Chapter Ten

"We are now landing in New York. Passengers, please put on your seat belts- we are now landing in New York." A cheerful voice spun into the dream swept mind of Ryan, as he started to open his eyes lightly. A stream of light emerged from the window, as it stung his eyes. He started to rub them grumpily, after which he looked around lazily, his hair a sheer mess.

"Hey Seth," he said with a husky yawn, as he started to scratch the back of his neck. He turned his attention to a grinning Seth, "Why are you so giddy?"

"Why aren't you?" He retorted quickly, as he opened the window to its full extent, illuminating an entire circumference. They were still high up in the glazed clouds, but they could feel the air plane rolling lower in their ears.

"'Cause, I'm tired," Ryan smirked- he seemed to be in a better mood than he was in yesterday. It was almost as though he had forgotten the purpose of his trip.

"Are we forgetting who we're seeing today?" Seth asked, studying Ryan's blank expression. Ryan let out a harsh laugh, as though his insides were beating violently. He tried to conceal that worry that was nestled inside of him, so that it would not retrieve the best of him. As much as worry was writhing and twisting in the bottom of his stomach, he wanted to appear cool and civilized- indifferent, and calm.

"Yeah, who?" Ryan rolled his eyes with a grin, as he spoke with dry sarcasm in his voice, "Don't worry Seth, I remember. Kind of hard to forget if we're halfway across the U.S." He let out another yawn, outstretching his muscular arms far above his head. He let them drop to his side, as he sat back against the seat comfortably.

"I see we're in a better mood today, though," Seth commented briskly, with a light grin, "Unless there's some fierce lioness inside of you Ryan, that I need to know about? Cause you know chicks- they lash out at you at any given moment," Seth started to 'rawr' very quietly, as he scrunched up his fingertips imitating a vicious lion for a moment. Ryan simply turned his head, trying to suppress his laughter. He pretended to ignore Seth for the moment of his absurdity.

"No lioness- no lion either, for that matter," Ryan said, after Seth had regained his cool, "You have way too much time on your hands, Seth. You know what you should do?" Seth looked up with a nod, "You should call Summer- that lioness, I'm sure, will lash out on you 'cause yesterday I presume she was too tired to get it all out." Ryan smirked, silently grateful that he wasn't in Seth's position. Although, after some quiet reconsideration, his situation wasn't all that great either.

As Seth continued to babble at how horrendous the idea was, Ryan couldn't help but think about the worst. What if Marissa just wanted to move on? What if she didn't want to see Ryan? The questions haunted his mind repeatedly. Every time he started, the questions seemed to wound in his mind, causing a turmoil of indignation, and anxiety. Ryan nodded, pretending to listen to his companion with genuine interest, while his mind was being polluted with persistent what-ifs.

As Ryan presumed, the landing took no more than about twenty minutes, and soon the plane's wheels were screeching and scraping against the pavement. With a furious halt, the passengers buzzed off the plane simultaneously, like a wave. Ryan and Seth were gathering their luggage, pushing through the throng of impatient people.

Finally, after passing through the Customs gates, they were on their way through the large glass doors that separated them from the chilly outside, "Damn, we should have dressed for the season," Seth said, as a shiver ran down his spine. Although it was only October, in Newport the sweltering sun was a standard. Now that they were in New York, the chilly breeze stabbed at their faces, as they waited for an available cab.

"Came here to visit?" A voice interrupted their little complaints about the weather. Both Ryan and Seth's jaws dropped, as they looked over at a beautiful blonde, barely clad in more than a tank top and a skirt. Seth nodded vigorously, trying hard not to relinquish the inner geek in him.

"Uh, yeah. And you're not cold?" Ryan couldn't help but to question her, and her deliberate smirk made him blush only lightly.

"What, does my excessive skin bother you?" Ryan could sense a light accent in her speech, as she studied them wearily, "I'm waiting for my boyfriend," she started to explain.

"Okay," Seth interrupted, as he poked at Ryan's side carefully, urging him to make a move toward the cabs, "Very nice to meet you lady, but he's kind of here for his own girlfriend kind of thing. So yeah," He proceeded to drag Ryan to a golden taxi cab that stopped just in front of the curb. The two swung their bags into the back, as they entered.

"Where to?" The man said urgently, and Ryan turned to Seth quickly. Where to? That really was quite the question. Seth looked back at Ryan knowingly, as he grabbed a five dollar bill from his wallet, slapping it into the hand of the driver.

"Sorry, we still have to figure that out," Seth said, as he hopped out of the car, with Ryan quickly behind him. The cab seemed to drive away, with a feel of frustration that the boys had wasted his time, "Hm, good question. Where to, Ryan?" Seth finally said, wondering the exact thing that Ryan was.

"I guess we should just, I don't know- call her cell phone? That mustn't have changed, right?" Ryan said, trying to think of ways to reach Marissa. It was still early in the morning, he presumed- but a visit like this just couldn't wait.

"Go for it," Seth replied, as he pulled out his cell phone, "Here, use mine,"

Within a matter of moments, Ryan was dialing Marissa's cell phone number. Although he wanted to know where she lived, he didn't want to betray the surprise just yet. When she picked up her phone, her soothing voice overcame Ryan's ability to speak for a moment.

"Hello?" Marissa repeated, this time more inquisitively.

"Marissa," Ryan said, his face illuminated with a deep grin. It was all he needed to hear, in order to make his day- the simple, hello. For some reason, in her soft and fragile voice, Ryan distinguished pain, and sadness- it almost sounded as though she was crying, "Marissa, I just wanted to know,"

"Know what, Ryan?" she said, the tears more apparent in her voice now, more than ever. She sounded as though she were on the verge of sobbing, "You can't keep doing this to me-"

"I wanted to know where you live, in case I was in the area some time, or something?" Ryan interrupted her subtly, as he turned to Seth's questioning look, as though saying "You are in the area, you idiot."

Marissa kept silent for a moment, "8790 24th Street," she whispered softly, and what Ryan didn't see was the swift motion of her fingertips that absolved her face of the tears that swarmed it.

"How are you doing?" he said, mentally memorizing the street, but more importantly, the exact sound of her voice.

"Oh you know, I'm great like always," she said, rubbing more tears out of her eyes. She wouldn't let him realize that she had spent her first night back in absolute depression.

"You're great?" As much as Ryan would like her to be happy, he didn't want her to move on. He wanted to feel wanted, and missed, and loved. He tried to hide the tinge of disappointment in his voice- perhaps she really did just want to move on? Perhaps this visit just wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. Maybe Marissa Cooper, was stronger than him emotionally, and able to detach herself from the most difficult of situations in a matter of hours. Perhaps, it was all a lie, "That's good to hear, Marissa," he muttered.

Marissa, immediately realizing that he had been fooled, continued to say, "Are you kidding me, Ryan? You actually believe that bull?"

"Well I don't know," Ryan muttered, slightly embarrassed that he let his mind get all worked up once more, "I want you to be happy, I really do,"

"You just don't want me happy yet, right? Too soon, I know," Marissa finished for him quietly, "So I bet half of Newport already knows you're single, huh?" She said, her voice tired and weary.

"No, no not at all, Marissa," Ryan said, "But I bet all your neighbours are chatting about the beauty that moved in," he smiled to himself, as he recalled Marissa's prominent smile, one that he had seen many times before.

"Mmm, of course," she said, smiling weakly, "Alright, Ryan. I'm going to go." Marissa said solemnly, about to hang up.

"But wait-" Ryan tried to continue the almost pleasant conversation, but Marissa was keen on finishing it.

"But no. I'm going to go." She said, with a tone of finality, and authority. Ryan couldn't argue with a statement like that, and he was neither surprised nor shocked when he heard the buzzing of the disconnected line, instead of Marissa's gentle voice. Ryan closed Seth's phone with a light flip, and handed it to him.

"Did you get the address?" Seth asked, after which Ryan nodded lightly.

"Yeah, got it,"