Seth stood in front of the pool house door, pacing back and forth. Do I tell him? I mean, I have to tell him. Right? Right?

Suddenly the door swung open and Ryan appeared, an amused expression on his face. "You do realize the doors are glass, right?

Seth laughed nervously. "Can I..I need to talk to you. Can I come in?"

Ryan cleared his throat. "It's your house, man."

"Thanks." He said, brushing past him. "Where's Elena?"

"In the bathroom."

"Look, I'm gonna make this quick…wait a second, have you been sleeping in a Barbie sleeping bag?" Seth said, smiling wryly at him as he pointed down at the fluffy, pink sleeping bag that was sprawled out on the floor.

"Kind of."

"Why?" Seth put his hand over his mouth, stifling a laugh.

"It's my sister's. I just..I used it. It's all she brought and she wanted the bed, so..never mind." He seemed somewhat frustrated and Seth's laughter wasn't helping.

After another glare from Ryan, Seth shook his head as his face grew serious. "Sorry..sorry, so not funny."

After a pregnant pause, Ryan spoke. "Did you want to talk to be about something or.."

"Yeah. Uh..earlier..in the store..Elena was trying something on and apparently Summer saw.." he looked down at the floor, clearly avoiding Ryan's eyes as he said the next part. "Bruises. A lot of them. I wasn't sure if you were..aware but..I mean, I know it's not my place but I just..I thought you deserved to know."

He clenched his fists but didn't say anything.

"Are you..okay, man?" Seth asked, cringing. He didn't want to have this conversation any more than Ryan did.

"Uh huh..I'm fine." Ryan said gruffly, shaking his head. "Thanks for telling me."

He nodded and clapped Ryan's shoulder before disappearing out of the pool house.

A few minutes later, Elena slowly walked out of the bathroom with her arms crossed and a sad smile on her face. The second he saw her, he knew - she heard everything.

She sat on the edge of the bed next to him, unsure of what to say, afraid of his reaction.

"Did AJ..?" his voice trailed off. "Did he hit you?"

She bit her lip but didn't say anything. She slowly lifted up the right side of her shirt, just enough so he could see where it happened.

"Jesus Christ."

"Ryan, please..don't overreact. I'm fine." Her lower lip trembled, signifying she was anything but fine. He shook his head furiously.

"Fine, Elena?" He hissed. "Like hell it is! And mom just, what? Sat there and watched it happen?" He took her silence as a yes.

"Stop! Where are you going?" She called after him as he headed towards the door in an attempt to retrieve his bike from the side of the house.

"I'm going to kill him."

"He's not worth it, Ryan. It's over. Please, if you want to do anything for me, you'll just drop it." She looked down as the tears that brimmed her eyes threatened to fall.

He turned around. "And what's that going to do, huh?"

"And what's fighting him going to do? If you go there, you're going to end up back in juvie or dead." She choked back a sob. "I-I need you here with me. You're my only real family. I can't lose you, too. Please, I'm begging you..don't leave."

His features softened as he stepped towards her. "Why did you keep it a secret? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I knew how you'd react." She whispered as she hastily wiping away a tear that slid down her cheek.

"I'm so sorry, Elena. I should've been there. I would've stopped that son of a bitch, I swear to God." He said through clenched teeth.

"I know." She said quietly. "I just..I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"I have to tell the Cohens. Okay?" He put his index finger under her chin so she was forced to look at him. "I have to. Maybe they can help."

"I don't want you to."

"You have to get that checked out by a doctor. Will you do that? For me?"

"Fine." She said after a long pause.

"Thank you."

"Ryan, what's going to happen to us?" Elena asked quietly one night while they were sitting on the floor of the pool house, playing a game of Go Fish.

A week had passed since Ryan had found out about AJ and things had calmed down considerably. Kirsten took Elena took their family doctor immediately upon finding out about the bruises and had her go through a routine checkup. She seemed to be doing okay and the bruises were beginning to heal - their future at the Cohen house, however, and, well, life in general remained a mystery.

Kirsten had developed a strong bond with Elena in the short time she knew her - she figured it had something to do with the fact that Elena was never particularly close with her mom and Kirsten herself had always longed for a daughter. Regardless, they were both grateful to have each other.

"I don't know," Ryan answered honestly. "Go fish."

"I'm scared," she admitted as she picked up a card from the pile in front of them.

"Hey, we're gonna be okay."

"How do you know that?"

"I just do. I'm not going to let anything bad happen, I promise." He wasn't really sure of that himself if he was being honest, but he knew he needed to be strong for his little sister.

Suddenly, a loud knock came from the pool house door. They both whipped their heads around to see Seth standing there with a bag of chips in one hand and a can of soda in the other. Ryan motioned for him to come in.

"Hey, I thought you were going over Summer's?" Ryan asked as Seth plopped down onto the bed.

"I was but apparently her best friend needed her," he replied, using air quotes. "What are we playing?"

"Go fish," Elena replied, setting her hand of cards down onto the cold tile. "I'm kind of bored of this, though."

He cracked open a can of soda and took a swig of it. "You guys wanna grab a bite to eat?"

Ryan looked over at Elena, who was nodding eagerly, and shrugged his shoulders. "Sure."

Ryan, Elena and Seth walked into the Pier Diner side by side, searching for a place to sit. It was relatively empty with the exception of an elderly couple in the back and a group of mingling teenagers in the front, so you could sit pretty much anywhere you wanted to. Elena practically begged them to sit in the booth in the back because you could see the water from there and Seth and Ryan reluctantly agreed. As they made their way to the booth, however, Seth's whole demeanor changed.

He looked uneasy and paranoid as he slid into the booth, prompting Elena to ask "is everything okay?"

"Not exactly." He said, peeking over his menu.

"Who are you hiding from?" Ryan asked, peering over his shoulder.

"No, don't!" He practically yelled.

Suddenly a larger guy looked over at them and smirked, whispering something to his friends before they all came walking towards them.

"This guy's a tool," Seth muttered to Ryan and Elena. "Just ignore him."

"Hey, queer." The guy grinned, clearly satisfied with himself as he gave out high fives to the group of Neanderthals that surrounded him.

Seth stared down at the menu. "What are you guys getting?"

"Hey, queer." The guy slammed his fists against the table, causing the silverware to clatter. "I'm talking to you."

Ryan set his jaw as he growled through clenched teeth, "just get the hell outta here, man."

"Who the fuck asked you? Hell, who the fuck are you? Oh, oh. I know—is this your butt buddy, Seth?" The guy smirked.

"Cohen has a boyfriend!" Another tall jock chimed in.

Seth let out a humorless laugh before dryly responding, "That'll never get old. Thanks, guys. Really."

"Why are you being so mean?" A small voice said. Uh oh.

The boy's features softened almost instantly upon seeing Elena. "And who are you?"

"Who are you?"

"I asked you first," he retorted.

"So?"

"His name is Luke," Seth interrupted, shaking his head. "Can you please go now, dude? I got the point. I'm a queer and you're better than me."

"Whatever, Cohen. This isn't over."

"What isn't over, exactly?

"This," he gestured between the two of them before quickly turning on his heel and walking away.

"Right," Seth drawled out sarcastically. "He's pleasant, huh?"

"What's his issue with you, anyway?" Ryan asked.

"He and Summer used to.." his voice trailed off as he looked back down at his menu.

"Date?" Elena shrieked, looking somewhat horrified.

Seth crinkled up his nose. "No. No, no, n—I mean, she claims they didn't. Look, can we talk about something else?"

An hour and a half later, Ryan, Elena and Seth walked through the front door of the Cohen house to discover Sandy and Kirsten waiting for them. They looked anxious, like they were about to deliver horrible news which, in turn, made Ryan consider turning the other way and bolting. But he didn't.

"Ryan, can we talk to you for a second?" Kirsten looked over at Elena and smiled warmly at her, reassuring her that everything was okay.

"Sure," Ryan looked over at his little sister and ruffled her hair. "I'll be right back, okay?"

"Okay," she smiled sadly as Kirsten, Sandy and Ryan disappeared into the kitchen.

"We got in touch with your mother," Kirsten said, clasping her hands together tightly as she leaned on the kitchen island.

"Did you..did you see her?"

"No, but she's coming over for dinner tomorrow night." Sandy said.

"Are you kidding me? Here?"

"Yes," Kirsten nodded.

"It's just a dinner, Ryan." Sandy reassured him.

"Yeah, if she even shows up." Ryan said under his breath. "Sorry. I just.."

"We know," Kirsten said. "It's okay."

"Is he..?"

"No, he won't be there. I'll make sure of it." Sandy said.

"Should I tell Elena?"

"You can," Kirsten replied. "We just didn't want to upset her. We thought it would be better coming from you."

"Okay. Thanks, I guess."

Kirsten called for Seth and Elena and they came through the door almost instantly, leading her to believe they were probably eavesdropping. She shook her head and laughed a little before asking, "so, are you guys hungry?"

Early the next morning, Elena, Sandy and Kirsten gathered at the kitchen table for breakfast. Ryan and Seth were still sleeping and they didn't bother to wake them up.

"We'll just grill up some steaks or burgers for dinner?" Sandy asked Kirsten as he stared down at his newspaper.

"Yeah, that's fine." She said before looking over at Elena. "Elena, did Ryan talk to you?"

"About?" Elena asked with a mouthful of Fruit Loops. She dropped her spoon into her now empty bowl and walked over to the sink, washing out out before placing it in the dishwasher.

Kirsten and Sandy exchanged glances. "Um..about your mom?"

"Oh.." Elena said, sitting back down at the table. "Yeah, he did."

"And that's okay?"

"Yeah..I just, I'm a little nervous," she said, toying with the charm bracelet that hung from her wrist.

Kirsten gave her a reassuring smile despite the fact that she, herself, was nervous about what was going to happen. "Don't be. Hey, why don't you go get your brother up?"

"Okay," Elena said.

"Are we making a mistake, doing this?" Kirsten asked when she was sure Elena was out of ear shot.

"No," Sandy said. "It's just a dinner."

"I know, but.." Her voice trailed off as she brought her mug of coffee to her lips and took a small sip

"Kirsten," he leaned over and put his large hand over her tiny one, linking their fingers together. "It's going to be fine."

"I hope so," she said before slowly standing up from her spot at the kitchen table. She began collecting the dirty dishes that were scattered across the kitchen table to put into the dishwasher. "I'm gonna go get a shower."

He stood up, coffee mug in hand, and walked over to her, placing a kiss on her cheek. She smiled and disappeared upstairs, leaving Sandy to himself in the kitchen. A few minutes later, Ryan walked through the door.

"Hey," he said, looking caught off guard completely.

"See you're finally up," Sandy said, smiling.

"Yeah, I just couldn't sleep last night."

"It's okay," he said, clapping Ryan on the shoulder. "There's juice on the table and some cereal and the milk is in the fridge. Help yourself to anything."