The next morning, Marissa sat up in the pool house bed, taking in all of her surroundings. She looked down at Ryan and smiled, moving her hand through his hair as he slept. She was about to lay back down and fall asleep against him when she saw someone sitting in the chair next to the bed. But that wasn't possible.

"Hey baby. Long time no see."

She gasped, unable to say anything. He smiled evilly and laughed spitefully.

"Seems like you didn't miss me too badly. Otherwise, you wouldn't be lying next to your second choice."

"You're not really here. I got rid of you. You're not real."

"Yeah you got me good, doll face. But I'm never going to leave you."

Volchok got up and walked over to Marissa's shell-shocked frame. He put a finger to her head and bent down to whisper in her ear.

"I'll always be right here."

His words echoed as she screamed frantically. Ryan bolted up and saw Marissa shaking and screaming. He put his arms around her and tried to calm her hysterics.

"Shh. Marissa, it's okay. I've got you. No one's going to hurt you. Come on, it's okay. Let's lay back down."

She stopped screaming and nodded, tears drying on her face. She let Ryan gently push her back on to the bed, but before she closed her eyes and relaxed into him, she had to make sure of one thing. So, she rolled over to look, and just as she suspected, no one was in the chair. And no one ever had been.

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

Two hours later, the clock in Seth Cohen's bedroom read 8:30. He peeked through one eye and groaned at seeing how early it was. Just as he was about to roll over and go back to sleep, his bedroom door burst open and his angry girlfriend came rushing in.

"Get up, Cohen!"

"Why? It's 8:30 and we were out till 2 this morning! I'm so tired!"

"We need to stage an intervention. Now."

"With who, Summer? Who do we need to save at 8:31 in the morning?"

"Ryan. He didn't show up to the bonfire last night after he promised me that he would come! I talked about Marissa for four hours, we ate like 20 smores, and we had to bury Share Bear ourselves!"

"Look, I know this hurts, but Ryan's dealing with a lot. Marissa meant so much to him."

"And she didn't mean anything to me?"

"I didn't say that."

"Whatever. I am pissed, and I am going to confront him whether you're coming or not."

Summer stomped out of the room and Seth ran after her, part of him wanting to stop her from hurting Ryan more, and part of him wanting her to snap Ryan out of this funk he had been in for the past few weeks. Seth knew that Ryan had loved Marissa more than anyone else, but it was time to move on. It was what she would have wanted, and it was what everyone who cared about Ryan needed.

……………………………… …………………………………………………………

The two of them walked out to the pool house and Seth grabbed Summer's hand as she was reaching for the doorknob.

"Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

"You know, Cohen, I would think you of all people would want someone to get Ryan out of this. You're his best friend!"

"I know, but do you think this is the best way?"

"Yes. I am going to scream at him until my voice goes away if I have to. He said he wanted to give her a proper memorial, and then he didn't show up. I can't even imagine how Marissa would feel if she was here."

With those words, Summer flung open the door to the pool house and saw Ryan lying in bed, still sleeping. But he wasn't alone. Seeing that strange, black-haired woman in Ryan's bed was the last straw. Summer exploded.

"I can't believe you, Chino! How dare you taint Marissa's memory like this? It's like you're spitting on her and every good time the two of you ever had! She might not be able to fight back, but I will fight for her! Get out of here, you skank!"

Summer grabbed a pillow and started whacking the girl repeatedly. It wasn't until Ryan and the girl next to him sat up that Summer saw that the black haired beauty lying next to Ryan was her best friend in the whole world. Her face instantly lit up and she jumped on the bed, tackling Marissa in a gigantic hug.

"Coop! Is that really you?"

Marissa's tears and huge smile prevented her from saying anything. She just nodded and hugged her best friend tightly. This was the second best moment of her entire life. The first was reuniting with Ryan.

Summer turned to Ryan as she lay down next to Marissa. She motioned Seth to come over and he lay down next to them, hugging Marissa and laughing with her like he thought would never happen again.

"I'm so sorry I yelled, Chino. I just thought you couldn't handle coming to the bonfire, and I just couldn't take that. But I'm so happy now! When did she come back?"

"Last night, as I was getting ready to meet you and Seth."

"Well, if she came before the bonfire, why didn't the two of you just come?"

Ryan chuckled. Marissa blushed and smiled. Seth cleared his throat. Summer looked around, confused.

"What, I don't…"

She looked again. From what she could see, Ryan was shirtless and Marissa was pulling the comforter up to cover her body. Suddenly, it hit her.

"Oh my god! Ew!"

Summer jumped out of the bed and threw whatever random clothes she could find at Ryan and Marissa. She turned around, while the two of them quickly dressed. Seth was busy making coffee at the pool house kitchen.

"Are you decent?"

"Yes, Summer."

She turned around, and saw Ryan with his arm around Marissa, grabbing a cup of coffee from Seth as he climbed back in the bed next to Marissa. He grabbed the covers and threw them over his head.

"I am going back to bed. All this miracle reunion stuff has got me exhausted!"

Marissa laughed, and they all smiled. None of them ever thought they would get to hear that laugh again, and now that they did, none of them ever wanted to let her go again. Summer climbed back in bed next to Seth and the four of them lay there blissfully for the first time in what seemed like forever.

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

"Four weeks."

"And counting."

Sandy and Kirsten stood inside the house staring out at the pool house. It was about nine o'clock and the two of them had just got up and began their new morning ritual. Before, they would have eaten bagels, drank coffee and exchanged witty banter before rushing off to work. Now, their morning ritual consisted of standing by the back window and staring at the pool house, trying to mentally will Ryan to open the blinds and come over for breakfast. It had been four weeks since they had eaten breakfast with their second son. Four weeks since they had really talked. And those four weeks were more than either of them could take. Every day, they brought Ryan his meals and tried to persuade him to talk, just so they could keep his will to live alive. But they both knew the real truth. Ryan was barely there without Marissa.

"Sandy, we need to do something. This is no way for him to live."

"I understand what you're saying, but everyone has different ways of mourning. This is just his."

"Hiding away from the world is not a good way to mourn! He's slowly dying."

"Well, I don't know what you want me to do, Kirsten. We've tried talking to him, we've tried ordering his favorite Thai food. I don't know what else we can do except wait for him to work this out on his own."

Kirsten slammed down her coffee cup and watched as drops splattered across the kitchen counter. She turned to look her husband dead in the eye.

"I'm tired of waiting, Sandy. And I'm tired of having one son and one zombie in our house. I won't do this anymore. I won't let Ryan jeopardize his future for Marissa Cooper's memory."

Kirsten grabbed her robe from one of the kitchen chairs and put it on, walking out the door with her husband right behind her. As much as he hated to do this, Kirsten was right. It was time for Ryan to move on. When she got to the door, there were no second thoughts. She whipped it open and saw a shocking thing.

There she was. The love of Ryan's life. The reason he had been crying all these weeks. Sandy stood behind Kirsten with the same look of shock and apprehension that she was wearing. Seth and Summer stayed silent and Marissa looked toward Ryan to see if he was going to say anything. He smiled and turned back to Sandy and Kirsten.

"You guys don't have to look so shocked. It's not like you haven't seen Marissa Cooper in this bed before."

Kirsten began to cry with happiness, both for Ryan and for Marissa's life. It had been so tragic to see such a young girl die like that, but those memories didn't matter anymore. They meant nothing. They still couldn't say anything, so Seth broke the ice.

"Did you see that, mom? Ryan's funny again."

She laughed and Marissa held out her arms to receive Kirsten's hug. Before the accident, Marissa had always known that she could come to Kirsten and Sandy if she ever needed anything at all. Having them here now meant the world to her. She hugged Sandy too, and when they broke apart, the parents just looked down at the kids, smiling. They had their two sons back at last.

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

"What the hell…!"

Julie Cooper slammed the phone down for the fifth time and redialed the Cohens' number. It was 10:30 in the morning. Where could they be? She sighed loudly and took a long, slow drink from her fourth cup of coffee. She was trying to stay stable and strong. No matter what had ever happened, she was never weak. Now, her daughter had died, and people expected things to be the same as always. But things were much different now. She needed a friend. She needed to talk to Kirsten before she went insane.

She heard footsteps coming through the front door and figured that Neil had forgotten something. He had been the best support that he could be, but Marissa wasn't his daughter. He didn't understand what it was like to lose a child. She needed someone who knew what she was going through. She needed…

"Jimmy?"

Julie watched as her ex-husband came toward her, arms wide open. She was so shocked to see him there that she just couldn't hold back the tears anymore. She fell into his arms and sobbed, hard. When she felt like she could breathe again, she began to talk.

"How did you get in here?"

"Spare key under the doormat isn't exactly a new trick, Jules."

"Why are you here?"

"Do you not want me here?"

"I didn't say that."

"I'm here because we lost our daughter, and no one in Greece really understands how much it hurts. At least not like I knew you would."

"I'm so glad you're here."

"I'm glad you feel that way. Now, do you want to know what I think we should do to start healing?"

"Of course. You know best about how I'm feeling."

"I think we should talk to Ryan. Make peace with him."

"Jimmy, I can't talk to that boy. He was there when…"

The tears started to come all over again. She remembered hearing the police tell her about what happened and that no body was found at the scene of the accident. She saw Ryan sitting in the police car, and they had locked eyes. She had convinced herself that it was his fault Marissa was dead.

"He's hurting just as much as we are, Julie. We need to work this out. Together."

"Fine. I'll talk to him, but I can't promise that I'll ever be able to forgive him."

"Well, talking to him is a good start. Who knows what kinds of things we'll learn? Maybe you guys will have more in common than you think."

But Julie Cooper didn't need to hear anything from Ryan. She already knew they were the same person on the inside and she didn't need any words to prove it. That look had been enough.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Julie Cooper breathed a sigh of hesitation as she reached for the door handle of the Cohens' pool house. Jimmy put his hand on her shoulder and nodded.

"It's time to let this hurt go, Jules."

She gulped and walked inside, her eyes immediately locked on the people lying in the bed. There were six of them, all with their eyes closed, sleeping or trying to be. Sandy, Kirsten, Seth, Summer, Ryan and…who the hell was that black-haired bitch lying where her daughter should have been? And why were Sandy and Kirsten lying there? Were they okay with this atrocity?

"How dare you! You've ruined enough lives here! Why don't you just go back to Chino and stop hurting everyone like this!"

Everyone's eyes popped open and Ryan sat up to look at a livid Julie.

"Maybe you should rethink that statement."

"Don't you tell me what to do! My daughter died, Ryan, and I know Sandy and Kirsten think you're the one who's suffering the most! What did they do, buy you a hooker? Well, she looks like a slut!"

"Nice way to talk about your own daughter."

Julie looked shocked.

"Excuse me!"

Marissa sat up and stared her mother straight in the eye. Julie felt her knees going from under her.

"I can't…that can't be her…Marissa's…"

"I'm right here, mom. You don't have to hurt anymore."

Julie started to sob all over again, just like she had when Jimmy had come to see her this morning. She ran over to her daughter and fell on the bed, hugging her and running her hand through her hair just like she had done when Marissa was a little girl.

Jimmy beamed and ran over to his daughter, capturing Julie and Marissa into a giant hug. Everyone else smiled. They hadn't seen the Coopers this happy in forever. They were finally a family again. And although no one else knew it, Jimmy Cooper had come home to stay.