Ryan woke up at 6:00 still sitting in the chair in Summer's room. He yawned as he got up, stretching his arms out over his head. Summer was sleeping soundly and Ryan didn't feel that he needed to wake her up. He had woken her up twice during the night and she seemed to be ok. She was going to be sore when she woke up, so she might as well sleep. Her bruises looked much worse in the day light and he knew that they were going to get worse. It usually took a few days for bruises to reach their ugliest stage.

As Ryan stared down at Summer he had to swallow a lump in his throat. She didn't deserve this, no one did, but Summer was one of the last people on earth he thought would end up in this situation. Ryan planned to go home for a bit this morning and then he would stop by and see Zach. After that he wasn't sure what he would do. He wanted to come back here, but he wasn't sure if Summer wanted him to. It would probably be better if he didn't get too involved. He would just make sure that she was safe from Zach, and then he would leave her alone. Ryan bent over and caressed the side of her face with his fingers, then he turned and walked away.

Ryan found Marissa asleep on the couch where he had left her last night. He touched her arm to wake her up. "What is it, what happened?" Marissa said as she sat up. "Nothing happened, I just need a ride home. I need to get home before Sandy and Kirsten notice I am gone." Marissa got up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Ok, let me go to the bathroom and we'll go."

"So when are you coming back?" Marissa asked as she turned off of Summer's street. "Cause I am probably going to be in trouble with my mom for not coming home last night." Ryan shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I don't think I will come back" he said. "Why not?" Marissa asked. "I don't know … I mean, " Ryan searched for the right words, but Marissa didn't give him time to speak. "So you can save everybody else, sometimes people you don't even know, but you can't spend one day with Summer when she is in trouble?"

"Look Marissa, it's not like that. I'll make sure she doesn't get hurt again, but I don't think I should get involved in all this." Ryan explained. "Why not, you never had a problem involving yourself before. I guess you don't care about Summer." Marissa was pissed now. Ryan had made a career out of helping people and he was now refusing to help her best friend. "I do care about Summer," maybe more than I should, he thought to himself. "If she wants me to come over I will."

Marissa gave him a strange look as she pulled up in front of her old house. "Well, ok then. Thanks for coming over last night" Marissa said. "Yea, make sure Summer has my number. I'll see you later." Ryan opened the door and stepped out of the car. "Ryan!" Marissa called as he started to walk away. "You're going to see Zach aren't you?" Ryan stopped and walked back to the car. He met her gaze, but he said nothing.

"Good," Marissa finally spoke. "What are you gonna do?" Part of Marissa wanted to go with Ryan, maybe she could give Zach a few kicks herself. "I'm not sure. He just needs to know he can't do this again and since she's not going to the cops…." Marissa leaned over the seat and gave his hand a quick squeeze. "Call me when you get back" she said. Ryan agreed, then he turned and headed towards the pool house.

Summer was confused when she woke up. It took a minute for her to remember the events of the previous night. "Oh my God!" she groaned out loud. Her head was throbbing and when she tried to sit up the pain from her side was so intense it brought tears to her eyes. She laid back down and took a deep breath, trying to collect herself. Ryan, she remembered, had been with her most of the night. She woke up once and saw him sleeping awkwardly in her pink chair. She probably should have woken him up and sent him to sleep in one of the guest rooms, but she didn't. She liked having someone in the room with her.

Ryan's presence last night had been the only thing that kept her from totally freaking out. She had kinda hoped he would still be here when she woke up. Shut up, she told herself. Ryan's got better things to do than baby-sit some chick who got herself beat up. Summer's thoughts quickly focused on Zach. She wasn't sure how she felt about him right now. She knew she never wanted to see him again, but it was hard to wake up and hate someone you had loved for almost half a year. As another pain shot through her nose, she decided maybe it wasn't so hard to hate him.

Marissa's quiet knock on the door interrupted Summer's thoughts. "Hey Sum, are you awake?" Marissa asked as she stepped into her room. "Yea, but I wish I could sleep for like two weeks and wake up when this is all over." Marissa didn't really have a response to that. She thought it sounded like a good plan. "So how's the pain, is it bad?" Marissa asked as she sat down on the edge of Summer's bed. "Well, my head feels like someone hit it repeatedly with a hammer."

"Ryan said that you could have a painkiller this morning if you need it, but you should probably have something to eat first so you don't get sick." Sometimes when Marissa and Summer were really bored, they would sneak into the step-monster's medicine cabinet and try different pills. She knew for a fact that Summer got nauseated when she took painkillers with no food.

"So Ryan left this morning?" Summer asked casually. "Yea, he wanted to get home before anyone noticed he was missing. He said to tell you to call him if you need anything." Summer was kinda bummed that Ryan had left. She wanted him here, but she wasn't going to call and tell him that. "So do you want a Percocet or a Vicodin?" Marissa asked on her way out of the room. She didn't want Summer asking any questions about Ryan. She didn't want to tell Summer that Ryan was going to Zach's and that Ryan didn't seem to want to be around Summer.

Ryan sat at the table eating breakfast with Seth. He was having trouble keeping his mind on whatever the topic of Seth's latest rant was. He felt bad not telling Seth. "So you look beat man, what did you stay up too late last night reading? Wild and crazy Saturday night with Ryan!" Ryan looked up at Seth and let out a little laugh. Well the wild and crazy part was right. "So what are you doing today? Alex and I were going to dive up the coast and check out the waves, You wanna come?" Seth asked through a mouth full of Captain Crunch.

"No, thanks though. I've got some studying to do at the library." Ryan said while pouring himself another glass of milk. "God Ryan, your just so nice and boring now. All study and no fight make Ryan a dull boy." Seth was right, Ryan's life had been dull until last night. Ryan didn't really mind being dull, it was something he rarely got a chance to be. "Well what about tonight, will you come to the club? I think the band sucks, but it would be fun to hang out." Seth offered. "Yea, maybe. We'll see tonight."

"So are you guys taking the car, cause I kinda need one today." Ryan asked. "No, we are going to take Alex's car. Which means we will probably spend half the day pushing it around and trying to get it started. Which I'm not really all that good at, are you sure you don't want to come?" Seth said as he put his dishes in the dishwasher. Ryan shook his head. "Alright man, have fun studying. I'll call you later." Seth said as he left the kitchen.

Ryan was antsy. He had tried reading and playing video games, but nothing could hold his attention. His thoughts kept jumping back to Summer and Zach. He wanted to beat the crap out of Zach when he went over there today, but he knew he shouldn't. Doing that today would call attention to what happened to Summer and she didn't want that. He understood why Summer didn't want to go to the police, but he didn't necessarily agree with it.

And then there was Summer herself. Ryan couldn't deny that there were some sparks between him and Summer. He was impressed by how well she dealt with everything last night. She didn't freak out and get hysterical. She was in a lot of pain, but she didn't complain about it. Summer was tough and independent and he liked that. However Summer was off limits. She was his ex girlfriend's best friend and his brother's ex girlfriend. It doesn't really get more off limit than that. At least they weren't related. Oh well, none it really mattered anyway, since the timing was terrible. "Screw it!" Ryan said as he got up from his bed and tossed his video game controller aside. He was tired of waiting, it was 10:00 and he was going to see Zach. "

"Ryan Atwood, I'm a friend of Zach's," Ryan said into the speaker at the large gates in front of Zach's house. The gates opened and Ryan drove up to the main house. The house was a large and impressive Victorian. A few years ago, Ryan would have been intimidated by the house and thereby its owners. Now he found himself trying to decide if the house was larger and worth more than Marissa's house. As Ryan walked up the steps to the front door, the door was opened by a woman Ryan assumed was Zach's mom.

"Good morning" She greeted him cheerfully. "It's nice to meet you. Zach speaks very highly of you." Ryan couldn't help but wonder what she would think if she knew what her son did last night. " Zach didn't mention that you were coming over today, is he expecting you?" Ryan nodded, "Yea, I just need to pick something up for school." Zach's mom pointed at the staircase and said "Go on up, his room is the 3rd door on the left. I think he is awake." Ryan headed up the stairs feeling slightly guilty about lying to Zach's mom. The guilty feeling quickly dissipated as Ryan stood in front of Zach's door. He took a minute to compose himself and then he knocked.

"Yea" came the muffled answer through the door. "It's Ryan, we need to talk." Ryan said quietly so Zach's mom didn't hear him. Zach panicked. He had woken up this morning with a terrible headache and a sore hand. He felt sick when he remembered what had happened last night. He couldn't believe that he had lost it like that. Zach had been waiting all morning for the police to show up and haul him to jail, but now Ryan was here and Zach was pretty sure he knew why.

Ryan knocked again. Zach walked across his room and opened the door. Ryan stepped in and closed the door behind him. Zach began to speak first. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" is as far as he got before Ryan grabbed Zach and threw him against the wall. "Shut up!" Ryan growled menacingly "you don't get to speak right now." Zach tried to walk away from Ryan, but Ryan grabbed him and held him in place with his forearm across Zach's throat. "You are a worthless piece of shit. You hurt Summer and you are never going to do that again." Zach started to speak again, but was silenced by more pressure across his throat.

"Just listen," Ryan said. "You are going to pay for what you did to Summer. She doesn't want to call the cops so you get to deal with me instead. Truthfully, I'd love to kick your ass right now, but that would bring more attention and Summer doesn't want that. So I am here to tell you that if you come near Summer again you will get hurt. Badly." Zach was getting red in the face from the pressure of Ryan's arm. He was pretty sure that even though he was bigger than Ryan, Ryan could fuck him up. "You will stay away from Summer. Do you understand?" Ryan waited for Zach's response. Zach said nothing. "Do you understand?" Ryan said again more forcefully. Zach finally squeaked "Yes."

Ryan released Zach and stepped back from him. "We aren't done. You will pay for this." Ryan said as he walked towards the door. He could feel himself loosing it and he knew that if he didn't get out of there he might do something. "I need to talk to her," Zach said "and tell her that I am sorry." Ryan felt anger course through his body. He crossed the room and punched Zach hard in the stomach. The blow left Zach doubled over, tying to catch his breath. Ryan leaned down and said into Zach ear "Leave her alone." Then he turned and left the room.

Ryan said goodbye to Zach's mom and got into his car. He was pretty sure that the gates weren't going to open and he would be trapped, left to explain why he just threatened and then hit Zach. Ryan breathed a sigh of relief as the gates opened and he turned onto the road. He took some deep breaths to calm himself and headed for home. He was tempted to stop and check on Summer, but he didn't.

He gave Marissa a quick call though, and told her that he didn't expect any trouble from Zach. He asked how Summer was doing and Marissa told him that she had taken a pain killer and was sleeping. "She asked about you," Marissa told him. "Oh yea?" Ryan asked eagerly. "I think she was hoping that you would still be around when she got up." Ryan considered this information quietly. He told Marissa that they should call him if they needed him. Then he hung up the phone and drove home.

The rest of the day had been incredibly long. He had tried to sleep, tried to read, tried to watch tv, but nothing worked. He had told Seth that he wasn't up to going out tonight, and after some good natured ribbing, Seth had accepted his excuse. He had helped Sandy and Kirsten unload from their shopping trip, but he didn't hang out with them for very long. Kirsten had noticed right away that something was off with Ryan. Ryan felt terrible lying to them, so he had said he was sick and spent the rest of the evening in bed. Several times he had decided to go to Summer's. He even got into the car once, but he couldn't go. He wouldn't let himself go. Summer hadn't called, so she didn't need him. There was no reason for him to go.

Ryan turned off the light and hoped he could fall asleep. He hadn't been in bed very long when the phone rang. He saw that the number was Summer's and a little jolt of panic shot through him. "Hi, Ryan. It's … ah… Summer," she said when she picked up the phone. Ryan quickly asked her if everything was ok. "Yea, everything is ok. It's just that Marissa isn't here and … I probably shouldn't have called." Summer said, her voice becoming quieter.

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So what do you guys think? Will Summer and Ryan hook up or will they just be friends? Will Zach get the ass kicking he so richly deserves? Will Seth and the Cohen's finally find out? Will I have an awesome time snowboarding and finally nail a backside 360?