A/N: ok...here's chapter four. personally, I think it's a little boring, though I had fun writing it. The next chapter should get a little more interesting. I'm thinking Marissa is going to meet Seth and Summer, and possibly Trey and Frank Atwood. I have a three day weekend, so if I'm lucky, I should have chapter 5 out by Monday.Hope you enjoy. Read and review!

Happy Reading

-Ragdoll

Chapter 4: The House

"That is your house?" Marissa stared up at his house as they pulled up, if you could belittle it with such a word, her mouth slightly agape and eyes wide in surprise. Never in her life had she seen a house or property such as this. It was built just on the borders of the desert and the city. The driveway began half a mile down a private road and stretched a further quarter of a mile before you actually pulled up to the house. The stretch was lined with cacti and palm trees.

The house itself was nestled into a red-rock canyon. To the left, it overlooked the desert and to the right, the city of Sedona. The house was massive. It was an old Mexican style villa gone over the top. It rose three stories and a portion of the roof had been converted into a deck of sorts. Balconies lined the top two stories in such a way that the second story had more that the third and with a porch wrapping around the bottom, a soft pyramid effect was given off.

Combined with the traditional terra cotta orange and brown tiles of the roof, the house came off as a bit of a shock at first. Once the initial surprise wore off however, the house was really quite beautiful; romantically dramatic even, ivy climbing up the sides and front and bright, fragrant flowers spilling over widow sills and balconies.

"Yeah…home sweet home." He replied, parking the car in the circular drive in front of the house and switching the engine off. Most of the lights were on since the sun had fully set. Ryan opened his door and began to climb out. He looked over at Marissa. She hadn't moved and was still gaping at the house. He leaned back in towards her.

"You coming?" he asked

"What? Yeah," she said snapping her gaze away from his home, "Yeah, let me just get a shirt." Marissa turned around, one knee on the seat, the other leg pushing her into the back. She unzipped the closest duffel bag and dug around in it for a moment. Pulling out a black tank-top, she opened her door and stepped out into the night. It was beginning to cool off some, compared to the sweltering heat that had been present earlier that day. Closing the door with a creak, she pulled the tank over her head and looked up at the house again.

"I've never seen anything like this," Marissa said, straightening her shirt as she turned to him and smiled, "It's beautiful." He met her gaze across the hood of his car and his throat went a little dry. Ryan tried to ignore it.

"Yeah…um…Well we should probably get inside" he said, walking around to the front of the car and she came to stand next to him.

"Okay." She replied. With that, they walked side by side up the front steps and to the door.

"RYAN MAURICE ATWOOD!" Jennifer Atwood definitely had a set of pipes. She'd needed them though, after spending the last twenty-five years chasing around two boys, who sometimes seemed like they had nothing better to do than drive her crazy. At least Trey had grown out of it though, by the time he had turned eighteen.

But here was Ryan, four months shy and staying out all night, all day, not calling anyone or giving the slightest inclination that he was okay and just waltzing in over twenty-four hours after he had left. She'd be thankful later (as most mothers would be in the situation), that her youngest son was alright. At the present moment however, Jennifer Atwood could not remember being angrier.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!" she shouted coming through the hallway leading from the kitchen to the entrance hall just as Ryan was closing the front door. Marissa saw his face before he turned around with that "Oh shit" kind of quirk about his mouth and the "God help me" look in his eyes that you get when you know you're screwed.

"Uh…Hey mom," Ryan said as he faced his mother, giving her a half smile.

"Oh, don't you dare 'Hey mom' me! Ryan where have you been?! You come home yesterday in a horrible mood after seeing your girlfriend and then out of nowhere just TAKE OFF! You don't bother telling me or your dad or Trey or even Seth where you're going or if you're all right and then you ignore all our phone calls ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT! EXPLAN YOURSELF!" Her face was flushed with anger and her fists were balled at her sides. Ryan had never seen his mother so mad.

…yesterday in a horrible mood after seeing your girlfriend…

Sadie. Ryan hadn't thought of her since first passing Marissa's car.

Marissa…

She was still standing behind him. He took a small step forward,

"Mom-" he started.

"Ryan, if you even so much as think of walking away from me, I swear I will-" Jennifer stopped mid-sentence upon seeing what, or rather whom, Ryan's movement had revealed.

She looked no older than her son, though she was almost as tall as him and thin. Her hair was dirty and a golden brown in color. It was piled messily behind her head, several stray strands falling around her face, framing it. There appeared to be something smudged on her left cheek, but despite it, she was stunning. She was slightly biting on her bottom lip and there was something in her blue-grey eyes that made Jennifer soften and momentarily disregard how angry she was at her son.

"Um…Good evening Mrs. Atwood." the young woman said, smiling slightly and nervously extending her hand, but she withdrew it, embarrassed after glancing and seeing how dirty it was.

"Good evening…" Jennifer replied, extending her own hand despite the younger one's dirty one and pausing to hear a name.

"Oh, um, Marissa," she said, taking a step forward past Ryan and placing her hand in the older woman's, "Marissa Cooper." Marissa felt uncomfortable shaking this woman's hand. She seemed so…clean, and perfect. They broke contact, and Marissa awkwardly stepped back to where she had been and tucked a spare piece of hair behind her ear as Jennifer looked back a her son, waiting for an explanation.

"Ryan…?" she voiced in a questioning tone.

"Wel- I was on my way home and I found Marissa on the side of the road just inside the county, so I stopped to help her and-"

"My car broke down…" Marissa interjected.

"Yeah, and it was getting dark, she was alone so I offered her a meal and a place to sleep until her car gets fixed."

Jennifer looked from her son to Marissa, and thought for a moment.

"Where is your car, Marissa?" Jennifer finally asked her.

"Um, about a half mile in from the 'Welcome to the county' sign."

"Alright then." She paused. "Why don't you come with me Marissa, there's some leftovers from dinner that we can heat up in the kitchen. I hope you like Italian."

Marissa, surprised, "Yes, Italian is fine. Absolutely, thank you."

"Good. Ryan, if you'd go drive back and get her things, we can set her up in the back guestroom on the third floor." Looking at Marissa and offering the girl a smile, "The view is beautiful up there and it's the only guestroom with its own bathroom, so you can have your privacy."

"I don't know what to say, except thank you so much." Marissa said, smiling slightly. It made her face light up a bit more and Jennifer softened towards the girl.

"Well, then come on into the kitchen with me, and Ryan-"

"Actually mom, we put her stuff in my car, so it's here already…"

"Good. Then why don't you get on that Ryan. Marissa?" she said beckoning for her to follow.

"I'll help Ryan, Mrs. Atwood. They're my things…and it's the very least I could do… And actually, if it's not too inconvenient, I'd really like to take a shower before I eat…"

"Of course, of course. It's no inconvenience at all, Marissa. Just come back down here when you're ready to eat. The kitchen is right through here." She said kindly, pointing down the hallway she had come through.

"Thank you." Marissa said again. Ryan turned and opened the front door and Marissa was about to follow when Jennifer stopped them.

"Oh, before I forget Marissa, there's probably someone you need to call, let them know where you are and everything?"

"Oh, um…no Mrs. Atwood. There's no one to call." She turned and started out the front door. Jennifer was about to press the matter, but glanced at her son. He gave her a look and a slight shake of his head, so she didn't. Instead she said to Marissa,

"Please, call me Jen."

"Okay." Marissa replied turning back to Jen and smiling. With that, she and Ryan walked out the front door and back towards Ryan's car. After shutting it, Marissa turned to him.

"Thanks." She said.

"For what?" he asked.

"For not letting her press it…"

"Yeah," he said nonchalantly, "No problem." Ryan didn't know exactly why he hadn't let his mother press it, but there was still something in Marissa's eyes, in her voice when she had said there was no one. Now wasn't the time to press it. They walked to the car in silence and Ryan unlocked it and grabbed the two duffel bags out of the backseat. Handing one to Marissa, he relocked his car and they began to walk back to the house. He looked over at her and noticed she was smiling.

"So?" he said, still looking at her.

"So?" she replied back, but couldn't suppress a laugh. It was the first time Ryan had heard her laugh. It was soft, and silky.

"What?" he asked, smiling first then laughing too, not knowing why. She looked at him, the smile still brightening her eyes.

"Your middle name is Maurice?"

A/N:Not really sure what Ryan's real middle name is, so I threw this in to give it a little humor. ...I thought it was funny at least. lol. Anyway...PLEASE read and REVIEW. I love reviews. Reviews make me a happy writer. Happy writers like to write! So it's all one big lovely circle if you think about it...lol. Next chapter should be up soon. Thanks for reading.