AN: Small Update. Hope it satisfies. (Shout out to Gibasi for always reviewing and scolding me for neglecting this too long! Sorry!!)

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Seth was at least satisfied that Ryan was settled and comfortable after several minutes of thick tension. Seth had escorted Ryan into the house, medicated him, convinced him to eat a bagel and everything was fine until Seth tried to cover him with a blanket.

Ryan hadn't said much of anything but he'd given Seth a cold glare and told him that he didn't need a blanket and if Seth didn't stop hovering that he was going to rip the blanket into tiny pieces.

Seth had dropped the blanket and sat down. He hadn't hovered, just watched Ryan from a safe distance.

"Dude?" Seth had been quiet for three whole minutes, he couldn't take it.

"Sorry. I'm grumpy," Ryan said quietly.

Seth smiled at his attempt at humor. He was still worried about the cloud of depression hanging over his friend but Ryan looked better inside with him than alone in the poolhouse.

"I don't mind. But Mom would be angry about the blanket."

Ryan smiled slightly.

"You want to play some X-Box?"

"My head's kind of pounding…can you give me a few minutes to let the drugs kick in?"

"Of course…" Seth glimpsed Rosa coming in from the patio. "I'll be back in a few minutes…"

Seth gave Rosa a big smile as he met her in the kitchen.

"Oh no, Seth…" She said immediately.

"Please, Rosa? I need a favor…" Seth had been able to sweet talk Rosa into anything. The housekeeper had had a soft spot for him since he was a child.

"No, Seth, your mother needs me to clean the poolhouse," Rosa protested.

But Seth was still smiling. He had an idea. He'd cheer Ryan up. But first he had to convince Rosa to drive him.

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Ryan had dozed off on the couch. He woke up, sore and stiff. The house was quiet. His headache had faded and his ribs were the focus of his pain now.

"Seth?" He called. There was no reply. He stretched out on the couch.

He was going to live inside now. No more poolhouse with window walls. It took him ten minutes to lower the blinds in the poolhouse. Now, he'd have a simple single window. There were perks. But he had been sleepwalking. When he'd been startled awake in Chino, he'd been known to throw a punch or two. What if Kirsten found him wandering? He shuddered.

But he'd try it. He wouldn't run. He'd try.

The front door closed loudly and Ryan recognized Rosa's voice.

"Don't tell your mother. I'll make lunch."

"Thanks, Rosa."

"You're welcome, Seth."

Seth walked in with a bag.

"What's up? Where've you been?" Ryan asked.

"Well, I know you're grumpy but I wanted to do something nice for you."

"What?" Ryan started to get up but Seth sat down at the other end of the couch and dropped the bag on his legs.

"Take a look."

Ryan leaned forward and took the bag, reaching inside. He pulled out a sketchpad and several expensive drawing pencils. He also pulled out a pack of colored pencils. "Seth…"

"Early birthday present," Seth said.

Ryan didn't know what to say.

Seth started pulling out the X-box and started connecting the controllers. "How's your head?"

"Better," Ryan replied, still staring at the pad. "Thanks."

"Well, I figured you'd need something to distract you while you were stuck at home. And I doubt Mom will ever look at your stuff again."

"You don't think I overreacted." Ryan's question was a statement. Even he thought he overreacted.

"Nah. It's your stuff," Seth shrugged. "So. You up for a game?"

"Sure." Ryan set the stuff aside and took the controller.

Seth started to talk about some creepy guy in the art store as Ryan focused on the game.

"Dude?" Seth was staring at him. "What's up?"

"Nothing…I'm playing…"

"What's on your mind beside ninjas?"

Ryan sighed. But he could talk to Seth. Maybe he should start. "I'm moving into the guest room."

"Really?" Seth asked, clearly surprised.

"The sleepwalking," Ryan stated.

"Oh. So…what should I do if I catch you sleepwalking?" Seth asked.

"What?"

"Like, what should I do? If you're all zombie-fied walking around, what should I do? I mean, I know I'm not supposed to shake you or anything, but…"

"I guess, just take me back to my room. Trey used to just talk really quietly until I followed him," Ryan said.

"Oh. And if I decide to shake you?"

"I might punch you," Ryan whispered.

Seth glanced at him before breaking into a wide grin. "Really?"

"You want me to punch you?"

"No, man, it's just weird, it's like, you punch people in your sleep," Seth grinned.

He didn't think it was so funny. He still got punished for what he did in his sleep.

Seth finally dropped his smile. "I'm sorry, man…but it'll be cool to have you in the house. I can stomp on the floor and you'll know I need you, I won't have to make that long, tiring walk to the poolhouse and anytime you want a snack or something, you'll be right here."

Ryan nodded and refocused his attention on the video game.

For once, Seth let the house be silent.

Ryan remembered once when Stephen caught him sleepwalking. He'd woken up in the small bathroom with Stephen's hand clasped over his mouth.

"Dude. I'm sorry…" Seth was watching him.

"You didn't do anything. I'm just tired."

"You want to lie down? Like, more than you already are?" Seth asked, concerned again.

"I'm cool, Seth. Just not really up for talking anymore…I'm sorry I'm such a pain today," Ryan apologized. Seth was really trying hard to cheer him up.

"It's cool. I…I just, really don't think you should leave." Seth paused and looked at Ryan, more serious that Ryan had ever seen him. "I mean…I really think you should stay. My parents…they really care about you. But you're new to all of us, so it's going to take some time for us all to get used to each other. See, my parents like to hover. They're overprotective with a capital 'over'. I think that your old family…your real family really didn't pay much attention to you, but its different here. My parents…I don't think they're trying to hurt you…we'd just like to help you."

Ryan heard all of Seth's words. He tried to process them but he'd never met people that honestly wanted to help him. Everyone wanted something in return. He hadn't figured out what the Cohens wanted yet. They'd already done so much for him and he knew that he'd have to pay them back somehow. He just wasn't sure how.

"Ryan?"

Ryan looked at him.

"Maybe you should lie down. You're looking a little…shaky," Seth said.

The painkillers were making him shake, the controller was shaking in his hand.

"You want to get acquainted with your new room?" Seth offered.

"Sure."

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Kirsten came home that afternoon to check on Ryan and found Seth sitting alone in the living room playing video games.

"Hey, honey. Where's Ryan?"

"He crashed in the guest room. He says he's supposed to stay inside now?" Seth asked

Sandy had told her that Ryan had agreed but wasn't happy about it. "Yeah. We know he's settled in the poolhouse but with his sleepwalking…it's time he's in with the family."

"So, how'd your meeting go with Dr. Kim?" Seth asked.

"Okay. It was about Ryan so I'll talk to him about it. When's the last time he took his medicine?"

"This morning. He was still asleep when I checked on him a couple of hours ago," Seth replied.

Kirsten sat down beside him on the couch. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, Mom. I just wish that Ryan would…I wish he would be okay. It's like, after his little freak out yesterday, it's like he's scared of what we're thinking about him. I know his family…they didn't treat him nice, but…I think they really hurt him, Mom. Like…more than I thought," Seth confessed. "I just want to help him."

"Me, too. He'll come around. It just takes time."

"Go easy on him, will you?" Seth said, turning off the game and standing up. "I'll be upstairs. Tell him I'll be down to check on him later."

Kirsten watched her son leave. She wondered when he matured so much. She knew it had to be when Ryan came to live with them. He'd always been such a loner, his originality putting him into outcast status by default and he'd never had a real friend before. After they'd accepted Ryan into their family, he'd become a totally different kid.

She walked to the guest room and saw that the door was cracked. She pushed open the door and glanced at the bed. It was empty. She immediately started searching the room and finally saw him standing by the window.

"Ryan?"

He didn't answer her. She walked over and recognized the glazed look in his eyes.

"Ryan, come back to bed…" She gently put her hand on his back and he didn't flinch. He turned to face her, his expression knitted with confusion.

"Mom?" he whispered.

"No, honey. Come on," Kirsten said gently, urging him toward the bed.

"Why don't you make him leave?" Ryan whispered.

"Sit down, Ryan…" She didn't react but guided him to sit down on the bed. "It's okay, honey, lie down…"

"You should make him leave…" Ryan murmured, stretching out and letting her cover him with the blanket.

As soon as he was settled, she sat down beside him on the bed and called his name. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes and she could see that he was awake.

"Hey…what's wrong?" He asked immediately.

"Nothing. You were by the window when I came in to check on you," Kirsten admitted. "It's time for your medicine."

"I'm sorry…"

"It's not your fault, Ryan. You sleepwalk…"

"You should be careful," Ryan said suddenly. "I don't want to hurt you…"

"Why would you hurt me?" She asked, startled by his statement.

Ryan lowered his gaze as he sat up in bed and accepted the pills from her. "I…when I sleepwalk…I've been known to fight back. Even when I'm not fighting…"

"Oh. I don't think you'd hurt me, Ryan," Kirsten said, realizing that he was actually volunteering information.

"I wouldn't know it was you. I just think you should be careful," Ryan said. He swallowed the pills. "And these put me into a pretty deep sleep…if I was just up a minute ago and it's daytime…I must be on a roll…"

"Ryan, when you've done this in the past, has it ever been this bad? Like, this many times in such a short period?"

He shook his head. "Never. Not even…" He flushed as if he'd said too much.

"Not even when?" She probed.

"Not even when things were bad," He said quietly.

"Do you think it'll get better?" She was asking him his honest opinion. She knew that if she told him that she thought he should see a doctor that he'd most certainly shut her down, but if she could get him to admit it on his own, she'd be a step ahead.

"I don't know. I hope so…but I don't know."

She reached over and brushed his hair from his eyes and was surprised when he didn't flinch. "Do you mind if I make some calls? Try and find some help for you?"

He didn't respond immediately but she could see that he was thinking.

"You aren't resting if you're sleepwalking."

"I know," he admits. "Can I think about it? See if it gets better?"

"Of course. We'll give it a few days…"

"If you want to ask the doctor…I won't object. If she can think of anything that might help…that's cool."

"Okay, honey. Get some rest. Seth's right upstairs if you need him…" She said. He nodded and closed his eyes.

Kirsten closed the door behind her as she stepped into the hallway. Ryan seemed more willing to let her take care of him today, a stark change from previous days. But she knew now, just like Seth, that there was a lot in his past that he didn't want her to know about. She had a feeling that Sandy knew more than he was saying, too.