A/N: So here's the second chapter. It's not that long but this also meant I've been able to update quicker. I have a feeling people might be a little surprised by the direction I'm taking this fic in that Ryan/Marissa's romantic reunion will not be immediate. But bear with me.

Thank you for reviews from the last time and as always would appreciate more feedback.

They all come to visit him later in the afternoon, they're lucky it's a Saturday. Neither of them could have gone to school on a day like this. Sandy and Kirsten don't stay too long, realising the kids would prefer to be left alone. The four sit and chat and it feels like the old times. Then he starts to feel fatigued from merely being awake and the stinging pain returns in his chest and a fresh ache enters in his broken left arm. His discomfort becomes obvious to the others and then suddenly the dynamic shifts as they remember it is nothing like the old times. He curses himself silently for getting hurt but then in many ways, things had already changed between the four of them when he broke up with Marissa. Through the haze of pain, he watches her approach him and gently place her hand on his shoulder. Her voice is soft and he realises how much he had missed that simple sound.

"Hey, are you okay? Should we get a doctor?"

"No, no I'm fine." he grits out but his pain is unmistakable.

"I'm just going to go get a nurse to be safe though." Seth says before leaving the room.

He shuts his eyes and takes in the feeling of Marissa's thumb lightly moving back and forths. He thinks it's one of those unconscious things, falling into old patterns. When after a while she moves her hand, the patch on his shoulder starts to feel cold and he finds himself missing her touch as well. A nurse comes and they do some checks and then hit him up with the morphine. He falls into a quick slumber and is fairly lacking in consciousness for the rest of the night. He remembers faintly somebody draping their fingers over his hand. He is sure the person was not Marissa; their touch was too harsh.

They are all their the next morning as well. Judging by their well rested faces he figures they must have gone home and got some sleep. There's joking and light-hearted chatter again. It makes things feel normal for which he is glad. Seth fills in on some of the antics at home while Summer rants about the recent drama on 'The Valley'. He does his best to concentrate but his attention is often distracted towards Marissa. He notices that she sits a little closer to him and that she looks more fresh-faced. She's always beautiful but sometimes her beauty is mired with a tiredness, quite often it can be a pained loneliness. And then there are the times where she is laughing without a care in the world and her eyes are glowing and her innocence is shining through. In those moments her beauty is resounding. In those moments, he really doesn't stand a chance. What he sees now is closer to the last version but even so, he catches those floating signs of hurt behind her eyes. Maybe it's that which scares him into caution.

Some time around midday Sadie comes in. It's weird how rapid the change in their relationship had been. Before his accident, he had been so enamoured by the relationship. They were fucking all the time, if not that, making out or walking down the pier holding hands and kissing every now and again, all of that cutesy coupley crap. He's a little nauseated when he thinks about it now. It suddenly all feels so unsubstantial.

Sadie comes over and kisses him on the forehead. From the corner of his eye he watches Marissa get up from her seat and stand back. He wants to shout at Sadie for kissing him, wasn't it just a little bit inconsiderate? Sadie moves to sit on the edge of his bed and takes his hand in her lap. The whole thing felt so completely awkward but he obliged anyway. Seth continued with his talk in the hope of keeping things feeling normal but all Ryan could do was flick his gaze from Sadie to Marissa. He could tell Marissa was uncomfortable, it was evident in the way her eyes were averted, fixed strictly on Seth and Summer. Her phone rings and when she jumps out of the room in relief, he is frustrated even more. If only they were still together, things wouldn't have to be so difficult. It could be her sitting on his bedside and it would actually be nice to have her holding his hand. But it's so pointless to even think about because they broke up or technically he broke up with her. She clearly got hurt and in some ways, he knows it was his doing. She's not a saint either and perhaps that's what makes the entire thing so fucked up.

It must be some sixth sense thing he has but minutes after Marissa has stepped outside the room, he picks up the agitation in her voice when she speaks into the phone.

"Can't you just drop my things off at my place?" he hears her say. He wonders who she's talking to, resentfully he guesses Volchok. "God, and I thought you would be helpful….yeah I know, silly me….Fine, fine, I'll meet you at the diner, just please bring my stuff with you for God's sake."

There's the faint thud of her flip phone clasping shut and then she's standing at the door offering her goodbyes.

"Hey, sorry guys I'm going to have to leave you for a while. I need to go...do an errand."

She doesn't seem particularly enthused about said errand but she doesn't appear devastated to be leaving either. He's secretly disheartened.

She's back at the hospital two hours later. Volchok had been an asshole, she shouldn't have expected better but she had thought he would at least have the decency to stick to his word and bring her very few things with him. Why did she have to leave her favourite leather jacket at his place? she thought annoyed.

Coming into his room, she sees that he's alone watching a documentary on the TV. It doesn't take him long to notice her.

"Hey, you're back." A beaming smile comes across his face and butterflies, which she cannot control, flutter in her stomach.

"And you are alone. Where did everyone go?"

"Sadie had to go meet with the builder about fixing some things around the house. And Seth and Summer went to grab lunch and I think also some alone time." He shrugs nonchalantly and adds, "I've only been alone for the last half hour, probably less actually. It's alright."

Suddenly nervous, Marissa asks, "Do you want me to go?"

"No, no." he insists quickly. "Some company's nice."

"Good." she tells him, moving to sit in the chair close to his bed.

"I'm sorry about Sadie before, if that's why you left." she suddenly hears him say.

"No, it had nothing to do with Sadie." she corrects him quickly. Resigned, she also clarifies, "Even if it did, you have nothing to apologise for. She is your girlfriend right?"

She hadn't meant for it to come out as a question; she hadn't thought he would take it as one. But he really pauses for a second to process her words and then confirms, "Right."

For a while, neither of them speak and then he asks her.

"So where did you go?"

She groans inwardly at the question, knowing what his reaction will be.

"I um, I actually went to see Volchok." and then in a poor attempt to play the event down adds rapidly "And then I went home, took a shower, grabbed some lunch, listened to my mom's daily ranting -"

"Volchok?" Ryan spits out. She flinches at the disgust at his voice. It makes her feel guilty and equally irritates her to see him accuse her when he has no right.

"It's not like that." she says firmly. Maybe her tone is just a little too biting. Softening her voice she tell him, "We broke up."

"Now?" His surprise is obviously evident and just so paramount that it is a little amusing.

"No, actually I ended it yesterday."

"So why were you seeing him today?"

"He was meant to drop some of my stuff off when I met him today at the diner. Stupidly I believed him. He ended up bringing nothing with him."

"He's a dick."

She shrugs like it's the most obvious observation. In many ways it really is.

"So...what happened? What made you…?" His question trails away but she understands.

Her hand carelessly runs through the tangles in hair and then settles on scratching the side of her neck. That really was a loaded question.

"It was a lot of things." she admits. "I knew he was bad news before but with your accident, it became about 10 times more obvious. It just felt wrong to be with him."

"I'm um glad it's over. You were really too good for him." He speaks unsurely but his sincerity seeps through. She isn't sure how to respond; they have never been that great at talking about their other relationships. Later when he dozes off and she sits watching, she absent mindedly wonders if the accident had changed anything for him too. Things felt different between them but she was all too aware of the myriad of issues which remained unresolved between them. Those things the accident could not alter.

The first time she meets him is by the coffee machine. Technically it's not the first time but it is the first time she notices him. He looks about their age and is a mop of sandy blonde hair and his eyes are a heart warming brown.

"You're the girl who almost fell over!" he exclaims. "And then you asked me for directions." She is confused at first, forcing him to elaborate. "Like five, six days ago. You were in a rush and you kind of tripped and I caught you. Then you gave me this room number and I told you were to go. Remember?"

"Yes, sorry, I actually do." she replies with an awkward laugh. "Thank you for that."

"My pleasure." He throws her a smile and she is surprised to find it so charming.

She could have left at that point, she had her coffee and the pleasantries had been said. But Ryan was asleep and Seth was with him anyway and most of all, something about this guy had her intrigued.

"Hi, I'm Adam by the way." He extends his hand and she willingly shakes it.

"Marissa."

"So I'm guessing by the fact that you're still here that whoever you were rushing to see is alive and recovering well hopefully."

"Yes they are. And you…" she begins.

"I'm just a random guy who lurks hospital corridors in the hope of picking up beautiful girls." he jokes and a tiny smile escapes from Marissa. "But seriously, I'm here visiting my grandma."

"Awh. Was she in an accident?"

"No, she's actually a cancer patient. She became really sick about two weeks ago and they've kept her in the hospital ever since. The cancer wing's on the floor above. I usually try and visit every day, but the coffee on that floor is bordering on diabolical - actually the machine's broken most of the time - so I often come down here. Sometimes when I'm bored I do walk around the corridors but I promise it's not creepy."

"Oh yeah?" she challenges.

"Yes, I assure you I am not a creepy pervert. Just a very sweet boy who is deeply considerate about his grandmother."

"Well, I have to admit that part is quite sweet." She admits with a little laugh. They're flirting and it's strangely nice.

"It also helps that she is the owner of a disproportionate sum of money but I am in no way vying for a generous inheritance." He grins at her and she laughs again. "So who is your special person in that hospital room? A boyfriend maybe?" he asks teasingly.

"Um, ex-boyfriend actually."

"That…that sounds complicated." To her surprise, his tone is not disappointed by almost sympathetic towards her.

"Yeah it kind of is." she tells him a little apologetically. She suddenly feels bad having flirted with him. Between her own problems and all the issues between her and Ryan which go unspoken, she is far from ready for a new relationship. And of course, there's the little matter of being in love with Ryan. Although they've got their friendship back since the accident, the wounds from their break-up still sting. And then ever so often she notices this void in their relationship. It is composed of all the things unsaid and the memories which they could never confront. The only way to close it is to talk but they wouldn't know where to begin. "I should be heading back."

"Yes of course. Sorry for having kept you."

"It's okay." she smiles at him without knowing the effect it has on guys. "It was nice meeting you."

"Same."

Still, Marissa thought as she walked back to Ryan's room, the guy was pretty cute.