After watching the season 3 finale (which i cried at!) I decided to write a story following on from the end of the episode. It will be about how everyone reacts and then Marissa's funeral, will be a few chapters. Hope you enjoy and please review!

Chapter 1: Goodbye

Ryan buried his head into her lifeless body.

"No…..no…" he had told her he wanted to be the last to say goodbye, but not like this. He didn't want to say goodbye forever. This wasn't supposed to happen. Not to Marissa. She was supposed to be starting a new life with her dad on a boat, yet here he was holding her cold body, the only heat coming from the blazing fire behind them.

He looked up when he heard the noise of a car engine and the slamming of a door. A man in his early thirties ran over.

"Oh my God! Are you kids alright!" Only when he got closer did he realise that they definitely weren't. The young boy's lifeless eyes stared into his, as he clutched the limp body of a young girl. He gasped and stopped in his tracks when he noticed the blood covering the side of her head. He ran the last few metres towards the boy.

"Is she alive!" he asked urgently crouching down. He looked at the boy who didn't say a word. "Have you checked her pulse?" When he still got no reply he reached for the girl's wrist and held his fingers to it, praying that he was going to feel something.

"Come on, come on," he said under his breath.

"She's dead," he heard a quiet mumble and turned his head to look at the boy. "She's dead okay! Gone! Forever!" the boy said raising his voice.

"I'm going to call for help. What's your name?" he looked as the boys face filled with pain as a tear fell from his eye for the girl lying in his arms.

"What does it matter anymore?" he said quietly. The man jumped up and ran back to the car for his cell phone.

Ryan grabbed onto Marissa's cold hand. He brought it up to his face and gently kissed it.

Dead. Four letters that meant nothing on their own but put together they meant emptiness, coldness. They meant his life would never be the same again.

He felt as a blanket was draped around his shoulders.

"You've got to keep warm. Help is on its way."

He had to keep warm. Marissa on the other hand would never be warm again. No matter how many blankets he could wrap around her, her cheeks would never glow again. Her heart would remain cold.

Ryan heard the blaring noise of sirens grow nearer, until he saw the flashing of red and blue lights around him. But he didn't move. He never once took his eyes off her. He couldn't let her go. He wasn't ready. Even as he felt the hands of a paramedic on him he still wouldn't let go.

"Come on kid," Ryan started to give up as the paramedics gradually took Marissa out of his grasp. He held on to her hand for as long as he could, and felt his body crumple as the tips of her fingers grazed over his.

"No, no! No!" he shouted as hands held him back, pulling him up from the ground. "Marissa!" he reached out for her as she was put on a stretcher and into an ambulance.

"Marissa…." he said weakly as she disappeared out of sight.

"Hey, it's okay. We need to get you checked out." He stepped into another ambulance and the last thing he saw was the flames shooting up into the clear night sky from the car that was a gift. A gift to say well done. A gift to take him into the next part of his life. A gift, however, that had ended this part.

Sandy groaned and rolled over as the phone beside the bed started ringing. He reached his arm out and picked it up.

"Hello," he groaned, half asleep.

"Could I please speak to Mr or Mrs Cohen?"

"This is Sandy Cohen. Who is this?" he asked sitting up. Kirsten sat up rubbing her eyes

"I'm Dr Edwards from Newport General Hospital."

Sandy immediately turned the bedside light on.

"Sandy?" Kirsten looked at him worried.

"I'm sorry to say that your son, Ryan, has been involved in an automobile accident."

"A car accident?" Kirsten's eyes widened as he said this and she sat up beside him.

"Well is he alright?"

"Ryan is doing well, a few broken ribs and a concussion, but there was a passenger in his car a Miss Marissa…."

"Cooper," Sandy said finishing his sentence. "Is she alright?" silence. "Dr?"

"I'm sorry but she didn't make it."

Sandy lowered the phone from his ear, his hand shaking.

"Sandy?" Kirsten touched his shoulder, frowning. "Sandy what's wrong?"

He slowly turned his head to her.

"It's Marissa. She's dead."

Kirsten just looked at Sandy for a few seconds before she could register what he was saying.

"She..she…" Kirsten could feel tears forming in her eyes. How could she be dead? She was only a kid, and she was off to start a great new life with Jimmy.

"We'll be right there Dr, thank you," Sandy said into the phone hanging it up. He turned back to Kirsten who had her hand up to her mouth.

"So, uh, Ryan is he…" she stuttered swallowing deeply.

"He's alright. A few broken ribs, nothing major."

Kirsten got up off the bed and walked to the window. Sandy walked over behind her.

"I just don't understand. How is she dead? She's only 17. And she was off to start a new life with…." She turned to face Sandy and he saw the marks of tears on her cheeks. "Oh god, Jimmy. How are we going to tell him? Marissa was the most important thing to him. How can we tell a man that his teenage daughter is dead, what's he going to do," she buried her head in Sandy as he held her close.

"Hey, hey. We'll figure it out," he said gently rubbing her back. Sandy looked up at the ceiling swallowing, to keep any tears from surfacing. He and Kirsten had watched Marissa grow up and now she was dead. He didn't even know how to start to process information like that. One thing he did know was that Ryan would be needing them now more than ever before.

"Hey, we need to go to the hospital. Ryan needs us." Kirsten looked up at Sandy

"Seth."

Sandy ran his hand through his hair. How was he supposed to tell Seth that Marissa was dead? And then Summer….

"How are we going to tell him Sandy?" Sandy looked at her.

"You get ready, I'll go talk to Seth."

Sandy knocked gently on Seth's door and walked in to the dark room.

"Hey Seth," he whispered. No movement. Sandy walked over to the bed and touched the sleeping body. Seth groaned and tried to turn over getting caught up in his duvet covers. He fought with them and eventually sat up his hair sticking on end. He rubbed his eyes and saw a figure standing beside his bed.

"Dad?" Sandy leaned down and turned on his bedside light.

"Woah! Seth put his arm up to his eyes. "What's with the interrogation. Has someone died or something?" Seth said jokingly, not realising it was the worst joke he could have made. He brought his arm down from his face and looked at Sandy who was still standing there, a grave expression on his face. Seth stopped smiling and frowned at his dad.

"Dad? What's wrong?" Sandy sighed and sat down on the edged of the bed. "Okay, are you going to say something or did you just fancy waking me up and sitting on my bed?" Seth said as Sandy just sat there.

"We just got a phone call from the hospital."

Seth felt himself wake up at the word hospital.

"Ryan and Marissa were in a car accident."

"What?" Seth stared at him in shock. "Uh, well are they okay? Is Ryan okay?" he asked urgently.

"Yeah Ryan's fine."

"Well that's good news right?" Seth couldn't figure out why Sandy was in shock. Sandy looked at his son. He could tell that Seth wasn't understanding the situation. He watched as Seth frowned, then as his eyes widened in realisation.

"What are you saying? Marissa's fine right?" he asked pretty certain of the answer. "Dad?"

"She's dead."

Seth just stared at Sandy speechless.

"Wait…wait….uhhh…..she's…..dead?"

"I'm sorry son." Sandy said watching as Seth tried to take it all in. Seth nodded his head and turned it away from Sandy. He brought his hand up and leaned his head on it.

"But I saw her only a matter of hours ago…." he brought his hand down to his mouth. Sandy noticed that his eyes were glistening with tears. "How am I supposed to tell Summer? You should have seen how upset she was when Marissa was leaving but telling her she's never going to see her best friend again? I don't know if I can do that to her. It will destroy her."

Not knowing what else to do Sandy put his arm around Seth's shoulder and pulled him into him.

"We'll get through it together. Your mom's just getting ready to go to the hospital, you better get dressed."

Seth nodded his head. Sandy patted his back reassuringly and left Seth sitting alone in his room. Seth sat on the edge of the bed, resting his head on his hands between his knees. He went over in his head what it would be like telling Summer.

"Oh hey Summer. You look very nice today. Oh by the way your best friend, Marissa, is dead. You fancy going to the diner?"

How was he supposed to tell her? It is hardly something you drop into conversation.

Seth dragged his feet down the last few stairs. He had got dressed like a zombie, just running 'Marissa's dead, Marissa's dead' over and over in his head.

"Hey," Kirsten said to him quietly as he walked over to them waiting at the front door. She walked over to him and hugged him.

They spent the whole car journey to the hospital in complete silence. Seth rested his head on the window and watched as the ocean glistened in the moonlight. Everything was so deceptively perfect. He knew he had never been that close to Marissa but ever since Ryan had turned up it had always been him, Summer, Ryan and Marissa: the fantastic four against the world. But now there was only three. And he knew there was no such thing as the fantastic three.

Sandy, Seth and Kirsten walked up to the front desk in the hospital.

"Hi I'm Sandy Cohen. We're here to see Ryan Atwood."

"If you would like to just take a seat."

"No I would not like…"

"Hey, Sandy," Kirsten gently rested her hand on Sandy's arm. She shook her head. There was no point in getting angry. She guided Sandy over to the seats and they all sat down. Kirsten took Sandy's hand in hers and gently squeezed it. Sandy turned and kissed her head. She rested her head on his shoulder, as Seth sat with his elbows on his knees, holding his head in his hands.

"Sandy?"

Sandy's head shot up and he looked along the corridor at Ryan. He felt Kirsten stand up beside him. He stood up and followed Kirsten over to Ryan. Kirsten carefully wrapped her arms around him. At first he didn't respond but he gradually hugged her back.

"I'm so sorry, Ryan," she said quietly. She couldn't help but let a tear escape. She let go of him and wiped the tear off her face. Sandy rested his hand on Ryan's shoulder.

"We're here for you," he said reassuringly. Ryan looked at Sandy and nodded his head grimly. He knew they were there for him but he didn't know of that was enough.

"Umm excuse me?" Sandy looked at a nurse. "If you want some privacy…" she indicated to a room.

"Thanks," Sandy said guiding Ryan into the room, followed by Seth. Kirsten hung back.

"I was just wondering if you know whether Marissa Cooper's mother has been told yet?"

"I was actually just going to sort that out."

"Could I possibly tell her?" The nurse looked at her sympathetically.

"Of course. Do you want to use the hospital phone."

"I think I want to go and see her in person." The nurse nodded.

"Thank you." As hard as Kirsten knew it would be to tell Julie she couldn't bare the thought of her finding out from a stranger. She opened the door. "Sandy can I talk to you for a sec?" Sandy joined her in the corridor.

"What's wrong?"

"I was just talking to the nurse and she said that Julie hasn't been told yet and I told her that I want to talk to her, so I'm going to go and see her."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I can't let her find out from a stranger over the phone. It's just not right."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"No it's fine. Go back to Ryan and Seth. They need you."

"Okay. Here's the keys." Sandy handed her the car keys and kissed her head.

"I'll see you soon." Sandy watched Kirsten disappear out of sight. Sandy walked back into the room where Ryan was sitting on the bed and Seth was sitting on a chair.

"What's going on?" Seth asked him.

"You mom's going to talk to Julie," he replied quietly. They both look over at Ryan, who was staring at the floor. Sandy looked at Seth who shrugged his shoulders. Neither of them knew what to say to Ryan. They knew it was too soon to ask him what had happened, but they had to talk to him sometime or he would never open up to them.

Kirsten closed the car door and walked up to the Robert's front door and rang the doorbell. She waited as they would all be in bed. Eventually a light turned on and she heard keys turning in the door. Neil opened the door to her in his dressing gown.

"Kirsten," he said surprised to see her standing at the door in the middle of the night.

"Hi Neil. I was wondering if I could talk to Julie?"

"Uh, sure. Come on in." he ushered her in and closed the door behind her. "Is everything alright?" he asked her, concerned.

"Kiki?" Neil and Kirsten turned around as Julie came down the stairs. "What are you doing here?" she walked over to Kirsten and kissed her cheek. She noticed Kirsten's pale face. "What's wrong?" Kirsten looked at the floor then back up at Julie, who was frowning. "Kirsten?"

"I'm afraid there's some bad news."

"What's happened?"

"About an hour ago, we got a call from the hospital. Ryan and Marissa were in a car accident on the way to the airport."

"What? Well are they alright? Is Marissa alright? I need to get changed, she'll be wanting to see me," she said, flustered from the news. She started to walk away when Kirsten tried to stop her.

"Julie wait!" but Julie kept walking. "Marissa's dead." Julie suddenly stopped dead. She slowly turned to face Kirsten.

"You're kidding right?" she said laughing. "I mean you've got to be kidding," she said her voice breaking.

"I'm sorry," Kirsten said quietly.

"No you don't understand she isn't dead. She can't be dead….." Kirsten just looked at her, not knowing what else to say. "Oh my god, my baby…." Julie brought her shaking hand up to her mouth, and started making whimpering noises. Kirsten and Neil rushed over to her as she sank to the floor. "My baby's gone," she sobbed. Kirsten crouched down beside her and saw tears spilling out of Julie's eyes. Kirsten held Julie's shaking body close as she cried hysterically. Neil stood at the side watching as Julie fell apart in Kirsten's arms feeling completely helpless.

"Dad? What's going on?"

Neil turned and saw Summer coming down the stairs followed by Kaitlyn. Kirsten looked up at him as she held on to Julie. Neil looked at the two girls but nothing came out……

Please Review! Look out for the next chapter soon.