AN: I know that it's been awhile since I posted to this story, but I've had a bit of writer's block. Plus, things are starting to get crazy-busy for me with the holidays coming up. I know that it's a little late, but I just wanted to tell everyone Happy Thanksgiving. I hope everyone had a good day. Anyway, please leave some reviews. They make me very happy. Thnx!
Disclaimer: See earlier chapters.
Chapter 20: Old Friends
Ryan lay back as he aimlessly floated in the pool. He had his eyes closed as he took advantage of all the quiet. Seth didn't know that he was back home yet so he could just float about without him disturbing the much-needed quiet time. He definitely needed some time to himself after the day that he had so far already.
Kirsten and Sandy had dragged him to his first support group meeting. He hadn't spoken out loud about what he had gone through, but he listened to all the other stories. Yes, some of them were pretty horrible, but he didn't think that this group was for him. Besides, he knew that Sandy, Kirsten, and the rest of the group members' families were watching the whole thing behind the two-way mirror.
Sandy was trying to talk him into actually speaking at the next meeting, but he didn't think that he would. He wasn't ready to share anything yet. Why couldn't they understand that he just wanted to put it out of his mind? He knew that once he let his guard down and finally unloaded on all of them, that his life would never be the same.
Kirsten glanced out the kitchen window yet again as she kept a constant vigil over Ryan. He had been very quiet since the group meeting had ended. When they had arrived back at the house, Ryan had gone outside and gotten into the pool. It was obvious that he wanted to be alone, so they forbade Seth from even going outside.
"Is he still out there?" Sandy came up behind her.
"Yeah. Hasn't made an attempt to get out yet."
"He'll be fine." he assured her. "When he finally decides to get out, I do have some good news for him."
"What is it?"
"It's not going to be open court."
"Really?"
"I'm positive."
"So how are they going to do it?"
"Basically, they've scheduled days for each of the victims to come in and make their statements. There will be a closed hearing where all the evidence will be presented and they'll make a decision based on all the evidence."
"That is good news." she smiled as she hugged him tightly.
"Can I go out and see Ryan yet?" Seth came into them.
"Give him a few more minutes." Sandy told him as the doorbell rang.
"I guess I'll get that." Seth mumbled as he walked away.
"I think he's going through Ryan withdrawal." Kirsten chuckled.
"I say we bring Ryan in after five more minutes." Sandy told her as Seth came back. "Who's at the door, son?"
"It's for you." Seth told him. "Says that it's important. It's about the trial."
"Ok." Sandy walked out to the foyer where the group of people-an older couple and two teenage boys-were gathered in front of the door. "Hi. I'm Sandy Cohen. You needed to talk to me."
"Is Ryan here?" one of the boys asked.
"One thing at a time." the older man told him.
"Our boys-"
"You're Alex and Andrew, right?" Sandy looked at the teenagers. "You were Ryan's roommates in that place."
"Yeah. Is he here?"
"He's had a tough morning, but I think he'll want some company." Sandy led them through to the kitchen. "Kirsten, is Ryan still in the pool?"
"He just got out. He's changing in the pool house." she looked up at him as she spotted the group of people coming in behind him.
"This is Alex and Andrew. Ryan's first roommates when he was at that place. And this is Emma and Reggie, their grandparents."
"Nice to meet you all." she smiled at them. "Ryan talked about you quite a bit when he got out of there."
"Can we see him?" one of the boys asked.
"Sure. You can go ahead and wait out on the patio for him." she told them and they rushed outside.
"Why don't we sit down," Sandy spoke to the older couple as he gestured to the table. "Would you like some coffee?"
"That'd be great. Thank you."
"Here we are." Kirsten brought a tray over with four cups of coffee. "So what brings you all here?"
"Well, the boys keep talking about us bringing them here to see Ryan."
"Is there another reason?" Sandy asked them. "Did someone contact you about your grandsons testifying?"
"Yes. We never questioned them about what went on in that facility. We knew something had happened, but we never imagined that it was this bad."
"Ryan has never openly shared anything with us, so you can imagine that he's been very tight-lipped about his time in there. But we have found out a few incidents that have happened."
"We don't need to go into detail." Emma assured them. "But the boys told us that from the moment they met Ryan, they felt that they needed to protect him."
"So none of it happened while your boys were still there?" Kirsten asked.
"I'm sure the verbal and physical abuse happened from the moment your son walked into that building." Reggie told them. "But the other stuff didn't start happening until we took them out of there."
"And Ryan was assigned a new roommate."
"We would never force our grandsons to do something that they're not comfortable doing, but they both said that they felt they had to testify. That them not doing it would mean that someone else could get hurt because of them."
"We're not forcing Ryan to do it either, but he said he'd think about it." Sandy told them.
"Well, we got a hold of someone in the district attorney's office here when the boys made the decision. When they found out that they would have to come down here to Newport to do it, they immediately asked if we could look you guys up so they could come see Ryan."
"It looks they're getting along well." Kirsten looked outside as she saw that Ryan had come out of the pool house to join the others.
Seth was sitting silently at one of the tables on the patio waiting for Ryan to finish changing so they could finally hang out. He heard the doors behind him open and rolled his eyes as he glanced back, thinking it was one of his parents. He was surprised to see two teenage boys-obviously twins, by the looks of them-scrambling to get outside.
"Hey." they stopped abruptly when they spotted him. "You're Seth, right?"
"Yes. Who are you?" he questioned them.
"I'm Alex Hines. This is my brother, Andrew. We were Ryan's roommates when he first got to that-place."
"Nice to meet you." Seth stood up to greet them. "Ryan should be out any minute now."
"So you're the one that's into comic books, right?" Andrew asked. "Which do you read most often?"
"I guess Legion." Seth replied. "You guys read comics?"
"Religiously." Andrew told him.
"I don't read them as much anymore." Alex told him. "I'm into other things now. Like sports."
"He's a big sports nut." Andrew told Seth. "But he's not like those water polo players that you have run-ins with."
"Ryan told you about that?"
"He didn't think he'd see us again."
"Andrew? Alex?" they all turned around and spotted Ryan coming out of the pool house. "What are you guys doing here?"
"We have an appointment with the DA." Alex told him. "We decided to stop here to see you first."
"You were called about testifying, too?"
"Yeah."
"Hey Ryan, what do you say we show these guys around?" Seth jumped into the conversation. "We can take them down to the pier."
"You guys want to?" Ryan looked at them.
"We'd better ask Grams and Gramps first." Andrew told them and they all headed inside where the adults were gathered around the kitchen table talking as they drank from mugs of coffee.
"Hey, fellas." Sandy greeted them. "Are you guys catching up?"
"Could we take these guys to the pier and show them around?" Seth asked.
"Where on the pier would you go?" Kirsten asked them.
"Lunch at the Crab Shack maybe." Ryan told them.
"And Seth told us about this cool comic book store right down the street from there." Andrew told them.
"All right, but take your cell phones." Sandy told them. "Make sure they're on and that you answer when we call."
"Got it." They all rushed out of the room and the door opening and closing was heard.
"They'll be fine." Sandy assured Emma and Reggie. "Ryan used to work at the Crab Shack and Seth practically lived at the comic book store before Ryan came along."
"It's fine." Reggie assured them. "Andrew's probably ecstatic that he found someone else his age that enjoys comic books as much as he does."
"Truth be told, they haven't really made any friends at their new school. Everyone found out about their parents and where they were before, and they've shunned them."
"Ryan can definitely relate to that." Kirsten told them. "This community was not very welcoming when he first came to town."
Ryan and Seth led Alex and Andrew down the boardwalk on the pier as they both looked around. Ryan led them all into the Crab Shack and they slid into a booth near the back.
"You guys live here?" Alex looked at them.
"This is so awesome." Andrew added.
"It's not all that great." Seth answered.
"It's better than where I came from, but there are definite downsides to this town." Ryan told them. "Everyone thinks they have the right to judge everyone else."
"But at least you have a place to call home now." Andrew told him. "It's permanent."
"I guess." Ryan mumbled as they placed their orders and waited for it to be prepared and brought out to them.
After they finished their lunch, they decided to walk down the street to the shopping center and check out the comic book store. Seth and Andrew went to check out all the comics, but Ryan and Alex went to the store next door and started browsing through all the movie titles.
"Hey, Ryan." he heard behind him and sighed.
"What do you want, Marissa?" he turned around to face her.
"I just wanted to know how you're doing."
"I'm fine, no thanks to you and your mother."
"What are you talking about?"
"Never mind." he started to walk away. "I think it would be a good idea if we stayed away from each other permanently. Just don't approach me again. I am way better off without you trying to bring me down with all your drama."
"Ryan-"
"Hey Ryan, are you almost done?" Alex came up to them. "Sorry to interrupt."
"You're not." Ryan told him. "She's no one special."
"Ryan-" Marissa tried again.
"Leave me alone, Marissa. I'm much better off without you in my life."
"So that was Marissa?" Alex asked as they walked out of the store.
"Unfortunately." Ryan mumbled as they walked into the comic book store to retrieve Seth and Andrew.
They were all walking back to the Cohen house when Alex pulled Seth back and told him about the confrontation between Ryan and Marissa in the movie store.
"They've had a few run-ins worst than that since he was released from the unspeakable place." Seth told him.
"Ryan confided something to me when you guys were paying for your new comic books. I'm not sure if I should tell you or not."
"When it comes to Ryan, I'm like Fort Knox. I'll decide if it's worth it to tell my parents."
"All right." Alex leaned in close to Seth and whispered something to him.
"You're serious?" Seth looked up at him.
"Ever since he was released."
"My parents should probably know about it. I'll tell them later tonight."
They all got back to the house and Alex and Andrew had to leave. They would be coming back next weekend when they were scheduled to make their statements. Sandy and Kirsten noticed that Ryan was a little withdrawn and was surprised about it since he seemed so happy when the four teenagers had left the house.
"Are you feeling ok, Ryan?" Sandy asked him.
"Yeah. Just tired." he mumbled.
"Well eat a little more, and you can go up to bed." Kirsten told him and he nodded as he picked at the food on his plate.
Almost an hour later, Ryan helped clear the table and went upstairs to get ready for bed. Sandy and Seth helped Kirsten clean up.
"Ok. We need to know. Did something happen while you guys were out today?" Sandy looked at Seth.
"Alex told me that Ryan had a confrontation with Marissa in the movie store." he told them. "He also told me that Ryan told him something. And I think you guys should know about it."
"What is it?" Kirsten asked.
"Apparently, Julie Cooper has been harassing Ryan since he was released from that place." Seth revealed. "Threatening to send him to a place worse than the one he was in. Ryan told Alex that he thinks that she knows what happened to him in there."
"That woman has gone too far." Kirsten stated.
"Kirsten, calm down." Sandy told her.
"No. She has crossed the line."
"I agree, and we'll take care of it. But keep your voice down unless you want Ryan to overhear us."
"No. You're right." she took a deep breath. "I'm going to check on him."
"Don't let him know-" Seth started to tell her.
"I won't." she assured him as she started up the stairs.
Kirsten got to the top of the staircase and paused outside of Ryan's room as she heard him moving around inside.
"Ryan?" she knocked softly on the door. "Are you decent? Can I come in?"
"Sure." she heard him call and she slowly walked into the room and found him sitting under the covers on the bed holding one of his books for school.
"I just wanted to say good night." she told him. "And to make sure that you're all right."
"I'm fine. Just tired, like I said." he assured her. "But I wanted to get a couple chapters read before school tomorrow."
"So it was nice to meet Andrew and Alex today with their grandparents."
"Yeah."
"If you ever want to invite them down here, or they want you to visit them, we wouldn't mind." she sat beside him on the edge of the bed.
"Thanks. They said they're coming back next weekend so they can give their statements."
"Yes. Sandy said that you don't have to testify in open court. That you'll just give your statement to the DA, and they'll present it as evidence before the judge makes his decision."
"Will you and Sandy be there?" Ryan asked her softly.
"Only if you want us there." she assured him.
"I'll get back to you on that."
"So how did you like the meeting today?"
"It was all right, I guess. I'm just not sure if it's for me."
"Remember, two more sessions. And if you still don't like it, then you don't have to go."
"I know." he sighed as he started to open the book before him.
"I'll let you get to your reading." Kirsten got up off the bed as she started to leave the room. "If you need us, just call."
"All right." he told her as she left the room and he opened his book to where he had left off the last time he had read it.
AN: So what'd you all think? Please leave me some reviews. Thnx!
