Hope you like it! Oh, and I know Dawn isn't mentioned a lot in the chapter but remember that Ryan wasn't supposed to have found out. But it will most defiantly be coming up soon. And same goes for Theresa. I just couldn't find an area to squeeze her in. Next chapter the whole Theresa/ Ryan/ drug thing will be worked out. Hopefully. Theresa may or may not confess. You'll have to wait and see! I'll post the next chapter as soon as I can. Okay, enough of this. Read on! Sorry, one more thing. Seth will also be in the next chapter. The next one is going to be a lot longer so a lot more stuff will be covered.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with the OC

Ryan came back from their first time out in the kennel with two black eyes and a busted lip. The area where the inmates got to spend an hour each day had been dubbed the kennel because of the vast number of fights that had broken out there. It was like a recess, only the kids were big, hairy, and incredibly violent. They also seemed to have made it a mission of theirs to make Ryan more miserable then he thought possible for any human being. The prisoner in the next cell over had heard his sobs the previous night and this morning at their recess he had told some of his friends about it. His friends had happened to be some of the biggest and toughest guys in the jail.

The Atwood luck, Ryan had thought.

Ryan even had a new nickname now. One of the guys had thought it'd be funny to call him Little Mama's Boy. It made him cringe inside every time someone yelled it at him. It just reminded him even more of the death of his mom. Since he was one of the youngest in the prison at the moment he was the one who got picked on the most. It was like he was the scrawny kid in the playground and all the other guys were the big kids who wanted his lunch money. In other words, he was Seth, and the other inmates were like Luke and his cronies.

Seth. He had to stop thinking about the Cohen's so much. Just last night he had dreamt that he was back in the pool house waiting to be called into dinner. If he kept thinking about them like this he'd never be able to accept the fact that he probably wouldn't be seeing them for quite some time. Sure, he'd see Sandy when he came to talk with him about his case. But he wouldn't see Kirsten or Seth anytime soon. And even when Sandy was here it was strictly business. It was as if Sandy had completely forgotten the past 3 years that he had lived under his roof and acted like another son. Now it was as if he was just another client. He knew it wasn't because Sandy was mad at him. Ryan was pretty sure Sandy didn't want to forget him either. It might just be because he was stressed out from working so much on this case. But Ryan would never know. Even if he got back and lived with the Cohen's again he would never have to courage to talk openly about his feelings. He wouldn't ask why Sandy barely acknowledged his presence at the meetings they had arranged. He wouldn't ask why Seth wasn't demanding to visit him more. He had thought they were best friends. Brothers even. He knew that if Seth were the one in his position he'd be sneaking out every day to go visit him. He'd been in here 11 days now and the only time he had seen Seth was that first night when the three of them had come.

Kirsten had come two other times. She hadn't said much though. She just told him she loved him and that they all missed him at home. He doubted that.

This was good though. It would just make it easier for him to move on from that part of his life. They were doing the work for him. By having them separate him from their lives it made it easier. Of course it hurt to know that they could forget about him just like that but at least he wouldn't have to work as hard to leave that part of his life behind.

He sighed. He knew it was selfish but he couldn't help but wish that he was the one that would be moving on first.

"Atwood. Your lawyer's here," one of the guards yelled to Ryan from down the hall making him stand up and wait to be let out. He felt like a dog waiting for its owner to come and take it out for a walk. He hated this feeling. The feeling that he was no longer a person but a possession. He dint have control over his own life anymore.

The guard came to his cell, opened the door and put the handcuffs around his wrists. As Ryan was being led down the hall he heard all the insults and cat calls being thrown at him. Some of the things being yelled would haunt him for the next few nights.

He entered the meeting area and found Sandy buried behind a pile of files.

"Sit down, Ryan," Sandy ordered. This is what it had been like for the past 11 days. Sandy ordering him around without as much as a single glance in his direction.

Ryan sat down and waited for Sandy to start questioning him.

"Okay, let's get started." For the first time Sandy looked up from the papers. He didn't even take a second glance at Ryan's black eyes and lip. It was like he didn't even care. He lifted up a stack and patted it against the table making it lie in a neat and tidy pile. "Seeing as this is the first time I've actually gotten to speak face to face with you for more then 2 minutes I still need to know who this girl was. All the other times we've been filling out paperwork. Now we can get down to the details." Sandy leaned forward and placed his chin on top of his folded hands.

"Uh, okay. Where should I start from?" Ryan was nervous. He hadn't been nervous around Sandy since the first time they had met.

"Just start from when you left my house." That hurt Ryan more then Sandy could know. Having him call it his house instead of ours. It was as if the past 3 years had simply disappeared from his memory.

"I was upset and I needed to get away for a while. I was going to go visit my brother in jail. But on the way there I noticed a person on the street. It looked sort of like someone I knew but I wasn't sure so I decided to go closer and check it out. It was Theresa. And I asked her to stop doing what she was doing and then the cops came," Ryan answered Sandy's question in a monotone voice.

"You expect me to work with that? Come on, Ryan. I need good details. Not the just an outline of the story. I already know that. I need your side of the story. And I want the truth." He sounded as if he didn't believe what Ryan had just told him.

"I am telling the truth. But maybe if you could ask the questions and have me answer them it'd be easier."

"Okay. Uh, did you know that Theresa had the drugs on her?" Ryan could detect a hint of accusation in his ex-guardian's voice.

"Of course not," Ryan replied instantly.

"Has Theresa been known to be involved in the dealing of drugs in the past?" Once again Ryan could sense the accusatory tone in Sandy's voice.

"Maybe the occasional joint or two but never anything as hard core as cocaine. Never."

Sandy nodded his head. "And what about you?"

Ryan couldn't believe it. "You're kidding me right? I thought you knew me! You had 3 fucking years to get to know me and you still treat me as if I'm some drug dealer you found off the street. Of course not! I can't believe you even had to ask that. What happened to these past 3 years? Huh? Did they mean nothing to you guys? Was I just some experiment? Cuz honestly, Sandy, right now I'm getting the impression that I didn't mean anything to you." Ryan was surprised. He didn't think he'd blow up at Sandy like that. But that last question had really gotten to him. When Sandy had said those words he had seen in his eyes that he had always believed Ryan was at one point involved in something like that.

"First of all, don't raise your voice at me in here. Yelling is not allowed here. And I would advise you not to yell at your lawyer again."

That comment brought tears to Ryan's eyes. Sandy had called himself Ryan's lawyer. Not his father. Not even his guardian. His lawyer.

This was too hard for Ryan. He couldn't handle seeing Sandy if he was going to act as if the past 3 years hadn't happened.

"I want a new lawyer." Those words made Sandy stop what he was doing and stare slack jawed at Ryan.

"Excuse me?"

"I want a new lawyer. I don't want you as my lawyer anymore." Ryan had made up his mind. Sandy was the only thing joining him to the Cohen's now. By cutting out Sandy he wouldn't have to worry about thinking about them all the time.

"Ryan, no you don't. You're just mad." Sandy's tone made Ryan want to hit him. He was acting as if Ryan was some stupid 3 year old that had just said some ludicrous idea or comment.

"You're right. I am mad. And I'm also not changing my mind about this. If you don't find me another lawyer that's fine. I'll just have one assigned to me by the state."

"You do know those lawyers aren't nearly as good, don't you?" Once again with the demeaning tone. Ryan hated it. Sandy was really starting to piss him off.

"You know what? Fuck you, Sandy. I don't need you and I don't need your family. I'm officially out of your lives. Get out of here now before you make me do something I'll regret."

Ryan knew he'd never do anything to hurt Sandy. And yeah he was pissed off and angry with him, but that wasn't the only reason he was doing this. Like he had said before, Sandy was the only thing tying him to the Cohen's family and by cutting off the last tie he'd be free to go and do what he wanted.

"I hope you reconsider this, Ryan. You know you're always going to be considered a part of my family." With this last goodbye Sandy collected his papers and walked out the door. He looked back once or twice but both times Ryan had his face down in his arms and Sandy swore he saw the boy's body heaving up and down as if he was crying.

"Sandy, honey, whets wrong?" As soon as Sandy had gotten home from the Chino Penitentiary he had gone straight into his office and not come out since.

"I screwed up Kirsten. I think I just lost Ryan. For good." When Sandy took his head out of his hands Kirsten noticed how tired he looked. He had bags under his eyes and his hair was sticking up in all sorts of directions. He was a mess.

"What happened?" She placed a hand on his forearm in a comforting gesture.

"You know how we talked about how we should focus more on the case so he could come home sooner?" Kirsten nodded. "Huge mistake. He took that as a sign that we didn't care about him anymore. I was trying to distance myself from him for awhile so I would have more focus on getting him out." Sandy sighed. "He's asked for a new lawyer. I don't think he'll want to see me again." His head was back in his hands.

"Well, try talking him out of it."

"No, you should have seen him. He was very adamant that I wouldn't be his lawyer anymore. I can't believe I was that stupid. He needed us to support him more then anything. It would have made his stay so much easier if he knew that he had people who were missing him and loved him at home."

"Don't worry, Sandy. Seth and I will go see him in the morning. We haven't been nearly enough and I'm sure Seth will be happy to visit him. But I want you to continue working on his case, okay? If Seth and I manage to talk him into letting you be his lawyer again, I don't want to be behind at all. I want him out of there soon but we can't forget that he's going to need support and love."

"Thank you, Kirsten. I just hope you can convince him that I thought I was doing the right thing."

"I'll try my very best, Sandy," she said as she started to walk towards the big oak doors.

"And Kirsten?"

She turned around.

"Tell him that I love him and we're all missing him."

I couldn't decide where to end this story. I finally settled on ending this chapter on a happier note. I hope this chapter was okay, I wrote it kind of late at night. I was tired and very thirsty. Lol. I know this chapter didn't really have a lot in it but I wanted to explain more of what the characters were feeling. I also wanted to get the Cohen's in the story more. And don't worry; Ryan's trial will be coming p in the near future. Will he be proven innocent? Or sentenced to jail time? Not even I know yet. So if you have a preference let me know. I'll keep it in mind.

Don't forget to review!