A/N: This is my first ever fan-fiction, so please bear with me on structure and grammar deficiencies.
I am writing this fanfiction because we all know that Season 4 of The O.C was a bit rushed, and the storyline was probably not up to the standard of the previous seasons. This fanfiction is the way I pictured Season 4, and I am going to share it with you.
Marissa is still dead in this fanfiction, as I am starting this fanfiction straight after Season 3. There will be some similarities to the real Season 4, but also some big changes. Stay tuned for these, and the return of a few characters who got phased out of the series.
So I hope you enjoy, and I look forward to reading your reviews and criticism. Also note that the plot of this fanfiction will at times seem slow, so bear with me.
I DON"T OWN THE RIGHTS TO THE CHARACTERS OR ANYTHING. THE BASIS OF THE PLOT BELONGS TO THE CREATORS OF THE O.C, I am simply expanding and giving my own version of events.
Ryan could smell the aroma of petrol stemming from the car, and he knew there wasn't long before the occupants of the car would perish. He quickly unbuckled him seatbelt, and leant over to the passenger's side, to see if his friend was still conscious. Honestly, they were never really friends, Ryan thought to himself.
"Marissa. Marissa, can you move at all?" Ryan asked the passenger. Marissa Cooper lay motionless as the car continued to spew out oil. Ryan knew that is was only a matter of time now. They needed to get as far away from the vehicle as they could, as it was only a matter of minutes until the jeep would be engulfed by flames.
"Damn, she's unconscious", Ryan muttered to himself. He knew that once again he would have to save Marissa. After all, he was her shining knight.
Ryan unbuckled her seatbelt, and tried to move her from the seat. "Damn, I can't move her from this side." He wriggled out of the now mangled driver's side door, and staggered to the passenger's side. "C'mon Marissa", he muttered. Still no response.
He felt for her waist, and he felt a chill as his hand touched her body. It had just occurred to him that this was the first time he had held her since they had broken up. He began to pull her body out of the damaged jeep, which was a harder task than he first thought.
Eventually, he got her body out of the car, trying to keep her as still as possible during this process. He knew that she was badly hurt, and tried to limit any further injury that may occur.
As he carried her body down the road, he could hear the dripping off the petrol starting to cease. He started to increase the tempo of his walking; knowing that any second now the car would explode.
Feeling as though, they were a safe distance away from the car, Ryan lay Marissa's body on the road, hoping that she would regain consciousness some time soon.
As he laid her down, a loud bang came from the vicinity of the jeep. The once nice looking vehicle was now a large ball of flame. Ryan knew that he had just cheated death.
"Ryan. Ryan is that you." Ryan's heart leapt as Marissa started to regain some from of consciousness.
"Yeah, Marissa it's me. We had a pretty nasty crash, but everything looks to be ok. Well, the car is in pretty bad shape, but as long as you are ok then everything is fine."
"Ryan", Marissa whispered. "I'm really sorry for everything. Luke, Oliver, Trey, Johnny. And now Volchok. Whatever I do, I also seem to drag you into my messed up life."
"I wouldn't have it any other way", Ryan responded. It was true, despite how crazy the past 3 years had been, he wouldn't change it for the world. No matter what had happened, he still loved her.
"Ryan."
"Save your breath Marissa."
"I'm sorry."
"You already apologised."
"No. I'm sorry, that it has to end like this."
"Don't say stupid things like that Marissa. I told you, everything is going to be alright."
Ryan paused, waiting for Marissa to respond with "you're right" or "yeah it will". But after a few seconds it dawned on him; she hadn't responded at all.
All he could hear was the roaring of the fire from the jeep behind them, unable to distinguish any signs of her talking.
"Marissa, can you hear me? Marissa?" He moved his head towards hers, hoping to hear at least a cough or a whimper. Nothing, no whimpering, no coughing and even worse, he couldn't hear her breath.
He grabbed her hand in the hope of finding a pulse. Her hand was a lot colder that he remembered which Ryan knew was a very bad sign.
"MARISSA", Ryan yelled, hoping that this would make her wake up. Ryan could feel the tears started to well up in his eyes. 'This couldn't be happening', he thought. 'This wasn't the way things were meant to play out. He would go to uni, get his degree, while she worked for her father on a ship, figuring out what she wanted in life.
Then five years later, fate would bring them back together, and they would get married, have children, and spend the rest of their lives together.
"MARISSA. MARISSA SPEAK TO ME. No, no, no, no, no. MARISSA."
Ryan felt someone touch his arm. Whoever it was, it wasn't Marissa. This person had a much stronger grip. He felt the hand latch onto his arm, and pull him away from the girl he loved. He let out one last scream, as he felt himself drift away…..
"Marissa?"
"No son, I'm not your girlfriend" Ryan woke to see a man leaning over him, his hand on Ryan's arm as if to check if he still had a pulse.
Ryan looked up to see a police officer towering over him, one hand on Ryan, the other holding a pair of handcuffs.
"Are you alright son? You've been yelling for about ten minutes now"
"Yeah, everything is fine officer. Bad dream. Really, really bad dream." Ryan still couldn't get the events of that night out of his head. It had been 3 months, or at least that's what Ryan guessed, since the night of Marissa Cooper's death.
"I see you have been drinking quite heavily", said the officer, gesturing towards a collection of empty beer bottles.
"What it is to you?" Ryan responded angrily. If only he knew what Ryan had been through? If only he knew what it felt like to see the girl you love die right before your eyes.
"What's it to me, you ask? Well in case you didn't know, public drinking is illegal in this state."
"Yeah? And what state am I in?"
"Look kid, don't play silly buggers with me. This is the last thing I want to deal with"
"What state am I in?"
"Look kid, if you are trying to prove to me that you aren't drunk, then you are doing a terrible job….."
"I'm going to ask one more time, what state am I in?"
"What's your name kid?"
Ryan hesitates at this question. He didn't want to give out his real name in case things got a bit sticky, but he also didn't want to seem as though he was making up his name.
"Err....... Neal Schon." 'Crap', Ryan thought to himself. In his quest to find a non suspicious name, he comes up with the lead guitarist of one of America's most recognised bands. Perhaps the officer hasn't listened to Journey before…..
"Wow, kid really? And you don't suppose I've heard of Journey before? You don't think other people haven't tried that on me before? Now get out of here before I get really pissed off."
Ryan, now realising that he was in trouble, resorted to what he knew best of late. Anger.
"And what if I don't?" responded Ryan, full with a deadly mix of beer and months of unreleased frustration.
"If you don't do what I say, me and you can take a nice trip down to the police station, where you can have a nice chat with a few of my buddies."
Although the officer was unaware of Ryan's previous police record, Ryan knew that it wouldn't go down well at the station. The last thing Ryan needed was the hassle of explaining his past to a few dim-witted cops, so he decided to do the right thing.
"Fine, I'll leave. I'm out of beer anyway", spluttered Ryan.
"Good option, kid. Stay out of trouble."
Walking off, Ryan was suddenly reminded of the Cohen's, in particular Sandy. The officer had sounded just like Sandy when Ryan first moved in with the Cohen's. He remembered that night very clearly; getting beaten up by Luke, getting kicked out by Kirsten…..meeting Mari…….. Ryan had to stop himself.
It was too painful.
