A/N: Wow, thank you so much for all the reviews :)

Yeah, I do not own the OC, but if Fox is selling,...

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What was going on? First came Marissa then, Ryan. It was like I was in another dimension. When I took that job in Newport, I certainly didn't expect to dive into all this drama, and frankly speaking, I had already had enough.

"What is he doing here?" I asked Marissa. Something fishy was definitely going on.

She looked at me incredulously. "How should I know? You're the one that keeps having late night meetings with him," she accused. She appeared to go through a melt down and started crying. I kept staring at her and really didn't know what to think. Hadn't she already gone through her tear reserve? Any minute then, I was expecting to see tears of blood.

He knocked at the door again. "Theresa, are you there?"

I took in a deep breath. "Alright, wipe your tears, he shouldn't see you like that! I don't even know how I am going to explain your being here."

On hearing that, she shot off the seat like a rocket. "You're right, he cannot see me here. I don't know how I am going to explain this to him! I need to get out of here!" She cried, visibly shaking.

"Alright," I said. I wanted to run over and hug her, just to let her know that everything would be o.k. but I had to think really quickly.

"That's a room," I pointed at my bedroom. "You can go in there. You can stay there till he leaves, o.k.? And," I added as an afterthought, "turn your phone off! We do not need anyone calling you and blowing your cover. O.K.?"

She did as she was told and I opened the door.

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"Theresa, is everything o.k.?" I asked her.

"Yes, what's going on?" She asked with confusion boldly written on her face.

Even though it was not raining as heavily, the wind was pushing it on me.

"Can I come in?"

She stepped aside and let me in.

"You certainly took your time. Is there someone else here with you?"

She looked around the room. "Why would you think that?"

"Oh, no reason." It had taken her a while to answer the door so I was a little suspicious. But knowing Theresa, if was with a man, she would have told me.

She sat at her dining table and I followed suit. "So, what's going on Ryan?"

"I called you many times and you didn't answer your phone. I was getting worried, so I stopped by."

"You called? I've been home for a while now. When did you call?"

"I've been calling for about three hours now."

"That's weird." She got up and walked to the phone.

"Oh," she said, hitting her forehead. "I was online and forgot to log off."

"That's alright. It's good to see you're o.k.."

She smiled nervously, "would you like something to drink?"

"No thanks. I'm fine." I guess my unexpected visit was making her feel a little nervous although I didn't understand it because not long before, I used to do this all the time.

She sat next to me and asked," so what's going on that you have to come all the way here?" She asked with concern.

I looked into her eyes. "Today is February 25th."

On hearing the words she instantly understood. The look in her eyes turned from concern to shame.

"I'm so sorry, Ryan, I forgot," she said, touching my hand.

"I thought things would get easier but they never do. Whenever my Grandmother's birthday rolls around, the memories come flooding back and I do not know what to do with myself. I have not been truly happy since she passed away."

Theresa didn't interrupt -she simply smiled and listened. Theresa, gosh, she always knew what to do. I really missed having someone so strong in my life. For a while, it was us against the world. I could live, knowing that she was always there. And I missed that.

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I felt so bad about forgetting his grandmother's birthday. His grandmother loved German chocolate cake and for the last four birthdays, my mother and I baked him one - as a way for him to feel close to her again.

He leaned on my shoulder. "God, I miss her." He sat up and looked at me with those puppy dog eyes. "Theresa, I miss me. I miss the person I was while she was still alive. I was so happy then. She was the only thing in my life that made sense - other than you of course," he said with a sad smile.

I patted his hand. "But you're happy, now, aren't you? You're happy with the Cohens. Right?" He always talked about how great they were and for the first time, I was wondering if he had been completely honest with me.

He looked around the room, avoiding my eyes. "Of course I am happy with them - they are wonderful to me. But I feel weird talking to them about things like this. I don' t want them to feel like I do not appreciate what they've done for me," he said sincerely.

"I am sure they won't think that. They'd be glad you opened up to them - it'll help you get closer."

His mood immediately changed. "Well, whatever. I don't want things to be uncomfortable with us. Besides, it's fine," he said dismissively.

"Don't pull that macho crap with me, Matthew," I warned, calling him by his middle name. "Remember I know you," my tone got softer, "you don't have to pretend with me."

He relaxed again. "I sometimes worry that they regret taking me in. I am probably a much harder job than they expected."

"You're not," I promised. I put my arm around him and hugged him. He responded in kind. "I spoke to my brother today," he said softly.

"Yes?" We broke apart. "How is he?"

"He's fine. He misses Granny too."

I rubbed his hair playfully, "You'll be alright. You always are."

"What about you, Theresa, are you alright?" He asked pointedly. He put his finger on my face and touched my scar. I'd gotten into an altercation with another girl that left me with a knife cut.

"I am glad to see that is healing nicely, it is barely noticeable now," he observed.

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I stood in Theresa's dark room, freezing. Even though it was a cold, rainy night, Theresa had forgotten to shut the window. After I shut it, I went to the door to watch was what going on in the living room. I craned my neck in an attempt to hear what was being said with no success. All I could see what Ryan and Theresa hug for a very long time. As I was talking myself into believing that that overtly sexual hug was indeed platonic, I saw Ryan touch her face. I felt such disgust -it was like Ryan lacked creativity. Ryan always touched my face as he said sweet things to me - right before he kissed me. I planned to just look away and let them get it over with, but my legs refused. Before I realized it, I was in the living room standing in front of them.

Slowly, Ryan noticed my presence and when it finally registered, he looked at me in shock. He looked at me, then at Theresa and back at me. Theresa looked at me disappointedly then stared at the ground, shaking her head.

"What is going on here?" Ryan shouted, standing up.

"You tell me!" I screamed back at him. "Is this what you meant when you asked me to give you some space?!?!" I was hurt beyond description. Ryan was acting like it was my fault. That the reason he didn't want to get back with me was because I didn't believe him about Oliver. But the truth was clear as day - he wanted to be with Theresa instead.

"Marissa, what are you doing here?"

My eyes welled up with tears and my voice got shaky. "I came here to try to get us back together because I love you so much, but what do you do? You come over to Theresa's in the middle of the night. I come over to your house, to give myself to you, in an attempt to solidify our relationship, but you reject me! You rejected me Ryan! Why? Is it because you were already sleeping with her?" I pointed at Theresa. "You were already sleeping with this... this... "

"Now you listen..." Theresa interjected.

"Shut up!" I screamed at her. "You're a lying bitch! You said that you weren't sure about your feelings with Ryan and all the while you were sleeping with him! Why else would he come here in the middle of the night?"

Theresa didn't look phased. "You're here now, 'in the middle of the night,'" she pointed out. "Am I sleeping with you?"

What a bitch! Everything was so messed up, yet she had the gall to be a smart-ass.

"Ryan," she said. "This has nothing to do with me. I am going to my room - you guys should sort this thing out." She picked up a book from the coffee table and started to walk away.

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I'd never felt so humiliated in my life. What in the world going on? As far as I knew, Marissa and Theresa didn't even know each other. Yes, they'd met. But other than exchanging a few pleasantries... What was she doing here? Did they get together sometimes to compare notes? I had never felt so betrayed in my life. Theresa was my oldest friend, I couldn't believe what she had done to me.

"Theresa, you are not going anywhere! I am leaving. I do not have to be here. I should never have come."

"Ryan," she pleaded. "Please, stay and talk to Marissa. Stay and talk to me! This is ridiculous."

My blood started to boil. "You know what is ridiculous? You lied to me Theresa!"

"No I didn't" she said defensively.

"I asked you if anyone was here and you said no. The whole time Marissa was hiding in a closet or wherever. Is this your idea of fun? Theresa you lied to me! You lied to me! You are the last person I would expect that from. Through everything that has happened to me in my life, I could always rely on you to be honest with me. But you lied to me Theresa!"

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Looking at him, literally beat his chest, talking about how I lied to him broke my heart to smithereens. God, what had I done? Over the year, Ryan had looked at me in a variety of ways, but not like that. Never like that. He felt I'd been disloyal to him and I wanted to explain it to him, but knowing Ryan, I knew that this was not the best state to talk to him. His anger never let him see things clearly.

"Ryan, calm down so we can talk," I begged.

"Why? So you can lie to me some more?"

"Ryan, how can you stand there accusing her of lying. What about all the lies you told me?," Marissa decided to contribute. Really, why in the world couldn't that frail bitch just shut the hell up? She wasn't helping the situation one bit. It was apparent why they had broken up in the first place - this couple didn't know the first thing about communication.

Ryan put his hands on his head as if he had a head ache.

"Marissa," he yelled. "Just quit this! I don't even understand why you are here!"

"I told you! I came here to find a way of getting us back together."

"Well Marissa, you shouldn't bother. I wasn't sure before, but now I know that Oliver was a good thing. If not for him, I would never have discovered the real you!"

"Ryan, how can you stand there and say that? You know I love you!" If her voice had been any shrieker, all the glasses in my house would have shattered.

"Well, Marissa," he said, his voice full of bitterness. "I regret the day I met you, because my life has been filled with pain ever since. I might as well have stayed in Chino." Oh my God, the old Ryan was back. If he can't hit something in anger, he says the vilest things -things he doesn't even mean. I could almost see the scene the following day. He'd wake up feeling disgusted with himself and spend the rest of the day beating himself up about the insensitive things he'd said.

Marissa looked at him stunned. From what I could tell, the gravity of his words shook her to her core as she appeared to lose her balance causing her to lean against the couch to steady herself.

"And as for you," he said, glaring at me, "thank you for making my Grandmother's birthday even more special," he said sarcastically. With that, he walked out of my house and slammed the door behind me.

When I finally stopped staring at the door, I looked over at Marissa and saw her sitting on my couch sobbing. Frankly speaking, I wasn't in the mood to baby her because if she hadn't come over in the first place, my relationship with Ryan would not have been in jeopardy. I felt that everything had been her fault and in all honesty, I was sick of looking at her.

"Marissa, you are going to have to leave now."

She looked at me then got off the couch. She went back to my room to pick her things and soon after, she walked out of my house.