Ryan is out of breath. He's run up what seems like endless flights of stairs, and he's almost to the top. He stops for a second looking down at his watch.

I should have taken the elevator this time.

He takes a deep breath, and pushes through the pain. He climbs the last stair case, and pushes his way into the hallway outside of Oliver's penthouse suite. Ryan flew the door to the suite open, immediately immersed in noise makers, and people screaming, all ready to rake in the new year.

I saw her immediately…it was like we were the only two people in the room.

Ryan ran towards Marissa, pushing people out of his way as he neared her.

It really did feel like slow motion. Wait, my favorite part. 3…2…1…

Ryan and Marissa's lips met as everyone in the room yelled out "Happy New Year!" Ryan pulled away out of breath.

Ryan: I love you.

Marissa: What?

Ryan: I love you.

Marissa pondered for a few seconds, and then got a silly grin on her face.

Marissa: Thank you.

In some weird way, her saying that was better than actually saying it back to me. I don't know how.

Marissa: It was so beautiful, wasn't it?

Ryan: What?

Marissa: This whole scene. You running in at the last moment, telling me you love me. It's like storybook.

Ryan: Yeah, it is.

Suddenly Ryan snapped out of his memory.

Ryan: Fuck! They're erasing you, Marissa!

Marissa: Oh?

Ryan: I hired them to. We're in my brain. But I want it to stop, before I wake up and I don't know you anymore.

Marissa: Wow. Um, well…can't you just force yourself awake?

Ryan: I don't know.

Ryan concentrates. Nothing happens.

Ryan: This is all your fault, you know?

Marissa looks at him and smiles.

Ryan: I would have never done this, if you hadn't done it to me.

Marissa: I'm sorry, Ryan. I wasn't thinking. You know me, I'm impulsive.

Ryan: It's one of the things I love most about you.

The memory starts to fade. Marissa fades. The other people in the room have already disappeared, and now, the room is turning black, as Marissa continues to fade.

Ryan: Aaargh! It's horrible! I'm trapped!

The room turned black.

-

God, I loved this day. This was the first time we made love.

Marissa was hovering over Ryan in bed. All the lights are off.

Marissa: Best…

She leans in catching Ryan's lips.

Marissa: …date…

They kiss again.

Marissa: …ever.

They both smile as Marissa brings her hand up to Ryan's face and leans in to kiss him again. The kisses start soft but grow more passionate by the second. Each one of their bodies seemingly aching for the other one's.

It had never felt this good. This right. Although nobody ever made me feel the way Marissa made me feel. I remember; clothes were flying all over the place before we knew it. Like neither of us even needed to think about it. Like somehow, someway, we both just knew it was right

We made love and it was perfect. It was gentle and soft. Like her. I remember being concerned about her, and asking her if she was okay at some point. She just looked at me and smiled. She leaned up and kissed me as her back arched underneath me. God, I remember that smile. I'm looking at it right now.

Marissa's chest heaved under Ryan's as her hands turned into fists, clutching at the sheets beneath her. Ryan kissed her, it was hard yet sensuous, and they both pulled away letting out a delightful moan, as Ryan collapsed onto Marissa. Marissa's hands let go of the sheets immediately wrapping around Ryan.

I looked up at her. I was still catching my breath.

Ryan leaned in and kissed her once again, softly this time. When the kiss broke, he moved off of Marissa, so he was laying next to her. He wrapped his arms around her as a chill went through his body.

Marissa: You're shaking.

Ryan wrapped his arms around her a little tighter and shook his head.

Ryan: No.

Another chill ran through Ryan's body.

Marissa: You are. You're shaking.

Ryan shook his head again, finally catching his breath.

I was shaking. I'd had sex before…lot's of it. But I'd never made love to someone. Not before her.

Marissa pulled the covers up over Ryan's body. He brought his hand to her face, pulling her towards him. He kissed her passionately.

Twenty minutes later I was in the bathroom.

Ryan stands in front of the mirror, wearing only a pair of sweats.

Yup, here I am. I had already gone to the bathroom. I don't know why I ended up standing here so long.

Ryan turned towards the door and exited the bathroom. He walked through the pool house towards the bed, and spots Marissa.

She's so sexy.

Marissa is propped up on the bed wearing a pair of panties and Ryan's tank top. She's thumbing carelessly through one of Seth's comics.

How impossibly lucky am I to have Marissa Cooper on my bed in her panties.

Ryan: I loved you on this day. I loved this. I loved making love to you, and then after…how we just kind of hung out.

Marissa tosses the comic on the floor and looks over at Ryan smiling. Suddenly her brow furrows in thought.

Marissa: What if you hide me?

Ryan: What do you mean?

Marissa: (Formulating) Well…if they're looking for me in memories I'm in, what if you take me to a memory I'm not in?

She smiles up at him proudly.

Marissa: And we can hide there till morning.

Ryan ponders this. The pool house and Marissa are beginning to fade. Ryan grabs Marissa's hand. She giggles with glee. Ryan pulls Marissa out of the memory as it degrades.

Ryan: Where? Where? Where?

Ryan drags Marissa through the landscape of already decayed memories and turns off into:

-

The kitchen is dated and vague. Ryan and Marissa are standing in an oversized playpen. They are adult, but small. Ryan is wearing footy pajamas, and Marissa is still in her panties and Ryan's tank top. An oversized woman, Dawn Atwood, Ryan's mother, bustles around the kitchen.

Marissa: What is this?

Ryan looks around at the kitchen and up at his mother.

Ryan: I must be about two. (Oddly) I want my mommy. She's busy. She's not looking at me. (Back to himself) She's getting drunk.

Ryan pauses and looks up at his mother.

Ryan: I want my mommy!

Ryan starts to cry. Marissa hugs him, and tries to comfort him.

Ryan: (Still crying) I want my mommy.

Suddenly he was an adult again, and he turned to Marissa.

Ryan: I don't want to lose you, Marissa.

Marissa: I'm right here.

Ryan: I'm scared. I want my mommy. I don't want to lose you. I don't want to lose…

Marissa: Ryan…Ryan, look…it's not fading. The memory. I think we're hidden.

Ryan sucks in some snot. His mother scurries back and forth around the room, clanging pots and sipping bourbon. The room is not decaying. Ryan smiles.

-