Day had soon turned into night in Newport Beach, and the Cohen's, plus Atwood, were sitting at the kitchen table eating Kirsten's specialty, take out, and talking. Marissa and Summer had left earlier in the day, giving the family some time to spend together. They had all finished their dinner and were sitting around the table chatting when finally Kirsten yawned and stood up bringing her dish over to the sink and then turning to the boys sitting at the table.
Kirsten: I'm exhausted. I'll see you guys tomorrow.
Sandy: Night honey, I'll be in shortly.
Seth: Night mom.
Ryan: Goodnight.
Kirsten exited the kitchen, and Seth was soon to follow, planting himself down in front of the TV to play playstation. Ryan and Sandy remained at the table sitting in silence. Eventually Ryan started gathering the rest of the dishes and made his way towards the sink to start cleaning up. Ryan ran the hot tap water in the sink and began washing the dishes. Sandy made his way over to Ryan, picking up a dishtowel off the kitchen counter and drying the dishes as Ryan washed them.
Sandy: So how have things been in Newport Beach?
Ryan: Pretty normal I guess.
Sandy: Normal?
Ryan laughed and looked over at Sandy as he handed him a wet plate.
Ryan: I guess nothing's really normal around here.
Sandy: It never is.
Ryan smiled and went back to doing the dishes.
Ryan: Seth told you about that Detective stopping by right?
Sandy: What?
Ryan: A few day's ago…
Sandy: He didn't tell me.
Ryan sighed slightly and looked over at Sandy.
Ryan: Earlier in the week a detective with the Orange County Police showed up at the door asking to speak with Kirsten. Seth told them that you were out of town, but he seemed pretty adamant to talk to her, he wanted a number to reach the two of you in Italy...
Sandy got a slightly worried look on his face and let Ryan continue.
Ryan: …I told him that the two of you didn't want to be bothered, and he didn't seem very happy.
Sandy: Did you ask him what it was about?
Ryan: Yeah…he wouldn't tell me, just that he wanted to speak with Kirsten. Seth should have his business card…Detective Sullivan was his name.
Sandy: Okay.
Sandy finished drying the last dish and set it in the cabinet.
Sandy: Thanks Ryan.
Ryan smiled and Sandy turned to leave the kitchen.
Ryan: Oh hey, Sandy.
Sandy: Yeah.
Ryan: There's one more thing.
Sandy: What is it?
Ryan: The other day Marissa and I were at the pier and we saw the Detective sitting with Julie.
Sandy: Julie Nichol?
Ryan: The one and only.
Sandy: What were they doing?
Ryan: I wish I knew, Julie was sitting at a café and he walked up and sat down. He was there for five minutes, Julie gave him an envelope and she left and then so did he.
There was silence in the room as Sandy's brain began processing all the information. Ryan watched him intently.
Ryan: You know, I don't know what's ---
Sandy: I know Ryan, thanks. We'll figure this out.
Ryan: I hope so.
Sandy smiled and looked at Ryan.
Sandy: You and me…we're an unbeatable combination.
Ryan smiled.
Sandy: Goodnight kid.
Ryan: Night Sandy.
Ryan made his way into the living room and found Seth passed out on the couch with the video game still running. Ryan turned everything off and threw a blanket over Seth before exiting the house and walked out to the pool house. Ryan walked in and immediately crashed down on the bed staring up at the ceiling. After about ten minutes, Ryan rolled onto his side, pulled a pillow over his head and tried to fall asleep.
Hours passed, but they seemed like days for Ryan. They always do when you can't fall asleep. Ryan had been constantly moving around the bed looking for that one comfortable position to fall asleep in, but he never found it. He tried reading, he tried counting sheep, he even went in the house to see if Seth had woken up, and maybe he could keep him company. Or at least bore him to death with a new video game that would knock him out, but when he got in the house he realized Seth had woken, but only to retreat to his bedroom upstairs. So Ryan once again found himself lying on his bed staring up at the ceiling. Ryan rolled onto his side and looked over at the clock sitting on his nightstand. A bright red 2:17am seemed to glow in the darkness of the pool house. Ryan sighed and settled onto his back again. Suddenly Ryan sat up and looked out the pool house windows to see if he could notice any movement coming from the house. The house stood completely dark, as Ryan got out of bed and quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and threw a sweatshirt on over his wife beater. He quickly slipped on his shoes and quietly stepped out of the French doors keeping an eye on the house the whole time. Once he realized he was in the clear, he made his way down the side of the house, grabbed his bike and started walking down the driveway. Ryan made his way to the bottom of the driveway and immediately made a right turning onto the sidewalk.
Female Voice: Where do you think you're going?
Ryan stopped dead in his tracks, with his back to her, his body tense for a second, but then he realized who the voice belonged to and a smile appeared on his face.
Ryan: Going to see you.
Ryan turned around and found Marissa leaning against her Jeep looking at him.
Marissa: Hey.
Ryan smiled and Marissa smiled back. Ryan set his bike down and began walking towards Marissa.
Marissa: Couldn't sleep?
Ryan shook his head.
Marissa: Me either.
Ryan stopped right in front of her and leaned in.
Ryan: Looks like our minds think alike in the early hours of the morning.
Marissa was able to get in a smile and a faint laugh before Ryan's lips locked with hers. Marissa leaned back against the Jeep as Ryan inched closer to her. When the two finally broke they stood staring at each other.
Ryan: Can we go to bed now?
Marissa: Please.
Ryan took Marissa's hand and walked back up the driveway. Ryan dropped his bike off on the side of the house and the two made their way into the pool house. Marissa entered first, and immediately saw the numerous amount of magazines and books thrown about on Ryan's floor. Seth's i-pod was sitting on Ryan's nightstand, and a game of solitaire was waiting to be finished on the small kitchen bar.
Marissa: You've been keeping yourself entertained.
Ryan: Not really.
Marissa laughed.
Marissa: Do you have something I can sleep in?
Ryan: Yeah.
Ryan got Marissa some clothes, and then tried to clean up the room a bit while she was in the bathroom changing. Marissa emerged just as Ryan was crawling into bed, and walked over and got into bed next to him. The two immediately met in the middle of the bed and fell into their usual sleeping arrangements.
Marissa: Goodnight.
Ryan leaned in and kissed Marissa's cheek, before laying his head down next to Marissa's.
Ryan: Goodnight.
The two closed their eyes and immediately fell asleep.