Down A Rabbit Hole We Go

by sssms

Very AU story involving Caleb, Ryan, and the Cohen's. This is my first O.C. fanfic and other than the first few chapters, I don't even know where it is going.

15. Chapter 15

Down A Rabbit Hole We Go – Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own the OC or any of its characters.

XXXXXXXX

Let me take a moment to thank you all for your reviews. Reviews definitely encourage the muse.

Let me also remind everyone that this story is AU and not only because of the relationship between Caleb and Ryan. While some of the characters are very close to their original characters on the show, some will be somewhat different. I've noticed that several reviews talk about how badly Ryan would have been treated by Trey and that Trey would have been out of the house a long time and has an extensive criminal history. If you read the references to Trey in this story carefully, I don't know how you get that impression. From my recollection, what we know of Trey in this story is that he had a tense relationship with Ryan at times due to Trey's jealousy about Caleb being Ryan's father, especially after Frank went to jail. This led to some fights between them. Ryan encouraged Caleb to let Trey join them some weekends when things were bad at home. But Caleb caught Trey smoking weed with a pre-teen Ryan and Caleb wrote Trey off as trouble after that. In this story, Trey lived at home until he was 18 and Dawn kicked him out because she couldn't control him. When they were arrested in the stolen car, Trey had a couple of priors (not an extensive criminal history) and had pot and a gun on him at the time of his arrest. Despite the jealousy over Caleb, Trey and Ryan were united when it came to dealing with Dawn's abusive boyfriends, at least until Trey was kicked out of the house. On the night of the arrest, Ryan needed to get out of the house due to the abuse and Trey willingly picked his little brother up, although in a stolen car. Although Ryan doubted whether Trey would be honest about Ryan not knowing the car was stolen, Trey told the truth and exonerated Ryan. Based on this AU story, most of Ryan's abuse came from Dawn's abusive boyfriends (especially AJ) and sometimes Dawn herself (emotionally and we've seen her slap him in an earlier chapter). Even Frank, as mentioned in a previous chapter, tolerated Ryan for the most part, although he both welcomed and begrudged Caleb Nichol's money supporting his family. The muse is still developing his story and the characters. I hope you will continue to enjoy the story and the characters as they unfold without your impression being skewed too much by how the characters were in the show. Thanks again for your reviews and now back to the story…

XXXXXXXX

Caleb was surprised at how shaken Ryan was after Jill Haggerty's call. She called Caleb initially and they spoke for a few minutes about how Ryan was adjusting. Caleb had assured her that Ryan was doing fine and explained that he was spending the day with Caleb's grandson Seth who was the same age as Ryan. He'd given her Ryan's cell phone number so she could speak with him directly. When Ryan came home looking so spooked, Caleb quizzed the boy about his conversation with the social worker. From what Ryan said, it sounded like Ms. Haggerty had asked him similar questions to what she'd asked Caleb. Cal tried to reassure him that the contact was just routine, and everything would be fine. When Ryan didn't seem convinced, Caleb decided it would be a good idea to do something to distract him and suggested they make their trip to the Anaheim house the following day. And that's how on this beautiful Thursday morning, he found himself in his SUV with Haley in the passenger seat and Ryan and Seth in the back. Caleb was surprised that Summer Roberts wasn't going with them, but Ryan said she was busy getting ready for the charity fashion show.

Seth was chattering incessantly, but it didn't seem to bother Ryan. In fact, he seemed relaxed, chuckling periodically at something Seth said. Caleb was pleasantly surprised at how well they were getting along. Seth had always been a unique kid and the teenage years had been difficult for him. Caleb couldn't name one friend the boy had, unless you counted that ridiculous plastic horse. Ryan was generally quiet and had a way about him that set others at ease. He and Seth seemed to compliment each other.

As they pulled into the drive of the Anaheim house, or the home base as Seth was calling it for some reason, the boys jumped out first and headed up the steps.

"They seem to be getting along great," Haley commented. "I haven't seen Seth that comfortable with another kid in…well, ever."

"I know. It's remarkable," Caleb agreed. "Hopefully, that will make Ryan's adjustment to the family and to Newport easier."

XXXXXXX

"So, this is the infamous Nichol Atwood home base," Seth nodded in appreciation. The house was much smaller than his grandpa's mansion or his own house in Newport. In fact, it reminded Seth more of their old house in Berkley. Seth had been very young when they moved from Berkley back to Newport, but he had great memories of the Berkley house and had begged his parents to move back there after Grandma Rose died. He'd been miserable for years in Newport, but now that his "Uncle" was there, things were definitely looking up. He followed Ryan through the house to his bedroom.

XXXXXXXX

Haley looked around the living room of her father's Anaheim house and her attention was drawn to a group of pictures sitting on a coffee table in front of the couch.

Seeing her interest, Caleb guided her over, picked up one of the pictures, and handed it to his daughter. It was a picture of a young Ryan and Caleb at Disneyland, a duplicate of the picture that Kirsten had seen.

"He was adorable. I wish I could have known him at that age," Haley commented.

Caleb sighed. "I wish you could have as well. I wish I'd done a lot of things differently."

Caleb sat down heavily on the couch and Haley sat down beside him sensing his need to talk.

"That photo was taken a few weeks after your mother died." Caleb commented, drawing Haley's undivided attention. "I rented this house for a week and decided to buy it later when it came on the market. That week was the first time Ryan ever stayed with me overnight. He was six, no, he'd just turned seven. Before that, I'd only had him for a day at a time."

"I remember when mom was sick, and you'd need "a break" from taking care of her. You'd leave early in the morning and come home late at night. Kiki would come over and help with mom." Haley mused.

"I loved your mother very much, but I did need a break. I also needed to know my son and for him to know me. Dawn hid her pregnancy from everyone for the first few months and then pretended her husband was the father, but she had Ryan early enough that Frank got suspicious, and Dawn told him the truth. When she contacted me and told me that Ryan was mine, I thought she was lying just to get money out of me. I got a lawyer that I knew would be discreet involved immediately. When the paternity test came back confirming it, I just couldn't believe it. I insisted on seeing him for myself, thinking that seeing him would reassure me that I was right, that he wasn't mine. The lawyer arranged a meeting when Ryan was around six weeks old. Dawn and Frank came in and without saying a word Dawn thrust Ryan into my arms, little blue blanket and all. I looked down and saw those blue eyes. He looked so much like Kirsten did as a baby and I knew it was true. I had a son. I don't know how long I stood there and just stared at him. The lawyer and I made arrangements that day for Ryan's support and an unofficial agreement for visitation, but your mother had already been diagnosed with cancer and I just couldn't tell her."

Caleb sighed and took the picture from Haley's hands and stared down at it. "We agreed that Ryan would live with Dawn, Frank, and Trey, but would know that I was his father. I would pick him up for the day when I could, but the whole situation was confusing for him and for Trey. We tried to get Ryan to call me and Frank by our first names, but with Trey calling Frank dad, Ryan picked up on it. The first time I heard him call Frank that, I was furious, but Frank just shrugged it off. By the time your mother passed, Ryan understood the situation better and was comfortable enough with me for a day, but the first night with just the two of us in this house wasn't easy."

Caleb sat in the rocker recliner in the rental house living room browsing over the Disneyland pamphlets as he planned to tackle the theme park with Ryan the next day. He had picked Ryan up midmorning and they'd spent the afternoon playing in the back yard of the rental house and swimming in the pool before having chicken nuggets and fries from McDonalds for dinner. Caleb was disgusted with the nuggets, but he'd told Ryan he could pick what they had for dinner and so he'd eaten them just the same. After dinner, he'd offered to help Ryan with his bath, but Ryan insisted he could bathe himself. Caleb had reminded him to wash behind his ears and left him to it. Around 9pm Ryan fell asleep on the living room rug while playing with Legos and Caleb managed to tuck him into the bed in the guest room without waking him.

It was around 10:30 when Caleb heard a floorboard creak. He looked up to see Ryan standing in the doorway to the living room with silent tears running down his cheeks. "Hey kiddo, what's wrong?" Caleb asked as he hurried over and picked his son up. Ryan's body tensed and a sob escaped. Caleb sat down in the recliner with Ryan in his lap. He patted Ryan's small back, trying to console the boy. "Did you have a bad dream?"

Ryan shook his head no and took a shuddering breath. "I woke up and couldn't find Trey. Where's Trey and Mommy and Frank?"

Caleb's breath caught. Ryan was so comfortable with him during the day, he hadn't anticipated this possibility. "They're all in Fresno, Ryan. You're spending the week with me this week, remember? We're going to Disneyland tomorrow."

Ryan nodded yes, but more tears fell. "I want mommy," he sobbed.

"Well mommy's not here right now, kiddo, but you'll see her in a few days, ok."

Ryan shook his head no and started sobbing again.

"Hey now, you trust me don't you, kiddo? You're safe here with me and we're going to have a great time together. Tomorrow we'll see Mickey Mouse. You want to see Mickey, don't you?" Caleb continued to murmur quietly, patting Ryan's back and wiping the boy's face with his handkerchief.

"I want mommy. I didn't mean to be a bad boy. Please let me go home. I'll be good. I promise."

Caleb was perplexed by the boy's words. "You haven't been bad, buddy. You were a good boy all day."

Ryan continued to sob, his whole body shaking, so Caleb did the only thing he could think of to do. "How about we call your mom, kiddo? You want to call and talk to your mom?"

At this, Ryan shook his head yes, took a deep breath, and seemed to calm down a bit.

When Caleb dialed Dawn's number, it rang a couple of times and then Frank answered, sounding half asleep. "Frank, this is Caleb Nichol. I need to speak with Dawn."

"Dawn's not here right now. She went over to a friend's house to play cards and hasn't gotten home yet. What's going on? What do you want with her?" Frank asked.

Caleb sighed. "Ryan woke up afraid and is asking for Dawn. I thought talking to her would calm him down." Caleb looked down as Ryan tugged on his arm trying to get the phone. "It's Frank, Ryan. Your mom is a little busy right now," Caleb told him.

"Lemme talk to Frank," Ryan insisted.

"He wants to talk to you, Frank," Caleb muttered into the phone, concerned that Frank might upset Ryan more.

"Whatever," Frank answered.

Caleb put the phone on speaker so that he could hear both side of the conversation. "Go head, Ryan. The speaker's on."

"Frank?" Ryan questioned.

"Hey, kid. What's up?"

"Where's mommy?"

"She's over at Miss Sylvia's playing cards, Ryan. She's not here right now."

"Is Trey there? Did he have to go away too? We didn't mean to be bad."

There was a pause on Frank's end of the phone. Ryan and Trey had had an argument before Ryan left because Trey found out that Ryan was going to Disneyland with Caleb. "Trey's asleep in your bedroom, Ryan."

"Can I come home too? I promise I want be bad anymore."

"What are you talking about, kid? You weren't being bad."

"But when that lady came… Mommy said..."

Frank cut Ryan off, "Listen, kid. That was all a big mistake and sometimes your mom says some dumb things that you shouldn't worry about."

"But…why can't I come home?"

Frank sighed. "You can come home, kid. You're just spending the week with Caleb. You're going to Disneyland, right? Don't you want to go to Disneyland and see Mickey?"

"Yes, sir, but…"

"No buts, kid. Trust me. You are going to have a fun week with Caleb and then you'll come home and can tell us all about it. Okay?"

Ryan thought for a minute and nodded his head, then realized that Frank couldn't hear that. "Okay," he answered softly.

"Good. Now you better get some sleep, right? You've got a big day tomorrow."

"Right. Ok. Tell mommy I miss her and tell Trey too."

"Will do, kid. Night."

"Wow," Haley responded once Caleb finished telling her about that first night.

"Yeah. I was surprised at how easily Frank calmed Ryan down and realized I had a lot of years to make up for," Caleb replied.

"What was the deal with him thinking he'd been bad and couldn't go home? And what lady was he talking about?" Haley inquired.

"I never did figure that out. But Dawn must have threatened him at some point. I swear, sometimes Frank had more sense than Dawn did in those days." Caleb answered.

XXXXXXXX

Seth looked around Ryan's room as Ryan tried to decide what to take back to Newport with him.

After several minutes, he'd noted that Ryan not only had the same PS2 that he had, but had several other things that were exactly the same as gifts his grandpa had given him on various Christmases or birthdays. Caleb had always made a point to ask Seth what he wanted, and he usually got it.

"Dude!" he exclaimed excitedly. "When did you get the HP notebook?"

"I don't know. Maybe for my birthday a couple of years ago." Ryan replied.

"Uh huh. What about the telescope?"

"Christmas when I was 12 or 13?" Ryan shrugged, wondering why it mattered.

"And the stereo system?" Seth inquired.

"Birthday last year. What's with the twenty..."

"I knew it! Grandpa's been using me!" Seth exclaimed.

Ryan gave him a look like he was crazy, and Seth laughed before explaining.

"Grandpa always asked me what I wanted for my birthday or for Christmas and I almost always got it. And from the things in this room, it looks like you always got the same thing. The PS2, the Notebook, the telescope, the massive stereo system…Grandpa gave me the exact same gifts at the exact same times. He was using me to figure out what to buy a boy our age. You have me to thank for Grandpa's good taste in gifts," Seth chuckled.

"Huh," Ryan responded, sitting on the edge of his bed and looking around the room at the various items, his forehead creased in thought. Then he looked back at Seth and replied, straight-faced, "Dude, you are so asking for a car for your birthday."

Seth gave him a strange look and then collapsed into Ryan's desk chair in a fit of giggles. Ryan fell back on his bed in the same state about the time Haley appeared in the doorway.

"What are you two up to in here?" She asked. "Dad sent me to check on you." She added, grinning at the two.

Seth recovered somewhat and answered, "We're plotting the takeover of the Nichol household and Newport Beach."

"And world domination to follow," Ryan added dryly, sending both boys over the edge again.

XXXXXXXX