Adopted by Dear Evan Hansen: Could we go on For Forever?

Thank God They Rescued You

Trigger Warning: This will go into Ryder's backstory - juvie, neglect, abuse, starvation

**Ryder's POV**

It was Monday, so the cast was off and I was off from school for a Staff Development Day, and the collective decision was made to go to the beach, and by 'collective decision', I mean Michael Park and Jennifer Laura Thompson chose. We went up to East Harlem and Will decided that we should take a boat out onto the river. I don't like boats. I used to, my mom had a boat and we would take it out almost every weekend. When my parents died, though, I shut the water-loving part of me down.

"I'll stay behind," I wrung my hands behind my back so Laura and the others wouldn't see the nervous habit as they'd picked up on reading my body language, "Get us some food for when you get back."

"I'll stay, too," Ben nodded, smiling at me.

"You sure?" Mike raised his eyebrows, "On a day like today being out on the water is going to be nice."

I nodded quickly, "I'm sure."

Mike narrowed his eyes and I knew he'd caught my bluff, he was good at that. But, he only said, "Okay."

So, Ben and I watched as a boat carried his castmates out onto the river.

"You can swim, right?" Ben asked once the ship was out of earshot, "That's not why you didn't want to go on the boat?"

I scoffed, "Can I swim? Of course I can swim."

I grabbed Ben's wrist and dragged him to the diner of my childhood.

"Ryder, we can't go in there," Ben protested when we arrived at Joe's Diner, "The sign says 'Happy Hour - No one under 21'."

I ignored Ben and pulled him through the open door.

"No kids allowed!" the host told us.

"Even me?" I met his eyes and smirked. The host's eyes widened.

"Sharkie?" he came around the station and wrapped me in a hug.

"Nice to see you, too, Kev. Is Joe around?"

Still bewildered, Kevin nodded, "Yeah, kid. I'll get him for you. Take a seat anywhere."

"Thanks, Kev. It's good to see you again."

I brought Ben over to a booth against the far wall and scanned the diner, seeing some familiar faces.

Joe's had a ring-shaped bar in the center of the room and the rest was all tables and booths. There were rainbow twinkle lights around the ceiling and corners and four TVs were playing four different stations. One had some baseball game, another had the news, the third had Disney Channel, and the last had HGTV.

"Ryder Lukassen - as I live and breathe! Get o'er here, kiddo, and give me a hug!"

I slid out of my seat and ran to Joe McKellan, the owner of the diner, "I missed you, Joe!"

"Ya shore got a funny way of showin' it, kid," Joe laughed in his thick Jersey accent and poor grammar. He talked like a newsie.

"Sorry. Life's gotten a little go-go-go," I lowered my voice, "I'm being fostered by a good family."

"For real?" Joe's smiley crystal blue eyes brightened, "That's great!"

"Come meet him!" I brought Joe over to Ben and introduced them.

Joe McKellan was an older man. He was born in Michigan before moving with his family to Canada. He came back when he was nineteen and had to fight in the Vietnam War, where he lost his leg. Somehow, Joe has kept a smile on his scraggly gray beard and in blue eyes that are always crinkled with smile lines.

"Kiddo," Joe turned around from Ben, "The fellas are upstairs - Go say hi."

**Ben's POV**

Ryder left me with the man, Joe, who slid into the booth across from me.

"What d'you wanna know?" asked Joe.

"Huh?"

"I sees it in your eyes. What d'you wanna know 'bout Ryder?"

"She refused to go on a boat ride with me and some of our family. I asked her if she could swim and she laughed and brought me here."

"Ryder's story ain't a pleasant one," Joe sighed, "Both her folks were in the fire department. Her father, Jonas, was Captain and her mother, Olive, was a driver/engineer. Theys was driving through the city as a family one day and theys was hit by a truck. Ryder was the only survivor," Joe shook his head, "Poor kid was only nine. Her folks' co-workers pulled them each from a car. You noticed the difference in Ryder's step to yours? That limp - it's from the crash."

"Oh, God," I put my head in my hands and rubbed my temples. I knew Ryder had been through trauma, but this was more that I'd imagined. And based on the look in Joe's eyes, we weren't even close to done.

"After her folks passed, shes was put in her first foster home. Only a month later she's arrested and sent to juvie for multiple counts of petty theft. I went to visits her the day after I heard and she was underweight and bruised. Ryder swears the bruises were from jail mates as a welcome, but theys looked older than that."

"Her first home was starving and abusing her?"

"Aye," nodded Joe, leaning forward, "Poor kid's seen a lot. If I hadn't gone to Vietnam, she'd have seen more than I. Hell, she may have seen more anyway."

"I had no idea..." I rubbed my eyes clean of tears, "She never talks about it."

Joe reached across the table and put a hand on my shoulder, "It ain't yous fault. She will tell you all this when she is ready, force will only draw her away. Some folks have good experiences in foster care - not Ryder. Since her folks died, her life's been down-hill."

"How can I help, Joe? I want to help her, I just don't know how."

"Give her hope," replied Joe, "Love and hope is the most powerful feelings. Ryder don't trust many so give her reasons to trust you."