Chapter 12

Ryan woke up when the door to his room opened. Taylor made her way across the room and stood next to his bed. She looked nervous, and Ryan couldn't help but wonder what she was so worried about.

"Hey," He smiled in greeting as he levered himself up into a sitting position.

"How are you feeling?" Taylor asked softly.

Ryan sighed. "I'm better. The nap helped. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to move upstairs yet."

Taylor shrugged nonchalantly. "That's okay. I – um – I need to talk to you about something."

"Okay," Ryan looked at his girlfriend curiously.

"I'm leaving." Taylor declared.

"Oh, your mom wanted you to move back in?" Ryan asked, hoping that she didn't mean what he suspected. This couldn't be happening to him again – not again.

"No." Taylor took a deep breath. "I'm going back to France."

"What?" Ryan whispered.

"I leave tonight." Taylor informed her devastated boyfriend. She hated the wounded look in his eyes. Didn't he realize how hard this was for her?

"When did you decide this?" Ryan asked softly, working to stay in control of his emotions. He was being abandoned – again.

Taylor shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

"Was it after I collapsed on the stairs?" Ryan demanded harshly. He knew that she was shallow, but surely she wasn't leaving him because he was still healing. Healing from injuries he acquired while protecting her.

"Ryan, calm down. It's just better this way." Taylor took a step back towards the door.

"Yeah, it's always better to just give up and run away than to talk to me about what's bothering you." Ryan grumbled.

"Why should I bother? It's not like you're a man of many words." Taylor spat.

"You mean a man like Henri Michel?" Ryan scoffed. It still bothered him how quickly Taylor had gone back to her ex-husband despite begging for Ryan's help to get her divorce. Ryan was beginning to think that this was typical behavior for Newport girls.

Taylor shrugged. "Maybe. I just know that this isn't working. We want different things."

"Yeah, I wanted a girlfriend who loved me enough to stay, and you wanted Henri Michel." Ryan growled. "Fine, if you want to leave so badly then go! It's what you do best anyway."

"I don't know why you're so angry. You've got your family – you don't need me!" Taylor lashed out.

"Is that what this is all about? You're jealous because I finally have a family that cares about me?" Ryan demanded incredulously.

"I'm tired of coming last!" Taylor declared angrily.

"What?" Ryan asked shocked.

"Just once I would like to be the most important person in someone's life!" Taylor confessed. Her eyes narrowed and her tone turned accusatory. "But no! If one of the Cohens call you go running!"

"I can't believe this! They saved my life! I had nowhere to go and no one would help me! I was on the streets and they took me in and gave me a home. For the first time in my life I had a home that I wasn't scared to death of! You complain about your mother, and I'll admit she can be cruel with her words – but you have no idea what it's like to wonder if you can make it to the free clinic because you're mom is too drunk and high to realize that she hit you with her car and broke your leg! You don't know what it's like to be laying in the floor bleeding with a piece of table through your leg because your cocain-snorting father threw you into a wall! You want to be first in someone's life? I just wanted someone to care – period!" Ryan screamed enraged.

Taylor remained silent as she stared at her boyfriend with wide eyes. She had never seen him so angry.

Ryan took a deep breath and visibly pushed down his fury. "You're right." He spoke hoarsely. "We want different things. You better go so you don't miss your flight."

Taylor bit back a sob and hurried out the door where her suitcase was waiting for her. Julie and Summer stood there. They were both pale from what they had heard. Kirsten shot the younger girl a disappointed look before making her way into the bedroom.

"I hope you know what you're doing." Julie said uneasily as she glanced at the closed door.

"It's better this way. He's right, I can't understand." Taylor declared as she gave the older woman a hug goodbye.

"I'm going to miss you." Summer took her turn in a good-bye hug.

"Me too." Taylor sniffled. "I'll call you later."

"You better." Summer cried.

Taylor took the handle of her suitcase and smiled through her tears. "Au revoir."

A moment later she was gone.

A knock on the door roused Ryan from his dark thoughts. Kirsten stuck her head in the door and smiled sadly at her distraught son.

"Mind some company?" She asked softly.

Ryan shrugged, but since he didn't tell her to leave Kirsten decided to brave it. She pulled the chair over to the bed and sat down.

"Are you okay?" Kirsten asked softly. It broke her heart to hear what Ryan's life had been like before he came to live with them. She wished every day that she had been more welcoming.

"Taylor left me." Ryan stated softly.

"I know." Kirsten replied softly.

A tear worked its way down Ryan's cheek. "Everyone leaves."

Kirsten reached out and took his hand in her own. "Not everyone." She denied meaningfully.

Ryan squeezed her hand. "No. Not everyone."

"Sandy made chicken fajitas. Are you hungry?" Kirsten invited.

"Not really." Ryan murmured. He felt so drained. "I think I just want to be alone."

Kirsten began to agree, but she stopped. "No, I'm afraid you're going to have to eat dinner with the rest of the family."

Ryan's eyes widened in surprise. "What?"

"You're a Cohen now and that means that you have to eat when the rest of the Cohens do." Kirsten declared. "You can mope later."

Before Ryan knew it, he was sitting at the dinner table and Sandy was handing him the guacamole. As the meal progressed and Seth entertained everyone by describing the amazing discovery of "Briefcase or No Briefcase", Ryan realized that he was enjoying himself. Maybe Taylor was right. Oh it still hurt that she could just walk away so easily, but he was far from alone. At this moment in time, Ryan needed his family more than anything. It was nice to know that they weren't going to be abandoning him.

Ryan Atwood Cohen finally found his place.

Finis…for now.

I may write another sequel to this, but I'm going to try to work on my other stories first. Thanks to all those who have patiently waited for me to finish this.