A/N: Again, I apologize for the long gaps between updates. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. It really does motivate me, or at times remind me to get working on this again. This chapter is kind of a filler, but enjoy!

When Ryan returned to Berkeley for the new semester, he thought that the space from Taylor would be a good thing. They could go slow while they got to know each other. As he returned to his empty dorm room, he realized he'd been stupid to think that being away from her would be a good thing.

Luke and Marissa mostly hung out at her place, which he appreciated, because even though he was over Marissa, seeing her with Luke of all people was a little awkward.

He called home to let them know he got back okay. At Seth's insistence, Ryan had flown out to Providence, along with Sandy and Kirsten, so he'd had to fly back to Berkeley. When Kirsten answered the phone she sounded exceptionally emotional, which didn't surprise him. "Hey, I just wanted to let you know I got back okay."

"Thank you for calling, Sweetie. Was your plane on time?"

"Yeah, right on time." Carefully, he asked, "How are you guys?"

"We're good. The house is just really quiet."

"Hmm, Taylor must be working or in the pool house," he replied, hoping to lighten her mood.

Kirsten laughed softly, "She's at the comic book store." Knowing he'd been able to make her smile made Ryan happy. "Should I tell her to call you when she gets home?"

"Um, sure." Ryan hadn't exactly told Sandy and Kirsten about his relationship with Taylor, but the New Match party had made it undeniably obvious. "If she wants to, I guess. Whatever."

Kirsten laughed again.

"What?"

"It's just…" Kirsten started, and he could hear the warmth in her voice. "It's so good to hear you sound like a teenager."

"Don't get used to it. In a little over a year I won't be anymore," he replied with a smile in his voice.

"It's all gone so fast…" Kirsten trailed off and Ryan heard the phone switching hands.

"Ryan?" Sandy's voice came on the line. "I think it's time I remind Kirsten of the perks of having an empty nest. Thanks for calling kid, we'll talk to you soon. Love you."

"Sandy, that was TMI." The older man laughed. "But I'll um…let you get…to that. Bye." He hung up quickly before Sandy could say something else disturbing.

With his phone snapped shut, the room was quiet again. He didn't have any homework he could start on because his classes didn't start until the next day. He straightened the room and got rid of some old papers and notebooks he wouldn't need anymore. The dining hall wasn't reopening until the next day so he heated up a frozen dinner in the microwave.

Boredom had nearly driven him to go to bed early. He was just getting into bed when his phone rang. "Hello?"

"I didn't wake you, did I?"

When he heard her melodic voice on the end of the phone line at midnight, he relaxed and leaned back on his pillows smiling. "No, I'm glad you called."

"Okay, I wasn't sure if you had an early class tomorrow…"

"First class is at 10:30."

Taylor sighed happily. "Isn't college wonderful?"

"It is. When are you going back?"

"Hopefully next fall. I haven't heard back from any of the schools I applied to yet."

"Do you want to go back to Paris?"

"Actually, since my mom cut me off, I can't really afford to go out of state unless I get some amazing scholarship. So I applied to USC, UCLA, and…Berkeley. But I haven't heard back from any of them yet."

"You applied to Berkeley?" Ryan asked, feeling a little nervous.

"Yeah, before we were…sort of, you know...I just applied because it's a good school."

Ryan had to admit he was relieved that it was before they were dating…or whatever it was they were doing. They had agreed that making the commitment to be boyfriend and girlfriend wasn't a good idea while there was a fairly long distance between them. While it would be nice to have her around, if he was the reason she was there, it put a lot of pressure on the relationship. "That's great. It'd be really cool to have you here."

She smiled, relieved. "So is it good to be back at Berkeley?"

After a brief pause, he replied, "Yeah, it is. It's weird not being with the Cohens after being back for almost a month though. And my dorm room feels a little empty."

"Luke's with Marissa?"

"Yeah, that and…" he hesitated a long moment, while Taylor waited expectantly. "You're not here. I kind of got used to having you around. Now I don't know when I'm going to see you again."

"It better be soon, Ryan Atwood. You need to finish what you started on New Year's."

He smiled and laughed softly. "Feeling a little frustrated?"

Taylor laughed indignantly. "And you're not?"

"I never said that," Ryan replied, his voice becoming low and husky.

"Well then, we'll just have to take care of that frustration, now won't we?" Taylor said suggestively, and he could picture her grinning like a cat that caught the canary.

"That would be…cool."

"So Ryan…are you in bed right now?"

He swallowed thickly. "Uh huh." He had been adamant about not doing this. I'm not good with words under normal circumstances; there's no way I'll be able to do that. Taylor had pleaded a little, but he was determined that he couldn't do it, even if he did want to. Right now he was rethinking that decision, but Taylor's cheery voice interrupted his thoughts.

"So, what classes are you taking this semester?"

Ryan groaned internally. She could be such a tease and he loved it. "Um, a couple 200 level architecture classes, theories of mathematics, writing rhetoric, and art history."

"Oh, writing rhetoric and art history! Sounds like those are right up your alley!"

Ryan only grumbled in reply. "Art history will be a good time to take a nap. I'm actually really looking forward to the architecture classes."

"I can see it now: Atwood Architecture in big letters in front of an absolutely gorgeous building…"

"Yeah? I can see your business card. Dr. Taylor Townsend: Sex Therapist."

"That's the dream."

"So what exactly do sex therapists do?" he wondered.

"Well, it depends on what the position is. I mean, the job. I might do marital counseling and basically just help couples to spice things up, or I could be working with sex offenders to try to break inappropriate sexual addictions."

"You might be working with sex offenders?" he asked worriedly.

"It's possible. But I'm more interested in the less abnormal stuff. The kind of thing that can be solved with some cognitive-behavioral therapy, candles, mood music, and the Kama Sutra."

"That sounds…safer," Ryan replied, relief in his voice.

Taylor smiled at his protective streak. "Yeah." There was a semi-comfortable silence. "Well, I should probably go. I have to open the store tomorrow and you need to be alert so you can make a good impression on your first day. Well, your second first day."

"Okay. Good night Taylor."

"Night Ryan."

"Sweet dreams…" he whispered just before she hung up.

In the middle of the night, Ryan awoke to find there was steam coming from the shower and he heard Taylor singing. When did she get here? He was drawn to the sound like a mouth to a flame, his body beginning to respond. He approached the shower slowly, watching her rub her soapy hands over her body through the foggy class. His hand reached out and pressed against the shower door. Taylor slid the door open and poked her head out. Suddenly Ryan felt very naked, and then he realized that he was in fact naked.

She giggled. "I'm all wet! Are you coming in?"

"I hope so," he smirked stepping inside the shower with her, letting his hair and body get wet while his hands explored her hot, wet skin. You're so damn beautiful. He wasn't sure if he thought it or if he said it out loud.

Taylor made a show of examining his arousal, giving it a firm grip before smiling devilishly at him. She grabbed the body wash and vigorously rubbed it between her hands, working up a lather and running her hands all over his chest, slowly and sensually. She pushed him towards the stream of water to rinse off the soap, then fell to her knees while turning him around to face her. "Are you dirty Ryan?"

As she leaned down to take him in her mouth, she suddenly looked up and started talking. "It looks like it's going to be a nice day for January: Mostly sunny and low winds." He looked at her in confusion. "Ryan!" she shouted. "Ryan, turn off your alarm!" By the end of her yelling she sounded a lot like Luke.

Ryan rolled his head to the side and opened his eyes. He was alone in his bed, which seemed much colder than it had a second ago, with his clock radio blaring in his ear and Luke groaning in protest on the other side of him. He reached over and hit the snooze button.

Luke came back from his classes that day looking like a zombie.

"Hey man, rough night?" Ryan asked.

"Oh man, I was up most of the night last night."

"Why?"

Luke looked at Ryan as if asking Do you really want to know? "Marissa has been reading this book, one of those romance novels that chicks love, except this one has even more sex than most do. And let's just say I'm reaping the benefits."

Ryan nodded knowingly. Theresa had gone through a phase where she read those books and she had even made Ryan read select parts from them. Not that he had complained. It gave him some good pointers.

"So have you and Taylor sealed the deal yet?"

"No," he replied shortly, hoping Luke would drop it.

"Why not?"

Ryan sighed. "We're not really even a couple yet. And with her in Newport and me here, I think we might just wait and see what happens."

"Okay Chino, but you seriously need to get laid."

Ryan rolled his eyes, but nodded in agreement.

"You should go out tonight."

Ryan looked at him in disbelief. "I'm with Taylor."

"I thought you said you guys weren't technically a couple."

"Well we're not, but that doesn't mean I'm going to hook up with somebody else."

"Why not?"

"Not everyone has as loose of a definition of cheating as you do."

Luke looked stricken. "I…"

When Ryan saw Luke's face, he immediately regretted his words. "Look man, I'm sorry, I was out of line. That was a long time ago."

"No, it's okay. It is true."

"Please tell me it's not still true. You're back with Marissa, isn't that what you always wanted?"

"Dude, there's no way in hell I would even think about cheating on Marissa again."

"Good, because if you did cheat on her, I would have to kick your ass."

"I know. Actually, I just want to bring her back here tonight and I didn't want to ask you because…you know, it's weird."

"Oh, that's cool," Ryan responded. "You could've just said so. I'll make myself scarce."

"It's Marissa…"

"I know. And it's okay. You had her first after all," he replied with a smile.

"You sure?"

"I'm sure. When is she coming?"

"We'll probably get back from dinner around 7, and since we both have early classes tomorrow, she'll probably be gone by 10."

"Just to be sure, give me a ring when the coast is clear."

When Ryan got back that night, Luke was asleep and there was a book lying on the floor near his bed. Ryan had already said good night to Taylor, but he wasn't ready to go to sleep, so after a brief inspection, he picked up the book and began to read.

TBC of course! Review please!