Chapter One
Marissa sat crumpled on the dirty apartment floor. She was too stunned to cry, too petrified to speak. What had she done? Her eyes darted back and forth between Ryan and Trey. Neither was moving. She looked down at her hands. They were so clean; so small; and five minutes away from innocent. No one could have guessed that these hands had just taken a life. "No!" She thought firmly, "I had to save Ryan!" She didn't think she could ever have done this, but when she saw Ryan, gasping for air, something came over her. She wanted, no needed, to keep Ryan safe. He was hers now, and she wouldn't let anybody take him. Just as she was beginning to rationalize her actions, her mind flipped. All she heard running through her head was, "you killed Trey, you're a murderer." Why didn't she shoot him in the leg? He was Ryan's brother! Ryan will never forgive now!" Marissa sat on the floor, hugging her knees and shaking. The silence was only disturbed by her shaky, heavy breathing, until there was a crunch of glass followed by a sharp scream.
"Oh my God, Coop!" Summer ran to her friend, who didn't even acknowledge her presence.
Seth spoke softly from the doorway, "Oh my God." Seth walked slowly to Marissa, but then seeing Ryan he ran over to him and bent down. Seth shook Ryan frantically without receiving a response. He put his fingers gently to Ryan's neck.
"Is he ok?" Summer asked, arm still wrapped protectively around Marissa.
Seth nodded, "I think so, I found a pulse."
"What about Trey?" Summer asked quietly, fearing the worst."
Seth, whose attention had been on his brother, hadn't even seen Trey. The color drained from Seth's face as he saw Trey lying lifeless in a pool of blood. Seth approached Trey, fighting away a mixture of tears and vomit. He put his fingers to Trey's neck, desperately searching. After what seemed like hours, Seth's hand fell, and he looked up at the girls sadly.
Summer gasped and covered her mouth as tears formed in her eyes as well. Marissa looked up at Summer, and glanced over at Seth and a sudden wave of guilt washed over her at her inability to cry. Her guilt was broken by the question she was fearing.
"Coop, what happened? What did you do?"
Marissa shook her head, she honestly didn't know what had happened. "I came over here as soon as I found out that Ryan knew…" she started slowly, shaky as she recalled her actions. "When I got here they were fighting. Trey had Ryan pinned and he was choking him." Marissa stared into her friends' eyes. Emptiness and shock stared back. Were they accusing her? Marissa became defensive, "you don't understand! Trey was killing him! I saw the gun on the floor, and I don't know what happened!" The reality of the situation had finally begun to sink in and Marissa broke down into tears. Her shoulders shook viciously with every sob.
Summer rushed to her hurting friend. "Shh, Coop calm down. It'll be ok."
Marissa sobbed to Summer, "Not it won't! I can't undo this!" Marissa's eyes went to Ryan who was beginning to stir. Marissa's eyes widened. "I can't face Ryan right now, I have to go."
As Marissa turned to go, Summer grabbed her arm, "Marissa, you can't drive like this! You're too upset! Plus, Ryan is going to want to see you and make sure that you're alright!"
"Than he can't see me because I'm not alright!" Marissa spat back, "And so what if I do get in a car accident! I deserve to die! I just killed somebody!" With that, Marissa ran out the door, shaking Summer's hand from her arm violently.
Summer ran frantically after her, "Marissa stop! Marissa!" Tears were now rolling down Summer's cheeks.
Seth pulled her close to him, "Summer, she'll be fine. I don't blame her for not wanting to see Ryan right now. I mean, they are both going to be really affected by this, and I don't think they can support each other and themselves right now. Plus, now we can assure Ryan that Marissa's ok, even if that's not the complete truth."
Summer sniffed and nodded as she let Seth embrace her. As they turned around, they were startled to see Ryan standing silently, staring at his brother.
Seth started to speak, but Ryan interrupted him, "Is he…" Ryan trailed off, not wanting to say the words.
Seth looked at the floor, "Yeah, I think so. I think we had better call an ambulance though."
Seth was cut off again, "Where's Marissa, is she ok? Did she shoot him? That's the last thing I remember."
Summer nodded solemnly, "She left, she couldn't face you. She was scared Ryan. Scared of what she did, and what you would think."
Ryan didn't speak for a minute, "I don't know what I think. I mean, it was my intention to kill him, but now that he's actually gone…I don't know, he was my brother. The only real family that I had left."
"Ryan," Seth spoke quietly, "We may not be blood, but we couldn't be realer."
Ryan nodded solemnly in agreement.