Title: Everybody's Changing

Summary: A Ryan/Marissa fic. Set summer before/early S3, and the summers after.

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.

"Hey," Shane casually said back.

"What are you doing here?" Marissa asked, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"I came here to see you."

"Marissa, who is this guy?" Ryan asked her and she started to answer.

"I'm her fiancée," he cut in.

Ryan's released his grip around her fingers as he stuck his hands inside his pockets.

"Shane, you're not my fiancée," she insisted.

"Are you kidding me? In case you don't remember I proposed to you 6 months ago; and if my memory serves me correct you said yes."

"But... but, you left 2 weeks later. You didn't even tell me where you were going or if you were coming back or anything," the emotion rising in her voice was hard to hide.

"That doesn't change the fact that now I'm here and technically we're still engaged. Marissa, I want you back," he said matter of factly.

Ryan decided that he had heard enough so he started to turn and walk away. Marissa grabbed his arm.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"I think that you and your fiancée have some things to work out," he replied with cold emphasis on the word fiancée.

"But, Ryan..." her voice trailed off as he continued his walk down the pier.

"Who was that guy?" Shane asked nudging his head in Ryan's direction.

"My boyfriend, Ryan."

"Your boyfriend? I hate to break it to you, but you can't marry me and still have a boyfriend."

"I don't plan to marry you, so there's nothing to worry about," she glared at him.

Shane lightly laughed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Shane, tell me, why did you really come here?"

"I've told you already; to get you back."

"Oh come on, we both know that you never loved me then and you still don't love me now," Marissa said icily.

"Yes, I do," he said as he quickly leaned over and kissed her.

Marissa instinctively gave in to his kiss but then realized what she was doing and pushed him away.

"What was that for?"

"I wanted you to know that I love you."

"Ugh, you know what, Shane? The only reason why you want me back is because you've always gotten everything that you want and if you lose me then your perfect little life will be out of order. You can't handle rejection; that's your biggest weakness."

"Or my biggest strength. The more you push me away, the more I'm going to try to pull you back," he insisted.

Marissa stormed away- she couldn't deal with him anymore tonight. She'd eventually get him to leave her alone and then she and Ryan could finally pick up where they had left off. Too bad things aren't that simple.

Ryan was sitting on a sun bed next to the pool, staring into the clear water. Suddenly Marissa's reflection appeared and he slowly turned to face her.

"Hey," she said plopping down next to him.

"Hey."

"Sorry, about last night, I didn't know he was going to show up."

Ryan grunted and returned his gaze to the pool. "Are you really engaged to him?"

"Well it matters how you look at it. He still thinks we are, while I've definitely moved on."

"What happened between you two, what was it, 6 months ago?" he asked briefly glancing over at her.

Marissa was hurt that Ryan wouldn't look at her for more than 5 seconds. They were finally getting back together and then Shane had to go and show up.

"I wasn't lying about what I said to you the other night. I really did think of you all the time when I was in New York. It's just, I went to this bar one night and met Shane. He asked me out and I said yes and we started dating for a month or two. I thought that I was in love with him at the time, but looking back I realize that all I was doing was trying to transfer my feelings about you to him."

Ryan still wasn't reassured when he heard her say the last sentence. How could he know if she really loved him and not Shane?

"One night, it was New Year's Eve, and I was feeling really down. I remembered that time that I was trying to convince you to come to a party with me and I ended up going alone. It was midnight and I was worried that I wouldn't have anyone to kiss but you came running in right then. And that was the first time you told me that you loved me," Marissa let out a small smile.

Ryan couldn't help but smile back at that memory.

"So there I was, missing how my life used to be, when he turned up at my door and took me out to dinner. He made me laugh and kept my mind off of my sadness. So he was kind of spontaneous and asked me to marry me. I said yes and we went out and bought rings the next day."

Marissa paused and wondered what was she thinking when she had accepted his proposal. But she pushed those thoughts out of her mind as she continued telling Ryan her story.

"I was so happy those days after. I almost felt like my life was going great for the first time in a long time. Even if I wasn't in love with him, at least I wasn't alone. But then 2 weeks later he just...left. He hadn't called me for a few days, so I went over to his apartment to see what was going on. When I got there it was empty. He didn't even leave a note or anything," Marissa was still hurt by the fact that he could just up and leave her like that.

"So I took off my ring and acted like he had never been in my life. It was hard to do, but I eventually moved on when I remembered where my heart really was," she paused. "Ryan, I still love you."

Ryan softened a little bit, hearing her say those words.

"Marissa, I still love you too. But it's just not that simple. I can't be with you until you're definitely broken up with Shane. It seems like you guys kind of left things off without coming to any conclusions. But believe me I really want to be with you," Ryan tried to be truthful but reassuring at the same time.

He grabbed her hand and held on tightly as he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

"Oops, sorry to break up your little love-fest here but, Marissa, I need to talk to you," Shane interrupted as he walked towards the couple.

"Tell me, why do you always have the worst timing?" her voice took on an icy tone, opposed to the affectionate one she had just been using with Ryan.

"Hmm, I don't know. It must be a gift," he said shrugging. "Anyways, what do you say?"

"How did he know that you were here?" Ryan whispered in her ear.

"I'm not sure. Maybe my mom told him where I was, or something."

"So what do you say, Marissa?" Shane asked holding out his hand to her.

"Look, I should deal with this right now. I'll talk to you later, okay?" she said pecking Ryan's cheek and reluctantly dropping his hand.

Marissa stood up but ignored Shane's outstretched hand and crossed her arms, trying to distance herself from him. She took a look back at Ryan who was now standing up and staring longingly after her.

I love you, she mouthed at him as she stepped into Shane's car. Ryan wished that he could believe her.

I personally liked this chapter. Even though I hate Ryan and Marissa having endless obstacles, I think that Shane brings a cool kind of thing to the story. As always, reviews are appreciated and I'll try to get up the next chapter soon!