Hey everyone! Happy 4th of July! :)
So this is a randome oneshot that I just thought of. It takes place during season 1, after the Oliver incident.
Hope you enjoy!
"Ryan. Hey, Ryan, buddy. You awake?"
Ryan groaned as he put a pillow over his face so he could block out the sunshine from the open door of the pool house. Seth was standing in the doorway, already dressed for the day. Ryan could tell from the tone of his voice that he really needed to talk to him, but honestly, Ryan didn't feel like it. He was still a little ticked off about Seth not believing him during the whole Oliver incident, so he honestly just wanted Seth to go away. But Ryan knew better. If he didn't talk to him, then Seth would never go away.
"What's up?" Ryan asked as he slowly sat up in bed. Seth walked into the pool house and sat on the edge of Ryan's bed. He glanced at Ryan before speaking.
"Did I mention how awkward sex was with Summer?"
Ryan groaned again and laid back down. He looked at his clock. Only 9:15. It was way too early for Ryan to listen to a conversation about Summer Roberts.
"Only about a thousand times." Ryan mumbled. And it was sad, because it was true. Ever since Seth had done it with Summer, he wouldn't shut up about it, and Ryan was getting a little sick of hearing it.
"Well, what should I do?" Seth asked, ignoring the fact that Ryan didn't seem interested in the conversation at all. He was used to that by now.
"Why are you asking me?" Ryan asked. What was he supposed to do about Seth and Summer's sex life?
"I figured you'd know what I should do. I mean, you're experienced, and you've got two beautiful women going after you. Dude, you're like a sex god or something." Seth explained. Ryan glared at Seth. He hadn't thought about his women situation all night, but thanks to Seth, it was the number one thing on his mind again. He had Marissa, and he had Teresa. Well, technically, he didn't have either of them, but both of them wanted him, and for the first time in his life, Ryan had no idea what to do with the two. No matter what he did, one of them would have their heart broken, and most likely, it was going to be Marissa's. Teresa knew everything about him, good and bad, and loved him anyways and Marissa didn't believe him about phsycotic people. It really wasn't a tough choice.
Ryan sat up in bed and looked at Seth. "Look, can we talk about this later?"
"Wait, you don't have any advice?" Seth asked, looking at Ryan with hopeful eyes. Ryan sighed.
"Uh, yeah. Just talk to her." Ryan said. It was simple advice, but Seth thought it was genious, and Ryan was just glad when he left the pool house. He was going to need time to think because tonight was the night he would break Marissa's heart. He knew he would feel like a jackass doing it, especially since it was Valentine's Day.
--
Ryan really hated the Newport charity events, but tonight was even worse. Right now he was standing with Teresa, who happened to be working at this charity event, and Marissa was heading straight for them. This would be Marissa's third time seeing Teresa, but Ryan knew it wouldn't be any less awkward.
"Hey Ryan. Um, hi Teresa." Marissa said, giving Teresa a small smile. Ryan could tell that she looked uncomfortable, and that just made him feel even more horrible. She still thought she was his girlfriend, and Ryan just hadn't told her yet.
"Hi Marissa. It's nice to see you again." Teresa said, returning Marissa's smile. "I like your dress."
"Thanks. I like your, uh, hair." Marissa replied weakly. She looked at Ryan, who avoided her eyes. He was too busy staring into space, trying to find his way out of this little situation. He kept looking around, praying for a distraction. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a door. A very random door that seemed to come from nowhere. It was in the middle of the room, but nobody seemed to notice it except for Ryan.
Well, that would be a good enough distraction.
Ryan stopped staring at the door and looked at the two girls in front of them. Only there was something different. They were only a few inches away from him, but their voices seemed like they were miles away. In fact, all of the sounds in the room seemed to grow very faint. He turned his attention back to the door, which was now glowing. He shook his head, wondering if he was dreaming. Or if there was LSD in his punch. That was a possibility. He had noticed that one of the waiters looked like an aging hippie from the sixties. Yes, that was probably it. He was just on an acid trip. He smiled, a very rare gesture for him, and he started walking to the door. If he really was on drugs, then he was going to try to make the best of it.
The door was painted a solid white. It wasn't against a wall or anything. It was just there, standing in the middle of the room. Ryan reached for the knob, a little afraid it would bite him. It didn't, and Ryan opened it and stepped inside. He expected to be in an all white room or floating on clouds, but instead he found himself on a lifeguard stand at the beach. It was dark outside, and Ryan was very confused. Why the hell was he there?
He sat down and shivered as a cool wind hit him. He was beyond confused at the moment, but he figured that's what drugs do to a person. They confuse you. He closed his eyes, enjoying being high. He didn't have to deal with Marissa or Teresa. He was by himself. At least, that's what he thought.
"You know, this becomes your favorite spot to go with Marissa." a voice said. Ryan jumped up, not expecting to hear voices. But after finding a totally random door that led to a lifeguard stand, he figured that hearing voices was the least of his problems.
"What are you talking about?" Ryan asked, feeling like an idiot for talking to the night air. He looked around and then sighed a sigh of relief when he saw that there was another person, but once he got closer to Ryan, he felt like throwing up. "Oh my God, you, uh, you look like, you're..."
"You." the man answered for him. Ryan looked at the man, shocked. It really was him. The man was much older than 17, but it was still Ryan.
"But, how?" Ryan asked, sitting down again. He was afraid that if he didn't sit, he would pass out. Then he thought of the worst possible situation. "I'm dead, aren't I? I've lived my entire life, I've died and I obviously have amnesia because I don't remember anything past the age of 17. How did this happen?" Ryan asked. He didn't think he had talked that much in his entire life, but when you think you're dead, you've got lots of questions to ask.
The older Ryan laughed. "No, you're not dead. I just want to talk to you. You're going through a rough time right now." he explained. Ryan looked at him, happy that he was at least alive.
"How do you know what I'm going through?" he asked.
"Because I'm you, and I've already been through what you will go through."
Ryan nodded. He had so many questions to ask. Will he go to college? Does he get a nice job? Will he have a family?
"So, what am I like in the future?" Ryan asked. He figured that would be a good place to start.
"Well, you're married and you've got a daughter. You work as an architect, and you live in a very nice house." Older Ryan said. Ryan was about to ask him questions about Seth and the Cohens, but Older Ryan read his mind. "Seth marries Summer and they have twins, a boy and a girl. Sandy and Kirsten are doing great, and they've even got a kid, too. And Teresa? You don't have to worry about her. She's doing fine."
Ryan now assumed that he chooses Marissa, but he felt a little confused. His future self hadn't mentioned anything about Marissa yet. He thought that was weird since she had been playing a big role on her life so far. Only it seemed like the conversation wasn't heading for the topic of Marissa, so Ryan decided to bring it up himself.
"What about Marissa?" he asked and then felt his stomach turn into knots when the man got a sad look on his face. What happened to Marissa?
"She died, Ryan. She died the day we graduated from high school and..."
Older Ryan kept talking, but Ryan couldn't hear him anymore. Marissa was going to die? It couldn't be possible. Not Marissa Cooper. He wouldn't let it happen. He had saved her life once before, so he could do it again. Couldn't he?
"How can I save her?" Ryan asked.
"I don't know if I can tell you. I mean, do you love her?"
He thought about lying, but he knew he couldn't because he would literally be lying to himself.
"Yeah, I do." Ryan said quietly. And for the first time that day, Ryan's head felt clearer than ever. Of course he loves Marissa. Why had he been thinking that he could ditch her for Teresa? Sure, Teresa was great, but she didn't love him like Marissa, and he knew that he could never love anyone else the way he loves Marissa.
"Daddy, I'm tired. Can we go home now?"
Both Ryans looked down the ramp of the lifeguard stand to see a little girl. The older Ryan stood up and the little girl walked torwards him. Older Ryan picked her up and kissed her on the cheek. Ryan couldn't believe the scene that was in front of him. The little girl was his daughter.
"If you love her, then just let her know." Older Ryan said, looking right into Ryan's eyes.
"I will." Ryan said, then he glanced at the girl again. He gasped. The girl had changed apperance. Before she had looked like himself, but now she was the splitting image of Marissa.
"Come on, Daddy! Mommy's going to be mad if we don't get home by nine!" the girl said impatiently.
"Okay, okay. We can go now." He began walking down the ramp, then he turned around one more time, smiled, and winked. "You've made the right decision."
Ryan smiled and closed his eyes, feeling better than ever.
"Wow, that was weird."
Ryan opened his eyes and looked in front of him. He was back in the room, standing exactly where he had been before. He looked behind him, but the door was gone. Teresa was gone, too.
"Where'd Teresa go?" he asked. Marissa looked both hurt and confused, but she answered anyways.
"She had to get back to work. She just told you that like, five seconds ago."
"Oh, right. Sorry, I was just busy thinking."
Marissa was about to say something, but she didn't get the chance. Ryan inched closer to her face and gave her a soft kiss.
"I love you." Ryan said, shocked by his own words. Just a couple months before he had had a very hard time saying that, but now it came so naturally to him.
"I love you too." Marissa replied, smiling a wide smile. Ryan smiled back and then put his arm around her.
"Let's get out of here. Go somewhere private." Ryan suggested.
"But I sort of wanted to dance." Marissa said. Ryan laughed.
"Don't worry," Ryan said, "I've got a feeling that we're going to have the rest of our lives to dance."
End.