Discl. I don't own anything of the O.C.

First I wanna thank the awesome Rainygal for destroying my worries and giving her approval for the next chapter, thanks honey! The reason why I originally started this fic was because of the one scene in this chapter. And yes, I think it was worth writing 20 chapters as build up! ;-)

Second, thank you to ALL the reviewers! I was so overwhelmed by your kind messages, thank you! Individually, thanks go to Leentje, liz (sorry, won't get any better in this chapter...), gissipgrl11593, I-believe-in-the-butterflies (J), iluvryan, kursk, Kym, Rainygal (again), ryan91, Maygan, brandyurastar, zoarbasketball, Kelly76, kitotterkat, MeganAlyce15, ocfan223, smartiepantz and GalootMaster!

Enjoy!

Chapter 20

When Ryan and Marissa reached the ground floor they surveyed the scene and saw that already a few people had arrived, standing in the living room, eating snacks and drinking whine Summer and Seth were serving.

In order to avoid any problems for the Atwood's Marissa instantly let go of Ryan's hand when she realised that Dawn was nowhere to be seen, praying that the rest of Newport hadn't noticed and would not start gossiping about their relationship, at least not until the service had been held.

As Sandy's voice could not be heard anymore, the shattering of glass had stopped and Sandy, Kirsten and Dawn were not in the living room, Ryan guessed the situation was under control and decided to take care of this problem later.

He quickly turned his head and thanked Marissa with a faint smile, before walking up to the different visitors, thanking them for coming and receiving expressions of deepest sympathy. Clenching his jaw when he noticed the curious stares with which the model hiding in the background was inspected, he reminded himself to stay calm. After all, this was Newport, and despite the sorrow of loosing one of their own kind, a widower meant nothing else than a rich, handsome bachelor added to the town's prey.

By finishing the round already 30 minutes had passed and he had still not heard any further words from Sandy or Dawn. Ryan was just about to wander to his office to check whether they were inside, when Seth came walking up to him and softly touched his shoulder.

"Got a minute Ryan?"

The architect was inwardly amused at his brother's choice of words. Seth wouldn't usually call him Ryan, he would use either bro, brother, buddy, my man or similar, which made it rather strange to be called by his actual name, he had to confess. Obviously the presence of the Newpsies was not only tensing himself up.

"Sure" he replied and followed his foster brother outside, passing a few chatting women who gave him a look of sympathy before continuing to gossip about the latest scandal. As they made their way towards the pool house, Ryan asked Seth in a low voice:

"What happened?"

"Your mother-"

"Dawn" Ryan interrupted.

"Dawn" Seth corrected himself, giving his best friend an excusatory side glance before he continued.

"She accused Mum and Dad of keeping her away from 'her family' and of corrupting you against her. When Dad questioned her he found out that she has rented out the apartment you are paying for and is currently living with some boyfriend of the day and that she has already made plans to move in with you. And before you ask why she was so talkative… she already emptied half a bottle of Scotch, which was what she shattered in an outburst of fury…"

Ryan just nodded, silently clenching his fists, trying to swallow the rage that was simmering inside of him.

The pool house, which the architect had built at the end of the garden, was of course besides the pool, but the entrance was on the opposite side to the mansion. He remembered clearly how awkward it had been to smuggle Marissa past his foster parents' sight with their bedroom window right across the pool.

Outside the small building Sandy was standing with his arms wrapped around his wife, who was leaning against him, both silently watching the ocean.

Enjoying the peaceful sight of the Cohen's when he and Seth approached; Ryan softly patted Sandy's shoulder once they had reached them and said:

"Hey guys… thanks for coming"

The parents simultaneously turned their heads and greeted their foster son with a sad smile. Kirsten pulled away from Sandy and draw Ryan into a tight hug, lightly kissing his cheek.

"How are you holding up sweetie?"

"Been better…." he confessed, his eyes not giving away how much he missed his late wife.

The retired lawyer softly squeezed his boys' shoulder while Kirsten held him close, needing his comforting touch as much as he needed it, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Dawn wants to talk to you privately. I don't really think it's a good idea though…" Kirsten explained, automatically stroking Ryan's arm, calming him down.

Ryan nodded and gave her a weak smile, trying to figure out what his mother wanted this time.

"Listen son, we just wanted to say we're sorry… We should have told you earlier about Dawn and about Bernadette's plans… She definitely is a pain in the ass – hey" Sandy exclaimed when his wife nudged his side severely.

"No Kirsten, Sandy's right. She doesn't belong here today, but I'm gonna deal with her like I dealt with her before…" Ryan sighed, glancing through the windows of the pool house, spotting his mother sitting on the bed, trying to ignore what was going on outside.

"Yeah well, if you don't want to deal with her today, I'm gladly gonna take over and personally throw her out of your house" Sandy continued, not hiding his fury.

Ryan gave the lawyer a surprised look, figuring that Dawn had been on a roll; he hadn't seen his guardian so angry and protective for a long time. He couldn't help but notice the expressions on his foster parents' faces. Sadness, of course, but also tension, anger and most of all, care. And it clicked. His system registered their concern for him and unconsciously his mind knew that the last straw had been pulled.

Gritting his teeth the architect turned around to his brother and asked:

"Seth, could you do me a favour and please take care of the guests for a while?"

Ryan watched Seth nodding before he added in a low voice

"Thanks…And please make sure the kids stay where they are…."

When Seth was gone, Ryan stepped inside the building without knocking, gesturing Sandy and Kirsten to follow him, before inspecting the room and closing the door behind them.

Dawn was sitting in a corner of the bed, her hands shaking slightly, her eyes shooting furious glances from Sandy to Kirsten. The Cohen's placed themselves on two chairs in front of the bed, holding hands as to give each other strength. Ryan sensed the tension that was filling the small room and his blue eyes narrowed at the sight of his mother, being immediately thrown back into his childhood, remembering their encounters when she was sobering up. But this time it was different, he wanted it to be different.

After seeing Kirsten struggling through Rehab, fighting against relapses and finally overcoming her alcohol addiction he realised, that it was not his fault Dawn had never managed to stay sober. It would have changed nothing if he had not been taken in by the Cohen's but stayed with his mother for another few years until he'd either ended up in jail like the rest of the family or on his own again. He was not responsible for her drinking and he was certainly not the reason she kept on drinking. Dawn didn't even consider Rehab when he was still living with her and never even made the effort to stay clean once he helped her with his own money.

All she ever did was judging him on how he had abandoned her, given up on her, although he clearly remembered that it had been the other way round. Bernadette had never known the old Dawn, never seen for herself how Ryan had felt when she left him for good, surrendering all responsibilities for her own son to a random woman who happened to have enough money.

But now with Marissa back in his life, who had in the past comforted him many times after he woke up next to her, drenched in sweat, feeling worthless and lonely upon the abandonment of his mother, he was sure he could do it, knowing that she would have his back. Ryan felt finally strong enough to do what in his opinion should have been done 15 years ago. He was determined to ban Dawn Atwood from his life forever.

Ryan walked over to the mini bar, opened it wordlessly and grabbed a beer out of it, enjoying the cool breeze and the feeling of the cold bottle in his hands. Glancing over to Dawn he asked emotionless:

"How's your alcohol level Dawn? Are you able to have a serious talk with us or do you need a beer to hold up?"

"Stop calling me Dawn, damn it!" his mother yelled out in frustration, her hands shaking even more vigorously.

"One beer coming" Ryan muttered under his breath, not reacting to her outburst, before shifting his glance over to the Cohen's, asking them with one of his looks if they wanted anything out of the fridge.

"We'll have an orange juice Sweetie" Kirsten answered for both of them, thanking her son with a quick smile.

Walking back around the counter Ryan first handed Sandy and Kirsten each a bottle of orange juice before he extended a beer to Dawn who took it with a slightly craving expression on her face, quaffing it instantly.

Ryan was grateful when Sandy rose to speak while he placed himself on an empty chair next to the window, gathering his thoughts.

"So Dawn, Ryan's here now, what did you want to talk about?"

"I told you already, I'm only speaking to my son privately!"

"I have nothing to hide from Kirsten and Sandy" Ryan blurted out, his pulse already rising again.

Dawn inspected him intensively before she realised that he was serious and that there was no way of reversing his decision. She quickly threw the Cohen's another furious look before giving the now empty beer bottle a regretful glance, thirstily licking her lips.

"Ryan honey, I still believe that leaving you in the custody of the Cohen's all these years ago was the best decision for all of us. But if I had known that you would turn yourself against me I had taken you with me…"

"Yeah, like I would believe you…." Ryan grumbled, his eyes dark and dangerous.

"You better believe me, I am your fucking mother for god's sake!"

"Didn't stop you from lying the whole fucking time in the past!" he replied instantly, not sure how to again deal with all the shit she threw at him. But maybe it was time to finally cut off all strings and try to move on, to start his new life with Alyssa, Colin and Marissa after settling with his haunting past once and for all.

"What's your problem, spoiled brat! Ain't I fucking good enough for you anymore?" the older woman screamed, rising from the bed and shakily walking towards her son, pointing at him.

Ryan got up before she reached him, taking hold of her wrists and directing her back to the bed, where he roughly made her sit down again, ignoring her squirming. He then took two steps back and looked at Dawn, who was sitting helplessly fuming on the bed. And again, at the sight of the old, spent woman, it clicked. Suddenly all emotions vanished from his face and his eyes. Taking a deep breath he told her in an even voice:

"You are upsetting me no longer…. Because nothing you could ever say has an impact on me anymore… Yes, you may have given birth to me, but that's it… you have lost all your rights towards me and my life long ago. Jesus, how many times did I try to get my whole fucking family back on track, give you chances over chances to prove that you are worth it? None of you even cared to try… Yes, there were times when I thought family is bound to love each other eternally… But I've come to understand that despite being connected by blood, it takes much more to earn my love…"

Ryan stopped and gave Kirsten and Sandy a glance, a soft smile playing slightly on his lips. Dawn was speechless once again and just looked open-mouthed at the grown man in front of her, who she used to know as her son.

Inhaling deeply, Ryan continued after a few seconds, slowly pacing the room while talking.

"When I was a kid, I really thought you cared about me… That in times when you were sober, you wanted us to be a family, wanted us to work. But you managed to destroy all tiny hopes of us kids, dragging us down even further the next time you got pissed. I have made mistakes in my life and not everything turned out the way I hoped, but I at least tried to respect the people around me and that's more than I can say for you… Seeing as you are trying to drag me down again, in a moment like this, it is clear that you don't respect me, my life or the life of my family. For god's sake, my wife just died and you didn't even have the decent respect to condole myself or Alyssa!"

Ryan placed himself on the armrest of Kirsten's chair, taking his foster mother's hand into his, squeezing it gently.

His glance shifted back to the woman on the bed and with an even, soft voice he said:

"Dawn, I want you to leave and never come back. If you ever try to come near me or my family again, I am going to issue a restraining order, hell I will even put you in jail if it's necessary. We are gonna leave now, but when I come back in an hour, I want you to be gone. I have tried my best with you, but now I'm just exhausted. I am not responsible for you anymore, have actually never been. There is nothing left for us to say…"

Getting up he turned himself towards the two people who had been looking out for him, had taken care of a lost boy such a long time ago and had showed him, what real family and real love is. He didn't doubt for one second that he would've never been able to love Marissa or Bernadette the way he did, love his kids in such a devotional way without Kirsten and Sandy as role models. Their relationship and upbringing, their self-sacrificing love for each other and their children had made him the man he was today.

"Mum… Dad…. let's go…." He softly said, his deep, blue eyes expressing fear and nervousness on some level, but also hope, that he was doing the right thing.

The eyes of Kirsten and Sandy widened instantly, but they knew better than to celebrate this most special moment in front of Dawn. They got up wordlessly and followed Ryan outside without looking at his biological mother, holding each other close, asking themselves, what had happened to make Ryan take the one last step they had doubted he'd ever take.

A/N: out it is... what do you think?