A/N: Alright this chapter's got a M rating. That being said I should have to explain why.

Chapter Twelve

Ryan had kept his word to Joey, he'd stepped up training and managed to handle both training and a girlfriend. Though he had to admit it help not having a job. He still got up at four thirty and ran, only now instead of going to work from six am until two, he shadow boxed at home until eight then went to the gym as soon as the doors opened. By four in the afternoon, he was finished with training and Marissa was home from school. This left the night for them to be together. It had been over a month since their night in Reno and they still had not talked about what had happened. Occasionally Marissa would slip an 'I love you,' into the conversation but other than that nothing had progressed. They spent some nights together, still only sleeping in each other's arms, Ryan couldn't say the thought of sex hadn't crossed his mind. However, since Marissa had not tried to progress anything since Reno, he was worried that she might have just gotten caught up in the moment. He knew he never wanted to hurt her, and with her history sex was an issue he didn't want to push.

When Ryan woke up, he figured it to be no different than any other Saturday, he had no idea how his world was about to change.

"That's it Kid, stick left, move into, get that extension." Joey called into the ring as he watched Ryan spar. The day's training was almost over, and much to his dismay Marissa was standing in a corner waiting for Ryan, while Joey tried to squeeze in a few extra rounds in the ring. The fight was too close for Ryan to get distracted now.

Marissa smiled as she listened to Joey call directions into the ring at Ryan. She knew what his upcoming fight meant to him, and how proud of it he was. Sometimes when he talked of his fight and the money it was going to make him, she wondered if he knew that she would love him and be proud of him even if he never made a name for himself. She would still have everything she needed in him, even if he was still just a construction worker trying to make it by. He was everything to her, and some days she wondered if he realized that.

"Hey baby," a large burly man started to walk past her, then stopped and pressed his arm against a piece of wall next to her.

Marissa immediately began top feel uncomfortable, she took a step back from the man and continued to watch Ryan in the ring.

"What's girl like you doing in here? I mean you're too pretty to be here, you might go giving some of these guys the wrong idea."

"I'm waiting for my boyfriend," she pointed to the ring, and took yet another step away from the man who kept inching his way closer to her.

The man turned and looked to the ring, turning back to Marissa he gave her a twisted smile, "You're Atwood's girl? Now how did he manage to catch something like you, I mean he's been with some pretty girls, but never anything like you." The man slid his arm down the wall and near Marissa's waist.

Marissa shivered with discomfort, and took a sigh of relief when she noticed Ryan walking to the corner of the ring to remove his headgear. "Look, Ryan's done so…"

"So what?" The man stepped in front of her, his arm still pinned to the wall. "You gotta go jump in the kid's arms? If you're looking for someone hard, Atwood's not your boy, unless it makes you hard to get roughed up by ten year olds in juvie." The man sneered and moved his other arm against the wall pinning Marissa in.

"Hey! Get away from her!" Ryan bellowed from the ring.

The man distracted let his arms drop from the wall, Marissa took advantage of this and ran to Joey's side, her heart pounding in a nervous fright.

"What you worried your girl might get some real action and dump your pussy ass?"

Ryan jumped out of the ring and directly into the man's face, "All I'm saying is leave her alone."

"We were doing just fine until you got all mixed up in here. Come on baby let's lose this pussy," The man tried to step around Ryan to where Marissa was standing.

"I said leave her alone," he gave the man a shove against the wall.

The man responded by taking a hard swing at Ryan, who side stepped the blow and he the man directly in the kidneys. The blow sent him to his knees, and Ryan could have walked away right then and there. But something inside him took over, he pulled back and hit the man in the right jaw first, then the left. Blood flew out as his head swung roughly from one side to the other. Ryan pulled back and gave the man another shot in the stomach. He was pulling back for a fourth punch when, Joey and two other guys in the gym grabbed him and pulled him away.

"Take him outside!" Joey commanded like a General in charge of his troops. As the men pulled a kicking Ryan outside, Joey walked over to Marissa who had cowered by the side of the ring. He saw that she was shaking and crouched down to her. "Are you ok?"

Marissa shook her head and pointed to the door Ryan had been drug out of, "Just check on him."

Joey nodded, then motioned over to one of the men who'd carried Marissa outside, "Keep an eye on her." The man nodded and stood over Marissa like a bodyguard as Joey walked outside.

"What the hell was that!" Joey slapped Ryan in head as he yelled.

"What!"

"You could have killed that guy back there."

"So I suppose to just let him scare Marissa like that, and walk away?"

"No you're suppose to handle things like an adult. You're not a fucking street fighter anymore Ryan, you can serious hurt someone, you could go to jail over shit like that. I mean did you think about that?"

"No at the moment I was thinking about Marissa, and protecting her."

"Is she worth it Ryan? You are pissing away everything we've been working for since you were seventeen, is she worth that? What makes her worth your career! I mean what makes her different from any of the other girls you've fucked over the years, is she really that good that'd you'd piss it all away for her?"

"She's different because I'm not fucking her Joey! That should tell you something!" His face was red and he knew his temper was about to go again, he stormed back into the gym and waved away the man who'd been watching over Marissa. "Are you ok?" His voice gentle and calm. He watched as she did nothing but shake her head, "Come on let's go." He took her hand and led her out.

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Ryan felt his eyes starting to drift closed as he sat on Marissa's sofa watching television with her. Marissa saw this, and knew that he she should take him back to Chino soon. There had been a tension between them ever since they'd left the gym. She tried not to let him feel her hesitance towards, and tried to act normal, and since he hadn't mentioned anything about it. She figured she's done a decent job.

"Are you ready to go home?" She softly asked him, when she noticed his eyes had been closed for several minutes.

Ryan shrugged and mumbled, "Sure."

"Ok let me go upstairs and get my purse," she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and bounded upstairs.

When she moved from the couch, Ryan shook himself awake and waited a few moments and then followed her up the stairs. For a brief moment he leaned in her doorway and watched her before he spoke. "Is everything ok?" He knew the answer to his question, but he wanted to hear what she had to say.

Marissa jumped at the sound of his voice, not expecting to have him there leaning in her doorframe watching her. "Yeah sure everything's fine," she tucked some hair behind her ears and continued to riffle through her purse searching for her car keys.

Ryan took a few cautious steps into her room, "Then why are you so distant?" His voice hoarse as he questioned her.

"I'm not," she answered without looking at him.

"Marissa, look at me," he commanded. "Why have you been so distant?"

She looked at him and swallowed hard, "When you're boxing that's your job, and it's a part of you, but I can see the violence in it as something you do because it's your job. But today… when you attacked that guy… I was with a violent man and… well you know how that turned how."

The distance between them closed as Ryan took a few more steps towards her, she backed up slightly, but not enough to stop him from moving in. "I'm not like him Marissa. I mean what was I suppose to do, I saw the fear in your eyes and… I snapped because you weren't safe and I wanted to make you safe." He shrugged and looked to the ground for the first time all day he felt ashamed of his actions. "I can't help the fact that I wanted to make you feel safe." He reached out and tipped her face up to his bringing their eyes to a meeting point. As their eyes locked he took her hand and bit his lip before speaking, "I have too… because I love you." It was the first time in his life he'd been able to say those words out loud to another person and truly mean them.

Marissa dropped his hand and stepped back from his as soon as she heard the words. Her hand covered her mouth, "I…" she let out a huge sigh. "I knew you felt that way… I could feel it when I was with you." She began explaining to him. "But, I didn't even realize how badly I need to hear you say that." Tears began to form in her eyes.

Ryan reached out and wiped them away, "I've wanted to say it for so long, since before Reno. I just…" He gave half a laugh, "I guess I was scared, I've never felt this way before. I love you." He ran his hand down her face and rested it on her cheek. She reached up and rested her hand on his. This was their moment. The moment that almost happened in Reno, but even then they knew something didn't quite feel right, now… now as cheesy as it was going to seem if they told anyone the story, this was their moment.

When Ryan leaned in and kissed her, Marissa knew that this was what she'd been waiting for. She could have dated long before she met Ryan, but know she knew why she never did. She matched him kiss for kiss, passion for passion. There was no need for her to ask him to make love to her, they both knew. Breathlessly Marissa broke the kiss, and held a finger to Ryan's lips, "Stay here." She told him as she let the room for a moment and returned with her hand closed around something.

"It's a good thing Summer isn't home," she laughed. "I'd have never heard the end of it if I'd had to go in her room and actually ask for one of these." She placed the condom she'd retrieved from Summer's room on her nightstand.

Ryan licked his lips and pulled her back to him, gently holding her around the waist. He smiled and pressed his forehead against hers briefly before he leaned in and kissed her again. He felt her hands moved to the base of his shirt and as she moved up with it, he took a step back and raised his arms to aid her. Once his shirt had been discarded they moved onto her bed. They had been in this situation before, only this time they were both sure there would be no stopping this time. Ryan dipped his head down to her neck and kissed her. He felt her wither and suppress a giggle as he kissed along her collarbone. He looked up, her face redden with passion and smiling in a girlish way. "I never noticed you were ticklish." He smiled to her then dipped his head back down kissing along her collarbone again to make her giggle.

"Quit that," she giggled and playfully slapped him back.

Ryan looked up to her and grinned, he wanted her to be comfortable and be a bit playful was part of his way of relaxing thing. Marissa's hands ran through his hair as he kissed his way down into the cleavage of her shirt. He lifted his kisses away, and slid his hands down across her stomach, as if he was waiting for permission to go further, she raised her arms, and Ryan continued on lifting the shirt over her head and quickly bringing his lips down onto her stomach. She shivered as he kissed her stomach, and a slight moan escaped her lips as he dipped his tongue into her navel. She didn't wait for him to moved back up, she took her hands from her his hair and removed her own bra as he kissed her stomach. When Ryan lifted his head and noticed that she was completely naked from the waist up, his eyes widen a bit. She was moving things along faster than he'd expected. He tried to stop and study her both for a moment, but her hands slid up his back and pulled up back down to her.

Marissa brought her lips to Ryan's and pressed him to her, breast to breast. They'd laid together naked before, but this was a different energy. Nothing had ever felt more right to Marissa in her life. Ryan's hands slid down her body and stopped at the waistband of the low slung blue jeans. First he caressed her over the fabric, but when he felt her begin to shift under his hands and let small moans slip into her kisses, he moved his hands to the buttons. As he unbuttoned her jeans, Marissa wiggled and help by quickly kicking off her jeans off, leaving her laying completely naked on the bed.. It was taking every bit of resistance Ryan had, not to rip his own clothes off and taken her at that very second.

Ryan stepped off the bed to remove his own jeans, but this time he did stop to study her body. His eyes traveled from her feet, up her legs, across her stomach, over her breast, and finally he met her eyes. Marissa felt herself blush under his gaze. "Don't look at me like that." She told him shyly as their eyes locked.

He smiled softly and shook his head, "My God Marissa you're beautiful." His voice hardly audible, but she heard him loud and clear.

Once the remains of his clothes had been removed, Ryan returned to the bed, lying down next to Marissa. Gently he stroked her hair, and planted soft kisses all over her face and neck. Marissa took advantage of his position and rolled over on top of him. She straddled his chest, and ran both her hands through his hair. Leaning down her kissed him deeply as she slowly moved herself back. As she slid down his body her lips trailed moving to his neck, as her fingers traced the defined muscles of his chest. She moved her fingers to his sides, gently running them up and down, as she kissed her away along his chest. Ryan's erection grew painful with arousal as she rest herself straddling his hips. He groaned in pleasure at the feeling of her lips on his skin. But this wasn't her job, he didn't want tonight to be about him. He placed his hands on Marissa's hips and in one fluid skillful motion, he flipped their position. Marissa looked into Ryan's eyes and gave him a quick playful kiss, "Do I want to know where you learned that?"

"Boxing," he playful smiled back and kissed her as deeply and as passionately as he could. But when he broke the kiss the playfulness was gone, he bit his lip and look at her with an intensity that overwhelmed the moment. "Marissa I'll wait forever for you if I have too, so I want you to be sure about this."

She nodded her head a few times, "Ryan I'm sure, I just need to you know something first." She swallowed hard, slightly embarrassed about what she was about to tell him. "I've really done this once, with Luke."

Ryan gave her a reassuring smiled, "I would have been gentle anyway."

She reached over to her nightstand, where she'd put the condom and handed it too him. This was it, Ryan took a hard swallow as he put the condom on and position himself at her entrance. He reached up and ran his fingers down her face as he slowly entered inside her. Marissa closed her eyes and bit her lip at his entry. A slight surge of pain shot through her body, followed by a shiver of pleasure. He could see the bits of pain as she squeezed her eyes shut, so he fought off all his primal urges and remained completely still inside her as she adjusted. Marissa felt her breathing grow heavy and involuntarily her hips bucked at him. Still Ryan waited completely motionless, his own breathing intensifying. When Marissa opened her eyes and dug her fingers into his back, was when Ryan began to slowly move inside her. At first he held her hips and controlled the pace as slowly as he could possibly go. But he could only fight off his passion so much, as she began to moan and move her hips towards him. Ryan bent his head down and began to suck on her neck as pace quicken and their moans grew louder and more urgent. He felt perfect inside her, like nothing she'd ever felt before. Sensations began to well up inside her that she could explain, things she'd never felt before. She couldn't control her cries of pleasure, or her hands digging deeper into Ryan's shoulders leaving bruises and scratch. Every combined, him inside her, his hands on her body, his mouth sucking on her neck, it all became so intense. Her fingers dug in and kneed even deeper into Ryan's flesh, and all at once she exploded, her head spinning as she released uncontrollable sounds of pleasure. Just as Ryan felt like he himself couldn't take much more, he felt her muscle tighten around him, squeezing, and sending him spilling over the edge in a new pleasure for him.

Breathlessly he collapsed on top of her, trying to support as much of his weight as he could. The sweat made their bodies slick and Ryan couldn't support his own weight any longer. He rolled off of Marissa, and took the opportunity to discard the condom, before pulling her onto his chest. Lazily he reached up and pushed some of the matted hair off of her forehead and behind her ears. He leaned down and kissed her forehead, still too breathless to speak. She snuggled into his chest and purred a bit. "Ummm, that was…" She paused trying to find a words that could describe what she'd just felt. "That was… wow," she finally sighed out. She watched as Ryan nodded several times and smiled with closed eyes. She smiled back at him, even though he couldn't see her, and focused on his fingers twirling her hair. "Umm," she moaned again. "I love it when you do that…. When I was in second grade they would let all the classes et together and watch a movie together on Friday afternoon, and I used to always sit in front of this one girl because she would play with my hair the entire movie, she became my best friend because of that. And sometimes I still get her to play with my hair, you might know her, her name's Summer. But it's ok you can be the one who plays with my hair now."

Ryan gave a slight chuckled and bent down to gently kiss her forehead. He was trying very hard not to be a typical male, but sleep really was starting to over take him and Marissa could tell. "I love you," she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest in a sleeping position.

"I love you, Marissa." With his free arm her pulled her in as tight as and close as he could get her, and for as long as he could, he was going to keep her that way.