-1Chapter 7
A/N I decided to write another chapter, so here you go. I still want to know, who should Ryan live with, if anyone. Tell me your opinions, R/R, enjoy!
Ryan Atwood looked around the motel room. It wasn't exactly five star hotel status, but it was better than Chino. Anything was better than Chino at this point.
He went and looked around some more. He could get used to this, at least until he found somewhere else. He set his bag down and sat on the bed. He sighed as he thought about his day, about how he was abandoned. He thought of how everything seemed to be going good, but then everything went horribly wrong. Then he thought of Marissa Cooper.
He smiled. That was the good thing about today. She'd found him at the diner in one of his darkest hours. She helped him through it though. She helped him when he needed to talk, and was sure not to push him too far. They'd shared dinner together, and he actually laughed a few times.
She seemed like she really cared, even though he'd barely known her. If she was as attracted to him as he was to her, then maybe they could go out. He might just be moving here, but there was something about her.
He lay down on his bed and sighed. She probably didn't care about him. She probably just stayed to be nice. He was just putting ideas in his head. Ideas that he knew would never really happen. He could never date a girl like Marissa Cooper.
As he fell asleep though, he couldn't get her face out of his mind. He couldn't get her blue eyes that he could stare at for hours or the freckles on her nose out. He couldn't forget her smile or the sound of her laughter. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, he was mesmerized whenever she was around.
Marissa Cooper smiled as she walked, no skipped, to her room. Ryan Atwood had specifically asked her to stay with her. Ryan Atwood had had dinner with her. Ryan Atwood laughed with her. How could this day get any better?
Her dad was in his office and must have noticed her because he said, "Someone's happy, what'd you do this time?'
Marissa just smiled and said, "I didn't do anything." She continued walking to her room, a bounce in her step. Her dad followed her though.
"Marissa, where have you been?" He seemed concerned but she didn't know why.
"I went to the beach and then I went to the diner to get some dinner." She sat down on her bed, the smile never leaving her face. "That's when I ran into someone."
Jimmy seemed interested now. He looked concerned still though, "Who did you run into?" He was waiting for her answer but she didn't want to tell him, incase he didn't approve.
She debated whether to tell him or not, but decided to tell the truth. He was the one that hired him. "Ryan Atwood." She smiled saying his name. She felt her tongue tingle from it.
Now Jimmy seemed really concerned. "What's he doing here? He's supposed to be back in Chino." He seemed to be talking to himself and Marissa got confused. Why was it such a big deal for him to be here? "What did he say?" Jimmy finally said, looking at her.
Marissa didn't want to tell about her conversation with Ryan. That was between just her and him. She felt special that he talked to her, if just a little. Even if she didn't know why he was really back in Newport so soon. "Nothing." Then she remembered the bruises and cuts on his face. She could tell her dad that, right? "Although, there was more cuts and bruises on his face than earlier today."
Jimmy seemed really concerned now. "Did he tell you why the cuts and bruises were there?" He seemed really upset now, and Marissa was beginning to lose her happiness.
"No, he wouldn't talk about why he was here or what those bruises were from." She thought about it for a minute. What was the reason for them there? What did her dad think of it? "Is there something I should know? Is something else going on?" Now her dad had her concerned.
"I don't know if I should tell you this." He seemed to be debating whether to tell her. He looked at her and must have seen how concerned she was because he sighed and sat on the bed. "He's from a really troubled background. I think someone at home was hitting him, I just don't know who though."
Marissa was shocked. She thought maybe he got into a fight, hit his head, anything other than getting beat up by someone in his family. She for some reason was even more intrigued to him, wanted to see him again. "I had no idea, dad. Although, he did look kind of sad." Marissa remembered the looks of sadness, of loneliness that he'd given her.
"Well, there's something going on. There's something that he's not telling anyone." Jimmy walked out of the room, still talking to himself in the hallway. Marissa sighed, maybe he didn't like her after all.
He didn't tell her much about himself, except that he had a brother. He said he was from Chino, and talked about his love for basketball. He didn't tell her a lot of things, but maybe it was just because he didn't really know her.
She fell asleep that night thinking of him. She thought of the feeling she got when their hands touched, or when she was simply in his presence. She thought about the smell of his cologne that she could smell, even after the whole day. Last but not least, she thought of when she'd see him again.
Jimmy Cooper paced around his office, worried. Worried about Ryan Atwood. What had really happened? Did Marissa really know? Would Ryan be willing to tell him? Most of all though, why was he back?
Jimmy Cooper sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He'd find him in the morning, he had to be around here somewhere. He'd make sure of it. First though, he needed to call Sandy. Sandy was supposed to talk to the boy.
He quickly dialed the number and pressed talk. After the second ring, a very upbeat and happy Sandy Cohen answered. "Hello, Sandy Cohen, how can I help you?"
"Sandy, it's Jimmy, can you talk?"
"Sure. What's up?"
"Did you talk to Ryan today?" Jimmy heard a sigh from the other line.
"Yeah, well, I tried to." Sandy's voice held a sadness in it now. "He didn't tell me much. He just told me that he got hit in the head with a basketball. You could tell he was afraid to tell the truth. It's just so sad, if he can't talk to us, then who is there?"
Jimmy sighed and thought about Marissa. She said that he didn't really talk to her, but maybe because he was just getting to know her. "I don't know, but maybe he's just not comfortable yet. We'll give him more time."
"But how much time until he doesn't listen anymore?" Sandy seemed to be taking the matter personally, should he tell him about what Marissa had said?
"Sandy, I have some bad news."
"What, is everyone okay?"
"I don't know. It's about Ryan. Marissa said that she went to the diner and saw him sitting there, all alone. She also said that he had more cuts and bruises on his face than he had earlier. She said that he didn't talk to her, but I don't know if that's true."
"Well, what can we do about it? This kid has a bad life, he just needs to talk. I gave him my card. Maybe he'll call. About Marissa, trust her, I don't think she'd lie about something like this."
"You're probably right." Jimmy felt bad for doubting Marissa. She may drink, but that didn't mean that she'd lie about something like this. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, tell me if he calls."
"Alright, see ya Jimmy."
Jimmy hung up his phone. He rubbed his forehead and sighed. This wasn't how today was supposed to go. He was supposed to get Ryan Atwood on his basketball team and celebrate with the family. He wasn't supposed to be wondering why Ryan was in Newport all of a sudden and wondering if he might be possibly be suffering from child abuse. No, that wasn't supposed to be his day at all.
Ryan Atwood awoke to the sound of seagulls outside. He jumped up in bed, afraid. Where was he? What was he doing here? Where was his mom and Jack? Then he remembered. He sighed, this was his life now.
He got up and made the motel bed. He walked outside in a wife beater and his pajama pants. He could see the ocean from outside. Maybe Newport wasn't so bad after all. Then he thought of Marissa. Nope, he could really get used to this place.
He walked back inside and changed into some gym clothes. He had a shirt with the sleeves cut off and some sweatpants. He decided to go for a work out at the beach. He slowly jogged to the beach, figuring it wasn't too far.
When he got there, he went sprinting across the sand. He passed a couple of girls and smiled and waved. They started giggling amongst themselves and Ryan laughed. Newport really wasn't so bad after all.
Marissa Cooper walked to the lifeguard station and sat down. She looked out at the ocean and sighed. She couldn't get Ryan out of her mind. She was worried about him. What if someone was hitting him? What could she do, if anything, to help? Did he feel the same way for her that she did for him? The most important question though was, where was he?
Her question was answered though. She saw him running in the distance and smiled. His muscles were clearly visible because of his sleeveless shirt. There was sweat running down his body. He looked so handsome, she couldn't stop staring. He came closer and she yelled, "Ryan!!"
Ryan had been running and was now getting tired. He'd ran maybe a mile at a sprinter's pace. Now, he needed to rest. He didn't want to stop though, he could feel the adrenaline run through his body. He thought of everything that was happening in his life. He felt like when he ran, he was slowly running away from his past, his problems.
"Ryan!"
He turned in the direction that the noise came from. He squinted because of the sun light and saw Marissa. She looked beautiful with the sun reflecting off her face. He jogged over to her and stopped, putting his hands on hi knees, breathless.
"Marissa?"
"Yeah, I saw you running, so I figured I'd say hi." She smiled shyly at him and he felt butterflies in his stomach.
"Hmm, that's nice." He walked up the ramp so he could get closer to her. He sat down, still breathing heavy from his run.
"So, how was your night?" She asked after a couple of minutes of silence. She turned to look at him and smiled.
"I slept better than I have in a while." He smiled too and looked into her eyes. The eyes that he could get lost in if he wanted to. He looked down. He couldn't get lost in them, not now anyways.
"Really, why's that?" She asked. Ryan just shrugged and she nodded. "I slept good last night too." She said.
Ryan smiled and asked, "Why?" He wanted to know about her. He'd never felt this way about anyone, not even Theresa before she left.
She shrugged, just like he had. "I guess, yesterday was a good day for me."
"Why?" He asked, curious.
"I met someone." She looked down. "Someone special."
Ryan just nodded, not wanting to say anything. Marissa looked at him curiously when he didn't say anything. Ryan saw her start to scoot closer to him, but he got up. "I should probably go, I have a whole mile to jog back." He got up and walked down the ramp.
Before he left though Marissa said, "Bye Ryan, maybe I'll see you around?" Something in her tone made him turn around. Her face looked hopeful, almost like she wanted to see him again.
He just nodded and said, "Yeah, see ya." He took off again and headed back the way he'd came. He didn't feel as energetic as he did when he first started though. It had nothing to do with him being tired either. Marissa said that she'd met someone special yesterday. Something about that made him upset. He didn't want Marissa with anyone else, even if he barely knew her.
The only thing that Ryan Atwood didn't know though, was that the special person that Marissa had met was him.
