She screamed out, but no one was around to hear her. The wet sand somehow seeped into her clothing, as his hands did the same. She fought and kicked against him, but he continued pressing down into her. "Ryan!" She made several attempts to raise her knee and kick Trey with all the force she had left in her, but she never was able to hit him. His hands firmly held her in place and his anger seemed to grow exponentially as she called out his brother's name.
Her eyes flew open as she was suddenly pulled from her dream. An arm was draped over her, holding her tightly, but it was a very familiar arm. She let out a sigh of relief and tried to go back to sleep, but she was too shaken up. Ryan's arms, which had always given her a feeling of safety, now gave her feelings of anxiety. She slipped out of his grasp, and looked back at his sleeping form.
He heard Marissa screaming his name, crying out for help, and he ran towards the sound as quickly as he could, but no matter how fast he ran, he didn't get any closer. Trey looked up from where he had her pinned down and grinned wickedly. "You don't mind sharing, do you little brother?"
Marissa started to disappear, sinking into the sand. He finally managed to tackle Trey away and he reached his hand down to Marissa to help her out. She grabbed his hand, and he started to pull her up, but before he could, Trey lunged at him, pushing him to the ground, beside the spot where Marissa was once again sinking. His entire body refused to move and he watched helplessly as she sunk beneath the sand.
When he woke up, he was alone in the bed. The sun was shining through the blinds and in the place where Marissa had been sleeping, there was a note. I'm sorry, but I can't do this yet.
Ryan trudged down the stairs in a wifebeater, pajama pants, and slippers, and poured himself a cup of coffee. After calling Sandy to see how Kirsten was doing, he went back upstairs to wake Seth up.
"Seth?" When he was met with silence, he slowly opened the door, knocking on it and hoping that Seth was at least somewhat dressed. "Seth."
When Ryan lightly pushed his shoulder, he snapped around, still asleep. "No Jenga, Stew!" He had jolted himself awake and he looked at Ryan slightly confused.
"Sandy's bringing Kirsten home later today."
He rubbed his eyes, remembering the events of the previous night. "She's okay?"
"Yeah. A concussion and she's kind of banged up, but he said she'll be fine."
Seth sat quietly for a moment as if he was trying to decide what he should say, if anything. "Hey Ryan?"
"Yeah?" he replied, sitting down in Seth's computer chair.
"Is it just me, or have you noticed...things with Mom and Dad...have they been sort of...?" Seth trailed off nervously.
"Tense?" Ryan supplied.
"You noticed it too?"
Ryan nodded. "But they'll work it out," he stated with certainty.
"I'm not disagreeing with you," Seth began. "But what makes you so sure?"
Ryan looked down sadly, thinking of his own parents. "Because they love each other and they're committed to each other. And their family."
Seth could sense the slight sadness in Ryan's voice. "I guess we're pretty lucky to have them as parents then."
Ryan smiled half-heartedly. "Yep."
When Marissa arrived back at her house, she groaned when she saw that her mother's car was there. She braced herself for questions and lectures, but she made it to her room without running in to her mother. While she did want to avoid her mother, the empty feeling in the house irked her. She walked down the hall and knocked lightly on her mom's bedroom door. When there was no answer, she let herself in and found her mother still fast asleep, with rumpled tissues scattered around her, as well as an empty carton of ice cream. "Mom?"
Julie's eyes slowly opened and when she saw Marissa, she scrambled to clean up all the evidence of the awful night she'd had. "Hey Sweetie."
"What's wrong?" The caring tone in Marissa's voice surprised both of them.
Julie sighed. "You might want to sit down."
Marissa's eyes widened and she reluctantly sat on the bed beside her mother. "Is everything okay?"
"I'm not sure," Julie replied fighting back tears. "Caleb is divorcing me."
"Why, what happened?"
Remembering that Marissa didn't know anything about the porno scandal, she decided to tell her a half truth. "He found out about my affair."
"With Dad?"
"Yeah. And you'll love this...he knows about Luke too." Julie sobbed, waiting for Marissa to tell her it served her right.
She was so used to seeing her mother as unbreakable and heartless, and to see proof that she was human was both reassuring and frightening. "I'm sorry, Mom."
Julie looked up at Marissa, wondering if she's heard her right. When she saw complete sincerity, she pulled Marissa into a hug. "We'll be fine, I promise. I'll do whatever it takes."
Marissa smiled and nodded, then turned to leave.
"Wait a minute, Marissa." Here it comes. "Where were you last night?"
Marissa hesitated. "I was with Ryan. He was over here last night when Sandy called about Kirsten."
"What happened to Kirsten?"
"She got into a car accident last night," Marissa explained. "But she's going to be okay."
"Okay, good. So you were at the hospital with Ryan?"
"Actually, Seth, Ryan and I went back to the Cohens' to get some rest." Neither woman knew why Marissa was suddenly talking to Julie more than was absolutely necessary.
"I see. And I trust that you're...being safe with that boy?"
Marissa nodded, a bit surprised that her mom had assumed she was sleeping with Ryan and hadn't started rattling off insults about him and trying to stop her. "Yeah, Mom. You can trust that I'm safe with Ryan."
Seth and Ryan sat in the living room, playing the new Star Wars game, when the doorbell rang. Ryan moved to go get it, but Seth held out his arm stopping him. "Wait." He extended his hand in the direction of the door, closed his eyes, and appeared to be in a state of concentration.
"What are you doing?"
Seth held up a hand to silence Ryan. "I'm using the force."
Ryan rolled his eyes, and went to answer the door. He opened it to find Marissa smiling brightly at him.
"Hey!" She handed him a large arrangement of flowers. "These are for Kirsten, from me and my mom."
"Thanks," he replied, avoiding her eyes. He carried the flowers into the house and she followed him.
"Look, I was hoping we could talk."
Ryan's sad eyes met hers and he nodded. "Okay."
"About that note I left this morning..."
"Yeah, no, I get it. Time. Space. It's fine, I understand."
"No. When I wrote that...I had this nightmare last night, and I wasn't thinking clearly. It's just that I've been so confused lately, and I want to be with you so much, but sometimes my mind messes with me and the memories start rushing back."
He didn't know what to say, so he hesitantly hugged her, but she pushed back slightly so she could kiss him. He was caught off guard, but he soon met her rhythm, kissing her back. She kissed him with urgency and desperation, lightly moaning into his mouth.
"Let's take this out to the pool house, okay?" she asked.
They sat down on the bed together and Ryan laced his fingers through hers. "How about we make some new memories?"
She smiled. "Good idea."
His hand moved towards her chest and he moved her top slightly aside, taking a closer look at the bruise. "Is it still tender?" He was forcing himself not to think of what caused the bruise. Part of him was practically screaming to go after Trey and make him pay for what he did, but he didn't want to further upset Marissa.
"Not really. It only hurts if I bang it against something." He looked at her strangely, worried for a moment. "You know I have problems with doors!"
They laughed together, and for Ryan it was mostly relief. His face turned serious and he began a trail of kisses down Marissa's neck, pausing at the bruise. He placed feather kisses all over it. Marissa fought against the nervousness she felt and tried to concentrate on the fact that this was a gentle and caring Ryan lightly kissing her, not a forceful and angry Trey biting at her. It seemed like Ryan was trying to erase the cruelty of Trey's touch with the tenderness of his own, and she had to admit that it was working, at least a little bit.
She lightly pushed him down so he was on his back and she lay on top of him, kissing him. His lips eagerly met hers and after a few moments, he rolled her over so he was on top of her. Having realized what he had done just a second too late to stop himself, he continued to roll over so that she was on top again. When they came to a stop, Marissa looked down at him and laughed. "What was that? We're like a millimeter away from falling off."
"Sorry, habit. I forgot for a second that you-"
"Oh, right. Actually, I forgot too."
"So maybe I'll get to be on top again soon."
"Aw, you miss being the alpha male?" she teased.
He smirked. "Yeah, it gives me the illusion that I'm in charge."
She laughed and laid down on his chest. "As long as you understand that it's just an illusion."
They laid in silence for a moment, Marissa concentrating on the beat of Ryan's heart while his fingers absently ran through her hair. "So this weekend is prom."
"Yep. Under the O.Sea."
"Do you want to go?" he asked slowly.
She raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm social chair. I don't really have a choice."
He chuckled, "I mean, can I take you?"
She grinned mischievously. "That depends. Will you do something for me?"
He looked a tad suspicious, but nodded in agreement. "Sure. What do you want me to do?"
"Make me a paper maché octopus," she requested as if it would be even greater than the grandest romantic gesture.
He looked at her, trying to figure out if she was kidding or not. "Wow. No girl has ever asked me to do that for her before."
"So, will you?"
"Uh, sure. I guess I can do that."
She kissed him on the lips. "You're the best, you know that?"
"Yep," he replied with a laugh.
Trey looked at Jess like she'd grown another head. "You want me to go to prom with you?"
"It's prom. I can't go alone." Then she added with a glare, "And it's not like Kyle can take me."
"No way."
She smirked at him. "Well, I'd hate to have to cut you off."
They both knew Trey was addicted, but he feigned confidence. "I think I can get by on my own."
"That's a bit tricky with the cops on your ass all the time."
His furious eyes met hers. "You wouldn't."
"You really think I wouldn't?" She smiled wickedly. "Is that a risk you're willing to take? You want to wind up back in prison?"
"Fucking bitch."
"My dress is crimson so my corsage should be in that general family." With that, she walked out the door.
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