Okay this is in celebration of me finding out that one of my reviewers is Aussie as am I. So enjoy! And remember the sooner you review the faster you get the next post.

The Truth Comes Out

Marissa looked at him puzzled. When had he and Julie ever spoken? "Ryan?"

"Um….Yeah?" he hung his head not wanting to recall the last time he had seen Julie.

"After what?" Marissa asked.

Now it was Ryan that shook his head not wanting to say anymore. It hurt too much to think about what had happened that fateful New Year's Eve.

"Ryan after what?" Marissa knew he was keeping something from her. "You remember on the plane today, you made me talk to you when I didn't want to. You reminded me that we had promised that we were going to be honest with each other. Well now it's your turn."

"Riss I don't know if I can go back there. It brings back too many bad memories. I rather just concentrate on where we are at now."

"Ryan we have to deal with these things if we are ever going to have a future together. Now what are you talking about?"

Ryan sat down beside her and took a deep breathe and then let it out slowly trying to prepare himself for the emotions he knew were about to come out. He took her hand in his and interlaced their fingers, wanting to somehow reassure himself that they really were together and that she was not running away this time. "Well…. That New Year when I came to visit you in New York. Julie and I had a really good talk."

"What New Year? You never came to New York." Marissa looked at him obviously puzzled by what he was talking about.

"I did. The last year of college. Surely you must remember." He couldn't believe that it had meant so little to her.

Marissa just kept shaking her head with a puzzled frown on her brow. She obviously had no idea what he was talking about.

"You must. You had been going to come to the Cohen's for the holidays but you couldn't make it. You had some photo shoots or something."

"Yeah I remember that."

"Well I was missing you so much I decided to fly to New York and surprise you for New Year's Eve….. I guess I was hoping it would go something like our first."

Marissa smiled remembering him arriving at Oliver's penthouse on the stroke of midnight. It was the first time he ever said 'I love you' to her. She squeezed his hand. She had a bad feeling. Something was not right about all this. "Go on."

Ryan hung his head. He could feel his heart breaking all over again as he thought about it. "Well you know the rest….. You took off to London. Julie met me at the airport and did your dirty work. She told me that you'd decided to go before I got there because you'd moved on and didn't feel the same way about me anymore but that you didn't know how to tell me. That since you were now famous, that really, a poor college student from Chino didn't fit in with your plans and that I was just holding you back from what you really wanted."

There was total silence. Ryan looked up at Marissa and he could see the tears in her eyes as the drops started to run down her face.

"Riss. Don't cry. I don't blame you. I know we were at different stages in our lives. I'm just glad we've got together now. And maybe it was good. I mean…what do you think drove me to achieve so much. I wanted to be worthy of you. I understand that I was just a poor student that couldn't possibly compete with the rich, successful and handsome men you were dealing with every day."

"Argh." Marissa let out a heart wrenching cry. She sounded like a wounded animal. "How could she do it?"

"Who? Do what?" Ryan moved to hold Marissa. She was sobbing hysterically by this stage.

"Don't you realise?" she said between sobs. "I wasn't in London. I didn't go to London til a few days after New Year. I was sitting at home feeling miserable because you didn't call. She told me she was going to some friends and when she came home and I was still sitting beside the phone she told me that she had heard from some friends in Newport that you were back with Lindsay. And that I shouldn't make your life more difficult for you since I was going away anyhow. She convinced me that you and Lindsay were perfect for one another. Both destined for college. And that as you'd moved on, then so should I. I was never interested in anyone but you."

"But I've never even seen Lindsay since high school." Ryan explained.

Marissa shook her head. "Don't you understand? My mother doesn't need facts to embellish her stories. But how did she know you were coming to New York?"

"I called and let her know. I didn't want to fly all the way here and then find you'd gone out and I couldn't track you down, so I asked her to make sure you would be at home."

"So that's why. I can still remember we had a big fight that night because she wanted me to go out to some glamorous party but I was missing you too much to be any fun for anyone so I decided to stay home."

"Well Julie came and met me at the airport and then said you'd gone so I decided to just catch the next flight back. She actually sat and talked with me while I waited for my plane."

"I guess she wanted to make sure you didn't change your mind and stay in New York."

"Maybe. But what about the letter?" he asked.

"What letter?"

"On the flight on the way home I thought about what your mother had said, but I still couldn't believe it, I wanted so much to believe in us, so I spent the whole flight trying to put into words what you meant to me and how I felt about you and I posted it at the airport. But you didn't even reply. That was when I knew for sure that you had moved on."

"Don't you understand I never moved on? And I didn't get the letter. I'm guessing my mother successfully got rid of that too, just as she got rid of you. A few days later, after I had arrived in London, I tried to email you, just to find out if we really had no chance of getting back together but I got no reply. It wasn't until after that, that I decided to stay in London. My mother convinced me that it would make it easier for me to get over you if I was to make a fresh start. Plus it would remove the possibility of me ever running into you and Lindsay and I knew I would not have been able to bear that."

"I didn't ever get the email. There's obviously a lot more to sort out but I guess I'd like to concentrate on the positives and I think the most important part of all this is that maybe you didn't stop ….." all of a sudden he didn't know what to say. He looked at Marissa. She held her breathe as she looked deeply into his eyes.

"Loving you?" Marissa finished for him.

"Um yeah?" he looked at her hopefully.

"Nope. You've got me hook, line and sinker. Even when I thought you were back with Lindsay I couldn't stop. I still loved you." She smiled.

Ryan held her face between his hands and gently wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs he looked at her and added. "You know I've always loved you. Since the first time we met at the end of the driveway. You took my breathe away and you still do." He leaned in and kissed her deeply.

"And I love you too. I've never stopped. I don't think I could even if I tried." She smiled as his lips met hers again.

---

"So what are we going to do about your mother?" Ryan asked.

"She can go to hell. I hate her. And if I ever see her again it will be too soon."

"I'm sure you don't mean that."

"Ryan. Look at what she has cost us? Don't tell me you think I should forgive her for this?"

"No. But I do know that in some warped way she probably thought she was doing you a favour. Mother's can be like that. Look at mine. They will always be able to justify what they did as being in your best interest."

"I can't believe that she didn't say something. It was because of you that I eventually decided to move to Europe."

"Because of me?" Ryan looked at her stunned.

Marissa looked down at her hands and twisted her fingers together trying to find the words to tell him the rest. "I can tell you now, I guess, that I was so heartbroken that, after a while, I even took her advice and saw a shrink again. After a few weeks of therapy he advised mum that it may be easier for me to move on if I distanced myself from 'the problem'. I think that meant you. And…." She looked up at Ryan almost ashamed to admit to the next part but wanting there to be no more secrets between them. "I ended up on anti-depressants just so I could get through the days….. and nights. I can't believe that she could still keep up the charade even though she knew what it was doing to me."

Ryan reached out and held her tightly. He didn't ever want to let her go. "Eventually we will get to the bottom of exactly what she did and why, but for now … just know that I love you. I never stopped and I never will. So what say we go to bed and we'll sort everything else out in the morning?"

Marisa shook her head. "I won't be able to sleep. I just can't believe that we have lost so much time together all because of her."

"Well the most important thing right now is that she didn't win. You've found your way back to me and I don't intend to ever let you go. Hopefully you'll decide to make this move permanent. But if not then I'll have to move my business to Paris because I'm not letting you out of my life ever again. I don't function properly without you."

Marissa looked at him and felt her heart swell. How had she got so lucky to have him in her life? "Okay. But I'm not talking to her. So don't even think about suggesting it. She can go and rot in hell for all I care."

"How about we deal with it tomorrow? Tonight I want to concentrate on us. Don't you realise that this is the first time in years that we can actually go to sleep confident in how we feel about one another. Mind you I don't think Julie would sleep too well if she knew about the little conversation we've just had."

"I'm guessing that's why she's on her way. She probably realised that once we got close and started to talk then we were bound to work out what had gone on."

"Now us getting 'close' sounds like something I'd like to do." Ryan put his finger under her chin and lifted her face until her eyes met his. "We can't do anymore about Julie til tomorrow. So how about we go to bed. We'll sort Julie out then."

"Ry. I feel so miserable…I mean it's my mother that has caused all this. How could you even want to have anything to do with me? Especially, when you know that I'm half her. I'm so ashamed to even think about it." Marissa hung her head back down not wanting to look at him.

"Riss. I don't know how to say this more clearly. I…Love…You. I don't care about who your mother is. I only care about you. There is no way that I will let Julie come between us again. Please just believe me. Pus it's not as if my family is anything to brag about."

Marissa looked back at him wondering how he could possibly just dismiss all that her mother had done to them.

"Please come to bed. We'll deal with everything else in the morning." Ryan leant in and kissed her tenderly, urging her lips apart with his tongue.

Marissa pulled back a little. "I don't know if I want to… you know. I just feel too miserable." Marissa looked at him hoping he would understand.

"Riss, I just want to hold you. And keep you close to me. I've spent too many nights on my own thinking about you. Having you beside me, in my arms is more than enough. We've got all the time in the world."

Marissa smiled as she looked at him and she could feel her heart swell. "Have I told you how much I love you?"

"Not enough. I could never get sick of hearing it."

"Well I do." She put her head on his shoulder and they walked off to bed.