Sandy remembered when Seth had first come to him about Summer. It hadn't been too long ago. She went from not knowing his name to being head over heels for him in about a week flat. Sandy hadn't been completely filled in on the details, but Seth had gone to him for advice. He had always wanted to be the kind of dad who could talk to his kids about girls.

Seth had always seemed to be slightly off when it came to other kids his age. He was always inside playing his video games or watching his movies, always alone. He still didn't seem to be getting along too well with the other kids at school, but he had changed since he had started dating Summer. He was happier, less snarky. And Sandy felt like he had been a part of that.

He wanted Ryan to be able to come to him for help with girls or with problems he had. He knew that it was probably pretty far off until Ryan trusted him completely, but talking about girls seemed like it would be an easy start. It was only two more weeks until Ryan went back in to the doctor to hopefully get his cast off, one more week and both his boys would be in school. Sandy closed his eyes and he could see Ryan's future in his head: good grades, beautiful girlfriend, maybe involved in a sport or two… He and Seth could even makes friends together. Ryan would finally have the opportunity to be a normal kid.

Ryan's mind had floated around the subject of Marissa, but it could only keep him distracted for so long. Sure she was beautiful, but that just made it worse. It would just raise him up higher so when everything got ripped out from underneath him, the fall would be worse.

He laid in his bed and threw his arm over his face, willing himself to go to sleep. He wasn't tired at all. Instead of the painkillers making him groggy like he thought they would, they were giving him energy because he wasn't in any pain for once. Well, that wasn't completely true. Seth had been giving him a little bit of a headache yammering on. It was why Ryan had locked himself in his room – not his room, the room. He just needed a few minutes of peace and quiet. But once he did have that, his thoughts and his stomach churned.

What had been the problem Sandy had mentioned? Sandy had said that it was 'nothing to worry about.' What did that even mean? Between his father's punishments and his mother's drinking and his brother's crazy antics, virtually everything in Ryan's life was something to worry about. He had hidden from Seth because hearing about Marissa over and over again was just reminding him that he shouldn't even think about her because he didn't know how much longer he would be around. But in the silence, that thought grew louder and louder.

His father hurt him a lot. But that made sense to Ryan. It was a system that had been laid out for him since before he could even remember. While he wasn't always consistent with his punishments, Ryan knew that if he stayed quiet and out of the way he wouldn't get as many beatings. His entire family was somewhat unpredictable but they were unpredictable in a way that Ryan was familiar with. The Cohens were a completely different story. He couldn't let himself completely fall in with them. He had learned from an early age that getting your hopes up too high guaranteed pain. He couldn't remember the last time his hopes were as high as they were with the Cohens. He had to stop it.

Sandy sat in the kitchen alone slightly upset that he hadn't gone out surfing on such a beautiful day and but still thrilled with how everything else was turning out. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Ryan standing just feet away from him. How had he gotten there without Sandy hearing anything? He shook his head and smiled.

Had Ryan come down for a snack? Should Sandy offer to make him something? He quickly decided to just let Ryan be. This was his house, too. He needed to get used to moving around freely and doing things for himself. Sandy was about to go back to reading, or at least skimming, the newspaper when he noticed how intently Ryan was staring at him.

"Hey. What's up, kid?" Ryan's eyes shifted downward then back up then down again. He shifted on his feet, obviously nervous.

"Can I ask you a question?" His voice was quiet, barely audible.

"You can ask me anything. Had he come to ask Sandy for advice with Marissa? He doubted the kid needed any advice. Maybe he just wanted to talk about her?

"What's… If I have to leave here, do you know where I'll go?" And just like that, Sandy's bubbly mood drained from him. He had been given an hour of pure excitement, of looking into a bright future for Ryan. How had he so quickly forgotten the situation they were currently in? Ryan needed to survive the present before he could get to that future.

"Kid, I told you before. You're not going anywhere."

"But if I have to. You said there was a problem. Do you know where my mom is?" Sandy rubbed his face. He should have never brought it up. How was he supposed to look the poor, terrified, insecure teenage boy in the face and tell him that his evil 'father' wanted to get out of jail and take him home? Sandy knew, at least he hoped he knew, how improbable it would be for it to actually happen. It was just one more thing his son had to worry about.

"Listen, I'm sorry. I should have never even brought it up. It'll all probably get taken care of in a day or two." Ryan scratched at his arm absentmindedly and looked away from Sandy. He could tell his answer wasn't good enough for him. But what else could he say without worrying him even more? "How about this. Let me look into it. Hopefully it'll work itself out. If it doesn't, I'll fill you in on the details. Just try not to worry about it, okay?"

And with a small 'thanks' Ryan was gone again.