Disclaimer: I don't own the OC or any of it's characters.
A belated thank you to f-lix-er, DaNcEjSt4U, Acacia Jules, char, dizzy25, dstrbd child, pinkBubblebum23, mare, and benzbabidoll for the reviews!
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Still A Spark
Chapter 3: Realizations
6:30 that night…
When Theresa got to the beach Ryan was already there waiting for her.
"Hey. Sorry I'm late. I got caught up in a catering job, then my car wouldn't start so I had to borrow Arturo's and-"
"Shhh," Ryan said. "Calm down."
Ryan cupped her face and kissed her.
"Thanks. I needed that."
They sat down on the sand, Theresa leaning against Ryan's shoulder. They sat there in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying each other's company.
"So, how's life going for you so far, Ryan?"
"It's…complicated. There's Seth, constantly asking questions, school's not looking good and there's-"
"Me and Marissa," Theresa continued. "Ryan, I know that my coming here complicated things, but I want you to know that I'd leave if you wanted me to…"
"Why would I want to do that?"
"Why be with me if Marissa still loves you?"
"I'm with you because I love you."
Theresa's POV
One look into his baby blue eyes and I knew he was telling the truth. Sometimes I wondered why Ryan chose me over Marissa. There are lots of reasons a guy would want her- she's beautiful, smart and sweet. But when Ryan told me he loved me, all my insecurities faded away with the tide and I couldn't help but smile…
"Thanks, Ryan."
"Thanks for what?" Ryan asked.
"For understanding me."
Ryan and Theresa sat there watching the spot where the clouds met the ocean...
*****
"I don't understand why…
See it's burning me to hold onto this
I know this is something I gotta do
But that don't mean I want to…
What I'm trying to say is that I love you
I just…I feel like this is coming to an end
And its better for me to let it go now than hold on and hurt you
I gotta let it burn…"
-'Burn' by Usher
Outside Harbor High…
Marissa's POV
"Hey, Marissa," Ryan said.
"Hey," I replied. I could tell by the look on his face that he was going to say something important.
"Look, we need to talk."
"I knew this would happen eventually," I say to myself. I knew exactly what he was going to talk about. I've played this conversation in my head a million different times, and every time it ended in me crying.
"Things between us-"
"Ryan, don't…" I say, but I know I'm just delaying the inevitable.
"Marissa, I need to say this. Things between us…they'll never go back to the way they were before. I…I just want you to know that I still care about you…"
I smile because maybe this won't end up in tears after all…
"But I don't want to give you false hope. Friends are all we'll ever be…" Ryan said. I guess this will end in tears after all.
I felt like exploding into tears, but I somehow managed to put on an almost happy façade. I looked into his eyes and knew he was telling the truth. No matter what I say or do, what happened, happened and there's nothing to it.
"Thanks for being honest," I quietly replied looking at my feet so he wouldn't see the stray tear rolling down my cheek.
He walked away without a word. I pulled myself together and headed to third period…
Ryan's POV
As I walked away from Marissa, I felt horrible. Seth's been telling me that Summer has been worried about Marissa. She's said Marissa's been depressed lately and hasn't been acting the same. I've been noticing it too. When I see her on campus, she usually looks like she's a lost little girl. It was hard to say that we would only be friends. I could see the pain in her eyes…But it's the truth. There's no way to sugarcoat it. I didn't want Marissa to think that there was a chance of things going back to what they used to be…it would hurt her even more if I just strung her along. I just hope she realizes that…
Tuesday after school…
Marissa's POV
Surprisingly, therapy helped me a lot today. Usually all I hear is blah, blah, blah but after talking to my new therapist, Dr. Moore, I felt a lot better. She told me to deal with what happened without using drugs and vodka, but friends and family. She made me promise to break my bad habits. My dad understood how I felt and helped a lot through all of this. Now that I talk to him more often, I realize that he can relate to me more than I thought.
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-eyecandi13