Sandy made hamburgers on the grill for Seth, Ryan, and himself to eat. It was odd to cook for three since Kirsten was gone. Although she had only been gone about twenty-four hours, he missed her dearly, and wished that he could tell her everything which had happened since she left. Sandy did not know until then how much he really did love his wife, and he hoped she loved him just as much.

Sandy brought the well-cooked hamburgers inside the house and placed them on the kitchen table. Seth had set the plates out - a job that his mother was accustomed to doing. He set the last one down for Ryan, and sat down in his seat next to his father. They each took a hamburger, and took a bite when the doorbell rang. Sandy went to answer it. He opened the door and found Jimmy Cooper with his daughter, Marissa standing there. Julie was getting out of the car.

Sandy stared at them for a moment wondering what they were doing at the house. He noticed that it looked like Marissa had been crying. "Do you guys want some dinner?" Sandy asked, trying to be polite. He wanted to know why they were at the house, but he did not want to ask.

"No, thanks." Jimmy said. "Marissa wants to say something to Ryan, I think."

"I'll go get Ryan," Sandy offered.

She shook her head yes, and went inside. She sat down on the couch that was in the family room, which had been remodeled the previous summer. Tears continued to flow down her eyes, for Marissa was afraid that Ryan would never truly know how sorry she was.

While Marissa sat on the couch, Sandy went outside to the pool house to get Ryan. He was slightly afraid of what might happen between Ryan and Marissa. He knew that both of them were heated because of what happened the other night, naturally. When Sandy got to the pool house, he knocked on the door, and said who it was. Ryan said he could come in. Inside, Sandy was shrouded with darkness all around.

"There's someone here to see you. They want to express their sympathies about your brother," Sandy told him. He was afraid that if he told Ryan that it was Marissa, he might not go.

"I'll be in, in a minute," Ryan answered. He got up off the bed, and began to put a shirt on over his wife-beater.

"All right," Sandy replied. He turned around and went back inside the house to where Marissa, Jimmy, Julie, and Seth were standing, and told them what Ryan said. The group waited for about five minutes for Ryan to come in, while waiting, most of them went into the kitchen. Then Ryan came into the family room, where Marissa was.

He stood there wide-eyed, just as she did, not knowing what to say. They stood across the room from each other, hesitant to get any closer. Their eyes locked. Finally, Ryan broke the silence.

"So you're the one here to say 'you're sorry', huh?" Ryan said.

She shook her head yes. She did not have the strength to get out the words because most of it was trying to hold back the tears. "I - I ju - just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry for what - what happened. I didn't mean to hu - hurt you. I didn't mean to... to kill him," Marissa cried.

Ryan looked at her for a moment. Then he said, "I know your sorry, Marissa, but you killed my brother... I know that I said I was going to 'end things once and for all', but I didn't think that... he would turn out dead."

Marissa started to cry in her hands. She knew that Ryan would not accept her apology in her heart of hearts.

"Marissa, I'm not mad at you. I understand why you did what you did. I mean, if you hadn't shot Trey, I would have died. And I'll always be grateful to you for that, but at the same time... I just need time to deal with it... to rationalize everything. I need to be alone for a while, okay?" Ryan said, and tried to smile at her. She tried to smile back at him, but she just could not. She knew that their relationship, which they had worked so hard on all year was over.