Chapter 10

A week had passed since that night on the beach and Ryan hadn't spoken to Marissa since then. It was not like he was ignoring her or anything, he'd just been thinking about everything he had told her…and she had just started school again.

Since Ryan was taking some time off school to be here, his grandmother had talked to Kirsten and they had decided that he would be going to her once a day from Monday to Friday. His sessions hadn't started all that well but she hadn't pushed him. She had just asked him what his favorite movies were and had told her some of her own favorites. Just simple things like that. And the next day he still wasn't ready to talk about it again so they had again just talked about more simple things. She told him she had a son his age too. His appointments had all gone like that and today, Friday, he thought he was finally ready to talk about something a little more personal.

Mrs. Cohen had never pressured him into talking about it… She thought that that wouldn't help and that he'd talk when he was ready. She wanted to earn his trust first.

His grandmother had asked him to go to Harbor but Ryan told her it would be too much trouble 'cause he wouldn't be staying there for that long so she had suggested he'd get a job. He didn't do anything in the day except go to his therapy sessions and his occasional walks so he could just as get a job.

He had applied in a few places but had gotten turned down on the spot in them all. Some were nice enough to say that they were looking for someone more experienced while other just turned him down because he didn't have a clean slate. But he was going to try a few more places after his therapy session that day.

He had just finished therapy for the week. That session had went really well. He hadn't rally talked about his main issue yet though but he had talked about his brother and mother along with a little details on Theresa and his father.

Kirsten though he had gotten quite far. There were some who hadn't brought up their main issue until after weeks but maybe they just didn't want to be helped. But Ryan did.

He walked out of her room and walked by the waiting area, not even looking at the people who were waiting there.

"Ryan!" He heard being called. He stopped and looked around himself when he saw Marissa.

"Oh.. hey Marissa" He said, stepping a little closer to her. "How are you?" He asked her, trying to be friendly.

"Me? I'm great. But how are you?" She asked him back. "I haven't heard from you in a week…"

"Yeah I'm fine" He said. "I've just been thinking and stuff" He added, shrugging his shoulders.

"Oh…okay" She said. "Look, I'm sorry about my mother…If I'd known I'd… well I'm sorry"

He smiled at her. "It's okay" He assured her. "And I'm sorry for how I reacted" He said.

"Are you sorry?!" She asked. "If it'd been me I would've done the same thing" She said, smiling back at him.

He smiled softly and nodded his head.

With that the doors to Kirsten's room opened. "Marissa, you can come in now" She called out to Marissa.

She looked at Ryan. "Looks like I'm next" She said as she stood up. "Do you want to maybe meet up after my appointment?" She asked him.

"Sure" He said.

"Okay, great" She said, smiling back. She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I'll be at your place in like an hour" She said as she turned around and walked into the room.

An hour and 9 minutes later, to be exact, Marissa arrived at his grandmother's house. She got out of her car, walked up the driveway and knocked softly on the door. A few seconds later the door were opened by Ryan. She smiled at him. "Hey!" She said, happy to see him.

"Hey" He said, shooting her a half-smile. He grabbed his jacket and told his grandmother he was going out and walked out the door.

They walked to her car and got in. She turned to him. "So, where'd you want to go?" She asked. "Or what do you want to do?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I kind of need to get a job… so if you know some place that need people and are willing to hire someone like me…" He said, turning back to her. "that'd be great"

She smiled at him. "I know one place…but I don't know if you'd be interested in it." She said. "What are you looking for?"

"Anything really" He said. "What is it that you have in mind?" He asked.

"The diner" She told him. "I know that they're hiring and the manager is pretty nice so he'll probably give it to you"

"Don't you work at the diner?" He asked.

"Yeah…like every other weekend or so" She said. "But if you don't want to work there because I do that's okay"

"No… yeah I'd like to try" He said as he smiled at her. "Thanks"

She smiled back at him. "You're welcome" She said as she started her car and drove off to the diner.