Disclaimer: I own nothing, besides what I make up
FORGETTING THE PAST
Today, Ryan and Marissa are engaged to be married. They are 24, and are very content with each other. Stephen, who is Theresa's son is now 6 years old, and Marissa is currently with child. They are going to be married in two months. Everything is perfect with the Atwood family.
Theresa died in a car accident, leaving Ryan with extreme guilt
Seth and Summer remained friendly with each other, but have not gotten back together. Though Summer asked Seth on a date a couple weeks ago, and they may be ready to take their relationship back to the level it was once at. Summer is hesitant, because Seth cheated on her in high school.
Kirsten and Sandy are happily living alone. Sandy retired from practice, and Kirsten works a lot less.
Ryan and Marissa have never been happier with each other, and everything is looking on the up and up. Ryan got over his drug addiction to cocaine, and Marissa has been doing better. Marissa and Seth are best friends, and Ryan and Summer are very close.
FORGETTING THE PAST
"DADDY!"
The sound of the bell in the morning. The sound of the alarm isn't an alarm clock like normal people. Instead, it is a child, who wakes up as early as he can, just to bother his father, or that is what he thinks. His father thinks he does it on purpose, but his mother would never think such things of her little baby boy.
"DADDYYYYYY!"
Monday mornings. God, those are the worst. He wanted nothing more then to lay face down into his pillow, covering his other side with a pillow, blocking the rest of himself from the world. He wanted it to be Saturday again, but that was impossible It was a Monday, and his child wanted him. Why did children always want their parents during the worst possible scenarios?
"DADDYYYYYYYYYY!"
Mommy, Mommy. Why couldn't he call her. He never called her. He always wanted him, and never when he wanted to go get him, because he normally called when he was in bed. At least he wouldn't grow up to be a Mommas boy, or that is what seemed like to be his pace of growth. He tried to sleep once again.
"DADDYYYYYY!"
Why did he have children in the first place? That is the age old question that everybody wants to know. But he didn't want to think about that, bring back up bad old memories. Luckily for him, the screaming stopped. But the snores didn't. The price of having a fiancé who snores. It was like she did it just to piss him off. He only noticed her snoring in the morning, never any other time.
He looked over at the clock, it was still only six o'clock. They all didn't need to get up for another hour or two. So he tried to get to sleep, and his eyes finally closed. But like all sleep cycles. He opened his eyes, after what felt like ten seconds, and it was time to get up. He looked over to the spot his fiancé normally slept, and it was empty.
He got up from his spot, and sat up on the bed. He looked out the window, facing the beautiful stretch of ocean that borders Newport Beach, California. He still couldn't believe that this was his life. He couldn't believe that he was living he life of his dreams. A beautiful girlfriend, a great family, an adorable son, a great job, and great friends, and he had much more.
He never thought he would be living this. It was after all only eight years that he was thrown into this world. He thought he would be living a life of poverty and teenage pregnancy, even to know in way he already was. With these thoughts in his head, he walked downstairs, taking in the aroma of bacon, frying in the pan, just for him. Ah he approached the kitchen, he listened to the sound of his beautiful fiancé, humming the song to the latest U2 song, on their latest album. He loved that song, and he loved her. He appeared in the doorway, and his fiancé turned around, looked at him, and smiled.
"Morning Ryan."
"Morning Marissa."
Ryan moved towards her kissing her on the back of her neck. She squirmed around at his touch.
"Ryan, your hands are cold." She shrieked, as he guided his hands up the back her shirt, and down her back, to the top of her pants. His hands slipped below the elastic of her pants, and that is where Marissa stopped him.
"Ryan, in case you didn't notice, Stephen is in the room." She pointed out. Ryan looked left, and saw his son's eyes beating down upon him intently.
"Morning daddy!" his son said, jumping out of his seat, and running over to Ryan, putting his arms around his left leg. Ryan dragged him along with him to the kitchen table.
"Oh god Champ! You are getting big!" Ryan groaned as he walked him and his son over to the seat across from the television.
"There!" He said, after the struggle was over. "Eat your eggs Stevo, before they get cold."
"K daddy."
If there was one thing he didn't have a problem with, it was the fact that he had a son that listened to every waking word that he said. He knew Stephen would make him proud one day, growing up to be something great.
Stephen Atwood didn't know about who his real mother was, and Marissa and Ryan never planned on telling him. It would only create more drama in all of their lives, and could only cause problems for Marissa. No problems would be solved, but only created.
Stephen had a good head on his shoulders. He definitely had Ryan's intelligence, and even to know he wasn't Marissa's, he had her stubbornness. Though in the end, he always listened to his parents. He was a good boy that way.
"Breakfast is served," said Marissa, putting the bacon and eggs in front of Ryan. This is what he loved about her. She always knew what he wanted, and what he craved for. He was thinking, earlier that morning, on how much he had wanted eggs, and VOILA! There were eggs and bacon waiting for him for breakfast. She even cooked them the way he liked, sunny side up.
"Thanks baby." Ryan said, kissing her on the cheek. He opened the paper, and was going to check the news, but he looked over at his watch first.
"Sh.it!" He screamed.
"LANGUAGE!" Marissa warned Ryan, getting all motherly, as she tried to protect her son from those words.
"Sorry baby, sorry Stephen." Ryan told the two. He rarely cursed, and only did when things weren't going so good. And right now, he realized that he needed to be at work in thirty minutes. He still needed to shower, get dressed, get some gas, and then head off to work. Ryan quickly scarfed down his eggs and bacon, even to know they were still hot.
"Im late honey." He stated, as he kissed her quickly on the cheek, and ran upstairs to get himself ready for the day. Less than one hour of the way into his day, and things were already getting hectic. But that was normal for the Atwood household.
Ryan ran up the stairs, and into his bedroom. He quickly stripped off all of his clothes, and walked into the bathroom. He turned on the water, and stepped into the shower. Ryan quickly let the water soak his body. He soaped up his body, washing it off soon after. Once done, he quickly washed his hair, and was done. Ryan got out of the shower, dried his body off, and then wrapped a towel around his waste, covering up himself, just in case Stephen decided to wander the house. He quickly shaved, making the inevitable cuts, when one rushes during shaving. Ryan then put lotion on, and walked outside.
He dropped his towel, and quickly put on his underwear. Ryan then put on his suit pants, and shirt, quickly tied his tie, which after five years of working, became very good at. Now he was all dressed up, and ready for work. He went down the stairs, and saw his son had his Sponge bob book bag on his back, his jeans and sweater on, and was ready for school. Marissa meanwhile was cleaning off the pans she used, still in the same clothes as before.
"Who is ready for school?" Ryan asked, squatting down so he was eye level with his son.
Stephen turned around, looking over his shoulder, and around the room. He wasn't ready for school. Were children ever ready for school?"
"Not me Daddy. I don like School at all."
"Well that stinks, because you have to go anyway. C'mon champ, head to the car. We are taking the Mercedes."
"K Daddy. The silver one?"
"Yea."
"WAIT!" Marissa stopped her son and her husband. Stephen and Ryan stopped in their tracks and stared up at mother and fiancé.
"Kiss goodbye?"
"Ok Mommy." Said Stephen, running over to his mother, planting on of her lips.
"Thank you sweetie. Have a good day in school."
"Tank you!" And Stephen ran out to the garage.
Marissa and Ryan shared the same smile. Even to know he wasn't her child, he seemed like her own. Marissa was truly blessed to have Stephen in her life. He was one of the most important things to her life, and she could not imagine life without that little critter running around all the time, shining his constant happiness to everybody he meets.
"That kid is really something isn't he?" Ryan asked Marissa, smiling at her, and kissing her on the nose, and then on the lips.
"I'll say."
"So I guess this is goodbye for the day?" spoke Ryan.
"Goodbye. I love you." Ryan told Marissa, kissing her again, this time little bit more passionately, slipping is tongue into her mouth. When they pulled apart, Ryan got on his knees in front of Marissa. He Lifted up her shirt.
"Ryan…"
"Shh…"
"You are so cheesy."
"I know." He told her.
"Goodbye to you too baby." He said, kissing Marissa's stomach.
"Bye Maris." Ryan walked out the door and into the car. Stephen was already in the backseat, buckle on and all. Ryan put on his seatbelt, opened the car, and backed out of the driveway. Ryan was off, to take Stephen to Harbor Elementary School, and himself to work.
Marissa watched the two off through the window. She smiled to herself, thinking of how great her life had become. She couldn't believe this what the life she led, especially after all her problems, from six years ago. She still remembered like it was yesterday, Ryan sitting lifeless in the hospital, suffering from Cocaine poisoning. There were many times she thought that he would die. She thought she would be alone for the rest of her life, and would never see him again. But things got better. He woke up, checked himself into rehab, and the rest is history.
Marissa sat down on the couch, with her new favorite thing. Mr. Breyers, Mr. Entenmanns, and Mr. Doritos. She loved being pregnant, because she could feel free, having an excuse to eat any and everything that she wanted to, without the pressure to remain skinny. Life was great.
She turned on the television, and watched the morning talk shows, like she did on all mornings. The Today show was on now. Marissa decided it was time to make a phone call, because after all, it was quite boring being in this big house all alone. She called Summer first.
The phone rang, and rang, and rang, and Summer's machine answered. Marissa didn't feel like saying anything, so she hung up. She actually thought back to the times that her and Summer were not close. Specifically, right after she caught Seth cheating on her. That was all around the times of Ryan's coma. She still heard the words Summer uttered, calling her a slut, when she thought her and Seth were having sex. But in reality, Summer just didn't know how well Seth and her had gotten along. They shared a common bond, and a common loss, Ryan.
Marissa still was close to Seth, and decided to call him now.
"Hello?" Seth said, as he answered the phone.
"Hey Seth."
"Hey Cooper." Seth greeted her. Cooper was the new name he had developed for her. He always thought that Marissa was too long, considering it had three syllables, Coop was the easiest, but he didn't want to step over Summer's boundaries, especially with their big date coming soon, exactly next week.
"Want to come over?" He asked.
Seth checked his schedule, and since, he was still living with his parents, had no job, and still lived out of his room in the Cohen house, he had nothing to do.
"Im game."
"K, see you in how long?"
"Twenty minutes?"
"Ok."
"Bye Seth."
"Bye Cooper."
They hung up their phones, and Marissa went back to comfort food and daytime television, while Seth to getting showered and dressed for Marissa's.
Ryan had the new sponge bob CD in the player, blasting at a normal level. IT was Stephen's favorite show, and that of millions of other six year olds around the nation. Ryan couldn't believe that that show was still on. It still had a lot of staying power. He remembered lying in a hospital bed. When he was in a coma, the doctors had kept the television on, hoping that he would hear it and wake up. He would always have dreams, and that song, was implanted in his head. He could sing it by heart, and was sometimes embarrassed when he would sing along to the words, without even realizing it. Marissa would point it out to him sometimes, and sometimes even his son. But they were just having fun, which wasn't like the first times he had heard the song in the hospital.
Ryan smiled as his son sang the song, and he pulled up to harbor elementary school.
"We're here kiddo."
"Thank you daddy. Can you walk me in?"
"Sure."
Ryan got out of the car, and took Stephen's hand. They walked across the street, remembering to look both ways, and towards the school. The place was packed with parents, who were brining their kids to school. As Ryan was at the entrance, he saw a familiar face holding their kid's hand.
"Ryan Atwood? Haven't seen you in awhile. How are things?"
"Hi Dr. Kim. Pretty good, just bringing my son Stephen to school."
"Me too with mine, Lisa. So what are you doing with your life. I know about the pregnancy is tha…"
Ryan looked at her sternly.
She somehow understood.
"Im sorry Ryan. I didn't kn.."
"It's Okay." He interrupted, "He doesn't know, but she passed." He whispered.
"I'm sorry, but what are you doing…"
"I'm actually engaged." He told her, with the smile returning to his face.
"Congratulations Ryan, do I know the lucky lady?"
"Marissa Cooper."
"Marissa. Wow. You guys were together in high school. I remember that because I think I played a part in your breakup, after telling her about that Oliver kid. I'm sorry for not trusting you."
"Right, that Oliver kid. He was a psycho. Don't feel bad, I am well over that."
She laughed. They talked a bit more about life, and what they have been up to. Their jobs were mentioned, and surprisingly enough, she was still the dean at Harbor High School.
"Well Ryan, if there is anything I can do for you.."
"Unless you can lower the prices of this expensive elementary school."
She laughed again, "Sorry, cannot do that."
"Then no, nothing. Nice to see you again Dr. Kim."
"You too Ryan."
As they parted, Ryan thought, wasn't that nice. Considering he never liked her, and she never liked him.
Ryan let Stephen go, but not before getting a kiss goodbye. Stephen walked into school, and Ryan back to the car for his first day of the week at work. This is when he would start to feel down, as he headed off to work. That saying if Office Space really fit him on a day like this. "Somebody's got a case of the Mondays!" And he did have it. Actually, he had the Monday's everyday except for the weekend. But the weekends were too far and wide between. Ryan took out the sponge bob CD, and put in the real music. The stuff what legends are made of. He put in the good old 80s music, the best band ever, or as he liked to call it, JOURNEY.
The first song Any Way you Want it, blasts through the speakers. Ryan felt like he was on the stage, or front row of a concert, taking in the atmosphere. That is what his sound system did. It was amazing. He got through that song, Separate Ways, the song that he listened to with Seth when they chased after Anna, and even got to Don't Stop believing, his favorite song. He always wondered why more people didn't like Journey? They were GREAT!
Ryan stopped the CD, as he pulled up to his office building. He still couldn't believe the job he had. He was one of the top people in his office, but that wasn't the unbelievable part. That was who his boss was. He couldn't honestly they he hated his boss more than anything. But his fiancé hated him more, if that was possible.
Ryan passed through the gate, picked up his parking pass for the day, and parked the car. He stepped out, and walked into the office.
"Hi Mr. Atwood."
"Hey Jeanie.
"Hi. Mr. Atwood."
"Hi Sean."
Ryan was greeted by everybody. Everyone knew him, and he was the favorite of one of the top people in the office. I mean who didn't like Ryan Atwood?
Ryan walked into the office directly ahead of him to say hello to somebody.
"Hey Ryan." She said, walking over to him, kissing him on the cheek.
"Hey Kirsten."
Marissa looked at her watch. It was almost forty minutes since she had originally called Seth to come over. He was such a woman when it came to getting dressed, taking most of his time to work on his hair. Not that it mattered anyway, considering his hair looked the same when he woke up.
Suddenly, Marissa was drawn away from Regis and Kelly, to the sound of the doorbell ringing. She got up from her seat, and hobbled over to the door. She opened it up, and there was Seth, holding a rattle in his hand.
"Hey, come in. What are you doing with a rattle?" she asked, kissing him on the cheek, and motioning for him to come inside and sit on the couch next to her.
"To play with the baby."
"Loser." She said, laughing in his face.
"Yes, but I am a loser that cares." He rationalized
"Still a loser nonetheless." She spit back. He just stuck his tongue at her, and she did the same back.
"Eat much today?" Seth asked Marissa, noticing the array of food sitting in front of her on the table.
"Not yet actually. Just like two point of ice cream."
Seth mouth dropped open, almost to the ground. And Marissa, she was actually serious about it all.
"Two pints and still counting! Damn woman!"
"Hey, I'm pregnant."
Seth thought about it, and then came up with something to say, "Guess your making up for lost time."
SMACK
"Ow, that hurt!" He cried like a little baby.
"I eat, and I ate before. So you can bring your anorexic crap somewhere else. If anyone is anorexic, it is you anyway. You are still the same toothpick you were in high school, and all throughout college."
Seth smiled, "But the toothpick who you love more than anybody else besides Ryan and Stephen."
She smiled at him, and slapped him again.
"Oww!"
"Grow up Seth!"
"Anything new on the home front?" Kirsten asked Ryan, as they sat down next to each other on her sofa that Julie put in seven years before.
"Nope, not really. Marissa is as big as ever, but you saw her on Thursday."
"Yea, I did. Never seen her eat so much."
"I know, me neither."
Ryan and Kirsten had remained close throughout the years. He was still seen as an integral part of the Cohen clan, with Sandy and Seth there too. Everyone had buried their hatchets, and their problems, so Seth got along with Sandy, and Ryan with Seth also. Everything was fine with the Cohen family, just not with the Nichol family, as the problem man walked in.
"Hello Kiki, Ryan."
"Mr. Nichol."
"Dad."
"Ryan, you are the head architect at the Newport Group and have been in our family for over eight years. Start calling him Caleb like everyone else."
"Kiki, he doesn't have too…"
Kirsten gave him that look that Ryan had taught her over the years.
"Fine."
"So Dad, what do you want."
"I actually have a job for Ryan to do."
"What is it?" Ryan asked.
"I would like you to oversee the project that will start in two days at the new site of the new model home. Try not to burn that one down, okay?"
"DAD!"
"Sorry Kiki. Just a little joke among family."
Caleb laughed to himself, and then walked out. Caleb was as much a jerk as he ever was. Ryan tried to stay clear of him as much as he can, and deal with him as only what is required for work. He was able to get through he legal troubles with Sandy's help, and now he is still married to Julie, Marissa's mother. Marissa though didn't want to have contact with either, rather having them grow up with one set of grandparents, Sandy and Kirsten.
Caleb's heart had not softened since as long as Ryan had known him. He still could hear Caleb making jokes about Ryan to Kirsten, while he was out of the room. He knew that the only reason he was hired was because of Kirsten, though Caleb did the hiring.
"I have to go do something." He told Kirsten, walking out of her office. But first they said their goodbyes. Ryan walked out of the office complex. He looked at his watch. IT was almost eleven o'clock now. He figured it would take about two hours to reach his destination, so he was fine.
Ryan droved down the 101. But this time, the drive was more somber. He didn't have Journey blasting, but his favorite Jeff Buckley Song. It was called Hallelujah. It expressed his current mood, as the site got closer and closer. Ryan had been thinking about this event for the past week and a half. He kept a mini calendar in his bottom drawer on his nightstand. He had put X's on everyday coming up to this. This day, was circled and highlighted.
Ryan reached into his pocket, and pulled at the slip of paper, as he entered Chino's city limits. He looked at the paper, seeing he had to make two left turns and then a right. Ryan did this following the directions right on the button. He pulled up to a familiar sight. Good thing for him, it was open, and the gates were not closed like one year he had come. Ryan drove his car slowly down the narrow cobblestone road, passing the stones left and right. He felt tears in his eyes as he looked at the thousands of names, engraved in the rocks.
Ryan finally got to where he wanted to go. He reached over, grabbed his bouquet of flowers, and the picture. He got out of the car, shut the door, and walked over to the place he had tried his best to visit once a year on the anniversary. And now it was the anniversary once again. Ryan looked at the site ahead of him.
He put the picture of his son on next to the picture he had put last year. Ryan put down the flowers next to it. His tears were flowing freely now.
"Hey. How are you doing. I guess not to good since you are dead. I just want you to know that I never wanted any of this to happen to you. I still feel guilty for what happened, and I hope you have forgived me. Anyway, I'm sure you are watching over us in heaven and already know this, but Marissa is doing a great job taking care of our son. I love her and we are actually getting married soon. I love her so much, and I'm sorry I could never give you the love that I show her."
Ryan paused, and stared at the tombstone. He read across…
THERESA GONZALES
1986-2005
MOTHER, DAUGHTER, and FRIEND
SHE WILL BE MISSED BY ALL
PEOPLE"S LIVES SHE TOUCHED
RIP, GOODBYE
"I'll see you again next year."
Ryan got in his car, and drove off again, back to his life in Newport, leaving Chino behind once again.
Read and Review.