Ryan sits on his bed, staring at the phone as he plays Marissa's number over and over in his mind. Maybe he could call Seth for now. It's been a few weeks since they've talked on the phone and he could use a little Seth and Ryan time right now.
He dials the number and waits as he hears the ringing on the phone.
"Hello?"
Ryan's heart stops as he hears an all too familiar woman's voice on the other line.
"Hello?" she says again.
Finally, Ryan's brain begins working again and he hangs up the phone without a word. He throws his head back and closes his eyes. How could he have dialed her number? Damn it, Ryan. Don't say her number over and over again in your head and then decide to call someone.
He looks at the phone again and recites Seth and Summer's number. He presses the buttons firmly, making sure he's dialing the right phone number this time and waits for Summer or Seth's voice to pick up the phone.
"Hey, man!" Ryan lets out a sigh of relief as he hears his best friend's voice.
"Hey, Seth. How's it going?" Ryan asks.
"Well, I still live in Newport…but all in all everything's going great." Seth replies and Ryan can almost hear the smile in his voice.
"How's Summer? Put your phone on speaker so I can talk to you both." Ryan says. He hears a small click and then hears Summer's voice.
"Chino!"
"Hey, Summer."
"How's NYC hm? Met any hot chicks yet?" Summer asks mockingly.
Ryan lets out a laugh, "Actually, my friend, Jake is setting me up on a date tomorrow night." He says with an "as-a-matter-of-fact" tone in his voice.
"Dude! That's awesome!" Seth says.
"Yeah, Chino. It's about time you start dating again." Summer says softly. Ryan can almost hear the disappointment in her voice. He knows that Summer's been rooting for him and Marissa to get back together but she knows better than to force Ryan to call Marissa.
"Thanks. But, umm, I wanted to ask you a favor, Summer." Ryan utters.
"Sure, what is it?"
"Can you call her? To just…I don't know…to see how she's doing?" Ryan says, hopefully. He doesn't even have to say her name anymore. His two friends know him well enough to know that "she or her" only points to one person and one person only.
Summer lets out a sigh and Ryan knows that she's probably looking at Seth with a small smile, "Sure, but…Ryan, have you ever thought of calling her yourself? I'm sure she'd love to hear from you after all these years."
Ryan doesn't say anything.
"Look man, we'll call her. But will you at least try to give her a call one day?" Seth asks and Ryan closes his eyes, "Dude, we both know you still love her. And knowing Marissa, she probably still loves you too."
"Then why would she leave?" Ryan says in a serious tone, "If she loves me so much, why did she leave me in Newport?"
This time, it was Summer's turn to speak, "Because she probably thinks you'd be better off without her…after everything you guys have been through., she probably thinks she's done enough damage to your life that you deserve to have a break." She says softly, "Ryan…you know it's how she's wired. You wouldn't love her if it wasn't."
Ryan lets out a sigh and runs his hand through his short blonde hair, "Just give her a call for me…see how she's doing…and then maybe I'll call her one of these days."
"That's all we ask for, Chino." Summer utters softly.
Ryan smiles to himself, "Well, it was great to talk to you guys again." He says, "Tell Kirsten and Sandy I said hey, alright? I'll be visiting there one day soon."
"That's great, man. We're looking forward to it." Seth says.
"We love you, Chino." Ryan hears Summer says.
"I love you too. Now hang up already before we start getting all cheesy again." He says.
The couple laughs and finally hangs up the phone. Ryan smiles to himself and lets out a sigh. If only he had enough guts to purposely call her. Not just because he ended up dialing her number instead of his best friend's.
Finally, he lifts his legs up to the bed and pulls up the covers on himself. He lets out another sigh and reaches over to turn of his lamp.
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Marissa sits in her hotel room, over looking the city and lets the thoughts come. Josh wanted to spend the night with Marissa but she insisted that he goes out.
"You're only gunna be a bachelor for another month." She had told him, "Enjoy the time you have without me."
And with that, he left. Leaving Marissa to think about what she had seen earlier in the day. If she had been more careful about her decisions during her high school years, then who knows, maybe she and Ryan would've been getting married in a month. And instead of New York City, they would've stayed in Newport and raised their kids with Seth and Summer.
If Marissa hadn't shot Trey, she wouldn't have gotten kicked out of Harbor. And she wouldn't have gone to Newport Union and met Johnny. Johnny would have still been alive and she and Ryan would still be together. If only she had gone to Berkeley instead of sailing around the world with her dad. If only she had told Ryan she loved him…if only Ryan had told her to stay…
Would she have stayed?
No. Because she loved him too much to screw up his life even more.
So that brings her to New York. And to be frank, she's made a pretty good life for herself there. She's in management for Ralph Lauren, she has a nice apartment in Long Island and she's got a loving boyfriend by her side.
She feels horrible that she's thinking about Ryan when she's about to be married to Josh in less than a month. But you can't ever forget about your first love right? So it's not like she could help it. Maybe I should give him a call…see how he's doing…
Suddenly, her cell phone interrupted her thoughts. She looks down at the small screen, unknown name.
Curious, she opens her phone, "Hello?"
No answer.
"Hello?" she says again. Finally, there was a sudden click and then the annoying beeping when the line gets busy.
Confused, she shuts her phone and sits back down on the chair by the window, her thoughts drifting back to Ryan and Newport, and every memory she had from 3 years ago. Maybe I could call Summer, and she can tell me how Ryan's doing.
And with that, she dials her best friend's number and then puts the phone to her ear.
"Hello?" Marissa hears Summer's voice on the other line.
"Hey, Sum!" she says happily.
"Coop! I was just about to call you!"
"You were? What for?" Marissa asks confused.
Silence from the other line.
"Summer?"
"Right, sorry. I just wanted to say hi." Summer lies, "See how my step sister/best friend is doing."
Marissa lets out a laugh, "Well she's doing great. How's everybody there in Newport?"
"Well, we're still in Newport right?" Summer jokes.
Marissa smiles, "Right. How's Seth doing? You guys married yet?" she asks jokingly.
"Yeah, right. As if he'll ever get up the courage to ask for my dad's blessing." Marissa lets out a laugh and absentmindedly fiddles with a small piece of paper, "How are you? I mean, have you met anyone?" Summer asks.
Marissa clears her throat uneasily, "Well, I've been busy with work, so it's not like I have a lot of time." She lies. She's not sure if she's ready to tell Summer yet. Even though the wedding is in a month.
"That's true."
"But, umm, how's Ryan doing?" Marissa asks, not wanting to mention what happened that morning just yet.
Marissa can hear Summer clearing her throat, "He's umm, he's doing great. He's gotten his own business up and running so…"
Marissa nods her head mindlessly, "Well that's good…is he umm, is he with anyone?" she asks.
"I'm not sure really." Summer says, not exactly telling the truth but not lying either, "He's pretty busy with work too, so I don't think he's got time to date around."
"Oh."
"Yeah, why don't you give him a call? I'm sure he'd love to hear from you." Summer suggests, trying hard not to be so obvious.
Marissa lets out an uneasy laugh, "Really? You don't think he hates me for leaving?"
"Please, Coop. That boy's still crazy about--." Summer clasps her hand on her mouth, before she lets out anything more.
Marissa's heart stops and she begins to try and process what Summer had just said, "What?"
"Nothing. I meant he's still….crazy." Summer utters.
Frustrated, Marissa lets out a sigh, "I saw him today, Summer." She finally says.
"What?" Why wouldn't he tell us earlier that they saw each other?
"Yeah, he was going into a café. He didn't see me." Marissa explains.
Summer makes a small "Oh" sound and thinks for a minute, "Why didn't you say hi to him?" she asks suspiciously.
"Well, my cell phone rang and it was Josh—
"Wait, who's Josh?"
Marissa's heart stopped and realized what she just said, "A guy from work." She replies. I'm not lying to her. He is a guy from work.
"Oh." Summer says, "Coop, can I ask you something?" Marissa says yes, but not really wanting to answer it, "Do you still love him? Like, do you still think about him?" she asks, softness in her voice.
Marissa lets out a sigh, "Everyday…" she says, almost a whisper.