Okay, here's the next chapter everyone. Sorry it's taken like 2 weeks to get up, we actually wrote heaps but then somehow it got lost or something, so we had to start again. This chapter actually ended up quite long, so we've decided to break it into smaller chapters so we can catch up a bit on writing. Thanks again to anyone who is still reading and please review once you are done. The next chapter should be up in a day or two.

Chapter 4 – The Smile

Ryan left his room to get Marissa something to eat. As he entered the living room he realised that his fears were confirmed. His mother had left, as well as AJ.

They didn't normally have a very clean house but the state that the place had been left in was beyond belief, the couch was overturned, the TV was face down on the floor, probably smashed, and there were various bits of rubbish thrown about the place. It was obvious that they had left in a hurry, apparently taking advantage of Ryan's departure this morning.

Ryan took a deep breath, taking in the chaos, before turning towards the kitchen, only just realising how hungry he actually was. Stomach rumbling, he opened the cupboard, and much to his delight, he found half a box of cereal and some bread.

Ryan buttered his bread while contemplating what to do with Marissa. He decided that she needed to rest for the moment, and that he'd take her breakfast in a couple of hours when she finally awoke. Ryan hadn't thought about what to do after the next few hours. She obviously had a family, and friends, but did she do this regularly? She's in pretty bad shape, Ryan thought as his protective drive went into overdrive, but he managed to calm himself enough to organise some questions in his mind to ask her once she stirred from her sleep.

After a couple of hours had passed, Ryan had managed to clean up the house. The trash had been taken out, the furniture was turned upright again and the broken TV was on the table. It seemed that AJ and his mom had only taken their personal belongings and majority of the food. The fridge was empty, the cupboards barely containing anything at all, it looked like he was going to go grocery shopping later that afternoon. As Ryan collapsed onto the couch to rest after his hard work, he suddenly looked up as he heard the click to his bedroom door, and the sound of Marissa's footsteps approaching him. He smiled when he saw that she had put his jacket on once again.

"Hey. Glad to see you're finally awake," Ryan said, a smile still obvious on his face.

"Hi," Marissa said shyly, a smile now evident on her face too.