Disclaimer: I do not own The O.C. or any of its characters. Anything that you may recognize belongs to Josh Schwartz & FOX.

Sandy's POV

I poured a cup of coffee for myself and Kirsten. She came down and took it from me. I then glanced over today's paper. The boys were getting ready for school.

"I thought we agreed on Ryan getting checked out." Kirsten says. Okay, so I guess we are going to talk about this now. I was wondering when she was going to ask me.

"I know, but—"

"Sandy, you know what he's been through. I didn't think we'd disagree about making sure his health is in order." Kirsten points out. I did agree, at the time. I am concerned for him, of course I am, but it still hasn't been very long since Ryan moved in. I don't want to force him into anything yet.

"I just don't want to force him into anything right now." I told her.

"Sandy, he's been to a dentist once."

"I was there, Kirsten. I heard."

"You don't seem very concerned about that." Kirsten said, sounding surprised, as she crossed her arms and leaned against the counter.

"I am, but Kirsten, Ryan seems to be okay right now. He said he would come to us if there was a problem and I just don't really want to force him into it right now." I explained and took a sip of my coffee. "Trust me on this." I said and kissed her.

"Okay. I trust you." She says, but I knew she wasn't so convinced. But she was giving me the benefit of the doubt. I grinned a bit. It was nice seeing her so concerned for Ryan's well-being.

Ryan and Seth came down shortly after. Seth made himself a bowl of cereal and then started off a conversation, like he normally did; it seemed like he was feeling better now. I looked over at Ryan as he sat at the counter, picked up his book, and continued to read it. He wasn't having his usual bowl of cereal that he had every morning.

"Not having anything Ryan?" I ask and Ryan shakes his head.

"No, I'm okay." He said.

"Well that doesn't sound like the Ryan Atwood we know. You're always eating something—I don't know a day you aren't eating—wait are you actually on a diet or something?" Seth goes on and I put a finger up, getting him to be quiet for a minute.

"You are you feeling okay?" I ask.

"I'm just not that hungry." Ryan claims.

"Seriously? You barely ate yesterday so how could you possibly not be hungry?" Seth asks and I turned back to Ryan, whom was looking at Seth, just begging for him to shut up. Something seemed to be going on, but I was sure what. Was Ryan sick?

"Maybe I just don't have an appetite this morning." Ryan said.

I felt his forehead and he didn't feel warm. Ryan got up, moving away from me.

"Ryan, are you sure nothing's wrong?" Kirsten asks, walking over and standing next to me.

"I'm fine." Ryan claims again as he then grabs an apple from the fruit bowl on the counter as we hear a car horn from outside. "That's Marissa. I better get going." Ryan says but before I could say anything, he was out the door.

Then soon after Seth was out the door.

I turned to Kirsten and I already knew what she was going to say before she said anything. "Maybe he should see a doctor or something." Kirsten said, worried about Ryan. I nodded, I was too.

"If he doesn't seem better by tonight, I'll take him tomorrow." I told her as I grabbed my bag. I had to be getting to the office. Kirsten was right to be worried about him. He could be getting sick and we just don't know it yet; but I'm hoping that's not the case.

Ryan's POV

Getting through breakfast wasn't easy. I could tell they weren't exactly buying the whole 'I'm not hungry' story. They knew something was wrong and that wasn't something I needed. I had to find a way to keep them from thinking something was wrong but also, keep the fact of having a toothache, to myself. But that's hard when I can't eat. I was starving, but I couldn't eat anything. With my toothache, I felt a sharp pain every time I tried to chew. I had been taking aspirin, but it wasn't really helping; especially with that. And not only that, the constant ache, made it hard to concentrate on anything.

It was driving me insane.

But I wasn't about to let Seth or his parents find out about this.

I would just have to suck it up and deal with it.

I got through half the day. It was right before lunch and I went to my locker. The ache had turned into throbbing. I put my head against the locker, just desperately wanting it to subside.

"Ryan." I turned around, quickly—and managed to hit my head on the door of my locker in the process—and saw Marissa. I forced a smile.

"Hi." I said.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I told her.

"Are you sure? You didn't look so good in—all day actually." Marissa says.

"Yeah I'm fine." I insisted.

"Ryan, you're a terrible liar." Marissa says and I sighed. I looked around, making sure Seth and Summer weren't around. They—well more particularly Seth—didn't need to hear about this. I could maybe manage to get Marissa to keep this between us.

"Ryan, tell me what's wrong." Marissa urged.

"It's nothing really. Just a small toothache." I admitted quietly. "I just don't want Seth to know. Him and his parents—they'll make a big deal about it. I just kind of want to take care of it myself." I said, convincingly. But I guess in a way, it's the truth.

"I get it." Marissa nods. "Parents can get like that if you're sick or whatever. Are you sure you'll be okay? When are you—"

"Tomorrow. I'll get by." I told her.

"Do you want something for the pain?" Marissa asks and then hands me a small tube of orajel. She just carried this around with her? But at the moment, I wasn't going to ask questions. This could be the answer to all my problems. "Just put a little on your tooth and it should help. It saved myself before I could get my wisdom teeth out."

I took the tube from her.

"Thanks." I said.

"No problem. And don't worry, I won't tell Seth. It's already hard enough getting him to shut up. I won't add to it." Marissa says before walking off to her next class.

I went to the bathroom and put some on; Marissa was right; it really helped. The pain was gone.

This seemed like the answer to my problems.

A/N: It seems like Marissa may be causing more harm than good, unintentionally. The Cohens still don't know, but they were starting to catch on. But it might be a little more difficult now that Ryan's got a way to manage the pain. Let me know what you thought.

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