Title: The Familiar One

The O.C

Ryan & Theresa

She had come back into this life with such surprise, and all it took was a single moment. It felt as if she was surrounding him from every angel. Everything had fallen away in one felt swoop, the drama of Newport and all the fake people and their petty problems melted into the background with the sound of her voice.

"Hey Atwood longtime no see."

He stood mouth agape taking in the girl he had known all of his life, and one of the few people that he could rely on. She was still the same chocolate haired beauty, but she had seriousness about her that the kids here at Newport knew nothing about. She like him had faced too many battles of life early on. She knew what disappointment looked like, and she knew what poverty and empty promises tasted like.

Ryan felt his center being tugged when she grabbed him up into a bone-crushing hug. She was the only one that had the privilege of having full access to him physically and emotionally. Even Marissa could not tap into that, Theresa was the only one that could, with the exception of Trey and since he was family it didn't really count.

He finally found his voice to speak when she playfully poked him in the ribs and asked him to introduce her to the girl by his side.

"Oh yeah I am sorry this is Marissa, Marissa this is Theresa."

Marissa stuck an unsure hand out to the slightly older girl taking in her natural beauty, and overall womanly presence. She felt intimidated Ryan and this girl had a history she could not touch. Ryan felt a yo-yo of emotions in his gut as he stood between his past and unsure future. He had just begun to let go of his life in Chino and everyone that it had included or so he had thought. Deep in the recess of his heart and mind he had never really let of Theresa and he knew that now with her standing there.

Marissa gently tugged at his sleeve and it was only then that he realized that he had been staring at Theresa. He looked down at the girl by his side and he saw just how young and naïve she was, she had never seen the ugliness of the world and the truly bad people in it. Her biggest problem was her father losing his money in bad business deals, they were not from the same world and would never be. He loved the Cohen's for taking him in and lavishing him with a life that he could have never dreamed of growing up in complete chaos and dysfunction. He was happy and safe in Newport save for the occasional fight with a spoiled newpise. In spite of that he could never change the fact that he was at heart an Atwood and would always be, and now that he was faced with a piece of his past he realized that he could have both a new life and a familiar one.