As Ryan opened the door everything within him felt relieved. There was Summer, she was okay, and she was standing right in front of him.

"Where have you been?" he asked urgently.

"I just went for a walk" Summer answered matter of factly. "I needed to clear my head."

"I've been worried about you" Ryan responded. "After what happened the other night…Summer you know you're not safe alone in a place like this."

"Do you honestly think that is what I'm worried about right now Ryan!" Summer snapped.

"Look, I know what's happening here is… confusing."

"Confusing?" Summer asked. "Ryan, we kissed. Me and you kissed. This can't happen…"

"Why not?" Ryan asked.

"Because…" she said searching her mind for an explanation. "You're Seth's brother."

"And you and Seth aren't together anymore Sum."

"Do you honestly think he'd be okay with this?" she retorted. "I can't come between you two…"

"Summer" Ryan interrupted. "I love Seth, him and the Cohen's they're my family. But you…"

"Me what?"

"You've gotten under my skin. I… I'm falling in love with you."

"Don't say that" Summer responded as tears welled up in her eyes. "This can't happen."

"You feel it too don't you?" Ryan asked.

"Of course I do!" Summer yelled. "But I can't do this to Seth or to Marissa."

"Summer" Ryan said softly. "You know Marissa's dead."

"You think I don't know that?" Summer yelled. "I know that, I deal with that every damn day!"

"Me too" Ryan responded sympathetically. "It seemed like I would never make it through. I felt like I had nothing. I wanted to die. Until…"

"Until what?"

"Until I had a reason to smile again. Until you insisted on coming here with me to help me find Volchok. Until you spent an entire afternoon rehashing seasons 1-4 of the Valley and you were able to quote it almost line for line. Until you fell asleep crying in my arms on Marissa's birthday. Until I saw you dancing to that Justin Timberlake song when you thought I wasn't watching. Until I noticed that you have the most freaking adorable laugh I've ever heard in my life. Until, damn it, until I fell in love with you Summer!"

"How long have you known?" she asked stony faced.

"How long have I known what?"

"That you're… that you…"

"That I love you?"

"Yeah."

"A long time" Ryan sighed. "A really freaking long time. But, it wasn't until last night that I knew I had to tell you. That I knew I needed to be with you."

"You did always have a white knight complex" Summer responded rolling her eyes.

"When I thought that those guys might have…"

"They didn't. Ryan, I'm fine."

"I never should have let you come here. It isn't safe. I'm bringing you back to Newport. Tomorrow."

"No!" Summer protested. "Ryan, we are so close to finding him."

"What if that's the reason those guys tried to attack you Summer, what if he knows we're on to him and he sent them here, what if he goes after you again?"

"Ryan, we don't know if that is even what is happening."

"We don't know that it isn't. Summer if something happened to you, it would kill me."

"If I go back to New Port that will kill me!" Summer loudly protested. "Ryan I was suffocating there, I was just as lost as you were…"

"I don't want this to end. Me and you together like this. I don't want it to end Summer, not ever…"

"I don't either" Summer admitted tearing up. "But Ryan, I still love Seth."

Those words felt like a knife through Ryan's chest. He could only think of two other times in his life where simple words had hurt him so deeply. The first, was when he heard them pronounce Marissa dead. He already knew she was dead. He was certain that he knew the exact moment that she slipped away as he held her in his arms. But to hear the actual words… It was so final, so official. The other time was when his mother threw him out. He was just a kid, and he had no idea where he would go or what he would do. He felt so rejected and lost. But this was simply torture. He wanted Summer, he wanted her so bad that it hurt. He wanted to be with her, to kiss her, to make love to her, to hold her. And she was telling him that she was in love with his brother.

"But…" Summer continued as a tear fell down her cheek. "I think I'm falling in love with you too."

"Really?" Ryan asked hopefully as he moved closer to her.

"Yeah" she admitted breathlessly. "And it's scary, and it's new, and I didn't expect it. I never expected it. I remember a few months ago, when me and you and Seth and Marissa went swimming at that model house when just the thought of being with you made me laugh."

"I believe 'ew' was your exact word" Ryan replied with a smile. At the time, he had a similar reaction. Summer was Seth's girlfriend and Marissa's best friend. He always looked at Summer as off limits, until he didn't.

"Even though we broke up, this would kill Seth" she said as she moved closer to him. "And we'd be crapping all over Marissa's memory. This goes against everything I am…"

"I know" Ryan replied sympathetically. "This isn't exactly what I thought was going to happen either Sum, but now. I don't think I can fight it."

"Me either" Summer sighed as she fell in to him and crashed her lips onto his.

It was an urgent kiss. And as it went on, it grew even more urgent. Summer pulled away for a moment and looked at Ryan. He was convinced that he had never seen anything so beautiful in his life. Her hair was messy, her lips were swollen, and she was staring at him with her big, beautiful, dark eyes as if she was silently asking him what was going to happen. Ryan wanted her worse than he ever wanted anybody, but he knew how much she was struggling. He didn't want to push. He gently brushed her hair behind her ear and caressed her chin.

"You okay Roberts?" he asked softly.

"Yeah" Summer whispered shakily as her hands journeyed down Ryan's abdomen and began to pull at the hem of his shirt. Ryan held back a groan and assisted her in pulling it off. He began kissing her again, just as intense as he had before. He lifted her off of the ground with one hand and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He was fascinated by how light she was. How someone so passionate, and full of vigor; someone who had changed his life so completely in only a few short, months could feel so light in his arms, could look so vulnerable as she looked up at him while he laid her down on the bed.

"You want this?" he asked hoping harder than he had in his entire life that she'd say yes.

"Yes" she moaned as she pulled him back on top of her. He ran his hand up her skirt and explored the skin on her hips. She felt so soft, she smelled so good. He had never been so aroused. "You're so beautiful" he whispered in her ear as he slid her panties down her smooth legs.

"I love you" she responded breathlessly.

"I love you too Summer Roberts" he answered as he began to kiss her neck.

Summer spread her legs as Ryan finally worked his pants and boxers.

"I can't believe this is finally happening" he moaned as he lowered himself into her.

Summer gasped, and Ryan was convinced that he had never found a simple noise quite so sexy.

The feeling of finally becoming one with Summer was more than Ryan could handle- the feeling of her clenching around him, the sound of her moaning and gasping, the look of her face growing flush. Just when Ryan thought that the situation couldn't get any hotter, he was reminded of one of the many reasons he fell in love with Summer as she flipped him around so she was on top.

"I like to be on top" Summer explained as she thrusted onto him.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" he asked huskily as he ran his hand over the smooth skin of her stomach.

As Summer moved faster it took everything within him to hold back his orgasm. He wanted to wait until she came first. He was actually more excited to watch her experience release than he was to feel his own. The thought of Summer losing control because of what he was doing to her was just about the hottest thing Ryan could imagine, and he wasn't disappointed when it finally happened.

"Oh" Summer gasped as she started to clench around him uncontrollably. Her breath was shaky and her voice was trembling.

"Say my name" Ryan urged her gently.

"RYAN!" Summer screamed as she threw her head back.

That was enough for Ryan, he couldn't hold on any longer. He let go and experienced the most powerful release of his life.

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"That was amazing" Ryan said finally breaking the silence that had existed between him and Summer for the last few minutes.

Summer snuggled into his chest as he pulled the blanket up to cover both of them.

"Ry?" Summer asked in a small, vulnerable voice.

"Yeah sweetheart?" Ryan answered kissing her head.

"What happens now?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what happens now?"

Ryan's heart sunk in his chest. He thought that the act of consummation guaranteed that Summer wanted to be with him, but now she seemed so unsure of the future and she had admitted before they made love that she still loved Seth.

"I guess" Ryan said trying to steady his voice "I guess whatever you want Sum."

"What do you want?" she asked shakily.

"I want to be with you" he answered quickly. "I want to be with you for the rest of my life."

"That sounds nice" Summer admitted as she drew imaginary circles on his chest with her finger.

"Is that what you want too?" Ryan asked hopefully.

"A few months ago I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with Seth. I never imagined that I'd be in bed with his brother."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life. But I know that right now, being here with you, it feels pretty perfect."

"Well" Ryan said "I guess that will have to be enough for me right now."

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