Title: A Spot Of Trouble
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to The O.C.. Not for profit.
Description: Ryan gets into a spot of trouble with a girl. (Set in early season 1.)

Author's Note: Well, this is it. This is the end. I want to thank everybody so much for their comments and reviews!

Chapter 6

For Ryan, the wait for Sandy to get there lasted forever. He kept checking his watch, and it didn't seem to be moving as fast as it should be. He knew that it would have gone even slower if Jane wasn't there to distract him. She didn't have to be. Her father told her that she could go home. Her mother or her brother would come pick her up. But she chose to stay and keep Ryan company while he waited for his parental unit to show up. That's what she said, "parental unit." She could be funny, when she wanted to be.

Ryan couldn't tell Jane enough how grateful he was that she was there, keeping him distracted by talking. All the usual small talk that you did when you first met someone and wanted to get to know them. Somehow they had skipped over that part earlier. Ryan smiled when he thought about what they had skipped ahead to. He realized then that his initial assessment of her as shy was a little off. And the way she stood up to her father, and defended Ryan to him and everything. She was quite a girl.

But still, her presence wasn't enough to keep Ryan's mind off the clock and what was coming up for him when Sandy did get there. Not to mention that he was thinking that any time, the cops could come in and arrest him for violating his probation. Although the more time passed and that didn't happen, the more Ryan became convinced that it wouldn't. Unless they were just waiting for Sandy to get there to do it. That was a cheery thought. And he definitely didn't want to ask.

Okay, 45 minutes. Sandy should be here soon.

1 hour. Sandy should be here any minute. Or Kirsten maybe. Or even both of them. It was only a 45 minute drive from Newport to Long Beach, but Ryan figured it might take a little time for Kirsten to call Sandy, then Sandy to get away from the client and get on the road, etc. So, yeah, any minute.

1 hour and 15 minutes. Well, maybe Kirsten had trouble reaching Sandy. Maybe he had his cell phone off or something. Or, maybe he couldn't get away from his wine-and-dine right away. Or, you know, maybe the directions were bad and he got lost. Or he got stuck in traffic. Who knew? There must be some good explanation, right?

Luckily, Ryan was saved from becoming a complete basket case by Sandy's arrival. As before when Jane's father arrived, they could see the shadows of two men through the door and hear two men's voices right outside before they actually came in.

Jane again said to Ryan, "My dad."

This time Ryan could smile and say back to her, "And Sandy."

They both stood up, waiting for their "parental units" to come into the office. All Ryan felt at this point was relief to see Sandy, or well, hear him at least. He knew that in a minute or so he might not be so happy, but for now, he let himself go ahead and be happy.

After a few moments, the door opened and Jane's father and Ryan's guardian finally walked in. Ryan studied Sandy carefully as he came in, but couldn't tell anything about his mood, not even after Sandy made eye contact. Ryan guessed that he was keeping himself neutral in front of Jane and her father. He figured that he'd know soon enough how mad Sandy was.

Once the two men were inside, Jane's father made the introductions. "Sandy, this is my daughter. Jane, this is Mr. Cohen."

It struck Ryan that the two of them seemed to be pretty friendly, on a first-name basis and all. He wondered what that meant.

Jane smiled shyly at Sandy. "Hi."

Sandy nodded at her. "Hello, Jane."

Jane's father opened the door wider and stepped a little to the side. "Honey, why don't we let Mr. Cohen and Ryan talk. Come on."

Sandy came further into the room to give her access to the door. Jane started to leave, but then stopped and turned.

"Mr. Cohen?" Once Sandy looked at her, she continued, in a rush, "I just wanted you to know, this was totally my fault, not Ryan's. I wanted to go to the gazebo. It was my idea. He didn't even want to go –"

Ryan interrupted her. "That's not exactly true –"

Sandy interrupted both of them. "Thank you, Jane. I'll keep that in mind."

Jane's father ushered her out. "Honey, let's go."

Ryan and Jane shared one last look before she left. Once the Garibaldis were gone and the door closed behind them, Ryan took a deep breath and faced Sandy. Okay, now he was looking a little pissed off.

"Sit down, Ryan." Sandy said in that stern voice of his.

Okay, make that very pissed off. Ryan knew he was in a lot of trouble. Ryan sat back down on the couch where he had been sitting, and Sandy took the chair across from it.

Ryan wanted to clear something up first. "What Jane said – it isn't her fault –"

Sandy interrupted him. "I know."

There was that pissed-off voice again. Ryan knew when to shut up. So he did and waited for Sandy to start.

"Chief Garibaldi and I have been having a little chat about the events of this evening." Well, at least that explained why Sandy was late getting to Ryan. He was talking with the Chief. And that explained their friendliness. "And he told me what Jane told him about what happened tonight. But I have a few questions."

Ryan held his breath and waited.

"First, what are you doing in Long Beach in the first place? I thought you were hanging out with your friends from work?"

Ryan looked down and wrung his hands. He figured he'd have to explain this sooner or later. "Um, well, yeah, we were hanging out. At a party. Here in Long Beach."

"When you told us you'd be in Newport, did you know you'd be coming here?"

"Um... yeah?"

"So you lied to us?"

Ryan looked away and didn't answer that. He figured he didn't have to.

"And at this party, were you drinking?"

Ryan looked back at Sandy. "Just beer. I'm not drunk or anything."

Sandy nodded. "You do know that beer counts, right? In the 'no drinking' rule that Kirsten and I have that you know all about?"

Ryan looked away again. Strike two.

"And at this party you pick up a girl and go with her to make out on somebody's private property, trespassing on that somebody's private property. Do I have that right?"

Ryan looked back at Sandy.

"Did you know that you were trespassing? Before the police showed up and told you?"

Ryan cleared his throat. "Um... I guess. Yeah, I did." Great. Strike three.

Sandy leaned forward. "And you did it anyway. What the hell were you thinking? No, don't answer that. I know what you were thinking with. Jane is a very pretty girl."

Ryan looked back down.

Sandy sighed in exasperation. "Still, how could you be so reckless? You know you can't afford to do things like this. Not while you're on probation and while Child Services is watching us like a hawk. Remember what I said -- we are always one mistake away from somebody taking you away? Well, you just made a doozy tonight. And you know that you could be in juvie right now, too, right? You're lucky that you didn't get arrested tonight. You would have if Jane wasn't the daughter of the Chief of Police."

Ryan held his breath waiting for the other shoe to drop. When Sandy didn't say anything more, Ryan finally pulled his eyes up to look at him.

"I'm sorry."

Sandy sighed and leaned back. "Look, Ryan, I know what you did was just a stupid teenage boy thing to do, but you can't afford to do stupid teenage things, not now."

Ryan nodded and looked down. After another minute of silence, Ryan looked at Sandy again.

"What happens now? I mean, like what about my probation? Is Jane's father going to –"

"He doesn't know." Ryan raised his eyebrows at that. "I didn't tell him, and I'm assuming you didn't." Ryan shook his head. "And he didn't run you through the computer. He can't really, if he wants to protect his daughter. He knows that if he runs you through and finds anything, he'll be obligated to report this. And he wants to keep this quiet, keep it unofficial, so it doesn't show up on his daughter's record."

Ryan nodded, relieved. It turned out to be good luck that it was the daughter of the Chief of Police who caught his eye, if it had been some other girl... Well, Ryan didn't want to think about that.

"And Child Services?"

Sandy shook his head. "There's no reason for them to know about tonight, either."

Ryan breathed a sigh of relief, but there was one last thing that he had to say...

Ryan looked Sandy in the eye. "Look, I'm really sorry. I just, I don't know, I wasn't thinking. I know it wasn't Jane's fault. I chose to go with her. I know I screwed up. Big time. And I..." Ryan looked down. "I'd understand if you want me to go. I know I promised I wouldn't get into any more trouble..."

Sandy's voice and face softened. "You're not going anywhere, Ryan. Except home with us, which you won't be leaving for a while because you're going to be grounded, for a long time."

Ryan looked up at Sandy, wanting to believe him, wanting to believe that they still wanted him, even after all this. He looked sincere...

"Listen, Ryan, when Kirsten and I agreed to be your guardians, we knew that there would be some bumps in the road. We asked you to promise to stay out of trouble, because we figured that that way, you'd at least try. We pretty much figured that you wouldn't always succeed. And we're not going to kick you out for it. Ground you, yes, throw you out, no. As long as you learn from it, and keep trying to stay out of trouble..."

"I promise to keep trying. I don't want to get into trouble, I just..."

"I know. I know." Sandy smiled. "Well, good." Sandy stood up and Ryan followed him. "We'll discuss this more at home, you, me, and Kirsten. Believe me, we'll discuss this."

Ryan smiled ruefully.

Sandy clapped him on the back. "Let's go home."

When Ryan followed Sandy out of the Chief of Police's office, he found that Jane and her father were out there waiting for them.

Jane came up to him. "Everything go okay?"

Ryan smiled and shrugged. "About the same as with your dad."

"Grounded?"

"Yup."

Sandy went over and shook hands with Jane's dad. "Thank you, Michael."

"No problem, Sandy. I know what it is like to have teenagers. You should see this one's older brother."

Sandy smiled. "I can imagine."

Meanwhile, Ryan had taken Jane's hand and was asking her, "Can I see you again?"

Her father overheard that and answered for her. "Not until she's done being grounded."

Sandy chimed in, "Ditto, Ryan. And only if you two promise not to get each other into trouble again."

They both said, simultaneously, "Promise."

Sandy and Michael laughed.

Sandy started walking out. "We need to get home." And to Ryan, "Come on, Romeo."

The End.