Dawn had heard a confrontation occurring down another hallway, but she ignored it and continued along her way, quickly forgetting the disturbance and refocusing all her attentions and thoughts on the task at hand. She was about to go and confront the love of her life, the man she had ruthlessly dumped for her husband, Ryan's father, just because he had money. Sure, at the time, she had known that what she was doing was wrong, dating someone and subsequently marrying them for their money, but she believed that hurting Jimmy and betraying her own heart were worth the security of a wealthy, respected husband. Obviously she knew now that she had made the biggest mistake of her life.

After dating for a respectable period of time, nine months, Dan Atwood Author's note: I know this is not original for his name, but I've seen so many people use it that a part of me wonders if that is his name on the show and I just never noticed it being mentioned. had proposed. They had married a year later, and she had settled quite comfortably into her life as a Newpsie. Dan owned a successful shipping company which mainly dealt with importing and exporting coffee, nuts, and fruits from South America which he had inherited from his father. Two years after they were married, Trey was born and her usefulness in their marriage had been completed. All Dan wanted, all he needed from her was an heir, and Trey was that. From the point her son turned five, she had only seen him sporadically when he would return with his father from business trips. He had a nanny to take care of him and a full time tutor so that he would not fall behind in his studies as he traveled the world with his dad, learning right from his hand. Ryan had been a drunken mistake for Dan a blessing to Dawn.

Because Dan already had his heir, Ryan had been superfluous, and he had wanted nothing to do with him, but Dawn was lonely and had no one to love, so Ryan represented her chance to nurture and care for someone who would love her back unconditionally. She was a good mother to him until he went to school, but as he got older, she felt him slipping away from her and with the whole day just full of free time for her when he was gone, she had turned to alcohol. At first it had been to help pass the time, but slowly as time wore on, she needed it to function. Her drinking made her undependable, moody, and often absent, and Ryan quickly drifted away from her. His friends had become his family, Seth and Summer mainly, and he had found a support system in Seth's family, the Cohens. Trey was now 23 and inching ever so closer to taking over the family reins, while Ryan had just turned 19 that past March.

Drinking had been her life for almost 14 years, but now she had a new goal: making the stubborn Jimmy Cooper listen to her and figuring out a way to make him do what she wanted. Knocking quietly on his door before entering, she fixed a permanent smile on her face and mentally prepared herself for what could be an upseting and disheartening site before her.

Jimmy had become quite worried about Marissa. He had not heard from her in a few days now, and it was completely unlike her. If she did not make it up to see them, then she would at least call everyday. Although he and Julie could not share a room, they were granted visiting hours with each other every day, and he knew that she had not heard from Marissa either. As he heard his door open after a soft, gentle knock he felt positive that his only child, his baby girl had come to visit him and a large, warm smile spread across his face only to be quickly dashed when he saw who was really visiting him.

"Dawn? What the hell are you doing here, and how did you ever find me? I should have known you would end up in this town, a town full of women just like you, only concerned with wealth, class, and status."

"Which question do you want me to answer first, why or how? And by the way, hello Jimmy; it's lovely to see you, too."

"Let's start with why."

"To see you, what do you think?"

"After 27 years you decided to just drop in, unannounced, to see how I was?"

"It's not like that…well at least it doesn't seem that simple to me."

He just stared at her, not offering a hello or telling her to take a seat and make herself comfortable. His shock at her sudden appearance was mixing with the anger he still held in his heart towards her after all these years, and, together, they were not making him a very welcoming host.

"I know…about you and your wife, that you have cancer. I'm so sorry Jimmy, for both of you, and your poor daughter! I assume she dropped out of school to take care of you?"

"What…I mean how do you know all of this," he asked in a confused tone, not sure he really wanted to know the answers to his questions.

"Can I sit?"

He motioned with his hand absentmindedly to a chair that was positioned beside his bed and she moved towards it and sat down, taking a deep breath before continuing.

"Let me start from the beginning. A few days ago my son Ryan asked me a question about you, and it brought up a lot of old memories, things I thought I had buried forever, and for some reason I couldn't stop thinking about you, so I looked you up, on the internet. You don't leave much of a paper trail, but your daughter does, and through all her news clippings, I was able to piece together your life, that you're married that you became a teacher and coach just like you always wanted to, that your wife was a nurse, that your daughter seems to be the most amazing young woman,… and then I saw it, the advertisement announcing the benefit dinner to be held to raise money for you and your wife, both dying of cancer. So, here I am."

"To do what, ride in on your expensive, foreign car and save the day by flashing around some of your rich husband's money. Thanks but no thanks."

"Don't be such a martyr, Jimmy," she snapped back at him, suddenly angered as well by his sarcastic comment, "put that dmn pride of yours aside and let some one help you, if not for you and your wife's safe then for your daughter!"

Surprising her, he laughs long and hard before replying.

"So I see you still have that famous temper of yours which caused me to be drug unwillingly into a few fights in the past. Listen, I appreciate the offer, I really do, but I can't accept your charity and I think you know that. You're not the only one who hasn't changed."

"Of course I know you won't accept my money, well Dan's money, but there are other ways I can help. You may hate this town, but the women around her love parties and the men love to write nice big checks for good causes so that they get a good tax right off, so why don't we try another one of those benefit dinners but this time I'll organize it and your daughter can go back to school in the fall. I know you, and I know that is must be killing you to think that you're the cause of your daughter dropping out of college, am I right?"

"Yeah."

"So let me do this. Besides, it would be good for me, give me something worthwhile to do with all the time I have on my hands."

The room was silent for a few minutes as Jimmy sat and contemplated the offer Dawn had just presented to him. As time lapsed, she became nervous and began to fidget with her shaking hands. Surely, he thought to himself, her unsteadiness was not due to nerves, and if not, what was wrong with her? His piercing blue eyes, the same eyes his daughter had, and the only thing that still contained the vigor he had displayed in his life before the disease wracked his body, studied her every moment, and then finally when she lifted her head and his eyes met hers, he knew his answer.

"Oh my god", he proclaimed, "you're a drunk."

Julie Cooper sat in her room, aimlessly flipping through the endless television channels, searching in vain for something to occupy her mind. She was out of new books to read, and Marissa had not been there to go to the library for her recently. Plus, the nurse had said that Jimmy had a guest so he would be late in meeting her for their daily allotted visiting time. She assumed his guest would be Marissa which would mean she'd be able to see her little girl soon. Marissa may have been 18, but to Julie she'd always be her little girl. They had wanted many children, but her labor with Marissa had been extremely difficult, both mother and child had almost died, and the doctors had feared what would happen if she tried to have another child. Although she had insisted that the risk of her life was worth it, Jimmy had negated the idea as soon as she made it, saying she had given him the most precious child in the world and that he could not live without her.

She had been the first to be diagnosed with the cancer, breast cancer to be exact. It still amazed her how quickly the cancer had spread. As a health professional, she had known how important it was to have annual mammograms and to regularly perform self breast exams, but somewhere between her scans and missing it with her own trained hands, a tumor had developed, and by the time it had been detected, it did not look well. Marissa had just started her first semester at college, and they had agreed not to tell her until they knew for sure what the results of the biopsy, surgery, and chemo would be. Before she was finished however, Jimmy started to get sick, and two months to the date after she was diagnosed with breast cancer, he had been diagnosed with advanced colon cancer. Perhaps the stress of caring for her on his own while still trying to work fulltime had put too much of a strain on his body, but whatever it was, his disease had progressed even farther than hers did before it was detected. At this point both of them had exhausted all of their options for recovery and had resigned themselves to the knowledge that they would probably not live through the year, but unfortunately they were still hurting their daughter.

They had finally told her that they were sick when she came home for Christmas Break. Of course she had been furious that they had kept it from her, but her ire was quickly replaced with worry as the severity of the situation became apparent. When it came time for her to go back for the spring semester, she announced that she was not going back to school while there was still time for her to spend with them; besides, she had said, they needed her help. Both of them had lost their jobs after the disease had made it impossible for them to work, which meant their health insurance had given out. Desperate for money to pay for their mounting hospital bills, they had sold their home, the only house they had lived in together and the house where they had raised Marissa. That had helped, but once they were placed in the hospital full time in February, the bills began to accumulate again. Julie knew that her daughter had a very unsavory job, but she would not tell them what she did and she never complained; she just kept taking care of them. Although she was sick, she enjoyed the time she spent now with her daughter who normally never missed a day when she didn't at least call to chat, but she had not heard from her in a few days, and just like Jimmy, she had been worried. Well at least, she thought to herself, Marissa was here and alright.

Julie was correct; Marissa was in the hospital, but she was not visiting her father and she was definitely not alright according to her doctor. Not only did she have two broken ribs and a bruised collar bone besides her other multiple contusions and skin lacerations, but the doctor feared that she was physically run down and told her that she had better start taking better care of herself or she would become ill. Her ribs had been taped, her hands properly bandaged, and now she just sat there waiting to be released. She really did not know what was taking so long. Like Ryan had asked her to, she had confessed to the doctor that there was a chance she had been raped while unconscious after the beating she had suffered, so he had preformed a rape kit and was administering the proper tests to determine if anything was abnormal. Although they were almost certain that Nick had not gone that far, they had both agreed that she needed to find out for sure. As she sat and watched the clock hands move silently, fear started to creep in and all of her positive resolve melted away.

What if he really had raped her? What if she was pregnant, and if so, it could be Ryan's, so what was she supposed to do? Had he given her something, a disease, and if so, could she have passed it on to Ryan? Was there something else wrong? All these thoughts tumbled around agitatedly inside of her brain, frightening her almost to the point of tears. Her grave thoughts were interrupted by her door opening, and although she feared what the news might be, she was thankful that the doctor had finally returned, but when she looked over at the new arrival, or well rather arrivals, it was not the doctor or a nurse but instead a speechless Summer and a panicking Seth.

"Get your stuff," Seth ordered. "You're going with us right now to straighten this out! I can't believe you did that!"

Nervous and shocked by the way he had just spoken to her, Marissa timidly posed a question.

"What are you talking about? What happened, and what did I have to do it?"

"Chino's been arrested for assault and rape," Summer whispered, speaking for the first time since they had seen Ryan being dragged away in handcuffs.

"Of whom," an appalled and now angry Marissa asked. "He might have his flaws and a temper, but he would never do anything like that!"

"Don't play innocent with us," Seth screamed back her. "He was arrested for assaulting and raping you, so don't try to act as if you have no idea what's going on!"

Without saying a word to her newly found, irate friends, Marissa lunged off the bed and took off down the hallway, completely forgetting the physical pain her body was in. It took a lot to make Marissa Cooper angry, and injustice and unlawful imprisonment, especially to a person she lo…..cared deeply for, was enough to push her off the ledge. She found the target of her rage quickly, and made her way over to him, with each step becoming more and more irate. Screaming for all to here and not caring of the consequences, Marissa confronted her doctor.

"What did you do! Why was Ryan Atwood arrested for assaulting and raping me!"

Calmly the doctor replied. "You came in here with him having suffered two broken ribs and a bruised collar bone, your body has been severely beaten, and you asked for a rape exam. What were we to think?"

"You're not to think on your own; you're supposed to ask me questions instead of just assuming. Why would I come in here with the man who supposedly raped and assaulted me, and besides that, what type of evidence did you have other than your suspicions to call the police?"

"Look," he spoke harshly, not liking where this conversation was going, "I've seen dozens of cases where women have been attacked by their boyfriends and refused to turn them in. I was already suspicious of your relationship before you asked for the rape kit to be preformed, and once you did, my instincts kicked in. We ran the tests because after we had examined you, it was evident that you've recently been involved in sexual intercourse…."

"It was consensual," Marissa cut him off to say. "I was attacked by someone else, beaten by someone else, and although I did not think that he raped me, I wanted to make sure, to check that I was safe and that Ryan was as well, and this is what I get….no, this is what he gets for caring for me and wanting me to be precautious!" She calmed down slightly and lowered her voice somewhat before continuing. "Putting your suspicions aside, how did you convince the police to arrest Ryan?"

He would not answer her but, instead, sheepishly looked down at his feet, causing the calm that had just overcome her to evaporate instantly.

"I said, how did you convince the police to arrest Ryan!"

"We ran a DNA test and compared the sperm that we found in you with his hair."

"And who authorized this! I did not give you permission to do this, the cops did not give you a warrant, and I guarantee you did not ask Ryan for a sample of his DNA! What did you do, take a cheek swab under the ruse of checking for something legitimate or did you take a strand of his hair without asking!"

"The latter," he answered in a shaky voice.

"If I had the resources or the connections I would sue you for your medical license," she hissed out at him before regaining her composure. "I am going to the police station to clear this up, and by the time I get there, they had better have received a phone call from you explaining your criminal behavior!"

With that she ran out of the hospital without a second look at the quaking general practitioner, completely forgetting that Seth and Summer had been with her. She had not noticed that they had followed her out into the hallway and had listened to every single word with bated breath. Before they ran to catch up with her though, Seth had his own words for the beleaguered doctor.

"She might not have the resources or the connections to sue you, but my father is the Sandy Cohen, and after I tell him what you did to my best friend, he will be only too eager to get his hands on your medical license."

Calmly and once again self assured, he walked away only to stop and turn around for the last word.

"Oh, and don't even think of skipping town and running away, because not only is my Father powerful, but my Mother is the CEO of the Newport Group, I'm sure you've heard of it, and she has some very well trained private investigators right at her finger tips who would hunt you down within days."

With that, he turned on his heal, grabbed Summer by the hand, and the two of them ran off together to catch up with the very determined and livid Marissa.

"Excuse me," Dawn replied flabbergasted at Jimmy's perception and lack of discretion. Everyone in town might know that she had a drinking problem, but no one would ever mention it; that was the unwritten rule of Newport. You could talk about someone's problems behind their backs but never, ever confront them about them about it face to face. Besides, it wasn't as if any of her "friends" cared enough to even give the unwritten rule a second thought.

"I can't believe you're an alcoholic! Sure, I mean you would drink occasionally, but you hated it when people lost control of themselves and had too much to drink. You thought it was weak."

"Well, Jimmy, maybe I'm weak."

"The Dawn I knew was never weak."

"I'm not the same person I used to be. People change."

"So what happened," Jimmy asked, his earlier annoyance with his past flame absent from his voice as it was replaced with concern and worry.

"I was lonely. Dan had Trey, that's my oldest son, he's 23, off with him on business most of the time, and then once Ryan, he's 19, went to school there was no one left to keep me company. It is not fun sitting alone in your hauntingly large house where even your cleaning lady treated you with disdain. So slowly one drink a day to ease the tension and help pass the time turned into a bottle a day, and now, 14 years later, we're sitting here and you're the first person who has ever confronted my problem."

"So it's not as great being rich as you thought it would be?" Although he was still disturbed about her obvious addiction, he couldn't help but let the anger slip back into his tone.

"I found out the hard way that a lot of things I used to believe were true aren't, but I'm not here to discuss my life. What do you say, will you let me help you or not?"

"Why can't we discuss you? I'm dying, there's no getting around that fact, but you have years ahead of you if you sober up. Your problem we can fix."

"Jimmy, please, let me do this for you and your family, and I'll try to work on this little predicament I'm in. Besides, it seems that worrying about you keeps me away from the bottle. I haven't had a drink in over 24 hours. I've been too worked up to even remember that I wanted some."

"This is what happens to you after just 24 hours without alcohol. Dawn, you're a mess. Your hands are shaking, your eyes are jumpy, and it looks as if you're about to crawl out of your skin you're so edgy."

And indeed, she did look terrible, but at this point, she was used to looking like this if she even looked at herself in the mirror. Her appearance really didn't matter much to her anymore; it wasn't as if anyone noticed when she looked particularly nice.

"Look, I'll make you a deal. If you honesty try to quit drinking and start to regularly attend AA meetings, then I will accept your help, but the first time I catch wind that you're drinking again, that's it, I'm going to pull the plug on our deal. Hell, I'll even be your sponsor if that will help motivate you, but I won't be able to go to meetings with you."

"I can't believe you care…after what I did to you. I mean, after what I did to you, how can you even offer to help me?"

Dawn stared at him incredulously as he sat and pondered her question.

"Why are you offering to help me after all these years? Why did you even bother to look me up after all this time," he asked as he turned her question around on her without really answering it for himself.

"I guess that I….," Dawn mumbled to herself afraid to really answer his inquiry.

Jimmy didn't need her to continue though, he knew her well enough to know what her answer was with those four little words.

"Yeah, me, too."

His quiet response startled her. She had never expected him to say that, if anything, she thought he would be mad.

"What we shared doesn't disappear even after one person hurts the other. It changes in form and relinquishes its control over our hearts, but it's always there one way or another. That's why it's so hard to forgive."

Unable to speak, Dawn just stared at him with tears in her eyes, tears she would not let herself shed no matter what or at least not until she was alone in the peace and solitude of her car, as a small smile formed on her face and turned into an infectious grin that he reciprocated.

"Okay," she said with a definitive and newly self-assured voice.

"Okay what?"

"Okay, you have yourself a deal. I will start going to AA meetings and will try my hardest to stop drinking with you as my sponsor if you allow me to throw you and your wife another benefit dinner."

He puts his hand out to shake upon their pact as did she, and with that simple gesture they had put the past behind them and could now look towards the future as friends.

"Deal," he said as his smile once again found its way to his face, crinkling his eyes and causing his laugh lines to appear.

As she got up to leave, he stopped her as she reached the door.

"Oh, and hey Dawn?" She looked up and nodded for him to continue. "Don't be a stranger. I'd love for you to meet my family, and besides, I'm your sponsor, so I expect lots of updates."

"I'd like that. See you tomorrow?"

"I'll have to check my schedule, but I'm sure I could pencil you in some time for tomorrow."

They shared a laugh before she waved goodbye and quietly shut the door behind her. Confidently, Dawn sauntered out of the hospital and went directly to her car which would carry her home to her yet again empty house, but this afternoon, instead of drowning her sorrows, she planned to dump out every drop of liquor in the house, something Dan would throw a fit about but she didn't care, and start the party preparations for the Coopers' benefit dinner.

Marissa, Summer, and Seth had arrived at the police station twenty minutes after they had left the hospital with Marissa leading the them all the way to the police chief who she demanded to see in order to report her complaint to the person in charge. He had profusely offered his sincere apologies and immediately released Ryan upon hearing her tale and confirming it with the call the doctor had made. Once they had left the police station, they returned to Summer's house all of them with personal agendas to follow. After asking permission first, Marissa was in the Roberts' home office searching the web for job openings, while Summer was doing some serious thinking in her room with Princess Sparkle to aid in the thought process. Suddenly, she had a brain storm and ran down the curved staircase, her petite feet softly pounding against the cream carpet as she went in search of her audience. Bursting into the room without knocking and slightly out of breath, she startled Marissa.

"Oh my god Summer, do not do that ever again! I think my heart is going to be permanently lodged in my throat!"

Summer laughed gently as she regained her composure before walking in and leisurely sitting on the green leather sofa opposite of Marissa and the computer desk, languidly throwing one of her legs carelessly over the arm and leaning back to get comfortable. Marissa just watched her out of amusement, knowing that she was about to ask her something that she wasn't quite sure how to express due to the perplexity on her face.

"So….what were you studying in college before you quit?"

"I didn't quit," Marissa emphasized, "I'm just taking some time off."

"Yeah, okay, whatever, that still doesn't answer my question." Marissa looked at her quizzically wondering where exactly she was going with this. "I was just curious because of what you said in the hospital. Were you pre-law?

"Yes."

"Uh, I knew it!" Summer was so excited she jumped up off the coach and pumped her fist three times before taking a bow and running out of the room without another word said. Just as she had briskly descended the stairs, she ascended them just as fast. Locking herself in her room so that no one could interrupt her, she hit one of the numbers on her speed dial and tapped her foot against her bed as he waited for the person to pick up. Once he did, she immediately started talking.

"Hello."

"Oh, hey Sandy."

"Summer, this is a surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Um, there's someone I want you to meet and we also have some news for you."

"Who's we?"

"Well Cohen, Atwood, myself, and the person I want you to meet. I think you will find yourself very intrigued with her. She actually kind of reminds me of you from all the stories I've heard."

He chuckled to himself, intrigued.

"So how do you three know her?"

"Now that's quite a story, one I think that would be best served over dinner."

"Summer," he laughed again, "are you fishing for an invite to eat here tonight, because you know you three, well four now I guess, are welcome anytime."

"And Kirsten will make her famous recipe?"

"Take out, of course, what do you take us for, Summer? We couldn't let her cook and scare off your new friend the first night we meet her. By the way, what's her name?"

"It's Marissa."

"Well then I will see you, my strange son, Ryan, and Marissa tonight at seven."

"Great, can't wait, Sandy."

As she flipped her phone shut, she heard him laugh to himself one more time. Nimbly, she was across her room within seconds with the door unlocked and thrown open as she, once again, hurried downstairs to spread the dinner plans.

Meanwhile, Ryan and Seth were enjoying a friendly game of pool in the game room, well to be accurate, Ryan was enjoying the game and Seth watched him sink ball after ball as he talked incessantly. Knowing that it was just the usual self-involved banter that Seth normally offered up, Ryan let his thoughts drift else where, most notably to a particular woman who just seemed to consume his every thought, but suddenly the mention of Marissa's name made him prick his ears up and pay attention.

"So, what's going on with you two? Are you and Marissa an official couple now or are you just officially coupling?

Seth laughed at his own play on words while Ryan merely rolled his eyes and went back to his pool game. Wanting an answer, Seth defected his shot. This time his actions elicited more than the roll of the eyes, this time he got the famous Atwood glare.

"Dude, you can either tell me or I'll go right this minute and ask Marissa herself."

"Fine, if you really want to know, we're just friends."

"Who sleep together."

"That was just that one night Seth, and I really don't see how this is any of your business."

"What's up with you? Normally you're the first one to brag about the latest chick you've bagged."

"Seth, watch it!"

"What," he asked innocently.

Ryan took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm his riled temper before continuing to speak with his best friend.

"I just don't want you talking about her…us….what we did that way, okay?"

"Sure man," he replied honestly, "I've just never seen you like this before about any girl, even Holly whom you dated for years off and on."

"You're telling me! I have no idea what to do; I'm completely lost when it comes to how to go about this with her. I mean I've always known exactly how to get what I want, but this time my usual bullsht lines and cliché gifts are going to get me nowhere."

"Well what do you want her to be, a friend, a friend with benefits, or a girlfriend?"

"What do you think," Ryan asked as he slumped down in a chair, forgotten pool stick still in hand, dejected and confused.

"Alright then, tell her how you feel."

"Did."

"Wow, really, already? This is amazing! What happened to the old Ryan Atwood, the love them and leave them ladies man?" Instead of responding, Ryan just flashed Seth another glare before Seth just continued on with their conversation by himself. "Well, what did she say?"

"She said that her life is too complicated right now to even think about starting a relationship."

"Well the girl does have a point! If I've ever seen a real, walking, talking soap opera, she'd be it, but cheer up; she obviously reciprocates the feelings you have for her."

"What, how do you know that?"

"Oh man, you should have seen how angry she got at the hospital and how she jumped in to defend your honor. She was so passionate about the cause, she reminded me a little of the Sandy Cohen, but that's a whole other tale…..where was I again?"

"You were about to tell me how you could tell that she had feelings for me."

"Oh yeah, well anyway the doctor called you her boyfriend and she never denied it."

"Really?" At the revelation of this news, Ryan's glum mood starts to lift as if Seth has just given him a slight thread of hope which he will be able to weave into a beautiful relationship.

"Yep, I'd say after watching her little performance for your benefit today, that she was head over heels, 100 in love with your sorry ss! Now all you have to do is convince her that starting a relationship with you will only help uncomplicated her life…oh and you might want to help find her a job and a place to stay soon here in Newport, because otherwise she's probably going to skip town and go back to Chino and get herself into who knows what kind of trouble this time."

Smiling broadly, Ryan stood up and lightly tossed the pool stick back on the table and went over and put his arm around Seth's shoulders in an affectionate manner.

"You know what Seth, I think you're right!"

Unbeknownst to them, Summer had just appeared in the door way and had heard Ryan's last statement.

"Uh-huh, Atwood, whatever you do, do not listen to Cohen about anything! If you need advice about Marissa, because that's undoubtedly what you were talking about because nothing else would be able to put that dopey ss grin on your face, you come to me, got it!"

Ryan looked between the two, unsure of who to trust, but the ecstatic expression never left his face.

"Listen, why don't you run and tell Marissa that we're going to dinner tonight at the Cohens'. They want to meet her, and I thought it might be a good idea for Sandy to speak with your lady lawyer in training. While you do that, I'll catch up with what nerd boy here told you to do so that I can correct all of his, no doubt, many mistakes."

Ryan did not need to be told twice to go see Marissa, so he ran off without a second glance back at his two best friends, but if he would have he would have seen Seth pouting profusely and Summer mocking him.

When Ryan reached the office, his hopes of talking to Marissa were dashed when he found he slumped over the desk sound asleep. As he lifted her as gently as he could from the chair so as not to cause her many injuries any more pain than necessary, her beautiful head lolled against his shoulder before she stirred in his arms as he carried her up the stairs to her guest room. Laying her down on the bed, she sleepily opened her eyes to look at him as a lethargic, satisfied smile spread across her face. He laughed at her dopey behavior before asking if she had taken her pain pill. All she could manage was a nod, so he pulled the blankets up around her petite frame and kissed her forehead before turning to leave her in peace, but her soft, pleading voice stopped him.

"Ryan?"

He turned around to look at her once again, locking gazes instinctively. She only said one word, but it was all he wanted to hear.

"Stay."

And so he did. He went to the opposite side, sat down, took of his shoes and over shirt, and climbed into the safe haven of her bed. As he made himself comfortable, she did as well, settling her delicate and tormented body into his very strong and capable arms and snuggling into his protective chest before falling asleep almost instantly with a content sigh escaping her lips. He kissed her hair before shutting his eyes to join her again in his dreams.

Ryan Atwood, in that moment, was truly happy.