Emma sat on the floor in her living room, in the apartment that she and her mother shared. She was playing with some legos by herself, while her mother, Marissa, was in the kitchen making lunch. This was how things usually were on the weekends, since Emma had no siblings and Marissa usually did not have company, unless her mother stopped by to tell her daughter how to run her life. While playing, Emma heard a knocking on the door.

Emma ran into the other room, and told her mother, "Mom, someone's at the door."

"Can you get it? My hands are kinda full," Marissa told her.

"Fine," Emma replied. She marched back into the living room, and went to open the door. When she did, she found a man standing there. He had blonde hair and blue eyes. Emma just stared at him.

"Who are you?" Emma asked pointedly.

"I'm Ryan, Ryan Atwood. Is your mother Marissa Cooper?" Ryan wondered.

"Yes, but my mom doesn't want to buy anything - she hates people who sell stuff," Emma said.

"Oh, well, actually, I'm an old friend of your mom's. We went to high school together, and I was just wondering if I could talk to her for a moment," Ryan said.

Emma stared at him for a moment, then turned her head towards the kitchen, where her mother was and yelled, "Mom! Someone's here to see you!"

Marissa came out of the kitchen, with a dish towel in her hands, drying them off. To her surprise, she found Ryan standing at the door. She stopped in her tracks when she saw him. Marissa was very taken aback when she saw him.

"Mom?" Emma asked as she walked back over to her legos. "Are you okay?"

Marissa looked at her daughter and replied, "Yeah, Sweety, I'm fine." She turned and looked at Ryan again.

Ryan smiled, "Sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you."

"No, it's all right, really... Do you want to come in? We were just about to have lunch. Turkey sandwiches, if you want one," Marissa offered.

"Uh, sure. That'd be great," Ryan said, stepping into the apartment. He followed Marissa into the kitchen, where she was making the sandwiches. Marissa walked over to the refrigerator to grab the turkey for the sandwiches.

"So how did you know where I lived?" Marissa wondered, turning around to face Ryan.

"Seth told me," Ryan admitted. He leaned against one of the walls of the kitchen.

"Oh, really? So why did you stop by? Does Alison know you're here?" Marissa asked. She walked back over to the counter with her turkey.

"I don't know, I guess. I feel bad about how things went at the reunion... and no, she doesn't know I'm here," Ryan said.

"Don't be. The truth was bound to come out at some time," Marissa said. She put the mayo on Ryan's bread.

"Listen, I don't mean to pry, but why do you try and keep her a secret, like she's some horrible thing?" Ryan asked.

Marissa sighed and brought the sandwiches over to the kitchen table. He did not understand. No one did. She replied, "I don't want to keep her a secret. I'm not ashamed of my daughter... I just don't want her to know about everything that happened those couple of years before she was born. Fires, fights, drinking, cocaine, parties, divorces, OD's, deaths, shootings, attacks... it's not something she needs to worry about, or know about. I mean, those aren't exactly my proudest moments, and if everyone knows, then she'll find out. Find out everything, which is something I don't want... Ryan can I ask you something?"

"Sure," he replied.

"What happened?" Marissa asked.

"What do you mean?" Ryan wondered.

"I mean, like, what caused us to break up, and what happened after. Things were just so wild... I guess I never caught up with myself," Marissa admitted. She glanced over at her daughter in the other room. "All I knew is that one day, I was pregnant..."

Ryan sat down at the table and said, "I think we just grew apart. I mean, even from the beginning, back when you were with Luke, and I had just come to Newport, I don't think we had a lot in common. I think we were attracted to each other physically more than anything else. Things were always so complicated for us too. Your mom always hated me. There was Oliver Trask, Theresa, Lindsay, Trey, Johnny Harper, and Volchok. And looking back on it now, I don't think we ever really meshed that well, anyway."

"Yeah, I suppose so," Marissa admitted.

"Can I ask you something?" Ryan wondered.

"Sure," Marissa offered.

"Does Volchok know about Emma?" Ryan asked, nodding towards her daughter. She was putting her legos away in the toy box.

"Yeah, we moved in here together before she was born. In fact, you're the reason he did. I remember one night, we were eating Chinese food, and he said that you had talked to him one day, and told him that I deserved someone to be good to me. Things didn't last long after that. Once he started dealing..." Marissa trailed off.

"Is she his?" Ryan asked.

"What are you kidding?" Marissa replied. "Of course, she is. Who else's could she be?"

Ryan looked at her funny.

"She isn't yours. We broke up months before then," Marissa assured him. She paused for a moment, to think about something. "Can I ask you something else?"

"Sure," Ryan said.

"Do you think we would have stayed together longer if Johnny hadn't died that night?" she asked.

"Honestly, yeah, but it's not like we'd still be together today," Ryan said. "Like I said earlier. I don't think we meshed that well, anyway."

"Yeah," Marissa sighed. "And I doubt that if the whole Trey thing hadn't happened, we'd still be together."

"He really was just another rock in the road for us, wasn't he?" Ryan smiled.

"Do you talk to him?" Marissa asked.

"Not really," Ryan answered. He took a bite out of his sandwich. "I've seen him a few times since then, but we don't really keep in touch... To be honest, I don't think I ever tried to process what happened because I know I couldn't handle it."

"At least you can finally admit that," Marissa said. "Half the problem with us was communication. I never knew what you were saying."

Ryan smiled, "Same here."

Marissa paused for a moment. This was the most intense conversation they had ever had, even when they were together, Ryan and Marissa did not talk about things like this. She asked, "Ryan, are you happy?"

"What do you mean?" Ryan wondered.

"I mean, are you happy with the way things turned out... life in general?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah, I suppose. This is far from what I pictured when I was a kid, believe me, but I like it, just the same," Ryan said. "I'd like to think it all happened for a reason."

Marissa smiled, "Same here."

Ryan looked at his watch, and said, "Oh, wow... I have to go. I have some stuff I've gotta do, but can we do this again maybe?"

"Uh, sure," Marissa said. "Here, I'll give you my number, and you can call me."

She walked over to the counter, got a piece of paper and a pen, and wrote her number down for Ryan.

"Great, thanks," he replied. Ryan got up from his chair, and walked to the front door. Marissa followed him, to let him out. She opened the door, and waved goodbye to him. Emma watched them.

"So that's your old friend?" Emma asked.

"Yep, he is," Marissa sighed.