Here is the third and final installment to The Hero story line, hope everyone enjoys it and let me know what you think.
Ryan gazed out across the wide open campus, enjoying the day as the sun shone down brightly on him with the afternoon breeze providing just the right amount of air to keep from being hot. This had become one of his favorite times of the day, especially with the weather being just as it was. He was sitting by himself on an old wooden bench, his back towards the parking lot so that the view in front of him was of the campus. Students were hurrying from one class to the next across the grounds, some were playing Frisbee as their classes were done for the day while others sat on a blanket spread out on the lawn and visited with new classmates and friends. It was peaceful sitting here, a new change of environment that he so desperately needed, and unless he introduced himself to someone, no one knew who he was, where he came from, or what his past history contained.
Graduation from high school had been completed nearly five years ago. They had escaped Harbor, in more ways than one, and had come out more educated, more mature, and more aware of life. He had heard people in the dorms or around campus talking about how they would love to go back to high school, re-live the experience all over again now that they were wiser to the world, but for him, he never wanted to go back. There were moments he loved about his time back then - meeting the Cohens, escaping from Chino, finding Marissa – but after what had happened he knew that living in the moment was much better than looking back at the past.
Seth and Summer had gone off to the East Coast, putting as much distance between them and Newport as they possibly could without actually leaving the country. Ryan saw them seldom, hardly at all if the holidays didn't count but he knew that they were both doing well together. Seth was trying to get his comic book off the ground and published, pouring more effort into it than Ryan had seen him combined all the years he knew him. Summer was preparing to take over the fashion world, creating her own designs that she promised would be the latest fashion trends in no time at all. Ryan had expected them to move back soon after they graduated from college but to his disappointment, not to mention the dismay of Kirsten, they both decided to stay where they were for the time being and see what they could do with their lives.
Ryan's thoughts were broken as the favorite time of his day began. He looked across the grounds, feeling her presence that far away and watched as she cut through the lawn to where he waited. Every eye was on her as she passed by, the Frisbee sailing through the air moments ago falling to the ground as it had been forgotten. She turned her head, causing her long shinning hair to flip off her shoulder and bounce back into place, her face radiating into a smile the moment she saw him. At first Ryan had been jealous of all the looks she got but she was oblivious to them and always found her way straight to him, her smile only glowing brightly in his direction. He loved the moment that she would see him as he waited for her to get out of class so that they could go home together, something about the way her face lit up every time and causing his knees to shake yet. He thought that after all this time together that the chemistry they shared would soon fade away; the butterflies in his stomach would quiet when he looked at her, but each time was like the first time for the both of them.
After graduation the two of them had decided to put college off for a year, taking the extra time to go travel abroad. They spent the year traveling, sailing, hiking, taking trains to all different and exotic places. Where ever they wanted to go, they went without looking back. At first Ryan had thought that it was adventurous, they were simply enjoying life to the fullest before they went back to reality and the rest of their lives but after several months he knew that wasn't the case. They were both running away from their lives, not wanting to go back to the nightmares that had haunted them for so long. Once they both realized this, their relationship strengthening during the process, they enrolled in college near Newport and confronted their demons head on together. After nearly four years, Ryan couldn't say that they had gone away, but the time in-between those moments was growing farther and farther apart. He knew that they would never be rid of them, there was no way a person could forget the things they had seen, but they had learned how to live with it and that was better than before.
"Miss me?" she asked, giving him a quick kiss as he stood up to greet her.
"Always," he responded, returning the favor, "How was class?"
"I've got a twenty page report to be turned in after break," she exclaimed, rolling her eyes in disgust, "How the hell is a person suppose to go off on Christmas break with that in the back of their mind?"
"We've got a few days before we have to head back to Newport," Ryan tried to help, pulling her close with his arm around her waist, "and if Seth hears you say Christmas while he's back you'll never hear the end of it."
"Oh, Summer's coming back!" she replied happily, her mood changing faster than the pace back to their apartment, "I almost forgot that I'll actually get to see her in a few days instead of just talking on the phone!"
"Make it sound like you've got nobody back here to spend time with," Ryan pouted, or tried to as best as his seldom used expressions would allow.
She slipped her arm around his, snuggling her body closer as they walked as she laughed off his comment. After everything they had gone through both apart and together, just knowing that he would hold her tight and make jokes was as good as it got for her. There had been times that she truly believed they would never be able to laugh again but yet, here they were. Somehow she had found this amazing man and for some reason he loved her back and as she thought of this, which she frequently did, she stopped him on the sidewalk and engaged in a long, romantic kiss with him.
"Can't wait till we get back to the apartment?" he asked as they broke apart, his breath being taken away as he was caught off guard by her action.
"I figured there was no time like the present to tell you that I love you," she remarked, kissing him again quickly before she took his arm again to continue walking.
…
Ryan unlocked their apartment, opening the door to allow Marissa in before he followed. Their apartment wasn't much, a tiny space that allowed for a couch and television, a kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom but to them it was home. It was small and cozy, allowing them to remain close no matter what part of the apartment they were in, and somewhere along the lines they had begun referring to it as home. They didn't need large mansions to live in as they had spent during their high school years, just a place big enough for the two of them since that was what mattered to them.
"Hey Ry, can you grab the mail while I jump in the shower? I want to head down to the library yet tonight and get this paper completely finished before Summer gets here," Marissa called out to him as she walked down the hall to their bedroom.
Ryan tossed his book bag down on the couch before turning around to retrieve the mail that they should have gotten before going up the four flights of stairs. He fumbled with the key for awhile, having always stuck since they moved in, and emptied out their mailbox. Normally it was always junk mail or flyers along with Marissa's never ending supply of magazines that carried everything from the current gossip to the current trends and he shuffled through the pile quickly as he once again headed up the flights of stairs to their apartment. Reaching the door he noticed that an envelope addressed to him was sandwiched in the middle of a carry-out guide to a new restaurant near-by and their telephone bill.
He threw the stack down on the counter, wondering again as he did each month why they paid for a telephone bill when they never used the phone. If they needed to call someone, they each had their cell phones and the only time their apartment phone was ever used was by telemarketers. Marissa had insisted that they get one though; believing that a phone made them domesticated and if she wanted a phone, he made sure she got one. His mind wandered back to the letter, wondering who it was from since he didn't recognize the handwriting on it but he heard the shower running and as his thoughts wandered to Marissa and her absolutely amazing body, the letter was soon forgotten as he realized that a shower might not be a bad thing for him as well.
…
A few hours later, Ryan sat across the table from Marissa in the library, watching her as her attention was focused on the books lying open in front of her. He was done with school, his last final taken earlier this afternoon and there was no subject or book better than what he was already looking at. She was completely absorbed in the book, her eyebrows scrunched up in concentration with a pencil between her lips. Ryan never believed himself to be a mushy, romantic guy but he could stare at her all day and never get bored from it. Everything about her was perfect and yet, she was with him, declaring her love for him over and over throughout the years. How he had managed to grow up in Chino and still be here, in college with a beautiful woman next to him he wasn't sure and as long as it remained true, he really didn't care.
With the Chrismakkuh season coming upon them, he knew that she needed to get her paper done so that she could enjoy the time off. With Seth coming home, the holiday season was only going to be that much more intense, their days filled with errands and lists of things to accomplish as he tried to pull off a bigger event each year. While never liking the holiday season very much, probably because instead of presents and cheer it was more like beatings and booze, he had begun to enjoy this time of year with the Cohens. Everything was different when you had a family that cared about you, wanted you to come home so that they could see you and with Marissa added in, he had one of the greatest families ever.
Glancing at his watch, seeing that they hadn't even been at the library for more than an hour already, he realized that continuing to stare at Marissa wasn't going to pass the time any faster even though he could do it for hours. He decided to pass the time doing something constructive, hoping that she would get enough done quickly so that they could head back home. Remembering the letter, he reached for the back pocket of his jeans and pulled it out. Scanning for a return address, he found none on it and his curiosity arose again. He tore the back of it open, revealing a letter with the same penmanship that was on the front, the letter starting with a Dear Ryan so he knew that it wasn't a mistake that he received it.
He began reading the letter, his eyes quickly going over the words written and a loud gasp escaped out of him as the words hit him. His eyes dropped down to the bottom, confirming who he thought it had been sent from after just a few sentences were read, the letter falling quietly onto the table from a mixture of shock and anger. Realizing what had just happened, he tried to pick it back up and act normal before Marissa saw his reaction but as his eyes fell onto her again, he saw that he was too late.
"Ry, what's wrong? Who's the letter from?" she asked concerned, noticing that his face had gone pale and his breathing had quickened.