Title: Everybody's Changing

Summary: A Ryan/Marissa fic. Set summer before/early S3 and then a year later.

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I own nothing, characters and sections of plots are from the writers and producers of the show.

AN: This is my first attempt at writing a fanfic- so please go easy on me. Reviews are appreciated; I'm always up for advice and new opinions. There isn't much of a plot to this story so far but I promise it will develop in the next few chapters.

One year later...
Marissa was driving in her convertible along the coastline. She tried to let the wind and the music cranked up on her stereo drown out her nervousness on being so close to home.

For the last year, she had lived in New York City and attended a private school exactly like Harbor minus the outdoor campus and half a mile walk to the beach. Same type of people, same social standards, same clothes. It almost felt like she never left Newport; except for that nagging feeling in the back of her mind when she thought about her present life without her old friends and especially Ryan.

They kept in close contact at first, calling at least once a day at first. But gradually it became calling once every 3 days, then once every week, then once every month, until it seemed like she never got to talk to the guy she had seen almost everyday for the past 2 years. I mean, they had broken up and everything so that Marissa could go to New York without feeling tied down. But still.

She had dated a few guys here are there. In her new life she was trying to move on and meet new people. She had gone out with one guy for a month. He was the basic stereotypical Upper East Side prep school guy with his family wealth, short blonde hair, and his usual outfit of a Lacoste polo paired with khakis. The complete opposite of Ryan.

The other person she dated was the same. After the initial thrill of a new boyfriend wore off she became bored with him and the usual routine of dinner and a movie. Marissa kept on thinking back to her days with Ryan. She was always glad to see him and they never had a boring moment together.

Now she was returning home before going off to college. I wonder if Ryan's changed. I hope he hasn't, and maybe we can go back to the way things were before I left. She was desperately hoping that Ryan would want to get back together. He did say that he would always love her, right?

Ryan was standing on the pier staring out into the ocean. It was about this time last year that Marissa moved away. The year went by slowly at first. It seemed almost impossible to go about his daily life without seeing her and talking to her whenever he wanted to. I wish she was here.

He heard someone creeping up behind him, maybe wishes do come true he thought. He turned and is face fell a little bit.

"Hey, what's wrong? Aren't you happy to see me?" Lindsay asked.

"Of course, I am," Ryan insisted pecking her on the lips, wishing that he believed it as much as he wanted to.

Flashback

Ryan had been sitting in the pool house bored out of his mind 2 months ago. His phone rang and he slowly trudged over to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Ryan," came the familiar voice.

"Lindsay? Wow I haven't' talked to you in a long time."

"Yeah, I know. It's been way too long. So how are things going over there?"

"They're okay. Surprisingly nothing exciting has really happened this year."

"I'm sure there had to be something. It's Newport we're talking about here."

They both laughed.

"So how are things over in Chicago?"

"Well, truthfully, I wouldn't know. I'm not in Chicago right now."

"Really? Where are you then?"

"I'm right here," Lindsay said into the phone as she knocked on the pool house door.

Ryan just about jumped 3 feet but quickly tried to regain his composure while Lindsay was trying to suppress her laughing with her hand clamped over her mouth.

"Haha, very funny," he said as he opened the door and pulled her into a hug.

"So," Ryan said pulling back. "What are you doing in Newport?"

"Well, I thought that I'd spend the summer over here. Even if this wasn't exactly the ideal place when I lived here, I kind of miss it."

"I'm glad you're back. I haven't seen you in... what has it been? A year?"

"Yeah, I've missed you."

"I've missed you, too. I hated that you left to soon after you moved here."

"It seemed like the right thing to do. Leaving Newport, I mean. Everything just got so complicated I thought it'd be best if I butted out of everyone's lives."

"You definitely weren't butting in, but I understand where you're coming from."

"You wanna grab a bite to eat, or something?" Lindsay said, changing the subject

"Sure, let's go."

They drove down to the pier and ate at the diner, taking the booth where he and Marissa sat a year ago. He could feel himself almost easing back into his old routine. The only difference was the person he was sitting across from. They had small chat and joked around while chomping down on their food.

"God, I missed that stuff," Lindsay said as she finished the last fry on her plate.

Ryan laughed, remembering how much fun it had been to hang out with her the winter during their junior year. Maybe, this will finally be something to take my mind off of Marissa, he thought to himself.

Ryan and Lindsay walked along the pier and went to lean against the railing and look out into the ocean. He looked over at Lindsay and said, "I really am glad that you're back."

"It's good to know that you didn't forget about me."

"It would be impossible to forget about you, Lindsay."

Ryan noticed that her cheeks flushed, and he smiled.

Without a second thought, he leaned over and kissed her.

She gave into the kiss, but pulled back after a few seconds.

"Ryan, are you sure?"

"Yes."

"But, aren't you with Marissa or something?"

"No, she moved away last year. Anyways, she's in the past," he lied. "All that matters is that you're back this summer, and I want to spend it with you."

Lindsay smiled and moved in for another kiss.

End of flashback

"So," Lindsay continued. "What should we do today?"

"Hmmm... you want to hang out by the Cohens' pool?"

"Sure, let's go," she said grabbing Ryan's hand.

They were sitting on the edge of the pool with their legs dangling in the water.

"I'm glad, I came back. I've haven't had this much fun since forever. Even if it is only for a few months, life is good right now."

"You know," Ryan paused. "You've changed a lot since the last time we were dating."

"Yeah, people tend to change over a year. Are you mad that I'm a different girl than I was back then?"

"No, it's definitely not a bad thing."

"Well, I couldn't have changed that much."

"Why do you say that?"

"I'm sitting here with you, aren't I?" she grinned.

Ryan kissed Lindsay cupping his hand around her chin.

The couple sat in silence moving their legs back in forth in the water, looking over at each other once in a while and smiling.

"So, tell me about what interesting things happened in Newport after I left."

"Like I told you before," Ryan said slightly agitated. "Nothing really."

"What's wrong? You sound annoyed."

"It's just been kind of tough for the past year and a half."

"You wanna talk about it? I know that the famous Ryan Atwood isn't much of a spill all of his secrets kind of guy, but maybe you could make an exception for your girlfriend," she said grinning at him.

"Lucky for you, I'm in a rare spill my secrets kind of mood," he joked. "Well, it all started when my brother Trey got out of jail," Ryan said, staring at the pool house reflection in the water below. He spent the next hour explaining everything that had happened from him and Marissa getting back together to Trey getting arrested at her party to him trying to rape Marissa to the shooting to the police and school trouble afterwards.

"Wow," Lindsay said after closing her open mouth. "How long have you been holding all of that in?"

"Honestly? You're the first person I've said all of that stuff to."

"You mean you and Marissa never talked about it?"

"Not really. We kind of skirted around the issues, but we were just trying to put all of that stuff behind us."

"But, Ryan, she shot your brother."

"I know. She did it to save my life. Trey was going to kill me if she hadn't shot him."

"No, I'm not saying that it's wrong that Marissa shot him. I'm just confused about how you guys can put something that important behind you without even talking about it."

"I don't know," he shrugged. "It doesn't matter anymore, anyways. Marissa's on the other side of the country and I have no clue where Trey is."

"I guess you're right. It's good to just move on. And after all," Lindsay said trying to lighten the mood. "The only thing that you have to worry about this summer is how to keep your gorgeous girlfriend entertained."

"I'm sure that won't be too difficult," he said reaching over to catch her lips with his.

They stood up and walked over to the pool house with their arms linked. They started making out and slowly leaned back so that they were lying on the bed with Ryan above Lindsay.

"You bored yet?"

"Hmmm... I'll have to think about that," she giggled. Lindsay pulled his head towards her as Ryan returned her kiss.

A few minutes had passed when Ryan heard a knock. He turned around and there was Marissa standing in the doorway.

"Hey," she said looking from Ryan to Lindsay and back again.

Ooh, a cliffhanger! I know it's not really built up and suspenseful or whatever but oh well, I'm trying to leave you guys hanging :) I'll be working on the next chapter or two this weekend so check back if you like the story so far.

- Margot