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!)

A/N: It's sooooooo hard to tie things up with this story without drama and angst, so here goes. I'm not sure how many more chapter it will take to end this story, maybe a few more. It's too addictive. Ah, okay…On with the story.

Chapter Twenty Seven

"As I'm talking my words slip to the floor
and they crawl through your legs and slide under the back door
rendering me freakish and dazed.
Well here I am. I don't know how to say this.
The only thing I know is awkward silence.
Your eyelids close when you're around me to shut me out."

Freakish – Saves the Day

Ryan stood in the middle of the poolhouse, dressed in his suit for tonight's big opening of the Lighthouse. He glanced at himself in the mirror and was pleased with his excellent tie work. He had finally mastered at doing up his own tie. With all the Newport events he went to, he had to master it at some time or another.

Seth came barging through the poolhouse door, dressed in his casual appearance. "Dude, that look for you is very minty."

"Minty?" Ryan replied. He went over to the bathroom and sprayed on some cologne. "So, why aren't you dressed?" He asked.

"Don't worry, I'll be dressed soon, Mom." Seth rolled his eyes. "So, are you bringing anyone? Say, maybe a girl named Marissa."

"Tonight, it's just going to be me, myself and I. I thought I told you I wasn't ready for a relationship."

"Yeah, but, you're Ryan Atwood and Ryan Atwood always has the ladies after him. You two did sleep together last night, didn't you?" Seth asked. He was over at Ryan's desk snooping through his CD's.

"We didn't sleep together, Seth. We just fell asleep together."

"Same thing." Seth replied. He picked up a Bright Eyes CD off of Ryan's desk. "Hey, this is where my CD went. If you wanted to borrow it, Ryan, you could have at least asked me."

Ryan rolled his eyes at Seth. "Seth, you were the one that left it here. I don't even like them."

"What do you like?" Seth joked.

"Not them." He walked over to Seth and grabbed his arm. "Out." He dragged him across the poolhouse and kicked him out. "Go get dressed."

"The parents have got to you too!" Seth exclaimed. "What happened to world domination?!"

Ryan ignored him. "Hurry and up and get dressed, Seth. We have to be there in less than an hour."

With his Bright Eyes CD in his hand, Seth made his way back into the house. He climbed the stairs up to his room and changed into his suit. He hated wearing suits. He felt as though he was a clone. Bred into Newport, at his parent's expense. He sprayed on his cologne and went back downstairs to find Ryan waiting for him in the kitchen.

"Ready?" Ryan asked.

"Where are the parents?"

"Your Mom and Dad are already there. You were with me when they told us we had to drive ourselves to the Lighthouse." Ryan replied, annoyed with Seth.

"Must have slipped my mind." Seth grabbed the Range Rover keys off of the counter. "Oh, I have to pick up Summer." He added, as they made their way into the Range Rover.

Once they picked up Summer, they drove to the Lighthouse.

"Whoa. Your dad and Jimmy Cooper did a great job with this place!" Summer exclaimed, as she scanned the restaurant for Marissa. She spotted her by the bar. "I'm going to go talk to Coop!" She said and then walked off.

"Who's that with Luke?" Seth asked, pointing over to the dessert bar.

"Shit." Ryan mumbled. "No one." He walked away from Seth to go talk to Luke."

"Great." Seth mumbled to himself, as he took a seat at one of the vacant tables.

Ryan walked up to Luke and his date, Chelsea, who shouldn't be here.

"Hey, man." Ryan said, glaring at him. He turned to Chelsea and smiled at her. "Hey."

"Hey, Ryan. How are you?" She asked, referring to his arm.

Ryan wished that people would stop asking him about his arm. He knew she was his physiotherapist, but they weren't in her office. "Good." He replied. "Luke, can we talk?" He asked.

Luke let go of Chelsea's hand. "Sure, Cuz. I'll be back, babe." He followed Ryan outside to the patio. "What's up?" He asked.

"What the hell is she doing here, Luke?" Ryan yelled at him. "Don't you think it's a little risky? You've got Kirsten and Sandy, who know her and on top of that, Luke, your Mom is here!"

"Chill, Ryan. Don't worry. You're always uptight. Just relax." Luke laughed at him.

"Hey, what are you guys doing out here?" Marissa asked, stepping outside.

"Getting a little fresh air." Luke replied and then whispered to Ryan, "Don't worry." He then walked away from him and left him outside with Marissa.

"So, did you get in trouble?" Marissa asked, referring to their unexpected sleepover.

Ryan shook his head. "Not really. Sandy's making me work here on the weekends."

"That's cool." Marissa replied. She didn't know what to say to him. There was an awkward silence between them. "Are you okay?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" He asked.

"Well, I don't know. You were pretty upset last night about the tape recorder and I thought that maybe – "

Ryan cut her off. "Can we not talk about the tape recorder? We're at a party…Let's enjoy it." Ryan said, fidgeting with his tie.

"I know, Ryan, but are we ever going to talk about it? I mean, if it's making you like this then I think you need to talk about it."

"There's nothing to talk about." Ryan spat at her.

Seth walked out of the restaurant and onto the patio. "Hey guys, we're all ordering our food."

Marissa ignored him. "Ryan, you can't just ignore what Oliver said about you on that tape recorder. It's clear that it's upsetting you and we need to talk about it."

"Marissa." Ryan tried to stop her.

She raised up her hand. "Ryan, I'm your friend and friends talk about things that are bothering them."

Ryan was furious. Who was she to say such a thing? Ryan had tried to talk to her about Oliver countless times, but no, she never listened to him and now all of a sudden she wanted to listen? "Well, then maybe we shouldn't be friends!" He yelled at her.

Marissa's eyes glistened with tears. "Maybe." She whispered and then ran past Seth and into the restaurant.

Seth watched Marissa storm off and then turned back to Ryan. "Uh…What just happened?" He asked.

"Nothing." Ryan shouted at Seth and then stormed off into the restaurant. He went straight to the bathroom.

Seth shook his head and went back inside the restaurant. He went over to the table where his parents were sitting, and where Summer and Marissa were supposed to be sitting, but they weren't there.

"Seth, where's Ryan, Marissa and Summer?" Sandy asked, as Seth sat down opposite of him.

"Bathroom?" Seth guessed.

Sandy nodded his head and turned to Kirsten. "I hope you're ordering my Mother's meatloaf and not Jimmy's." He joked.

Kirsten laughed, "You know I'll order your mothers."

Ryan stood in the men's bathroom, standing in front of the mirror. He was starting to feel sick. His stomach was tossing and turning, as he recollected his conversation with Marissa. Man, she was really pissing him off lately. All she ever wanted to do was talk to him about their relationship and Oliver. Oliver, Ryan thought to himself. If it weren't for that damn bastard, things would be normal. He would be living happily ever after with the Cohen's and he'd be still dating Marissa.

Ryan flushed his face with water and then left the bathroom. He spotted the Cohen's sitting at a table along with Jimmy Cooper, Marissa and Summer. All of them had already ordered their food. He sat down next to Kirsten and away from Marissa. He could tell that she had been crying.

"Where have you been, Ryan?" Sandy asked.

"Bathroom." Ryan replied, ignoring Seth's stare.

"We've already ordered, but don't worry, Sandy ordered you his Mother's meatloaf." Kirsten said.

Ryan nodded his head. "Thanks."

The food came and they all devoured it. They all had either Sandy's mother's meatloaf or Jimmy's mother's meatloaf. Ryan ate his meatloaf in silence, ignoring Seth's stares and Marissa's glances. He had hardly eaten anything, when the food decided it wasn't going to stay down. He pushed his plate back and threw his napkin down over the meatloaf.

"Are you feeling okay, Ryan?" Kirsten asked.

Marissa glanced over at Ryan and they made eye contact.

"Fine." Ryan smiled at her. "Just full. It's great, though."

Once the dinner was done, dessert came and Ryan took a pass on it. He watched on as the rest of the gang ate their Chocolate volcano cakes, or cheesecakes. After dessert, there was a bit of dancing and some chitchat. Ryan retreated outside to the patio and sat down, breathing in the cool fresh air. He wished he had a cigarette on him right now. He really needed one.

He looked through the patio doors and saw Luke dancing away with Chelsea. He knew he would never understand Luke. The song stopped playing and Luke caught Ryan's stare and then came outside.

"Shit, Ryan…You have no clue what you're missing in there." Luke said, eyeing Chelsea at the bar.

Ryan didn't say anything.

"I saw Marissa crying earlier. What's up?" Luke asked, sitting down next to Ryan.

"We were fighting over the tape recorder." Ryan replied, not realizing that Luke didn't know about the conversation that he had with Oliver before he shot himself.

"Tape recorder?" Luke asked.

"It's nothing, really. She just wants something out of me. Something I can't give her right now." Ryan safely replied.

Luke nodded his head in agreement. "Come on back inside with me." Luke got up. Ryan got up and followed him back inside the lighthouse.

"You okay, Ryan? You look a little pale." Chelsea commented.

"No, I'm fine." Ryan replied. He glanced over at Sandy and Kirsten, who were coming their way. "Luke, uh, come here." Ryan pulled him away from Chelsea and walked towards Sandy and Kirsten.

"Boys, are you having fun?" Sandy asked.

"Tons." Luke replied. "This place is chillin'."

Sandy bobbed his head and took a sip of his wine. "Chillin'. Just the answer I was looking forward too."

"Hey, isn't that Chelsea, Ryan's physiotherapist?" Kirsten asked, pointing behind Ryan and Luke. Ryan quickly closed the gap between him and Luke. Kirsten tried to look over past their broad shoulders.

"Chelsea? Here?" Ryan asked. "Why would she be here?"

"Yeah, that's not Chelsea." Luke said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! I think it is Chelsea." Sandy said. "Ryan, did you invite her?" He asked.

Ryan shot Luke his glare. "Yeah." He faked a laugh. "I guess I did."

Both Sandy and Kirsten left the boys and walked over to Chelsea.

"Chelsea, it's great to see you. I'm glad you could join us for such an event!" Sandy shook her hand.

"Mr. Cohen, this place is spectacular!" Chelsea commented. "And I loved your mother's meatloaf." She added.

Both Luke and Ryan watched on from a far distance.

"So, are you here with anyone?" Kirsten asked.

"Yes, I am. I'm here with my boyfriend, Luke Ward." She replied and then took a sip of her drink. "There he is, right there." He pointed to him. "Come here, Luke!"

"Luke? You're going out with Luke Ward?" Kirsten repeated. Luke came up to them and stood next to Chelsea.

"Do you know him?" Chelsea asked, wrapping herself around Luke's waist.

"Why, of course we do! He's one of Ryan's friends." Sandy replied.

"I thought you two were cousins?" Chelsea asked Luke.

Luke turned several shades of red. "Uh…no?" He looked passed Sandy and Kirsten and saw Ryan standing there shaking his head at him.

"No?" Chelsea let go of him. "Why did you tell me that then?"

"Well…you see…um…" Luke stuttered. "I – I…well…"

Chelsea than realized what was going on. "Wait a minute here. You're one of Ryan's friends? You're still in high school?" She asked.

Luke didn't say anything.

"Luke!" She yelled at him and then slapped him. "How could you lie to me like this!" Sandy and Kirsten looked on in shock. Ryan couldn't help but watch on and say 'I told you so.' "This is so embarrassing!" She stormed off and left the restaurant.

Luke rubbed his cheek and walked away from the Cohen's.

"Told you so." Ryan mumbled to Luke, as they both walked off.

Luke ignored him. "Do you think anyone saw?" He asked.

Ryan looked around. "Yeah, I think you're mom saw."

Luke looked over at his mom, who was staring at him. "Yeah, she saw. Oh well, I mean, it was fun while it lasted. The sex was great and – "

"Luke." Ryan stopped him. "I don't need to know that. She's my physiotherapist!"

"Yeah, she's great at her job, isn't she?" Luke joked.

"Shut up." Ryan said. "You want to get out of here?" He asked.

"Hell yeah, now that she's gone." Luke replied.

They managed to slip away from everyone and get their jackets from the coat check. As they walked over to Luke's truck, they heard Seth shouting out Ryan's name.

"RYAN!" Seth yelled out to him. He caught up with them and bent down. He was defiantly out of shape. He breathed in the fresh air and then stood up. "Mom and Dad are mad and want you back in the Lighthouse."

"Mad? What did I do?" Ryan asked.

"You're leaving." Seth stated and then turned to Luke. "I heard about you and Ryan's physiotherapist. That was real classy." He commented.

Luke shoved Seth. "At least I got some action!"

"Right." Seth frowned. "Okay, well, are you coming back or not?" Seth asked Ryan.

Ryan sighed. "Do I have a choice?" Seth shook his head. "I'll see you later, Luke." He said and then went back into the Lighthouse with Seth. Luke got into his truck and drove off.

"So, Summer told me about the tape recorder." Seth said, walking into the Lighthouse.

"What?" Ryan stopped dead in his tracks. "How does she know?" He asked.

"Well, Marissa and Summer are best friends and Summer does have a big mouth. I also, kind of, forced Summer to tell me." Seth shot up his finger at Ryan to stop him from talking. "But, that was only because I was worried about you. Which, I am."

"Don't be. Why does everyone have to worry about everything?" Ryan asked.

Seth ignored his question. "Are you okay? I mean, I know Oliver is…is dead and it's over but like if it's true what he said over the tape recorder. Saying that you were some charity case, then, I mean, you must feel like crap, right?"

Ryan face grew with rage. "Yeah, well, maybe I am, Seth." He turned around and headed outside. Seth called out to him, but he ignored him and continued walking away.

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