Fic: A Week... A Month... A Year... For School....Forever (One-Shot)
Title: A Week... A Month... A Year... For School....Forever
Author: Mara
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Minor Language
Summary: "When I moved in with the Cohens, I gave it a week. Here I am."
Note: Written for a challenge from millstone1005 on oc_plotbunnies
Note #2: It was totally unintentional, but... Ryan kinda comes across as harsh and mean in some parts of this, using Theresa, Marissa, Lindsay, and even Sadie for his own sense of security... I tried to keep it canon, but... Also, I tried to spellcheck, but I did this very quickly so... forgive me any mistakes...
A Week... A Month... A Year... For School....Forever
Ryan didn't bother to think of how long he'd be staying when he first set foot in the Cohen's poolhouse. He knew it was for the weekend, then back to his mom. And when Sandy brought him abck after they found his mom had left, he knew it was sjut for a few days. But then his mom left him again, and Kirsten said he was going to live with them now.
He gave it a week, and he didn't really unpack.
He'd cause trouble or they'd just get tired of him and kick him out. Or maybe Sandy would prove not to be such a nice guy and when Ryan was left alone after being hit he'd pack up and leave on his own. So, he gave it all a week, then he'd be gone one way or another.
They made him go to Cotillion and didn't get mad when he jumped into the fray involving Marissa's dad. He introduced Seth to Donnie, the guy who shot Luke, but they didn't get mad at him. He managed to keep them from finding out how close he came to having sex with Caleb's girlfriend. He went to Tijuana and was involved with Marissa overdosing.
And they still didn't kick him out. Instead, they enrolled him in a fancy expensive private school, and didn't get mad when he skipped out on his entrance exam to break Marissa out of the hospital.
So, he gave it a month, and kept a change of clothes and all the money from his summer job tucked into his old backpack, ready to leave when they came to tell him his time was up.
He'd piss them off. He'd get in fights. He'd get kicked out of Harbor. Something would happen and he'd be back on his own again. But the month came and went and he was still there. He extended his deadline again, to the end of the school year, figuring the Cohens were just being nice to him.
When the Oliver mess went down, he spent over a week with his bag fully packed, ready to go when they ordered him out of their home, or when they just had the social worker come get him.
But that never happened. Things were awkward and painful, but they didn't say he should go and they didn't call anyone to get him. He still rebuilt bridges to get ready to go, patching things up with Theresa and making love to her so that she'd be willing to talk to her mom for him if he needed a place to stay. He reconciled with Marissa in hopes he could convince her to give him some money if he had to run. He saved Kirsten's sister hoping it could earn him some points, but it wound up a secret what Hailey had been doing and he had to find another way.
He was nice to Sandy's mom, as little contact as they had during the visit, and he tried to be civil to Kirsten's hateful father. He made plans to ask Theresa if he could go with her when she left Eddie, but once in Vegas he wound up loosing both the money for Theresa and his own money because he had to pay for Seth's mistake. And then Theresa was pregnant and he decided to go with her, figuring it was over then, the Cohens would let him fade from their memories, and that would be that.
Except Theresa told him she miscarried, and the Cohens welcomed him back with open arms. He wanted to believe it was real then, but he couldn't quite manage. So, he tried to make them proud of him by taking the AP courses, and dating the nice smart girl. When Kirsten caught Ryan and Lindsay together, he packed his backpack again, just to be safe, and started saving his cash. But it worked out, and he thought that maybe they would let him stay until he was 18 at least.
Then came Caleb's death, the shooting at the Bait Shop caused by his brother, the intervention and Kirsten's harsh words, followed closely by the fight with Trey that resulted in Ryan's own hospital stay and Sandy needing to bail him out of trouble with the cops. He asked Seth to repair two years worth of loaned money, and tucked it all into his backpack, wondering how long before Sandy asked him to leave. It didn't happen though, and he relaxed again, so he unpacked and put the money in a safe place, figuring he was safe for now.
Then Sadie came along, and with his birthday approaching he began to worry again. When he hit eighteen and no one said anything, he figured they were waiting for him to finish school, and he was glad he'd worked so hard in school that he easily got accepted to Berkeley. It made them proud, and that was enough for Ryan, even if he never saw them again after her graduated. He made his big plans with Sadie, figuring that way he'd still have someone when he was all alone again. But she left him, and he frantically began to work on gathering money again, ready to find a way to take care of himself.
It didn't become real to him that when they said he was stuck with them they meant it, until he woek up in the hospital after the accident, and Kirsten stroked his hair and told him everything would be okay, and they loved him and were so happy he was going to be okay. He finally believed that they loved him and wouldn't let him go, but he had chosen to leav,e to protect the people he loved from getting hurt anymore than they had. He used his money to get an apartment, and he did cage fighting in the bar where he worked to keep up with the rent, and he made himself be alone, because it was for the best.
And they still hadn't let him go. They came to see him. They called him. They went to desperate measures to bring him home to them, then followed him to Mexico to keep him from doing something stupid for revenge.
That was when he decided to stop giving himself the deadlines, because he always seemed to miss them. He was home, he had a family that loved him and wouldn't give him up, he could see a future that involved the Cohens.
He gave it forever.
The End
Author: Mara
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Minor Language
Summary: "When I moved in with the Cohens, I gave it a week. Here I am."
Note: Written for a challenge from millstone1005 on oc_plotbunnies
Note #2: It was totally unintentional, but... Ryan kinda comes across as harsh and mean in some parts of this, using Theresa, Marissa, Lindsay, and even Sadie for his own sense of security... I tried to keep it canon, but... Also, I tried to spellcheck, but I did this very quickly so... forgive me any mistakes...
A Week... A Month... A Year... For School....Forever
Ryan didn't bother to think of how long he'd be staying when he first set foot in the Cohen's poolhouse. He knew it was for the weekend, then back to his mom. And when Sandy brought him abck after they found his mom had left, he knew it was sjut for a few days. But then his mom left him again, and Kirsten said he was going to live with them now.
He gave it a week, and he didn't really unpack.
He'd cause trouble or they'd just get tired of him and kick him out. Or maybe Sandy would prove not to be such a nice guy and when Ryan was left alone after being hit he'd pack up and leave on his own. So, he gave it all a week, then he'd be gone one way or another.
They made him go to Cotillion and didn't get mad when he jumped into the fray involving Marissa's dad. He introduced Seth to Donnie, the guy who shot Luke, but they didn't get mad at him. He managed to keep them from finding out how close he came to having sex with Caleb's girlfriend. He went to Tijuana and was involved with Marissa overdosing.
And they still didn't kick him out. Instead, they enrolled him in a fancy expensive private school, and didn't get mad when he skipped out on his entrance exam to break Marissa out of the hospital.
So, he gave it a month, and kept a change of clothes and all the money from his summer job tucked into his old backpack, ready to leave when they came to tell him his time was up.
He'd piss them off. He'd get in fights. He'd get kicked out of Harbor. Something would happen and he'd be back on his own again. But the month came and went and he was still there. He extended his deadline again, to the end of the school year, figuring the Cohens were just being nice to him.
When the Oliver mess went down, he spent over a week with his bag fully packed, ready to go when they ordered him out of their home, or when they just had the social worker come get him.
But that never happened. Things were awkward and painful, but they didn't say he should go and they didn't call anyone to get him. He still rebuilt bridges to get ready to go, patching things up with Theresa and making love to her so that she'd be willing to talk to her mom for him if he needed a place to stay. He reconciled with Marissa in hopes he could convince her to give him some money if he had to run. He saved Kirsten's sister hoping it could earn him some points, but it wound up a secret what Hailey had been doing and he had to find another way.
He was nice to Sandy's mom, as little contact as they had during the visit, and he tried to be civil to Kirsten's hateful father. He made plans to ask Theresa if he could go with her when she left Eddie, but once in Vegas he wound up loosing both the money for Theresa and his own money because he had to pay for Seth's mistake. And then Theresa was pregnant and he decided to go with her, figuring it was over then, the Cohens would let him fade from their memories, and that would be that.
Except Theresa told him she miscarried, and the Cohens welcomed him back with open arms. He wanted to believe it was real then, but he couldn't quite manage. So, he tried to make them proud of him by taking the AP courses, and dating the nice smart girl. When Kirsten caught Ryan and Lindsay together, he packed his backpack again, just to be safe, and started saving his cash. But it worked out, and he thought that maybe they would let him stay until he was 18 at least.
Then came Caleb's death, the shooting at the Bait Shop caused by his brother, the intervention and Kirsten's harsh words, followed closely by the fight with Trey that resulted in Ryan's own hospital stay and Sandy needing to bail him out of trouble with the cops. He asked Seth to repair two years worth of loaned money, and tucked it all into his backpack, wondering how long before Sandy asked him to leave. It didn't happen though, and he relaxed again, so he unpacked and put the money in a safe place, figuring he was safe for now.
Then Sadie came along, and with his birthday approaching he began to worry again. When he hit eighteen and no one said anything, he figured they were waiting for him to finish school, and he was glad he'd worked so hard in school that he easily got accepted to Berkeley. It made them proud, and that was enough for Ryan, even if he never saw them again after her graduated. He made his big plans with Sadie, figuring that way he'd still have someone when he was all alone again. But she left him, and he frantically began to work on gathering money again, ready to find a way to take care of himself.
It didn't become real to him that when they said he was stuck with them they meant it, until he woek up in the hospital after the accident, and Kirsten stroked his hair and told him everything would be okay, and they loved him and were so happy he was going to be okay. He finally believed that they loved him and wouldn't let him go, but he had chosen to leav,e to protect the people he loved from getting hurt anymore than they had. He used his money to get an apartment, and he did cage fighting in the bar where he worked to keep up with the rent, and he made himself be alone, because it was for the best.
And they still hadn't let him go. They came to see him. They called him. They went to desperate measures to bring him home to them, then followed him to Mexico to keep him from doing something stupid for revenge.
That was when he decided to stop giving himself the deadlines, because he always seemed to miss them. He was home, he had a family that loved him and wouldn't give him up, he could see a future that involved the Cohens.
He gave it forever.
The End