Dusk was just settling over the sheltered town of Newport Beach, but the inside of Dawn Atwood's bedroom resembled the dead of night. The blinds were drawn tightly shut, nothing moved, and the only illumination throughout the entire suite was that of the streamlined, flat panel computer screen. She sat mesmerized in front of it, tears streaming down her face, but completely sober for what was probably the first time in ten years. She had not had a drink all day, not that she didn't want one, but she couldn't move; she was frozen in her seat. Her back was stiff for she hadn't left the office chair all day, afraid that if she did he would disappear from her life again but for good this time….if he was even still alive.

At first the information she had found did not surprise her, and even though he had moved on as well, it made her happy to think that maybe at least one of them lived a happy life. He had married and they had one daughter together. She was surprised by this, only one child, he had wanted many, but she quickly lost herself in the rest of the information. After the announcement of their marriage and the birth of their daughter, the information quickly dissipated for the couple, but their daughter seemed to always make the paper, an overachiever who was involved in all aspects of school, she was always mentioned for her outstanding grades and athletics. Honor Roll student, all conference volleyball player, cheerleader captain, class president, prom queen, valedictorian, Dean's list her first semester at college after receiving a full scholarship, their daughter seemed to have everything as well until she dropped off the map. Confused, Dawn had continued to search. Why was there nothing about this entire family since this past December when before they had been mentioned in the paper almost monthly, she thought, and then she saw it, the reason why their lives had changed.

It was a small and obscure add, published in April, just a couple of months ago, detailing a charity dinner being hosted by Marissa Cooper, daughter of James and Julie Cooper, to raise money for her parents, who were both dying from cancer.

Dawn had read that five hours earlier, but the page remained on the screen, occasionally being temporarily replaced by her screen saver before she jiggled the mouse to return the computer back to its previous state. Now, after all these years, after trying to forget about him, she had to look him up now…when he was dying, when it was too late to reconnect with him, but why, she thought to herself, did they need to have a charity dinner to raise money? Didn't they have health insurance? He had become a teacher and a high school basketball coach like he'd always wanted, and it said that his wife had been a nurse, how could this have happened? And their daughter, their beautiful, gifted, intelligent daughter, what had happened to her; had she quit school to take care of them? What could she, Dawn Atwood, do to help? Would they even accept her help, and even worse, were they still alive? Questions bombarded her weakened mind from years of alcohol abuse, attempting to instigate action of any kind, but all she could do was stare numbly at the computer screen as the minutes ticked by feeling as if her world had stopped.

Summer had arrived back in Chino at Marissa's apartment fifteen minutes after Seth had called her, because she had not gotten very far before she was summoned to help, but that had been an hour ago, and still neither of them had heard from or seen either Ryan or Marissa. Scared for what was happening but not about to venture into that bathroom where the pain and suffering was so thick it was almost palpable to the touch, they remained seated on the edge of the couch, side by side, wringing their hands in desperation and helplessness.

"Do you think they're even still alive in there, I mean, they both were injured, bleeding, what if blood poisoning struck them both and they are now lying on the cold, probably out of date linoleum…ew…silently pleading for us to come and check on them."

"Summer, where do you come up with this stuff? I thought I had an active imagination, but this is just out there!"

"Cohen, shut up. I'm being serious. We have not heard a thing from them in over an hour; I'm getting pretty scared here."

"I'm sure they're fine, and besides, Ryan's hand stopped bleeding hours ago, so even if Marissa was struck by blood poisoning, he'd be fine and he'd get her help. I'm sure they're just talking things over; it has been a pretty eventful 24 hours for those two."

"Oh my God, you're right! It has only been about 24 hours! Dmn, it feels like we've been dealing with this for a week now!" She pauses for a second, but her mind begins to spin again, creating another horror story grossly out of proportion to their current situation. "You don't think they fought each other to the death, do you?"

"What! What the hell are you talking about? Summer, why would they be fighting each other?"

"Well we all know that Atwood has a temper, and I have a feeling that if you make Marissa mad enough, she'd fight back, too. What if they started fighting about oh I don't know….Holly, perhaps, and things got out of control!"

"You saw Marissa. Do you honestly think she's in any shape whatsoever to fight a kitten let alone Ryan?" Summer thinks about this for a moment, finally giving up her conspiracy stories, and sitting back to make herself comfortable. Seth leans back with her, taking her in his arms. "Do not even think about it, Cohen! This is so not the time for one of your lame attempts at foreplay!"

"I'm not trying to put a move on you, calm down; I just thought that you might want someone to comfort you. Ryan and Marissa weren't the only ones who had an eventful day. You were in a fight not only with the girl who up till recently you considered your best friend but also a big, hairy, greasy, male chauvinist pig. I'd say after we get this all settled out and Ryan and Marissa to a hospital, we have some celebrating to do."

"Celebrating, for what?"

"To commemorate you kicking some ss today!" Despite the dismal situation and dreary apartment, Summer couldn't help but laugh at her corny boyfriend while leaning over and gently kissing him. "What was that for?"
"Just a thank you for making me smile and forget about today even if only for a few seconds."

She buries her head in his chest, pulling him closer to her while she lets the day's events wash over her.

"What was it like…when you found her like that?"

He does not answer her immediately as he tries to arrange his thoughts and formalize them into a shape that could be verbalized, transferring the raw emotions into words.

"I thought that this morning when I saw Ryan….you know, well, I thought that I had seen something that would haunt my dreams for the rest of my life. I had never seen anyone so hurt in my life. I mean, come on, let's face it, Newport may have its advantages and I would never want to live anywhere else, but it's not exactly the picture of normal life. Everything is heightened, better, and no one ever reveals their inner pain or demons. Everything, instead, is bottled up and masked, with alcohol, like Dawn, with work, like my parents and yours, or sarcasm, like you and I do. This morning, with Ryan, for the first time in my life, I saw what it was like to really feel something and then let it out. It was the scariest thing, up to that point in life, that I had ever seen and the most real. It was, in a sense, refreshing, and for once I didn't rely upon my smartss comments or rude indifference to get me through it; instead, I was finally a real friend. I listened, I consoled, and I actually offered sound advice."

"Who would have thought," Summer teased softly, attempting to lighten the oppressive atmosphere even if for a moment before he continued on with his tale.

"I sure as hell never expected to do something like that, but still…even this morning couldn't have prepared me for Marissa when I saw her earlier. It wasn't her hands, bloodied and bruised as they were, or even the bruises that covered her body that shocked me the most; it was her eyes. I'd never seen eyes like that in my life, and I hope to never see them again for as long as I live. Once was enough, and unlike Ryan haunting my dreams, her eyes will haunt me whether awake or asleep for the rest of my existence. I don't even know how to describe them really. They were just empty, lifeless, hopeless, dead, like she had nothing left to live for and was now stuck in a life she didn't want to live any more. Desperation, panic, fear, rage, pain, they all were gone. I think she was so far passed any normal level of human emotion, that even those would have been a comfort for her then. I don't know how Ryan stayed in there, how he faced her. I couldn't; I ran, turned by back on her and ran as quickly as I could out here to call you."

They both sit there in complete silence again, Seth reliving the moment that had been running through his mind since he first encountered it and Summer only imagining what it must have been like.

Indeed, Ryan and Marissa had been silent the entire time they remained in the bathroom together. After just holding her as tightly as he could for almost an hour, attempting to physically show her that she was no longer alone and that he would not leave her, she finally calmed down enough for him to take care of her. Without a word shared between them, she had let him wash her cut and battered hands, slowly removing the now dried blood as carefully as he could while trying not to hurt her, she had let him bandage them as much as he could, and she had let him strip her of her soiled clothes and gently place her in the tub filled with steaming hot water. There she laid not moving while he cleansed her abused body, hoping that the soap and loofa would be enough to cleanse the pain away as well as the dirt and grime but knowing it would never be that simple. After he had finished, he had helped her step out and had dressed her in a pair of track pants and an overly large sweatshirt, but still they did not leave the bathroom. He settled back against the wall, sitting on the floor, and enclosed her in his strong and capable arms as she sat between his legs.

"Thank you," she said in a voice stronger than he had anticipated she would use.

"For what?"

"For coming back for me, for understanding and not asking questions about….what you saw earlier, for taking care of me. You didn't have to, you know. We may have spent the night together but I know that you're not looking for a relationship from me, and I don't even know where I'm going to find my next meal let alone what my future holds, but I don't want you to feel obligated to be here with me because of what we did. I know you have this life that I don't fit into, and that's fine. That night was just what it was, both of us forgetting our imperfect lives and living for the moment, but you did nothing to make me feel as if we have a future, so you don't have to be here if you don't want to be."

"First of all, as for not judging you," he holds up his own battered hand which is still wrapped in the towel, "I don't have any room to judge, because I did the same thing earlier." As he continues talking, she sits up and faces him, taking his injured hand in her own, slowly unwrapping the towel, to reveal a hand obviously broken, black, blue, green, purple, and yellow tinted skin with small patches of dried blood still on it, and lifts it to her lips, kissing it softly and holding it as she leans back into his arms.

"And as for feeling obligated to be here with you, you can just forget that. Come on, you know me, the spoiled brat from Newport, do you honestly think I would be here if I didn't want to be, and honor, I was never taught what that word means. This is not me riding in on my white horse to take care of you because I feel I owe you after the night we spent together, this is me trying to be sweet to you so I can get what I want."

"And what's that," she asked with a slight smile starting to take over her mouth.

"Your ex-boss's secret recipe for his chicken. He fired you…

"Hey, according to Summer, I quit."

"Fine, you quit, which means you don't owe him any loyalty any longer, and it has always been my life's goal to open up my own Hot Chickens where I could serve disgusting chicken with a side of cleavage and toned, tanned legs which go on for miles!"

She laughs, a deep, full, satisfied laugh, making Ryan smile from ear to ear.

"That is so not funny Mister! Now tell me, what do you really want from me, why are you being this nice?" Her tone was playful, but he could see the seriousness in her eyes as he gazed into them.

"You."

"We'll have to see about that," she whispered earnestly, all traces of humor and mirth gone.

"What do you mean; you don't want to be with me, but I thought you said…..we said….."

"Look, we both know that what we said happened in the spur of the moment, because of the pain and trauma we've been through. I mean, how could we know we felt that way after only knowing each other for a few days, and don't worry, I won't hold you to that declaration. I do like you, a lot, I've never felt this way about anyone before, but, like I said, my life's a mess. You didn't read that letter so let me tell you what it said. Look," she slowly sat up and turned around to face him once again as she talked, "my parents are dying, both of cancer. Their health insurance gave out after they were fired because they missed too much work because of the illness. There's no hope that they'll live, but while they are still alive, there are drugs which will make their pain bearable, but they're expensive, and don't you dare say you'll pay for it, because I already owe you way too much money for saving me before. That's why I worked at that hell hole. It may have been demeaning and miserable, but I made good money from my tips, money that practically all went for their medical bills. They live in the hospital now, they're health is that bad, but I have to find another job or two or three or however many it takes for me to be able to take care of them. I quit college to do this, and I will not rest until I know that I've done everything in my power to make their last few months or days even on this earth as peaceful as possible. I can always go back to school and take care of myself later, but, for now, I have to take care of my parents. They're all I have, and I can't be worrying about this….us, forming a relationship or whatever we're doing here, when I have much more important things to do. If we had met at a different time, a different place in both of our lives, who knows what would have happened, but right now…"

"Right now," he interrupted her, "you need as many people supporting you as you can get, and from the little I've seen of your supposed roommates and friends, they are not helping you at all. Fine, if you don't want to accept my money, great, but I…we can do other things to help you. You're going to need to find a new job, we can help with that. You can't stay here any longer, not with Nick knowing where you live, and we can help with that, too, but most importantly, we can be your friends, offer you shoulders to lean on when you've had a bad day or receive bad news, we can take you out when you have a moment of free time and attempt to take your mind off all of your troubles, and we can just be there to listen to you. You can't go through this alone. I may not know much about what life is like for those in the real world outside of my Newport Beach bubble, but I do know that everyone needs a support system, and now you've found yours."

"Are you sure, I mean, you haven't even asked Seth and Summer?"

"Please, they're my minions; they do what I tell them to."

She laughs before replying. "Summer as someone's minion, I don't think so. It's probably more like you and…Seth are her minions."

"Yeah, you're probably right, but I think you've won her over."

"What?"
"You don't know Summer. She would not have helped you today if she did not like you a little bit."

"She did offer to help me find a job, and she wanted to hang out sometime."

"See, I'm always right."

"Oh, I beg to differ there!"

"Alright fine, we'll agree to disagree on that topic, but I do have a question for you."

"Okay."

"While I'm being your friend, do you think that you could perhaps think about dating me…in the future?"

"Let's just see what happens."

"And another thing…"

"What?"

"I meant what I said earlier, and you don't have to say anything back and we don't have to ever say it again….well I hope we do, but anyway, I just don't want you to forget it, okay?"

"Okay."

"Now come on, stand up. We better go out and let Seth and Summer know we're alright. I can only imagine the thoughts that have been running through their minds this whole time. One thing you have to learn about Seth and Summer is that they both have over-active imaginations."

She laughs as he helps her up, careful not to hurt her. They walk out together to find Seth and Summer already on their feet waiting for them.

"It's about time you two came out of that bathroom! I was about to send in the National Guard," Summer rapidly said as she went over and hugged them both, startling Marissa and making Ryan laugh. "Now come on, let's go." As she and Seth both walk to the door, Marissa's voice stops them dead in their tracks.

"Wait, what do you mean; where are we going?"

"Newport Memorial, do you honestly think I'd let either of you go to a hospital around here, EW!"

"Summer, look, I appreciate your concern, but I can't go to a hospital tonight. I've seen enough of them to last me a lifetime, and, just to let you know, the hospitals around here aren't that bad."

"Yeah, and clothes from Wal-Mart are just as good as those I get from South Coast Plaza! Marissa you crack me up!"

"So," Seth mused, "if we're not going to the hospital, what do you want to do? Are there any good arcades around here?"

"Shut it Cohen! First off, they are going to a hospital, but I'll let them wait until tomorrow morning, and second of all, we're not going to some lame ss arcade. We're all going back to my house. My Dad's out of town for the entire week. We'll watch movies and eat junk food all night, and then in the morning, these two stubborn knuckleheads will go to the hospital before we start looking for a new job for Marissa. Oh, and you're staying with me this week while my Dad's gone until we can find you a decent apartment with civil and human roommates, so back your stuff. This caravan is pulling out of Chino in exactly 20 minutes!"

With that, she turned on her size six wedges and walked out the door, dragging Seth with her, leaving Ryan and Marissa alone in the cramped and dingy apartment. Surprisingly, Marissa obliged and listened to what Summer told her to do. She packed her bags, and they were all on the road, Summer and Marissa in Summer's car, and Seth and Ryan in Seth's, heading not only for Newport but for a life that would never be the same for any of them.

The next morning Dawn Atwood awoke, without a hang over for the first time in years. She quickly jumped out of bed, showered, got dressed, and then ate breakfast, a real breakfast with actual food and not just a mimosa with a few cigarettes. At 9:00 sharp, she pulled out of her graceful, circular driveway in her black BMW sedan and headed towards Newport Memorial. Strange, she thought that he would be there, but, knowing Newport, it probably had the best treatment available on the west coast. It was time to stop living her life in past. It was time to start living again, become a real person, with real interests and hobbies besides gossip, shopping, and drinking. It was time to do some good in this world, and once she had decided this the night before, she fell asleep quickly and slept soundly for the first time in years without dreams or nightmares to wake her up. So what if he was happily married, she could still be his friend, support him through his illness, and that's exactly what Dawn Atwood planned on doing as she drove towards her past in an attempt to create a future for herself. She was going to see Jimmy Cooper.

That same morning Summer Roberts woke for the first time in a long time and felt as if her life had a purpose. With a smile on her face, she got out of bed to get ready for the day ahead of her. She was genuinely happy, and not from an amazing shopping trip or a relaxing, full body massage or from a new piece of jewelry from her father, but from helping someone else. Who would have thought, she mused to herself, that this was all it took for someone to feel useful and needed. She had never understood Seth's Mom, Kirsten's passion for charity, and sure, Marissa wasn't charity, she was their friend now, but the idea was the same. She felt better about herself because she was helping someone else. Emerging from her bathroom freshly showered and dressed for the day to come, Summer energetically bounded down the grand staircase in search of breakfast.

Elsewhere in the Roberts' abode, Seth awoke equally hungry but not so energetic. Confused as to what his surroundings were, he slowly sat up to find himself lying on the floor of the game room. Hm, he said to himself as he pondered the night before, why am I not in Summer's bed, but then it came back to him. After everyone else had ditched him for sleep at two in the morning, he had stayed awake to finally watch his movie selection, The Goonies, and he somehow must have fallen off the couch and rolled to his current position half way under the glass coffee table. Thankfully, it had been his legs and not his head there, because otherwise, there would be three of them needing the assistance of those who worked at Newport Memorial. Sliding out from underneath his cold, non-traditional sleeping partner, he ambled his way extremely slowly into Summer's kitchen letting his nose lead the way by the aromatic whiffs of coffee that was drawing him there.

Ryan awoke that morning with an achy back and a throbbing hand but did not even notice his own pain for his concern for the woman sleeping in the bed in front of him outweighed all other thoughts. She didn't know he was there. The night before when they had all said goodnight, leaving Seth alone to watch The Goonies for the umpteenth time, she had insisted that she would be fine alone in one of the spare rooms and that he didn't need to stay with her. Of course, he would have loved to have shared a bed with her, but she was not in that place yet, she was not ready for a relationship, and he understood that, but he had to make sure she was safe. So, after giving her ample time to fall asleep, he had snuck into her room and spent his evening curled into a chair, barely sleeping for the fear that if he would close his eyes something would happen to her, someone would take her away. It was crazy how he was feeling, he knew that, but it didn't matter. With one look this woman had completely turned his life upside down, and there was no going back now. All he had to do was convince her that she felt the same way that he did and to let him take care of her. Simple enough, he thought, he had the time, the patience, the drive, and now that she would be staying in Newport if he had anything to say about it, he was bound to get what he wanted: her.

Sitting up straight in bed, Marissa awoke a few minutes after Ryan in a complete panic. She did not know where she was, but as she opened her eyes she met those of the person sitting across from her, eyes crystal blue and as soothing as the ocean, and instantly she knew she was safe. Where she was, she still was not sure, but she was with Ryan, so everything was alright. Slowly, so as not to hurt herself, she laid back down, letting the high thread count sheets and inviting goose down comforter envelope her in a gentle embrace. As her head hit the pillow, she remembered where she was. She, Marissa Cooper, was in a mansion in Newport Beach staying with Summer Roberts, daughter of a rich plastic surgeon who had had everything handed to her on a silver platter, and the most ironic thing was, she was the first real, genuine friend Marissa had had in years. Plus, she had Seth now, too. He was still somewhat of an ss, totally spoiled and self-involved, but he made her laugh, and at this point in her life, that was saying something, and then there was Ryan. He wasn't just her friend, he was more, but what exactly he was, she wasn't positive. Sure, he had said that he loved her, a sentiment she had honestly returned but could not face up to it now, but he couldn't have meant it, and even if he did, her life was too complicated to worry about those feelings right now. She had her parents to take care of, and their hospital bills just kept mounting, and now she had to find a new job and a new place to stay, someplace where she would be safe. So much to do and so little time to do it, but for the first time since her parents were diagnosed with cancer, she had hope.

"Alright listen," Summer ordered as the group of four walked into the emergency room together, "this is the plan. Cohen and I are going to go and find the gift shop and nose around in it for while, because I am so not sitting with all these sick people. Once you guys get your rooms, page us, and we'll be up there quicker than a Cohen on a bagel."

"Ha! Ha! Ha, Summer!" Seth turned away from his girlfriend to face his two friends. "She thinks that just because I'm the only Jewish one here that it's okay to pick on me!"

"Cohen, shut up, no one wants to hear your whiny little ss go on and on and complain about your Jewish roots. Besides, you're only half Jewish, so lay off the pity party, will you?"

With that she marched off, leaving Seth to follow her remorsefully, begging for her to forgive him for his annoying ways, and Ryan and Marissa to stare at her out of wonder.

45 minutes later, Seth and Summer were paged, but they figured that Ryan and Marissa were big kids and could handle the doctors on their own, so they took their time, made a pit stop at the cafeteria for chocolate ice cream, and then went and watched the babies in the nursery before finally making their way up to the correct floor. Ryan and Marissa were being treated in separate rooms, so Seth and Summer had planned to split up, each spending a few minutes in each room and then they would all meet up when their friends were released. Before they could reach the rooms, they ran into someone they never expected to see, Dawn Atwood, but quickly avoided her, not wanting to explain why they were there themselves. Just as they reached Ryan's room, they heard an uncommon commotion for a hospital hallway and it cut through the silence like a razor blade through silk. Speechless, all they could do was stand there and watch the nightmare occur.

"Ryan Atwood, you are under arrest for the assault and rape of Marissa Cooper. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to the police and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. If you decide to answer questions now without an attorney present you will still have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to an attorney. Do you understand these rights as I have explained them to you?"

And with that, Ryan Atwood was led away in handcuffs.