(Kirsten's POV)
Sandy paces back and forth across the living room, his hands rubbing through his disheveled hair nervously as he waits impatiently on any word of Ryan's whereabouts. It's been over twenty four hours since we've informed the police of his disappearance, and I know that every second that goes by with no word from him increases the risk of not finding him at all.
"Sandy will you please sit down, you're making me dizzy."
Sandy stops for just a brief second to glare at me before resuming his pacing, and you can almost cut the tension in the room with a knife. All of our nerves are wearing thin from worry and fear, and soon we won't even be able to sit in the same room without getting into a very un-needed, and unwanted argument.
I see some movement out of the corner of my eyes and turn my head just in time to see Seth walking into the kitchen, clad in his robe, boxers, and undershirt. He looks worse for the wear, and I'm sure he probably feels the same way to.
He comes back out seconds later holding a bottle of water, and I get out of my seat on the living room couch and walk over to him before he can get a chance to go back upstairs into hiding.
His skin is cold and pale as I grab him by the arm, and he flinches slightly as I stop him from going upstairs. He doesn't even bother to turn towards me as he stands rooted at the bottom of the stairs, his eyes fixated on some spot in front of him, and I gently put my hand on his cheek, forcing him to turn his head towards me.
"How are you feeling honey, we haven't seen much of you since yesterday."
He barely shrugs his shoulders before pulling his arm from my grasp and walking back up the stairs, shutting his door quietly and separating himself from the real world that we're all trying to avoid at the moment.
"He's going to school tomorrow, make sure he understands that."
I spin around to Sandy's cold voice behind me and look at him horrified, never expecting him to turn on his own son in this manner. In the past twenty-four hours, my husband has managed to transfer himself into a completely different person that not even I want to be around.
"Sandy give him a break, don't you think he's sitting up there blaming himself every minute for Ryan leaving? You have no right to treat him like that, he's your son and he made a mistake. Ryan's made plenty of mistakes since he's been here, and you have yet to get mad at him the way you are at Seth."
I brush past Sandy, not really wanting to have to deal with him anymore at the moment because of the way he's acting. As I walk into the kitchen, I bump into Ryan as he stands in the doorway, listening in on mine and Sandy's conversation.
He's staring intently at the ground, and I feel Sandy come up behind me as I stare at the younger boy in shock, not really expecting him to have come back on his own. I open my mouth to say something to the quiet teen, but I'm cut off by Ryan as he takes a step back towards the pool house.
"I'll go pack my bags."
His words are barely audible as he turns to walk back through the open patio doors, but I stop him in the same manner as I did Seth and force him to look up at me, his eyes empty and dark as he tries to avoid looking into my eyes.
There's wet trails marking his cheeks from where he's been crying, and I quickly pull him into a hug as a quiet sob escapes his throat, causing an echo to float throughout the large house. He doesn't respond to me as he keeps his hands at his sides, but that doesn't stop me as I continue to hold him close.
"I just wanted some space, I didn't mean to make anyone mad."
His voice is that of a small, scared child, and I pull away from him and nod, using the pads of my thumbs to wipe his cheeks as he goes back to staring at the ground.
Months of him trying to get used to us and open up to us has completely gone out the window in a matter of seconds, and I have a feeling it's going to take him longer this time to feel like he's at home and is a part of the family again.
"You really should have told someone that you were leaving Ryan, we would have understood. We were terrified when we couldn't find you anywhere."
He continues staring at the ground, and Sandy decides it his turn to play the bad cop role that he's been enjoying way too much lately as he steps up next to the emotionally damaged teenager and forces him to look at him.
"Ryan, we have the cops out looking for you right now, do you not see how serious this is? For now on, I want you in the guest bedroom where we can keep an eye on you; you can't just disappear the way you did yesterday."
"Sandy, what is your problem? We've been hovering over him for the past few days, I'm sure he just wanted to be alone to think about some things without anyone around to stare down at him. I agree with you that he should have told us, but forcing him to stay in here and take away his privacy is no way to deal with this."
My words come out slightly louder than intended, and I can see Ryan flinch as he steps back towards the corner of the room, a look of fear quickly beginning to shine through in his eyes.
"What do you mean 'what's wrong with me'? You said you didn't want me playing favorites between the two, so this is me doing exactly what you said to. Both of the boys are going to school tomorrow, Ryan is grounded for the next two weeks for leaving, and that's final."
Ryan is visibly shaking as he slowly inches his way out of the kitchen, and I make no attempt at stopping him as he quickly walks the remaining way out of the kitchen and into the guest bedroom, closing the door behind him and locking it.
"Maybe you should be the one to sleep in the pool house tonight, because I sure in hell don't want you anywhere near the boys while you're acting this way. The boys are staying home tomorrow, and you better go to work or find something else to do, because I don't want you anywhere around here while I try to help them through this."
Before he gets a chance to respond, I walk out of the kitchen, leaving him slightly stunned as I walk over to the guest bedroom and knock on the door lightly. The sound of the sink running in the bathroom stops, and a few seconds later Ryan opens the door just a crack as he looks out at me, a look of pain and fear written all over his face.
"Come on."
He looks at me confused as I reach through the small crack in the door and pull him out into the hallway by the hand, keeping my hand wrapped firmly around his as we walk up the stairs and to the end of the hall where Seth's door is still closed. I knock on it a few times, listening to the silence from within, and I open the door slowly and peer around the corner at Seth, who's lying in the bed on his stomach with his head turned so he's facing away from the door.
I pull Ryan the rest of the way into the room and he stands in the middle of it, staring blankly at the sleeping figure on the bed as I walk back to the door and into the hallway, giving Ryan a reassuring smile before closing the door again and going into my own room, locking it so as to keep Sandy out.
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(Ryan's POV)
I look around the room, not really understanding why Kirsten brought me in here, but I decide I might as well take care of something else while I'm in here. I notice Seth move around a little on his bed and I walk over to the side of it, sitting down on the side he's facing and staring at the wall, waiting for him to quit pretending he's asleep.
"Welcome back."
His voice us quiet and hoarse, much like mine, and I nod my head as he sits up in the bed and leans his back against the headboard, moving over as he does so to allow me room next to him. We both sit in silence, neither feeling the need to talk, and there's like a silent understanding between the two of us that what we did and said is forgiven.
"So what happens now?"
"I don't know. I guess I should be making funeral arrangements, but I don't have any money to pay for it. I don't even know is she had a life insurance policy or anything."
"I'm sure my dad can find out, but it's not like you need to worry about it, my parents will take care of everything. I'm sure my mom can help you figure out the funeral arrangements, and if you need anything else, I'm here."
"You dad's not going to want to pay for my moms funeral. I don't event think he wants me here anymore, not after I disappeared last night. He's already grounded me for the next two weeks, and he's moving me from the pool house, into the guest bedroom downstairs."
"He's just angry right now, he'll calm down after my mom locks him out of the bedroom for a few days. Last time this happened my dad thought he would be able to tire her out, but instead he spent a week and a half sleeping on the couch, and another three weeks at the chiropractor. Don't worry man, he'll be good in a day or two."
I nod my head and the room falls into silence, both of us staring at the wall in front of us as we let our thoughts take over.
I've gone from being Seth's brother and the Cohen's new son that stays in the pool house, to being the kid that has way too much personal baggage that's staying in the guest bedroom. I'm not sure I want to be either of those things at the moment.