Title: I've Loved You Forever

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I don't own the O.C. or anything affiliated with it. :-(

Chapter Four: Tonight

Kirsten and Sandy opened the door to find Summer and Marissa sitting on the bed, crying.

"What's wrong?" Kirsten asked, running over to them, fearing the worst. Marissa and Summer looked at her and pointed at the TV in the corner. Kirsten looked and saw Saturday morning soaps. She sighed and laughed to herself.

"How are you?" she asked.

"Much better," Marissa said, sniffling. "Actually," she said, wiping her face, "the doctors all say that I can go home today."

Kirsten and Sandy exchanged glances. Marissa had seen that look before.

"What's wrong?" she asked, the soap suddenly out of her mind.

"Nothing," Sandy said. "It's just, home is what we wanted to talk to you about." Just then, the door opened with Ryan and Seth coming from their coffee break. They noticed the grim looks on everyone's faces.

"Who died?" Seth asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"No one died, Seth. We're just trying to tell Marissa that her mom wanted her to stay with us for a while." Kirsten said, watching Marissa. Her face brightened.

"That's perfect! That's much better news than I thought it would be." Marissa was beaming now. Seth and Ryan looked at each other.

Kirsten breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay," said Sandy. "Well, then, I guess you'll stay in the pool house. Ryan, you can sleep in Seth's room for awhile, can't you?"

"Sure," he said, dazed. "And, since it's Christmas break," added Sandy, "no getting up early."

Seth looked at the floor. "I guess it hasn't been Christmas break since September, huh?" Kirsten looked at him. "No, Seth. But, don't worry. I've arranged everything with Dr. Kim. You'll be back in school. And you're never leaving the house again, by the way." Ryan smirked at him. Seth looked at his hands sheepishly. Then he brightened as he turned away, mumbling something about Chrismukkah.

Over the next hour, Ryan, Seth, and Summer helped Marissa get ready for her return home. Or at least for her return to her temporary home. Kirsten and Sandy were busy checking her out of the hospital. They finally checked her out and were on their way to the car.

"Hey Ryan," Sandy called, tossing him the keys. "Why don't you take everybody home? Me and Kirsten are gonna head over to the office."

"Okay," he said in his trademark low voice. He watched as Seth and Summer helped Marissa into the front seat and then settled themselves into the back. He shook his head as he climbed into the front seat of the car that he had been driving when he had seen Marissa almost dead. And now here she was, only three days later, sitting next to him as if nothing had ever happened. She looked over at him and noticed he was staring at her. He dropped his head and started the car, pretending he hadn't seen the same thing he was feeling in Marissa's eyes.

"Cohen, get away!" Summer yelped as she ran into the pool house, trying to get away from Seth who was trying to throw her in the pool. Ryan and Marissa looked up in surprise as she fell on the bed, Seth jumping on top of her.

"Couldn't you two just get a room?" Ryan asked. Marissa just laughed, which made Ryan very happy.

"Yes, actually we could. Come on, Summer. Let's leave these two lovebirds alone."

"Where are we going?"

"To my room, of course."

"Good choice, Cohen. Night Coop. Night Chino." It wouldn't matter how long Ryan would live in Newport, Summer Roberts would always refer to him as Chino.

'Night," they said in unison. Seth was practically dragging Summer out and waved a goodbye.

Marissa shifted her weight on the bed and cleared her throat.

"So, you, never told me, what really brought you back here?"

Ryan looked up at her. He sighed. "Well, I went to go see Seth last week to talk to him about going home. Him going home. I was there for awhile, at Luke's."

"Luke's? I thought he went to Tahiti."

Ryan laughed. "Yeah, that was the plan. But Seth got hungry. And Seth got cold and lonely and thank God Luke lives in Portland. So anyway, I went there and Theresa called me. I figured it was her bitching about me missing her doctor's appointment, but instead she told me that she lost the baby. They couldn't find a heartbeat. So, she told me to go home. And don't bother coming back. So I told Seth and you know the rest."

He hung his head after this speech. Marissa tilted his head up and kissed him. He put his hands on the sides of her face and pulled her close to him. She opened her mouth slightly and glided her tongue around Ryan's lower lip. She felt him shiver and moved closer to him. He went around her tongue with his and moved his hands down to her neck. Suddenly, without warning, he pulled back.

"I should probably be getting back," he said, getting up and walking toward the door.

"Ryan," Marissa said softly. He turned to her. "Do you have any idea what Seth and Summer are doing?"

He thought about it for a second. "Yeah, yeah I think I have a slight idea."

She smiled. "Couldn't you stay here for awhile?"

He looked at her and smirked. "Okay."

"Good," she said. "Cause I have a favor to ask."