(Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all. So don't sue me. Please.)

A Note from the Author: Hey, another chapter for you guys, and pretty quickly, to make up for the short chapters. I like my divisions, I guess. So I've decided this would be more of a contemplative fic instead of an 'action' one, so I won't really have that much going on or lots of talking. This means that if something happens, there will be no beating around the bush (which will make for some pleasant surprises, yeah?) Oh, and I totally forgot to mention this, but Theresa and Luke/Julie never happened. So if I make no mention of them, well, it's not because I have no regard for continuity. And… onwards and upwards!

Chapter Three

Summer and Ryan eventually developed a comfortable pattern.

After Summer slept in and woke up at a healthy noon-hour, she would shower and throw on any old pair of shorts and a t-shirt, and drive over to the Cohen mansion. Ryan left the pool house door unlocked and she would enter and park her butt next to him on the couch, and they would watch T.V. awkwardly. Or play video games awkwardly. Or if they were really bored, cards (awkwardly). Then she would leave, lying that her parents were expecting her.

But lately that daily sequence of events had been changing as well.

It wasn't really silent anymore, at least not when the T.V. was blaring with the latest re-run of The Valley. And Summer found out, surprisingly, that Ryan really did have a lot to say. Sort of.

They started off asking each other curious questions about a 'safe' topic open for discussion, aka Seth and Marissa. Granted, Ryan was still a little touchy about Marissa, but Summer felt it was her duty as best friend to bring the girl up in conversation as much as she could.  So, Ryan was quite pissed off, but he endured it anyway.

He enjoyed the company. Or rather, he would enjoy any company.

Ryan had his own juicy tidbits about Seth to tell as well, and well, Seth wasn't really talking to Summer anymore. She was still angry that Seth hadn't even called once to tell her what was up with him, ask her what was up with her, and/or inquire about the weather. So, Summer was quite pissed off, but she endured it anyway.

She enjoyed the company. Or rather, she would enjoy any company.

Then their conversations got more personal, mainly because there was nothing else to talk about. There was only so much time that could be spent on T.V., games, and talk about their semi-exes spending their summer trying to get away from them as much as humanly possible.

They couldn't figure out who would go first, though. They sort of knew it had to come to this, this confessionalizing of sorts, but no one could say whose turn it was.

And then one day, as Summer was coming up the walkway, she saw Kirsten and Sandy and Ryan at the dinner table, eating together like a normal family. That night, she had had a healthy serving of McDonald's salad washed down with coke, which she ate alone as Pat the housekeeper vacuumed the carpet behind her.

So it was a little too easy to feel jealous of Ryan at that point.

But then he looked up, and gave her a look as if to say, This isn't my family either.

After that they noticed that they were both alone.

I mean, really alone.

Both of them had times when they felt abandoned by their friends and family. And Summer decided that she'd be damned if she didn't immediately latch on after finally finding someone who could really understand the hell she went through when Seth and Marissa weren't looking.

Even if that someone was Ryan.

That night, while Colin on The Valley was complaining to Elena about the downside to living in Tarzania, Summer shut off the T.V. and turned to Ryan. She had been practicing what she'd say before he finished dinner, and the time for confession was now or never.

"So… your mom abandoned you?" Ryan started to shoot Summer one of his sideways looks, but she quickly muttered, "Me too."

To Ryan, Summer had said this like it was the most natural thing in the world, like she was talking about the most popular shade of nail polish, or something.

Ryan didn't know where this new Summer with the not-Summer words came from, but he decided to reply anyway.

This time, Summer didn't pretend she had to leave at midnight; they both knew no one was waiting for her at home. It was also the first time Summer could remember that Ryan spoke in multiple sentences. Sometimes he even made a joke, and wonder of wonders, even gave a half-smile.

Summer didn't know where this new Ryan with the not-Ryan actions came from, but she decided to smile in return anyway.