A/N- Hello all. Hope you are enjoying the story so far. I've been having a little bit of trouble with this chapter because I haven't been able to decide in which direction I want to take the story. But anyway. Enjoy this chapter and I'll try to update sometime before this weekend.

"So dude, things are cool now?" Seth asked Ryan as he passed him the coffee pot.

"Yeah man, I mean we're not fighting anymore. It's great… Plus I mean it's great that the four of us can hang without tension and stuff. It gives us time to just be a couple." Ryan said pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Yeah, the ladies do love the number four. And it's been like a week man, so I mean that's going on a record. You're due for a throw-down, give her a little bit of this, a bit of that." Seth mimicked a horrible boxer, throwing errant punches.

"Uh… no I mean, we talked this time, I think it's different, this last time we definitely got past some stuff." Ryan replied, heading to the door to the poolhouse.

"I didn't make the laws of Ryan/Marissa coupledom dude! I just follow them." He ducked as Ryan threw an apple at him.

"So Coop, things between you and Ryan are good now huh?" Summer asked as she and Marissa got dressed.

"Well, I mean, we got over the small thing from the fight but it's like neither one of us wants to bring up the bigger topic. Well… I mean I don't want to and Ryan doesn't even seem to know it's there. But for now, at least we can hang. I love having you guys there and all but I think we need to spend some time alone, just the two of us." Marissa said, looking at Summer. "You understand, right?"

"Totally Coop. Honestly, it seems like we've only been hanging with you and Ryan lately. For like… this entire week since you made up. Oh, a week. And you said you were going to talk soon? And you guys were doing so well!"

"Sum, we're not going to fight or breakup or anything, we just need to talk so we can get past the major stuff, I've thought about it and as much as I want to pretend Trey didn't happen, I can't. But after last week, I'm sure Ryan will get it… I think." She said with a smile and a shrug.

"Well, if you're sure. But he totally loves you so, don't worry about that. He cares. So let's go over to the Cohen's. You and Ryan go to like… the pier and I'll keep Supergeek occupied in his room." Summer said as she applied the finishing touches to her hair.

"Yeah, not even gonna ask about that." Marissa said, as Summer whipped a pillow at her.

"So, Summer called and the girls are like two minutes away." Seth said, entering the poolhouse a few minutes later.

"Oh… okay," Ryan said emerging from the bathroom in only shorts. "I thought we could chill here, go for a swim or something. Whatever."

"Well, actually, I was hoping we could go to the pier and spend some time together there." Marissa said as she walked in. She paused, looking at Ryan without a top on. God, he was hot.

"Oh, well, what do you guys think?" He said, turning to Seth and Summer.

"I could totally go for a…" Seth started to say but got cut off.

"No Cohen… no you can't. Because I have something to tell you and it's really private… but we need to be in your room…" Summer said, pulling Seth's arm.

As they walked away, they could hear Seth say something along the lines of being less obvious about needing Seth's hot self. Smiling, Ryan turned to grab the nearest wifebeater. Walking up to him, Marissa slipped her arms around his shoulders and wound her arms to the back of his neck and pulled him down to her for a long kiss.

"Whoa, I missed you too." He said, as they pulled apart. He kept his arms on her waist and stood looking at her. "You always look so…" He trailed off. He didn't know how to say what he thought of her beauty.

She smiled, she knew what he was thinking. "Yes, well you're not so bad yourself. In fact, I nearly wanted to attack you when I walked in."

Ryan blushed a little. "So, why don't we just… stay here and, see where we get. I mean, the pier, here it's all the same."

"Uh, well I wanted to go somewhere where we could just talk, you and me. It's been like a week, so I thought we could."

"Mmmmm, I like where we are right now." Ryan said, kissing Marissa again, deeper, somehow trying to convince her that this is what she wanted to be doing.

Marissa pulled away from the kiss, she wasn't sure if Ryan meant that he was happy in the relationship or just in their location. Either way, she wanted and needed to talk, so she had to be strong. "It'll just be for awhile, we can come back here after and…"

If that was all Ryan could get, he would take it, although grudgingly. He hoped what she had to talk about was important.

"So what do you wanna talk about?" Ryan asked about a half hour later, as they sat on the beach side-by-side, watching the ocean. "Your dad? I mean it must be rough with him gone and stuff, maybe your mom?"

"Oh. No." She said. "I wanted to talk about us."

Ryan's face relayed the shock that spread throughout him. Them? What could they possibly talk about? He thought that they had gotten past it. Hadn't they? He restrained the urge to say 'again'. And just managed to say "Oh."

"Hey, look it's not like I think there's something wrong. It's just that I need for us to talk, you know… about Trey." Ryan stiffened.

"You need to what? I thought… I mean didn't we say we would put it behind us… and I thought…"

"Well, I mean, you thought, right? But we haven't talked about it. And I need to talk about it. I thought I could ignore it but I can't. I just… I don't know. Don't you kinda understand?" Marissa asked.

"Well…" Ryan started. The truth was he didn't understand what he could do or say that would make it better, he started to worry she was rethinking them working because of Trey. So he did what came natural, he defended himself by lashing out. "No, I don't know what's going on. I thought everything was going good. But Seth is right, it's a weekly event! Do you NEED drama in your life? DO you? I don't know what comes over you. Last week we talked about… stuff. I thought I made it clear. Do you need a guy who tells you he loves you all the time he loves you, and talks about his feelings all the time? Cuz I'm not that guy." He forced out angrily, getting up from the sand.

Ryan's words cut her more than any physical assault could have. But she had wanted to talk about it and if he needed to be mean, then she had to fight through it. "I get that you don't wanna talk about Trey…" I really do, I know it sucks. I don't blame you Ryan. I don't. I just need… I…" She broke off, she said, standing too.

"Oh wait, is there where I'm supposed to know what you need? " He retorted.

"No, that's when I was going to tell you what I needed but what's the point? You clearly can't talk about this without getting upset. Forget it, I need to go home.

"Wait, you started it let's finish it, why can't we?"

"Because you're acting like an ass. Maybe for once, you need to stop thinking that I'm blaming you for Trey, or even think of him as a part of you. Maybe you need to stop defending yourself. And just…help me." With that, she broke off and ran, ran to get away from Trey, to get away from Ryan, to get away from the horrible fear that was increasing in her mind; this might have the power to split them apart.

Ryan watched her go until he couldn't see her anymore. He had a sinking feeling that maybe… just maybe… he had made a mistake. He turned back to the ocean, and gulped. How could he make it up to her, and more importantly, would Marissa even care if he tried?

A/N-Okay, so that is Chapter 4. I'm deciding whether or not to continue, depending on who actually cares. SO if you would like me to continue, drop a review saying so or if you think I should do something new, that's welcomed... just wondering about public opinion.