Never Forget

Summary: Ryan Atwood has gotten used life in Newport Beach without Marissa Cooper; he's has even grown to somewhat enjoy it, yet when she returns, his life, among those he is close with, will take a drastic turn.

Rated T (for now)

Disclaimer

Author's Note: I felt really unsatisfied at the end of season three of The OC, as many viewers did, after being taken on this journey with beloved characters and then having the ending that they gave us. I mostly stopped watching after season three, but know the basic storyline for season 4. This fic will take place after season 3 including everything except the scene where Marissa dies. Thanks for checking this out! Reviews appreciated!

Every day was the same. Ryan began today as he did every day: He woke up; showered and readied himself for the day; grabbed a cup of coffee and a bagel as he was on his way out the door; and placed a quick, yet gentle kiss on the cheek of the woman who he had been living with for the past nine months. He smiled and walked quickly out of the two-door exit of his mansion in Newport Beach, California to his shiny black Range Rover sitting in his circular driveway. As began reversing into the street, he saw Taylor standing in the door frame, smiling, and waving him goodbye. He glanced her way and was off to his architecture office in the center of Newport.

As Ryan drove through the neighborhood of basically identical mansions lining the coasts of Newport Beach, he subconsciously noted the monotony of Newport's architecture, of the people dwelling inside of it, and of his life. He was happy; he knew he was; he was sure of it, but if he was being honest with himself he sometimes…, well, sometimes he got a little bored. "No, that's being too honest" and with that thought, Ryan pushed the thought out of his head and continued his drive along the streets of Newport lined with double-door cream mansions with orange roofs.

Every day was the same. And every day was easy. Life with Taylor Townsend was easy.

As he pulled into his reserved spot, a co-worker greeted him with a wave, with which he returned with a small smile. Today he was finalizing design plans for a children's recreation center in Newport for all the Moms who wanted to dump off their children at an "established" foundation because they were too busy with plastic surgery and the town's social events to want to spend time with their children.

He opened the door and sat down on the leather chair seated at his desk in his office which had a beautiful ocean view; although after having it for a year and eleven months, Ryan had almost become immune to the luxuries that his office provided. Rubbing his eyes till they reddened, Ryan let out a deep sigh and brought his head to his desk, a little more forcefully than that which was comfortable.

After dating for almost five and a half years, Taylor had begun dropping hints to Ryan about her desire to be married for about a month now. Nothing too serious, he'll give her that, yet the hints had not gone unnoticed. She would casually mention how much happier her friends, both male and female, were now that they were married and how it was such a great step for them and on occasions, she would somehow twist the conversation to the topic of her ring finger's ring size and how beautiful she thought pink diamonds were in rectangular shape. So maybe the hints were not so subtle, Ryan just smiled and agreed, and then brushed the comments off. It's not that he had something against marrying Taylor. He wanted to marry her, eventually, he thought. When he imagined his future, he saw her there with him, holding his hand standing in the doorframe of his double door entrance to his typical Newport Beach mansion. So he assumed that if he saw her with him in his future, it meant that they were probably married. But in the present, he had no drive, no desire to marry her in the near future, other than to make her happy, which he truly wanted to do. So he supposed that he wanted to marry her, that he was just being a guy, that he was just having pre-marital thoughts cold-feet. Nothing was holding him back; or so he thought.

As the day continued on he continued perfecting his proposed designs for the children's rec center because he supposed to present a formal proposal to the contractors and the foundation sponsoring the center the following week. Although it was a huge project that he was pleased to be working on, it was not the first building he had designed. After signing a contract for five years with Orange County Design Inc, he had helped produce numerous buildings scattered not only in Newport, but throughout all of Orange County. His prestige at the company had only grown as the years progressed. Multiple promotions and pay raises throughout his time at OCDI evidenced not only the dedication he had for his job, but the company's appreciation for that dedication. He was only twenty-four, but he already had his dream job and was completing the tasks that he dreamed that job would entail.

Ryan was about to take a take his lunch break when his blackberry rang; he looked down and recognized the number as that of his brothers, adopted brother. "Hello"

Seth's voice filled the air as he replied "Hey man, I figured you were still at work, but since it's a Friday and your boss is usually at the golf course instead of the office by this time, you would be up for lunch at that diner."

"Yeah, lunch sounds good. I'll see you in fifteen" and with that Ryan hung up his phone, grabbed his keys and started heading out of his office and to the diner that was still frequently attended by him and his three closest friends: Seth, Summer, and Taylor.

Ryan forcefully shut his car door and headed to the entrance of The Crab Shack. He pulled open the door and noted his friends, Seth and Summer, already sitting in their normal booth, conversing. "Hey"

Summer replied enthusiastically "Hey Ryan, we tried calling Tay, but she said she out busy shopping".

"Oh, right…". Easy conversation ensued as the group placed their orders.

Every day was the same. And every day was easy. Life with Taylor Townsend was easy. Except this day was different. This day was going to be hard.

Time seemed to move in slow motion as Ryan's eyes glanced away from Seth speaking animatedly on the next edition of his comic and landed on the entry way to The Crab Shack, yet the space was no longer filled with the faded pistachio green door, it was filled with none other than Marissa Cooper.