Chapter 5

(Two weeks later..)

Sandy watched Ryan from the balcony of their room. The light was off as Kirsten was already sleeping so there was no way Ryan would see him. It was midnight but the sky was clear and the boy was easily visible. Sandy had stood at this window, in this position, every night for a week. The first time had been an accident. He'd been drawing the drapes and just happened to notice the solitary figure sitting on the ground, his back resting against the pool house glass. He'd watched as Ryan had taken a drag of the cigarette that lay between his fingers. Sandy supposed he'd been naïve to expect the boy to quit, just like that, but that first night he'd been unsettled by it. He couldn't really put his finger on why but as each night came and went, and each night saw this kid take out one single cigarette and smoke it, silent and staring out across the pool, he became more and more uncomfortable. The boy he saw, late at night, was not the same boy who appeared every morning at breakfast, slightly awkward and quiet but eager to please and seemingly beginning to settle in to their family life. Sandy was kept awake at night wondering what the hell was going on in this kid's head.

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In the morning, when Ryan and Seth appeared in the kitchen simultaneously from opposite directions (Sandy wondered if Ryan had some secret method of determining the precise moment Seth would appear),Sandy attempted to engage Ryan in conversation.

"So, what are you kids up to today? The summer's going to be over before you know it. Make sure you use your free time wisely."

Seth appeared not to notice that his father's question was directed more at Ryan than himself.

"We're just going to hang around here today Dad, we have everything we need - the pool, the PS2, snacks…"

Sandy frowned, his face betraying both his irritation at Seth's interruption and with what he had to say .

"What, not go out at all? What about the beach? The surf?"

Seth raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, cause we all know how I love to surf, Dad."

Sandy shook his head.

"You could think about Ryan occasionally. Maybe he doesn't want to spend endless hours in front of the screen? Maybe he'd like to hang out in the sun, with some other kids…Marissa…"

Ryan, until now the silent bystander, leapt in suddenly.

"No, honestly, it's fine. It's cool. Hanging here is great. And Seth has a new game we have to try, right Seth?"

Seth tagged in. "The ninjas are calling us, Dad.."

Sandy shrugged. For the last couple of months he'd watched the relationship between these two boys strengthen and deepen with a mixture of excitement and pride, only for it to suddenly work against him and his better judgment.

"Well, if you'd rather spend your day fighting ninjas than eyeing up the hotties on the beach…"

Seth covered his eyes as if mortally wounded.

"Dad, don't say "hottie". Besides, just think of all the money I'm saving for college by being a shut in."

Kirsten came in at that point, breezing past Sandy and leaving a trail of her distinctive perfume lingering around him. As she helped herself to coffee she looked over her shoulder and gave her son a withering look.

"Because it'll be you, of course, who'll pay for college…"

Seth grinned. "Well, you pay the fees and I'll buy the snacks."

Kirsten shook her head in defeat and made in the direction of the refrigerator.

Sandy passed a schmeared bagel to Ryan who accepted it wordlessly, and focused his attention back onto his son.

"Don't you think all this talk of college is kind of hypothetical? First you need to get the grades, and that means two more years buckling down at school."

Seth groaned.

"It's August. The word school should be banned from the vocabulary for the whole month."

Sandy ignored this and turned to Kirsten.

"That reminds me, Kirsten, we need to get in touch with Dr Kim, find out if we can get Ryan into Harbor. School starts in under four weeks. If there are no vacancies we'll have to investigate other possibilities for him."

Ryan, his mouth full of bagel, and Seth, his mouth full of nothing but hot air, both made to speak at once, Ryan to protest at the possibility of attending Harbor, Seth to protest at the possibility of Ryan not attending Harbor. Both were cut off by Kirsten who had turned to Sandy, coffee in hand, and said shortly,

"I think that's something we need to discuss later, don't you, Sandy? Privately?" she added pointedly.

Sandy looked blankly at her, perplexed.

"Well, Ryan's got to go somewhere. He can't just drop out."

Stating the obvious was clearly something his wife did not appreciate, nor wish to pursue.

She gave her husband a "this subject is closed for now" look.

"As I said, maybe we can discuss this over lunch? Say 12.30 at my office?"

Seth waited until his mother had disappeared before sending an apologetic look over to Ryan, who was wishing, not for the first time, that he hadn't drawn Sandy Cohen as his PD.

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Sandy flung two paper bags down onto his wife's desk. The overstuffed sandwiches fell out and crumbles of cheese tumbled onto the glossy brown desktop.

"Did you have to do that?"

"Do what?" Kirsten knew exactly what Sandy was referring to but felt it prudent to pretend otherwise.

"Make the kid feel even more uncomfortable than he already does!"

Kirsten shifted backwards defensively.

"I'm sorry. It's just that you took me unawares. I wish you'd discuss issues about Ryan privately, when we're alone."

"Yeah, because we have so much alone time." The bitterness in his voice was a kick in the stomach to his wife. She didn't want to fight with him. Not again. She wished she could replay the whole kitchen scene from this morning and do it differently. She wished Sandy hadn't brought up the subject until they were alone. She wished, if she was absolutely honest, that this wasn't a subject that needed to be dealt with.

Sandy leant forward.

"So what was this morning all about?"

Sandy Cohen may love to talk but his wife knew that this was one occasion when he was going to wait for her to give some answers.

She pulled one of the paper packages towards her and peaked inside.

"Thanks, my favorite," she murmured.

Sandy didn't even blink. His eyes remained fixed on her, guilting her into flushing under the scrutiny.

"I'm sorry. Dammit, I seem to be saying sorry all the time lately." She ran her fingers across her forehead and through the streaks of her hair.

And still he waited.

"I guess it's all becoming so..so…." she finished lamely.

"Permanent?"

Kirsten shrugged her shoulders helplessly.

"Yes. And that whole school issue just brought it home in a way that I just hadn't appreciated before."

"But we made it clear to him that this would be a permanent arrangement. Have you forgotten that discussion we had, when he asked what if something went wrong?"

Kirsten nodded and interrupted.

"Yes, and we implied that he'd done as bad as he could do. That nothing could be worse. And at the time I believed that, I really did. Only now.."

"Now you're not so sure."

For the first time in a while Sandy Cohen wanted to hug his wife, stroke her head and murmur into her hair that he understood, that he got why she was worried.

"I get that, I do, and I'm sorry too. We should discuss things like that in private, you're right. It's just that I really want to help Ryan. A school like Harbor could do wonders for a bright kid like that."

Kirsten nodded.

"I know, I know. I guess in my heart of hearts I somehow assumed we'd never get this far."

Sandy knew what she meant. When he looked back over the last few weeks he was as surprised as she was that Ryan was still with them, that he hadn't left of his own volition or that Social Services hadn't decided that he really should return to his mother.

"I'm worried about him."

The change of tack caught Kirsten off guard.

"In what way? He's getting on well with Seth. He seems happy around the house."

Her face was troubled and Sandy couldn't help but relax inside. She may not realize it herself but she'd just shown to him that despite what she said, and what she might honestly believe herself, she did care about this boy and his welfare. He decided to push home the advantage while he had it.

"That's just it. He's always around the house. Haven't you noticed he hasn't been going out? Neither of the kids have. Day in, day out they're in front of that infernal machine."

"Isn't that what Seth's always done? I mean, Seth's never been big on socializing."

Sandy frowned. "I thought after Ryan arrived things were changing a little. They went to those parties, Ryan was spending time with Marissa Cooper…and now nothing."

Sandy was becoming positively animated now, eager to get Kirsten on board, for her to see and sense what he did.

"And didn't you think it was weird the other night how he suddenly announced he was quitting the Crab Shack? I know he felt responsible for the shooting and all but I had a long talk with him about that and told him he couldn't blame himself."

Kirsten took a bite of her neglected sandwich, the tension between them both having dissipated.

"That was strange. He'd been so insistent about paying his way a little. Not that I mind. You know me, Sandy, I like Seth to be home, safe, under our roof, and when Ryan was out working Seth seemed to spend his time aimlessly down at the pier waiting for him to finish, like some long lost sheep. That's how he ended up being at that wretched party in the first place…."

She stopped as she saw her husband's eyebrows raise.

"I guess that's one of the reasons Ryan felt responsible," she sighed.

She rubbed at the bridge of her nose tiredly. "I need to talk to him, apologize for this morning. When I do, I'll ask him if he's staying home to stay out of trouble."

"I can do that if you want…"

"No, I need to. He's trying to appease me, not you. I'm the one making him feel like he doesn't have a right to a life here in Newport."

"And school?"

"I'll call Dr Kim first thing this afternoon."

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"So do you think the hoody suits me?" Seth stood before the mirror in the pool house angling his body this way and that.

Ryan raised his head from the comic book Seth had insisted he read by dinnertime.

"I think you should stick to those sweaters you like."

"Too scrawny?"

"You said it, not me."

"What if I started working out? We could lift weights together."

"Just so you'd look good in a hoody?"

"Summer may prefer it."

"If Summer needs you to beef up before she'll speak to you then she's not worth it anyway."

"Yeah, wise advice, but, uh, not actually helpful. Did I not tell you that I've loved her from afar since the second grade?"

"Several times."

Seth joined Ryan on the bed, his hands dug deep into the pockets of the hoody.

"I think I'll ask Dad if we can turn the garage into a gym. Hey, has this thing been washed since you arrived? The pockets are full of crap…"

Ryan threw the comic aside.

"Just leave my stuff, Seth. Yes it's been washed, and yes, the pockets are full of…"

"Gum wrappers….an old key….a really old condom - I have one of those…"

Ryan snatched futilely at Seth's lap, trying to retrieve his jacket.

"Oh, cool. A Zippo. My dad has like a collection of these. I think once he thought I might turn into a pyromaniac cos I kept sneaking into his office to test them out. He'd come home to a waste paper basket full of half burnt business cards. Until he emptied the gas out of them all, that is."

Seth flicked at the dial and the lighter roared into action, the small flame burning bold and upright against the silver of the canister. His thumb ran over the blue and gold emblem embossed on the side.

"Airborne? Is this some military symbol?"

Ryan blew at the flame and grabbed the Zippo from his hand. The fumes from the fuel lingered a moment in the air.

"I don't know. My brother gave it to me. I think he found it in a bar someplace."

Seth shrugged, his interest waning. "Cool. Now, what shall we do tomorrow? I have a sneaky feeling my dad is on to us, with the whole not going anywhere or doing anything plan. We need a new plan."

"No new plan. At least not involving both of us." Ryan added thoughtfully.

Seth threw down the canister, suddenly serious.

"You're not going to take off are you? If you're still concerned about what my mom said this morning, forget it."

"I don't know, Seth, she's worried."

"I don't know what she's got to be worried about."

"Come on. She's taken a complete stranger into her home, who then got her car trashed and introduced her to a gun wielding maniac!"

"That was my fault."

Ryan raised his eyebrows pointedly.

"And you're saying if you'd never met me, you'd have hooked up with Donny and taken him to a Newport Beach party, huh?"

"If I'd never met you I may well have taken off myself and thenmy mom would really have something to worry about."

Seth's shoulders slumped, his body defeated. Ryan barely caught the rest of his words.

"Don't leave. Please."

Ryan looked across at the misery on his friend's face. He'd never have thought two months ago that he'd feel sorry for a kid from a beach side gated community.

"I won't leave," he promised, "at least, not now. But we stick to the plan, OK?"

Seth sprang up, relieved.

"Really? OK. I promise, from now on, no veering from the plan and no suggestion of veering from the plan."

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Kirsten braced herself before knocking tentatively on the pool house door. She could see Ryan inside, laying on the bed, one of Seth's summer reading books in his hand. She allowed herself to smile just a little at the irony. Seth had to be nagged from day one of summer break to get his summer reading done and here was this boy picking up a book voluntarily. Maybe Sandy was right and Harbor could be a really good fit for Ryan. Once they'd got through the earlier awkward part of lunch they had moved on to discussing schools, despite the unease Kirsten still felt. Sandy was adamant that they try and get Ryan into Harbor and Kirsten could see that on a practical level it would be easier to have both boys at the same school. She was slightly concerned at her father's reaction however. Taking Ryan in was one thing, spending thousands of dollars on his schooling was another. He was bound to make several caustic comments aimed not just at Ryan, but herself and her choice of husband.

"Come in."

Kirsten turned the handle of the glass door and smiled over at Ryan who had sat up smartly as soon as he had seen who it was.

"Good?"

"Uh.."

"The book?" Kirsten gestured to the copy of "Invisible Man" now lying at his side.

"Oh, yeah, pretty good. I borrowed it from Seth. I hope that's OK?"

Kirsten frowned momentarily. This boy really did walk on egg shells when she was around and she felt even worse than she did already.

"Of course," she answered, "Anyway, if you go to Harbor you'll need to have read it anyway."

"Yeah, about that.."

Kirsten put up her hand to stop Ryan continuing.

"I'm sorry about this morning," she began. "Sandy caught me unawares and honestly, I hadn't quite got as far as thinking about schools in my head."

She hoped Ryan would accept this explanation without her having to elaborate. Seeing his face now she knew, as she had deep down all day, that he knew exactly why that was. Still, he made it easier on both of them and just nodded in that guarded, reticent way he had.

"Anyway," she continued, "I've made us an appointment with Dr Kim, the Principal. She's agreed to interview you a week before school starts and if that goes well and you pass the placement tests then there'll be a place for you. It seems we're lucky. There's just one place spot left in the class."

"And if things don't go well?"

"Sandy's confident," Kirsten responded, and then added "As am I."

"I'm guessing it's a lot of money. Can't I just go to the public school?"

"Well, yes, you could, but for one thing Seth would never let us hear the end of it and much more importantly, we think that, considering your past, this will give you the best chance in the future and that's what we want for you. Isn't that what you want for yourself?"

"I guess."

Kirsten smiled with a confidence she hadn't felt before she came in. "Good, then I'll let you get back to that book, though I'd really like to see you and Seth getting out a little more. The beach maybe?"

The look Ryan gave her confirmed what Sandy, and now she, suspected.

"Tomorrow, no T.V or Play Station, OK?"

When Ryan nodded sheepishly she knew she'd made her point.

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It had taken Mike McClaren just a few days to gather the first half of the information his boss wanted. People always talk, especially when they're pissed off and dollar bills are waved under their noses, and Mike had found plenty of people in the Chino neighborhood that were willing to dish the dirt on the family of the kid he was investigating. It took him just half an hour to produce the background report and email it to Caleb Nichol, detailing the history of petty crime, drug use and the dysfunctional family that surrounded one Ryan Atwood. The second part of the job had proved just as easy, though he wasn't sure how his boss would react to the news about how Ryan Atwood spent his time in Newport Beach.

tbc