"I…can't run…any more…" Anna panted as she stopped. Ryan stopped too and they both sat down on the sidewalk.
"Better…" Ryan said, breathless.
"Yeah?" Anna smiled.
"Yeah…I'm fucking tired now, though…"
The Range Rover pulled up. "Hey," Seth smiled at them.
"Salvation," Anna laughed as she stood up and offered Ryan a hand. He accepted it and they got into the Range Rover.
"Where's Summer?" Ryan asked immediately.
"At home. Mom's helping her put on makeup. She wants to go out…" Seth answered.
"What's wrong with you?" Ryan asked before he finished.
"What?" Seth asked innocently.
"You're entirely too calm."
Anna was watching him. "He's right."
Seth sighed. "Mr. Roberts is in jail."
The truck was silent.
"Good, he belongs there," Anna said finally.
"Why?" Ryan asked. "I mean, Sandy told Summer that…"
"Mr. Robert's punched Dad. And some cops."
"Are you serious?" Anna gasped.
"Wow…" Ryan whispered.
"Summer bet Mom 20 buck that you'd freak out," Seth said.
"Really?" Ryan wasn't giving any reaction. His face was blank.
"But I know that you're much calmer after your run and…"
"How much did you bet, Seth?" Anna teased.
"He's in jail, right?"
"Yeah."
"Then I can't be angry. He's locked up," Ryan said quietly.
"Then we have plenty of money to go out tonight," Seth smiled.
-------
Ryan was gentle with Summer all weekend, quiet and obedient. By Monday, her face was fine and she had settled into the Cohen house.
Sandy had met with Dr. Kim on Monday and she increased the campus security to assure that if Mr. Roberts was released, that he wouldn't make it on school grounds.
"So, Summer. How's it going living with Ryan?" Anna asked her at lunch.
"The Cohens are great…but Ryan's still treating me like I'm made of glass…"
"He's so sweet…"
"Oh, he's great…but I want to be his girlfriend, not his damsel in distress…"
"Have you told him that?"
Summer smiled guiltily. "No. I have to admit, he's kind of sexy being at my beck and call…"
Anna laughed.
"I'll tell him after school."
----
"So, dude. You okay? You've been pretty quiet since Summer moved in."
"I'm cool."
"You're cool."
"Yeah. She's safe…"
"Then, what's up?" Seth was used to having to pull sentences out of his broody friend.
Ryan hesitated. They were waiting for the girls in the parking lot.
"Come on."
"It's just…I'm the only one she told about her Dad and…I didn't tell anyone…"
"Dude, she confided in you, you couldn't say anything…there wasn't really anything to say until he hit her…but she came to you when it mattered. And she's okay now. She's safe," Seth said.
Ryan was thoughtful.
"Dude?"
"I'm still worried about her. I can't touch her…" Ryan confessed.
"You're going to have to get over that…"
"I just don't want to hurt her…"
"Ryan, she's okay. She won't break…"
Ryan sighed. "I know…" Before he could continue, Summer ran up to him and pinned him against the Range Rover, kissing him passionately.
Anna walked up, laughing. Seth put an arm around her. "What's going on?"
"Summer. She's been talking about that all day," Anna said. She gave her boyfriend a kiss.
Summer finally released Ryan and he pulled away with a smile. "What's gotten into you?"
"Nothing. I just love you. And it's not like we can do that at home…"
"Oh yeah…" Ryan pulled her into another kiss.
Finally, Anna cleared her throat and they came up for air. "So, where to?"
"Actually…I was going to kidnap Ryan."
"Really?" Ryan was clearly surprised.
"Since my Dad's in jail, I wanted to go to the house and get some stuff."
"Stuff?" Seth asked.
"Ryan grabbed like, all my clothes, he did great, but he didn't get any shoes…"
Anna gasped. "No shoes?"
"That's not…I guess I didn't get shoes. But you're wearing shoes," Ryan said.
"Kirsten took me out after the police station."
"Oh. Sorry," Ryan smiled, amused.
"We could come with you if you want," Seth offered.
"Actually…" Summer gave Ryan a sly look.
"I'm being kidnapped," Ryan stated.
"Oh. You guys want to be alone. Good. I'll see you at home…" Seth finally got the point as Anna pulled him away.
------
Ryan parked the Range Rover outside Summer's house.
"His car's here."
"You can't drive yourself to jail," Ryan said.
Summer kissed him on the cheek.
"You sure you want to do this now?"
"Yeah." She paused. "Sandy would have told us if he was out, right?"
"Right."
"And I need shoes."
"Right."
"Let's go," Summer pulled him from the truck.
---
Sandy was sitting in the kitchen when Seth and Anna came in later.
"Where's Summer and Ryan?"
"He took her to her house for shoes, what's up?"
"Her dad's out…" Sandy was already on his feet.
"What? Why didn't you call?" Seth asked.
"I couldn't get any of you on your cells and you had already left by the time Dr. Kim went to look for you…"
"We're coming with you," Anna said immediately.
"You can't. He's dangerous…"
"How'd he get out?" Seth asked.
"They took him to the hospital for his psychiatric evaluation and they…he's had what they call a psychotic break…"
"Psychotic?" Seth whispered.
"He snapped. He won't come back from this…I don't want you kids involved."
"But Summer and Ryan…" Seth protested.
"You can't keep us away. They'll need their friends if something's happened…" Anna echoed.
"Ryan's going to kill him, Dad," Seth added quietly.
"Let's go."
----
Summer was loading shoes into a suitcase as Ryan was collecting cds.
"What was that?" Ryan asked, alert suddenly despite the blaring music.
"What?" She asked.
"I'll be right back. Keep packing. I'm sure it's nothing."
Summer didn't hear him over the stereo but wasn't worried. Her dad was in jail.
Ryan walked out into the hallway. He'd heard something, he knew he did. He turned toward the stairs and visibly flinched.
Mr. Roberts was standing by the stairs. He had his doctor's bag with him.
"It's you," Mr. Roberts said.
"What are you doing here?"
"I live here. Where's my daughter?"
Ryan was tense. He wouldn't hurt Mr. Roberts but he wouldn't let him near Summer either.
"Nothing to say?" Mr. Roberts dropped the bag and took several steps toward Ryan.
"Stop. I won't let you near her," Ryan said slowly.
"Really? She's my daughter. Mine. You're just a little street punk…"
"I won't let you near her…" Ryan hadn't seen the scalpel in his hand. He could smell the alcohol on the man's breath.
Mr. Roberts slammed him against the wall, shattering a framed photo with the back of Ryan's head. Ryan grabbed Mr. Roberts' arms and shoved him away, stunned.
"I intended this for that fucking lawyer of yours…but you'll have to do…" Mr. Roberts hissed as he lunged.
Ryan gasped as the arm pushed against his throat and the scalpel slid into his shoulder. It was cold and it hurt. He wouldn't cry out, he wouldn't alert Summer, he just had to keep Mr. Roberts away.
"Get away from him!" Summer shrieked suddenly and slammed her petite body into her father, knocking him away from Ryan.
"I'm protecting you, Summer, I won't let them take you away from me!" He reached for her but she scrambled away.
Ryan was still stunned and he left the scalpel in his flesh as he grabbed Summer, pulling her behind him.
"She's mine!" Mr. Roberts screamed and lunged again. Summer's arms were wrapped around Ryan, clinging to him. She pulled him backwards. They were both sitting in the floor and Mr. Roberts was crawling toward them. Ryan tried to push Summer against the wall so he could shield her from the man's blows. Ryan wasn't fighting back, he had his arms behind him, making sure she was safe as Mr. Roberts pelted him with blows.
The sound of sirens filled the house and drowned out Summer's screams. Ryan wasn't sure how long she'd been screaming but she didn't stop as Mr. Roberts stopped hitting him. Her father got to his feet and seemed stricken, he was glancing around in panic and she was still screaming. He turned to bolt and tripped over his medical bag, leaving their sight as he fell down the stairs.
"Ryan…" Summer stopped screaming and started to sob.
Cops appeared at the top of the stairs and Sandy's voice echoed through the house. "Where's the kids? Where're my kids?"
The officers rushed over to help Ryan who was covered in blood from the scalpel in his shoulder, but Summer wouldn't release him. She had her eyes closed tightly and was holding him.
"Summer…it's over…" Ryan said. His voice was weak despite himself. He felt tired suddenly. If she let go of him, he might fall over.
"Miss? Can you let go of him?" A female officer approached.
She slowly relaxed her arms from around his torso and he immediately turned to look at her.
"Oh my god…what did he do to you…" She gasped, seeing the blood flowing freely from his shoulder.
"Are you okay?" Ryan took her face in his hands and forced her to meet his gaze.
"Yeah…" She murmured.
"Okay…I'm going over here…" Ryan replied, his blue eyes flashing with pain. He turned his face away from her as he met the officer's worried gaze. He reached out his hand and the lady pulled him to his feet.
Summer whimpered and reached out for him but Sandy was beside her suddenly. He pulled her to her feet.
"Are you all right? Did he hurt you?" Sandy demanded.
Summer embraced him and Sandy led her down the hallway away from the flurry of paramedics and cops.
"Dad, where's Ryan?" Seth was waiting with Anna at the other end of the hall. Anna took Summer from Sandy and led her into a bedroom.
Sandy turned to wade through the officers again when he heard Ryan's voice.
"I didn't touch him…he just fell…"
"Don't worry, kid…" An officer was saying.
Sandy made it to Ryan's side where a paramedic was holding a bandage on his bloody shoulder. Ryan looked at him with guilt-filled eyes. "Sandy…"
"It wasn't your fault…" Sandy said urgently.
"The kid wasn't even near him when he fell, we saw it all from the first floor, the guy tripped…" The officer that was sitting with Ryan told Sandy.
"I didn't touch him…" Ryan repeated blankly.
Sandy glanced at the officer and he knew suddenly that Mr. Roberts was dead.
"Ryan, are you all right?" Sandy asked gently.
Ryan met his gaze after Sandy put a hand on his shoulder. "He's dead…"
"It's not your fault, there was nothing you could have done…" Sandy whispered. "Are you all right?"
He nodded after lowering his gaze.
"He needs stitches and we need to stop the bleeding. Are you his father?" The paramedic asked.
"Lawyer…" Ryan muttered.
"I'm his guardian, what do you need?"
"Stay with Summer…please…" Ryan said quietly. "I'm fine…"
"You're not going alone," Sandy replied. "Seth and Anna can take Summer home…"
"Please? Can't Kirsten meet me there? Can't you stay with her?" Ryan asked suddenly.
Sandy was confused by Ryan's request, he didn't understand. "Ryan…"
"He's dead. Don't leave her alone…please…I'll be fine…" Ryan pleaded.
"Okay, kid. But Seth's going with you, okay?" Sandy looked behind him and caught his son's attention with a wave.
"Just don't leave her…" Ryan murmured.
"Okay, Ryan…just relax, are you all right?"
He gave a slight nod but didn't speak.
"Dad?" Seth called.
"I need you to stay with Ryan. I'm going to call Kirsten to meet you at the hospital, okay?"
"Okay, Dad," Seth said immediately. His brown eyes flashed with confusion but he agreed. He'd stay with Ryan.
-----