A/N- Okay, well here is the next chapter, a quick update, because I'm unsure when I'll update next. I'm contemplating a sequel after this one, ideas, thought, opinions would be welcomed.

"Wow. That was a lot more fun than it seemed like it should have been. If that makes sense." Marissa opened the car door and got out. She turned to Ryan as he did the same. He walked over and grabbed her hand and walked with her to the poolhouse.

"Yeah. It was. We should keep that in mind." He leaned in for a quick kiss as he opened the door. His arm slowly caressed the back of her head as they kissed for a long time. His hand dipped to her knees and before Marissa knew what was happening he had picked her up and was holding her in both his arms. He smiled as she protested.

"What are you doing? Ryan Atwood put me down! Don't even think about putting me in that pool…"

"Oh, I hadn't thought about it but now that you mention it…" He paused as Marissa fought violently in his arms. "Calm down, I won't put you in the pool." He kissed her and made his way back to the door. She reached out and opened it for them both. He kissed her neck as he gradually fell onto the bed, their arms and legs became entwined.

Marissa giggled. They hadn't spent time like this for at least a year it seemed. She hadn't realized how much she missed this side of Ryan and this side of herself. She had forgotten he could bring it out like this. She reached out to pull Ryan's shirt over his head. She wanted to show him her love. His hand covered hers and drew it away from his shirt. Her eyes narrowed and a hint of pain showed in her eyes. Realization dawned and disappointment clouded her eyes.

"Look, I want to… it's just that we can't lose sight of what we came back here for…" Ryan ran a hand through his hair. He hated turning Marissa down when she was basically asking for sex. He had only done itonce before and disaster had hit then. But this time he knew they had to resolve their issues.

She sighed. "I know. It's just been so great going back to the beginning, keeping things simple… I just wanted it to stay like that. But you're right, there are things that we need to be serious about, and things that need to be talked about. So, end of play time."

"Wait, no. Sure we need to talk and be serious but I think this is the problem. We always just end playtime and get serious when talking about our relationship. It doesn't have to be like that. Yeah there are some issues but we don't have to get all grim about it." Ryan brushed a piece of hair behind her ear; he loved being able to touch her like this. He wished it could be forever but that was the crux of the problem.

She smiled at him a little. "Okay, fair enough. How do you wanna… start…this?"

"Well, I don't know, I got us this far." He tickled her side a little. She wriggled away.

"Fine, okay, stop! I'll start. I got... scared. You know that. I started seeing my future and in every picture you were in it. I worried about what ifs. What if you left me? What if you realized one day how much better off you were without me? I couldn't tell you that because you would just brush it off and say you wouldn't or worse, think I was crazy and dump me. I knew I needed to put a little space between us so that my life wouldn't be destroyed if we didn't make it. I applied to Penn State thinking that it would be a safety net for my sanity. Everything was getting so serious, we were so close, I knew how wrecked I'd be without you, so I figured it might hurt less if I took the first step." She shuddered. Finally, she had gotten out all of her emotions from the past few months that had been nagging her.

"Wow. That is pretty scary. Look, Marissa I don't want to leave you. I didn't even consider the possibility. But then you just announced you were moving miles away…. It was me who was destroyed. I had no indication to expect that was coming, nothing. You just… tore my heart out with that news. And yeah, it was getting serious; even I was getting a little edgy. I didn't act on it though. But hey, we're different and that's what makes us work. Let's just say this. No future talk, no what ifs, we just play it like today. We'll keep it simple. And when this year is over, we'll have had an awesome time together, and whatever happens after that… well then it will happen."

Marissa put both arms around Ryan and pushed herself on top of him until she was straddling him. She leaned down and kissed his forehead, his temple, then his lips, just lightly. "Okay. I like that idea… a lot… why don't I prove how much I do?"

Ryan was struggling to breathe. His hands gently held Marissa's sides, he moved them up and down her, slowly. He gave her one of his looks, the one that conveyed everything he was thinking. His eyes told her to go on. He looked so hot when he did that, she thought. She slowly pulled his shirt over his head. She lowered herself to his body and their tongues met in a passion they had been hiding for a long time.

Ryan was so lost in the girl that was currently sitting on top of him, he could think of nothing else. Which was not a bad thing. He knew, from their body positions, she could feel what her kisses and touches were doing to him. He liked knowing she knew how much he wanted her. It was great. He thought about how many more days they would have like this. Then a thought entered his head. He tried to push it away, and focus on Marissa's mouth as it made its way dangerously south but he couldn't get rid of the thought. He reached a hand down and cupped her face. He silently cursed himself for what he was about to do.

"Wait." He struggled to get the words out.

"What?" Marissa was completely shocked he was telling her to wait just as she was edging down his boxers. "What do you mean?"

"I just, I wanted to know if you were going to stat here now, or like move out? I know I have bad timing but I just can't stop… I just wanted to know what your immediate plans are…. About your living conditions, if we need to tell Sandy and Kirsten… um… do you know?" He gasped out the last part as Marissa slid up his body.

"I was about to rock your world, and you're thinking about Sandy and Kirsten? Way to set the mood Atwood. That's fine, I know at least where I won't be spending the night tonight." She pushed herself to a sitting position as Ryan looked at her slightly bewildered. "Here. I won't be sleeping here, after that Ryan." She tried to sit up but he grabbed her and kissed her, pulling her back on top of him.

"Okay, horrible timing. But I was thinking more along the lines of how much more of this we could be enjoying. But I just said we wouldn't think of the future and enjoy the present. So I take back everything I just said and commit myself to enjoy the next few minutes, moments…hours… to the best of my ability." Ryan grinned a little at Marissa. He almost had a pleading look that made her smile at him. But he wasn't going to get away quite that easily.

"Hm, I don't know Ryan, maybe I'm not in the mood anymore…" She smiled wildly at him as she saw his face react to the lie. She was quick, but he was quicker. She tried to jump away from him but he caught her and tossed her onto the bed underneath him.

She looked up into his clear blue eyes; they could read her soul, even if she didn't want them to. She slowly let her eyes wander down his body, his muscular arms, strong chest and amazing abs. God he was amazing, and he was hers. How happy that thought made her. Who cared what came in the future? She certainly did not.

Ryan glanced down at her. She seemed so small, fragile but yet there was this essence of strength inside her eyes. He watched her slowly peruse his body. He took the time to admire her body too. She was perfect. But still fully clothed and he wanted to change that immediately.

He pulled off her shirt, she got rid of his pants completely. All of a sudden a pile of clothes accumulated, her bra, his boxers, her jeans, her underwear. As Marissa got on top one more time and glanced down at the smiling Ryan, she figured they had started the fun part of their relationship with… a bang.

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"So you guys are back together?" Summer asked. "Wait, did you even break up? Because I wasn't really sure…" She sat at her desk painting her toenails. Marissa was on her bed, recuperating from the previous night.

"Well I don't know if we officially broke up, but that was the best make-up sex I've ever had!" She smiled at Summer. Summer's eyebrows raised.

"The best? Coop! Details, I want details! You can't drop a bomb like that and not tell me." She shoved the nail polish to the side and hobbled over to the drop onto the bed. Marissa just smiled and shook her head. "What? You have to! It's written in some friendship book somewhere. Ryan looks like he would be good anyway. 'Best Makeup sex ever' deserves a good story behind it." Summer pleaded.

"Hm, I guess it does." Both girls whipped their heads to look at the door. Leaning against the door was Ryan. He had a smile on his face. Marissa turned a deep shade of red and Summer covered her mouth.

"Oops," Summer managed to say behind her hand.

"Oh my god." Marissa stated. "Oh. My. God."

"Okay, it was good, but I wasn't a God." Ryan joked, hoping to alleviate some of the awkwardness. Marissa just covered herself with a pillow and Summer giggled a little.

"Hm, uh, so what are you doing here Chino?" Summer asked, trying desperately to pretend the past few minutes hadn't happened.

"Oh, well Seth and I thought you girls might be bored and want to go out but with the direction of the conversation, I could see why you might want to stay in." Ryan moved over to the edge of the bed and sat down gently on the side opposite Marissa.

"Hey, sorry, Mom just wanted to tell us Dad and her were going out for dinner so we'd be alone for the meal. They said we could order out. Um, what's going on? Did I miss something?" Seth questioned as he looked at Marissa huddled under a pillow, Summer glancing oddly at Ryan and Ryan just staring at Marissa. "Hello? I'm here. Geek of the group, about this high… goes out with Summer?" Seth searched the room.

Ryan tore his eyes away from Marissa and cleared his throat. "Well actually--" he began. Marissa shot up from the bed and attacked him with the pillow. "Ow!"

"Nothing happened Seth. You wanted to go out?" Marissa grunted out as Ryan pulled the pillow away and lightly hit her back. Marissa punched him lightly on the arm and whispered to Ryan. "If you want to try for a repeat performance of last night, I would definitely suggest you keep your mouth closed." Ryan's eyes widened briefly before he gave her a quick kiss and looked at Seth who was trying to get Summer to explain what had happened.

"No man, nothing happened. Just that the girls said they wanted to go out, why don't you and Summer decide what to eat and I'll help Marissa clean up the pillows." Ryan suggested.

"Mmhm." Seth agreed. He figured Summer was the only one who would tell him what happened anyways.

"Summer, nothing happened." Marissa glared at her friend as Seth ledSummer away from the room.

"So…" Ryan said, letting the oh sound last a while. "The best ever?" He grinned.

Marissa grabbed the nearest pillow and hurled it at him. She got up and started to leave as he quickly put the pillows on the bed.

"I can do better," He put his arms around her as he stood behind her. His fingers wandered over her flat stomach, up to cup her breasts, and back down again.

Marissa's breath hitched. "Tonight." She smiled and turned, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, even though he leaned forward for a passionate liplock. "Maybe later." She winked and ran out of the room. Ryan smiled quickly and paused before he ran after her.

Simple was definitely working. It would always be complicated underneath but keeping it simple like this made their relationship work better. The future was coming. It always was though. And why should they worry about something that hadn't happened yet? The coming months were going to be awesome. He skidded out of the door and hurried after her.

A/N- I know it almost seems like an ending but don't worry its not over, it's just not a cliffhanger in case I don't update for a little while.