Based off of 3.15: The Heavy Lifting

For the Widows of Paradise; for the Fatherless of Ypsilanti

I have called you children, I have called you son.
What is there to answer if I'm the only one?
Morning comes in Paradise, morning comes in light.
Still I must obey, still I must invite.
If there's anything to say, if there's anything to do,
If there's any other way, I'll do anything for you.

I was dressed embarrassment.
I was dressed in wine.
If you had a part of me, will you take you're time?
Even if I come back, even if I die
Is there some idea to replace my life?
Like a father to impress;
Like a mother's mourning dress,
If you ever make a mess, I'll do anything for you

I have called you preacher; I have called you son.
If you have a father or if you haven't one,
I'll do anything for you. I did everything for you

Marissa walked up the pathway from the beach, hand in hand with Ryan (albeit loosely). This was senior year; it was supposed to be amazing. Not riddled with shootings, expulsions, cheating girlfriends, gimpy surfer boys, deaths, and the ominous return of her little sister, who turned out not to be so little anymore. Anyway, there was so much going on, that she wasn't even sure what was really going on with everyone.

Kaitlin was broody, Ryan was broody, Seth was … Seth, Summer was trying to be the supportive, and she was feeling incredibly sad and guilty, knowing she had caused this entire thing. She couldn't even go talk to Chilli; he was way more depressed about losing his best friend. And probably now his only friend, seeing as how the only other friend they had was Casey; and no one had seen her around Newport.

Marissa trained her eyes on the scenery around the path, knowing that Johnny would have loved a day like this; it was happy and non-depressing, just barely able to lighten some moods. She swore she saw a familiar face standing in between some of the cars, looking … respectful of his surroundings, knowing that it was Johnny's funeral. As she turned her head to see if she was right, she saw another familiar face walk up next to him, but this one was barely recognizable.

Volchok was looking like he always did, typical surfer bad boy, and he was … something fresh, which would explain why she couldn't stop looking at him. And the other face, she looked horrible. Her once beautiful and silky light brown hair was still light brown, but it was in horrible shape, like she hadn't been able to do anything with it. She had dark circles around her once vibrant and alive eyes, and there was no glint, no spark, nothing that made her Casey. As Marissa's eyes made their way down the girl, looking for some indication as to where she had been, her gaze caught something.

Something that was odd; and she didn't understand. Casey had … a bump. Like she was pregnant or something. But could she be? Was that even right? Marissa looked on as a guy who looked a lot like her walked over to her, wrapping his arms supportively around her body as she turned and buried her face into his chest, her back and shoulders heaving like she was crying. Was she crying? But she … this was too confusing.

She stood there watching the scene, not even noticing Ryan standing a few steps ahead of her. "You OK?" he asked simply, looking over and only seeing Volchok. She knew that he hated Volchok; it was no secret, ever since that first comment at The Bait Shop, Ryan had never liked the guy. He would probably go over there and make him and his 'group' leave, but that wasn't what Marissa wanted.

"No, let's just go" she replied quietly as she nodded her head and saw that Kaitlin was no longer with them. As they got to the Range Rover, she saw the group that was with Volchok walk down to the sand, where the service was, and wanted to see for her own curiosity. "Umm, I'm going to go find Kaitlin, I don't want her here by herself" she lied slightly, letting go of Ryan's hand and starting to head back down to the beach.

Ryan nodded silently, thinking that she was going to either say one last goodbye, or really look for her sister, both of which were acceptable for someone in her shoes. He watched after her as she walked down the pathway and as he turned he stopped as he saw Sadie, Johnny's cousin, standing in front of him. "Hey" he smiled quietly, knowing that this moment could be so much more awkward, so in fact he was glad when it wasn't.

Marissa was on the beach, watching from a distance as Volchok and a few of his surfer buddies stood around awkwardly, obviously waiting for Casey to be done, but it didn't look like that would be happening any time soon. As she approached the guys, one of them stopped and hit Volchok's chest, pointing her out to him.

"Can I help you preppy?" Volchok asked with a sneer as the guys stood around dumbly and Marissa nodded her head seriously. "Although I can't raise the dead so you can be with Harper" he went on, causing one of the guys laugh, making everyone turn and stare at him. Obviously it was meant to be a mean comment, not funny.

"Yeah, is she OK?" Marissa asked, nodding in Casey's direction as all but Volchok and the guy Casey was crying into shrugged their shoulders callously. Obviously they didn't care about her; she was just part of their group.

"I really don't know" the brunette spoke up simply, looking at Marissa intensely with his dark brown eyes. He figured who she was; the descriptions his sister gave him were enough. So this was the girl, the one who ruined his sister's life; who took what little she had and then blamed her for something Marissa did. Sounds sweet, huh?

"Well, can I just talk to her?" Marissa asked quietly, not liking the looks she was getting from each surfer, a different guy had a different thought going through his head as they looked at her.

'Little Bitch Boy's girl'(Volchok); 'Bet I can nail her' (Jackson); 'What the hell is she doing here?' (Greene); 'Doesn't she have her own private school friends to be with?' (Giga); 'You f(word)ing ruined her life, I don't want you making a repeat performance' (Will).

"Yeah" Volchok said simply, looking at the brunette guy, giving him a 'back off' look. "Just … hurry up" he finished off, personally wanting to get Casey out of here so they can go have some fun. They'd probably stand outside, and he would go in and try to talk to Sadie. She had come back for Harper's funeral, but she knew he was going to be here, so she could have stayed away.

Marissa nodded tersely at his words and slowly made his way over to the girl, still marveling at how much she had changed. She looked, still, like s(word), like she was living Volchok's lifestyle, but she was getting out of it. "Hey Casey" she said quietly, inching up to the girl slowly.

Casey wheeled her head around as she heard a small voice and frowned when she saw who it was. Marissa Cooper. "What do you want?" she asked bitingly, not caring if she hurt Marissa in the slightest, it would only be just payback.

"I … I just wanted to see how you were doing. I hadn't seen you around Union, and then I got back into …" Marissa started before she was cut off by Casey, who didn't want her around, that much was obvious.

"I'm fine. Pregnant at 17, the father's dead, my brother and his friends taking me around like some charity case, protecting me like I'm some weakling, and I have no future. All thanks to you" Casey snapped flatly as she hung her head, looking down at the water rushing over her feet comfortingly. At least Johnny was, in a way, still with her. That was why she got out of her behaviors, she wanted a future for what was left of Johnny.

Marissa stood there, shocked at her response. So she was pregnant? And the father was dead? But that would make it Johnny's, right? None of this made sense to Marissa, she just … didn't understand. "It's Johnny's?" she asked, knowing it seemed to be a stupid question, but she wanted to make sure. After all, Casey had seemed like a slut when Marissa had first met her.

"Yeah" Casey replied coldly, still looking down at the water, a few glistening tears running down her cheek, reflecting in the sunlight so Marissa could clearly see them. "I loved him, he was the only guy I felt that way about. And then … you came along" she snapped as she lifted her head and looked at Marissa, her now-dull brown eyes connecting with Marissa's vibrant blue ones. "You've already ruined my life once, don't do it again" she said with finality as she turned away and started towards the surfers, reaching her hand out so that it was connected with her brother's.

"Why don't you go back to your little bitch boy Preppy?" Volchok sneered as he waited for everyone else to go ahead, still standing back and watching Marissa. He knew where she would be going when she could, and he'd be there, he already had a plan to get back at Little Bitch Boy, and it all involved her.