A/N: Okay, so after getting a few requests to continue with this story and having a great idea pop in my head one day, here we are! Another chapter, just for you!

PS- I know the OC ended in '07 but it was only a few months ago that I started watching it. I've either seen the re-runs on SoapNet or read the transcripts online, so I know what's happened. So even though it's over, it's still new for some of us. So shout outs to all of my fellow band new OC addicts!

Disclaimer: I can barely come up with ideas for fanfiction. You seriously think I could create a TV show? Psh. I don't own anything. This is all for my own amusement and state of mind.

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"Are your eyes closed?"

"Yes."

"You sure?"

Laughter. "Ryan, I'm wearing a blindfold."

"Promise you can't see anything?"

"I promise."

"Okay, duck your head." He gently eased her into the passenger seat of his Range Rover and helped her fasten her seatbelt before climbing into the driver's seat and starting the car.

It had been almost a year since Ryan and Marissa had gotten engaged and since then they'd barely had time to breathe between wedding planning and starting their jobs. Ryan was working for a new architectural company started by Sandy's old employee Matt Ramsey, while Marissa had started working at Newport Union as a guidance counselor. With only a few weeks left until the wedding, the pressure was on and everything seemed to be happening at once.

When Ryan had announced to her earlier that week that he had a surprise for her, he realized he had made a big mistake. The past few days had been nothing but torture as she tried every trick in the book to make him spill the beans. But he somehow had managed to hold his tongue, probably because what he was doing was so big, so she was still completely clueless as to what he had planned.

"I just don't understand why I have to be blindfolded in the car." She complained once they were on the road. "Come on, one hint!"

"You have to be blindfolded because if you could see you'd figure out where we're going." Was all he said.

"That's not even a fair hint. That's was obvious."

"You never said it couldn't be obvious. You just said one hint. I gave it to you."

"Ryan!"

"Not gonna work."

"But-"

"Hey, listen. Music." He cut her off. Marissa sighed and leaned back in her seat, folding her arms over her chest stubbornly.

"Fine." She turned her head to face the window, despite not being able to see.

"Silent treatment?" he guessed. Receiving no response he nodded. "That's cool. I guess I'll just have to start singing."

"There's not enough alcohol in the world to make that happen." She mumbled.

He laughed. "Knew you couldn't stay quiet for long. Talk to me. Tell me how your day was."

"Well, I'm working with some kids and helping them decide on colleges." Marissa said finally. "A couple of them were considering Berkley and one wants to go to Brown."

"What'd you do? Tell them the horror stories from freshman year?" he teased.

"No, I showed them some pictures we had of the campus and from graduation. And I showed the girl who asked about Brown some pictures from Summer. Speaking of, you'll never believe who I met the other day. Mr. Zimmerman wanted me to talk to this kid named Chase about colleges that would be good for him and he turns out to be the biggest Seth Cohen fan in California. He has Atomic County print-outs all over his stuff and when I asked him what his dreams were, he said 'To be Seth Cohen.'"

Ryan laughed. "That's hilarious and kind of sad."

"Yeah, I told him he probably needed a back-up plan and apparently he hasn't thought about that yet."

They chatted on and off for the next while before the car came to a stop and Ryan announced that they had arrived. After helping her out of her seat he led her a few steps ahead and stood in behind her.

"I was gonna say something before I let you take off the blindfold but I'm not really good at speeches, so I'm just gonna let you see it now." He said nervously. "You ready?"

"I've been waiting for this all week." She laughed. "Yes, I'm ready."

He gently tugged at the blindfold's back and removed the black piece of cloth from her face. Marissa looked around confusedly.

"We're at the model home." She said stating the obvious. Turning to him, she shook her head. "I don't get it."

Ryan cleared his throat and walked across the yard, stopping to rest his hand on the sign sticking up. Marissa's eyes went wide when she noticed that the previous "For Sale" had been replaced with a new sign clearly reading SOLD.

"You didn't- I don't- You bought the model home." She sputtered. "You bought the model home for us."

"It's only a few miles away from your mom, Sandy and Kirsten, Summer and Seth's place, our jobs." He explained quickly. "If you don't like it I can get rid of it no problem. I just figured since it was so close and we-"

"It's perfect." She said in astonishment. "How did you manage this?"

Ryan shrugged. "I talked to Kirsten and Sandy and they have some pull with the Newport Group. Turns out it was never used after they rebuilt it and gave it to me for a third of the original price.

She gasped. "Ryan, that's incredible. How did you ever manage to not say anything?"

He shrugged embarrassedly. "I just wanted you to have the house you've always dreamed of."

"Well, mission accomplished." She threw her arms around him and pressed her lips firmly to his. Smiling into the kiss he wrapped his arms around her slender frame and held her tightly. A few minutes later they broke apart breathing heavily.

"You wanna see the inside?" he asked finally.

Her eyes lit up. "Yeah!"

He laughed as she grabbed his hand and dragged him inside. The layer of dust that once covered the property was gone, as was the building supplies. Now the countertops gleamed, the floors shined, and the windows sparkled. The bedrooms had been re-painted, the electric and water now worked, and a vase of fresh flowers sat proudly upon the kitchen counter.

"It's beautiful." she whispered. "Seriously, it's move in ready."

"That was kinda the plan." He admitted. "Remember all those meetings I had these past few months?"

"You were sneaking behind my back! Ryan Atwood, how dare you!" she grinned. "Luckily, because of the reason, I'm not mad. In fact, I kind of love you for it."

"Good thing. Because I don't plan on going anywhere." He said moving to put his arms around her waist.

"You'd better not. So when are we moving in?"

"Whenever you want. That's why I already had your mom, Summer, and Kirsten pick out the colors to paint."

"You must have worked really hard." Marissa said sympathetically.

He shook his head. "Everybody helped out so it wasn't a big deal."

"Ah, that's where you're wrong. See, it is a big deal. A Very. Big. Deal." She said punctuating each word with a kiss.

"Mmm well you know I can't argue with that logic." Ryan mumbled against her lips. "What do you say? You wanna christen this place or what?"

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A few weeks later.

"Are you ready for this Coop? It's your big day!"

Marissa grinned into the mirror she was currently standing at. "You know, Sum, I never thought I'd be able to say this but yeah, I am."

"You look stunning." Julie said in awe. "Now, I'm trying my hardest not to cry but I don't think it's working so well."

"Mom." Marissa sighed as she was pulled into her mother's arms. "It's okay. You're not losing me."

"I know, I know. I'm gaining Ryan and I'm happy for you, sweetie. You're just growing up so fast." Julie said tearfully. "It seems like it was just yesterday you were starting high school."

"Okay guys, you need to stop like, now. We're all going to mess up our make-up and we don't have time to re-do it." Summer announced her voice cracking. "Oh my god Coop, we're both going to be old married ladies."

"I love you, Summer." Marissa said as they embraced.

"I love you too." Summer whispered. "No matter what happens you'll always be my Coop. I'm always here for you and I'll kick Chino's ass anytime you want, okay?"

Marissa laughed. "Thanks Sum."

Pulling away and checking her make-up, Summer grinned. "So are you nervous?"

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"I can't do this." Ryan announced firmly. "I just… can't."

"Ah, it's just nerves kid. You'll be fine." Sandy said easily.

Ryan shook his head. "No, I'm gonna mess it up."

"Okay, sure. So you run off and I'll find Marissa a new groom." Seth said nodding. "I can give Luke a call, or maybe DJ. Oh! I wonder if Oliver was ever let out of the mental hospital, he always seemed fond of her…"

"Seth, shut up."

"Ryan, think about it. It's your wedding day. In less than an hour you're expected to go out there and become life partners with someone. You think maybe it's just a tad late to back out? I mean, we could pull out the invisibility cloak but I'm thinking maybe Marissa will notice when she gets to the end of the aisle and is standing by herself."

"Well what am I supposed to do? I can't go out there in front of all those people."

"Okay, first of all, it's not that many people because you and Marissa don't have a lot of friends." Seth began.

"And secondly it doesn't matter how many people there are." Sandy added. "Do you love Marissa?"

Ryan nodded. "More than anything."

"Then I promise when you get out there you won't notice anybody else."

"But-"

"Don't question it." Seth said. "Just trust him."

"What if I forget what I'm supposed to say?"

Seth grinned. "I'm there for ya, buddy." He pulled out two index cards from his pocket and handed them to Ryan. "Summer's doing the same thing for Marissa, so don't say it's stupid."

"Sorry to interrupt." Kirsten said poking her head in. "But we're almost ready to start and I wanted to have a quick word with Ryan."

"We'll be in the hall." Sandy said nodding and leading Seth outside.

Kirsten smiled and walked over somewhat apprehensively. "You nervous?" she asked softly.

Ryan sighed. "Oh, you have no idea."

"Well don't be. I know you, Ryan, and if you really didn't want to do this you would have ran long before now. You stick with the people you care for and I know you care for Marissa more than you do yourself. So trust me when I say that I know you will be just fine." she leaned over and pulled him into a hug. "I can't believe after today both of my son's will be married." She whispered.

"You know if it wasn't for you I wouldn't be here right now." He said quietly

She pulled back to look at him fully. "Ryan, you know that's-"

"No. Let me finish." Kirsten nodded and he continued. "If it wasn't for you and Sandy and Seth taking me in… god knows where I'd be right now. Chino, jail, dead." He let out a breath. "I just wanted to say thanks. You guys… you saved my life."

"The feeling is mutual." Seth said walking back in. "Sorry, you know I had to eavesdrop."

Kirsten rolled her eyes. "Sandy, get in here."

"Guilty as charged." Her husband said walking in, his hands raised. "But Seth's right. While you didn't make things any easier, you sure as hell made them better."

"You were my first friend." Seth added. "And because of you I now have some that aren't of the plastic horse variety. Speaking of, Princess Sparkle and Captain Oats are sitting front and center next to The Nana to watch their little Ryan become a man."

"I thought I was a man at the Barmitzvah."

"Chrismukkah Barmitzvakuh, don't screw the name up. And you were, but this is like step two."

"We love you Ryan." Kirsten said.

Seth smiled. "I'm thinking it's time for a family hug. Come on; don't tell me you don't feel it too. Come on."

Ryan rolled his eyes but nonetheless joined the small embrace.

Kirsten let out a breath once they'd pulled away. "Okay, it's time. You ready?"

Ryan nodded, "Yeah. I am now."

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Ryan took a deep breath as he took his place at the front of the church, feeling the presence of Seth and Sandy behind him. He and Marissa had never been big on religion but both were Christian by birth, so they'd decided to go with a simple, classic wedding.

Kirsten and Julie had gone all out for the event. Making sure to give everything a very simplistic but elegant look, the event was themed with red roses and white dressings; the occasional spot of silver or black here and there to pop, but nothing too fancy or tacky.

Looking out before him Ryan began to find familiar faces in the pews. Kirsten sat in the front row, along with his mother, Julie, Frank, Bullit, and The Nana. Near the back he noticed Trey, who had been released from prison a few years earlier, but had chosen to keep his distance until he was sure he could change. Taylor Townsend was sitting with her mother, Anna was there, and he saw Teresa sitting with someone unfamiliar, her mom, and Arturo in a far corner.

He caught her eye and nodded slightly. She smiled and gave him a strong look. She had made it clear long ago that she realized he and Marissa belonged together and she refused to stand in the way of it. Since then she had found a man she loved and was happy with. And while she and Ryan didn't see each other often, they knew and accepted that their chapter had ended long before he'd left for Newport. They had moved on and found true happiness elsewhere.

Tearing his eyes away from the familiar faces Ryan glanced to the back as music started up. First down the aisle was Kaitlin, followed by Summer, and finally Marissa appeared on her father's arm. His breath caught in his throat and for a moment, he was sure his heart had stopped.

She was beautiful. Sandy had been right; everyone else in the room seemed to melt away as she descended towards him. At last she made it to the front and her hand was placed in his by her father who then returned to his seat.

"You look- I mean-" he muttered stupidly.

Marissa nodded. "You too."

So this is what forever felt like.

End.

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A/N: Well, what did you think? Did you guess the surprise correctly? Did you like it? Press the pretty button and make me happy!