So here's the next chapter. I had to get my wisdom teeth out on Monday and my mouth is totally hurting, despite the pain killers I'm on. But hey, if the chapter sucks, I can just blame the Percocets, right? Right. Make me feel better and review. Thanks!
Disclaimer: The characters are not mine.
Kirsten was in the kitchen when she heard the door open. She headed to the hallway to greet her husband and to see what happened when he dropped off Ryan. To her utter surprise, Ryan stood before her, his hand clutching his worn back pack, and his eyes trained on the ground.
"Ryan!" She couldn't keep the excitement out of her voice, even though she knew that she shouldn't get her hopes up, not before she knew what was happening. Maybe he just forgot something at their house. Somehow, she doubted that. He was pretty determined to get out of the Cohen house as quickly as possible. "What are you doing here?" She looked over at Sandy confused, and then back at Ryan who had finally lifted his head to meet her eye.
"I, uh, I don't know," he answered honestly. He didn't know what he was doing back there. He wasn't thinking when he saw all of his stuff gone, he was numb, and he felt Sandy guide him out of the house and into the car, and he vaguely heard something about home, but he wasn't thinking. It he had been thinking he would have told Sandy that he didn't need to go back to Newport with him. He wasn't a child, he wasn't Seth. He didn't need anyone to take care of him. He was paying the bills to that house anyway, and he would have just gone out and bought a sleeping bag and camped out on the floor. But instead, he had followed Sandy to the car, climbed in and tried not to think about what had just happened.
"What happened?" Kirsten asked, this time the question was directed to Sandy.
"Hey, kid, why don't you take your stuff out to the pool house?" Sandy suggested to Ryan, who was too tired, and too confused to argue with him. Ryan simply nodded and walked out the front hall.
"Sandy, what happened?" Kirsten asked again. Sandy rubbed his temples, and then sighed and looked at his wife and pulled her into his arms.
"His mother took off," he murmured as he held her close to him.
"What?" Kirsten exclaimed pulling back from Sandy. "What do you mean 'took off?'"
"I mean, we got there and everything in the house was gone. Everything. The only thing left was a note on the counter telling Ryan that she was sorry."
"Oh God," Kirsten said covering her hand over her mouth and trying to imagine what kind of mother just took off and left her kid. She couldn't conceive of a situation where she could leave Seth, just leave without knowing if he was okay or happy or…God, she just couldn't imagine what was going through his mother's head. "Poor Ryan."
"He just shut down, Kirsten," Sandy said sighing again and heading into the kitchen. "You should have seen him. It was like he turned off all of his emotions. It was like he went numb." Sandy could still see Ryan's face as he looked around the empty house. Sandy could see a flash of hurt, maybe anger, and then nothing. Nothing at all.
"Well, it's a good thing that you brought him back here," Kirsten said. She walked over to the window and looked out it at where Ryan was sitting on the bed in the pool house, his head in his hands. She wanted to go out to him, she wanted to tell him that it was going to be okay that he could stay with her and Sandy and Seth. That they could get him enrolled in Harbor.
"Let's give him some time before we talk about what's going to happen next," Sandy said. Kirsten turned to him surprised that he had known exactly what she was thinking.
"You're probably right," she said nodding. "He probably needs some alone time to think things over."
"Where's Seth?" Sandy asked, suddenly realizing how quiet the house was when he and Ryan had walked in.
"He went to rent a movie," Kirsten said shrugging. "I said that I could use a good movie night, and he surprisingly agreed. I told him that we would watch whatever he wanted. I think that we may be in for another movie based on a comic book." Just as the words were out of her mouth, Seth came into the kitchen holding a bag from Blockbuster.
"Oh, come on, you know that you liked X-Men," he teased. "What's with the faces of gloom? How'd it go in Chino, Dad?" Seth asked.
"Well, funny you should ask son," Sandy said. "Ryan's mother took off. I brought him back here."
"You did? Where is he?" Seth suddenly got very excited, and Kirsten hated to admit that she was also excited about the fact that Sandy brought Ryan back home. She wondered what that said about her. That she was excited that a mother abandoned her son?
"He's in the pool house. But why don't you let him have some alone time before you go in there? He has a lot to think about?" Sandy suggested.
"Can I at least tell him that movie night will commence in ten minutes if he would like to join us?" Seth asked. Kirsten could see that it was taking all that Seth had not to bounce from foot to foot like he had when he was little. She was suddenly hit with the memory of a four-year-old Seth bouncing back and forth, foot to foot, holding tightly in his hands a plastic horse.
"Can I get it Mommy?" He asked as he held it out for her to see, without stopping the bouncing.
"Sure, Sethy," Kirsten said taking it from him just long enough to pay for it. She had been a young mother, only twenty-five at the time, used to having money, and she spoiled her only child, even though they were still living in Berkeley at the time and money was tight.
Kirsten was brought back to her sixteen-year-old waiting impatiently for an answer.
"Go ahead," she sighed, knowing that there was no way that she was going to keep Seth out of the pool house.
"Great," Seth grinned and took off through the back door, not waiting for either of his parents to change their minds. He knocked twice and saw through the glass Ryan look up at him. Seth opened the door and closed it behind him.
"Hey Seth," Ryan said tiredly.
"Hey," Seth rocked back on his heels and then gave Ryan a small smile. "I just wanted to tell you that we're having movie night in the house. It's going to start in ten minutes, and dude, if you want to see it you better be in there in ten minutes. I mean, if you ask the dreaded question, 'what did I miss?' all you will get is a pillow in the face. Trust me, my mom used to be guilty of that cardinal movie sin all the time, and then she wised up and just learned to park her butt in front of the television when my dad and I were ready to start." Seth knew that he was rambling. His dad liked to talk, but Seth knew that the rambling was all him. And he knew that he was probably freaking Ryan out, but he just couldn't make his mouth stop moving.
"Uh, thanks," Ryan said managing a small smile. "But I think that I'll pass."
"You sure?" Seth asked. "Because my dad's making popcorn, and he's an excellent popcorn maker."
"I'm sure," Ryan said. "But thank you for the offer." Seth bobbed his head a few times.
"I have school tomorrow, but you'll be here when I get home right?" Seth asked. "We can have a Playstation battle? There's this awesome game my parents got me with ninjas and stuff, and I'd like to show it to you. So you'll be here?" Seth looked so eager and excited about the fact that he might possibly have a friend, that Ryan could do nothing but nod and smile at Seth.
"Yeah, Seth, I'll be here." Seth grinned and left the pool house. Of course he would be there when Seth got home from school. Where the hell else would he go?
Seth knew that his attention span was iffy at best, and he found his thoughts wandering all day at school the next day. He hadn't seen Ryan since he had left the pool house the night before, but he knew that his mother had gone into the pool house that morning, to check on Ryan and take him a cup of coffee. Seth had spied on his mother and Ryan from the kitchen, peering through the windows wishing that he had some sort of way of hearing what was being said. Never before had he wanted the ability to read lips, but he found himself trying to make out what his mother was saying, and more importantly, what Ryan was replying. It didn't take a lip reader to see that Ryan wasn't saying much of anything. It looked as if it was a completely one-sided conversation.
When Kirsten had come back in the kitchen, Seth had practically assaulted her trying to find out what had happened.
"What did you say? What did he say? What's going on?"
"I told him that he was more than welcome to stay here with us for as long as he wanted to," Kirsten said. She had been very careful with her choice of words. She had chosen the word want instead of need. What Ryan wanted and what he perceived that he needed were two entirely different things. Kirsten had tried to explain to him that he could stay there with them. That they could enroll him in Seth's school, and he could finish high school here in Newport.
"Seth's school's private isn't it?" Ryan had spoken up.
"Yes," Kirsten said not understanding what that had to do with anything.
"I can't afford it," Ryan said shrugging.
"We'd pay for it."
"I can't ask you to do that."
"I'm offering."
"Please don't," Ryan pleaded looking up at Kirsten. She saw what he was really asking her to do. He was asking her not to offer things that he wouldn't be able to turn down.
"Ryan, just think about it, okay? Then tonight, you, and me, and Sandy, we'll all sit down and we'll discuss what's best for you. What should happen now." Ryan had offered a non-committal shrug, and Kirsten had finally asked the same question that her son had the night before. "You will be here when I get home, right?"
"Yes," Ryan had sighed giving Kirsten the same answer he had given Seth. "I'll be here."
And he kept his promise to both of them. He was there when Seth tore through the house after-school. Seth had barely contained himself for the last few periods of the day, and had raced home to find Ryan in the pool house, reading a book. Seth wondered if Ryan had come in the house at all, all day for anything.
"You're here!" Seth couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice. He had half expected to come home to find Ryan gone.
"I told you I would be," Ryan said placing a piece of paper to mark his place in the book and placing the book on the nightstand next to the bed where he had found it that morning. He wasn't sure whose book it was, but he hadn't wanted to go into the house and watch the Cohens' television, although Kirsten had told him that he was more than welcome to. He had taken her up on the offer of swimming, borrowing a pair of Sandy's old swim trunks, and had spent part of the morning doing laps in the pool, and the other part down at the beach soaking in the sun. Then he had come back up, and found the book in the pool house and that had taken up the rest of the day until Seth was due home.
"Well, I'm glad," Seth said grinning at his new friend. "Are you hungry? I'm starving." Ryan was admittedly hungry. He had eaten little that day, not wanting to take too much of the Cohens' food.
"I could eat," Ryan said shrugging.
"Great," Seth said. "Come on, kitchen raid and then we'll go play some Playstation." He didn't wait for Ryan to respond, just expected Ryan to follow him out of the pool house and into the main house. And Ryan did. As soon as they stepped into the kitchen, Seth began to pull out snacks and poured chips and pretzels into bowls.
"Oh!" Seth said excitedly. "Rosa made chocolate chip cookies!" Ryan had noticed the older woman in the kitchen during the day, and she had given him a small smile and wave as he had been swimming. "Excellent. Hey, can you get out the milk for me?" Ryan reached into the refrigerator, pulling out the milk and handing it to Seth who poured two glasses. Ryan helped Seth balance the bowls of food as they made their way into the living room and Seth turned on the game and handed Ryan a controller.
"Thanks," Ryan said taking it and settling back against the couch. For a minute, with a game controller in one hand, and a handful of chips in the other, he almost felt his age. For a minute, he allowed himself to imagine what it would be like to live here, and take Mrs. Cohen up on her offer.
They had been playing for almost two hours when the front door opened and both of Seth's parents came in.
"That's weird," Seth commented when his mom and dad appeared in the doorway together. "You're both home at the same time. You're never both home at the same time."
"Ryan, we'd like to talk to you," Sandy said placing a hand on the small of his wife's back and leading her further into the living room.
"That's my cue to leave," Seth said standing up and grabbing a cookie for the road. He scurried out of the living room leaving Ryan alone with the two adults.
"We've been thinking," Kirsten started, taking a seat in the chair across from Ryan. "We'd really like it if you would stay here with us. Go to school with Seth."
"I can't," Ryan interrupted.
"Why not?" Sandy asked. Ryan turned his attention away from Kirsten to Sandy.
"Because…because I just…I just can't."
"Well, that's a really good reason," Sandy replied sarcastically. "Unfortunately it won't work. Listen, we don't want to have to do this, but you are a minor, and we could, if we have to, go to social services." Ryan opened his mouth to argue, he wished that he had never come back here with Sandy, but Sandy put a hand up to stop any argument. "Listen to me, kid, we want you to stay here with us. We want you to go to Harbor with Seth, and we want you to go to college."
"I can't afford college, and I can't let you pay for it," Ryan said stubbornly. Kirsten felt like they were going in circles with Ryan.
"Then work and get a scholarship," she said frustrated. "Going to Harbor would give you an excellent chance of getting a scholarship. You're a smart kid."
"How do you know that? You don't know anything about me," Ryan argued. He couldn't understand why these people wanted to help him. Sure, he had good timing and had scared away Mrs. Cohen's attacker before he could do any real damage, but they had done enough already to make up for it. Dinner, and a place to stay for a couple of nights was enough. They didn't have to do anymore. And they certainly didn't have to let him stay with them and pay for him to attend a fancy private school.
"I know more about you than you think," Sandy said. "I've looked at your test scores, and they're good. You're smart. I know that you've been given a rotten deal in life, and I know that you deserve better. You and me, kid, we're cut from the same deck. I came from nothing and I got a few lucky breaks, and I worked hard, and look where I ended up. I've got everything I could ever possibly need." Sandy looked at his wife, and took her hand and gave it a squeeze. "What we're offering you, it's a chance at something better for yourself. Consider meeting Kirsten your lucky break, and take it."
"Don't say that you can't," Kirsten said softly. "Because you can. Sandy and I have discussed it, and we want you to stay here. Seth wants you to stay here too, right Seth?"
"It's true," Seth's voice called from the kitchen where he had been eavesdropping. Kirsten rolled her eyes and turned back to Ryan.
"All you have to do is say yes, kid," Sandy said. "Say yes, and we'll go down to social services and become your legal guardians. Say yes, and we'll call Harbor and have you take a placement exam. Just say yes." Ryan sighed, and looked at Sandy and Kirsten, and then to the doorway where Seth was peering around the corner. Whatever they were offering had to be better than what was waiting for him down in Chino. But he did have a job there, and a life, and a house. It wasn't as simple as they were making it seem.
"But what about…"
"What?" Kirsten asked.
"What about my job, and my house, and…I have somewhere to live, and I have a way to support myself, I don't need…I'm not a child."
"You are only sixteen," Sandy said. "To me, that is still a child. You can get a better job after you graduate. We're not taking no for an answer here kid. So just do us the favor and say yes." Ryan took a deep breath, and gave a small smile. What did he have to lose?
"Yes," he finally said. "Okay. I'll stay here for awhile."
Okay, I'm going to go get some ice for my poor mouth. Please review and let me know what you thought, and if you think I should keep going. Thanks!