Oh my gosh guys, thank you so much for the awesome reviews. I've never felt more loved. Well, we're at the chapter where we might finally learn what the heck is up with Ryan. Yay! This might be short, a lot shorter than the last chapter, but this is chop full of stuff. Confrontations galore. LOL.

Ryan sat in Marissa's car, contemplating getting out and running to the Cohens'. Why was he doing this? What had he agreed to? Were he and Marissa together? Oh shit, what was happening? How the hell had he found himself doing two things he specifically did not want to do?

He saw Marissa come out of Summer's house with two bags of stuff. She was smiling at him. He had a bad feeling.

"Mr. Roberts can't see Summer. So I got some more of her stuff and Mr. Roberts left directions on the counter for us," She and Ryan were back together. The thought kept running through her head.

"Cool," Ryan hadn't said much since leaving the hospital. He was worried about Seth. Watching him jump was one of the scariest things ever.

"Are you okay?" Marissa asked Ryan once they had gotten on the highway. He was being extra-silent. "Because, I mean, if you're not cool with us, even though we are going super slow . . . "

"No, it's not us. I'm just thinking about Seth," Ryan told the truth. Partially. He was still getting used to him and Marissa.

"Right. That was really scary the other night. Do you think Seth'll be okay? Because he had been bleeding pretty bad," Marissa hated to think of then.

"Kirsten said he'll be fine. He should be. I just hope he doesn't stay sleeping for too long," Ryan commented.

"How long was it last time?" Marissa thought back to when Summer had broken down and Marissa had visited Seth, breaking down in front of him. That was ages ago.

"49 days. Seven weeks exactly," Ryan answered.

"Wow. It kind of seemed longer," Marissa felt the silence enwrap them. She wanted to say something else, but what? She knew Ryan's thoughts were on Seth, Marissa's were to an extent. But she was also thinking about Summer, and how she would react to what was happening in Newport. She wouldn't take it very well.

They were on the highway for a while, and Marissa wished she could say something to Ryan. Isn't it supposed to be easier to talk to someone when you're dating?

"So....." Marissa started, but didn't finish. How could she finish?

"Yeah?" Ryan thought she wanted to talk, which she did, but didn't know how to talk to him.

"Um, do you want to get something to eat?" Lame. That was just really lame.

"I don't care," Ryan had his mind too preoccupied. They were going to see Summer. At Willow Creek.

"Oh," Marissa kept driving. She turned on the radio to get rid of the silence. Her mix cd blared at the. She never really took out this cd, it had all different music, and they were good songs.

Ryan didn't care what dong was on, this was it. He wanted to go back.

A particularly sad song turned on. Marissa forgot where she heard it, but it was so good.

"I can smell the rain coming/But I won't leave until it falls/I'm gonna soak in its' downpour..."

Marissa checked the directions. They were halfway there. She could barely take the silence. Even if there was music. It was sickening.

"What do you want to do after seeing Sum?" Marissa asked, hoping it would spark a conversation.

"I don't know," Ryan still couldn't believe he had said 'yes' to being with Marissa. It was tough already, no doubt it would get harder.

"Well, you have to want to do something," Marissa was going to continue this conversation.

"Uh, visit Seth. Make sure he's okay," Ryan was really worried about him.

"Right," Marissa knew the conversation was over.

"Weighted sorrow in perfect clouds/Bursting in the air/Wash away and drown...."

Marissa paid attention to the lyrics. Drown. How perfect. She meant to change it, but she didn't. Why the hell didn't she?

Ryan didn't look at Marissa, he only stared out the window, thinking. Thinking about what his life was like, and how lucky he was.

"The rook flips beneath my feet/As the branches back away from me/The softest grass turns to concrete...."

The song was ending. But not soon enough. Marissa quickly fast forwarded through the song.

"You could've kept it on. I don't mind," Ryan told Marissa as a new song started.

"I did," She told him matter-of-factly.

They didn't talk much during the rest of the ride to Willow Creek. Ryan continued to gain nervousness, but Marissa didn't notice. He was happy about that, but grew incredibly worried as they went up the long, familiar driveway to the facility.

Marissa parked the car, and they both got out. Marissa right away, Ryan with hesitation. Marissa put her hand in his, and they walked up.

It was huge, and Marissa saw no other people around, except the receptionist. She walked up to her, as Ryan reluctantly followed, avoiding eye contact with everything except the floor.

"Hi, we're here to visit someone," Marissa told the receptionist coolly.

"And who would that be?" The receptionist didn't look up either.

"Summer Roberts," Marissa didn't notice that no one was even looking up. But finally the receptionist looked up, giving a strange look to Ryan, which Marissa did notice. She nudged Ryan, and he looked up at the receptionist, giving a small smile before looking back down. She didn't understand.

"A nurse will come down to escort you up. You'll need these," They were handed visitor's passes. "Do not let anyone have them," Marissa and Ryan went over to a couch and sat down. They waited for five minutes until a nurse finally came down to escort them.

Opening the door to the ward, Marissa felt strange. She should be here, not Summer. She and Ryan walked by the rooms and at the end, they saw a day room. Families were all around, talking to their kids. Summer sat in a chair in the corner, waiting.

She had survived throughout the lonely days, slowly adjusting to life. Her therapist mostly talked to Summer about her family, they had not yet reached friends again.

Marissa saw Summer first and pulled Ryan along. Summer stare out the window, searching for a friendly car. She had missed Ryan and Marissa come in.

"Sum!" Marissa cried out, immediately grabbing Summer's attention. Summer's face glowed as she jumped up and hugged Marissa. She missed Newport so much, it was unbelievable. Summer didn't want to the visit to occur. Because when they would leave, she would miss everyone even more. If that was possible. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too!" Summer commented to Marissa. They let go and Summer saw Ryan. "Hey Ryan. I missed you," Summer hugged Ryan also. She missed everyone horribly. Think of it this way: moving away was only one tenth of the pain Summer felt.

"I missed you too," Ryan hugged back. He missed Summer. It also made him sad thinking of what Seth did because of her. She didn't know, of course, and Ryan would keep it that way. She didn't have to know just yet.

"Where's Cohen?" Summer asked once they had sat down.

"Summer...." Marissa hated to be the bearer of bad news, but she supposed she would have to tell Summer.

"He got grounded," Ryan interrupted Marissa. What was he doing? They had to tell her.

"Your parents couldn't have let him off for a little bit?" Summer was disappointed. She had waited so patiently to see Seth.

"Kirsten and Sandy have been really strict. Ever since he woke up. Right, Marissa?" Ryan looked to Marissa as she turned to him. She saw that he wanted her to agree. But how could she lie to Summer?

An image of Seth jumping flew before her eyes.

"Right," Marissa agreed after turning back to Summer. She really hated lying to Summer.

"Oh. What about my dad? Is he coming later or something?" Even though Summer was still upset with her father, she did miss him.

"He couldn't make it. But he did say he misses you," This time Ryan didn't interrupt Marissa.

"It's better off that he didn't come. I'm still kind of mad at him," Summer tried to cover her pain.

"Why?" Marissa didn't understand.

"Coop, he put me in here," Summer blatantly told Marissa.

"Oh," Marissa thought back to when her mother wanted to admit Marissa.

"I mean, he could've not put me in here, but he decided to. I'm still pissed at him, but I guess I can't be mad at someone who tried to help you forever," Summer now understood she needed help. She was messed up in the head.

"Sure you can," Marissa disagreed with Summer.

"What?" For a moment, Summer forgot about Marissa's past.

"I'm pretty sure I'll hate my mom for the rest of my life," And as always, Marissa had made the conversation about herself without even knowing she had done it.

"So anyways. What's been going on in Newport? It's been six days, I'm going crazy without any information," Summer changed the subject.

"Not much has been going on," Marissa wanted to tell Summer about Seth so badly. She hated lying, yet she did it so much.

A girl walked over and saw Summer smiling with two people. She got up and walked over to them.

"Hey Sum. Are these your friends?" Nicole asked.

"Yeah, this is..." Summer began, but Nicole interrupted.

"Hold on, let me figure this out. You're.....Marissa, right?" Nicole looked at Marissa and saw her nod. Then she turned to Ryan. "And you're Ryan," She commented plainly without any expression like she had seconds ago.

Ryan gained more uncomfortable and tried to avoid eye contact with everyone.

"Where's Seth?" Nicole had grown a little sick of hearing Summer talk about Seth. He was constantly on her mind, and he had no clue how much.

"Grounded," Ryan looked up for one second, and locked ryes with Nicole, and then he looked to the floor once again.

"Smart," Nicole commented.

"What did he do anyways?" Summer was mad that Seth couldn't make it.

"Neither Ryan nor Marissa knew how to answer that at first. Marissa did not want to lie to her best friend again. It was too hard. But Ryan found the perfect answer.

"He skipped school. Just walked out on Wednesday and hasn't gone back since," Ryan was partially telling the truth. Granted, Seth had not been grounded for leaving school, but he had yet to go back to school.

"Oh," Summer said, not fully believing Ryan. Ditching school was very unlike Seth. Especially since he had just woken up from the coma. If Kirsten and Sandy were being strict, wouldn't they be pushing Seth to go to school?

"Hey, we brought you stuff," Marissa had forgotten and she pulled out the two bags. She handed them to Summer, who eagerly looked in them. She saw clothes, and a few more pictures, along with a book or two.

"Thanks," Summer said.

"I got some of the bigger shirts from your room. I figured they're better than your shorter shirts," Marissa tried to start a conversation.

"Some of them are Cohen's," Summer commented as she stared at his shirt, with three chords, that she had stolen from him. It said, 'Now go start a band," and she smiled at it.

"Well, then you can wear them and smell him and be happy," Marissa joked. "And I put in a sweatshirt just in case it's cold in here.....which it is."

"Wouldn't you think the opposite of an institution? I mean, if it's cold, you could cover up your track marks and cutting," Nicole knew Summer's visit with her friends wasn't going as well as Summer hoped.

"Right," Marissa was a little intimated by Summer's up-front roommate.

"Wow, I completely forgot to introduce myself. Hi Marissa, I'm Nicole," Nicole shook hands with Marissa.

"Nice to meet you," Marissa answered.

"And Ryan..." Nicole held out her hand to Ryan, who was looking down, zoned out. "I'm up here," Nicole announced loudly, grabbing Ryan's attention. "I'm Nicole," They shook hands.

"Hi Nicole," Ryan told her, feeling stupid.

"I guess now I will leave you guys alone," Nicole knew when to exit. She walked away from the three, knowing something would blow over soon. It always did. Marissa and Ryan were hiding something.

"So, Sum...how do you like it here?" Marissa's eyes wandered behind Summer to see the rest of the ward. She thought about how she might have been here a year and a half ago.

"It's okay. Art Therapy is kinda fun. We paint a lot, and all the girls are nice. Though I do wish I could be home. You guys have no clue what it's like to be here," Summer wanted to be in Newport, not her actually home. She had yet to step foot in her own room since the suicide attempt. She had stayed with Marissa until school started.

"How long is it gonna be?" Marissa didn't know. All she knew was that Sandy had lost the case. Mr. Roberts hadn't said anything about it.

"Two months. I get out on March tenth, I think," Summer had figured out the date yesterday.

"That's not that bad," Though to everyone it was.

00000000000000

At about four-thirty, when the sun was slowly setting, Marissa and Ryan began to leave. They had avoided most talk about Seth. Until now.

Marissa, Ryan, and Summer got up and began their goodbyes. Summer hugged Ryan again. Harder this time, because she didn't want them to leave. She kissed him on the cheek, remembering the times he had protected her.

"Bye Ryan," Summer said, feeling a tear in her eye. She really did not want them to leave.

"Get better," Ryan told Summer. He would miss Summer, now that he saw her.

"I'm trying," She said and turned to Marissa. "I'm gonna miss you," The two hugged and Ryan started to leave.

"I'm gonna miss you too," Marissa didn't want to leave Summer here. It wasn't right.

"Call me. And see when Seth gets off grounding so maybe I can call him," Summer still believed Seth had been grounded.

"Summer, he's not grounded," Marissa exclaimed. Ryan stopped walking away, he was mad. Why did Marissa have to ruin this? He turned back to them.

"Why'd you lie then?" Summer was even madder than Ryan. Where was Seth? What the hell was happening?

"I didn't, Ryan did," Marissa made excuses.

"Don't tell her," Ryan had appeared at Marissa's side, and knew what would happen if Marissa did tell.

"I have to," Marissa shot at Ryan, looking into his eyes.

"Tell me what?" Summer wanted to know. Now.

"Sum, Seth is in the hospital," Marissa told Summer. There. It was out.

Most of the people around them, including Ryan, thought Marissa had just done the stupidest thing imaginable.

"What happened?" Summer tried to hold back tears, but it was difficult. Marissa didn't answer. "What happened?!" Summer was screaming at Marissa.

"He jumped off the pier," Marissa said, barely audible.

Summer was stunned. Seth tried to kill himself.

"I gotta go," With tears in her eyes, Summer raced to her room. Oh God. Seth wanted out. Summer wanted out.

Where could she do it

Marissa grabbed Ryan's arm and bolted. She didn't want to spend anymore time in there. She was leaving.

She pulled Ryan all the way outside until he finally let go. He knew what Summer was doing.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ryan yelled at her as the sun began to fully go down.

"Leaving," Marissa kept speed-walking to her car.

"And you're gonna leave Summer like that?" Ryan asked Marissa, standing in front of the doors.

"What am I supposed to do?" Marissa spun around.

"I don't know, maybe you shouldn't have told her," Ryan was pissed at Marissa for telling Summer.

"She has a right to know," Marissa argued.

"Yeah, from Seth," He knew they shouldn't have even attempted to get together again.

'He's in the hospital," Ryan and her weren't even back together fully and they were already fighting.

"That's why we shouldn't have told her. Seth should've been there," Ryan commented.

"It's better that he wasn't there," Marissa did not want to fight about this.

"Right, so that she has no idea how he is, and for her only friends to just leave and not care at all," Ryan never talked a lot. He swore Marissa got him to talk the most.

"What, do you think you could make her feel all better?" Marissa could not believe Ryan.

"I could try. More than you're attempting to do," Ryan shot at her. She paused before she answered, defeated.

"Fine. Whatever. Have fun. See if I care," Marissa was a little hurt by what Ryan said.

"I won't. See ya," And Ryan walked back into the institution. He went back upstairs and he rushed to Summer's room, but bumped into Nicole.

"You came back," Nicole commented as she looked at Ryan.

"Where is she?" Ryan asked, worried about Summer.

"Well, she was in her room, but bolted once I came in. She's in the bathroom, locked up in a stall. But don't worry, no sharp objects in there," Nicole assured Ryan. "She might be a few minutes though," Ryan leaned on the wall, glad to know Summer wasn't dead. "So how are you? Haven't heard from you since you left."

"I'm good. Living in Newport," Ryan answered absent-mindedly.

"I noticed. So that where Summer lives also?" Nicole didn't exactly know where Summer lived since she never told anyone.

"Yeah," Ryan replied.

"So how's your mom? Still a drunken whore?" Nicole joked.

"I suppose," Ryan hadn't seen his mom in so long. But he didn't really care about her anymore. She helped him sometimes, but for the most part, he ruined his life. And now, he had a new family, with a second chance.

"Lost time I saw her was when she was screaming at you so bad," Nicole leaned on the wall next to Ryan.

"She did that a lot," Ryan wanted Summer to come out. He didn't want to talk to Nicole that much. Too much of his past came up.

His past was completely meeting up with the present.

"How's Theresa?" Nicole kept asking questions. Ryan didn't like it, yet he didn't quite mind it. He had to get used to it.

"Haven't seen her in a while," Ryan knew that Theresa was in Atlanta, but had she had the baby? It was January, she must've. Was it his? He probably wouldn't know. Would they ever meet again?

"She was cool," Nicole thought about it.

"Yeah, she was," Ryan hadn't spoken to Theresa since the day Seth fell in the coma. She had been there when his world fell apart. She was always there when his world fell apart.

He wanted to see her.

Summer gave up. There was nothing in this stall that would help her. She was so scared about Seth. Was he okay? He was in the hospital, so he had to be. Or maybe Marissa lied again.

She unlocked the stall door and got up. Her tears were drying, slowly but surely. Summer caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She was not who she used to be.

Summer walked out of the bathroom, wiping her eyes when she saw Ryan and Nicole leaning on the wall.

"Ryan, what are you doing here? I thought you left," And he had. He just came back.

"I have to talk to you," Ryan stood up and walked over to Summer.

"About?" Summer walked with Ryan, confused.

"Let's sit in that corner. It's kind of private and has a nice view," Ryan suggested, changing the subject. Summer got more confused.

The two sat down and neither knew what to say. Why had Ryan come back? Where was Marissa?

"What do you want to talk about?" Summer asked, still recovering from the Seth revelation.

"I know what you were about to do. Before, I mean," Ryan commented, staring at Summer.

"Nicole told you," Summer blew it off, though she was really confused.

"No," Well, that made Summer more confused than ever, if that was possible. How did he know? Was she that predictable?

Ryan had to take a moment. He would tell her. No going back. This would be tough.

"Do you remember when you said none of is understand how you felt?" Ryan asked.

"Sure, but what does that have to do with this?" Summer answered.

"I understand," Ryan was going to spill it soon.

"How?" Summer was still confused.

"Summer, I've been through everything. Abuse...." He meant both kinds there. "Depression, drinking...." And now the last one. "Withdraw."

"What do you mean 'withdraw'? Withdraw from what?"

So? What do you think? Not a good idea, or a good idea? This is what I've been waiting to tell you guys. I mean, I've only had this planned out for the last 10 chapters. LOL. Oh yeah, if you liked that song I used, it's "Rooftop" by Melissa McClelland. Such a good song, sad though. So please review, because I love reading them!