The title says it all! Get ready for a big twist in this one.....it's coming!!!! And get ready for a great finale! That's coming too!!! : D ENJOY!!!

When Darkness Falls – Chap 5

And the Truth Will Set You Free

The neighborhood was quiet at this early hour. Sandy flipped through the newspaper waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. When the familiar morning scent engulfed the kitchen, he filled two mugs. Placing his own mug on the kitchen table, he walked to the den with the second mug and quietly set it down on the coffee table. He paused for a moment. There on the couch was Kirsten, asleep, with Ryan lying against her, asleep in her arms. Clearly it had been a rough night for everyone. Both of them looked as if they cried themselves to sleep. Sandy didn't sleep well either, tossing and turning all night wondering how Kirsten was doing with Ryan. Ever since Ryan opened up to Kirsten, Sandy made a point of staying clear of that lifeline. Ryan had found a comfort zone and Sandy didn't want to interfere with that. By the looks of the two of them on the couch, it was obvious Ryan valued that lifeline. Still, the previous night's events were explosive and this time Sandy was worried. Worried that maybe they pushed him too far. Just as Sandy turned to go back to the kitchen, Kirsten stirred. Stepping closer, Sandy gently rubbed her arm and signaled a 'shhh' before pointing to Ryan. Nodding Kirsten, laid her head back down and just looked at Sandy. She smiled weakly and squeezed Sandy's hand, exhaustion clearly getting the best of her.

"Is he okay?" Sandy asked at barely a whisper. "I was worried about both of you last night but I didn't want to interfere. He didn't rush you out of his room so..."

Keeping her voice as low as possible, "It was a rough night. We talked for quite a while. We really need to lay off about his past Sandy. It's what he wants. Seth looking at his file was the last straw."

Ryan flinched against Kirsten's body. Sandy was concerned they woke him up by talking.

"It's okay," Kirsten explained. "He's been doing that most of the night. I'm going to stay here until he wakes up. He needs the rest."

"Okay. We'll talk more later. You should go back to sleep too. It's 5:30 in the morning. He's okay for now and you can't keep any closer an eye on him than you're already doing." Smiling, he kissed Kirsten and went back to the kitchen to let them sleep.

Ryan was fighting his body's desire to awaken. He was comfortable and warm. And for the first time in a long time his mind was actually empty. He didn't want to ruin this. He wanted to stay like this as long as possible. After a few minutes though, he noticed something moving underneath him. Opening his eyes, he frowned with confusion. This wasn't his bed. For starters, his bed didn't breathe. Whatever he was laying on was moving slightly. His eyes searched with no luck. Tipping his head a bit he learned he was lying on Kirsten. Suddenly panicked, he tried to raise himself up.

"Um...I'm....I'm sorry..."

"Ryan it's okay. Really it's okay. Don't move so fast, you'll get dizzy." Her voice was soft and soothing. Just what he needed right now. Laying his head back down momentarily, he tried to get his act together. Rubbing his eyes, he yawned and maneuvered himself off of the couch.

"Ryan, are you okay? Where are you going?" Concerned, Kirsten got up off the couch and started to follow Ryan.

Ryan's hair was standing on end from sleeping, his eyes were half-mast and his brain was not working at one hundred percent capacity just yet.

Taking Ryan by the arm, Kirsten walked with him toward the kitchen. "Are you hungry? I can make you something to eat? Coffee, how about some coffee?"

"Um...I really..."

"Anything...whatever you need just tell me and I'll do it for you." Giving him an encouraging squeeze on the arm, she waited for his request.

"Um...actually...I just...really need to use the bathroom." His face flushed with embarrassment.

Embarrassed herself now, Kirsten stumbled on her own words, "OH! Ryan, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...um..."

"It's okay. You didn't know. I'll be right back."

"I'll get some coffee ready for you."

Nodding in acknowledgement, Ryan stepped out of the kitchen. Kirsten watched him walk down the hallway still half asleep. She waited until he went through the bathroom door before she poured his coffee. Setting Ryan's cup down on the counter, Kirsten noticed Seth seating himself at that breakfast counter. He almost looked worse than Ryan. Clearly he hadn't slept either and his eyes looked red and puffy from tears as well.

"Morning Seth. Coffee?"

Shaking his head slowly, he avoided looking at his Mom. "How's Ryan?" he asked quietly.

"He's okay. He's in the bathroom."

The information seemed more than Seth could bear and emotion took over. Fighting back tears, "What do I do Mom? What am I gonna say to him? I betrayed him."

"It's okay Seth."

"No it's not Mom! He hates me now! My first real friend..."

"We'll be okay Seth." The voice startled him. There stood Ryan in the kitchen doorway. He heard everything. Slowly stepping up to the counter, Ryan drew a sip of coffee from the cup Kirsten set out for him.

"Ryan," Seth whimpered. "I am so sorry. I am so, so sorry. I don't know why I did it. It was a stupid idea..."

"Seth..."

"You hate me now and it's all my fault. We were great friends until I screwed it up." Tears escaped from Seth's eyes and he didn't bother trying to hide them.

"Seth...we're brothers. Brothers fight sometimes. And the next day things go back to the way they were." Ryan continued to sip his coffee.

Seth wasn't prepared for that comment out of Ryan. After the near miss with Ryan's fist the night before Seth was ready for an angry onslaught.

"Yeah...but..."

"I was angry Seth. Actually I was downright pissed. You were the first person that knew me outside of that world. You liked me for who I was, not because you felt sorry for me. When you went through my file...that's not me in there. That's everything about me I wish never existed."

"I guess I have a lot to learn about being a good brother."

"I'm the first brother you've ever had. I guess I have a lot to teach you about being brothers." Ryan raised his head and locked eyes with Seth. "My brother taught me a lot of things. Most of it, I can't use in Newport, but he taught me things. One fight doesn't make us...not...brothers any more. If that's the case, then Trey and I stopped being brothers when I was five years old."

Seth tried to absorb the information Ryan was presenting. He was right. Seth knew nothing about being a brother and he'd been winging it this whole time.

"But yesterday...you were so mad at me. You tried to take my head off."

"Yeah I did. And I'll do it again if you ever do anything that stupid again."

"I won't. I swear to God I won't." Pausing, "I thought...I thought by learning more about your past I could...help you. I didn't take into consideration how much it could hurt you."

"Well, this is your chance. Ask me what you want to know. Once we close this conversation I'm not opening it again."

Kirsten was shocked at Ryan's offer to openly discuss things with Seth. This was so not like him. Not wanting to spoil anything, "Tell you what, I think I'll leave you brothers alone...you know, so you can talk...like brothers."

"It's okay Kirsten," Ryan sighed. "You may as well call Sandy in here too. I just want to get this over with once and for all." Ryan kept his head down and focused on the mug in front of him. This was going to be difficult.

As if he was cued, Sandy walked in wearing his beachwear, straight from his morning surf.

"Oh Sandy, I was going to call you," Kirsten explained. "Ryan...Ryan wants to have, well, sort of a family meeting."

"Oh. Well I'm glad I didn't miss it. What's going on?"

Ryan took a deep breath and pushed himself back in his chair. "Kirsten and I talked a lot last night. I told her...I told her I wanted to leave my past in the past. I wanted people to stop reminding me about it. It was bad enough going through it all the first time but reliving it is just torture every time someone asks me something. But then...all I could think about is how much everyone here is trying to help me and all I'm doing is running from it."

The Cohens all shared a look before Sandy spoke on their behalf. "Ryan, we don't mean to upset you like that. That's not what we're trying to accomplish here. And you know your past better than anyone in this room. We don't want to make you relive it."

"But Ryan, you said I could ask you things..." Seth hesitated.

"Go ahead." Grinding his teeth, Ryan swallowed hard and waited for the floodgates to open.

Wringing his hands on the counter, Seth was worried about being the first one to ask a question. "All those reports, did AJ do all of that to you? I mean, was he the only one that hurt you?"

Ryan's eyes shifted to Seth. Reading. "He wasn't the only one. He was the one that was around the longest. He did the most. He was the worst by far."

"Well, how the hell did he get away with it? The photos..." Seth paused when he noticed Ryan flinch. "It's obvious he was guilty. Why didn't anyone help you?"

"Chino doesn't have money the way Newport does. It doesn't take much money to sway someone there. Money talks and it talks loudly. Once you find someone who's willing to 'listen' to that 'talking', you've got them in your back pocket."

"What's the worst thing he ever did to you?" The question came out of Seth without him even thinking about it.

"Seth!" Sandy reprimanded.

"It's okay Sandy. I told him he could ask me anything he wanted." Ryan shook his head and his eyes darted back and forth across the countertop when he considered all the choices he had to pick from. AJ had done so much to him over the years, it all seemed just like one big beating.

"I don't know that I can pick just one. Things happened at random...daily. The time he beat me up with the tire iron was pretty bad."

"That was the nightmare you had a while back..." Kirsten interrupted.

"Yeah. I can't seem to stop that one from coming back. That one was bad. There was stuff he did on a regular basis. If you left a cup or a dish out on the countertop, you'd find it flying at your head at some point. Sometimes he'd connect with your head, and sometimes you'd be able to duck in time."

The Cohens were all starting to form a picture of what Ryan's life had been like and no one liked the picture they saw.

"There was one time, he walked into my bedroom and Theresa and I were sitting on my bed. He lost his mind. Starting yelling at both of us about fooling around in my room. We weren't doing anything. We weren't even kissing. We were just sitting there. Theresa got scared and ran out. When I tried to leave he threw me up against the wall and just kept beating me until I dropped to the floor. I remember him kicking me. I knew it was coming and tried to turn over so he couldn't...him and his damn steel-toed work boots."

"Where did he kick you?" Seth's voice was almost at a whisper.

Ryan dropped his head and shook it 'no'. With a voice equally as quiet, "I was pissing blood for a week. It hurt to breathe."

"Oh my God Ryan. Did you Mom take you to a doctor?" The concern in Kirsten's voice matched the look on her face.

"Pfft, yeah she did." The embarrassment was passing and anger was taking over. "When the doctor asked what happened, she told him I was jumped by a group of boys from the neighborhood. She didn't say a word about AJ and the look she was giving me clearly said I better not say anything either. When I got home, AJ smacked me around some more because I cost him money by going to the doctor. And then he told me I wouldn't be getting any dinner because I'd spent his grocery money on the doctor. Of course, that meant I couldn't take any of the pain pills the doctor gave me, because they'd burn an empty stomach."

"So, what did you do? You had to be in terrible pain," Sandy asked. His look of concern matching Kirsten's.

"I did what any other abused Chino kid does when they're in pain of any kind. I went out and got drunk."

The room was quiet. No one wanted to add to the already horrific pictures of Ryan's life by asking him anything further. They had all heard enough. When Ryan looked at all their faces, he could see they had learned enough about the Chino experience.

"Now you know why I don't like talking about it," Ryan added. "Whatever good memories I have are either long before AJ, or AJ buried them in his process of creating bad ones."

Sighing, Kirsten came up with a plan. "Then I think you are at the perfect point in your life to start creating more good ones. Now, I can't cook. So, I won't be throwing any dishes at you. So that's covered..."

"Good point Mom," Seth added jumping in. "And I can't fight, so I won't be kicking you in the crotch."

"Seth!"

"Mom! It's a guy thing. You don't ever...hurt...that...part."

Ryan tried hard to hold back a nervous laugh on that one. The words fight and Seth should never be used in the same sentence. He could see where they were going with all of this and he was relieved that the family meeting was taking an upswing and the questions seemed to be at an end.

"Okay, so that leaves me," Sandy said, following his family's lead. "Hey, I've got a AAA Auto Club card. I don't even think we own a tire iron."

"You're all insane, you know that?" Ryan responded, part embarrassed, part relieved.

"And now you're one of us," Seth offered, slapping Ryan on the back. "Welcome to the Dark Side."

"Lady and gentlemen," Sandy began. "I do believe our first family meeting was a great success. Everyone who agrees Ryan's idea to leave his past in the past and Kirsten's idea to make new memories should be noted and approved, say Aye!"

Each of the Cohens raised their hands with an 'Aye' and looked at Ryan who was sheepishly trying to control a smile on his face at the ridiculousness of it all. Finally he raised his hand with an 'Aye' as well.

Sandy allowed his hand to slam down onto the countertop. The sound caused Ryan to jump and Kirsten and Seth just stared at him, wondering what the hell he was doing.

"Sorry, I got a little over excited about our first meeting. This meeting is adjourned. As for you," he started, looking at Ryan. "Congratulations Mr. Atwood. Your past is now history." Sandy patted Ryan on the back before leaving the kitchen for the den.

"Well Jesus Ryan, if we knew it was going to be that easy, we could of done this night you got here and gotten this all out of the way," Seth joked.

"He wasn't ready to do this back then Seth. I'm very proud of you Ryan. This is a very powerful thing you did today." Kirsten kissed his forehead and gave him a hug.

"Thanks." Ryan returned the hug. This was strange. He felt as if a giant weight had been removed from his shoulders. With his past put to rest, maybe he could finally move forward with his life. Just maybe, with the Cohens help, it could be everything he dreamed of after all...maybe...

A couple of weeks had passed since the inaugural Cohen family meeting and the atmosphere in the house was as pleasant and bright as the weather outside. Everyone was back to sleeping the way they should be, Seth and Ryan were back to being best friends and more importantly, Sandy and Kirsten could visibly see a bounce in Ryan's step that wasn't there prior to that little family meeting. Clearly even though he didn't like to discuss his past, doing so with the family that cared so much about him had seemed to liberate him. He was clearly much more relaxed and happy. Kirsten could actually label him as happy. It was a welcome change that everyone, including Ryan, seemed to enjoy.

Looking out from the kitchen window, she watched Seth and Ryan in the pool, tormenting each other the way brothers do. Kirsten would hold her breath every time Ryan held Seth's head under water. She knew they were just goofing around but she also knew Ryan was much stronger than Seth and he could really hurt him if he wanted to. On the other hand, she worried about Ryan's eyes every time Seth shot him in the face with the super soaker. Twice Ryan had choked on the water stream when Seth nailed him in the face when he was coming up for air. "Boys will be boys," Kirsten reminded herself. It was inspiring to see Ryan acting like the kid he's supposed to be. With one last smile at the boys, she turned her attention to the array of take out menus on the counter. Dinner was creeping up on her quickly. She made the appropriate decisions and finished ordering just as Sandy entered the kitchen.

"How are things on the home front?" Sandy asked, looking out the kitchen window at the boys in the pool. "Ah, I see they're trying to kill each other again. That's nice isn't it?" he mocked.

"Yes, actually it is. They've been at it all afternoon. I keep telling them about sunscreen, but you know how it is. Seth thinks I'm being overbearing. At least Ryan let me put some on his back...once. After that he was too busy trying to drown Seth."

Laughing, "That's my boys! So what's for dinner? I'm starving."

"Oh speaking of which, I should get the boys out of the pool. Dinner will be here in about twenty minutes. We're having French-American."

"Have I had that before?"

Seeing Sandy's puzzled face, "Ah...that's French food for you and me and American for the boys.

"Oh, special treatment. I think I like that," Sandy oozed, embracing his wife.

"Well if you think dinner is special wait until you see the dessert," she teased. Pulling away from Sandy's attempted affection, "Uh uh uh! You haven't had your dinner yet. No dessert until you eat your dinner. I've got to go get the boys out of the pool."

Yelling from the patio, "Boys time to get dressed for dinner."

"Not yet Mom, I owe Ryan at least one more good soaking." Burying his super soaker in the pool water he hoped his Mom would distract Ryan long enough for him to reload. "And tell him it's not nice to drown me!"

"Ryan, don't drown Seth before dinner. We don't have time!"

"Is after okay?" Ryan joked.

"After is fine. Let's go guys!"

"MOM!"

Dinner in the Cohen house had just wrapped up. Ryan was loading the dishwasher while Seth sat on the counter swinging his feet and complaining about how long it was taking when the phone rang.

"I got it," Sandy declared, being closest to the phone. "Hello? This is Sandy Cohen. Yes. Yes. What? When?"

Ryan froze listening to Sandy's half of the conversation. Instinct told him it had to do with him. And according to Sandy's reactions, the news was not good.

"Yes I understand. I appreciate the call...I think. Yes. Thank you." Sandy clicked the phone off and stared at the receiver in his hand.

"What's wrong?" Ryan inquired automatically.

Sandy's expression told Ryan he was wrestling with the decision to share the information.

"It's about me isn't it?" Ryan probed again but Sandy didn't answer. "Sandy..."

"I don't know...um...if I should..."

"Sandy just tell me," anxiety becoming apparent in Ryan's voice.

Looking at Ryan he could visibly see he was concerned about the call. This kid was good. How he figured out the call pertained to him was beyond Sandy.

"Ryan...AJ is dead."