Thanks to Loracj for the beta!

Chapter Two

Kirsten Cohen floored the gas of the Rover up the driveway. It was a good thing that no one was standing in her way, as she had taken her aggression out on the car all the way home.

The discussion she'd had with her father via overseas conference call had been a disaster. But then again, when did any conversation with her father go well?She shouldn't have expected any less since her dad's snooping secretary Shirley had seen fit to inform him of the Cohen family's unorthodox new addition.

Turning the car off, she lay her head back against the headrest wearily, hoping to collect herself before entering the house. She'd have to face not only Ryan, but Sandy as well, with all his self-righteousness at the ready. Since her talk with him the previous evening, she'd made a conscious effort to put her fears behind her, to keep busy, in the hope that she could ride out the storm and eventually reach a point where Ryan wasn't someone she felt threatened the equilibrium of her family.

And despite what Sandy might think, she did want that, honestly she did. In some ways she agreed with Sandy. It WAS good to see Seth so happy. He was less isolated, laughing even, and not in a sarcastic way. It felt good to do something for Ryan, too. She hadn't forgotten the look on his face as his mother's cab drove away. She wasn't heartless. So when she worried about his influence over Seth, she reminded herself of that look and how, despite the difference in his background, in many ways he was just as vulnerable. If she could just keep reminding herself of these facts, then she could do this. She knew she could. An all-pervading desire for a glass of chardonnay shook her out of her musings. Maybe a quiet evening on the couch with a good bottle of wine and her favorite new author would be enough to restore her.

She stepped out of the car, grabbing her purse as she did so, and slammed the door, pressing the alarm casually. The orange lights flashed predictably, on and off, and the car let out its signature beep. She walked up the driveway, the click of her Prada heels echoing reassuringly beneath her.

"Kirsten!"

Jimmy's voice traveled clearly in the night air. He stood at the bottom of the driveway, his face illuminated by the streetlight, Dustin straining at his leash.

Smiling, she turned back swiftly, heading down towards him. She kissed him lightly on the cheek and leaned down to pat Dustin's head.

"Hey Jimmy, how are you? I hear you and my husband had an interesting night while we were away…"

He grinned.

"We drank beer! I can't remember the last time I hung out with another guy and just drank beer. I'd forgotten how good it tastes."

She laughed, agreeing. Hadn't she had just the same conversation with Sandy about the beer?

"So…is he going to be able to help you?" she asked tentatively.

Sandy had given her a brief rundown of their evening, and he hadn't been very complimentary about the situation that Jimmy had managed to get his family involved in. Neighbor and best friend aside, idiot and foolish were both words that had been bandied about. She wondered if Sandy had shared those words with Jimmy. She thought probably not.

"He's given me some pointers. Things I can do. Things I can't." Jimmy shrugged. "I'm so grateful to him. He's about the only person still talking to me in Newport."

"Oh, come on, I'm still talking to you!" Kirsten protested, "and what about Julie?"

Jimmy shifted his body weight from one foot to the other and made a face she knew well. She could always read him; dating in high school had made that inevitable, even now.

"I'm not sure we're gonna make it, you know?" he said suddenly.

Kirsten shook her head.

"She's upset. She'll come around. Julie's made of strong stuff. Give her some credit."

"Yeah, I know she's tough. I'm just not sure she'll want to use her energies to support me."

"But what about the kids? Marissa? Kaitlin? She'll want to do what's best for them, right?"

Jimmy smiled ruefully.

"Maybe she doesn't think being around me is the right thing."

She didn't know how to answer that. Julie hadn't appeared at all the supportive wife at their spa weekend, and deep down, Kirsten had a horrible feeling that Jimmy could be right. She hoped not, for Jimmy's sake. Despite his failings, she still cared for him, and would hate to see his family, who she knew he loved deeply, disintegrate around him.

"So, this kid, Ryan? He's invited Marissa to your place tonight."

"Really? That's great."

Jimmy raised his eyebrows doubtfully.

"I know you said he was one of Sandy's clients…"

She nodded, not sure how much of Ryan's story she should reveal.

"He is.Was. He still is, I guess. It's just, he's also living with us now. Permanently."

Jimmy didn't miss the edge in his neighbor's voice.

"Permanently?"

Kirsten nodded, her arms folded, absorbing the surprise in Jimmy's face and his questioning look; a look which asked 'Really? And how do you feel about that?'.

"So, from a dad's point of view, you know, without being overprotective…"

Jimmy didn't need to finish his sentence. Kirsten put her hand up.

"Oh, no, I'm sure she'll be fine."

"And you know this because…"

Kirsten looked apologetic.

"OK, I don't know. I think she'll be fine. Ryan seems like a good kid; at least Sandy seems to think so. He thinks he's just been led astray by his brother, had a tough time with his family. But if you want, I'll keep an eye out tonight. We'll be home anyway."

Jimmy nodded.

"Well, Marissa has a lot of freedom, but I trust her. And like you say, you'll be there."

"I'll watch out for her," Kirsten promised.

Silence hovered briefly between them and the moment felt suddenly awkward.

There and then, Kirsten felt like she could have spilled all of her feelings here on the driveway to one of her oldest friends. She wouldn't, of course. She had too much loyalty to Sandy to do such a thing, and he would never forgive her for turning to Jimmy, of all people. So she unfolded her arms and began searching for her keys in her purse, telling Jimmy that she had to go and see if her family had planned anything for dinner.

Jimmy took his cue and nodded to the dog, now sitting patiently at his feet.

"And I'd better walk Dustin before I run out of time. Julie and I are taking Kaitlin to her grandma for the night so that we can "talk"…"

Kirsten gave him a pitying look and hugged him briefly, wishing him luck before turning and clicking her heels back up the driveway.

Ryan arrived home shortly after Kirsten, and leaned his bike against the outside wall of the pool house. He glanced across to the lighted kitchen, where he could see Sandy and Kirsten. No sign of Seth.

He hoped Seth had taken his advice and was holed up in his room and hadn't gone to that Newport Beach party. He had stopped at the Crab Shack again today to make arrangements with Donnie and clearly hadn't been affected by Ryan's best steely warning glare across the counter. Ryan enjoyed talking to Donnie at work. He had a good time hanging out with him the night before at a place that felt more like his old neighborhood. That didn't mean, however, that he was happy about Seth hanging out with this kid. Seth just didn't know how to spot trouble before it actually blew up, and who knew what trouble he could land himself in if he arrived at Holly's with Donnie in tow. Ryan thought Seth would have learned his lesson after that first party they'd gone to, after that fashion show. Newport kids didn't welcome strangers to their social gatherings, especially ones who were usually clearing their plates and refilling their drinks.

Having locked up his bike (he would never get used to the fact that it would be most unlikely to get stolen here in this gated community), he threw his jacket down onto the bed and deliberated braving the kitchen. He had checked with Sandy about having Marissa over, and he'd been cool with it. But now that Kirsten was home, he felt he needed to run it by her too, just in case Sandy hadn't bothered to mention it. They'd both made it clear that he should feel that this was his home, and be able to invite friends over, but being told and actually doing it were two different things. He didn't want to seem like he was taking advantage, but he didn't want to blow Marissa off again either. It would have been a whole lot easier if Seth hadn't dragged him out the other night when he was supposed to spend time at her house. He debated his chances of slipping through the side door unnoticed to first get some moral support from Seth, but decided against it. He doubted he could pull it off without the Cohens spotting him, and besides, Seth may have already gone to that party.

"I just think you should maybe talk to him, that's all…."

As soon as Ryan set foot through the door,Sandy and Kirsten's conversation stopped dead. Sandy greeted him with a smile that should only be used upon the return of a long lost friend.

"Ryan! Hey kid, how did your day go? I hope the spoiled Newpsie offspring didn't work you too hard…"

Kirsten looked up from opening some foil packages on the counter top, her face pinched, betraying an anxiety Ryan was becoming accustomed to seeing.

"Ryan, Seth's gone out to some party. He said you weren't going with him, so I picked up take out for the three of us. Unless you've already eaten…."

"Uh…."

Ryan glanced at the food nervously. Fuck. He should have told Kirsten that he'd been planning to make grilled cheese for Marissa. Fortunately Sandy, sensing Ryan's discomfort, stepped into the breach and slapped his head ostentatiously with the palm of his hand.

"You know what, honey? I completely forgot to tell you. Ryan's having Marissa over tonight. I'm so stupid. But I'm starving. I'll eat my portion and Ryan's and probably some of yours too."

Kirsten shook her head tightly.

"That's fine. Seth's bound to come home later hungry anyway."

She looked over at Ryan's anxious face.

"And I saw Jimmy earlier. He mentioned you were having Marissa over. That's really nice. She could do with a friend right now."

"Are you sure? I could eat now and just make her a snack later…" Ryan chewed his lip, unsure of what to do.

"Nonsense. You go ahead with your plans. I should have realized when Jimmy mentioned it and asked you first. It's my fault."

Sandy slapped him on the back.

"Go on. Go get ready for your date. We'll eat and then get out of your way. I'm going to try and get some more practice in killing ninjas without Seth knowing and Kirsten's got some paperwork to do, right honey?"

Kirsten nodded and smiled briefly. Ryan looked doubtfully between them.

"It's not really a date, it's just…I mean, are you sure it's OK? We could go out somewhere.."

Sandy laughed.

"Don't be silly. We want you to treat this like your home. This IS your home," he added pointedly.

"Uh, OK then, I'll be in the pool house if Marissa comes to the front door."

"Don't worry. We'll point her in the right direction."

Kirsten waited until she was sure that Ryan was back in the pool house before turning to her husband.

"Do you thinkit's a good idea for Ryan and Marissa to date?"

"I don't know what you mean, honey."

"Well, we don't know much about Ryan and any…relationships he may have had."

Sandy shrugged.

"No, but you can say that about any kid we don't know. Just because he doesn't come from Newport and you haven't known him since he was a toddler, doesn't mean he presents some kind of danger."

Kirsten cradled her glass of wine in her hand.

"No, it's just, she's Jimmy's daughter, and she's vulnerable right now. I just don't want her to get hurt. Don't you think you should at least talk to him about what we expect?"

Sandy reached over and stroked her hand affectionately.

"We invited this boy into our home. We have to let him live some kind of life here. He's got to be allowed to spend time with who he chooses if this is ever going to work."

"I know. It's just…" Kirsten sighed irritably. She didn't really know what she thought any more. Her conversations with her father and Jimmy crowded into her brain. They jostled for position with visions of what Seth might be doing at the party that she hadn't known about till Sandy had announced it glibly when she'd arrived home.

"Listen, he's going to be right under our nose tonight at least. Let's just take one day at a time, and if we feel we need to talk to him about girls, or curfews, or whatever, then we will. But let's not scare him off, huh? He's not asking to do anything that a normal teenager wouldn't do."

"I guess not. And he did say it wasn't really a date…"

Sandy snorted at that.

"What?" Kirsten looked affronted.

"You believed that? Come on, sweetheart. We're talking about the girl next door, remember. 5'10, stunning hair, hot body. And did I mention the hot? No, he's not on a date, they're just friends!" Sandy chuckled to himself as he helped himself to more Pad Thai.

To be honest, Ryan was having second thoughts about his date with Marissa. The date that wasn't a date. At least, it WAS a date to Marissa, and a non-date to Sandy and Kirsten. And to him? Well, he wasn't quite sure at this point. If he had asked himself the same question two days ago, then he would definitely have called it a date, but things had changed since then. Now he wasn't sure he wanted it to be.

After all, there had been the whole car being trashed thing, and even if Seth had conveniently forgotten it, he hadn't, and he was pretty sure Kirsten hadn't either. If he'd been her, he knew he'd blame the stranger in their midst. It was clear from how she'd reacted the morning after Holly's beach house party, when Seth had been so obviously hung over, that she wasn't used to such behavior from her kid, and the glare that Ryan had received was unmistakably a blaming one.Suggesting to Seth that he should maybe tell his parents what really happened to the car had brought a torrent of pleading from the dark haired boy, punctuated by a tirade of how his new life would be over if his mother even got a whiff of them having been at a party in Long Beach. Long Beach WAS apparently Chechnya as far as Kirsten was concerned.

Ryan knew that this had absolutely nothing to do with the girl next door, but hewondered how long this arrangement of living with the Cohens was likely to last if Seth insisted on "living his teenage years to the fullest" as he had told Ryan more than once in the last few days. It may be only a car now, but Ryan was willing to bet that if anything happened in the future and even one hair on Seth's head was hurt, then he, Ryan, would somehow be deemed responsible and then the axe would fall, big time. And if that happened, then he couldn't afford to be emotionally attached to the girl next door, no matter how hot she was. And she was hot. There was no getting away from the fact. Hot and emotionally vulnerable. Just the very sort of person he needed to avoid getting entangled with, for her sake as well as his.

Ryan pulled his shirt over his wife beater and glanced in his mirror as he straightened his hair, still damp from the shower. He couldn't disappoint her by blowing her off a second time, but he could do his darnedest to keep some distance between them. Slightly reassured by his decision, he headed out to the grill.

London, England

Caleb Nichol lay stretched out in the bed, his body motionless, but his mind buzzing. Gabrielle slept peacefully beside him, her bronzed shoulder peaking tantalizingly out from the bed cover; her blonde hair tumbled around her face. Trying to distract himself, Caleb cast a long glance around the hotel room. He liked it. High quality furnishings, complimentary fruit and designer water, a gleaming white iMac in the corner, top of the range toiletries. For a hotel room, it was pretty near perfect. And Caleb was a man that liked perfection. The perfect house, the perfect car, the perfect woman on his arm, the perfect family, looked up to by all of Newport. But Caleb Nichol's idea of perfection did not include a fifteen-year-old juvenile delinquent living in a house he had paid for; nor did it include said juvenile delinquent sponging off a daughter and son-in-law he kept from living their own lives on the breadline.

tbc

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E.T.A Thanks to gg anon for the heads up on chapter one - I wondered what you meant about the abrupt scene changes and then realised I'd left out the dividing lines. So many thanks for that!