A/N: Okay, I didn't want to leave ya'll hangin' for the next 3 weeks, so here's chapter 2! Thank you guys so much, your reviews keep me going. This chapter starts on Monday morning, the first day of school.

Disclaimer: You love making me say it don't you? The OC is not mine. Although Ben will be someday. Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Chapter 3

When Ryan awoke to his alarm clock Monday morning he groaned and rolled out of bed. His whole body was still sore from the fight with John. The bruises still looked pretty nasty especially the one on his arm, as well as the cuts on his temple. His abdomen was still pretty sore and the bruises hadn't faded all that much.

He walked into the bathroom to take a shower. After he had taken off his shirt, Ryan looked at himself in the mirror. 'I look like shit.' Soon after his shower he was ready to leave for school. He walked into the kitchen to find his mother sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in her hands. She looked up at him but said nothing as he walked past her, towards the cupboard. Ryan grabbed the box of pop-tarts and pulled out a pack. He opened it up and pulled out one for himself and gave the rest to Dawn.

Ryan left the kitchen before she could say anything and, picking up his book bag, walked out the front door.

"Have a good day Sweetie." Dawn said quietly, looking down into her cup. Tears began to form behind her eyes and she let them fall. 'What have I done?'

Ryan rode his bike to school. He had told Seth that he would meet him there. Since the incident with John Ryan had been avoiding Seth. Always making up some story about how he wasn't feeling well or something like that. But Ryan could avoid him no longer.

Ryan got to Harbor about thirty minutes early, so he decided to go to his locker and put his bag in there until it was time for school to start. After he was done he went back to the front steps to wait for Seth and finish his breakfast.

About fifteen minutes later Seth arrived in the Range Rover. After he was done parking he walked to Ryan. Ryan got up and smiled, bumping knuckles with Seth. Seth however, lost his smile noticing Ryan's face.

"Dude, what happened to your face?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

"It looks like you got hit with a bottle or something."

"Seth, I'm fine, leave it alone."

"But-"

"Seth!"

"Okay fine jeez, did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning or what?"

"I've got a headache."

"Hmm, I wonder why."

Ryan just gave him one of his trademark glares. Something in Seth's gut was telling him something just wasn't right. But he didn't push it. If Ryan wasn't going to talk there was nothing he could do about it. They first headed towards Ryan's locker so that he could pick up his bag, and then they went to their first class. Their first class was English.

It went by pretty slowly. The teacher went on about classroom rules, what sort of things they could expect to be doing in this class, etc. 'What the Hell? This is high school. Aren't we supposed to know the rules and what we'll be doing? This is so pointless, I could've told Seth everything this teacher's said so far and not have taken this class.' Ryan thought to himself, sighing. So instead of paying attention he turned his attention to the window where his attention stayed until the bell rang.

The next class passed the same way. Finally, the bell rang and it was lunchtime. Ryan and Seth got their food and sat down at a vacant table. They ate quietly for a few minutes until Marissa walked over to them. She sat down and began eating her lunch as well.

"So how have your guys' classes gone so far?"

"Boring." They replied in unison.

"Yeah, same here. First days are the worst."

"Where's Summer?"

"She doesn't have this lunch period. Sorry, Seth."

"Oh."

"Man I just wanna leave this place." Ryan commented, looking down at his lunch, which he had barely eaten. He looked back up at Marissa to say something else but she cut him off noticing his face.

"Oh my God! Ryan, what happened to your-'

"Nothing." He cut her off, "You know what? I'm not all that hungry so I'm just gonna go. I'll see you guys later." He continued. Ryan got up, picked up his tray and left.

"That was weird, what's up with him Seth?"

"Honestly, I don't know. He was the same way this morning when I asked him about it."

"Oh." Marissa said, slightly disappointed, "Why don't you go find him and try again?"

"Alright, I'll try, but I'm not making any promises. I'll talk to you later. Say 'Hi' to Summer for me."

"Okay, I will. Bye Seth."

"Bye."

Seth left and headed straight for Ryan's locker. He figured he'd try there first. Ryan was as Seth guessed. He was putting his books from the morning classes away. He seemed pretty aggravated. Seth approached him slowly and cautiously.

"Hey man, what was up with that?"

"With what?" Ryan snapped.

"You just freaked out and left, just because Marissa asked about your face."

"I didn't 'freak out'. I told you I wasn't hungry and I came here to put my stuff away."

"You could've done that later, we still have thirty minutes left before class."

"Whatever Seth. I'm gonna go. I want to be alone."

"Ryan, what's going on with you? You've been acting really strange lately."

Ryan ignored him and reached up to close his locker. That's when Seth saw the mark on Ryan's arm. He grabbed for Ryan's arm, but he turned and started to walk away. Seth tried for it again, only this time he got his target. Although Seth did get his target, he got it where the bruise was. Ryan flinched and hissed in pain. He turned back around towards Seth and wrenched his arm back. If looks could kill, Seth would be dead ten times over. Seth actually flinched at the look given to him.

"Don't you ever touch me again." Ryan growled.

Seth flinched again, but recovered quickly.

"What is that mark from Ryan?"

"It's nothing." Ryan said, holding his arm.

"Ryan, it's shaped like a hand-print. Tell me, what is going on?"

"I TOLD YOU SETH! It's nothing! Now leave me the Hell alone!" Ryan growled through clenched teeth. He turned around and stormed off, leaving Seth standing there, dumbfounded. He knew that bruise was hand-shaped, but he didn't understand why Ryan was trying to hide it.

Ryan stormed out of Seth's view, down the hallway and into the bathroom. He washed his face in the sink. After he dried off he looked into the mirror. He looked the same as this morning. His reflection only angered him more. It reminded him of what he now has to go home to. Reminded him of his past and now his future. He drew his arm back and formed a fist. Milliseconds later his fist slammed into the mirror, shattering it at contact. Shards flew everywhere, cutting his fist to ribbons. Blood now trickled down the wall and all over his hand. Already Ryan could feel it begin to swell. He fell to the floor, cradling his arm. Tears began to form but he blinked them away.

A few minutes later he got up and washed his hand then left for his next class, thankful that it wasn't with Seth. He kept his hand under the table, grateful that it was the first day and he didn't have to write anything.

It was finally the end of the day. Ryan hurried to his bike and took off before anyone could catch him.

Seth got home at about the same time his parents did because they both took off early to see how their son's first day went.

"Hey Son, how was the first day?"

"Not good."

"What? Why? What happened Sweetie?"

"It's Ryan. Something's wrong. When I saw him today he had a black eye and his temple was bruised and all cut up. But when I asked him about it he said it was nothing and then got defensive when I pushed it. Then at lunch Marissa asked the same thing and he freaked out and left. I approached him at his locker and he got even angrier and tried to leave, but I grabbed his arm because I saw a mark and then he got really angry and stormed off. I haven't seen him since. Although a teacher found a shattered mirror in the boys' bathroom and it was bloody too. I assume that was him because that bathroom was in the direction he went after we got in an argument. I'm really worried about him."

"That does sound off, but if Ryan won't admit to anything then there's nothing we can do."

"But the mark on his arm! It was shaped like a hand, as if someone grabbed him really hard."

"Well . . . . let's sit on it a little while, see if anything else turns up." Sandy sighed, throwing a worried look to his wife who returned it with one of her own. He knew he should call Social Services but he also knew that he didn't want Ryan to go to Foster Care. He just figured he'd give it a little more time. If anything more happened he'd have no choice but to call.

Ryan didn't go home after school. He just rode his bike until he got tired, so he finally went home. Dawn wasn't there when Ryan got home. 'Work.' He thought to himself. First he took care of his hand then fixed himself something to eat. Alone, he ate in the kitchen wondering how he'd deal with Seth tomorrow at school. After he was done eating he cleaned up his mess then went into the living room to watch some T.V. There wasn't much on so he settled on ESPN. It was eleven thirty before he realized he'd dozed off. Dawn still wasn't home from work. Ryan decided to go to bed before she did get home.

Ryan's alarm clock read 3am when he awoke to shouting coming from the living room. 'Yep, definitely like the old days.' He dragged himself out of bed into the living room. Hiding behind the corner that led into the hallway he was standing in, Ryan watched on. The argument seemed to be something extremely stupid so Ryan tuned it out. He was there to make sure it didn't get too far out of hand as it eventually did. John took a swing at Dawn who screamed and covered herself with her arms.

Ryan saw the hit coming way before it even happened, giving him the chance to react. He rushed John, blind sighting him with one of his fierce punches. John was knocked clean off his feet. The man recovered quickly and got up. He shoved Ryan but he didn't budge. Ryan only shoved him back.

"Don't lay a hand on her." He growled.

This only enraged John more. Swiftly, he countered with a punch to Ryan's jaw. Ryan lost balance, but John caught his arm and pulled him back only to punch him, hard, in the stomach a few times. His breath knocked out of him, Ryan doubled over and fell to his knees, holding his stomach. Serious pain echoed through his abdomen.

John knelt down beside Ryan, grabbed his hair, and wrenched back, forcing Ryan to lean backwards. Again pain echoed through his midsection, only much more intense. Ryan could feel that there was some serious damage but what could he do? He was ready to pass out from the pain it hurt so bad.

"Now you listen to me, if you ever interfere again, I swear I'll-"

John didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as Ryan's body came forward involuntarily. His stomach lurched and Ryan couldn't hold it down. He threw up all over the floor, but it wasn't just food, blood was coming up as well. This was causing Ryan to cough severely. With every cough his abdomen burned intensely with pain. After the coughing fit Ryan's whole body succumbed to the exhaustion, he fell to his side passing out.

Although he was passed out, his body still lurched from the hemorrhaging in his stomach. Blood was still dripping slowly from his mouth. Dawn who had, once again, done nothing snapped back into reality. She went to her son.

" He needs an ambulance!"
"Do whatever you want, I'm leaving."

Two hours later, in the waiting room, Dawn sat waiting for news on her son. The doctor appeared approaching Dawn. She stood up expectantly.

"How is he?"

"He'll be fine. We got the hemorrhaging to stop in time. He has 2 broken ribs and the rest are severely bruised. As fore his face, nothing is broken, just bruised and cut up. But Ms. Atwood, what caused these injuries?"

"Um, I don't know. He just stumbled into the house and he started throwing up then passed. I assume he go into a fight, but I don't know."
"Okay, we'll ask him what happened."

"Can I see him now?"

"Yes, just follow me."

Obediently Dawn followed the doctor out of the room and down the hall. It took a few minutes, but they finally reached Ryan's room. Ryan was asleep. The doctor left Dawn at the doorway to go tend to other patients. Slowly she walked in and took a seat beside the bed, staring at her son. After about a minute she took his hand gently. Ryan awoke to the contact and pulled his hand back, staring at his mother sternly.

"What did you tell them?"

"That you came in, got sick and passed out. I also said that I thought it was a fight."

"I did. With your boyfriend, Mom."

"I know baby, I'm sorry."

"Save it. 'Sorry' doesn't mean anything to me anymore."

"Well then, what do you want me to say!"

"Nothing! Just pull your life together, that's all I want, but that's too much to ask isn't it?"

"No! I will! I'll try!"

Ryan snorted and stared up at the ceiling. 'If only it were that easy.' A few minutes later the doctor reappeared and asked Ryan what happened. Ryan stuck with Dawn's story and said he fought with some jock that he didn't even know he name of. He couldn't even remember what the fight was about. The doctor bought it surprisingly.

"Okay then, I think that covers it. You can check out whenever you're ready. Just take it easy for a couple of days."

"Thank you, doctor." Dawn said.

When they got home at about 7am Ryan crawled back in to bed. Dawn called him in for school. Then she got a towel and cleaned up the mess then went to bed herself.

Seth noticed Ryan wasn't at school. That really worried him. So after school instead of going straight home he went to Ryan's. When he got there he knocked on the door nervously. Dawn answered.

"Hi Seth, I'm just getting ready for work."

"Hi Dawn, is Ryan home? Yeah but he's not feeling well and isn't in the mood to see anyone. But I'll tell him you stopped by okay?"

"Okay thanks." And Seth left.

The next couple of weeks were the same. John came back around, as well as the Jack Daniels, and his temper. Ryan could feel himself begin to break. Everything was beginning to weigh down on him: his mom, the alcohol, and the abuse. He knew wouldn't be able to handle much more of this. And he wasn't, he began to fall back into his shell, his shield from the Hell that was his life. Ryan's grades began slipping and he didn't care anymore. His friendship with Seth was barely existent. Life had slipped back to the way it was in Chino. Just what he didn't want. Ryan knew he couldn't handle this a third time. First Fresno, then Chino and now Newport. But what was there to do? He felt trapped. That's when it hit him. The memories of the mirror shattering and cutting his hand and his wrist.

End Chapter 3

A/N: There ya'all go. Another chapter. I won't be updating again until after my vacation, which is 2 weeks long starting Friday. So I apologize now. However, it will be a 12 hr flight so I will be writing the next chapter so that when I get back you all will have chapter 4! I promise. Thanks so much for reading, you all rock my world! Please review!