Hey guys, I really hope you're enjoying this so far. If you like it PLEASE review, it's what keeps me writing! Even if you don't like it, tell me what I'm doing wrong and I'll try to make it better. I'm always open to suggestion! Thanks again guys, and happy reading :)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was quiet. Why was it quiet? Ryan opened his eyes. They had stopped rolling. He pulled himself out of the car. "Ouch," he muttered to himself quietly. He hurt. Everywhere. He lent on the car and pulled himself up. Then he saw something that sent him into a panic. Fire. The car was on fire. "Shit," he said, and hobbled as quickly as he could to the passenger side of the car. He lent down and into the car. He looked up and saw gas dripping from the roof. "Oh crap," he thought, and grabbed Marissa's arms, dragging her out of the car. He picked her up and cradled her in his arms, carrying her away from the car. He didn't have the strength to run, so he walked. All he was thinking about was getting away from that car before it exploded. He looked down at Marissa. She seemed to be unconscious. "Oh, no," he thought. "Please let her be okay..." the car burst into flames behind him, but he barely noticed. He stopped in the middle of the road and put Marissa half down, still cradling her head. She opened her eyes. "Thank God," he thought. "Hey, it's okay, I'm gonna go get help," he said. Marissa tried to shake her head.

"No… don't… don't leave," she said. "Don't leave." Ryan blinked back tears.

"Okay, I won't leave you, it's okay, I'm staying, see, I'm not going anywhere." Marissa swallowed loudly. It sounded like it took her a lot of effort. "Don't… Don leave…" she said, slurring her words now. Her eyelids fluttered shut. "No," he said, tears running down his cheeks now. "No, Marissa, come one, wake up," he said, gently shaking her. She didn't wake up. He had to get help. He felt around in his pocket for his cellphone. It wasn't there. "Shit," he thought. "Must have fallen out in the car…" he felt in Marissa's pockets for her cellphone. He found it in her jeans pocket. He pulled it out and flipped it open to dial. "Ambulance," he said when they answered. He gave the details of his location as best he could.

It felt like an eternity until they came. He passed the time by talking to her, Marissa, though it was obvious she couldn't hear a word he was saying. He guessed he was talking to keep himself from passing out from shock rather than anything else. Finally the paramedics arrived. He watched as they lifted Marissa from his arms and carried her to the ambulance. He couldn't bring himself to move. He sat there, on the road, watching everything happening like it was in a movie. It was all so surreal.

One of the paramedics came over to him. "Ryan," he said. "Ryan…"

Ryan jolted awake. Kirsten was banging on the poolhouse door, calling his name. "Ryan, are you in there?" She tried the handle but it was locked. "Shit," Ryan muttered to himself. He looked over at the till sleeping Summer and shook her awake. "Huh?" she muttered. He motioned for her to be quiet. "Hide," he said. She got up and ran into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Ryan got up and unlocked the door for Kirsten. "Finally," she said when he opened the door. "I've been knocking for ten minutes. Why was the door locked?"

"Uh… I locked it last night when I was getting changed," he lied. "I know Seth is prone to walking in on things like that so I thought I'd save both of us the embarrassment. I must have forgotten to unlock it before I went to sleep." Kirsten smiled.

"Okay. Well, I just wondered if you wanted to come to the hospital with me. Julie asked me to go, so…" She trailed off.

"Um, maybe I'll go later. I'm not really ready, so…"

"I could wait."

"No, it's okay. You go. I'll… hang here for a bit."

"Okay." Kirsten smiled at him and turned to go. Ryan shut the poolhouse door and let out a sigh of relief.

Doing everything by halves,
You got a real flare with excuses
Meeting someone at the bar,
Where loose ends still have uses

Summer came out from the bathroom. Ryan sighed. "This has to end," he said.

It's complicated,
(This time I think it could be)
Triangulated,
(It could be just what we need)
So what you say, we give it up and walk away?
We're overrated, anyway

"I know." Summer said. She looked almost… relieved. That one of them was finally ending it. "Marissa and I are back together…" he said, trailing off.

We're kissing without kissing,
And got it down to a fine art
Love's supposed to keep you young and frisky,
But we grew up and wide apart
Not now, not ever, no… it's never a good time
How will the good times ever roll on?
Comparing photos then and now, now and then,
Just wondering… (Wondering) where it all went wrong

"I need to be there for her." Summer nodded.

"And I need to be there for her too. I can't do this to her." She said. "I love Seth and… we can't do this."

It's complicated,
(This time I think it could be)
Triangulated,
(It could be just what we need)
So what d'you say, we give it up and walk away?
Nothing to salvage anyway

"What are we going to tell them?" Summer looked almost fearful. Ryan was quiet, thinking. "I think it's best we don't tell them." Summer opened her mouth to argue, but thought better of it. She didn't want to hurt Seth. "You're right." She said. He nodded to her. "Go out the back," She nodded and grabbed her purse. She faltered at the door.

"Bye, Chino." She said, then turned and ran from the Poolhouse, and the biggest secret she would ever have to keep.

"Summer? Can I talk to you?" Seth was at Summer's house. No one came to the door when he knocked so he had gone straight in. "In here, Seth," he heard Summer's voice coming from the lounge. He walked in to see her sitting on the couch, knees pulled up against her chest. She was wearing Marissa's Berkeley sweatshirt. "You okay?" Seth sat next to her on the couch. She sighed. "Yeah." There was an awkward silence.

"Listen, Summer, I'm sorry about the other day," Seth began. "I understand that you can't leave Marissa and… Well, I've decided I'll transfer to Berkeley too. That way we can all be together. The Fantastic Four." He smiled at her. Her eyes swam with tears.

"You mean it?" She said.

"Yeah. Besides, it'll make my parents happy." She grinned at him and pulled him into a kiss. How could she have ever doubted him? "I love you," she said.

"I love you too, Summer," he said, barely containing a grin. Finally, they were happy.

I was thinking of skipping to a few months in the future from here; there's just no point going through many months of Marissa learning to walk again, as it would get a bit repetitive. Let me know what you guys think? Thanks!