Title- Aftermath
Author- Monica or JussCallMeBilly
Disclaimer- All I own is my little DVD of the O.C season 1 (which is awesome by the way!)
Summary- Post Season Finale, everyone struggles with the aftermath of Trey's death
Spoilers- Dearly Beloved, The Pilot
Genre- Drama/angst
Rating- PG-13
Author's Notes- Wow, I realize I suck at updating lol! Anyways here it is for any still interested readers.
Chapter 5.
" That's my girl"
Bradley Winters cradled the once-warm cup of coffee in her hands. She had her lips pursed in thought and seemed to be gazing at something far away. A man in his late twenties approached her desk and let a small smile tug at the corner of his mouth. Suddenly his eyes glossed over in impish delight.
" THE FILES!" He shouted, of course louder than necessary, while slamming a folder down on her desk. Bradley, completely surprised, let out a small squeak before knocking her chair over. John grabbed at her left arm, breaking her fall and pulling her out of the way of the flying coffee.
" JOHN!" She yelled, the amusement in her voice betraying her. She playfully shoved him away from her before they both cracked up as Clumsy Chris slipped on the split coffee. He picked himself up, the tips of his ears growing darker in color. " Chris, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" It took the best of her efforts to keep a straight face. Chris stalked away without saying anything.
" What had you so lost in thought anyways, Bee?" John asked sitting on her desk.
" Nothing. You know, just spacing."
" Too busy to take a look at this?" He held the files up dramatically. " The files on your coke-addict."
" Oh! Gimme, gimme," Winters exclaimed, reaching excitedly. John held them in the air like a piece of meat over a pack of wolves. She reached for them and grabbed them hastily. " Let's see. Trey Atwood, twenty one. Spent eighteen months locked up for auto-theft."
" His fingerprints matched one out of the three sets found on the gun," John observed while looking over her shoulder. Bradley turned to face him but quickly looked away.
She cleared her throat. " Landlord said he moved into the apartment a couple of months ago."
" Did he notice any suspicious people ever hanging around?"
" Police report says that he claimed him to be too himself. A thin girl had helped him find the place and he thinks that Trey once mentioned about a brother."
John reached over her shoulder, sending chills down her spine, and skimmed the file with his finger. " It says here he has a father in jail for armed robbery, a mother who's whereabouts are currently unknown, and a younger brother, Ryan."
Bradley Winters was already typing quickly into her computer. " Ryan Atwood, seventeen, was legally adopted by Sandford and Kirsten Cohen of Orange County last year. Hmm, he was in JUV shortly for auto-theft also. His prints match exactly to some found at the apartment."
" What about to one on the gun?" John asked, thinking it was almost too easy.
" Nope. And the coroner says it was that one shot that killed him." They sat in silence briefly, while Bradley left herself once again be lost in thought. She unconsciously began twisting a ring on her finger. John looked down at it, the hurt in his eyes only remained for a second. Bradley looked down for a second at her sparkling engagement ring, before quickly stuffing her hand out of view. She began to say something but he cut her off.
" I still think the brother might be helpful. You and Sanchez should go check it out."
Was she just imagining it or did his voice sound harsher? " What are you going to do?"
At first she figured he wasn't going to answer her, but then slowly he replied. " The coroner didn't find any drugs in the system, even though we found a decent amount of cocaine in his apartment. I'm going to hit the streets and see if there has been any new buyers and sellers." She nodded like a fool, and then stared after him as he walked away.
Honestly, what had she gotten herself into?
oOoOoOo
Ryan tugged the baseball hat lower on his head. When he had found all the cops at Trey's apartment last night, he knew what he had to do. He had made two trips to the pier and a trip to the train station, and now had come to finish up the last of his business. He quickly ran across Marissa's sprawling yard and came to her front door. The front door was unlocked. Imbeciles. He told himself.
He quietly slipped inside and made his way through out the downstairs. No signs of anyone, including Marissa. Please, let her be here, Ryan thought to himself. He had searched the second floor, but Marissa wasn't in her room. " Marissa?" Ryan called. "Marissa!"
oOoOoOo
Marissa closed her eyes as the cold blade touched her warmed flesh. Make this quick, Marissa told herself. Slowly she pulled the blade away. She couldn't believe she was actually going to do this.
Think about Ryan, you bitch. How much did you hurt him? And dragging your parents and Summer into this! You ungrateful brat!
She rose the blade again, and then stopped. Oh God. Summer.
How could you do this to her?
Marissa dropped the blade to the floor and retrieved her purse off the floor. Her hands were shaking so uncontrollably that it took her three tries before dialing the correct number.
One ring.
C'mon, Summer. Pick uppppp.
Two rings.
Summer, get to your phone. Come on, you can do it, Sum.
Three rings.
Damnit Summer! I'm about to kill myself! I need to talk to you! I need to let you know-
" Hello?"
" Oh, thank God," Marissa trembled.
" Coop? Oh my God, what's wrong?"
" N-Nothing. Find Ryan yet?"
" No. And stop lying. I can hear you crying." Summer's voice was laced with concern.
" S-Sum, I love you," Marissa sobbed into the phone.
" I love you too, sweetie," Summer replied, thinking Marissa wanted to be reassured by that. " Want me to come over?"
" I I won't b-be there," Marissa stuttered.
" What are you talking about?"
" I can't go to jail. And I can't put people I love through this. It's gotta end," Marissa surprised herself with how confident that came out.
" Marissa...?" Summer was clearly confused.
" I-I'm so sorry," Marissa continued to sob and apologize.
" That's it, I'm coming over there," Summer snapped into the phone.
" Sum?" Her voice was dangerously quiet.
" Yes." The patient and compassion in her voice seemed so out of character.
" Tell Ryan that I love him. That, that I always h-have," Her voice was coming out in shaky breaths.
It was then that it clicked. " Marissa! No! What are you thinking of doing? Marissa, please! Oh my God! Please," Summer pleaded with her friend. I'm pleading for Marissa's life, Summer was on the verge of tears.
" I love you," Marissa whispered as she hung up on Summer, who was still pleading and vomiting. Marissa closed her phone and hit her head against the wall. She has to be brave.
Brave? She laughed at herself. She wasn't being brave, quite the opposite actually. She was running. Again.
" Marissa?"
She open her eyes in horror. That's when the thought stuck her. She wanted to say good-bye to Ryan. Needed to say good-bye. She picked up her cellphone and dialed his number. His phone went straight to voice mail. What kind of person leaves their suicide note on their boyfriends phone. He hated her now anyways.
" R-Ryan, it's me. Marissa. I know I'm probably the last person you want to hear from now, but I'll be gone soon. I-I couldn't leave without saying good-bye. I'm so sorry, oh, God, am I sorry. I panicked when I thought I was losing yo- You probably don't want excuses now. It's too late. But I need to tell you I love you, I always have. Everything that has happened... this whole year I spent trying to forget about you, and it killed me. I-I don't know what I can say to you. I can't put this into words. Every time I'm with you it feels like Christmas, if that makes sense? It's like being stuck in a light rain shower on your walk home. Damnit, I'm rambling. Please take care of Summer, she's going to be heartbroken."
She lowered the phone from her ear, but quickly brought it back. " I wish I could talk to you. That you could tell me that some part of you still cares about me. Good-bye, Ryan Atwood." She hung up her phone and was glad she had made that call second. Now it seemed almost easier to do what she was about to do.
" I do," a voice called from behind the bathroom door. Marissa looked up in complete confusion. " I still love you, Marissa Cooper!" Ryan called.
Marissa jumped to her feet and threw the door open. And there he was. God, was he beautiful. She collapsed into his arms, crying so hard that her body was aching. He rubbed her back, whispering praises into her hair. She pulled away a little to look at him.
" I-I thought that, that you hated me-"
" Never," Ryan cut in. " I could never."
" But I killed-"
" I knew he was bad news. I'm so sorry I had to put you through all of this-"
" It's not your fault!"
" -It's definitely not yours!"
" But-" Marissa started.
" I can't be here for long, and I don't want to fight. I just had to see you before..."
" Before what, Ryan? What happened? The Cohens have been looking everywhere for you!"
" I know, I know! But I have a plan. I'm going to fix this all. Trust me."
" I do, but-"
Ryan held a finger to her lips. " You can't tell anyone I was here. And don't turn yourself in. Please. I've got this covered." Marissa nodded.
" Did you hear my m-message?" She asked, her eyes as wide as saucers.
" Don't ever think of pulling something like that again," He warned, pulling her into a passionate kiss. She kissed him back with everything she had, hoping somehow he could understand what she couldn't put into words.
" MARISSA?" Jimmy Cooper called from downstairs.
Ryan slowly pulled away, the regret written all over his face. He walked into the bathroom with Marissa at his heels. He opened the window and turned back to Marissa. She moved forward to kiss him but he stopped her.
" If I kiss you again, I won't be able to leave," he whispered softly. She nodded, blushing furiously. Instead he pulled her into a hug, and they both hugged each other tighter than they ever had before, knowing that they may never hug again.
" MARISSA?"
" I'm upstairs!" Marissa called to her father, but her eyes never left Ryan. She watched as he began to climb out the window onto the balcony.
" What are you doing?" Jimmy called, concerned.
Marissa stared at Ryan, wanting desperately to tell her father. His eyes pleaded her not to.
" Peeing!" Marissa called, which brought the cutest grin she had ever seen, on Ryan's face. He leaned back in through the window and planted a kiss on her forehead.
" That's my girl."
TBC...
Ha ha, bet you guys didn't expect the chapter to be that short! But the next update in the story has a different feel then what I wanted in this chapter. Plus I'm hoping that I can get some feedback on the Ryan/Marissa scene, before I throw you guys next chapter evil grin...until next time, Oh loyal fans!