Hee. So it appears I don't 'do' non-angst romance. Who knew? here is part two of my Ryan/Marissa fic. Best read while listening to Coldplay's Fix You, which was kind of my inspiration.

When you lose something that you can't replace

When you love someone but it goes to waste

Could it be worse?

And high up above or down below

When you're too in love to let it go

But if you never try you'll never know

Just what you're worth.

Tangled – Chapter Two

The first time ever I saw your face

I thought the sun rose in your eyes

Sandy nudged Kirsten as they drifted round the dance floor to Roberta Flack's voice.

"What?" Kirsten asked, vaguely annoyed to be disturbed from a warm romantic clinch with her husband. Sandy gestured towards the newly arrived couple on the dance floor.

A moment of concern swept over Kirsten's face before she allowed herself a slight knowing smile.

Sandy looked at her bewildered.

"Ryan and Marissa?" he said. Kirsten rolled her eyes and sighed at her husband's complete clueless ness.

"Sandy, you are so hopeless when it comes to matters of the heart…" she remonstrated.

He managed to laugh and look hurt all at the same time.

"What? But I thought, you know, they'd both given up on that relationship."

Kirsten shook her head in disbelief.

"Sandy, has it escaped your notice that Ryan has dated no one since Marissa? I mean, no one that we know of, or Seth knows of…"

Sandy shrugged.

"So maybe he's sowing his wild oats? Or maybe he just hasn't met the right girl yet…" attempting to defend himself.

Kirsten stopped dancing, tipped her head at an angle and regarded her husband.

"Or maybe he met the right girl on a driveway at sixteen years old?"

Sandy looked sheepish.

"I guess I just thought, you know…they'd moved on…"

Kirsten slapped him affectionately and went back to resting her head on his shoulder.

"I just hope he knows what he's doing," she murmured into her husband's neck. "All I want is to see him happy."

The first time ever I kissed your mouth

And felt your heart beat close to mine

Marissa laughed shyly as she placed her hands round Ryan's neck.

"What?" He eyed her quizzically as he placed a hand on each hip and drew her just a little closer to him. Not close like a couple, but close enough that he could smell her perfume and feel her breath, warming the naked spot at the base of his neck where his shirt collar lay open.

"I used to have to wear flats when I danced with you, remember?" Their eyes both traveled to her feet and Ryan grinned to see the small heels at the base of her sandals.

He shrugged and a wry smile lit up his eyes. "Guess I had a growth spurt after you left…Kirsten spent a lot of time senior year dragging me round the mall…."

She giggled. "Bet you enjoyed that!" They both laughed at the vision of a reluctant Ryan being hauled under protest from store to store, before falling silent, moving slowly around the dance floor, awkwardness returning between them.

He wanted to pull her close to him, have her rest her head on his shoulder, wrap his arms tightly around her body, sink his face into her hair. He wanted her to know how sorry he was, how much he loved her, how much he had missed her.

And the first time ever I lay with you

I felt your heart so close to mine

Marissa studied his face properly for the first time that day. He had grown so much taller than her that she now had to look up to his face. He certainly looked older, leaner, paler than she remembered him but his eyes were still the same. She'd always been drawn to his eyes. Once she'd gotten to know him properly, she'd worked out that his eyes were the key to knowing what was going on with him, which was just as well seeing as she could never rely on his words. And as she looked at them now, they were dark and troubled and confused. A lump formed in her throat as she felt the desire to pull him down to her, stroke his hair, whisper reassurances into his ear.

As the song met its conclusion, people began to drift off the dance floor and they both became aware of several pairs of eyes watching them. Julie was whispering something to Jimmy at their table, while keeping her elder daughter firmly in her sights.

"Hey, do you want to get out of here for a while? Go for a walk on the beach or something?" He bit his lip anxiously as he waited for her to respond.

"OK," she agreed, keeping her tone light. "Let me just stop off at the bathroom."

"Jimmy!" Julie's eyes flashed.

"Sweetheart?" Jimmy turned to his wife pleasantly as she took a large gulp of champagne from her glass.

"Look!" Julie waved a perfectly manicured hand towards the dance floor.

"Hmm, you want to dance?"

"No! I mean, yes, that would be lovely later," Julie rearranged her face into something vaguely resembling a gracious smile. "but look who's on the dance floor…"

Jimmy swiveled round in his chair and scanned the couples quickly.

"Ah, Marissa and Ryan," he smiled benevolently. "He's grown a lot!"

Julie rolled her eyes in frustration.

"Jimmy, you must do something…Marissa's spent the last two years trying to get over that boy…"

Jimmy leant forwards and spoke to his wife in a low but firm voice.

"Yes, and she still isn't over him. And nor, clearly, is he over her!"

"But Jimmy, I don't want Marissa upset, not again…"

Jimmy folded his arms resignedly and scowled. "I'll catch him later Jules…I promise!"

Ryan rested his head idly against the wall in the hallway, waiting for Marissa to finish doing whatever it was took girls so long in the bathroom. A couple of kids he recognized from Harbor walked past and waved at him in acknowledgement.

"Ryan!" Ryan stood up straight as Jimmy Cooper approached him. He put out his hand and Jimmy grabbed it, shaking warmly.

"Good to see you Ryan. I'm glad you could make it."

"Congratulations…" Ryan spoke haltingly, unnerved by the appearance of Marissa's father.

Jimmy stood silently for a moment as if debating what to say. Ryan stared down at his shoes uncomfortably.

"Waiting for Marissa?"

Ryan looked up apologetically.

"Uh, yeah. Is that OK?" he asked, suddenly wary.

Jimmy sighed wearily. The last thing he wanted to do was interfere, but he'd promised Julie he'd speak to him.

"Look Ryan, you know I've always been supportive of your relationship with Marissa."

Ryan allowed himself a small grimace. He could guess what was coming.

"You're a good kid, I know that. Julie knows that too," he added purposefully. Ryan's eyebrows raised in skepticism. Jimmy continued. "But I don't want to see Marissa go through another two years like the last two."

Ryan chewed his lip as he tried to figure out whether Jimmy was warning him off. Jimmy, despite his shortcomings, was a good father who loved Marissa. Of course he would want to protect her.

"I just need to make things right, between us," he whispered, darting a pleading look at Jimmy. Jimmy nodded his head slowly in understanding and patted him on the shoulder firmly.

"Just be careful, is all I ask…"

Ryan nodded solemnly.

"Daddy!" Both men turned to see Marissa appear from the bathroom.

Jimmy kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"I'll see you later kiddo. Have a good time with Ryan."

A look of bemusement passed over Marissa's face as she watched her father disappear back into the party.

"What was that all about?" she laughed.

Ryan plunged his hands into his jacket pocket and looked her straight in the eye. "Your dad, just looking out for you."

Marissa flushed apologetically. "Sorry. He's become very protective. Did he give you a hard time?"

Ryan shook his head. "No, he was fine, honestly. I'm just relieved it wasn't your mom…"

The beach was bathed in the golden light of an early evening sunset. A few families were still packing up their belongings and herding tired and cross children along the sandy path to waiting cars, which sat stewing in the remnants of the day's heat.. As they reached the beach, they took off their shoes and ambled towards the ocean. The sand felt cool and damp between their feet as they reached the water's edge.

"It seems like ages since I've seen the ocean,"

Marissa glanced across at him.

"Do you miss it?"

Ryan shrugged. "Not really. But I miss home…. you know, the Cohens…" he added in explanation.

Marissa dug her toe into the sand, watching idly as the groove she made with her foot filled with water and then sank away again just as fast.

"So, how's school?" she asked.

"It's OK I guess, hard work, usual stuff…Are you going to start in the Fall? Kirsten said you were taking some time out…"

"I didn't want to rush into anything. It was good to just hang out with Mom and Dad and Kaitlin for a while longer…"

Ryan smiled at her. "I get that," he said quietly. Marissa looked at him regretfully. Even after all these years, he still looked lost when it came to talking about family. She tossed her hair back suddenly and grabbed his hand.

"Lets go back over there and sit down shall we? The wind's picking up. I don't want to look like a scarecrow when I get back!"

They sat together cross-legged, their shoulders barely touching, a wall between them, invisible but forbidding. The sun had started to sink and a fiery semicircle sat upon the glittering ocean. Marissa picked at a tuft of grass that had sprouted up in the sand. Two years she'd waited for a moment like this, to be alone with him, and now she didn't have a clue what to say. What could she say? Sorry I shot your only brother? Sorry I wrecked the chance of your family ever becoming a family again?

Soft mumbling broke into her thoughts.

"So…I'm sorry, you know, for everything…"

Marissa raised her head to him, confused.

"What are you sorry for? I was the one who.."

Her words, unfinished, hovered briefly in the air between them.

"Yeah, I know…but if I hadn't been so stupid..." he faltered, his eyes clouded.

"When I went to Miami and he…" His voice began to crack.

"Ryan don't. This was never your fault. Trey was not your responsibility…You know, I always thought…"

Ryan looked at her questioningly.

"I always thought you blamed me…for killing your brother…"

He was nonplussed.

"Why would you even think that? You killed him so …..so he wouldn't kill me," he stated flatly.

Marissa stared out towards the ocean, twisting the tough fibers of grass around her index finger so tightly the tip was flushed purple.

"I've thought over those few minutes so many times," she began, still gazing ahead, "I wondered if I'd done things differently, you know, whether he'd still be alive. Whether all our lives would have been different."

Ryan shook his head firmly.

"Don't ever think like that. You did what you had to do…"

Marissa turned back to him, searching his face for answers to questions she hadn't wanted to know before.

"Do you really think he'd have done it?"

Ryan swallowed and glanced away briefly, unnerved by her directness.

"In the rage he was in? Yes, I think he would have."

"And you?" she asked tentatively, unable to look at him.

Ryan focused on the rise and fall of his chest as he struggled to control the rapid increase in his breathing. He'd known this would come up. How could it not? This was something he'd dealt with. Something, in the end, that he'd had to confront. An issue, finally, that had driven him to seek the counselor Sandy had so desperately wanted him to see.

"Yes," he answered almost inaudibly. "I like to convince myself I'd have stopped, but ….I'm not sure I would have," he admitted. He raised a pair of blue eyes to her, steady and honest.

Marissa was still curious and gently pressed him further.

"I get why you were mad, but mad enough to kill him?"

Ryan thought for a moment, his head bowed, his face obscured from view under his mop of tousled hair.

"I just kept thinking….if he hadn't dragged me out with him that night in Chino, if he hadn't made me get in that car…."

Marissa felt an actual dull physical ache in her chest as she saw his shoulders slump.

"You'd still have your mom?" she finished gently, reaching for his hand. Ryan kept his eyes fixed firmly on his lap.

"And then…here he was, fucking me over again…. and I was losing another family….and I just wanted to hurt him so much for doing that to me again…."

Tears prickled in front of her eyes as she studied this boy who had walked into her life and stolen her heart right when she'd least expected it. She moved closer and wrapped her arm protectively around his shoulder.

"I don't understand Ryan. Did he do something to Seth? To the Cohens?"

Ryan shook his head dismissively. He shifted in the sand and pushed his hands under his thighs in an attempt to stop them trembling. His eyes looked into hers, pleading.

"You don't get it do you?"

She shook her head, completely out of her depth.

"You're as much my family as the Cohens. Don't you know that? Don't you know what you mean to me? From the moment I arrived in Newport, you were always there, for better, for worse, you always were. Hell, I've known you longer than I've known Seth…."

"By a few hours…" she murmured, momentarily distracted from the enormity of what he was struggling to tell her. He pulled his hands out from under him, curling his legs up under his chin and wrapping his arms around them, resting his cheek on his knees so that he was looking at her sideways.

"I don't think Trey really knew it consciously, what he was doing, I mean. But deep down he didn't want me to have something he couldn't. To him, you were just another person in this new family that I had and you just reminded him of what I had gained and he had lost. But I guess the joke was on me in the end… because I lost you anyway…"

Marissa sat and looked at him, eyes wide with sudden realization. She lifted her hand to his mouth and stroked his lips tenderly, tracing a path lightly with her fingers.

"You never lost me Ryan…"

Ryan stayed motionless, allowing her fingers to linger over him, his eyelids blinking erratically as he sat transfixed.

His heart was thumping in his chest like a freight train and he knew if he didn't do this now, then the moment would pass and they may never get it back again. And suddenly he didn't care that Jimmy had warned him off. He didn't care that Seth would tease him mercilessly. He didn't care that at some point in the future, Julie Cooper could quite possibly end up his mother in law. Because all that mattered was being with her. Because she was, he knew, all that he had ever wanted.

Wordlessly he took her hand from his face and held it firm in his grasp. Sweeping his tongue around his lips briefly, he leaned forward and tucked his free hand under her hair to the warm space at the back of her neck. She lifted her face up to his, their eyes locking briefly in mutual consent, as he pulled her towards him and placed his lips softly against hers. He shut his eyes and surrendered to the warm, sweet sensation of kissing her as she yielded beneath him.

Later, she lay against his chest, his jacket wrapped around her as he stroked her hair absently. Strains of eighties rock music filtered through the cool night air, indicating the celebrations were still going strong. Marissa sat up with a shiver and pulled his jacket closer around her.

"You know," she began, propping herself up on her elbows and tipping her head back, studying the clear night sky above, "that summer just before you arrived in Newport? I'd get back from another party at Holly's or date with Luke and I'd go out onto my balcony and look up at the sky. I'd look up at the stars and think, somewhere, someone, right now, is under the same sky as me. Someone I'm going to meet one day and fall in love with and I don't know them yet, but they're already out there. And it was really strange you know? But kind of exciting too…" her voice drifted off wistfully.

He laughed, bafflement clear on his face. Girls were so weird. He'd never be able to figure them out…

"So," he teased, rolling over and kissing her affectionately on the nose, "do you still spend your time gazing up at the sky waiting for Mr. Right?"

She turned on him, an equally teasing quip ready on her lips. But suddenly she stopped, hesitated and her voice fell soft.

"Actually?" she said, " I never did it again after that summer…"

fin