the chair and his homework off the desk.
"I WANT YOU OUT OF MY HOUSE!" His father yelled. "I don't need my own kids taking from me!" He yelled again then hit Ryan again. His father beat him up then literally tossed him out of the house. Ryan got up off the ground and limped out of the front yard. He had to decide where to go. He didn't have many friends because he was quiet in school and the other kids thought he was weird so he really didn't have any one to call. So he headed to the park which was a block away from his house. He limped over to what was left of the swing set clubhouse. It was no bigger then five feet by 8 feet and it was rotting and had some holes in the wood. There was graffiti on the inside and out where the older kids had tagged it. He crawled inside and tried to keep himself warm. It could get pretty cold in February even in California.
The next morning he went back to his house hoping that they would let him back in. When he got there no one was home. He decided to take a quick shower just incase they came back and said they still wanted him gone.
After getting showered and changed he limped into the kitchen hoping to find something to eat when the front door opened. He froze and looked over to where he saw his mother coming in to the house. She saw him.
"Ry, honey." She said softly. Ryan knew something was wrong. She always talked like that when something was wrong. "Your father has been arrested for robbing a store." Ryan was torn between sadness and happiness. Sad that his father was arrested because it was his dad but happy because he could never be hurt by him again.
Ryan didn't realize a few tears had escaped his eyes. When he came out from his memory and realized he had been crying he didn't get mad at himself like he normally would instead he let himself cry. He had been bottling it up for so long and The Cohen's being mad at him had broken his wall. Why wouldn't anyone believe him? No one ever did.
A few days later Ryan was proved right when Oliver went nuts and pulled a gun. Part of him was saying 'told you so' to everyone but the rest of him was still saddened that no one believed him. Even though he was no longer suspended and his grounding was lifted, he didn't feel like leaving the pool house. So he laid on his bed trying to figure out what next. There was a knock on his door.
"It's open." He said void of any emotion. Sandy walked in.
"Hey kid." He said and sat on the chair across from Ryan's bed. Ryan sat up and put his back up against the backboard of the bed and curled his legs up to his chest. He really didn't want to talk to Sandy but he didn't turn the man away.
"I'm sorry. I should have believed you. I let you down." Sandy said sadly and Ryan looked up at him. His ears must be messed up because he thought he just heard Sandy say he was sorry to him. It threw him off.
"It's..uh..it's ok." Ryan said confused.
"No it isn't. You saw it and we didn't." Sandy said. "I should believe my own son, I mean that's what I should have done but I was so mad that you tried to do it on your own and didn't come to us.... I am really sorry Ryan." Sandy rambled buy Ryan didn't fail to hear 'I should have believed my own son' part. "How can I make it up to you?" Sandy asked. Ryan thought for a long moment not really sure of what to say.
"You...you really think of me as your son?" Ryan asked softly. Sandy got up and sat next to Ryan on the bed. He looked at Ryan.
"Yes Ryan. I do and always will." He said and Ryan could tell by his eyes that Sandy meant every word of what he said. Ryan looked away for a second then back to Sandy.
"I think you already did." Ryan said.
"Did what?" Sandy asked confused.
"Made it up to me."
"Ok lost me Ryan." Sandy said and Ryan chuckled.
"You already made it up to me." Ryan said and then added "You think of me as your son. I really couldn't ask for anything more." Ryan finished and Sandy couldn't help it and reached out and took Ryan in to a hug. This time Ryan fully accepted it and hugged Sandy back.
For the first time in his life Ryan had a real father. One who cared about him and didn't kick him out no matter how bad he fucked up. He has gotten lucky and he knew that no matter what happens in the future, the Cohen's would always believe him.
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