Disclaimer: I do not own The O.C. or any of its characters. Everything belongs to FOX and Josh Schwartz.
Ryan was sitting on the porch of his best friend Theresa's house. He had knocked on the door and was waiting for an answer. It was Saturday and every weekend he spent most of it at his best friend's house. They never went to his house. It was always pure chaos and Ryan liked to find any reason to get out of the house. And half the time, his mother didn't even notice he was gone. She was usually too drunk to care; it was better if he stayed out of the way.
Eventually, it was Theresa's mother who answered the door. "Hello Ryan." She greeted with a frown, which concerned Ryan. "I'm sorry, but Theresa is sick this morning." She told him, sadly. "She's not going to be able to play today."
"Can I see her?" Ryan asked. He didn't care what they did. He would even be up for coming in and getting her whatever she needed to feel better. He knew what to do from taking care of his mother.
"She's asleep right now." Her mother told him and Ryan could gather from that response that she wasn't going to let him inside. "Sorry." She added, obviously seeing the disappointment in Ryan's eyes when he took a step closer to go in.
"I could help her feel better." Ryan offered. He took care of his mother when she got her morning hangovers or when she went over her limit and spent mornings vomiting up her liquor. He knew how to take care of people and he certainly wouldn't mind taking care of his best friend. He wanted to be able to do something for her, if he could.
"I don't think she is up for visitors."
"But—" Ryan tried to insist, even though he had quickly realized that her mother didn't want him here today.
"Maybe tomorrow she will feel up to it. But for today, I think it would be best to let her rest and go home. And I wouldn't want you to catch what she has."
Ryan nodded and turned around, slowly walking away from the Diaz house. He understood why she was sending him home but only to an extent. He didn't want to go home. He would have given anything to stay. Home life has been difficult for as long as Ryan can remember but as of late, it's gotten worse. Ever since his older brother, Trey, got arrested and sent to juvie. Trey used to protect him from his mother and her boyfriend of-the-day when they had their rage fits. But now he was on his own and there wasn't much he could do to protect himself; Ryan was only seven years old. He tried to stay out of the way but somehow, they always found a reason to get angry at him.
Ryan dragged his feet up the path to his house and he went inside. He tried to be quiet, but then stopped in his tracks. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed his mother pouring herself a glass of whiskey.
"Where the hell were you?" Dawn asked as she then lit a cigarette and took a puff.
"I went to see if Theresa wanted to play." He admitted, honestly.
"I guess she didn't want to." Dawn chuckled slightly.
"She's sick." Ryan informed, but regretted it instantly as Dawn's face hardened.
"Goddamn it!" Dawn cussed before downing her glass of whiskey with one swallow. "Just great! And now you're going to be spreading the germs." She complained. "Now I'm probably going to get sick and be out of work for a few days."
You call out once a week anyways. Ryan thought, but didn't voice. "Her mom didn't let me in." He said, hoping that put the thought out of her head. "She didn't want me to catch it." He added.
"Well her mom was around her so she could have given it to you." Dawn responded as she took the bottle and poured herself more whiskey, finishing off the bottle.
Ryan sighed; she had a point. But he knew it was very unlikely. "I'm not gonna get sick." Ryan insisted.
"You think you're so smart!?" Dawn started to yell which caused Ryan to flinch. "You better hope you're right." She took a puff of her cigarette. "Last thing I need is for you to get me sick." Ryan nodded before going over to the cupboard to get some breakfast. There was some cereal left in the box, barely enough for a bowl. He poured it in the bowl so he could eat it. Ryan would prefer it with milk but they didn't have any that wasn't spoiled. As he went to grab the bowl off the counter, it pushed against a glass, knocking it off the counter and onto the floor where it shattered.
Ryan blanched. He stared at the shards on the ground.
"What the hell!?" Dawn's current boyfriend, A.J., cussed, getting off from the couch and walking over.
"Look what you've done now!" Dawn yelled as she then took a step forward, stumbling slightly and her foot stepped on one of the glass shards. She screamed and then slapped Ryan across the face, blaming him. "Look what you made me do!" She screamed as tears escaped her eyes, making her old eyeshadow from yesterday run.
"I'm sorry." Ryan whimpered. He put his hand against his cheek as the skin turned red and began throbbing. "I didn't…" Ryan wasn't able to finish that statement as A.J. grabbed him by his hair and started dragging him across the carpet to his bedroom, which caused rug burns up his ribcage. A.J. threw him on the room and then gave him a kick into his stomach before slamming the door shut.
Ryan curled up into a ball as the pain lingered. He laid there on the floor until the pain started to subside. Eventually, he attempted to crawl over to his mattress, but only made it a few inches before the pain became too intense. He squeezed his eyes for a moment. He couldn't fight off all the tears as they started to silently pour from his eyes. He wouldn't dare make a sound. Ryan knew that if his mother or A.J. heard him; that could only make things worse. He could hear them out in the living room. He couldn't make out what they said, but he knew they were angry. Ryan also knew the pain he was in now was nothing compared to what he would get.
Eventually, Ryan passed out on the floor. He woke up, his eyes shooting open when his door flew open, causing a loud bang as it hit the wall. His mother went over to him, pulling him by the shoulder. "Get up!" She screamed as she pulled him towards the kitchen.
"Mom…" Ryan whimpered in pain. His shoulder had been dislocated once before. Her pulling on it was only aggravating the old injury.
"What kind of kid did I get stuck with?" She shook her head, angrily. "Huh you tell me!" Ryan flinched in response. "Look at what you did to me!" She held up her foot with a towel wrapped around it, drops of dried blood on it. Ryan glanced away with eyes, not wanting to look at it. "And you're in there sleeping while we had to clean up your mess!"
"I didn't…" Ryan didn't mean to do that. He would not have wanted to do that. Ryan never would have done anything to hurt her; A.J. did that enough to the two of them.
"Seriously!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, "What kind of kid did I get stuck with? What kind of family do I got!" Ryan could not answer and he was afraid to. He trembled, attempting to shuffle away, but Dawn noticed and grabbed him by the shirt.
"Mama, please…" Ryan pleaded. He felt scared. He squeezed his eyes tight, preparing himself for the beating. But then Dawn dropped him.
"Out."
Ryan opened his eyes, feeling confused.
"I said I want you out!" Dawn paraphrased, speaking a little louder this time. "I just can't!"
"But…" Ryan tried to argue, but he really didn't understand. Is she really kicking me out? "But mom..." He didn't know what to do.
"You heard her, twerp." He looked over and saw A.J. getting a beer from the fridge. "She doesn't want you here no more."
"But mom…I love you." Ryan's voice broke. He got up and attempted to go over to her. Usually those words were enough to appeal to Dawn; but not tonight.
"Did you not hear me?!" She responded without any sympathy in her voice. "I want you out! You break everything you touch! Just get out!"
"If you're not outta here in the next minute..." A.J. put his beer down on the counter and approached.
Ryan ran back towards his room to grab his things, almost running into the wall as his eyes filled with tears causing his vision to be blurry. Ryan grabbed his small backpack and shoved a few things into it. As he headed back out, he looked to his mother, hoping she would change her mind. But she couldn't even bring herself to look at him as he was then forced out the door.
Ryan heard the door lock after it was shut in his face. He stood there frozen for a moment but then he took his bike, which was sitting on the lawn and then he rode it down the street until he got to a bus stop. He reached into his pocket, pulling out one quarter as he walked over to the payphone. He only had enough to make one call. And then realization hit him. Who could I call? Ryan didn't have anyone he could call. His father left town a year ago, his older brother was in jail, and his mother didn't care. Theresa was his best friend. Her family liked him but he knew they wouldn't have the room for him; he didn't have anywhere to go. This was the moment he realized how utterly alone he was.
This summer night in California was a chilly one. The wind went through the holes of his hoodie and he looked up at the cloudy sky as it began to rain. Ryan put the quarter into the phone and then dialed three numbers; his only option if he wanted to stay dry.
"911, how can I help you?"
"My mother kicked me out. Can you help me?" Ryan said attempting to fight back tears. His bit his lip as the man on the phone spoke to him, reassuring him that someone would be out to help him.
Ryan sat on the bench to wait. He held his backpack tightly to his chest. Through the gap in zipper, he could see the picture of his once whole family. He remembered how it had never been perfect in the slightest, but at the moment, he would have given anything for them to be together. At least then, he wouldn't be all alone. As the flashing red and blue lights approached with their loud sirens is when Ryan finally allowed himself to cry.
"What's your name?" One officer asked.
"R-R-Ryan." He stuttered as the tears kept pouring.
"Can you tell me what happened?" He asked, crouching down in front of him.
Ryan did not look at the officer. He hiccupped through the tears, trembling as he thought about how to explain himself and what just happened. He was still trying to make sense of it.
"It's going to be okay." The officer attempted to offer some comfort. He hoped that would be enough to convince Ryan to talk to him.
Ryan eventually explained but he didn't see how it could be okay. His mother had just kicked him out and he had nowhere to go. He knew what likely would happen next. They would call child services and he would get put into the system and get put in a group home. Ryan could remember Trey always warning him that home was always better than being in foster care. But he never understood how anything could be worse than his broken home.
A/N: Ryan and Seth will be young in this, between seven and eight. Also keep in mind this is an AU so I changed a few things. For one, Frank is not in jail but Trey is. But Ryan still got kicked out, but in a different matter for his age. In this story, young Ryan is portrayed by Liam Hughes and young Seth is portrayed by Raphael Alejandro.
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