Okay, here's very last chapter of this mini story. I hope you've enjoyed reading it and leave some reviews for me ) -Dee

Marissa stayed shaken up for the duration of the weekend and even into the next week. Thursday rolled around and she knew it was time to let it go, whatever would happen, she had to stop letting it control her. That night as she got ready to go to the set of Jimmy Kemmel, she heard a knock on the door and looked up to see Ryan step into the room. "Hey" he said with a smile and she weakly smiled back as she brought her hair up into a messy bun, knowing that they would be doing her hair and makeup on the set anyways. "Are you ready?" he asked and she turned to face him, he smiled and extended his hand, "remember what I told you, if you feel like something is wrong, just leave the set and come to me…okay?" he said and she grabbed his hand and stood up. "Okay" she said quietly as she smoothed out the red backless dress she had on.

Marissa moved towards the door when she turned back to Ryan, stopping him from moving and looked towards the ground. "Listen…if something happens tonight or any night from now on" she started and Ryan cut her off, "nothing is gonna happen Marissa" he said strongly and she placed her finger on his lips. "Just listen…if anything happens, I just want you to know…that I'm so glad I got to meet you and I'm sorry that things couldn't have worked out between us" she said as tears came to her eyes. She smiled sadly and grabbed his hands in hers, "I want you to know that if anything happens… I do love you" she said as a tear came down her cheek. "I may sound stupid but I just want you to know that" she said as she held back her sobs and left the room quickly.

Ryan and Marissa walked onto the set together, along with Owen and Eric. They brought them all to where she was getting her hair and makeup done. Marissa sat in chair in front of the vanity, smiling as she felt Ryan's fan on her shoulder, she looked up at him from the mirror and smiled at him.

After they finished her makeup and hair, she was brought to a part of the set so she could easily go to the stage when she was introduced. Ryan stood next to her, observing the crowd from where he stood, making sure everything seemed okay. He looked at all the faces, the women's faces, and especially the men's faces. He watched them all and turned when he saw Marissa come closer to him, "I'm afraid" she said, having a feeling that tonight would be the night. "I'm right here" he said, gesturing to himself and she nodded, bringing a fake smile to her face as she heard herself being announced. She let go of Ryans hand as she went onto the stage and shook Kemmel's hand and taking a seat next to him.

Ryan continued to watch the stage, seeing all the smiling faces as they watched Marissa Cooper. Until he came across one, one face that wasn't smiling…he was glaring at Marissa, somewhat crazily and Ryan watched him as he felt around in his pocket for something. He had cold gray eyes and short black hair, he was an average sized man, but the look on his face tortured Ryan, making him think of all the cruel violations he could make on Marissa. He turned to look at Marissa who was chatting with Kemmel, the nervousness laced in her voice. He turned back to the man who was still holding something in his hand but he wasn't looking at Marissa, he had turned to face him, staring at him and he smiled sickly as he lifted up his gun and aimed it at Marissa.

Ryan didn't know how fast but it was probably the fastest he had ever run in his entire life, but when he heard that gun go off, he knew that it was over, for him or Marissa, it was over. As he hit the stage, the whole crowd went crazy, screaming and running after hearing the gun shot. Ryan didn't know what happened, all he knew is that he was hurting all over from falling onto the hard stage and that he was covered in warm liquid, but what he didn't know was who it belonged to, but that was all he knew before all he could see was black.

The next morning, Marissa laid in the bed, running her hands over the sling. She watched as he slept, he was obviously still worried about her, even though there wasn't much to be worried about. She smiled as his eyes fluttered open and he saw her, a smile adorning his handsome face. "Hi" he said softly through lazy eyes, Marissa smiled back as tears came down from her eyes, landing on the sling that covered his arm. "Hey…you're awake" she said as she wiped her cheeks, Ryan grabbed her hand in his, running his thumb back and forth. "What happened?" he asked.

Marissa sighed, "he was there last night…at the show and he tried to shoot me but you ran out in front of me and you got shot" she said through tears. "You dislocated your shoulder because of the way you landed when you fell and you broke a few rids because of where the bullet punctured but other than that, it was stuff that surgery last night cured" she said with a small smile. Ryan smiled and grimaced as he tried to move, feeling pain shoot throughout his body. "Let me get the nurse…they said to call when you were awake so they could give you more morphine" she said and stood up to go to the Nurses station.

Soon enough, he had all the morphine he'd need to keep him content. "So what happened to him?" Ryan asked curiously. Marissa sat up, "they arrested him there and they found all copies of the letters in his house…along with a wall of pictures of me…and they told me his name, Jonathan Lasker, and I realized that he went to high school with me…and he was always asking me out on dates but I always declined" Marissa said as she looked down at the bed, "so when I became famous, it was easy for him to track me down….i guess he's been in and out of mental hospitals for awhile so his actions weren't backed up by stability." It still freaked her out that someone hated her that much just because she didn't go out on a date with him. Ryan grabbed her hand once again, "I'm glad you're okay" he said softly and she leaned forward and lightly kissed his lips. "Not as glad as I am that you're okay" she said and leaned her forward down onto his.

Later that day, as Ryan ate, Marissa sat in the chair, staring out into space, obviously deep in thought. Ryan looked up at her, noticing how long it'd been since she spoke. He watched as she continued to stare out the window, staring at the sunset. "What's wrong?" he asked and she broke from her thoughts, smiling reassuringly, "nothing" she said with a small smile and he took a sip of his drink. "I know when somethings on your mind, what is it?" he asked with a smile and she stood up.

She made her way to his bed and sat down far away from his body so she wouldn't hurt him, "Ryan…I'm leaving…I'm moving to England" she stated quietly and he watched as she looked down at the ground. "Why?" he asked and she sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "My parents asked if I wanted to live there…after what happened, they think it'd be better to live near them…" she said quietly and he nodded, understanding where that left them. But when she said the next few words, it spent him into a tail spin where he understood nothing, "But I want you to come with me" she said quietly as she looked up into his eyes.

A few months later, Marissa looked around at the city of London from where she sat on the bench. Right in front of her was Big Ben and in the early night, it shined beautifully. She sighed as she brought her hands to rest in her lap, hoping to warm them up in the November weather. She had been living in London for over a month now, waiting for her next movie to begin, which was being filmed in Ireland, coincidentally, so she wouldn't need to do much traveling.

She always wondered how he was at his job or if he liked it. She always wondered if maybe he regretted his choice and had picked the other but she'd never know. She wondered if it was a mistake coming out here or if it was for the best, she didn't know much, she realized.

She smiled when she felt two hands cover her eyes, "guess who?" he asked. Marissa giggled, "is it my other boyfriend? The man I secretly see on the side?" she said and laughed when she heard him sigh mockily. "No…I'm afraid you'll have to do with me" Ryan said as he sat down next to her and kissed her lips softly. "Hey" she said and grabbed his hand in hers, "how was work?" she asked and he shrugged. "Okay, protecting the castle isn't so bad…I just hate these hours" he said and she agreed. He had to work ridiculously early but he got out around four, but even so, he was always very tired.

Marissa stood up and extended her hand to him, "ready to go?" she asked and he grabbed her hand and stood up from the bench. "Of course" he said before softly kissing her once again, "let's go home" he said as they started their journey back to their pent house. Ryan wrapped his arm around her waist and held her close to him, guarding her, keeping her safe and most importantly, protecting her from the night…

The End

And maybe I am just a hopeless optimistic or too much of a dreamer but a little optism and dreaming never hurt anyone ;-)