These Walls - Chapter Two
Feb. 25th, 2008 08:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missmara13Title: These Walls
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
missmara
Fandom: The OC/OTH
Rating: R
Warnings: Angst. Mentions of child abuse, violence, possibly sex in later chapters.
Summary: A decade after being kidnapped by the abusive Atwoods, 15 year-old Ryan Cohen is coming home to a family he doesn't even remember.
Notes: Title comes from the song 'These Walls' by Trapt. Such a good song, and it kinda fits if you look at some of the lyrics.
"I know you probably want to run in and hug him, but... I don't think he'd be that receptive of it right now," Malcolm told Sandy and Kirsten as they paused outside the door of the room Ryan was in.
"We can restrain ourselves," Sandy said, nodding and catching one of Kirsten's hands to stop her from wringing them.
Malcolm nodded and opened the door, leading them in. "Ryan? These are the Cohens, you're biological parents," he said, wincing at his own awkward phrasing.
Ryan looked up, his bangs falling in his eyes, and silently watched them for a minute before lifting a hand slightly in greeting. "Hi," he said.
"Hey, kid," Sandy said, holding back the desire to grab the teenager and not let go. Judging by Kirsten's grip on his arm, she was doing the same, and Sandy slowly led her over to the table, the two of them taking the chairs closest to Ryan. "It's... I know this has all gotta be..."
"Weirdest shit ever?" Ryan asked when Sandy trailed off.
Sandy couldn't hold in the sudden surprised laugh that burst out, and he even saw Kirsten's face relax slightly into a small smile. "That's definitely one way to put it."
"Detective Overman said... you're gonna take me with you?"
"As soon as a judge clears it, but that should be done first thing in the morning," Sandy said, nodding. "I'm a lawyer, and I have contacts all over California, so I'm going to call in a few favors I'm owed to speed things up, get you home as soon as possible. And Kirsten's dad has lots of high profile friends, so if we have to we can get him to make some calls, too."
They fell into an awkward silence after that, but finally, Kirsten spoke. "Can I... it's hard to believe this is real and you're here," she said. "Can I just..." She slowly reached out to put one of her hands over his on top of the table, clearly grateful when he didn't pull away or look upset. "We'll try our best to take things slow, okay?" she said. "We all need to get to know eachother again, and I... and we don't want you thinking that we expect you to call us 'mom' and 'dad'," she continued, though clearly it pained her to say it. "You don't know us, and the last thing we want is to make things harder on you. So it's..."
"Why don't you call us Sandy and Kirsten?" Sandy said, finishing for her. "At least for now."
"I didn't call them mom and dad," Ryan said suddenly. "She wanted me to sometimes, so I would to her face, but... only then. The rest of the time she was Dawn and he was Frank." He paused and shrugged, looking down at Kirsten's hand over his own. "I just... I want you to know that. They were never mom and dad to me."
"I hope someday we will be, but if we're not, it's okay," Sandy said, shifting so he could put his hand beside Kirsten's, lightly resting on Ryan's forearm. "You know, when we left Berkeley and we bought a house in Newport, we picked out a room to be yours if we ever got you back," he said. "It's not decorated or anything, but... it's always been your room, waiting for you. It's sort of... bland right now, just furniture and plain blue sheets on the bed. But you can decorate it however you want, okay? We'll get you a stereo, and a computer, all the stuff Seth has, anything else you need or want..."
"Right now?" Ryan said, giving them a slight smile. "I just want to lay down somewhere and sleep."
"The police showed up at the Atwood house at about 5," Malcolm said. "Ryan didn't get the chance to get any sleep yet tonight."
"That's ridiculous!" Kirsten said. "He's a 15 year-old boy and the police here haven't let him sleep?" she asked Malcolm.
"Why don't I go see if I can borrow their break room so he can lay down for a while at least," Malcolm said with a smile as he left, confident that this was going to be okay for the Cohens and Ryan.
"Complete idiots," Kirsten muttered, annoyed.
"She's like a mama bear with her kids," Sandy said, catching Ryan's wide eyed look.
"It's idiocy," Kirsten repeated as she turned back to Sandy and Ryan, squeezing her son's hand slightly. "By tonight you'll be able to sleep in an actual bed, I promise."
"Okay," Ryan said quietly.
"I told them Kirsten looked homicidal and they cleared out the break room," Malcolm said as he returned. "I can show you the way."
~~~
Ryan had fallen asleep almost as soon as he'd laid down on the couch in the break room, and Sandy had taken off his jacket to drape it over the teenager.
"We have to be careful about what we ask him," Sandy said quietly a while later as Kirsten sat in a chair near Ryan's head, gently running her fingers through his hair. "Let him decide what he wants to tell us."
"Sandy, right now, all I care about is that he's coming home with us, and the only questions I have are what his favorite foods are, what kind of music he likes, if there's certain movies he loves..."
"He likes Journey," a quiet voice said from the doorway and they looked up to see a boy a few years older than Ryan standing there with Malcolm. "And he'll try pretty much any kinda food at least once, but not liver, he hates liver."
"I'm sorry, who..." Sandy began.
"Sandy, Kirsten, this is Trey Atwood," Malcolm explained. "He's the son of the people who took Ryan."
"I know I've got no right, but... I just wanted to see him again before I left," Trey said, looking down at Ryan. "Detective Overman here volunteered to bring me..."
"Are you facing charges?" Sandy asked, hearing what Trey wasn't saying.
Trey grimaced. "I've got some minor theft charges and stuff, and the cops ares till trying to decide if I should be charged as an accomplice to the kidnapping," he said.
"Trey was 8 when it happened," Malcolm explained quickly. "He was a kid, so to me it seems stupid to charge him for trusting what his parents told him."
"And he looked out for me," Ryan said, slowly sitting up and looking at Trey. "Are you gonna go to jail?"
"Probably, but not for long, LB," Trey said. "Don't worry about me, okay? You're gonna be fine with these people, they're your family."
"So are you," Ryan said, his voice breaking slightly.
Sandy pulled out his wallet and found a card, passing it to Trey. "I can't represent you myself, but if you call this number and tell her that I referred you, she'll help you, free of charge," he said.
Trey took the card, nodding. "Thanks."
"The transport is here for Atwood," an officer said from outside.
"Be good for them, Ry," Trey said firmly.
"Trey..." Ryan began.
"Hey, I can take care of myself," Trey said. "You just let these people take care of you, alright?"
"I will," Ryan said, though it was some reluctance.
Trey gave one last smile and lifted a hand in a small wave, then left the room with the officer, but Sandy followed him out.
"We'll take care of him," Sandy said. "We've been hoping we'd get some kind of miracle and get him back for 10 years, and we're not going to let him slip away now. I promise, we'll take good care of him."
"Good to know," Trey said. "He... he may be your son, but he's always gonna be my little brother. I just want him to be okay and happy."
"We'll do our best to make that happen," Sandy promised.
"Raised voices freak him out, so... try not to yell around him, okay?" Trey added. "Frank and Dawn have him half convinced he's this horrible kid, but... he's not. He's really pretty smart... they didn't let him go to school, but he helped me with my homework most of the time..."
"Let's go, Atwood," the cop said, pulling him.
"We'll take care of him," Sandy promised again before going back into the break room and finding Ryan was sitting up and looking more than a little distressed.
"He's the only one who consistently gave a damn," Ryan was telling Kirsten in a soft voice. "Frank hated me and Dawn couldn't decide whether to hate me or love me, but Trey tried to take care of me. I'd be a complete idiot if he hadn't taught me from his school books."
"You didn't go to school?" Kirsten asked softly, glancing up at Sandy with anger in her eyes.
"Frank was worried someone would see me and ask questions," Ryan said, scrubbing a hand over his face. "So I stayed inside unless it was dark out, then Trey and me would play soccer in the backyard. If Dawn and Frank weren't there, Trey would have his friends come over." He stopped, as though realizing that he'd said more than he meant to.
"Why don't you try to get some more sleep, Ryan?" Sandy suggested, moving to sit on the coffee table in front of the couch.
"Your friend'll really help him?" Ryan asked.
"If he calls, she'll help," Sandy promised. "I'd help, but right now you're my priority, okay?"
Ryan nodded and slowly laid down again, eyes already sliding shut again. "Okay," he whispered.
To Be Continued...
It may be a little while yet before other characters come into play... Seth and even Caleb may be relatively soon (either next chapter or the one after) but everyone else may not appear for another few chapters...
I did decide to make this a crossover with OTH, but I may have a couple other OTH character besides Brooke appear... At the moment I'm leaning towards Victoria, Nathan, and Dan as the other OTH characters... lol
Author:
missmaraFandom: The OC/OTH
Rating: R
Warnings: Angst. Mentions of child abuse, violence, possibly sex in later chapters.
Summary: A decade after being kidnapped by the abusive Atwoods, 15 year-old Ryan Cohen is coming home to a family he doesn't even remember.
Notes: Title comes from the song 'These Walls' by Trapt. Such a good song, and it kinda fits if you look at some of the lyrics.
"I know you probably want to run in and hug him, but... I don't think he'd be that receptive of it right now," Malcolm told Sandy and Kirsten as they paused outside the door of the room Ryan was in.
"We can restrain ourselves," Sandy said, nodding and catching one of Kirsten's hands to stop her from wringing them.
Malcolm nodded and opened the door, leading them in. "Ryan? These are the Cohens, you're biological parents," he said, wincing at his own awkward phrasing.
Ryan looked up, his bangs falling in his eyes, and silently watched them for a minute before lifting a hand slightly in greeting. "Hi," he said.
"Hey, kid," Sandy said, holding back the desire to grab the teenager and not let go. Judging by Kirsten's grip on his arm, she was doing the same, and Sandy slowly led her over to the table, the two of them taking the chairs closest to Ryan. "It's... I know this has all gotta be..."
"Weirdest shit ever?" Ryan asked when Sandy trailed off.
Sandy couldn't hold in the sudden surprised laugh that burst out, and he even saw Kirsten's face relax slightly into a small smile. "That's definitely one way to put it."
"Detective Overman said... you're gonna take me with you?"
"As soon as a judge clears it, but that should be done first thing in the morning," Sandy said, nodding. "I'm a lawyer, and I have contacts all over California, so I'm going to call in a few favors I'm owed to speed things up, get you home as soon as possible. And Kirsten's dad has lots of high profile friends, so if we have to we can get him to make some calls, too."
They fell into an awkward silence after that, but finally, Kirsten spoke. "Can I... it's hard to believe this is real and you're here," she said. "Can I just..." She slowly reached out to put one of her hands over his on top of the table, clearly grateful when he didn't pull away or look upset. "We'll try our best to take things slow, okay?" she said. "We all need to get to know eachother again, and I... and we don't want you thinking that we expect you to call us 'mom' and 'dad'," she continued, though clearly it pained her to say it. "You don't know us, and the last thing we want is to make things harder on you. So it's..."
"Why don't you call us Sandy and Kirsten?" Sandy said, finishing for her. "At least for now."
"I didn't call them mom and dad," Ryan said suddenly. "She wanted me to sometimes, so I would to her face, but... only then. The rest of the time she was Dawn and he was Frank." He paused and shrugged, looking down at Kirsten's hand over his own. "I just... I want you to know that. They were never mom and dad to me."
"I hope someday we will be, but if we're not, it's okay," Sandy said, shifting so he could put his hand beside Kirsten's, lightly resting on Ryan's forearm. "You know, when we left Berkeley and we bought a house in Newport, we picked out a room to be yours if we ever got you back," he said. "It's not decorated or anything, but... it's always been your room, waiting for you. It's sort of... bland right now, just furniture and plain blue sheets on the bed. But you can decorate it however you want, okay? We'll get you a stereo, and a computer, all the stuff Seth has, anything else you need or want..."
"Right now?" Ryan said, giving them a slight smile. "I just want to lay down somewhere and sleep."
"The police showed up at the Atwood house at about 5," Malcolm said. "Ryan didn't get the chance to get any sleep yet tonight."
"That's ridiculous!" Kirsten said. "He's a 15 year-old boy and the police here haven't let him sleep?" she asked Malcolm.
"Why don't I go see if I can borrow their break room so he can lay down for a while at least," Malcolm said with a smile as he left, confident that this was going to be okay for the Cohens and Ryan.
"Complete idiots," Kirsten muttered, annoyed.
"She's like a mama bear with her kids," Sandy said, catching Ryan's wide eyed look.
"It's idiocy," Kirsten repeated as she turned back to Sandy and Ryan, squeezing her son's hand slightly. "By tonight you'll be able to sleep in an actual bed, I promise."
"Okay," Ryan said quietly.
"I told them Kirsten looked homicidal and they cleared out the break room," Malcolm said as he returned. "I can show you the way."
~~~
Ryan had fallen asleep almost as soon as he'd laid down on the couch in the break room, and Sandy had taken off his jacket to drape it over the teenager.
"We have to be careful about what we ask him," Sandy said quietly a while later as Kirsten sat in a chair near Ryan's head, gently running her fingers through his hair. "Let him decide what he wants to tell us."
"Sandy, right now, all I care about is that he's coming home with us, and the only questions I have are what his favorite foods are, what kind of music he likes, if there's certain movies he loves..."
"He likes Journey," a quiet voice said from the doorway and they looked up to see a boy a few years older than Ryan standing there with Malcolm. "And he'll try pretty much any kinda food at least once, but not liver, he hates liver."
"I'm sorry, who..." Sandy began.
"Sandy, Kirsten, this is Trey Atwood," Malcolm explained. "He's the son of the people who took Ryan."
"I know I've got no right, but... I just wanted to see him again before I left," Trey said, looking down at Ryan. "Detective Overman here volunteered to bring me..."
"Are you facing charges?" Sandy asked, hearing what Trey wasn't saying.
Trey grimaced. "I've got some minor theft charges and stuff, and the cops ares till trying to decide if I should be charged as an accomplice to the kidnapping," he said.
"Trey was 8 when it happened," Malcolm explained quickly. "He was a kid, so to me it seems stupid to charge him for trusting what his parents told him."
"And he looked out for me," Ryan said, slowly sitting up and looking at Trey. "Are you gonna go to jail?"
"Probably, but not for long, LB," Trey said. "Don't worry about me, okay? You're gonna be fine with these people, they're your family."
"So are you," Ryan said, his voice breaking slightly.
Sandy pulled out his wallet and found a card, passing it to Trey. "I can't represent you myself, but if you call this number and tell her that I referred you, she'll help you, free of charge," he said.
Trey took the card, nodding. "Thanks."
"The transport is here for Atwood," an officer said from outside.
"Be good for them, Ry," Trey said firmly.
"Trey..." Ryan began.
"Hey, I can take care of myself," Trey said. "You just let these people take care of you, alright?"
"I will," Ryan said, though it was some reluctance.
Trey gave one last smile and lifted a hand in a small wave, then left the room with the officer, but Sandy followed him out.
"We'll take care of him," Sandy said. "We've been hoping we'd get some kind of miracle and get him back for 10 years, and we're not going to let him slip away now. I promise, we'll take good care of him."
"Good to know," Trey said. "He... he may be your son, but he's always gonna be my little brother. I just want him to be okay and happy."
"We'll do our best to make that happen," Sandy promised.
"Raised voices freak him out, so... try not to yell around him, okay?" Trey added. "Frank and Dawn have him half convinced he's this horrible kid, but... he's not. He's really pretty smart... they didn't let him go to school, but he helped me with my homework most of the time..."
"Let's go, Atwood," the cop said, pulling him.
"We'll take care of him," Sandy promised again before going back into the break room and finding Ryan was sitting up and looking more than a little distressed.
"He's the only one who consistently gave a damn," Ryan was telling Kirsten in a soft voice. "Frank hated me and Dawn couldn't decide whether to hate me or love me, but Trey tried to take care of me. I'd be a complete idiot if he hadn't taught me from his school books."
"You didn't go to school?" Kirsten asked softly, glancing up at Sandy with anger in her eyes.
"Frank was worried someone would see me and ask questions," Ryan said, scrubbing a hand over his face. "So I stayed inside unless it was dark out, then Trey and me would play soccer in the backyard. If Dawn and Frank weren't there, Trey would have his friends come over." He stopped, as though realizing that he'd said more than he meant to.
"Why don't you try to get some more sleep, Ryan?" Sandy suggested, moving to sit on the coffee table in front of the couch.
"Your friend'll really help him?" Ryan asked.
"If he calls, she'll help," Sandy promised. "I'd help, but right now you're my priority, okay?"
Ryan nodded and slowly laid down again, eyes already sliding shut again. "Okay," he whispered.
To Be Continued...
It may be a little while yet before other characters come into play... Seth and even Caleb may be relatively soon (either next chapter or the one after) but everyone else may not appear for another few chapters...
I did decide to make this a crossover with OTH, but I may have a couple other OTH character besides Brooke appear... At the moment I'm leaning towards Victoria, Nathan, and Dan as the other OTH characters... lol
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