Thanks for all the reviews! I don't have a lot more written, but I'll be working on it!

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"Coop! Married? I can't believe it!"

"Whoa, buddy. Are you being serious? You and the girl next door actually tied the knot?"

As soon as Ryan and Marissa got back into town, the first thing they decided to do was to tell their best friends. Summer and Seth were speechless, but when they finally realized what their friends had told them, they were instantly filled with worry.

"Look, I know you love him, but what if…"

"…things don't work out and you end up…"

"…getting a divorce and hating each other's guts…"

"…after all that you've been through, I just don't think…"

"…it was very smart idea. You're too young…"

"…and it's going to be so hard on you guys."

Both Ryan and Marissa couldn't believe what they were hearing. The two people who they expected to support them the most were the most skeptical. They were being completely judgmental about something that they knew nothing about. Both of them thought this was the worst they would feel about their marriage, but they hadn't talked to their parents.

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"How could you do this, Kirsten! Now he'll never go to college and become the success I know he could have been!"

Sandy and Kirsten were standing in their kitchen, arguing."

"Sandy, no one said that Ryan isn't going to go to college! After all, Marissa was accepted to Berkeley too. Now, they have each other to go with!"

"And how do you think they're going to feel being the married couple on campus!"

"Do you realize how ridiculous you sound! You are the advocate for true love and happiness with the one person who completes you in the universe! Ryan has found that person! Can't you be happy for our son and our daughter-in-law?"

Sandy was about to throw back an argument when Ryan stepped in the house. He looked timid and scared, emotions that the Cohens weren't used to seeing on his face.

"I can see you guys are talking. I'll go back outside."

"No, Ryan, I think you have some talking to do. In fact, I think you, Marissa, and Jimmy Cooper have some talking to do. I've already heard enough from Kirsten. We're all having dinner tonight, but tell Seth and Summer they aren't invited. We need to talk about this marriage."

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Ryan was standing in the pool house changing his shirt when he heard the door open and saw his beautiful wife walk in. He walked over and kissed her briskly, looking around for something.

"It's good to see you too. What are you looking for?"

"My jacket. You look nice."

Marissa looked down at the light blue skirt she was wearing with her favorite white blouse. She smiled happily at Ryan's compliment, but still had some worries on her mind.

"Ryan, are you okay?"

"I'm just…nervous. Sandy's never really been mad at me the way he is about this. And, your mom's never been my biggest fan anyway. We were just starting to get to a good place, you know? I'm just wondering…"

"If this marriage was a mistake."

Ryan looked over and Marissa looked crushed. Her previous smiling face was turned away from him because she didn't want him to see her cry. He walked over and put his arms around her. He whispered in her ear and tried his hardest to comfort her.

"I know this marriage isn't a mistake. I'm just wondering if, maybe, we should have waited, so that everyone would have gotten to experience our wedding day. But you know what I realized? The two most important people were at our wedding and that was all we needed, and all we'll ever need."

Marissa sniffled and a smile shone on her face once more. She kissed Ryan and laid her head on his shoulder. He put his arms around her and rubbed her back as she talked.

"I was thinking…maybe we should get a place of our own."

"How? We don't have jobs, we'll be going to college in the fall, and I'm not so sure any of our parents will help us out."

"Then maybe we could live here."

Ryan was confused. He pulled away from Marissa and looked at her strangely.

"Here? At the Cohens'?"

"No, silly…in the pool house. I mean, we don't need much space, the Cohens will always be here in case of an emergency, and we can live together in the place where we've shared so many amazing memories. It'll just be temporary, but don't you think it sounds like fun?"

He thought a minute. Living married life in the pool house? He had never seen anything wrong with living there before. Why did things have to change?

"I like it. Let's bring it up at dinner."

"Okay…that is, if we're not stoned to death first."

Ryan laughed and grabbed Marissa's hand, the two of them walking toward the Cohen house where one of the longest nights of both of their lives was about to take place.

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Ryan and Marissa sat at opposite ends of the table, eating their meals in silence. But they were the only ones.

"How could you let them be so irresponsible, Jimmy? They didn't want to get a dog, they got married!"

"Don't talk to me about irresponsible, Julie! You are the last person to be judging anyone on anything!"

"I was looking out for the best interests of my daughter! She's too young to be trapped in a relationship like this!"

"Julie's right, Jimbo. What are they going to do now? They still going to live at home, raise their children here!"

"Oh for crying out loud, Sandy!"

"You have something to say, Kirsten?"

"Yes, I do! If these kids have found a love as strong as theirs, why shouldn't they marry? I know you've seen them together! They are so considerate of each other and you can just see them light up when the other one even comes into the room! How can you ignore chemistry like that!"

"Oh, Kiki, snap out of your childish fantasies! They are just kids! They can't, and they won't survive. They are too young and have been through too much! I would like to think they could make it, but I'm a realist, plain and simple."

"Jules, you are so out of your mind, it is ridiculous…"

Marissa nodded at Ryan like she had been doing for the past few minutes. The look in her eyes said It's time.

"HEY!"

Ryan yelled and stood up. Julie, Jimmy, Kirsten, and Sandy all stopped talking and looked toward Ryan and Marissa, who had walked over and stood proudly next to her husband. Ryan cleared his throat and Marissa grabbed his hand, squeezing it. It felt like she was sending him a mind message. Be strong.

"Regardless of how you feel about Marissa and I, the fact is we are married and we plan to stay that way for as long as we can think of. For the past hour, the four of you have done nothing, but talk about us like we weren't even here. We've decided that we want to start our new lives together by living in the pool house. Now, you can support us or not, but that is where we will be staying for the foreseeable future. We haven't made our minds up about college yet, but before you get angry about that, remember that from here on out, all the things we do are our decisions and we will take whatever consequences come from those decisions. We are willing to pay rent, as well as buy our own food, so when any of you feel rational enough to talk to us about how we feel, we'll be in the pool house."

With those words, Ryan and Marissa walked out of the pool house, hand in hand, bursting with a new amount of self-confidence and feeling like they could do anything.