Disclaimer – don't own any of it.

Well this is it, finally. Hope you enjoyed the ride.

Chapter 8.

Ryan lay on his bed, trying to untangle the events of the day. He was flat on his back in his favorite brooding position. One arm behind his head, the other absently tossing a miniature football up into the air. It curved upwards in an arc before succumbing to the forces of gravity and returning to earth. Up, down. Up, down. The conversations of the day lay heavy on his mind. One conversation in particular.

"You said you wouldn't leave," he'd stated calmly. They stood in her room, surrounded by partially packed boxes. It was obvious to Ryan that Seth's speech that morning hadn't worked.

The look in Lindsay's eyes showed regret. 'I can't stay," she replied quietly.

"You can." He took her gently by each arm and forced her to look directly at him. Finally, he said aloud the words that had become his personal internal mantra.

"What can I do to make you stay?"

Lindsay sighed and leant her head forwards so that her forehead rested on his. She looked as tired of this day as he felt. "Go back sixteen years and stop Caleb Nichol being my father. Go back to Chrismukkah and stop me ever finding out that my father is still alive." There were tears welling in her eyes now.

Ryan rubbed his hands up and down her arms comfortingly but also to try and remove the frustration building in him. He only had today. He could only change things today.

"Today," he stated more calmly than he felt. "What could I have done today to change your mind? What could Seth have done, or Kirsten, or your mom, or Caleb?" There was forcefulness to his voice. But he had to know. He'd tried so many times, so many different ways. He'd even got Seth on the case, against his better judgment. Literally, he had tried everything. "What could I have done to change your mind?" he repeated again.

Lindsay pulled away from him, turning her back to him slightly. "It's too late Ryan. What's done is done. And as much as it hurts to leave you-"

Ryan cut her off. "No!" he exclaimed, his hands clenching. "There has to be something. Something different. Something I can do!"

He watched as her eyes seemed to change, as if a switch was being turned on. Gone was the girl who had taken over Lindsay's body way back on that fateful Chrismukkah night. In front of him stood the fiery, confident, opinionated young woman who had managed to simultaneously annoy and enthrall him from their first meeting in the student lounge. She looked directly at him. "You can't fix this Ryan. This isn't about you!"

This isn't about you.

This isn't about you.

But it had to be. He was the one reliving the day. He was the person caught in the crazy Bill Murray nightmare.

He thought of the conversation he'd had with Seth a little while ago

"Wow. That was just wow! For once I almost feel speechless!"

Ryan had rolled his eyes as Seth bounced into the room, interrupting his quiet brooding. He plunged into one of his trademark monologues. Not exactly speechless.

"The rain, and the hanging upside, and the kissing. I definitely don't mind living this day over and over!"

The idea alone brought out a glare in Ryan's eyes.

Seth caught it, and instead of carrying on regardless as he usually did he actually stopped talking about himself. "Things didn't go well with Lindsay?"

Understatement of the century. "No." Briefly he explained how Seth's speech that morning hadn't changed anything.

Seth stood contemplating for a moment. He shrugged. "Maybe Lindsay's not the thing you're meant to change," he offered hesitantly, holding his hands in the air in a 'don't punch the messenger' gesture.

Maybe Lindsay's not the thing you're meant to change.

If he'd had the chance there were a lot of things in his life he'd like to have had the chance to change. A lot of days he'd like the chance to try again. Choosing to climb into the stolen car with his brother, the night with Theresa, the day he decided to move back to Chino with Theresa. But the more he thought about it, the less he wanted to change those days. If he hadn't gotten in the car with Trey he'd have never ended up with the Cohens, something he was grateful for every day that he woke in the pool house. As for Theresa, well actually using some form of protection or not even sleeping with her would have reduced the chances of him being the baby's father. Maybe if he done things differently, he and Marissa would still be together. But the more he looked back on their whole relationship the more he realized how much drama Marissa had brought with her. Drama he didn't want and definitely didn't need. Plus, if he was still with Marissa he would have never gotten together with Lindsay. Despite all the Caleb father drama of that relationship he still didn't wish their relationship hadn't happened.

The more he thought about it the more he realized that the things he thought of as bad in the last two years of his life hadn't really been that bad. They'd led him to where he was. And where he was wasn't that bad at all.

"Our deeds still travel with us from afar,
And what we have been
Makes us what we are." – George Eliot.

Fate. Seth thought he and Summer were fated to be together. Maybe fate was trying to teach him something. Maybe it wasn't the path that needed to be changed. Maybe it wasn't the events that needed to be changed. Maybe it was how he saw the events in his life that needed to change.

It was then that it hit him. He knew exactly what he needed to do. He just needed another twenty-four hours.

"We've still got twenty four hours
And now we're closing in,
We've still got twenty four hours
It's not over
It's not over
We've still got twenty four hours
It's not over
It's not over yet
We've still got twenty four hours." – Athlete. Twenty Four Hours.

Epilogue.

Ryan woke to the sound of his phone ringing. The sound itself killed any energy he had left. It saturated his muscles with resignation and removed all possibility of him getting out of bed.

It hadn't worked.

He thought he'd finally worked out how to end this everlasting day and it hadn't worked.

Ryan had relived the entire day, just as it had happened the first time. When he stood at the pier in the rain looking out at the ocean with Marissa by his side he'd finally felt something different.

Relief.

He'd thought he'd finally changed something. Himself. It was the only thing he hadn't changed. He'd thought he could fix things. He'd thought it was his fault Lindsay was leaving. But it really wasn't. Everything was so much bigger than him.

But here he was, lying in bed with the phone ringing, stuck in the same everlasting day. The phone stopped ringing and he lay there waiting for Seth's ever punctual entrance into the pool house.

Then something strange happened.

Something crazy strange.

Something different.

His phone started ringing again. He couldn't help but stare at the tiny, pulsing silver object ringing on his bedside table. The phone was ringing again. He flipped it open.

"Seriously dude, start answering your phone!"

"Seth?" Ryan had never been so happy to hear Seth talk.

"So, you know how I told you about Summer last night?" Seth began. "Well she stayed the night and now the parents are up and I need a distraction to get Summer out of the house. After the whole sneaking out to Alex's – Ow!"

Ryan could hear Summer in the background bitching about Seth mentioning his ex-girlfriend and Seth trying to placate her before her rage blackout went full force.

"Seth?"

"Dude, I need you to create a distraction so I can get Summer out of the house."

But Ryan wasn't listening. He was up and pulling at the pool house blinds. Bright sunshine made him squint as he looked over at the main house. Kirsten and Sandy were standing around the kitchen island sipping on mugs of coffee.

"Ryan?"

And Ryan smiled.

Fin.