A/N: Here it is folks, the last real chapter! I don't plan on making the epilogue too long but it will help tie up some loose ends. You'll see what I mean! Enjoy!


Ryan threw the blue rubber ball off the ceiling of his room and caught it as it bounced back down. Ever since Caleb and Veronica had returned home and caught he and Taylor going at it like animals on Caleb's pool table, they had both been grounded to their respective rooms. Other than closely supervised family activities, such as dinner and the like, they hadn't seen each other at all over the weekend.

Just the memory of being caught having sex with Taylor by Veronica Townsend-Nichol brought a blush to his face. That had been embarrassing enough but to add insult to injury he then had to sit through a lecture from Caleb of all people on safe sex practices. Jesus. Who was that old man to teach him how to be responsible? He bounced the ball off of the ceiling again.

Enrollment for the new school year was tomorrow at Harbor and he still hadn't heard anything regarding his or Taylor's status. Not that he really cared about himself. He'd done public school before and he really had no problem going back. Newport Union had to be better than Chino Hills. It was more Taylor's situation that he was concerned about.

The girl was extremely intelligent, that much anyone could see, and she didn't belong at a place like Newport Union, or any public school for that matter. She needed to be at a place that would prepare her for college. A place like Harbor. If she wasn't going to be able to attend because of being with him, he'd never be able to forgive himself for costing Taylor her chance at a good college. For ruining another girl's future. Ryan knew that his chances of attending college were nil, but Taylor could easily go on to bigger and better things.

"And guys," he mumbled to himself as he caught the descending rubber ball once more. He sighed and reached over to grab his phone from the bedside table. Ryan quickly dialed the phone number that he had committed to memory since the weekend started and their punishment began.

"Hey Taylor," he said as the girl picked up the phone.

Hey. Are you as bored as I am?

He bounced the ball off of the ceiling again. "Probably more so. I'm bouncing a rubber ball off of my ceiling."

I've been reorganizing my closet. Do you remember when I organized it by designer yesterday?

"Uh huh." He caught the rebounding ball and threw it back into the air.

Well, I thought it would be really hard to find anything in a hurry if I needed it, so I moved everything around and reorganized it by type, with a sub-category of color. I just got done doing a test run just now by having what you might a consider a scavenger hunt for particular clothing items and timing myself. It turns out that this organizational method is much more conducive to locating clothing items quicker.

"There's nothing to worry about, Taylor," he said, sitting up. "Just because we haven't heard anything yet doesn't mean that you're not going to Harbor."

We, Ryan. We will hear something soon and then we will be going back to Harbor tomorrow to enroll for the upcoming term.

"Right, Taylor. Look, even if something does happen and I don't get to go back, you'll be fine. I don't want you to let anybody walk all over you like they did before, okay?"

Don't talk like that, Ryan! We're both going to get to go back and everything will be like it's supposed to be. Think positive, Ryan Atwood!

"I don't know. I just couldn't-"

"Ryan! Taylor," a voice booms up at them from the floor below. "Come down here!"

"Did you hear that, too," he asks.

Yeah. What do you think he wants?

"I think we're about to get out answer. I'll see you in a second."

Sure. Ryan hears her pause for a moment and he can sense that she's not done yet. Hey Ryan?

"Yeah?"

Good luck. For both of us, I mean.

"Yeah. Good luck to you, too." He closed the phone with a snap and stood up off of the bed. Grabbing a shirt from the back of the chair in his room, he quickly threw it on and smoothed down his hair.

As he left the room that was his prison for the past few days and shut the door, he saw Taylor approaching the stairs from the other wing of the mansion. He saw the look of apprehension in her eyes and threw her a quick grin, trying to settle her down. His smile must not have been that convincing, because the look on her face graduated from concerned to worried. He was just about to reach for her hand as they descended when he spotted his guardian and her mother waiting for them in the foyer. He quickly dropped his hand back down to his side.

"Sit down," Caleb said once they had gotten down to the foyer, motioning to the living room. Ryan followed Taylor to the couch and was about to seat himself when Veronica interrupted.

"Separate seats."

Ryan glared at the woman and stationed himself on the chair nearest to the couch.

"Veronica and I have come to a decision regarding the enrollment status for the two of you for the coming school term. Ryan," Caleb said, looking in his direction, "I had decided upon you attending Newport Union for the coming semester-"

"No," Taylor yelled, standing up in shock.

"Be quiet young lady," her mother admonished her. "We'll be getting to you in a second."

"As I was saying," Cal continued, "we had decided on you attending Newport Union. However, once my daughter, her tree-hugging hippie of a husband, and my grandson were informed, I decided to, uh, change my mind. Despite my best efforts, Seth still seems to be quite fond of you, and Kiki has refused to return to work unless I give in to my grandson's wishes."

Ryan was dumbstruck. He wasn't being punished? What the hell was going on? He figured that he'd at the very least be sent to public school, if not put back into the foster care system altogether. "I'm going back to Harbor?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Since I know that you're completely without manners, I'll take your silence as a thank you. Know this boy: the first time you screw up, you'll be gone. And not just from Harbor. Newport Beach. Do you understand?"

Ryan nodded. "I do."

"Good. Now, on to you Miss Townsend." He turned to the younger woman.

"She can't go to Newport Union," Ryan interrupted.

Veronica laughed. "Oh, there is no chance of that happening, Ryan. However, since it seems that my daughter has all of the self-control of an obese child at an all-you-can-eat buffet, we have a special plan for her. Cal?"

Ryan caught a look of displeasure crossing the man's features. Was he unhappy with the way Veronica was speaking about her daughter? Good God, did the old bastard actually have a soul? "Right, well. As your mother said, Taylor, we have decided that, since you and Ryan obviously cannot be trusted to be under the same roof, you will be attending a boarding school on the East Coast."

"What," Taylor asked, her eyes wide. "But… but… I don't want to!"

"I don't care what you want, young lady. You obviously can't be trusted to be here unsupervised and Cal and I can't be around to watch you all of the time. Who's to say that I won't come home one evening to find out that you had fucked the chauffeur or the gardener while the neighbors watched? I won't have you living here, acting like some loose little hussy, endangering my image in the community."

That was it, Ryan thought as he watched a single, lonely tear fall down Taylor's face. He had heard enough. "That's enough! You can't talk to her like that! She's you daughter!"

"That's right, criminal. She is my daughter and I will do with her as I please. What's the matter," Veronica asked, an evil grin appearing on her face. "You didn't get enough the first go 'round?"

Instead of getting into it with her, he directed his next question at Caleb. "Are you going to let her talk to Taylor like that?"

Caleb took a drink from his Scotch and set it back down. "Taylor is her daughter and she is free to raise her as she likes. Now go back up to your rooms and clean up for dinner. Taylor, I would strongly advise you to begin packing. Your flight leaves tomorrow evening."

"Tomorrow," she asked, clearly on the brink of hysterics.

"Yes, young lady," her mother answered. "Now get up there and pack. Dinner will be ready in 15 minutes."

*************************

Dinner was a subdued affair, nobody saying anything aside from asking for dishes to be passed. Ryan looked over at Taylor from time to time, only to see her pushing her mostly uneaten food around her plate. The look she gave him the one time she did meet his eyes scared him. She looked defeated.

After the meal was finished, the two teens silently made their way back up to their rooms. Ryan had just entered his room and closed his door when his phone began to ring. He didn't even have to look at the caller id. "Taylor."

I don't want to go, Ryan.

"I know."

We have to make them change their minds.

"You know that's not going to happen. Caleb is so hard-headed that he'll do anything to spite me and your mom seems pretty dead set on this happening, too."

So you just want to give up? Do you not want me to come back to Harbor? Ryan was silent for a moment, trying to structure his response so that he wouldn't hurt the girl. She spoke again before he could answer. You can't even answer? I knew it. This was just some kind of fling for you, something for you to do to pass the time this summer.

"Of course it wasn't, Taylor. It's just that, well, maybe your mom is making the right decision for you here, even if it is for the wrong reason. Maybe you are better off being away from here."

Now you're taking my mother's side? This conversation is certainly doing wonders for my self-esteem, Ryan.

"It's not that, it's just…" He trailed off, rubbing his forehead in frustration. "This is what I was worried would happen if I got too attached to you. I was afraid I would do something to endanger you."

But you haven't endangered me!

"I've endangered your future, Taylor. This entire weekend, I've been worried that you'd end up at some public school and you're future at a good college would be ruined. Now you're going to a really good school where you can meet other really smart people and get a good education and go wherever you want."

I don't want to go east and be with smart people. I want to stay here, with you.

"You don't want to be here with me, Taylor. You'll forget all about me when you meet some smart, handsome guy that hasn't been arrested before at some mixer at your new school. I'd just drag you down here."

Ryan, you are just as smart as I am. Smarter even, in some ways. For example, I would have never had the presence of mind to take the dented car down to an auto shop to have it fixed. I would have just fretted about it until my mother and Caleb returned and then I would have been punished. And I wouldn't have been able to distract Chester like you did at the diner. I would have just sat there while he made fun of me. You're much quicker with your wits than I am.

"That's nice of you, but it doesn't matter. I can't let you put your future in jeopardy-" Her interruption made his eardrums vibrate.

You're not putting my future in jeopardy! God, you're so obstinate. My chance at a good college won't be affected by attending public school. I don't' care about the higher standards at an east coast boarding school or the smart friends I wouldn't make there or some cute northeastern boy that I have no chance with. I care about you. I love you, Ryan Atwood.

Ryan was stunned into silence. She loved him? What was he supposed to say back, thanks?

You don't have to say anything back. I know you are probably freaking out but I'm pretty sure that you at least care about me. I'm not going to make you say it back to me until you are absolutely ready. He let out a slow breath that he didn't know he had been holding. It's true, though. I love you and I think you could love me back if you had the chance. I would jump at the opportunity to go to Newport Union if it meant that I could stay here and be with you. Besides, there's no way I'm leaving my boyfriend here alone until Christmas with all those little hookers running around Harbor.

Ryan could hear the smile in her voice which slowly brought one to his own face. "So what's the plan?"

Yay! He pulled the phone away sharply from his ear at her yell. You go talk to Caleb and I'll take care of my mother.

"You're going to talk to your mom? Alone? Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?"

Ryan, you inspire nothing but contempt from my mother. If you were there, she'd say 'no' just to see you get mad in the hope that you would do something stupid and she could lock you up. Go work on Caleb.

"Good luck, Taylor."

You too, Ryan.

***************************

Ryan took a deep breath, composed himself, and knocked on the door to Caleb's study.

"Enter," the strong voice boomed from the inside. Ryan did so, opening the door and walking into the relaxing room. He saw Caleb holding a pool cue in one hand and a glass of Scotch in the other and was reminded of why he spent so much time in there: it was where Caleb kept all of his best alcohol.

Caleb set his drink down and took aim at the ball on the table. "I noticed you helped yourself to some of my Scotch while I was gone."

Ryan shrugged. "It was good," he replied as Cal sank the ball.

"I know." Cal glared at him. "What do you want, Ryan? I figured that you would be happy with today's outcome. You get to stay at Harbor. Isn't that what you wanted?"

"I want Taylor to be able to stay here. She shouldn't have to leave."

The older man snorted. "What do you care about the girl? She doesn't care for you. She could do much better than some criminal if she left. You're a murderer, an arsonist, and a thief. What can you give her that a rich, well-adjusted young man couldn't?"

"How about somebody that actually cares about her and likes her for who she really is," he said, knocking the ball Caleb intended to pocket out of the way. "Or how about somebody that doesn't constantly belittle her to the point of where she thinks she is nothing?" He watched as Caleb looked away and took a drink from his glass of Scotch. "Don't pretend that little scene out there didn't bother you. I saw your face."

"While I may… disagree with Veronica's method of child raising, Taylor is still her daughter." Caleb turned back to the table and Ryan could see the uncertainty in his eyes. "I don't think I could convince Veronica to change her mind, regardless. She's a very strong-willed woman."

"Bullshit," Ryan spat out. "You're the most powerful man in Newport. Its king. You almost convinced Sandy to buy a worthless piece of land for millions of dollars." He saw the man smirk a bit at the mention of almost getting the best of his son-in-law. "Do you mean to tell me you couldn't convince a sports agent to keep her daughter around?"

"That Balboa Wetlands deal would have benefitted me greatly. How does this benefit me, Ryan?"

"It doesn't," Ryan admitted, shrugging. "In fact, it probably hurts you. I imagine that it will piss off your new wife to have her opinion overthrown. I won't let you send her away, though."

"What are you going to do, fight me for her?"

"Yeah, I am. Do you play nine ball, Caleb?"

**************************

"Mom," Taylor asked, cautiously as she walked into her mother's bedroom that she shared with Caleb. "Mother?"

"What do you want, Taylor," Veronica groaned from the bed.

Taylor squinted through the darkness and could barely make out her mother's shape on the bed. "I don't want to go to a boarding school, Mother."

"I don't care that you don't want to go," came the muffled reply. "You're leaving tomorrow night and that's the end of it."

"But I don't want to go," Taylor quietly wailed.

Her mother sat up quickly and turned on the lights. "It doesn't matter if you want to go or not. I can't you whoring yourself around Newport for the whole world to see. At least if I have you out at an all-female boarding school, you won't have the temptation to sleep with every person that shows you the slightest bit of attention. Unless you're bisexual. You're not bisexual, are you?"

Taylor thought of saying 'yes' just to get her mother not to send her, but thought better of it once she realized that Veronica would just come up with somewhere worse to send her. "Of course not!"

"Thank God for small favors." Veronica readjusted her sleeping mask and lay back down.

"I wish you wouldn't call me a 'whore' mother. Ryan was the first boy I ever slept with," Taylor said quietly.

Her mother sat back up and laughed. "Of course, Taylor. And cows will fly backwards while pigs discuss the economy."

"It's true," Taylor rebutted, gaining momentum. "And Ryan loves me and I love him!"

"He doesn't love you, Taylor," Veronica said, standing and walking over to her daughter. "Your ass is huge, you have no boobs, and your hair is too naturally straight to ever be pretty."

"You… you… bitch!" Taylor watched as her mother stopped her trek back to her bed mid-step and turned back around to face her.

"What did you say to me?"

"I said that you're a bitch."

"Don't you dare speak to me like that! I'm your mother!"

"No you're not," Taylor yelled, finally letting loose with the feelings she had held inside her, bottled up for so many years. "A real mother would never treat her daughter like she was some piece of trash she saw on the street. A real mother would never tell her daughter that she's too fat to ever be pretty or assume that she's selling her body because that's the only way she'd ever have friends. A real mother would be loving and supportive and nice and she would want her daughter to be happy."

Taylor had begun to cry, but she wouldn't let her tears stop her. "You are none of those things. You are an evil, evil woman and a heartless bitch. I hate you so much and I never want to speak to you again." She ran from the room leaving her mother surprised and slack-jawed.

*********************

Ryan lined up the shot and slowly exhaled. He groaned and hung his head as soon as he hit the cue ball. He knew he was off target. Sure enough, the cream-colored ball struck the object ball wrong and slid into the corner pocket.

"You see, Ryan," Caleb asked as he retrieved the ball from the pocket. "You can't compete with me. You're too much of a hothead for pool. You have to keep control of your emotions to succeed on the billiard table." Cal sunk one of the few remaining balls. "You're about to lose, Ryan."

"The game's not over yet, Mr. Nichol."

"If you're so confident you can still win, why not up the bet?"

"Fine. If I win, you let Taylor and I continue to see each other, along with allowing Taylor to stay here and go to Harbor."

The old man chuckled. "Unlikely, but fine. When I win, you tell my grandson that you don't want to be friends with him and that you never want to see him again. Then I dissolve my guardianship and you go back into foster care."

Ryan hesitated for only a moment before holding his hand out. "Deal." He took Caleb's hand in his own and shook it, sealing the bet.

"It's going to be a bad night for you, boy. You're about to lose your girl and your friend in one fell swoop." Caleb leaned back down and took another shot, sinking the ball and leaving only two more on the table. "Tell me, Ryan, why is it that you're so willing to give up everything here for this girl? You could have been comfortable here for another two years. No matter how persuasive you think I am, I could never have persuaded my daughter and her son to allow me to let you leave. Now you're risking it all for some girl that hated the very sight of you at the start of the summer. Son of a bitch," he groaned as the eight ball he shot at bounced out of the pocket.

"I love her," Ryan said, looking the older man in the eye. "I know that you knew what that was like once. When you'd do anything to be with somebody. When you'd fight for them and know nothing could keep you away. You knew that feeling not so long ago." He leaned back over the table and lined up the shot on the eight ball, sinking it in the side.

"Maybe I did once, but that was long ago. In any event, we're about to see if you believe what you've been preaching. Do you have enough fight left in you to make one more shot, or are you going to fold and give up?"

"I guess we're about to find out," Ryan said, lining up what might be the most important shot of his life. "Either way this goes, things are about to change." He slowly pulled back the cue and watched as the cue ball crept its way across the table.


A/N 2: Ahhh cliffhanger! I know some of you are hating me for leaving it like that. I had it written out that it would be resolved, but I couldn't make it that simple. I have two versions in mind for the epilogue and I want to know what you guys think. Do me one favor first. Listen to the song I took the title for this story from: "On a Saturday" by Jacob Golden. There's a reason I titled this story like it is :D So really think about it and let me know what you guys think. I hope you all have enjoyed reading this fic as much as I have enjoyed writing it! It's been a blast and I love every single review I got. Special thanks to Waltzy for helping me get this thing off the ground and for continually giving me advice and for proofing and, well, so many other things! You rock! Thanks to ORy for continually reviewing and Roz for giving me some great ideas. You all are awesome. Without you guys, I don't have an audience. Please let me know how I did and what I can do better next time by reviewing! Thanks so much you guys! Until next time!

AZ