NOTE: I do not own any of these characters… you can thank FOX. If you have any questions or comment you can e-mail me at liverbrain22@hotmail.com

(Thanks for the Reviews!)

Chapter Twelve

"Breathe in good, breathe out bad,
Remind yourself of the things you have, it's easy.
Pull a smile onto your face,
understand that making friends is easy."
Self-help – Turin Brakes

The week had gone by really slow for Ryan. He spent most of his time in the poolhouse alone, except for going to physiotherapy with Sandy. The Cohen's kept on telling him to use his arm as much as possible. He was going crazy over all the attention he was getting. He wasn't used to it—and he didn't like it, at all. A couple of days ago, Seth tried to cheer him up and talk to him, but it didn't work. Ryan wanted to tell Seth that he had a tingle in his arm a couple of times throughout the week, but he didn't. He was afraid the tingling feeling would never come back and he would never feel his arm again.

Ryan sighed and looked at the clock on the nightstand. It was eight o'clock in the morning, and a Saturday. The Cohen's were going to be home today, which meant fuss over using his arm, all day. Ryan got up and went to the bathroom, taking a quick shower before going into the Cohen's kitchen.

"'Morning." Seth said, looking up from his newspaper. "Coffee?" Ryan shrugged and Seth poured him a cup of coffee and handed it to him.

"Thanks." Ryan then went back to the poolhouse. He wasn't in the mood for talking right now.

"Hey, Seth. What are you doing up so early on a weekend?" Sandy asked, walking into the kitchen and pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"I'm going sailing with Summer today." Seth grinned at his dad. "First time, too."

"Huh. Finally showing the boat you named after her?"

"Yeah, Dad. That's exactly it."

Sandy laughed. "Well, have fun. What is Ryan doing today?"

Seth shrugged. "I don't know. We haven't really been talking much."

"Oh? Is he mad at you or something?"

"No, I don't think so." Seth said, looked at his watch. "I've got to go. Can I borrow the car?" Seth asked.

Sandy grabbed his car keys from the counter and threw them at Seth. "Have a good time."

Seth left to go pick up Summer and Sandy left the house to go talk to Ryan. Sandy knocked softly on the glass door and walked in.

Ryan fumbled with something in his hands and hid it under his pillow. "Hey." Ryan said, sitting up in his bed.

Sandy went and took a seat on one of the couches. "What are the plans for today?"

Ryan shrugged. "I was just thinking of hanging around here…"

Sandy rubbed his eyes and sipped his coffee. "You've been sitting around here for a week now. What's up? How are you? Talk to me, I'm listening."

Ryan sighed. "There's nothing really for me to do." Ryan said, looking down at his arm. "What ever I want to do, I can't. So it doesn't matter…I'll never be able to do anything."

"Well, the doctors said you should have a little feeling soon." Sandy replied. Ryan frowned at him. "Ryan, you have to try your hardest. Don't give up."

"Whatever. Sandy, I'm, uh…" Ryan needed an escape. He couldn't stand all the attention. "Can I go over to Luke's?"

"After what happened last week?" Sandy asked.

"Sandy, I promise I won't drink. I don't even like drinking." Ryan admitting. "I won't smoke too." He added in, anticipating Sandy would let him.

"Okay, be back by dinner though." Sandy replied and Ryan nodded in agreement. Sandy then left the poolhouse.

Ryan pulled out the tape recorder from underneath his pillow and examined it. He had the urge to throw it out, but now yet. He walked over to his desk in the far corner of the room and threw it in a drawer. He noticed his leather cuff lying on the desk and he picked it up. He stopped wearing it because he would no longer feel it on his wrist. He decided to put it on and then he called Luke.

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"So, this is it?" Summer asked.

"This is it." Seth replied, handing her a life jacket. "Here put this on, just incase you fall in. I don't want to get wet, so you better float, if anything."

Summer laughed at Seth and put on the lifejacket.

"This is going to be awesome." Seth commented as he and Summer got on the sailboat.

"What do I do?" Summer asked, once she was on the small boat.

"You do nothing. I'll do everything. You can just watch and laugh at me for awhile." Seth said pulling the boat out into the warm water and sailing off.

Seth babbled on and on about the boat and sailing techniques and everything else. Summer listen carefully trying not to burst out laughing. Seth Cohen is adorable, she thought to herself. She didn't really think sailing was this much fun, but with Seth it was fun.

Seth let go off the ropes and let the little boat sail off into the water.

"I feel like we're trying to escape from pirates!" Summer shouted out to Seth.

"Only you, Summer…Only you." Seth commented, making his way over to her on the small boat. "So, we're in the middle of nowhere…hmm…What should we do?" Seth asked, sarcastically.

"You're such a boy, Cohen."

"Well, last time I checked, yeah."

Summer laughed and kissed Seth on the lips.

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Luke's truck pulled up at the Cohen's house and Ryan got into the passenger seat. He laughed to himself, realizing that six months ago he was watching Marissa hop into the passenger seat. Now it was himself.

"So, what's up? Where are we off to today? My parents aren't home. We could go hang out there."

"Uh, sure, I guess." Ryan replied, looking back at the Cohen's house. He knew there would be drinking involved with Luke and he had promised the Cohen's he wouldn't drink. A promise was a promise, he reminded himself as they drove to Luke's house.

When they got to Luke's house, Marissa was sitting on his front porch. Marissa was surprised to see Ryan with Luke, as much as Ryan was surprised to Marissa at Luke's house. They got out of the truck and made their way over to Marissa. Ryan trailed behind Luke, hoping Marissa wouldn't talk to him. He fumbled with the cuff on his right wrist, which he could not feel.

"Hey, uh, hey Ryan." Marissa smiled at the two of them.

Ryan nodded at her.

"Hey, Marissa. What are you doing here?" Luke asked.

"I was just in the neighborhood and no one was home so I thought I'd just wait until you got home."

"Oh, well…is there something I can do for you then?"

"Talk. I need to talk to Ryan. If that's okay?"

Luke turned to look at Ryan. "Sure, I'll just be inside." Luke said, leaving Marissa and Ryan alone outside.

Ryan went up to the porch and sat beside Marissa.

"Sorry." Marissa apologized. "I haven't seen you at school for a week. How are you?"

"Fine." Ryan replied, making conversation short and simple.

Marissa started to cry next to Ryan. "It's not my fault, Ryan. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. You can't just stop talking to me. It doesn't work like that." She said, cradling her head in her hands.

Ryan wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close to him. "I'm not mad at you. I'm just, well, I don't know how I feel about you anymore. I didn't trust me, Marissa."

Marissa looked up at his blue eyes. "I'm sorry, you were right. I understand that now. I understand everything and I'm so sorry for what happened to you. You don't deserve any of this."

"Okay." Ryan replied, not sure of what he meant.

"Okay?" Marissa questioned.

"Okay, we're okay." Ryan said, reassuring her. "Remember on the Ferris wheel I told you I don't like to express my feelings?" Ryan asked.

Marissa nodded.

"Well, this is one of those times where I'm speechless and I don't know what to tell you. There's so much that has been going on lately."

Marissa laughed nervously. "You're speechless? That's a first." She replied, sarcastically.

Ryan smiled and kissed her forehead. "Let's just go slow at this, okay?" Ryan asked. He realized that was the same thing he said to his mother the day in the poolhouse when she had come back. He knew that this would be different than his mother. It had to be different.

Marissa nodded and smiled at him. Her face her wet with tears and Ryan stood up and brushed them away. "Luke and I, we were just going to hang out here. Did you want to, uh—"

Marissa cut him off. "Yeah, I'd like that."

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"Honey, I'm home!" Seth shouted, as soon as he walked into his house. Summer, by his side, laughed at him.

"You are too weird, Cohen." She commented.

Sandy and Kirsten were in the kitchen talking when Seth and Summer showed up, hand-in-hand.

"Hey guys, how was the sailing?" Sandy asked.

Seth smiled at Summer. "It was awesome, right Summer?" He asked.

Summer nodded. "Who knew sailing could be so much fun!"

Kirsten and Sandy laughed. "Are you here for dinner, Summer?" Kirsten asked.

"If that's okay?"

"We have plenty of food. We're having some take-out pizza."

Seth rubbed his belly. "Mmm, sounds good. Where's Ryan?"

"He and Marissa are in the poolhouse." Sandy replied.

Seth and Summer looked at each other. "Ryan and Marissa are in the poolhouse?" Seth repeated and both adults nodded their heads. "Weird." Seth commented, leaving his parents and walking with Summer outside. "Do you think we should check on them?" Seth asked.

Summer shrugged. "Sure."

Seth and Summer walked into the poolhouse. Marissa was sitting on Ryan's bed reading a magazine and Ryan was sprawled out on the couch with a ball in his right hand.

"Hey." Marissa said, looking up from her magazine. "How was sailing?"

"It was awesome." Seth replied, eyeing Ryan to see what he was thinking, it didn't work. Ryan was expressionless. "So, uh, you two are, like, just hanging?" Seth asked.

"Yeah." Ryan replied, grabbing the ball in his right hand and throwing it at Seth. It was a pretty good throw, considering he was right-handed and threw it left-handed.

Seth smiled. "That's awesome." Summer then pinched his side. "Ow!" Seth shouted, holding his side. Summer glared at him. "Oh, right, uh, we're just going to leave now. Bye." Seth said to Marissa and Ryan. He then left the poolhouse with Summer.

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Hope you guys liked what I did in this chapter. I thought Marissa and Ryan should get back together, considering everything. Next chapter up soon! Stay tuned!