Disclaimer: The OC 's creator(s) is a genius. I could only wish I were as brilliant.

Chapter Three

Sweet Dreams

Marissa Cooper took her Mac & Cheese to her boyfriend, or ex-boyfriend, she didn't really know what to call him, now. They theoretically broke up, but they said they'd wait for each other, did that mean they were still together? She wondered. She felt semi-confident that she would know what to call him when she saw him.

She, too, got to the hospital quickly. She asked a nurse to guide her to Ryan and went into the room. Not to her surprise, Kirsten was sitting next to Ryan.

"Hey. How are you, how is he?"

"I'm fine, He's fine. He's just supposed to get some rest. We could wake him up, let him know you're here."

"No, that's OK, I guess you have to wake him up periodically, right?"

"Yeah, or he'll wake up on his own."

"I can wait."

Ryan woke up by himself about a half hour after Marissa got to the hospital. Kirsten said that she needed to get some fresh air but really left to give Ryan and Marissa time alone.

"Hey, Ry."

"Hey 'Ris"

"I ... um... came as soon as Kirsten called me. And I brought you some Mac & Cheese."

"Thanks for the Mac & Cheese. You know what happened?"

"No."

"Theresa died."

Marissa gasped and almost started to cry but realized she could do that later, when Ryan was asleep, or something. She decided it was a better idea to hug him instead.

"That sucks."

"Yeah, but I'm glad you came."

"Anytime, Ry. I love you."

"I uh, thanks."

They laughed. Marissa realized that he was definitely still her boyfriend. She wanted to jump on top of him and start making out with him, but thought that might be sort of trashy to do in a hospital bed.

Sandy came back a bit later with a smidgeon of news.

"All of your stuff is OK, Ryan. I'm going to start taking it back home. I couldn't get much, but I guess Theresa swerved to avoid hitting a pedestrian, and hit a big rig. That driver is fine."

"Thanks, Sandy."

"Ryan, I'm gonna stay the night. I'm sure Julie'd want Marissa to go back home. And Sandy's going to take your stuff home and stay there, in case Seth comes home."

At about eight Marissa went home leaving Ryan and Kirsten to sleep in the hospital.

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Early in the morning, the nurses prepped Ryan to go home. Kirsten called Sandy saying that he could come get them. Ryan was happily dressed in the tank top, sweatshirt, leather jacket, and jeans he'd been wearing the day before. Sandy arrived and they got home quickly. Ryan went inside and had some cereal in the house (he hadn't gotten to eat at the hospital). He headed upstairs to Seth's room, where he'd slept before the accident, but then realized that he belonged in the pool house, his 'room'. This reminded him that Theresa was gone, which made him sad. He was glad he didn't start crying again. He hated crying, tears were for the soft. Soft people didn't grow up in Chino. Ryan was not soft. He went to the pool house and started unpacking his stuff. Even with the recent tragedy, it was good to be home.

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After he was fully unpacked, he was hungry for lunch and thought of the Mac & Cheese Marissa had made. Damn, he was glad that he had Marissa; he needed her. He was pretty sure he loved her, and he didn't use that word lightly. To think of it, he loved Kirsten, Sandy, and Seth; they were his family. It was funny, in such a short year, he found something he'd never known before, love. He guessed his biological mother, Dawn loved him, but then again, she let her boyfriends beat him up. And on the other hand, he knew Kirsten, his real mom, would do anything for him. He was loved. After his thoughts, he decided to go have lunch and then call Marissa.

"Hey Maris, wanna go do something?"

"Uh, yeah, like what?"

"I don't know, something."

"Alright, I'll come get you."

"Cool, I'll be waiting."

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Marissa needed to get ready. It was one in the afternoon and she still wasn't out of her pajamas, a tank top she stole from Ryan after they'd jumped into a pool fully clothed and sweat pants. She put a polo and a pair of jean shorts on and quickly brushed her hair. After all, Ryan was waiting for her.

She drove to the Cohens' and picked up Ryan. They decided to go to the pier and get a corn dog (Marissa hadn't eaten yet.) They were looking over the railing to the beach.

"This scene seems familiar." Ryan stated.

"It is. We did this after we'd broken up over Oliver."

"Right, I said, 'you know what we haven't done lately?'"

"What?"

"This."

Ryan leaned over and kissed Marissa fervently. She was expecting it and kissed him back. She loved kissing him. It was way better than kissing Luke had ever been. She needed to kiss Ryan more often. She was glad she could kiss him just about whenever she wanted to. They decided to go back to the pool house. For a while Ryan and Marissa just lay in Ryan's bed, in each other's arms.

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Marissa left, though Ryan didn't know it, he was too fast asleep.

"Theresa, watch out!"

"What?"

Screech...

Ryan woke up startled.

"Holy crap. That was a freaky ass dream." Ryan muttered. He soon fell asleep but was restless all through the rest of the night.

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Author's Note: I hope y'all liked that chapter and it didn't come out like dribble. I was stuck in a minor rut with but I had to keep writing. Seth and Summer next chapter. I know I keep saying that, but I'm almost done with the next chapter, so this time, I'm totally serious. Sorry to keep you waiting SethSummer fans.

Countdown to the OC: Season 1 DVD in 74 days (OCtober 26th)

Countdown to the OC: Season 2 Premiere in 83 days (November 4th)

Congratulations to Adam Brody for winning the Teen Choice Award for TV: Actor Drama/Action Adventure and to Mischa Barton for winning the Teen Choice Award for TV: Breakout Star Female. And oh yeah, and the OC won two Teen Choice Awards, Breakout Show and TV: Drama/Action Adventure.

Oh, P.S. I was watching CSI earlier (my mom loves that show) and in it, There was a woman who was driving and swerved so she wouldn't hit something and she ended up hitting a big rig and died. I swear I had never seen that one, and so I came up with Theresa's death all by myself, even if it is unoriginal.