Ryan sat down next to his mother on the firm, uncomfortible bench. She had borrowed one of Kirsten's dresses due to the fact that her wardrobe was limited to torn-up jeans and baggy t-shirts.

"Thanks for being here today, Ry." she leaned over and whispered in his ear. "It means a lot to me, and I'm sure it would mean the world to your brother."

Ryan slowly nodded his head. It was not easy for him to show up at all. He practically had to force himself into a tux.

"You're a good brother.. I'm proud of you." she put an arm around his shoulder, securing him by her side. She wanted to feel as if she weren't a complete failure as a mother. "Shouldn't they be starting soon?" she took a tissue from her purse to dry her moistening eyes. She didn't want to be in tears before the service even started.

"They can't start yet. We're the only two people here." Ryan lowered his voice down to a whisper.

"The one time out of the entire year that I actually look presentable.. and no one's here to see it." she forced a smile, trying to lighten the mood.

"I'm just surprised.. Nobody else wanted to come and pay their last respects?"

As though they were on cue, the Cohen family entered the small church- all dressed in black and wearing very sorrowful expressions. Sandy and Kirsten chose a pew near the middle while Seth and Summer selected one in the very back.

Ryan smiled, he was very thankful. Trey had been nothing but a burden to the Cohen family. It meant a lot that they attended his funeral despite that. It didn't matter if they were the last people to walk through that door- Ryan was satisfied.

No more than ten seconds later, Marissa pushed her way through the large, wooden door, hoping that she wasn't late.

Ryan's mouth hung wide open. He was utterly shocked- but pleased as well. He smiled and motioned for her to sit down next to him. At that moment he was 100 positive that Theresa was right. Marissa did love him.

"What's she doing here?" Dawn asked, slightly emphasizing the "she".

Ryan sighed as he glanced at his mom in frustrastion. He should've known that he couldn't be happy for any longer than a couple of seconds.

"First, she shoots him. And now she has the nerve to show up at his funeral?" Dawn slowly began to stand up. "I've got to put a stop to this.. she has to leave-

"If she leaves, then so do I." Ryan interrupted.

His eyes were warning enough for her. Defeated, she sat back down and tried her best to regain her composure.

"Hi." Marissa approached, appearing to be very timid. "I hope it's okay that I showed up.."

"I'm glad you came."

Feeling more relaxed, Marissa sat down and loosened the tight grasp she had on her handbag. After today, she was hoping that it would all be over. Maybe, just maybe, they would be allowed the possibility of a normal summer. (Seth, of coarse, would not be held accountable to this).

Thanks to Sandy's expertise, Marissa was realeased without a trial and it seemed as though all of the chaos was finally coming to an end. This, of coarse, did not last for long, as it never does in Orange County. After spending exactly seventy-two hours at rehab, Kirsten immediantly called home.

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"You'll never guess who I saw."

"Who?" Sandy usually enjoyed playing along and guessing every single person he could come up with, but his mind was drawing a blank at the moment. Who else could Kirsten possibly know in rehab?

"Dawn Atwood." When Kirsten heard nothing but silence from the other end, she decided to go on. "You know, Ryan's mom?"

"Yeah, I know who she is. I'm just surprised. The timing could not have been better."

"Why's that?" Kirsten was unaware of the many events that had occurred within the past few days.

"I needed to get in contact with her. She has the right to know that her son is dead."

"WHAT!" she shrieked upon hearing this and nearly dropped the phone.

"No, no.. I'm talking about Trey- not Ryan.."

Their conversation went on for hours. Dawn eventually found out about Trey and insisted on a memorial service...

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Marissa sat silently and waited for the service to begin. She tightly clinged on to Ryan's hand. This, she decided, would be her last moment of neediness- atleast for the time being. She was ready and eager to put the past behind her. There was no way that she was going to hold a grudge against a dead person. She was anticipating a new beginning- a fresh start. She was looking forward to her first family dinner in years, and, of coarse, her first real date with Ryan.